Chapter 305: Stalemate

With one strike secured, Huangqian Yangyi lifted his chin and flashed a smile at Narumiya Mei; yes, that's right, it was a provocation.

Sure enough, Narumiya Mei bristled.

"Come on! I'm not afraid of you!"

Heh~ Huangqian Yangyi couldn't help but laugh out loud; this guy was truly amusing.

Playing with the baseball in his hand, Huangqian Yangyi looked toward home plate, where Miyuki had already given the signal.

Little blondie, come and try it then, hit my pitch.

Whoosh~

Slowly exhaling a breath, Huangqian Yangyi moved; his heavy, landing stride seemed to foreshadow that this pitch was no small matter, and his rapidly swinging arm released the ball in an instant.

In the Batter's Box, Narumiya Mei felt this momentum and braced himself, swinging his bat the moment the baseball was released.

A white streak of light struck; the bat swept out along the ball's path. In front of home plate, the baseball vanished from Narumiya Mei's line of sight, like a beam of light shooting into water and refracting downward, the baseball flew right under Narumiya Mei's bat.

Pop!

"Strike!"

A 155 km/h Forkball made Narumiya Mei swing and miss once again.

Damn it!

With two strikes against him, Narumiya Mei was under immense pressure; sweat trickled from his forehead into his eyes, and as he raised his hand to wipe it away, his gaze became even sharper in that instant.

Soon, the third pitch was thrown by Huangqian Yangyi; it was an outside pitch, and Narumiya Mei swung without hesitation, barely making contact with the baseball.

Nice!

Narumiya Mei secretly rejoiced; he had been aiming to hit an outside Cutter Slider, and he had actually guessed right, though it was a pity that the pitch was too fast and heavy for him to hit it well.

Dropping his bat in the momentum, Narumiya Mei sprinted toward First Base carrying the hopes of the whole village... the whole team.

"Kuramochi!!!" Seeing the ball bounce off the ground beside him and toward his back, Huangqian Yangyi shouted without looking back.

Kuramochi Yoichi lived up to expectations, diving to intercept the ball, and before he even landed, he flicked his wrist to pass the ball to Kominato Ryosuke at Second Base; the latter moved with fluid elegance, catching the throw and turning to fire a precise throw to First Base.

By this time, Narumiya Mei had already run half the distance and looked like he was about to reach base successfully, but the baseball had also flown in front of First Base.

A hair's breadth!

"OUT!!"

The umpire shouted with both hands raised high.

Narumiya Mei, having stepped over the base, wore an expression full of regret.

"Nice!!"

"Kuramochi!"

"Kominato!"

"What a cool throw!"

"Huangqian!!"

The spectacular performance between second and shortstop set the Seido fans in the stands ablaze; although Huangqian Yangyi's aggressive pitching was also brilliant and the constant strikeouts made the fans feel great, it was inevitably a bit monotonous to keep doing that, and this display of defensive skill behind him made the audience's eyes light up, sending thunderous cheers to Kuramochi Yoichi and Kominato Ryosuke.

Having successively retired Inashiro Industrial's 4th-batter Captain and 5th-batter Ace, the team's morale soared.

On the Pitcher's Mound, Huangqian Yangyi turned and nodded to Kuramochi and Kominato Ryosuke to express his gratitude; if not for their seamless coordination, Narumiya Mei would have reached base on that play.

The two of them also smiled and gave Huangqian Yangyi a thumbs-up.

In the Batter's Box, Inashiro's 6th-batter, First Baseman Yamaoka Riku, was drenched in sweat; the sweltering weather, the tense atmosphere, and the immense pressure made him very uncomfortable, but even so, he was determined to swing his bat aggressively; he didn't intend to give up, even for the slightest glimmer of hope.

Whoosh!

The first pitch flew in, Yamaoka Riku took a big stride and swung his bat; Swish! The sound of the bat cutting through the air was loud, but he missed.

"Strike!"

Then the second and third pitches, still no contact.

"Strikeout!"

With this, the fifth inning ended, and Inashiro went three-up, three-down.

Returning to the Dugout, Huangqian Yangyi saw Kuramochi putting on his batting gloves to get ready, and said: "Good luck, Speedster; whether we can open up an offensive depends on you alone."

Kuramochi carried his bat with one hand, turned his head, and flashed a smile he thought was very cool: "Leave it to me."

Top of the sixth, Seido on offense; after Kuramochi Yoichi stepped up, he swung his bat hard in succession, quickly reaching a count of two strikes and no balls. The two decisive swings made Harada Masatoshi's expression somewhat serious; after a moment of thought, he signaled for the defense to move back a bit—this guy didn't look like he was going to bunt.

However, just in case, Inashiro's defense didn't retreat too far, still leaving some room.

Soon, Narumiya Mei threw the third pitch; the whistling shadow of the ball suddenly darted in front of home plate, and Kuramochi focused all his strength into one point and swung.

Bang!

He made contact.

"Foul Ball!!"

It was a pity it was a foul ball; Kuramochi clicked his tongue, then prepared to hit again.

Seeing this, Harada Masatoshi nodded to himself; sure enough, after the previous at-bat, he realized bunting wouldn't work, so he chose to swing for the fences?

Since that's the case, I'll just throw a Forkball for you to hit.

Giving the signal, Narumiya Mei on the Pitcher's Mound nodded slightly, changed his grip, and quickly threw the baseball; just at that moment, a bat was laid out in front of Harada Masatoshi.

Damn it!

A bunt!

Bang!

With a crisp sound, Kuramochi tapped the ball onto the ground; because of the Forkball's sharp downward break, the placement of this ball wasn't good, and it bounced toward the Pitcher's Mound.

No time to think! Kuramochi steeled himself and charged directly toward First Base.

"Mei!"

Harada Masatoshi's voice rang out, and Narumiya Mei steadied himself before quickly rushing out to intercept the baseball and throw it to First Base.

"OUT!"

"Aww—"

A wave of sighs rose from the stands.

"So close."

In the Dugout, Huangqian Yangyi leaned against the railing and pursed his lips.

"Stop sighing, you'll sigh your good fortune away," Yuki Tetsuya said.

Huangqian Yangyi was stunned for a few seconds, then turned his head and said in surprise, "Captain, you have that saying here too?"

"We do, haven't you heard it before?" Yuki Tetsuya asked.

Huangqian Yangyi chuckled and said nothing; the last time he heard that was in his previous life.

After Kuramochi Yoichi left the field, Kominato Ryosuke was also struck out; Narumiya Mei, firing on all cylinders, alternated between two types of Changeup, making it difficult for Kominato Ryosuke to adapt for the moment.

Two outs, no one on base, Isashiki Jun became the village's only hope for this inning.

After stepping up to the plate, his spirited swing actually made contact, but the baseball flew toward the Right Fielder for a Flyout.

The top of the sixth inning ended, and Seido also went three-up, three-down.

"So annoying, couldn't get on base again," Isashiki Jun returned to the Dugout in frustration, picked up a bottle of water, and gulped down more than half of it.

"Don't be so impatient, we can't score, but neither can Inashiro," Kominato Ryosuke said.

"There will be an opportunity, let's take it slow," Yuki Tetsuya said.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Inashiro still couldn't break through Huangqian Yangyi's pitching, going three-up, three-down with no one on base.

After defending this inning, Huangqian Yangyi picked up his bat and stood in the on-deck circle, his gaze fixed on Yuki Tetsuya in the Batter's Box.

Get on base, you must get on base!

Captain, it's all up to you.