Chapter 25: Screw him! So what?

The first pitch was another ball on the outside corner, directly baiting the Batter into swinging.

Horikoshi High School wanted to apply pressure to Tanba; they would swing at almost anything that wasn't an inside pitch, but conversely, this was also a source of pressure for the Horikoshi High School batters.

For the second pitch, Miyuki aggressively called for a low inside Curveball; when the opponent stands close to the plate, the trajectory of a Curveball carries a high risk of a Hit by Pitch, but fortunately, Tanba steadied his control and threw the ball in.

After earning two Strikes, Miyuki and Tanba exchanged a look, and Tanba let out a long breath; honestly, he was truly nervous inside, and his heart nearly jumped out of his chest when that ball grazed the opponent's chest.

Heh, Miyuki thought with a smirk while holding the ball; just now, the Batter had instinctively dodged backward when the ball came in.

Even with mental preparation, one will still feel fear when facing a ball that might hit their body; this is unavoidable.

As long as they are afraid, then it's easy to handle.

This inside Curveball will definitely leave an extremely deep impression on the Batter, making them think we don't dare to attack the inside?

How about now? Better watch out.

Miyuki then set his glove again; it was an inside pitch again, but the pitch type had changed to a Four-seam Fastball. With the opponent standing so close, throwing too many Curveballs really could result in hitting them.

A Base on Balls via a Hit by Pitch isn't actually a big problem, but what is feared is that once a Hit by Pitch occurs, Tanba's mentality will immediately shatter.

Tanba understood this himself; seeing Miyuki give the sign for a Four-seam Fastball, he nodded and quickly threw the third pitch.

This time, seeing the ball flying toward his side, the Horikoshi High School Batter could no longer hold back and swung decisively!

Bang! The ball flew toward the First Base position, high and slow.

Yuki Tetsuya, the First Baseman who had already prepared, caught the ball steadily.

Flyout! The Batter is out!

Having retired two men in a row and secured two outs, Miyuki stood up and threw the ball back to Tanba.

"Tanba-san, nice ball."

The shy Tanba received praise from his underclassman and couldn't help but reveal a faint smile; he felt a bit of goodwill toward Miyuki, but he still just nodded in response.

Returning to the dugout, the second-string Batter of Horikoshi High School was immediately met with questioning from the manager.

"Why did you swing at an inside pitch?" the Horikoshi High School manager asked in a deep voice.

"He, he can throw inside," the Batter stammered.

The manager was nearly furious; is this a question of whether he can throw it or not?

This kind of psychological tactic requires firmness; no matter what response the opponent makes, the tactic must be carried through. Now look, the opposing pitcher's mentality hasn't cracked, but his own side has wavered first.

Ignoring the guilty second-string Batter, the manager looked at the others and said, "Everyone remember this: abandon inside pitches. As soon as they throw an outside pitch, hit it! As long as we keep applying pressure, the opportunity will definitely come!"

"Yes!"

On the first-base side, in the Seido High School dugout, Manager Kataoka stared motionlessly at the battery on the field.

In terms of tactics, although Miyuki's pitch calling was risky, there was nothing wrong with it. Since the opponent chose to stand close to force the pitcher not to throw inside, Miyuki insisted on calling for inside pitches. As long as the pitcher doesn't have issues, given that outside pitches are fewer, once one appears, the opponent will absolutely not let it go easily.

And at this moment, using an outside ball to make the opposing Batter swing can secure a Strike count.

In this response, the only test is for the pitcher, Tanba: does he have the courage to throw the ball into the Batter's inside corner during such a head-to-head confrontation where a Hit by Pitch might occur?

"Huangqian, if it were you standing on the field, what would you do?" Chris's soul-searching question session began.

Just watching the game on the field, suddenly being asked, Huangqian Yangyi didn't even think before saying, "Screw him, jam it inside."

"Aren't you afraid of a Hit by Pitch?" Chris asked.

"The guy himself is standing so close and isn't afraid, so what am I afraid of? If I hit him, it's his bad luck."

After finishing, Huangqian Yangyi sat down next to Chris and asked back, "Do I look like the type of person with a strong sense of morality?"

"No, but the opponent will get on base."

"So what? It's not like they're getting to Third Base," Huangqian Yangyi said, raising his hand to point at the field, "There are still teammates; a baseball game isn't just my business alone."

After hearing Huangqian Yangyi's answer, Chris didn't speak again, his eyes fixed solemnly on Tanba on the field.

That's right, there are still teammates behind him; Tanba, when will you be able to realize this?

As the most anticipated pitcher among the second-years, after the third-years retired last year, Tanba was promoted to the First String and began as a relief pitcher in the Autumn Tournament.

Tanba's performance couldn't be called poor, and he had indeed made contributions to Seido, yet his shortcomings were truly too obvious, to the point of being known to everyone.

Whenever he gave up an Extra-base Hit in a game or let the opponent score, Tanba's mentality would suffer severe fluctuations; to put it bluntly, he couldn't handle pressure and easily blamed the team's lost runs and predicament on himself alone.

He likes to blame himself, yet he can't handle pressure; not handling pressure leads to pitching errors, and then he blames himself again—isn't this a vicious cycle?

Soon, the third Batter was also retired, and Tanba successfully held this half-inning, retiring the side for Horikoshi High School. Returning to the dugout, Tanba had just walked in.

"Tanba."

Kataoka suddenly spoke, and everyone looked over. Tanba stopped in his tracks, not daring to look at Kataoka Tesshin, fearing his pitching hadn't satisfied the manager.

"You pitched well, keep it up," Kataoka said.

Tanba jerked his head around, his body trembling slightly, and a flush appeared on his face.

"Yes!" Tanba roared.

Watching this scene, Huangqian Yangyi was also quite moved; Tanba-san, you have to hold on, the game is still long.

At this moment, Miyuki walked to Huangqian Yangyi's side and began taking off his gear.

"Pretty smooth, huh," Huangqian Yangyi said.

Miyuki looked up, revealing his white teeth, "Games are just more interesting."

"Then let's have a blast."

The game soon restarted; in the bottom of the 1st inning, the Seido batting lineup exploded, scoring 3 runs in a row.

By the second inning, Miyuki and Tanba continued their previous state, giving up only one hit.

It wasn't until the fourth inning that a pitching error by Tanba allowed the opponent to blast an Extra-base Hit to Left Fielder; the ball flew into the corner, resulting in a double.

Because of this ball, Tanba's pitching instantly began to fluctuate, with hits and balls mixed, and Horikoshi High School seized the opportunity to score a run.

After the top of the fourth, the score had reached 7:1.

Tanba, feeling uneasy, returned to the dugout but did not meet the expected reprimand; Manager Kataoka patted his shoulder and said, "Adjust your mentality, rest after you finish pitching the next inning."

Tanba lifted his head in disbelief, and heard his teammates around him say.

"Don't feel pressured, just pitch freely; wait for us to go up and knock in a few more runs." Zhitian Jiangtai walked out heroically, carrying his bat on his shoulder.

"You pitched well today, it's only one run, acting like the world is ending is truly spineless." Dong Qingguo's mouth remained as venomous as ever.

However, Tanba understood the meaning of these words, which was to tell him not to take it to heart.

Tanba nodded and turned his attention back to the field.

Unfortunately, Zhitian Jiangtai's imposing swing did not lead to a good result, and he was out on a Flyout.

Next was Isashiki Jun; moved to the second spot for this game, he had already recorded one hit in the previous innings, but this time at bat, after hitting one Foul Ball, he swung and missed twice and was sent off with a Strikeout.