Chapter 103: Nanjo's Progress

Returning to the dugout, Zhitian Jiangtai wore a proud smile on his face, chin tilted upward as he showed off to his teammates.

"Senior, that play just now was amazing!" Huangqian Yangyi handed over a bottle of mineral water.

Given the situation just now, he had thought Nanjo Taishi was about to fall into a crisis; he never expected Zhitian Jiangtai to step up at that moment and confiscate Haneda Kazuki's powerful line drive, which was completely beyond everyone's expectations.

"Haha, how about it? Impressed, right?" Zhitian Jiangtai was not humble at all.

"Impressive, impressive."

After a round of praise from the group, the bottom of the first inning arrived, and it was Seido's turn to attack.

After the Inashiro players took their respective positions, Seido's first batter, Zhitian Jiangtai, entered the field once again.

The audience still had fresh memories of his brilliant performance just now, and as Zhitian Jiangtai stood in the Batter's Box, enthusiastic applause rang out again.

"Hey, watch me!"

Zhitian Jiangtai swung his bat.

"Strike!"

"Strike!"

"Strike!"

"Strikeout!"

After swinging and missing three times in a row, Zhitian Jiangtai pinched the brim of his cap and walked off the field in silence.

"Can't handle the praise."

"Misfortunes never come singly."

"Ugly swing."

The teammates teased him one after another.

In reality, Zhitian Jiangtai's hitting was actually quite good, and he hadn't made any mistakes just now; it was purely because Matsumoto Takuhai's pitching was too formidable—a fastball with an average speed of around 143, combined with a Forkball and a High-speed Slider, made it extremely difficult to make contact, and looking at his performance just now, this guy's condition was also surprisingly good.

The cool weather today clearly didn't only benefit Seido.

Next, the second batter, Kominato Ryosuke, didn't last long before being retired on 4 pitches.

"His pitch speed is faster than it was at the Kanto Tournament."

As he brushed past Yuki Tetsuya, Kominato Ryosuke provided the intelligence he had just gathered.

Yuki Tetsuya nodded and walked to the Batter's Box; a blue aura erupted from his body, and the visible intensity made Matsumoto Takuhai feel the pressure.

As expected of Seido's third batter; who said they were a bad harvest year?

Matsumoto Takuhai muttered to himself; not to mention that genius Catcher Chris, just the one in front of him was enough to cause them at Inashiro quite a bit of trouble.

The Catcher, Harada Masatoshi, glanced at Jiecheng; he was also very familiar with this player, and it wouldn't be easy to retire him easily.

After exchanging looks, Matsumoto Takuhai didn't dawdle and threw the baseball with all his might.

The bat in Yuki Tetsuya's hands brought out a strong wind as he swung toward the incoming baseball.

Bang!

The baseball was hit and flew toward the Right Fielder's direction—it was foul!

"Strike!"

Phew~

Harada Masatoshi breathed a sigh of relief; he had truly been startled just now.

Based on the intelligence they had obtained, Yuki Tetsuya was not the type to swing aggressively on the first pitch, and that Slider just now was intended as a probe; as a result, under Jiecheng's aggressive swing, it had nearly been blasted for an Extra-base Hit.

It seems that it wasn't just Inashiro that was attacking aggressively today; Seido was the same!

Both sides had brought out the same determination to win today's game; neither side could show weakness and had to seize every opportunity and every possibility.

Jiecheng set his batting stance again, quietly waiting for the next pitch to arrive.

Off the field, Huangqian Yangyi smiled and said, "Senior Jiecheng is very fired up today."

"That's only natural; last year our Seido lost to Inashiro, and Senior Jiecheng, who was a First Year at the time, must have been very frustrated," Miyuki said.

"So, are we here for revenge today?" Huangqian Yangyi said.

Miyuki curled his lip, "Maybe; in Inashiro's eyes, they might be the ones here for revenge, after all, they lost to us twice before."

"Hey, whatever, we're the ones winning today anyway."

"We will win."

While the two were talking, Yuki Tetsuya swung and missed on the field, and Inashiro reached a count of two strikes.

At this moment, Matsumoto Takuhai had already thrown the third pitch.

Yuki Tetsuya had nowhere left to retreat and swung his bat with all his might.

Bang!

The bat hit the top half of the baseball, and the baseball slammed into the ground and headed toward First Base.

Such luck; Jiecheng felt helpless, but he still sprinted toward First Base.

Without a doubt, Jiecheng failed to reach base.

The first inning ended with the score temporarily at 0:0; both sides showed a strong desire to attack on the batting end, and both pitchers suppressed the opponent's lineup, so the first inning could be considered a back-and-forth affair with neither side giving an inch.

In the stands, Seido's fans felt much more at ease now.

Although they had already beaten Inashiro twice this year, those two victories alone could not erase the shadow cast by Inashiro's long-standing record of winning more than they lost against Seido.

Even though Seido's batting lineup seemed to have improved significantly, faintly earning the title of the strongest lineup, and the team even had a genius ace like Huangqian Yangyi.

The fans held high hopes, but the anxiety in their hearts was also real.

However, in the inning that just passed, Nanjo Taishi's outstanding performance on the Pitcher's Mound, Zhitian Jiangtai's super-long-distance effort (not counting the hitting), and then feeling the determination Seido showed on the batting end—all these little things accumulated, making the fans feel inexplicably reassured.

Perhaps, they really could make it to Koshien this year!

"Nanjo! Keep it up!"

"Suppress them!"

"Ace!!"

Although Nanjo Taishi had already lost his status as the ace, some of his old fans did not think so; in their hearts, once Nanjo Taishi was an ace, he would always be Seido's ace, at least that was what they thought.

In the top of the second inning, the first batter Nanjo Taishi faced after returning to the Pitcher's Mound was Inashiro's Fourth Batter, First Baseman, Shinkawa Kenichi.

Come on, if I don't strike you out, I'd be letting down so many fans who are cheering for me! Nanjo Taishi's gaze was firm; at this moment, it was as if the god of baseball had possessed him, his entire state was surprisingly good, and the cheering in his ears gradually faded, as if the spectator stands had split apart to form two separate worlds.

Seeing the signal given by Tanaka Wataru, Nanjo Taishi lifted his left leg, swung his right arm fiercely, and the baseball whistled through more than half the distance to arrive in front of the Home Plate.

Pop!

The baseball entered the mitt, and Shinkawa Kenichi in the Batter's Box had his pupils constrict; this pitch, so fast!

Is it an illusion? It feels faster than when we faced each other before.

Turning his head to glance at the speed gun in the corner of the stadium, 143; it really was faster than before.

Shinkawa Kenichi silently gripped his bat tighter; having made progress at a time like this, no matter how big or small the improvement was, it was not good news for them, Inashiro.

As for Tanaka Wataru, who caught this pitch, his mood was very good; the force generated the moment the baseball entered the mitt made him feel the change in Nanjo Taishi.

This guy, ever since Huangqian Yangyi entered Seido, he had become even more diligent in his practice than before, and his mentality had also changed quite a bit; being able to have his current progress and performance was all forced out of him.