I write my reviews based off 5 elements: Story, Characters, Music, Animation/Production Quality and Impression. All of my reviews are spoiler free. This review is based on the subbed version

Story:

While it takes a while to develop an end goal, in typical Japanese baseball anime fashion, the goal of the main character is fairly predictable. However, that being said, there is not much of a complex story in this series. It's a fairly straight shot type of story that has a clear beginning and end. The amount of plot twists are minimal and episodes are fairly easy to digest given the low complexity of the situations in the story. As long as you have the minimum knowledge of the rules of baseball, most people will find this to be a fairly easy watch. In my opinion, there is no real need to have an overly complex story and I actually enjoy the mundaneness of this series. The fact that's it's not trying to be Eyeshield 21 or Kuroko no Basuke by giving characters super powers is a plus in my book given how this series is mostly character driven and is more focused on the slice of life elements. That's not to say the series does not also dive deep into baseball. A fair chunk of the series takes place on the field as well as practice and in the club, however the best moments in the story typically happen off the field.

Characters:

From episode one, viewers will more often than not find themselves already becoming attached to certain characters. Due to the nature of this series being heavily character driven, Adachi does a masterful job of creating both realistic (outside of the fact that the mc is basically a pitching prodigy) and relatable characters. My only issue with the characters is that the main character can sometimes be underwhelming in terms of how I personally would think someone would act in certain situations; but that is not to say it is entirely unrealistic. I just do not believe MOST people would act the way he does in those situations.

Music:

If I were to describe the music in this series I would describe it as mediocre with flashes of brilliance. While the opening and ending for the most part are forgettable there are moments in the series in which the music is WONDERFULLY placed and brilliantly enhance the viewing experience. There are specific songs where when they play certain sections, I become overwhelmed with the emotion I felt during the scenes they were played in. For these specific songs, I give high marks for their quality and how they were used in the series.

Animation/Production Quality:

Adachi has a VERY specific and unique drawing style that most everyone who has ever seen his works can recognize. He is widely known as an artist who can create an entire dialogue filled with emotion without having a character utter a single word. He masterfully draws and fleshes out the best scenes with nothing but the characters, their facial expressions, emotions, and the backdrops behind them. That said, outside of that, the animation quality is average at best and at times does dip below average. This is not a high budget anime by any means, but it doesn't have to be. As a slice of life anime that paces itself one firm step at a time, there's not much to nitpick over when it comes to the animation. The voice acting is nothing to write home about, but that is mostly because they're not expected to sing or voice in laborious or extraneous circumstances, it's exactly as if someone is just speaking. Because of that, I don't particularly think the voice acting stands out, but it does exactly what it's required to do.

Impression:

Many people get interested and invested after just the first episode; as did I. I watched the series when it had already finished production and ended up binge watching the entire series in a span of a couple days. By the end of the 50th episode I had lamented the fact that I did not take my time to properly savor the joy I felt while watching. I have a very short list of anime I would love to watch with my (future) kids one day and this series is near the top.

Final Words:
It's a shame that most will never watch this anime as they either have no interest in Adachi's drawing style or are not keen in how it is neither too deep into the slice of life pool or the sports pool. The most endearing fact of this story is that it feels like this could happen in real life; that it HAS happened in real life. The characters are all extremely likable and feel true to life. Whenever anyone asks me for a recommendation for an anime and they ask for something that's easy to watch; this is the first one out of my mouth.