Chapter 104: Zone Mode??

Returning the ball to Nanjo Taishi, Tanaka Wataru quickly signaled the second pitch; Nanjo Taishi was in great form right now, but it was unclear how long he could maintain it, so they had to seize this opportunity to secure an out as quickly as possible.

For the second pitch, a high-speed slider flew toward the outside corner; Shinkawa Kenichi swung his bat, and with a "Bang!", the baseball flew outside the right boundary.

"Strike!"

Having secured another strike, the pitcher-catcher duo exchanged a glance; the more it reached this point, the less they could afford to relax, and since a cornered Shinkawa Kenichi would definitely swing at anything that wasn't an obvious ball, it was better to stick to the old routine and throw a pitch to the very edges.

In the Batter's Box, Shinkawa Kenichi realized this too, but he wasn't troubled by it; a two-strike count was very common in baseball, and since he had to swing, he might as well be decisive—he would hit whatever came, and no matter what tricks the opponent used, he just needed to put the ball in play!

"Shinkawa, hit it out!"

"Go for it!"

"You can do it!"

"Blast it out of here!"

The cheers from the stands were very encouraging to Shinkawa Kenichi; within the Inashiro team, he had always shouldered immense trust, and whenever the game reached a stalemate, his teammates and fans always believed he could break the deadlock and create opportunities for the team.

Just then, Nanjo Taishi on the Pitcher's Mound moved, and the little white ball flew out almost instantly; Shinkawa Kenichi stepped out hard with his left foot and swung his bat with great spirit.

Bang!

The collision between the bat and the baseball made a dull thud, and then the baseball soared high toward the Left Fielder.

Shinkawa Kenichi dropped his bat and bolted out.

In the Left Fielder position, Yoshikawa Junpei watched the baseball flying in from the sky and immediately moved to meet it; the ball didn't fly very far, and after landing, it was quickly scooped up by Yoshikawa Junpei and thrown back, but unfortunately, it was a step too late, and Shinkawa Kenichi safely reached First Base, securing an opportunity for Inashiro.

"Still managed to get a piece of it."

Nanjo Taishi pressed down the brim of his cap; there was nothing wrong with the trajectory of that pitch, and it had been thrown accurately to the low outside edge, yet it still resulted in an Extra-base Hit, which only showed that Shinkawa Kenichi's batting prowess was enough to support his determination to hit.

However, having only one runner on base didn't put much pressure on him; he had to focus on dealing with the next 5th batter, who was also a very difficult batter to face—an Inashiro second-year, catcher, Harada Masatoshi!

"Harada-senpai, go for it!"

Narumiya Mei, on the sidelines, saw Harada Masatoshi step into the Batter's Box and shouted excitedly like a puppy out for a walk.

Harada Masatoshi was currently pondering how Tanaka Wataru would call the pitches next.

The two pitch types Nanjo Taishi mastered, the cutter and the high-speed slider, were both pitches with lateral movement, so relatively speaking, the difficulty of hitting them wasn't that high, and since the trajectories of these two pitches were completely different, it was simple to distinguish them.

The difficulty lay in the timing of the swing; Nanjo Taishi's high-speed slider had a high degree of completion, with a tricky trajectory and fast speed, and although his control wasn't as precise as Huangqian Yangyi's, he wouldn't make any major mistakes, especially in the early stages of the game—this guy didn't have the flaw of an unstable start like Tanba Koichiro.

Looking cautiously at Nanjo Taishi, Harada Masatoshi swung his bat the moment the baseball flew out; with a "whoosh," the bat grazed the top of the baseball, missing by only half a ball's distance.

"Strike!"

Then, for the second pitch, Nanjo Taishi threw, and the baseball flew toward Harada Masatoshi; after flying halfway, it shifted rapidly, and Harada Masatoshi swung again, the tip of the bat grazing the baseball and hitting it Jianjie.

"Nanjo-senpai is really in great form today," said Huangqian Yangyi.

"Zone Mode?" Kuramochi turned his head, looking puzzled.

Hearing this, Huangqian Yangyi rolled his eyes, just about to say that these kinds of realms were all fake, when the blue aura around Yuki Tetsuya flashed through his mind.

Well, this world really did have some mystical things in it.

During the conversation, Nanjo Taishi had already thrown the third pitch on the field.

The baseball flew straight toward Harada Masatoshi's chest; Harada Masatoshi's eyes narrowed, and he swung his bat fiercely, aiming for the middle of the strike zone—this pitch was nine times out of ten a cutter!

Pop!

After a sound, Harada Masatoshi realized he had miscalculated; this was actually a Fastball!

Looking back at Tanaka Wataru, Harada Masatoshi shook his head helplessly; the first pitch was a Fastball, the second was a high-speed slider, and he had assumed the opponent would use a cutter to decide the outcome, but this guy was bold enough to call for a Fastball.

Depressed as he left the field, Harada Masatoshi lightly bumped fists with the 6th batter, Yoshizawa Hideaki.

One out, runner on First Base.

Nanjo Taishi looked at Yoshizawa Hideaki in the Batter's Box; this guy's batting ability wasn't bad either, at a level sufficient to enter the heart of the order, and it wouldn't be easy to resolve him easily.

"Pop!"

"Strike!"

"Pop!"

"Strike!"

"Bang!"

"Foul Ball!"

After quickly getting two strikes, the cutter Nanjo Taishi threw was hit as a Foul Ball, but on the 4th pitch, a high-speed slider successfully struck out Yoshizawa Hideaki.

After that, facing Inashiro's 7th batter, Hirai Tsubasa, Nanjo Taishi quickly struck him out.

At First Base, Shinkawa Kenichi sighed helplessly; he had finally reached base but couldn't advance, which was the problem with their Inashiro lineup right now—to score, they needed runners on First and Second Base, and then it would be the heart of the order's turn to have a chance.

Returning to the Dugout, as soon as Shinkawa Kenichi sat down, Matsumoto Takuhai patted his shoulder and said, "Leave the rest to me."

"Yeah, I'm counting on you," said Shinkawa Kenichi.

It wouldn't be easy for their Inashiro to score against Seido today; at this time, they needed the Pitcher to step up and suppress Seido's lineup so the opponent couldn't score easily either.

"Well, why don't you just put me in now," Narumiya Mei interjected from the side.

Matsumoto Takuhai smiled and said, "Just stay put; there will be a time for you to play, and if you don't perform well, we won't let you off."

Narumiya Mei huffed: "I won't let them reach base!"

"I'm looking forward to it," said Matsumoto Takuhai.

Bottom of the second inning, Seido on offense.

Dong Qingguo walked to the Batter's Box, gripping his bat and swinging his arms.

"Ha!!"

Just as he stood in the Batter's Box, Dong Qingguo let out a roar.

Catcher Harada Masatoshi shook his head speechlessly, suddenly feeling that Narumiya Mei's assessment of Dong Qingguo as a gorilla was quite right.

Although he was complaining in his heart, Harada Masatoshi didn't dare to be the least bit negligent; this was Dong Qingguo, and it would be perfectly normal for him to blast a Home Run if there was the slightest carelessness.