Chapter 254: Tactics Against Furuya

"Ha, hahahahaha~"

"A dirt-digger?!"

"That cracked me up."

"Look at Furuya, his face is all red."

"Ah~ how cute!"

In the stands, seeing Furuya dig a dirt-digger, the entire audience couldn't help but laugh out loud.

As for the person involved, Furuya wished there was a crack in the ground right now; he wanted to crawl into it.

In the Seido Dugout, the mouthful of water Huangqian Yangyi had just taken sprayed straight out.

No way, why did Furuya dig a dirt-digger? Isn't that Sawamura's specialty? Furuya, why are you stealing the spotlight?

Beside Huangqian Yangyi, the muscles on Coach Kataoka's stern face twitched fiercely. He could tell that Furuya had just tried to hold back his strength to pitch, but perhaps due to lack of experience and the weather, the kid relaxed too much and barely used any force, which is why the baseball ended up on the ground.

However, having ideas is a good thing; it shows that Furuya has learned to think, and is no longer the one-track-minded person who only knew how to pitch with full force like when he first entered Seido.

"Hahaha, Gourd-Furuya actually dug a dirt-digger! Ahahaha, as expected, he's still no good. General! Let me take the mound!"

While laughing loudly, Sawamura didn't forget to promote himself to the coach.

Coach Kataoka glanced at the kid and said nothing.

On the field, after covering the ball, Miyuki remained silent for a good while before standing up to throw the ball back.

Furuya was still embarrassed at this moment; upon receiving the baseball, he stubbornly mimicked Sawamura's manner, taking deep breaths continuously in an attempt to calm himself down.

Once Furuya adjusted his state, Miyuki gave the sign.

It was still a low, outside Fastball.

Furuya nodded, focusing all his attention on the pitch. Although the previous ball had caused a scene, once Furuya became serious, he wouldn't think about anything other than baseball.

For this second pitch, Furuya learned from the previous lesson; with a flick of his arm, the baseball flew toward home plate.

The Mingchuan High School third-batter also kept Yang Shunchen's reminder in mind: let go of any balls on the edges that are hard to judge. This ball, the Batter also did not swing at.

Pop!

"Strike!"

The baseball was tucked into the outside corner. Miyuki looked up at the Batter; there was no sign of him swinging at all. Is he giving up on the outside? Did he choose an inside pitch?

Miyuki threw the ball back, deciding to try an inside pitch.

Whoosh!

A Fastball aimed at the low inside corner flew in, and the Batter still did not swing.

Pop!

"Ball!"

Hiss~

Miyuki frowned. Furuya's condition was indeed not great, and the Mingchuan Batter wasn't swinging at outside pitches, nor was there any movement on the inside pitches. Could it be that the opponent intends to let all these edge-of-the-zone balls go?

Are they betting that Furuya's control won't allow him to throw them all in?

It must be said, if this really is Mingchuan's strategy, it is truly a troublesome matter. Even with the usual Furuya, Miyuki wouldn't let him throw too many of these edge-location pitches in a game, as Furuya's control is still relatively poor.

Not to mention that Furuya is currently affected by the weather; in his current state, he would be lucky to perform at 80% of his usual level.

Now, three pitches have passed; Furuya dug a dirt-digger on the first, and the third was a ball. Such a pitching performance will likely make the people from Mingchuan even more firm in their strategy.

Do they want to decide the outcome in the center of the Strike zone? Miyuki saw through the opponent's plan and felt a headache for a moment.

Since that's the case, let's give it a try.

Come on, Forkball!

Miyuki gave the sign; it was for a location in the center-lower part of the Strike zone.

Furuya was stunned for a moment; are they going to throw a Forkball so soon?

But since it was Miyuki's pitch selection, Furuya naturally had no objections.

"As expected, this First Year Furuya's control isn't very stable. It seems our scoring opportunity has finally arrived," the Mingchuan High School coach said, looking back.

"Don't be careless, that Catcher is Miyuki Kazuya." Just as Yang Shunchen finished speaking, the situation on the field had already changed. Furuya threw a Forkball; although the location was a bit off, it was still within the Strike zone.

The third-batter, Hashimoto, finally swung his bat after seeing the trajectory of the ball.

Bang!

The bat hit the upper part of the baseball, and the little white ball was smashed into the ground with tremendous force, the height of the bounce even crossing over Furuya's head and flying behind him.

It was actually a Forkball!

After the shock, the Batter quickly sprinted toward First Base.

"Kominato!"

Miyuki stood up and shouted.

Kominato Haruichi at Second Base immediately rushed over to catch the ball, then made a beautiful turn and threw the ball to First Base.

Pop!

"Batter out!"

Phew~

Furuya secretly breathed a sigh of relief. When this Forkball was thrown, he had felt the trajectory was a bit off; fortunately, it ended up entering the Strike zone, making the Batter swing.

"Although Furuya isn't in great shape today, his pitch control is actually quite good. The top speed of these few pitches was only 146 kilometers," Huangqian Yangyi said after looking at the speed gun in the corner.

Chris, sitting beside him, nodded, "In the previous practice games, he really learned some things."

"Haha, not bad, Furuya! Have you finally understood the true meaning of baseball?" Sawamura suddenly appeared behind the two. "As for teamwork, I understood that a long time ago."

Huangqian Yangyi sighed; this jerk Sawamura is thinking about showing off every single second. Just how much does he want to get on the field?

"Stop howling, or I'll beat you up!" Huangqian Yangyi raised his fist and said.

"Hehehe, Aniki, I was wrong." Sawamura laughed while rubbing his head, then hid behind Manager Kataoka.

At this moment, on the field, facing Meijiao's Fourth Batter Baichiao, the count was now two strikes and two balls; Furuya threw another pitch, and Miyuki's pupils trembled—it was too easy to hit!

Bang!

The little white ball flew high into the air.

"Left Fielder!!" Miyuki shouted as he stood up.

In Left Fielder, Ichiro Sakai ran while tracking the ball's landing spot.

Is it too late?

Just when everyone thought it would be a base hit, Ichiro Sakai pushed off with both legs, lunged forward, and made a beautiful diving catch to secure the ball in his glove.

"Flyout!"

"Nice!! That was beautiful!"

"Ooooooh!!!"

"So cool!"

With a brilliant play, Ichiro Sakai earned the cheers of the entire stadium; so what if his playing opportunities were few, he delivered a dazzling performance in his limited time on the field.

On the Pitcher's Mound, Furuya let out a long breath; when the ball was hit, he had also thought the opponent would successfully reach base, but his teammate behind him had performed miraculously, forcefully covering for his mistake.

So reliable!

Furuya turned around and gave a slight nod toward Ichiro Sakai's position to show his gratitude.

With this, they had secured two outs, and now they only needed to deal with Yang Shunchen; Miyuki turned his head to look at Yang Shunchen, who was walking toward the Batter's Box.