Chapter 128

Returning to the dugout, Huangqian Yangyi immediately put on his pitcher's glove.

In the top of the second inning, Huangqian Yangyi walked onto the field with his teammates behind him; the first batter was the Fourth Batter of Ichidai Sanko.

This batter was strong and sturdy, the same type as Dong Qingguo, with plenty of hitting power, though his batting technique was far inferior to Dong Qingguo's.

Quickly, Huangqian Yangyi took the first strike with a Fastball jammed into the batter's chest; Tanaka Wataru very cautiously called for another Fastball on the outside corner, and this time the Ichidai Sanko batter swung decisively but failed to make contact, his swing speed a bit slow.

After two strikes, Tanaka Wataru still didn't dare to relax; after all, the batter was the Fourth Batter of Ichidai Sanko, so for the third pitch, he called for a Slider Kai.

Huangqian Yangyi didn't say a word and quickly threw the baseball; the batter swung again, and missed again.

Three pitches later, the Fourth Batter of Ichidai Sanko was struck out so easily. This result left the fans of Sanko speechless, and they couldn't help but start worrying for Ichidai Sanko.

Unlike the fans' worry, the struck-out Fourth Batter of Ichidai Sanko was very calm; before going up to bat, he had already prepared himself for the possibility of not getting on base, as there was little hope of scoring off Huangqian Yangyi while his stamina was still full at the start of the game.

Huangqian Yangyi could absolutely not pitch the entire game; he would be replaced after 5 innings at most, and that was when they would truly need to score.

Even if Manager Kataoka unexpectedly let Huangqian Yangyi pitch the whole game today, they were confident they could hit the balls Huangqian Yangyi threw after his stamina dropped in the second half; regardless of which it was, the tactical focus of Ichidai Sanko today was on the second half of the game.

Before that, what they needed to do was consume Huangqian Yangyi's stamina and suppress the Seido batting lineup on defense, so as not to give up too many runs.

After this, the Fifth Batter walked up to the Batter's Box.

"Pop!"

"Strike!"

"Pop!"

"Strike!"

"Pop!"

"Strike!"

Having taken three consecutive strikes, the Fifth Batter of Ichidai Sanko likewise could not escape the fate of being struck out; Huangqian Yangyi even clocked a speed of 155 km/h, which really gave the batter a shock.

Tanaka Wataru returned the ball, but his eyes were signaling Huangqian Yangyi not to put in too much effort; although that last pitch was fast, the trajectory was also too high.

Nodding with a smile, Huangqian Yangyi also realized he had been a bit too excited; well, perhaps it was because his younger sister and older sister were watching from the stands, but he always subconsciously wanted to do better, and better still, today.

In the Seido dugout, upon seeing Huangqian Yangyi clock a speed of 155 km/h, everyone also had shocked expressions, followed by wild joy.

"Chris, that last pitch wasn't actually high," Manager Kataoka said, standing beside Chris.

"Yes, compared to when we tested his maximum speed before, Yangyi can now keep the trajectory a bit lower while throwing at this speed," Chris said.

Manager Kataoka nodded, feeling some anticipation in his heart; a 155 km/h pitch with control was enough to become Huangqian Yangyi's greatest weapon. He had only been in high school for a few months, and this guy had already grown to be this formidable; he really didn't know to what extent this kid could grow by this time next year.

Hearing the two men's conversation, Takashima Rei, who had also witnessed Huangqian Yangyi's maximum speed test, curled the corners of her mouth and smiled; she really didn't know if they would be able to encounter such an amazing pitcher at Seido in the future.

However, the recruitment work this year should be much easier to do than before; once Koshien was over, she would go check out the various prefectures.

On the field, just as Manager Kataoka and Chris were talking, Huangqian Yangyi had already started pitching, and the Sixth Batter of Ichidai Sanko swung and missed three times in a row before helplessly leaving the field; the top of the second inning ended, and the two sides swapped offense and defense.

"Boys, that's it, hit the ball when it comes, let the opponent see your determination; even if you can't reach it for now, you can still exert pressure on them," Manager Tahara said.

The Ichidai Sanko team nodded in unison, and then the 9 players entered the field; in the bottom of the second inning, Seido was on the offensive.

The first to stand in the Batter's Box was Isashiki Jun; his batting order today was 7th.

"Haaah!"

As if it were a routine, Isashiki Jun let out a loud roar.

Zhenzhong Yao on the Pitcher's Mound was very calm; this batter's style was also very obvious, belonging to the explosive type, but unlike Yuki, Yuki Tetsuya not only possessed extremely strong explosive power, but his own batting technique and pitch selection skills were also quite outstanding; by comparison, Isashiki Jun was more like a brute with nothing but strength. To deal with this type of batter, as long as one controlled the trajectory well and didn't let him hit comfortably, he could be handled well.

Zhenzhong Yao's first pitch was a High-speed Curveball jammed in front of Isashiki Jun; his swing was crowded, and Isashiki Jun hit the ball very high, but it didn't fly far, and it was steadily caught by the Ichidai Sanko Second Baseman.

"Flyout!"

The next batter, the Eighth Batter Shinoki Keita, after being pushed to a full count, chased a High-speed Curveball with a large downward break, resulting in a ground ball, and he also failed to get on base.

"Senior Zhenzhong Yao's High-speed Curveball is thrown really well; if he had other pitch types, he would be even harder to deal with," Huangqian Yangyi said.

"Don't you jinx it, kid; he's hard enough to deal with as it is. If he had other Breaking Balls, it would be even harder for us to score," Dong Qingguo said.

"Do you find him hard to deal with too, Senior? I thought you could hit a Home Run whenever you wanted, Senior Dong," Huangqian Yangyi teased.

Dong Qingguo snorted; he was confident, sure, but not arrogant. Although Zhenzhong Yao's pitching was relatively singular, he really did have that one trick that worked everywhere, having practiced his High-speed Curveball to an extremely high degree of completion, enough to deal with any batter in the country.

Even if he wanted to hit a Home Run off Zhenzhong Yao, he would have to rely on some luck.

Bang!

Just then, a crisp sound came from the field; the Ninth Batter, Yoshikawa Junpei, caught up to a Fastball and hit it through the Ichidai Sanko infield defense.

"Yoshikawa!!!"

After safely reaching base, intense applause came from the stands again; just like the previous inning, after two outs, Seido had someone on base again, and the fans were very expectant to see if Seido could seize the opportunity to score again.

"Zhitian! Hit it out!"

The First Batter, Zhitian Jiangtai, walked into the Batter's Box; facing everyone's expectations, he also brought out his determination, and the moment Zhenzhong Yao threw the ball, he swung his bat.

Whoosh!

The baseball and the bat brushed past each other; a swing and a miss.

Phew~

Zhitian Jiangtai pulled back his bat without feeling discouraged, glancing at Yoshikawa Junpei's position; the other had already left the base by two steps.

Just then, Zhenzhong Yao's pitch had already been released, and Zhitian Jiangtai immediately set his bat, a bunt!