Chapter 155: Double

Such a line of reasoning did not garner much agreement at the time; after all, it was only the Spring Tournament, which did not explain much.

It was not until later, when Seido won the Kanto Tournament and consecutively defeated two national-level powerhouses, Ichidai Sanko and Inashiro Industrial, in the Summer Regional Tournament, that almost all the media unanimously acknowledged this claim.

Even though they were not in the same region, Hinata Hayato had studied Huangqian Yangyi earlier than anyone else at Honghai University Sagami. He was an extremely casual Pitcher, and with that equally casual Catcher, Miyuki Kazuya, the two could always pull off unexpected things during a game.

At first, Hinata Hayato did not take it too seriously; after all, the difficulty for Seido to enter Koshien was too great. But who could have imagined that the First Year Pitcher he had once paid attention to out of curiosity was now truly standing across from him, and Seido had become the greatest opponent Honghai University Sagami had encountered since entering Koshien.

Spinning the baseball in his hand, Hinata Hayato and Huangqian Yangyi's gazes met in the air, and both felt pressure from the other.

This is a Pitcher even more formidable than the current Narumiya Mei!

This is a powerful Batter not inferior to Dong Qingguo!

A few seconds later, Hinata Hayato quickly threw the baseball, and Huangqian Yangyi also swung his bat decisively.

Bang!

"Jianjie!"

A Slider on the outside corner was hit Jianjie by Huangqian Yangyi. Hinata Hayato immediately frowned. This pitch had been thrown very precisely, and the speed was not bad either; the fact that he had connected with it on the first look meant this guy's ability to track the ball was just too strong!

In the Batter's Box, after hitting that ball Jianjie, Huangqian Yangyi took the opportunity to glance at the radar gun: 148 km/h!

Not only was the pitch fast, but the ball's movement was strong, and the control was precise and tricky. That he could track this ball on the first attempt was entirely due to his powerful dynamic vision. In terms of swing speed and power alone, he definitely could not compare to Dong Qingguo, and his plate discipline was even less comparable to Kominato Ryosuke.

Hu~

Taking a deep breath to adjust his state, Huangqian Yangyi prepared himself once more. That last pitch was a Slider; what about the next one? A Fastball? A Forkball? A Changeup?

Information about Hinata Hayato flashed through Huangqian Yangyi's mind, and his focus was highly concentrated.

Seeing this, the Honghai University Sagami Catcher did not dare to be careless.

It was safer to be cautious and keep the pitch location on the edge of the outside corner, the Catcher thought, immediately giving the signal.

Hinata Hayato nodded. Such a Batter was very difficult to deal with. If he were to give up a hit to Huangqian Yangyi here, then the subsequent Batters would definitely do everything in their power to send him back to home plate. To stifle this possibility, he had to strike him out here!

Swish!

A flash of white light flickered, and the baseball flew toward home plate just like that.

"Hit it!!" the spectators shouted, and Huangqian Yangyi swung his bat the moment he saw the trajectory.

"Pa!"

"Strike!"

The little white ball flew past the bottom of Huangqian Yangyi's bat; it was a Forkball!

Swinging and missing, Huangqian Yangyi let out a long breath. The count had reached two strikes. Both the Slider and the Forkball had been thrown, and both were on the outside corner.

The next pitch would likely be a Changeup on the low inside corner.

Huangqian Yangyi thought to himself, but would it be that simple?

Throw it, use this pitch to finish him! The Catcher gave the signal with determined eyes. Throwing an inside pitch after two consecutive outside pitches was a matter of course, and for the pitch type, he naturally chose the Changeup.

Hinata Hayato nodded after seeing the signal. He knew that Huangqian Yangyi must be prepared for a Changeup, but this was not something one could hit just by being prepared; after all, a Batter could not know the pitch type before the ball was released, and a Circle Changeup was not like a Palmball, which had early movement and was easy to identify.

Come on, a head-on confrontation; if you have the ability, hit it!

Hinata Hayato glanced at Huangqian Yangyi once more before throwing the ball. The little white ball flew over. At first glance, an ordinary person would think it was a Fastball, but Huangqian Yangyi's dynamic vision was monstrous; he could keenly sense the change in pitch speed.

A Changeup!!

In just an instant, Huangqian Yangyi judged it, and the bat in his hands swung with a slight delay.

Bang!

The moment the ball and bat collided, it was as if an invisible wave of air had been stirred up.

Boom!

The little white ball shot straight into the clouds, flying up from home plate and carving out a white trajectory.

"Center Fielder!!" the Catcher shouted.

Damn it!!

The Center Fielder turned his head to confirm the ball's position while running backward at an extremely fast speed. However, the little white ball flew rapidly over his head, and no matter how hard he stretched his arm, he could not reach the landing baseball.

Although he had not managed to hit the sweet spot perfectly, Huangqian Yangyi still blasted an Extra-base Hit. His footsteps were swift as he charged toward First Base. Noticing that the Center Fielder had dived but still failed to catch the ball, Huangqian Yangyi did not stop for a moment and charged toward Second Base again!

"Safe!"

"Double!!"

"Nice hit~!!"

"Well done, Huangqian-san!"

His teammates cheered excitedly, and the audience erupted into thunderous applause.

"Yoshi! Let me send you back to home plate, Huangqian!"

In the top of the second inning, the 5th Batter, Huangqian Yangyi, who was the first to stand in the Batter's Box, had secured a perfect start for Seido. Isashiki Jun, who came up after him, bowed politely to the umpire before immediately revealing a fierce face.

"Come on!"

"Ha!"

The Catcher was startled by Isashiki Jun; after giving him a look of disgust, he gave the signal.

Swish!

"Strike!"

Whoosh!

"Jianjie!"

Bang!

"Jianjie!"

After three consecutive pitches, the Catcher could not help but look at Isashiki Jun again. When looking at the data before the game, he knew this was a very reckless Batter.

Now that he was experiencing it firsthand, he deeply felt that this was completely a reckless brute who just swung at everything! This was truly swinging at whatever came! As long as it wasn't an obvious ball, this guy would swing with all his might every time, and he had actually managed to hit it twice!

Whoosh!

"Ball!"

As expected, you thought this guy wouldn't be able to pick the pitches, but in reality, he sees them quite clearly; the Catcher helplessly returned the baseball.

Come on, Changeup!

After four pitches, he believed Hinata Hayato's pitch speed was already imprinted in the opponent's mind, and throwing a Changeup at this moment would surely get a good response.

"Throw it here, you bastard!!"

Isashiki shouted internally, waiting for Hinata Hayato's pitch.

Swish!

The little white ball flew out, and Isashiki suddenly raised his bat and swung it down diagonally as if chopping a tree.

Bang!

What!!

The Catcher was shocked; he had never seen such a reckless swing.

The little white ball was struck by the metal bat; because it wasn't hit solidly, the speed wasn't very fast, but it luckily passed through the space between First Base and Second Base and landed in no-man's-land.

Isashiki Jun's imposing swing made the Honghai Daisagara batting lineup back up quite a bit, and for a short time, no one could quickly reach where this ball landed.

Thump, thump, thump!

Huangqian Yangyi took this opportunity to reach Third Base, and Seido gained a precious scoring opportunity.