Chapter 115: Narumiya Mei's Slider

For the second pitch, Narumiya Mei threw the ball with a fluid motion.

Huangqian Yangyi's gaze sharpened, and he swung his bat!

Bang!

The baseball flew high into the air, heading toward the foul territory in left field.

"Strike!"

Swinging so decisively—this guy's target is the forkball!

Harada Masatoshi reached this conclusion in an instant, but quickly dismissed the conjecture; if it were anyone else, that might be the case, but this Huangqian Yangyi had a wicked heart, so it might just be a trap.

Thinking this, Harada Masatoshi called for another forkball, only this time he moved it to the edge of the outside corner.

Narumiya Mei nodded and threw the baseball; the ball flew in rapidly, but Huangqian Yangyi did not swing this time.

"Ball!"

Damn it, this guy sees the pitch path so clearly?

Harada Masatoshi clicked his tongue and helplessly returned the ball; having thrown two consecutive forkballs, the probability of it being hit would increase if he threw another, so Harada Masatoshi called for a slider.

In the batter's box, Huangqian Yangyi recognized it as a slider the moment he saw the pitch path, locked onto the outside corner, and swung the bat with force.

However, the little white ball suddenly produced a downward displacement after entering the home plate area, crossing paths with the bat.

This! Another ball!

And this slider actually had a drop to it! It didn't have that before!

"Strike!"

Three strikes, Huangqian Yangyi is out!

At this moment, everyone from Seido fell silent.

Ever since Huangqian Yangyi joined the first string and started playing for Seido, this was his first time being called out from the batter's box; not only the spectators, but his Seido teammates also found it hard to believe at this moment.

They didn't know when it started, but their expectations for Huangqian Yangyi were no longer limited to the pitcher's mound; they had also placed enough trust in him at the plate, and they hadn't even noticed themselves that their trust in Huangqian Yangyi's batting had already surpassed that of Dong Qingguo—this was the sense of security brought by a one-hundred-percent batting average.

"Tsk!"

Huangqian Yangyi walked off the batter's box and turned his head to look at Narumiya Mei; this little blondie was looking at him triumphantly at this moment.

Haha, how about that? It's not just you who has a secret weapon.

This meaning was clearly conveyed from Narumiya Mei's eyes.

Heh, you stinky blondie, you just wait!

Huangqian Yangyi also returned to the dugout feeling depressed; it was already the bottom of the 7th inning, and he didn't know if he would have another chance to take his turn at bat.

But, when it was his turn to pitch, he would definitely make that little blondie strike out!

"Don't overthink it, it's a very normal thing."

Seeing Huangqian Yangyi return with a dark face, Miyuki stepped forward and said.

"Exactly, it's no big deal," said Kuramochi Yoichi.

"Hit it next time!" said Yuki Tetsuya.

"Haha, kid, this is a necessary path on the road to growth," Dong Qingguo even laughed and patted Huangqian Yangyi on the shoulder.

Huangqian Yangyi gave a dry laugh and said: "Narumiya Mei's slider has changed; although the downward movement isn't much, it's different from before, so we need to be careful."

"Mm, we know."

"Don't worry, leave it to us."

At this time, Zhitian Jiangtai had already stepped into the batter's box on the field; after swinging and missing the first pitch, Zhitian Jiangtai suddenly positioned his bat for a bunt on the second pitch, and the quality of the bunt was very high—the baseball bounced away and rolled toward the position of the shortstop, and Zhitian Jiangtai relied on his speed advantage to reach first base narrowly.

This made the Seido fans incredibly happy; they hadn't expected that after Huangqian Yangyi was called out, Zhitian Jiangtai would successfully reach base.

For a time, the Seido fans in the stadium cheered for Zhitian Jiangtai.

On the pitcher's mound, Narumiya Mei glared angrily at Zhitian Jiangtai; this guy actually bunted!

To this, Zhitian Jiangtai shrugged and smiled; his mission was to reach base, and the method didn't matter.

The next one to stand in the batter's box was Kominato Ryosuke; perhaps because Narumiya Mei was angry, his subsequent pitches seemed full of drive, and the pitch paths were even sharper than before; although he barely managed to make contact, it was a ground ball, and the baseball rolled toward third base—just as Haneda Kazuki picked up the ball and prepared to throw to second base to force out Zhitian Jiangtai, he saw a figure already dive toward the second base bag.

Stolen base! When!

Haneda Kazuki didn't have time to think and hurriedly threw the ball toward first base.

"Pa!"

"Out!"

Kominato Ryosuke was just a little short of reaching base; although it was a pity, he successfully sent Zhitian Jiangtai to second base, so this exchange wasn't a loss.

Damn it, damn it!

Narumiya Mei was angry again; he had been focused on pitching and hadn't even noticed when Zhitian Jiangtai left the base, and not just him, the others from Inashiro hadn't noticed either.

However, the matter was settled; two outs had already been recorded, and it would take only one more person to end this inning.

Narumiya Mei was indeed an experienced player; after quickly sorting out his emotions, he focused his attention on the next batter, Yuki Tetsuya.

With a runner on second and Yuki as the batter, Narumiya Mei and Harada Masatoshi dared not be careless.

Narumiya Mei lifted his chin toward Harada Masatoshi.

Harada Masatoshi shook his head; it wasn't time yet.

Narumiya Mei pouted unhappily, then threw the baseball according to Harada Masatoshi's pitch calling.

Pa!

"Strike!"

A low forkball entered the home plate, and Yuki Tetsuya remained still without swinging.

Then for the next pitch, Narumiya Mei's pitching rhythm was very fast; as soon as Harada Masatoshi's signal came out, he threw the ball.

Pa!

"Strike!"

It was a Fastball.

Harada Masatoshi frowned; he wasn't swinging at this either?

Could this guy be waiting for a Slider?

Throw one and see.

Having made his decision, Harada Masatoshi gave the signal.

Narumiya Mei nodded; his Slider now could be thrown like the one from before, or he could throw that Slider with a distinct downward break—in other words, his Slider actually had two completely different trajectories.

This was also what he had been painstakingly practicing and mastering during this time; whenever he thought about losing to Huangqian Yangyi and Miyuki Kazuya at the Dudahui and the Kanto Tournament, Narumiya Mei felt incredibly restless, urgently pursuing evolution.

And now, he had succeeded, and it wasn't just that.

A Slider was thrown, and Yuki Tetsuya swung his bat fiercely.

Bang!

The baseball indeed dropped after entering the Home Plate, but looking at the degree, it was actually a ball! Yuki Tetsuya's bat grazed the top of the baseball and hit it into the ground; the baseball went straight past Narumiya Mei and bounced toward the Second Baseman Hirai Tsubasa behind him.

Catching the baseball, Hirai Tsubasa threw it hard to First Base, successfully putting out Yuki Tetsuya—out!

With three outs secured, the seventh inning came to an end; the score between the two sides remained 2:1, a difference of only one run, and no one dared to be careless.

In the Inashiro Dugout, Coach Kunitomo looked at his players with a serious expression.

"From here on, everyone must swing actively; don't deliberately pursue an Extra-base Hit. As long as we can increase the number of base runners, scoring opportunities will naturally arise, and the batting order will also advance faster!" Coach Kunitomo said.

The Inashiro team nodded; they understood the coach's meaning—as long as they could get on base, the rotation of the batting order would accelerate, and to score, it would ultimately be more likely to rely on the few players in the heart of the lineup.