There are few bonds as strong as the one between the catcher and the pitcher. The battery, as they’re called, are the focus of any team’s defense, and they must be so tuned into each other that one glance is enough to transmit a whole strategy during the game. And while Chris and Sawamura only played one game together, that was more than enough to cement their friendship and make everyone see how they work together as a couple in and out of the field. Because where Sawamura is the rookie of the team, Chris is in his last year before leaving high school, so he can take the role of Sawamura's mentor. Not only that, but he can also help ease the pain of leaving his friends behind, at least for a little while.

Chris also has a bit of a tragic story as he has a shoulder injury that, in time, will make him unable to play, and that plays a part in his interactions with Sawamura and the team. Add to that the fact that Sawamura really admires Chris as a player and how he can keep the team really inspired to do their best and you have an amazing couple that will make your heart go wild.

When we meet Tetsu and Isashiki, they are best friends. First base and center field, respectively, they’re the backbone of the team because Tetsu is the captain, and Isashiki his right hand. This alone makes it easy to see them as “those two guys”, pretty much joined at the hip and always agreeing with each other. It’s when we see their past rivalry –when both were competing for the captain’s position, and Isashiki wanted nothing more than to be the pitcher of the team- that was as passionate as their later friendship, when we realize they’re pretty much an old married couple.

While with other couples we can see how the relationship came to be, Tetsu and Isashiki are perfect for anyone who loves established couples and their stories. They complement each other very well, as Isashiki is outspoken and loud, where Yuki tends to be more quiet and introverted. Not only that, they respect each other and Isashiki is one of the few who can notice the second Yuuki’s mood changes. While both of them have left the Seidou Academy, and Yuuki has started studying in college, they still appear in the anime, so we can see how their friendship evolves.

Another very important relationship within a team's defense is the one between catcher and Shortstop. After all, where the catcher must keep focused on the batter and the pitcher, he trusts the Shortstop to keep an eye on any runner on base and signal any attempt at a steal so the catcher can tell the pitcher. Which is why Miyuki and Kuramochi are a very intriguing ship, as they are the ones who usually occupy those positions. Kuramochi is also one of the closest friends Miyuki has, who can read Miyuki’s attitude and call him out on it.

Originally, they were rivals like Tetsu and Isashiki. Still, their relationship is very different, as Miyuki still tries to keep to himself and is reluctant to open up. However, after Kuramochi discovered Miyuki hiding an injury before a tournament, he placed himself as Miyuki’s care-taker, ready to get him out of the game if it came down to winning or risking Miyuki’s well being. In that sense, their relationship is even stronger than Kuramochi’s love for baseball, which is precisely why they are on this list.

Love can spring from hate. Everyone loves a tragic relationship born out of rivalry, as the last two entries on this countdown have proven. However, those were friendly rivalries, born out of wanting a good position in the same team. In the case of Naruyima and Sawamura, they are from different teams, and at first, Naruyima seems to be more jealous of Sawamura’s relationship with Miyuki, than interested in Sawamura himself. Because they are in different schools, it’s hard to see them together outside of a game. But when they’re facing each other, sparks fly between them and it’s hard not to see how that passion could be directed in a different way.

A lot of what makes Naruyima and Sawamura work as a ship is their mutual friendship with Miyuki. And that gives a lot of material for fanfictions and doujinshi, since it’s possible to go from jealousy over their friend to jealousy towards their friend. It’s a ship full of potential because they’re also opposites in personality: Naruyima is very selfish and sometimes forgets he is working with a team, while Sawamura is always thinking about his team and how to work with them. And those differences make them a couple worth shipping and drooling for.

Furuya Satoru is the Ace of Seidou High but despite this, he doesn’t act superior to the other players. This is one of the reasons why he is a good friend of second baseman Haruichi Kominato. Both of them have a bit of social anxiety: Furuya is an introvert who has trouble socializing with people, while Haruichi is very shy. This doesn’t mean that either of them will remain quiet if they disagree with someone, and Haruichi, in particular, can be incredibly blunt, sometimes to the point of annoying Furuya.

While some people may say that two quiet guys make for a boring couple, Furuya and Haruichi work perfectly together. At times, in the series, we know that Haruichi praises Sawamura just to get a rise out of Furuya, so it’s really easy to extrapolate that to a more profound relationship. After all, when Furuya is trying to outdo Sawamura, is when he is a better pitcher, and that’s for the betterment of the team. There’s also a bit of jealousy from Haruichi, as he has admitted that he would like to play as often as Furuya and Sawamura, but that only makes their arguments more interesting for the reader of this couple.

Of course, since Haruichi does praise Furuya as much as he praises Sawamura, it's no surprise that he can also be shipped with Sawamura, though for different reasons. First of all, their personalities are more contrasting: While the second baseman is quiet, the second pitcher is loud. And that makes them very balanced as friends. Not only that, but Haruichi was one of the first to recognize how talented Sawamura is as a pitcher, and for his part, Sawamura was the one who gave Haruichi the nickname “Harucchi”. It’s a sign of how quickly both of them became comfortable with the other.

At first, Haruichi was very much Sawamura’s handler in the school, keeping Sawamura’s temper and words in check with his calm demeanor. This meant we got to see them together a lot and in a few different settings outside of the field. While in the later seasons, their friendship has gotten a little colder due to Sawamura’s obvious distaste for Haruichi’s new haircut, it only helps to fuel the flames for the shippers, as it means Sawamura really notices everything about Haruichi and doesn’t like when he changes even a little.

Furuya and Sawamura have a very interesting relationship in the series: both want to be the ace pitcher of Seidou High. Moreover, both have very specific talents that are better in certain situations, so the manager uses them both in different games, much to their frustration, as both want to be on the mound. This can also be seen as fighting for who tops, which of course, is always fun. Both know that the other is talented, and can identify their mutual failings both in the field and out of it, and neither backs down from commenting on the faults of the other.

Because their talents balance each other, their personalities are also very contrasting. Furuya started playing baseball on his own, with the guidance of his grandfather, and grew to become an ace at a very early age despite not having many friends. Sawamura, though, learned to play with his friends. Since his team wasn’t very good, he isn’t as skilled as Furuya at first, but that doesn’t mean he’s a bad player. Because of this, one can see Sawamura teaching Furuya how to be more social in many cute and romantic situations, while leaving their stubbornness and mutual passion for the privacy of the bedroom

By now you can see that Sawamura is the series’ little black dress, as he can be paired up with practically everyone. It’s because he has great chemistry with all his teammates, so depending on which is your favorite kind of romance, you can prefer him with different guys. With Kuramochi, he gets a very teasing and happy relationship, as they like wrestling together and Kuramochi is always there for Sawamura when the young pitcher is feeling down. Because Kuramochi is older, he takes the role of mentor –very similar to what Chris does-, and on many occasions, he helps him strengthen his core in order to make him a better pitcher.

Kuramochi and Sawamura’s friendship is so easy and enjoyable, that it’s really not hard to see how they could go from friends to lovers. After all, not everyone on the team feels so confident with their pitcher –and their strength- that they would practice a wrestling hold on them just to break the ice. They’re also roommates, so they have a lot of time together and get to know each other faster than the rest of the team. Some people could see Kuramochi’s actions as bullying, but it’s easy for us to see them as his way of making Sawamura feel more at home.

Once again, we have a couple that is also a battery: pitcher and catcher. In this case, we also know that Furuya went to Seidou School specifically because he wanted to see if Miyuki could catch his fastest pitch. Once he realizes he is the only one who can, he’s determined to become his official pitcher for all games, even when Miyuki constantly lectures him about his complete lack of control and the obvious weakness in his lack of stamina. Furuya, at first, seems to ignore him, but we can tell that he takes Miyuki’s advice to heart, as he also wants to be a better player. They seem to clash a lot in public, but that only highlights the fact that both care for each other.

On the physical side, both know the other very well. Furuya is so familiar with Miyuki’s body and play stance, that he is the very first to realize when Miyuki is injured, and was the one who offered to accompany him to the hospital –not that Miyuki listened, because he’s equally stubborn. This makes their relationship very interesting, because they’re so similar at times, that it’s there where the conflicts arise. The way in which neither one wants to admit to their weakness but at the same time are very attuned to helping the other to be better is what makes them a great couple to ship.

The last couple of our countdown is the main battery of the series, Sawamura and Miyuki. Or, in other words, the two little black dresses of the fandom. It's no surprise, then, that they have amazing chemistry from the first moment they cross paths. Miyuki inspired Sawamura to join Seidou, as he was the one who had faith in his abilities and wanted to form a battery with him. On the other hand, Sawamura has said more than once that one of his biggest wishes is for Miyuki to accept his abilities. He really wanted to play baseball with someone “incredible”. Unfortunately, their personalities clash a bit, so the road to becoming a true battery hasn’t been easy.

Sawamura is far more outspoken than Miyuki, but that doesn’t mean Miyuki stops being sarcastic when talking to him. Or that Sawamura takes his comments nicely. It’s this dynamic that makes them work as a couple for shippers, because it creates openings for many possible “first time” scenarios; most of them thanks to misunderstandings that can still feel like part of the series. Miyuki knows how to bring out Sawamura’s passion in the field, which means we can be sure he can bring it out in other, more intimate situations. They’re slowly becoming the perfect battery for their team, which means that it's not surprising that they’re the most popular ship of the series.