Chapter 183: We Are the Champions!!

Thanks to this home run, along with his previous excellent batting performance, Yuki Tetsuya caught the eyes of the scouts in the stands, each of them paying much more attention and importance to this second-year Seido batter.

On the field, the game continued; one out, no one on base, and the batter was Seido's fourth batter, Dong Qingguo.

Zhongyue Youtai and the catcher decided to issue a base on balls almost simultaneously; after four consecutive balls, Dong Qingguo helplessly jogged to first base.

Not only Dong Qingguo, but the fifth batter, Huangqian Yangyi, received the same treatment; he stood in the batter's box full of fighting spirit, only to walk to first base with a look of frustration.

Having walked the two biggest threats, Zhongyue Youtai looked at the batter, Isashiki Jun, focused all his spirit and strength, and struck him out with three consecutive pitches.

Two outs, runners on first and second, and Zhongyue Youtai immediately struck out the seventh batter, Shinoki Keita.

Thus, the Koshien final entered the final ninth inning, the true coda.

Trailing by 6 runs, every face on the Seibo side was already filled with disappointment; even though the game wasn't over and they hadn't given up, the fact of a 6-run deficit was right before their eyes, and they hardly knew how they could possibly score 6 runs in their final offensive opportunity.

Two 3-run home runs?

Such a thing was something one wouldn't even dare to dream of.

The leadoff batter stood in the batter's box with the determination to fight to the death; despite being behind by so much, Huangqian Yangyi didn't see a hint of surrender on the opponent's face—too tenacious. You can defeat such a team, but you absolutely cannot crush them.

At this stage, Huangqian Yangyi no longer held back his pitch speed, throwing as fast as he possibly could; after three fastballs at 151, 153, and 154, the batter could only be struck out in frustration.

"One out!!"

"One out!!"

The Seido fans suddenly erupted in thunderous cheers; with only two outs left, everything would come to an end, and they had waited for this day for too long.

Seido, which just a few years ago had failed consecutively in West Tokyo to snatch the Koshien spot from Inashiro Industrial and Ichidai Sanko, had actually given them such a huge surprise this year.

The final!

Only two outs away from becoming champions!

Whoosh!

On the field, Huangqian Yangyi was not distracted by the spectators' actions; his spirit was entirely focused on pitching, putting his all into every single pitch, leaving the Seibo batters with absolutely no hope.

"Strike!"

"Strike!"

"Strike!"

"Strikeout!!"

With the first and second batters out in succession, Seido was just one out away from claiming the championship.

At this moment, not only the spectators, but the hands of Manager Kataoka in the dugout could not stop trembling, and the usually expressive Department Head Ota was now strangely quiet.

Takashima Rei's eyes behind her glasses were already brimming with tears.

Chris, who was sitting to the side recording the details of the game, had already stood up, his pen having long since fallen to the ground.

All the Seido teammates were now staring intently at the field, at that figure on the pitcher's mound.

Swish!!

As the baseball flew out, Seibo's third batter, Seguchi Masato, swung and missed.

One strike!

Whoosh!

Soon, the second pitch flew in.

"Strike!!"

Two strikes!

The Seido fans in the stadium fell silent in tacit agreement, every person's heart pulled by Huangqian Yangyi's pitching.

In the eyes of the entire audience, baseball fans nationwide, and everyone in the world watching Koshien, Huangqian Yangyi threw the final pitch of the game!

After the pitch, the stadium was silent for several seconds, as if time itself had frozen at that moment.

As the bat in Seguchi Masato's hands slipped powerlessly to the ground, the Seido fans in attendance erupted into the loudest cheers they had ever made.

"Champions!!!"

"We won, we won!!"

"Amazing! We are the champions!!"

"Conquer the nation! We really did it!"

The fans shouted excitedly, happy and thrilled; they celebrated with those around them, and many were moved to tears.

Meanwhile, behind Huangqian Yangyi, his teammates rushed toward him with wild, excited expressions.

The teammates in the dugout also swarmed out, all of them instinctively gathering at the pitcher's mound to hoist Huangqian Yangyi up and toss him into the sky.

This time, Huangqian Yangyi did not resist, celebrating their victory wantonly with everyone.

On the sidelines, Manager Kataoka's shoulders couldn't stop trembling, and two lines of tears flowed down from behind his sunglasses.

"We won! We are the champions!"

Department Head Ota seemed to have just come to his senses and suddenly shouted.

"Yes, we finally did it." Takashima Rei took off her glasses and wiped away her tears incessantly.

Conversely, on the Seibo High School side, every one of them shed tears of frustration; after battling for 9 innings and giving their all, they ended up with a miserable 6-run loss.

On the field, Huangqian Yangyi, finally released by his teammates and back on the ground, felt dizzy; seeing that everyone wasn't finished yet, he pointed toward Manager Kataoka in the dugout.

"Everyone! Let's go thank our lovely Manager Kataoka together!"

Thus, Manager Kataoka was carried out and sent into the sky.

Taking advantage of everyone's attention being on Manager Kataoka, Huangqian Yangyi walked to the edge of the field and looked up at where his family was located.

Huangqian Mama was already streaming with tears; pride! In her heart, she felt incomparably proud of Huangqian Yangyi!

Huangqian Baba, standing to the side, wasn't crying, but his body was visibly trembling.

His sister, Huangqian Mamiko, was just like their mother, tears flowing uncontrollably; as the only member of the family who often came to visit Seido, she knew best how hard and difficult Huangqian Yangyi's training had been, and now that he had won the championship, she felt all his effort and sweat had been rewarded.

"Onii-chan~!"

A voice with a tremor rang out; unlike her mother and older sister, Huangqian Kumiko did not weep with joy, but her eyes were filled with adoration for her older brother as she leaned over the railing and waved enthusiastically at Huangqian Yangyi.

Beside her, Kousaka Reina, who had already secretly given her heart to him despite their limited interactions, covered her lips with both hands and stared fixedly at Huangqian Yangyi, as if she wanted to carve this figure into her heart forever.

The celebration for Seido did not last long; after all, the people from Seibo were still present, and while being mindful of their feelings, the awards ceremony was also being prepared.

After the awards ceremony, the members of Seido interacted with the spectators for quite a long time before returning to the locker room one by one, feeling completely satisfied.

"Huangqian!"

Inside the locker room, Dong Qingguo suddenly called out.

Hm? Huangqian Yangyi, who was in the middle of changing his clothes, turned his head in confusion and saw Dong Qingguo looking at him with a serious expression.

"Thank you."

Hearing this, Huangqian Yangyi smiled without making a response, and after Dong Qingguo finished speaking, he turned around to continue packing his things.

The fans' enthusiasm did not end there; after leaving the venue, the members of Seido were surrounded again, and Huangqian Yangyi sighed helplessly as he looked at the figures of his family in the distance; after the fans, the reporters crowded around as well.

It was unknown how much time had passed before the Seido group finally made it back to the hotel with great difficulty.

Huangqian Yangyi's family had already been waiting there; seeing this, Manager Kataoka told the others to return to their respective rooms, while he walked over together with Huangqian Yangyi.

"Onii-chan!" Kumiko rushed over and happily buried her head in her brother's chest, swaying back and forth.

"Congratulations on winning the championship, brother!"

Huangqian Yangyi smiled, feeling incomparably satisfied in this moment.

"Kumiko."

"Hm?"

"Happy birthday."