Chapter 272: The So-Called Dark Horse

Todoroki Raichi was struck out, and the Yakushi players all had their mouths agape; they had not expected this second-year Seido Pitcher to still be hiding a changeup.

"Wrong! That wasn't a changeup!" Sanada Shunpei said, his gaze sharp as he stared at Kawakami on the field: "It was a slow sinker!"

"A slow sinker?"

"That kind of pitch is pretty rare these days."

"Unexpected."

Listening to the players' conversation, Todoroki Raizo snorted; his precious son, a man who would make big money in the future, had actually been struck out by two different people in this game—it was truly infuriating.

But fortunately, there had been a home run earlier, otherwise Todoroki Raichi's batting performance in this game would not have looked very good.

"Seido's pitching staff is truly luxurious." Todoroki Raizo was genuinely envious; the only pitcher they at Yakushi could truly rely on was Sanada Shunpei, and he had physical issues and couldn't pitch a full game.

In the Seido dugout, Kawakami walked down with a smile he couldn't hide.

"Not bad, that slow sinker," Huangqian Yangyi said, looking up.

"Hehe," Kawakami scratched his head, embarrassed. "If it weren't for the suggestion from Huangqian-san, I wouldn't have practiced the slow sinker."

Huangqian Yangyi smiled: "It has nothing to do with me; this is all the result of your own practice."

At this moment, a large hand was placed on Kawakami's shoulder. "That was a very good pitch, keep up the hard work."

"Yes, Coach!"

Having received the Coach's affirmation, Kawakami was very encouraged and felt even more confident about the next two innings.

In the bottom of the seventh, Seido started their offense with an extra-base hit by Masuko Toru, and subsequently, Shirasu lived up to expectations, steadily hitting the ball to the side, piercing through the opponent's infield defense; with no outs, there were runners on first and second.

"Is he done for?"

Watching the violently heaving chest and the large beads of sweat on the face of Sanada Shunpei on the Pitcher's Mound, Huangqian Yangyi speculated. He knew that Sanada Shunpei had been injured before; although he wasn't sure if he had fully recovered, his stamina had definitely been severely affected. From the second inning until now, Sanada Shunpei was likely reaching his limit.

"A great chance to score, we have to seize it," Miyuki said.

Not being able to play in this game, Miyuki felt itchy all over and wished he could go up to bat as a pinch hitter.

On the field, after swinging and missing once, Sakai Ichiro connected with the second pitch, and the baseball flew toward third base. Just when everyone thought this was another hit, Todoroki Raichi appeared again, catching the ball accurately and quickly.

"Good!!" the Yakushi players shouted excitedly; this forced out Masuko Toru, and then they could throw to second base to turn a double play!

However, Todoroki Raichi's next move left them collectively silent.

They saw that after catching the ball, Todoroki Raichi laughed "Ya-ha-ha" and threw the ball; the little white ball flew high into the air, passing directly over second base.

A wild throw!

"Idiot!"

"What are you doing?"

"Raichi!!"

The players on the field collectively broke down, and Todoroki Raizo even buried his face between his legs; it was too shameful, this wasn't his son!

With an unexpected wild throw, Shirasu reached third base, while Sakai Ichiro stopped at first base for safety.

With one out and runners on first and third, it could be said that the terrible situation Yakushi was in now was entirely caused by Todoroki Raichi's wild throw; otherwise, they should have had a chance to turn a double play.

"That idiot!"

Sanada Shunpei was also helpless; his own stamina was almost bottomed out, and Todoroki Raichi was still creating trouble for him.

*Sigh~*

Letting out a sigh, Sanada Shunpei shook his head helplessly. Seniors are supposed to be the reliance for their juniors at times like this. He pulled himself together, took a deep breath to adjust his state, and faced the next batter, Kuramochi Yoichi.

"Haha, it's my turn again." A smile bloomed on Kuramochi's face. Sanada Shunpei's condition was declining, which was a great opportunity to attack. As the leadoff hitter for the Seido lineup, he naturally wouldn't let this chance slip by; he had to not only get on base but also bring Shirasu home!

This was a scoring opportunity for Seido, and Sanada Shunpei knew this too. Therefore, his subsequent pitching could be called giving it his all, trying his best to throw every ball as well as he could. But even so, with his declining condition, his pitch speed, power, and control all began to fluctuate.

Finally, on the fifth pitch, the outside pitch Sanada Shunpei threw was too sweet and was pulled by Kuramochi Yoichi toward the right. The ball speed wasn't fast, and although it passed through the infield defense, the Yakushi players' overall positioning was shifted forward, guarding against a bunt from Kuramochi Yoichi.

Taking this opportunity, Shirasu successfully returned to home plate to score a run, while Kuramochi Yoichi was put out. Fortunately, Sakai Ichiro reached second base; otherwise, if Yakushi had turned a double play, the inning would have ended and the run wouldn't have counted.

The score was 9:3!

If Seido could score one more run this inning, the game would end early in the seventh.

Thinking of this, the Yakushi players were each so nervous that their palms were sweating and their hearts were pounding wildly.

Sanada Shunpei on the Pitcher's Mound was also under doubled pressure. At this time, getting outs as quickly as possible would be best, but the next batter happened to be that particularly troublesome guy, and his own condition was declining while the opponent's ability to select and track pitches was very strong.

Soon, Sanada Shunpei fought with Kominato Ryosuke with all his might, and the little white ball was constantly hit foul. Sanada Shunpei felt that more than half of his stamina had been consumed by this young man.

Finally, on the ninth pitch, Sanada Shunpei seemed to have finally run out of steam; the pitch he threw was both slow and high. Kominato Ryosuke's eyes lit up instantly. *Bang! * The baseball flew to the outfield and landed!

A walk-off hit!

The game is over!!

The entire stadium went quiet at this moment. Yakushi, who had defeated Ichidai Sanko, had actually been ended early by Seido, and that was even while the opponent was intentionally going easy on them.

After all, the ace had only pitched for three innings; if that wasn't going easy, what was?

"Whether it's the pitchers or the batting lineup, Yakushi is still a big step behind," the reporter Fujio said with deep emotion in the stands. Looking back at the past two years, Seido High School was still the weaker one among the three major powerhouses, but now they were already far ahead of Ichidai Sanko.

One wondered what kind of sparks would fly if Inashiro ran into Seido now.

"Didn't you say Yakushi was quite amazing, the biggest dark horse of this tournament?" Miss Akiko turned and asked, puzzled.

Fujio calmly took a sip of tea from his thermos and continued: "No matter how amazing, there's a limit. A dark horse is a dark horse precisely because they were weak before and suddenly became strong."

"Why would they suddenly become strong? For example, recruiting a powerful new pitcher, batter, or a capable coach."

"In a short period, it can indeed greatly improve a team's strength, but the biggest problem for teams that were once weak is a lack of foundation. When they meet a strong team, they might win by taking advantage of the opponent's carelessness and some luck, but this method is useless after one use. Once you truly defeat a strong team, you will appear in the sights of other strong teams and then be studied from head to toe."