Sawa's younger brother, Haruto, tries to join the Combined Team, together with other nine first-years.
As april comes and the school year commences, all of the applicants give up on joining the combined team, including Sawa's brother, both due to the harsh training, and since if they join, they will just go the baseball team of their respective school, since the joint team will be disbanded.
The Combined team's existence is approved by a commitee of the Mifune district schools, but they wont allow the team to go to the prefectural tournament if they win the regional one. If the Combined Team wins the regional tournament, they will be instead forced to give the first place to the runner-up team.
Toshiya tries to hide this fact from the players but Egashira ultimately leaks the info to the press.
The leak backfires, as the public takes Toshiya's/the combined team's side and the other schools that formed the commitee are inundated with complains from the public, especially those about discrimination against a team composed mainly of girls.
After the backlash, the commitee's decision is revocated and the Combined Team is cleared to participate in the prefectural tournament again.
Daigo asks Sawa to convince her brother to join the team. He ultimately gives in and decides to give baseball another try.
As Sawa's brother joins the team, Egashira is seen scheming again.
