Chapter 219: Red and White Match

Whoosh!

Kawakami's pitch flew out; the first ball was a Fastball right down the middle.

Bang!

Arima Kazusa's bat accurately caught the ball's path and sent it flying.

"Heh heh, Kawakami, you'd better get serious. A Red Center Fastball is looking down on people too much," Huangqian Yangyi teased.

Hearing this, Kawakami rolled his eyes. The opponent was a First Year; what was wrong with him throwing an easy ball first to set the pace?

Chris, who was crouching behind the plate, also smiled. He had no intention of calling the pitches; it was all up to how Kawakami wanted to throw.

Unlike the two of them, Arima Kazusa became even more excited after hearing Huangqian Yangyi's shout; he knew Huangqian Yangyi was fighting for a chance for him to hit other pitch types.

Sure enough, on the next pitch, Kawakami threw an outer-corner Slider. The path was extremely tricky, and the speed was faster than the Fastball he had used to tease the kid just now. Seeing it for the first time, Arima Kazusa swung and missed.

"So amazing!" Arima Kazusa said subconsciously.

"Right? Our Kawakami is a very reliable Pitcher," Huangqian Yangyi put on that proud expression again.

"Mm-hmm, Kawakami-senpai's Slider is very hard to hit," Arima Kazusa said.

Kawakami on the opposite side smiled a bit sheepishly and said, "Let's go again."

"Okay!"

After ten pitches—Slider, Curveball, Sinker—Kawakami had thrown all his pitch types once. Arima Kazusa hit two balls: one Fastball and one Curveball.

Next was Kominato Haruichi's turn. After politely saying hello, Kominato Haruichi also began batting; he also hit two out of ten balls.

After that, Furuya Satoru hit one, and Sawamura swung and missed every single one.

"Damn it, can I bunt?" Sawamura asked, turning back to Huangqian Yangyi, fuming.

"No."

Huangqian Yangyi shrugged, "Practice your swinging properly, kid."

"Hmph, sooner or later, I'm going to hit your pitch for a Home Run," Sawamura said, narrowing his cat-like eyes.

"Is that so? I'm afraid that won't be possible until I'm 80 years old."

Saying this, Huangqian Yangyi put on his glove and walked to the opposite side.

"Arima, come on. Didn't you want to hit a Changeup?"

"Yes, Senpai!" Arima Kazusa stepped into the Batter's Box again.

Huangqian Yangyi's lips curled up. After looking at the glove Chris had set up, he quickly threw the ball.

Fastball, Fastball, Changeup—a three-pitch Strikeout. The high-spirited Arima Kazusa didn't even touch the ball once.

"Next."

Having tormented the little guys once, Huangqian Yangyi was satisfied.

"I thought you would go easy on them," Chris said, standing up.

"How could I? This was what Arima asked for himself," Huangqian Yangyi said with a smile.

"Mm-hmm, although I didn't hit it, standing in the Batter's Box and watching Senpai's pitching is really different," Arima Kazusa said.

"It's a super upgraded version of Furuya's," Kominato Haruichi suddenly said.

Hearing this, Huangqian Yangyi was stunned for a moment, then laughed out loud and patted Kawakami on the shoulder.

"I want to pitch too," Furuya Satoru said.

"Pitch my ass. Tomorrow is the Welcome Tournament, save your energy properly," Huangqian Yangyi said.

Hearing "Welcome Tournament," a flame ignited in Furuya Satoru's eyes. A game! It's a game!

"Perform well in tomorrow's Welcome Tournament. Get into the Second String first, and then you'll have practice games to play," Kawakami said.

The few of them nodded. They didn't dare think about the First String right now, but they had to get into the Second String no matter what.

Returning to the dormitory, Arima Kazusa still looked like he hadn't had enough. Seeing him like this, Huangqian Yangyi raised his hand and gave him a chop to the head, "Go to sleep immediately!"

"Yes, Senpai." Arima Kazusa was full of energy; there was no sign of sleepiness at all.

The next day, when Huangqian Yangyi saw Arima Kazusa with dark circles under his eyes, he shook his head and sighed helplessly. Young people, just a Welcome Tournament and he was too excited to sleep.

Evening, A-side Field.

The First Year vs. Second String Red and White Match was about to begin.

Huangqian Yangyi sat leisurely in the Dugout, holding a piece of watermelon, eating it while chatting with Fujiwara Takako.

"I'm telling you, Yangyi, isn't this going a bit too far?" Miyuki walked over and sat to the side; seeing Huangqian Yangyi's state, he couldn't help but complain.

"What's wrong with it? I've always been like this, right, Senpai?"

"Mm," Fujiwara Takako covered her mouth and laughed.

"Senpai, you spoil him too much," Miyuki said helplessly.

Just then, Takashima Rei walked over.

"Yangyi, since you're free, do you want to guest as an umpire?" Takashima Rei asked.

"Huh? Me? Umpire? Are you kidding?" Huangqian Yangyi felt Takashima Rei was teasing him. He finally had some rest time; sitting here eating cold watermelon and watching others work hard—how great was that? Why would he want to look for trouble for himself?

"Is that so? Then keep a lower profile. Everyone is training; it's not a good influence for you to be eating watermelon here," Takashima Rei shot a glare at this jerk.

"Ehehe, my bad, my bad." Huangqian Yangyi tilted his neck and opened his mouth wide, biting the watermelon in his hand clean in one go.

Ten minutes later, the Welcome Tournament began.

Coach Kataoka and Coach Ochiai each directed a team.

The process was as expected—very cruel. Just in the top of the first inning, the Second String, going all out to show themselves, scored 9 runs against the First Years!

The game reached the second inning. The First Year team changed pitchers. As soon as Furuya Satoru took the mound, he relied on a 150 km/h Fastball to directly secure a spot in the Second String.

Then, those with talent among the First Years appeared one after another. With the coordination of Arima Kazusa and Kominato Haruichi, the First Year team finally scored their first run.

When the game reached 39:1, the First Years changed pitchers again, and Sawamura Eijun stepped onto the Pitcher's Mound.

The pitching form that made it difficult to see the release point gave the Second String Batters a real headache; the combination of four-seam fastballs and cutters allowed Sawamura to finish 3 innings, giving up only two runs!

"A brilliant performance; if not for the errors by the defensive teammates, he shouldn't have given up a single run," Huangqian Yangyi said aloud, praising Sawamura's performance.

His opponents were, after all, the Seido Second String; out in the world, even the Second String could defeat the vast majority of teams in West Tokyo outside of the powerhouses.

"Indeed, Sawamura is barely good enough to be pulled directly into a match right now," Miyuki also nodded and said; compared to when he first came to visit Seido half a year ago, the current Sawamura has improved too much.

"Who is better, him or Furuya?" Fujiwara Takako suddenly asked.

Huangqian Yangyi and Miyuki looked at each other; this question was truly difficult to answer, as these two people were pitchers of completely different styles, and their current levels were more than enough to use outside.

"About the same, both are half-baked," Huangqian Yangyi said.

"Both still have a long way to go," Miyuki said.

Unable to get an answer, Fujiwara Takako had no choice but to let it go.

Time passed quickly, and when the Welcome Tournament ended, the score was 45:1, with the First Year team having been beaten to a pulp.

In the end, Arima Kazusa, Kominato Haruichi, Sawamura Eijun, and Furuya Satoru were promoted to the Second String by Manager Kataoka.

"Three days from now, the Second String has a practice match against Kurotsuchikan High School; prepare well," Manager Kataoka said.

"Yes!!"