Chapter 214: Narumiya Mei's Changeup

Seeing Narumiya Mei shaking his head at him, Harada Masatoshi frowned. Should he use that pitch now? Wouldn't it be too early?

Harada Masatoshi had his own plans in mind; the game had only just begun, and if they revealed their trump card now for Seido to see, it would be difficult to play the later stages.

However, looking at Narumiya Mei's current state, there was no stopping him anymore.

Sighing, Harada Masatoshi gave the signal. Since it was decided, then just strike him out cleanly! Mei!

Seeing Harada Masatoshi's gesture, Narumiya Mei's eyes flickered. It was the pitch sequence he wanted!

Whoosh!

Narumiya Mei's lips parted slightly, his whole body relaxed. This was a pitch he had prepared to hide until the summer, and its completion wasn't even that high. According to Manager Kunitomo's intentions, it was not to be exposed during the Spring Metropolitan Tournament or the upcoming Kanto Tournament. But now, Narumiya Mei was a bit carried away; he would deal with the future later. If he showed weakness now, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself.

Zoom!

The baseball flew from Narumiya Mei's fingertips, and Huangqian Yangyi locked onto the trajectory and swung his bat.

Yet, the baseball seemed to decelerate in mid-air, and when Huangqian Yangyi's bat swung through, it was still a good distance away from the ball.

Pop!

"Strike!"

"Strikeout!"

This is! A changeup!

Huangqian Yangyi's pupils constricted slightly. This guy Narumiya Mei, he had already mastered the changeup by this time!

Facing Narumiya Mei's slightly haughty expression at this moment, Huangqian Yangyi smiled. Although the appearance of the changeup surprised him, in Huangqian Yangyi's view, it wasn't unexpected that Narumiya Mei could reach this point; this guy was a genius to begin with.

Standing straight, Huangqian Yangyi walked off the Batter's Box, and at the same time, gave a thumbs-up to Narumiya Mei on the Pitcher's Mound.

Meanwhile, in the Seido Dugout, the expressions of everyone were not very pleasant after seeing Narumiya Mei also throw a changeup.

This guy's pitching was already hard enough to deal with—a pitch speed of 148 km/h approaching 150, precise control, and the ability to throw multiple pitch types. Now that he had mastered the changeup, it was a huge challenge for Seido's batting lineup.

Even when Huangqian Yangyi didn't deliberately push his speed, his pitches were generally controlled around 150 km/h, not much faster than Narumiya Mei. From this perspective, the gap between the two was already very small.

Following Huangqian Yangyi's strikeout, the Inashiro Industrial fans became rowdy; the ace's tough retaliation made them feel very satisfied.

Although Miyuki, who had stepped into the Batter's Box, was expressionless, he was secretly shaking his head and smiling bitterly inside. He was the Sixth Batter today, there was no one on base, and Narumiya Mei had just thrown a new pitch type; for him, this would only increase the difficulty of guessing the pitch.

Regarding Miyuki, Narumiya Mei's thoughts were even more complex than they were for Huangqian Yangyi. How confident Narumiya Mei had been when he originally invited Miyuki to Inashiro Industrial! As a result, they had indeed lost to Seido so many times; it was truly a slap in the face.

Kazuya! Come on, I will definitely beat you all!

After three consecutive pitches, Miyuki swung and missed three times, suffering a strikeout.

The game had only started for two innings, but the tension between Inashiro and Seido had already permeated the entire stadium. The spectators had the illusion that this wasn't the Spring Metropolitan Tournament, but the Summer Tournament finals, a game concerning the spots for Koshien.

After the second inning ended, Narumiya Mei returned to the Inashiro Dugout. The smile that had just curled on his lips stiffened the moment he met Manager Kunitomo's gaze.

It's over!

Cold sweat broke out on Narumiya Mei's back. Only then did he realize that he seemed to be in trouble.

Unexpectedly, Manager Kunitomo did not reprimand him, but instead said earnestly: "The rest of the game is up to you. Can you do it?"

Narumiya Mei was stunned. No way, he had acted on his own and exposed the changeup early, and he wasn't punished? Not even a harsh word?

Looking at Manager Kunitomo strangely, Narumiya Mei even wondered if his manager had been possessed.

"What? You can't do it?" Manager Kunitomo asked with a cold face.

"I can! I have no problem!" Narumiya Mei shouted.

Manager Kunitomo nodded. Although he was somewhat dissatisfied with Narumiya Mei's choice, he did not intend to blame him.

Although exposing the changeup in the Spring Metropolitan Tournament seemed disadvantageous, as a veteran manager, Manager Kunitomo knew very well that Narumiya Mei was a talented pitcher. As long as there were no accidents, his future would surely be bright. Yet, such a genius had been suppressed by those two from Seido for so long.

The current Narumiya Mei was completely unlike when he first entered Inashiro, where one could feel his pride and complacency at any time, that "I am the best" attitude. After a year of settling down, he had become very steady, knowing what he should and should not do.

Since he chose to use the changeup just now, Manager Kunitomo believed that it was the right time to use it. This was not only trust in his ace but also respect for the ace.

Watching Narumiya Mei joking around with his teammates, Manager Kunitomo felt a bit of pity inside. Narumiya Mei had not been crushed by his successive losses to Seido; instead, through such failures, his pitching and mentality had improved significantly. He was already a qualified ace.

They say failure is the mother of success, but Manager Kunitomo did not think so. Failure is failure. They could learn lessons and gain experience from failure, but they would never be content with failure. They wanted to win, Narumiya Mei wanted to win! Inashiro Industrial wanted to win!

The game entered the third inning. Both sides went back and forth; Inashiro could never break through Huangqian Yangyi's pitching, and Seido also found it difficult to score runs from Narumiya Mei.

The stalemate lasted until the end of the sixth inning, with both sides still tied at 0-0.

Whether it was Seido or Inashiro, they had exhausted their efforts in their batting lineups. Huangqian Yangyi also contributed an Extra-base Hit, but the offensive momentum could not be connected, and they always failed to score.

Neither Manager Kunitomo nor Manager Kataoka had any intention of changing pitchers. At this time, any move might cause a change in the situation on the field. Once the balance was broken, no one could say whether it would be good or bad.

At this critical moment, both managers chose to trust their own aces.

"Huangqian, are you tired?" Kuramochi Yoichi asked while sitting next to Huangqian Yangyi.

"It's alright, the rhythm is quite fast, and the pitch count isn't high." Huangqian Yangyi smiled. After a year of training, his stamina was no longer like it was when he first enrolled, unable to support a full game.

The game had only reached the 6th inning, and his pitch count had just passed 60; he was nowhere near the point of being tired.

Furthermore, it was still spring, the weather wasn't that hot, and his stamina consumption wasn't that great.