Chapter 149: The Strange Fourth Batter

However, looking at the 148 and 149 km/h speeds of the last two pitches, it was clear that the opponent likely couldn't maintain such speed on every pitch; after all, the faster the pitch, the higher the demand for control, and the more stamina it consumes.

Sigh~

Manager Suzuki looked at Huangqian Yangyi, who had already secured two strikes on the Pitcher's Mound, and a sense of powerlessness rose in his heart. Kawae was already trailing by so many runs that the game could be considered decided. Facing Seido's ace at this moment, the opponent wasn't giving them a single chance. Fortunately, they had already scored one run earlier, so they wouldn't be shut out like Seika, which provided some small comfort.

"Strikeout!"

The umpire's voice came, and Kawae's third batter was also out.

As they left the field, the third batter and the fourth batter brushed past each other.

"Don't be picky, swing early! Just hit it!"

Kawae's fourth batter nodded. Having watched 6 pitches, Huangqian Yangyi had thrown 4 four-seam fastballs, one two-seam fastball, and one slider; it could be said he had already displayed all the pitch types they had gathered intelligence on.

But it was meaningless. No matter the pitch type, as long as the speed was fast enough, it was hard to hit. Their pitch selection was useless. Could you hit it just because you selected it? Don't joke around. Rather than wasting opportunities by being picky, it was better to just swing; who knows, maybe with a bit of luck, you'd make contact.

Not to mention scoring, just being able to hit one of Huangqian Yangyi's pitches for a base hit would definitely make one famous at Koshien!

At the same time, they at Kawae wouldn't be looked down upon for losing the game. Of course, it would be even better if Seido could go on to win the championship.

At this moment, the people from Kawae were no longer thinking about winning the game, but rather how to make Kawae's reputation look better even in defeat.

Stepping into the Batter's Box, Kawae's fourth batter looked at Huangqian Yangyi with eyes full of the desire to hit.

Hmm? What's the situation?

Huangqian Yangyi was stunned for a few seconds; this guy had quite a strong fighting spirit.

Little did he know, the batter had already given up hope for victory and was purely challenging his pitching from a personal standpoint.

What if he could hit a Home Run off Huangqian Yangyi?

The batter already had such a craving in his heart; he would surely become famous nationwide, right?!

The more he thought, the more excited he became. The batter felt the bat in his hands was so thirsty. Come on, give it to me! Pitch to me!

Eww~

Huangqian Yangyi suddenly felt a chill and, enduring the batter's strange gaze, threw the ball with force.

It was a slider with a strange trajectory and extremely high speed. The batter roared and swung his bat, but he was still a beat slow.

"Pop!"

"Strike!"

Hiss!

The batter wasn't scared by such a sharp slider; instead, he looked at Huangqian Yangyi with a face full of emotion. As expected, this First Year was amazing. Watching from the sidelines, he knew it was fast, but only by standing in the Batter's Box and watching the baseball fly toward him face-to-face could he clearly feel this pressure.

Watching the baseball fly in, he had the feeling that if he didn't swing and hit the ball, he would be killed by it.

Hu-ha~

Taking a deep breath to suppress the nervousness in his heart, the batter set his batting stance again.

As expected of a team that could make it to Koshien, this fourth batter's mentality was truly good. Huangqian Yangyi gave the opponent a mental thumbs-up.

He then threw an inside two-seam fastball; the baseball bypassed the batter's swinging bat and drilled into the glove.

Heh, Miyuki grinned. This fourth batter's hitting ability was good, full of power, and he had a good grasp of timing. But it was almost impossible to hit Huangqian Yangyi's pitches so quickly; at the very least, one would need some time to adapt and get used to them. But right now, what Kawae High School lacked was precisely time. This was already the eighth inning; where would there be enough time for Kawae's batters to adapt?

Then, on the third pitch, a ball on the outer edge successfully lured the batter into swinging, securing the third out. The bottom of the eighth ended, and the score remained 10:1.

"Huangqian Yangyi, you're something else, that was quite the intimidation." Dong Qingguo trotted over from Third Base to Huangqian Yangyi and laughed wantonly.

Just from the first pitch, even Dong Qingguo had been startled. He was certain that after this pitch, all the teams at Koshien would definitely pay more attention and be more wary of Huangqian Yangyi from now on.

Doing this had both pros and cons. The con was that those teams would pay more attention to Huangqian Yangyi and naturally study his pitching more deeply. The pro was that a 157 km/h Fastball was enough to make these guys stay on guard at all times.

Furthermore, Dong Qingguo knew that Huangqian Yangyi still had a reserved weapon. When the opponent was highly focused on dealing with Huangqian Yangyi's super-high-speed ball, a Changeup with a speed of only 120-something km/h would be enough to finish off any batter.

"Senior Dong, what are you so happy about? You wouldn't be able to hit that pitch either, right?" Huangqian Yangyi never forgot to tease Dong Qingguo.

Sure enough, upon hearing Huangqian Yangyi say this, Dong Qingguo was instantly furious. This brat, he really wanted to slap him to death.

"You just wait, wait until Koshien is over and we're back at school, see if I don't deal with you." Dong Qingguo made a threat.

"Hehe, really? I'll go tell the Manager right now that you're bullying me."

"Bastard, you get back here!"

And so, the audience saw the Seido Captain chasing their ace from the field all the way into the Dugout, and then the ace hid behind Manager Kataoka and said something, while Dong Qingguo nodded apologetically at the Manager.

The game continued. Top of the ninth, Seido on offense. The batting order happened to rotate to the bottom of the lineup. Shinoki Keita was struck out by Kawae's second-year relief pitcher, and Yoshikawa Junpei was tagged out.

Next, the 9th batter, Huangqian Yangyi, carried his black bat and walked into the Batter's Box.

If a Home Run came now, Kawae's heart would probably be shattered, Huangqian Yangyi thought to himself.

Over the past few innings, Kawae's pitcher had changed to this second-year. His pitch speed was even faster than Qinghai Lin's, and he had mastered the Sinker and Slider. His control was also passable; in several innings, he had only walked one batter. However, his pitch power was truly lacking; without any special characteristics, at the same speed, it looked only slightly better than a ball fired from a pitching machine.

Such pitching might count as excellent in the regional tournament, but on the Koshien stage, it was a bit lacking.

One had to say, a dark horse team like Kawae really had a shallow foundation; being able to make it this far was already a miracle.

On the Pitcher's Mound, Kawae's relief pitcher also felt a huge pressure descending at this moment. Facing Huangqian Yangyi, his feeling was about the same as facing Dong Qingguo.

After hesitating for a while, the pitcher threw the ball according to the Catcher's instructions.

Huangqian Yangyi was focused, his gaze locking onto the baseball the moment it flew out. The bat drew an arc at high speed and accurately struck the baseball!

The little white ball flew up, heading toward the Center Fielder, and landed in the spectator stands.