Chapter 216: The Final Offensive

Two outs, runners on first and third, the Batter is Narumiya Mei; after analyzing the current situation, Miyuki quickly gives the signs.

Huangqian Yangyi hunches over to slow his breathing, fingers lightly turning the baseball, his gaze lingering on Narumiya Mei for a moment before he stands straight, lifts his left leg slightly, and the little white ball is pitched in the blink of an eye.

Whoosh!

The baseball flies at high speed, and Narumiya Mei's swing is not the least bit hesitant; the moment Huangqian Yangyi swings his arm, he successfully discerns the chosen pitch, steps forward, and brings his bat down heavily.

Bang!

Amidst a crisp sound, the bat and the incoming baseball collide.

"Jianjie!"

Hmph~

Narumiya Mei pulls back his bat and huffs haughtily; the fact that he hit this last pitch foul makes him feel somewhat annoyed.

Huangqian Yangyi smiles when he sees Narumiya Mei's expression; that little blondie's swing just now was truly decisive—if he had been even a fraction of a second later, it would have been impossible to hit.

Next, for the second pitch, because Narumiya Mei is a left-handed Batter, Miyuki calls for an outside Cutter Slider.

It is a pitch path completely away from the body; the moment Narumiya Mei sees the baseball flying in, he subconsciously judges it to be a ball intentionally called by Miyuki to lure him into swinging, but the baseball shifts horizontally into the strike zone, landing right on the edge of the low outside corner.

Damn it!

Narumiya Mei's pupils dilate as he glares at Miyuki.

Miyuki pretends not to see it at all, returning the ball on his own; with two Strikes already recorded, one more pitch will resolve the current crisis.

Come on, Changeup, Miyuki squats down and gives the sign.

Whoosh!

Huangqian Yangyi does not dawdle either; after Miyuki gives the sign, he pitches directly, the baseball flying straight in and successfully luring Narumiya Mei into swinging his bat.

Thwack!

"Strike!"

"Strikeout!"

The baseball enters the glove, the umpire's voice rings out, and the scoring opportunity that Inashiro Industrial had worked so hard to get slips through their fingers; Narumiya Mei clenches his fist tightly—just a little bit, just a little bit more and he could have scored.

"It's okay, the game isn't over yet."

Returning to the dugout, although Harada Masatoshi also feels it is a pity, he still comforts Narumiya Mei this way; failing to score is not Narumiya Mei's fault, but rather that their entire batting lineup lacks the strength, and even if someone gets on base, it is difficult to sustain the offensive.

On this point, it is much the same for Seido; wanting to score runs off Narumiya Mei requires Seido's batting lineup to exert every ounce of their strength.

Bottom of the eighth, Seido on offense, Kominato Ryosuke stands in the Batter's Box with his bat in hand.

Before going up, Coach Kataoka gave him instructions: bunt!

Do everything possible to get on base; it is already the eighth inning, and if they cannot get on base now to create scoring opportunities for the teammates behind him, it will only be more difficult to score later.

If the game is ultimately dragged into extra innings, that is not good news for them, Seido.

Looking at Narumiya Mei, who is already prepared to pitch on the Pitcher's Mound, Kominato Ryosuke sets his bat forward in a bunting stance; the moment the baseball comes out, Kominato Ryosuke pulls back his bat and then swings it forcefully, having chosen the path of a forkball.

Bang!

"Jianjie!"

The baseball flies out of bounds, and Kominato Ryosuke breathes a sigh of relief; as long as it is a Jianjie, it is fine—he never intended to bunt on the first pitch, doing so was merely to disrupt the Catcher's pitch calling.

Next, the second pitch, Kominato Ryosuke swings again toward the lower half of the strike zone; Harada Masatoshi frowns—is he choosing to hit the forkball?

Or is this intentional?

Harada Masatoshi ponders to himself, then gives the sign for a Changeup.

On the Pitcher's Mound, Narumiya Mei nods with a serious expression; the more critical the moment, the less he can afford to be careless—once they give up a run here, this game might just end this way; although he is not quite sure what Kominato Ryosuke is planning, he will not let the opponent get on base so easily!

The Changeup is thrown, Kominato Ryosuke's eyes sharpen—this is the pitch he has been waiting for!

He sets his bat, just in time to block the incoming baseball, bang~!

The little white ball pops out, dropping toward the direction of Third Base; Kominato Ryosuke tosses his bat and turns to dash toward First Base.

"Yoshizawa!!"

Harada Masatoshi turns his head and shouts; Yoshizawa Hideaki at Third Base steps forward quickly to intercept the ball and uses his momentum to throw it to First Base.

"Safe!!"

After Kominato Ryosuke steps on the base, the baseball finally shoots straight into Carlos's glove.

"What a pity!"

"Just a little bit more and he would have been out."

"That guy runs fast, too."

"Do all small people run fast?"

The Inashiro supporters, seeing Kominato Ryosuke's thrilling arrival on base, all feel it is a pity they couldn't force him out.

On the base, Kominato Ryosuke, wearing a smile, nods lightly toward Isashiki Jun, who is coming up to bat.

Isashiki Jun steps into the Batter's Box carrying his bat, shouts at Narumiya Mei out of habit, sets his stance, and then swings and misses the first pitch with great bravado.

The second pitch is also swung at with refreshing, carefree abandon; although he doesn't hit it, the momentum is full, and just when everyone thinks he will be struck out just like that, a loud sound of contact rings out—Narumiya Mei's Slider is caught by Isashiki Jun, the angle and height are both quite good, the little white ball passes between First and Second Base and drops into the outfield, and Isashiki Jun takes off running toward First Base.

The baseball lands, and Inashiro quickly throws it to First Base after receiving it; Isashiki Jun is put out just a step away from the base, while Kominato Ryosuke takes this opportunity to safely reach Second Base.

One out, runner on Second Base; this time it is Inashiro's turn to fall into the crisis of giving up a run.

Seido's cleanup hitter, Captain Yuki Tetsuya, walks to the Batter's Box with a composed expression.

"Captain!"

"Hit it out!"

"Score, Captain!"

"Home Run!"

The Seido fans cheer and shout at the top of their lungs.

At the critical moment, everyone on Seido believed that Yuki Tetsuya would surely do something.

Manager Kataoka crossed his arms over his chest; among the Seido batting lineup, Yuki Tetsuya's explosive power at key moments was the most trustworthy, and now that a scoring opportunity was right before them, he believed that Jiecheng would certainly not let them down.

On the Pitcher's Mound, Narumiya Mei looked at Yuki Tetsuya's serious expression and felt very annoyed; was he trying to scare him by being so solemn?

Just wait, I'll deal with you first, and then it'll be that annoying chestnut-haired monster! None of you will be able to score off me!

Narumiya Mei adjusted his state, and after seeing the pitch sequence given by Harada Masatoshi, he threw the baseball toward home plate.

This was a Fastball jammed diagonally into Yuki Tetsuya's chest.

Whoosh!

The baseball was fast; in Yuki Tetsuya's field of vision, the baseball grew rapidly, and his bat swung out completely subconsciously, as if it had a life of its own.

Bang!

He hit it!!

Although he couldn't hit the sweet spot, Yuki Tetsuya used his body to drive the force in his arms, using all his strength to forcefully carry this heavy-quality pitch out.