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Catcher Gunji Praises Pitcher Yamazaki After Big Game

man pitching the baseball
Photo by Jose Francisco Morales on Unsplash
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Listen to the story

Catcher Yuya Gunji talked about a baseball game. He helped pitcher Yamazaki play well. Yamazaki was the starter for his team. A starter is the first pitcher in a game.

Gunji chose the pitches for Yamazaki. This is called catching. He talked about one pitch to a batter named Yanagita. Gunji said, "That pitch was big." He meant it was very important.

The other team was the Fighters. Their manager is Shinjo. He talked about a player named Imagawa. Imagawa hit a home run. A home run is when you hit the ball very far and score a point.

This home run made the score equal. This is called a tying run. Shinjo said Imagawa looked calm at bat. He said Imagawa always feels ready to hit.

People also talked about a very surprising hit in the game. Fans were shocked. They said it was normally an easy catch for the other team.

Vocabulary15 words

starter
the first player who throws the ball in a game
catching
choosing which throws a pitcher should make
home run
a very big hit that scores a point
tying run
a hit that makes the score equal
pitcher
a player who throws the ball to the batter
batter
a player who tries to hit the ball
manager
the person who leads a sports team
score
the number of points in a game
fans
people who watch and love a sport
shocked
very surprised
calm
quiet and not worried
important
very needed or big
team
a group of players who play together
catch
to stop the ball with your hands or glove
game
a sports match between two teams

Quiz

1. What is Gunji's job in the game?
2. What did Imagawa do?
3. True or False: The fans were shocked by a surprising hit.

Fill-in-the-blank listening

Play the audio again and fill in the missing words as you listen.

Catcher Yuya _____ talked about a baseball game. He helped pitcher _____ play well. Yamazaki was the _____ for his team.

Gunji chose the _____ for Yamazaki. He talked about one pitch to a batter named _____.

The other team was the _____. Their manager is _____. He talked about a player named _____.

Imagawa hit a _____. This made the score _____.

Fans were _____ by the surprising hit.

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