Chapter 234: Furuya's Breaking Ball

Following this pitch thrown by Furuya, Miyuki revealed a satisfied smile; not bad, the ball speed has come down, and the control has returned as well.

It is just unclear whether this was a coincidence or if Furuya did it intentionally.

If it is the case that Furuya can lower his ball speed to pursue control, then this guy has truly grown.

I must confirm this immediately!

On the sidelines, those who saw this pitch, whether it was Director Kataoka, Huangqian Yangyi, or the teammates behind Furuya, all began to look forward to how Furuya would throw his next pitch.

Standing on the Pitcher's Mound, Furuya felt very excited inside at this moment; he threw it in. After throwing so many balls, he felt that this pitch could enter the Strike zone the moment it flew out, which was different from the situation where his full-power pitches were sometimes good and sometimes bad.

Whew~

Although it was somewhat unpleasant not to be able to throw at full power, the feeling of having the pitch path under his own control and being able to steadily throw it into Miyuki's glove made him addicted again.

It is so conflicting.

Furuya received the return throw from Miyuki, looked at the baseball in conflict for a long while, and then nodded toward Miyuki.

He now knew what he had to do; from here on, he had to trust the teammates behind him.

Seeing Furuya's expression, Miyuki smiled slightly, squatted down, and immediately gave the signal.

Since this kid has figured it out, he would now begin to call the pitches.

"Throw it in!"

Miyuki excitedly set his glove; what follows will be very interesting!

Furuya exhaled with a "whoosh" and raised the baseball high.

Whoosh!

The little white ball shot out from his fingertips, a low, outside Fastball flying toward home plate.

Pop!

"Strike!"

Although the baseball's path was not as precise as Miyuki wanted, considering Furuya's stamina issues and the impact of being battered earlier, Miyuki felt that Furuya had already thrown this pitch very well; at the very least, the Batter swung and missed.

"Nice ball!"

Miyuki stood up satisfied and threw the ball back.

"Finally figured it out? It seems the Boss's 'batter-him-up' therapy is quite useful after all," Huangqian Yangyi whispered on the sidelines.

"Hehe, now there's going to be a good show."

"Next, it depends on how Miyuki calls the pitches."

Director Kataoka stood outside the Dugout. His gaze landed on Furuya, and he silently curled the corners of his mouth.

He didn't care at all about winning or losing today's practice game; what he wanted was for the two First Year pitchers to put on a good performance.

Bang!

The baseball flew high into the air.

"Center Fielder!" Miyuki shouted.

A Fastball jammed toward the Batter's chest was hit into the air, and the Center Fielder, Isashiki Jun, immediately started moving, confirming the ball's landing spot while running backward.

"Flyout!!"

"Oh oh oh!!"

"Nice job!"

Listening to the cheers from the sidelines, Furuya turned back to look at Isashiki Jun, his heart suddenly feeling relieved; then, Furuya saw Isashiki Jun clench his fist and extend his arm from afar toward him.

Is this what a teammate is? Even if he doesn't perform well, they will silently support him from behind.

Feeling the encouragement from his teammates, Furuya Satoru completely entered the zone; although his ball speed didn't soar that fast, and he would occasionally throw a ball or give up a hit, the fourth inning ultimately ended without giving up a single run. On the contrary, Seido scored two more runs in the bottom of the fourth, bringing the score to 7:8.

In the top of the fifth, before going out, Miyuki patted Furuya's back with his gloved hand, "Next, throw that pitch."

Hearing this, Furuya turned his head to look at Miyuki: "Didn't you say we should save it?"

"Hehehe, it doesn't matter. Anyway, in an official game, there won't be a situation where you have to rely on your secret weapon to win," Miyuki said very honestly.

After listening, Furuya glared at him angrily; this person's words were so hurtful.

Although he knew Miyuki was stating a fact—in an official game, if even Senior Huangqian couldn't resolve the opponent's batting lineup, then saying he should "save it" with his current pitching was a joke.

"Watch for my signal in a moment," Miyuki said, then walked toward home plate.

In the top of the fifth, the first to stand in the Batter's Box was the Osaka Kiryu cleanup hitter, Tachi Hiromi.

After a few pitches, the count reached two strikes and two balls.

Miyuki looked at Furuya; hmm, the expression is good, so, come on.

Seeing the signal, Furuya nodded and quietly changed his grip inside the glove.

This was a pitch type he learned from Huangqian Yangyi; although the practice time wasn't long, as long as he could throw it once, it would be enough to bluff the Osaka Kiryu batting lineup.

After all, it was already the fifth inning; the pitcher would be changed after this inning ended, and by then, Osaka Kiryu wouldn't be able to see that his new pitch type actually had a low completion rate.

As long as he bluffs them for one inning, that's enough!

Whoosh!!

The baseball flew toward home plate, and Tachi Hiromi swung his bat vigorously with a terrifying smile on his face; he had already seen through this pitch path—it was a Fastball flying toward the center of the Strike zone!

Swish!

Just as the bat was about to hit the baseball, the little white ball suddenly dropped near Tachi Hiromi's hand and drilled into Miyuki's glove with a "whoosh."

"This is!!"

"Forkball!"

"How could he...?"

The people from Osaka Kiryu were astonished upon seeing this pitch; hey buddy, you know how to throw a Forkball, so why didn't you throw it in the first four innings? You were getting beaten so badly, hey.

Oh~~

On the Pitcher's Mound, after seeing that his Forkball was effective, Furuya felt goosebumps all over his body.

So satisfying! This feeling of deceiving the Batter.

"Masaka!"

"Miyuki is actually letting Furuya test out a Breaking Ball in a game; this is too reckless."

After seeing this Breaking Ball, Department Head Ota anxiously said to Coach Kataoka and Ochiai Hiromitsu beside him.

The Coach and the assistant coach did not speak, but Huangqian Yangyi, who was to the side, smiled and said: "It's a practice game, after all; that's the only way it's effective. Kazuya is very clear about the purpose of a practice game."

"I, is that so." Department Head Ota scratched his head awkwardly.

At this moment, the game on the field continued; this Forkball was indeed able to make the Osaka Kiryu Batter feel hesitant, and the next two Batters only managed to connect with one Fastball.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Furuya, who came up to bat as the Ninth Batter, hit a Home Run off Tachi Hiromi! The score changed to 8-8.

"Damn guy, a Home Run!" Sawamura watched Furuya coming off the field, feeling unwilling; he and Furuya were in fierce competition regarding pitching, but on the batting end, even if Sawamura was unwilling in his heart, he had to admit that he was far behind.

"Well~ your Bunt is also very impressive, the most impressive one on the whole team," Kominato Haruichi said from the side.

"That's right, that's right, Eijun, your Bunt is the most impressive one I've ever seen," Arima Kazusa also laughed; he was telling the truth, after all, Sawamura's Bunt was an absurd existence capable of bunting the Fastball of senior Huangqian Yangyi.

"Ah? Is that so? So I'm that impressive? Hahahaha."

Another period of time passed, the fifth inning ended, and the score changed to 9-9.

"Sawamura! Are you ready to take the field?" Coach Kataoka turned his head and asked Sawamura, who had long been eager to try.

"Always ready, General!"