Chapter 157: Head-on Confrontation. Strikeout!

Pop!

"Strike!"

Whoosh!

Miyuki caught the baseball and secretly let out a sigh of relief. This guy had actually chosen an outside pitch to hit on the very first ball. Fortunately, Huangqian Yangyi's pitch speed was fast; even for a powerful Batter, it was difficult to make contact on the first try.

After secretly rejoicing, Miyuki immediately adjusted his pitch-calling strategy and moved his glove toward the inside. Come on, the signature two-seam fastball of Huangqian—let's go for a ball!

Huangqian Yangyi nodded and lifted his leg. Furukawa Shunsuke also braced himself at this moment. The timing of his swing on the previous pitch had been a bit late; this time, he had to be a little earlier!

The baseball flew straight in. Furukawa Shunsuke seized the timing and swung!

With a swish, after the baseball entered the Home Plate, it rapidly veered toward the lower right, the exaggerated shift dropping directly outside the strike zone.

"Strike!"

The Batter swung halfway, earning another strike count.

"Great, Huangqian!"

"Two strikes now!"

"Take him out!"

"Strikeout!"

Holding two strikes, Miyuki still dared not relax. Huangqian Yangyi on the Pitcher's Mound also wore a serious expression. Both of them keenly sensed that if that last pitch had truly been a four-seam Fastball, it would have definitely been hit flying away.

One could only say that he was worthy of being the Fourth Batter of a national-level powerhouse; his grasp of the timing to hit the ball could simply be called monstrous.

After returning the baseball, Miyuki slowly squatted down. Now, to steadily resolve the opponent, the best method was to throw a Changeup; this was something the Batter would absolutely not expect.

But, there was no need!

There was no one on base. At this time, even if Furukawa Shunsuke reached base, it didn't matter; the threat was not great.

However, relying solely on a Fastball and a Slider to directly resolve this Batter was difficult. Since that was the case, he would have to trouble his teammates on the field.

Miyuki thought, and soon gave the pitch signal.

Come on, if he could resolve him directly by pitching, that was naturally a good thing. If not, with Huangqian Yangyi's pitch speed and power, Furukawa Shunsuke wouldn't be able to hit it that smoothly either.

Going to ramp up the pitch speed again?

After receiving Miyuki's signal, Huangqian Yangyi immediately took a deep breath, letting his body relax completely. Seeing this, Furukawa Shunsuke was full of confusion, not understanding what he was about to do.

Could it be that he was holding back some ultimate move?

It wouldn't be that, seeing him swing so seriously, he was planning to throw some Eephus Pitch, right?

With this suspicion in his heart, Furukawa Shunsuke had no choice but to be on guard.

But soon he dismissed such a deduction. From Huangqian Yangyi's eyes and the aura on his body, he felt the opponent's determination to have a head-on confrontation.

Just then, Huangqian Yangyi on the Pitcher's Mound moved. His left leg landed heavily, kicking up a cloud of dust, and his arm whipped with force to throw the baseball toward the Home Plate.

Swish!

A white light struck. Furukawa Shunsuke's bat had already swung out. A head-on confrontation? Then bring it on!

Bang!!

A crisp metallic sound rang out. The small white ball flew high into the air, but no expression of joy could be seen on Furukawa Shunsuke's face.

This ball was too fast, faster than anything he had seen! Even though he had swung early, he had only grazed the edge of the baseball.

"Flyout!"

"Out!"

After the baseball flew high, it landed in Kominato Ryosuke's glove.

"Good!"

"Beautifully done!!"

"One out!!"

Shouts came from the teammates behind him, and the spectators followed with cheers. Successfully resolving the Fourth Batter of Komadai Fujimaki made the Seido fans incredibly excited.

Conversely, the reaction of the Komadai Fujimaki fans at this moment was the same as the reaction of the Seido fans when Dong Qingguo was struck out earlier.

Furukawa Shunsuke walked off the Batter's Box. It was only the first at-bat; although it was a pity, there would still be opportunities later. If he stood in the Batter's Box again, he would definitely be able to hit it.

At Third Base, Dong Qingguo felt incredibly satisfied seeing Furukawa Shunsuke walk off the field silently.

Sure enough, wanting to hit the Huangqian kid's ball on the first try required the Goddess of Luck to descend. If you ask me, Miyuki and Huangqian are still too conservative; they haven't let loose. If they had brought out that casual spirit they usually use to deal with me, they would have resolved him long ago.

After being happy, Dong Qingguo felt a wave of resentment. When these two kids trained against him, they were much more decisive, bold, and daring than they were now. Now, dealing with Furukawa Shunsuke, they were acting so cautious and careful, which gave him the thought that he was inferior to Furukawa Shunsuke in their hearts.

Huangqian Yangyi: This is a match!

Miyuki Kazuya: This is Koshien!

At the Furukawa Shunsuke scene, the Fifth Batter of Komadai Fujimaki walked up.

Under the serious and tacit cooperation of Huangqian Yangyi and Miyuki Kazuya, they also only used three pitches to earn another out.

Afterward, the Sixth Batter—this was a left-handed hitter—came up and immediately tried to bunt by catching Huangqian Yangyi's Fastball. Unfortunately, the pitch speed was too fast, and the bunt failed.

After the second pitch, the Batter, having exposed his intent to bunt, chose to hit honestly. Two consecutive Inside High Balls aimed at his chest from the opposite corner caused him to strike out.

The second inning of the match ended; the score was 1:0, Seido leading.

The players from both sides returned to the Dugout. Manager Kataoka immediately summoned the team members to begin speaking.

"Kominato."

Manager Kataoka looked at Kominato Ryosuke standing behind the group.

"Your speed is very fast. Once you go up, don't hesitate. As soon as an opportunity appears, swing. As long as you can reach base, there will definitely be a chance to score later!" Manager Kataoka said.

Kominato Ryosuke nodded. He understood that the Manager was using him as a detonator. After all, behind him were Yuki Tetsuya, Dong Qingguo, and Huangqian Yangyi—three power hitters spanning the first, second, and third years of Seido. If even this couldn't send him back to Home Plate to score, he truly wouldn't believe it.

"In the first half of the match, we must widen the score gap. It is impossible for Huangqian to suppress the opponent's batting lineup forever. There are two more matches ahead that need him, so before he leaves the Pitcher's Mound, we must secure a buffer space for the second half of the match."

"Yes, Manager!"

Hearing the arrangements of Manager Kataoka, Huangqian Yangyi smiled helplessly; although his stamina had increased significantly compared to when he first entered Seido after several months of training, in a place like Koshien, especially with the current situation of facing three top national powerhouses in a row, it was simply impossible for him to truly pitch all three games completely.

And as long as he left the mound, whether it was Nanjo Taishi or Tanba Koichiro, they would absolutely give up runs in front of the batting lineups of these three schools, and not just one or two runs; even he himself dared not say he would not give up a single run.

As long as he left the mound, the game would immediately turn into a slugfest, and it would depend on which side scored more.

Therefore, in the first half of the game, while he was suppressing the opponent's batting lineup, how many runs Seido could score would directly determine the direction of the second half of the game.

After all, the more runs scored, the less pressure there would be on Nanjo Taishi and Tanba Koichiro, especially for a Pitcher like Tanba who could not handle pressure; Huangqian Yangyi was truly afraid that he would self-destruct on the field.