Chapter 100: Before the Match

The Inashiro match had just begun, and news also arrived from a match taking place at another venue.

"Ichidai Sanko won!"

"A lopsided victory, the game ended early in the 7th inning!"

"Over at Ichidai Sanko, they put in the First Year Pitcher Amakusa Kosei starting from the fourth inning."

Hearing the news, the Seido members all nodded slightly without paying too much attention; right now, the one they truly needed to focus on was Inashiro.

In the subsequent match, the state Inashiro displayed from their defense to their batting lineup put great pressure on Seido. Facing an opponent that was also in the top 8, Inashiro actually blasted 4 Home Runs in this game! One of them was even hit by Narumiya Mei.

On the Pitcher's Mound, the ace Matsumoto Takuhai and the First Year Narumiya Mei took the field one after the other to completely suppress the opponent, not giving up a single run.

"This kid's pitching has evolved again."

"It feels sharper than it was during the Kanto Tournament, and his control is more precise too."

"He's tough to deal with. Senior Dong, are you confident?"

Hearing his teammate's question, Dong Qingguo furrowed his brows, frowning as he watched the Inashiro members celebrating their victory on the field.

Beside him, Huangqian Yangyi was also feeling heavy-hearted. Narumiya Mei's pitching had become even more terrifying after these few months of growth. If he remembered correctly, in the original story, in the next match where Seido faced Inashiro, the Seido batting lineup was completely suppressed by Narumiya Mei, with only Dong Qingguo hitting a single hit.

However, during these past few months, as long as it wasn't a rest day, Huangqian Yangyi had been feeding balls to the First String members for live batting practice regardless of the weather, and the improvement in Seido's batting lineup was also obvious. If they faced each other again, it would be impossible for them to be completely suppressed by Narumiya Mei.

"I can hit it!" Dong Qingguo said decisively. As the Captain and the 4th Batter, he absolutely could not show cowardice at a time like this.

Whether it was the pitching of Matsumoto Takuhai or Narumiya Mei, Dong Qingguo was confident he could hit it. What he worried about were his teammates; if his teammates couldn't hit to connect the offense, it would be useless even if he got on base.

"Jiecheng, what about you?"

Yuki Tetsuya nodded faintly: "I can do it."

His thoughts were almost the same as Dong Qingguo's. As the 3rd Batter, he was clear about his responsibilities.

After the Inashiro match ended, the Seido group returned to school. The semi-finals were two days away. During these two days, not only did they need to rest well to recover their stamina and maintain their condition, but at the same time, Manager Kataoka and Senior Chris were also conducting research on Inashiro's lineup.

That evening, Inashiro Industrial High School Baseball Club.

Regarding the upcoming match against Seido, Manager Kunitomo summoned all First String members to the meeting room for a briefing.

From the very beginning of the preliminary rounds, Inashiro Industrial had been analyzing and preparing for Seido, and the collected data on Seido's players was being updated at all times.

There were still two days until the match, and holding a meeting at this time could make the subsequent training more targeted.

Among the three major powerhouses of West Tokyo, no matter who they faced, it would be a bitter struggle. If there wasn't sufficient preparation, wanting to defeat the opponent would undoubtedly be a pipe dream. In the territory of West Tokyo, the three major powerhouses were like giant rocks standing in front of other schools. Even looking at the whole country, the three major powerhouses were quite famous, and their strength was top-tier.

Because of this, the three powerhouses were wary of each other and fought each other, fighting tooth and nail every year for that one Koshien spot in West Tokyo; they could be called fated rivals.

And the current Inashiro held a grudge against Seido in their hearts. In today's Spring Metropolitan Tournament and the Kanto Tournament, they had already lost to Seido twice.

Now, in the summer preliminary semi-finals, a match a hundred times more important than the previous ones, they swore to take revenge!

In the meeting room, Manager Kunitomo's analysis of Seido could be described as comprehensive, starting from the data of every player on their First String, the starting lineup Seido would send out, the batting order, tactics or formations, and possible timing for pitching changes.

Most of these things were clichés; the Inashiro members' understanding of Seido was not even worse than their own.

After the Inashiro meeting reached the halfway point, the remaining half of the time was almost entirely focused on Dong Qingguo and Huangqian Yangyi.

One was a Third Year monster batter, and the other was a First Year genius ace pitcher.

Facing Dong Qingguo, how Inashiro's ace Matsumoto Takuhai and the equally acclaimed genius Narumiya Mei could suppress him was a problem that had to be solved.

"Hmph, I will never let Senior Dong hit my ball!" Narumiya Mei said, lifting his chin with a haughty air.

"Mei!"

"You cannot underestimate Dong Qingguo!" Harada Masatoshi said.

Narumiya Mei pouted, "Senior Harada, this is called despising the opponent strategically; you don't understand."

Harada Masatoshi shook his head helplessly. Narumiya Mei was good at everything, but his childish temper was a bit troublesome, and he was very immature.

Compared to Narumiya Mei, Inashiro's ace was clearly more understanding of Dong Qingguo. The two had faced each other on the field more than once, and they each had their own wins and losses. To say he could completely suppress Dong Qingguo's hitting, Matsumoto Takuhai had no confidence in his heart.

To achieve this, Matsumoto Takuhai turned his head to look at Narumiya Mei. Although this kid was a bit immature, Matsumoto Takuhai had to admit that Narumiya Mei's pitching technique was above his own. As long as this guy could stabilize his mentality and pitch well, it was possible to suppress Seido's batting lineup.

After spending nearly twenty minutes, Inashiro had done a full analysis of Dong Qingguo's hitting. Next, everyone's attention was focused on the name Manager Kunitomo wrote on the blackboard.

Huangqian Yangyi!

This detestable First Year brat.

That's right, in Inashiro's eyes, Huangqian Yangyi was a villain, the very detestable kind.

The previous two defeats could be said to have been lost at the hands of Huangqian Yangyi.

"Huangqian Yangyi, the biggest advantage of his pitching is his ball speed. In the next two days, when everyone is doing batting practice, set the pitching machine's speed to 155 km/h. Although the pitching machine's throws are dead, your eyes and bodies must get used to this kind of ball speed."

"Yes, Manager!" everyone replied in unison.

Manager Kunitomo nodded and continued: "Since the Spring Metropolitan Tournament, the pitch types Huangqian Yangyi has displayed have only been the four-seam fastball and the two-seam fastball. Not a single Breaking Ball has appeared. Therefore, I reasonably suspect that Huangqian Yangyi has never used his full strength before this."

"In the match two days from now, be careful of this point."

Hearing the Manager's words, the hearts of the Inashiro members all skipped a beat. They all knew before that Huangqian Yangyi's pitching was powerful, but now that they thought about it carefully, this guy had actually made it this far relying only on his fastballs. More importantly, no one had been able to score off him so far.

This was too exaggerated. Everyone looked at each other. A 150 km/h fastball logically shouldn't be able to achieve this level. Investigating the reason, it could only mean that Huangqian Yangyi's fastball was not simple; it wasn't just a matter of ball speed, his control was also very precise. Added to that was the pitch calling of that bastard Miyuki; with the two of them cooperating, it was understandable that they achieved such results.