Chapter 253: The Relaxed Furuya

With information about Tanba surfacing in his mind, Yang Shunchen looked at Tanba with extreme calmness, then lowered his head to glance at Chris; he also kept the information about this one in his heart—troublesome!

This was a catcher just as troublesome as Miyuki Kazuya, and there was no telling how the opponent would call the pitches.

Very quickly, Tanba threw the ball, a four-seam Fastball high on the outside corner.

Yang Shunchen was not in a hurry either; he decided to observe the opponent's pitch selection first.

Pop!

"Strike!"

After catching the baseball, Chris smiled and threw the ball back, taking the opportunity to compliment Tanba.

After receiving the ball, Tanba immediately saw the sign Chris gave—still high on the outside corner, only this time it wasn't a Fastball, but a Curveball.

Nodding slightly, Tanba threw the ball; the little white ball flew toward home plate. Yang Shunchen did not hesitate this time; after a Fastball came a Breaking Ball, a very common pitching strategy, and he was mentally prepared for it.

Bang!

"Jianjie!"

This ball was hit foul. It had to be said that Tanba's Curveball was truly quite sharp. Compared to most pitchers who used Curveballs, Tanba's Curveball had a larger break and a more devious path.

Clearly realizing this, Yang Shunchen took a deep breath. Two high outside pitches—the next one would, nine times out of ten, be low on the inside. Such a change from outside to inside, from high to low, could effectively disrupt a batter's rhythm.

Therefore, this third pitch had a high probability of being a low inside Vertical Curveball!

What Yang Shunchen could think of, Chris could naturally think of as well, yet the sign he gave was for a high inside pitch!

Tanba was stunned for a moment, then, thinking of something, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly. After glancing at Yang Shunchen, Tanba threw the ball without hesitation according to Chris's instructions.

The moment the baseball left his hand, Yang Shunchen swung his bat.

What!

After swinging his bat, Yang Shunchen was surprised to find that this pitch was not the low inside Vertical Curveball he had guessed, but a Fastball stuffed right toward his chest!

Pop!

The bat swept underneath the baseball.

"Strike!"

"Batter out!"

Whew~ Yang Shunchen put away his bat and looked deeply at Chris. Did he predict my prediction?

"Haha, this guy Yang Shunchen just thinks too much, and ended up being used by Senior Chris instead."

Seeing Yang Shunchen swing at the low inside position without hesitation, Huangqian Yangyi knew exactly what this guy was thinking. What was this called? Being too clever for one's own good.

If it weren't for that, given Yang Shunchen's own swing speed, if he hadn't been in such a hurry to swing, the probability of hitting this ball would have been quite high.

"That said, Mingchuan's batting lineup is really lacking. It looks like this game will end in 5 innings again," Kuramochi laughed.

"Not necessarily. I estimate it will go the full nine innings today," Huangqian Yangyi looked meaningfully at Furuya and Sawamura.

Although in the previous pre-game meeting, Manager Kataoka only said that the pitchers for today were Senior Tanba and Kawakami, once in the game, as long as Seido's lead was large enough, the manager might just let the two First Years pitch.

While the two were talking, Tanba had already retired Mingchuan's 6th batter.

The game went all the way to the end of the third inning. In the bottom of the second, Seido sent Shirasu home with a hit by Kominato Ryosuke that went through the gap between first and second base; afterward, the third batter, Isashiki Jun, was struck out.

And in the bottom of the third, Yuki Tetsuya reached base, and Huangqian Yangyi once again used a stance close to home plate to force Yang Shunchen into a head-on confrontation, hitting a Home Run that flew into the center field stands, scoring two runs.

Afterward, Chris got a hit, and Masuko Toru also blasted a long hit, but unfortunately, Shirasu couldn't continue the offensive, and the ball he hit was easily intercepted.

After three innings, the score was 5:0. In the top of the fourth, Seido changed pitchers; Tanba Koichiro left the mound, and Kawakami Norifumi got his chance to play.

"Senior Chris, wasn't it said that we were going to test Senior Tanba's Forkball?" Huangqian Yangyi asked.

"Didn't get the chance," Chris said helplessly. He had originally thought Tanba would pitch until the fifth inning; who knew the manager would choose to make a substitution at that moment.

"Alright, stop chatting and get on the field," Isashiki Jun said.

In the top of the fourth, Kawakami's performance was just as outstanding as Tanba's. His Slider, Sinker, and Curveball all achieved good results against the Mingchuan lineup. By the end of the top of the fourth, Kawakami hadn't given up a single run. The game quickly reached the bottom of the 5th, at which point the score was already 7:0. Mingchuan had never been able to take any runs from Seido, and even when Yang Shunchen got a hit, it was to no avail.

In order to reach base and help Yang Shunchen return to home plate, Mingchuan's players used bunts, stolen bases—almost every method they could—but in the end, they still returned empty-handed.

And after the fifth inning ended, Manager Kataoka requested another substitution.

Pitcher Kawakami Norifumi left the mound, and Furuya Satoru got his chance to play.

In addition, Masuko Toru and Kominato Ryosuke were also substituted out, and Arima Kazusa and Kominato Haruichi took the field.

Catcher Chris and Left Fielder Huangqian Yangyi also left the field to rest. Sakai Ichiro, who was the starting Left Fielder but rarely had the chance to play, was moved to tears.

"Tsk, Furuya is in trouble."

In the dugout, Huangqian Yangyi looked up at the sun in the sky. As the game reached the sixth inning, the temperature had become even higher—35 degrees Celsius!

"Could he get heatstroke and collapse on the field?" Kominato Ryosuke said with a smile, speaking terrifying words.

On the field, Miyuki frowned as he looked at Furuya Satoru. He didn't know if this kid could display his original strength. Although he looked full of fighting spirit before taking the field, physical inability to adapt to the weather wouldn't change just because of fighting spirit.

On the Mingchuan High School side, the first to step up was their third batter.

They had also done research on Furuya Satoru: his Fastball was fast, and his Forkball was also good, but his control was unstable. Therefore, they only needed to wait for pitches that entered the strike zone and were easy to hit, letting all pitches on the corners go.

Looking up at the cloudless sky, the direct sunlight on his face made Furuya feel his head was very heavy, but even so, he would never let anyone hit his ball!

The feeling now was similar to after the previous training camp. Since his condition wasn't good, he shouldn't pitch with all his might; he should trust the teammates behind him!

Thinking of this, Furuya closed his eyes and took a slow, deep breath. The hair on his arms stood up, and his body and mind were well relaxed.

"This kid! He's improved!" Miyuki watched Furuya with great gratification. From this one action, he could see that Furuya was trying hard to relax himself; next, he would see the actual pitching state.

Come on, throw a Fastball on the outside corner first and see if you can get it in.

Furuya Satoru nodded silently. Without even looking at the batter, he lifted his left leg high and raised his hands above his head; his whole person radiated a sharp aura.

Don't use force, don't use force.

Furuya kept reminding himself in his heart.

Whoosh!

The baseball flew out, and then everyone was dumbfounded.

The baseball just went *whoosh* as it slammed into the ground and rolled toward Miyuki.

*Thwack! *

Miyuki kept his head down, quickly reaching out his glove to cover the baseball that had rolled in front of him.

You're too relaxed, gourd-tooth!