Chapter 322: Strong

Sano Shuzo being struck out indeed dealt a blow to the Seibo players; they never expected that Sano Shuzo, in whom they had placed such high hopes, would be dealt with so easily.

"It's only the first inning, don't rush." Sano Shuzo didn't feel embarrassed about being struck out. A powerful Batter would not feel discouraged by a single failure, especially since it was only the first inning. After seeing more of the opponent's pitching, he believed he would eventually get a hit.

The game continued on the field. After Sano Shuzo left the field, the 5th and 6th Batters of Seibo didn't struggle for long before they were also dealt with.

The game reached the top of the 5th inning. Huangqian Yangyi faced Sano Shuzo again. This time, the Circle Changeup thrown by Huangqian Yangyi was tracked by Sano Shuzo, who got a hit. This was the first time anyone had reached base for Seibo High School in several innings. However, after this, the Seibo batting lineup could not sustain their offensive, and Sano Shuzo could only stand stranded at First Base.

By the end of the fifth inning, the score between the two sides had reached 8:0. Huangqian Yangyi was moved to the Left Fielder position, and the Pitcher was changed to Tanba Koichiro.

With Tanba on the mound, although his pitching had improved quite a bit and his mentality was more stable than before, facing the Seibo batting lineup, he had already given up 5 runs by the ninth inning, but relatively speaking, Seido had scored even more.

With the batting lineup anchored by Yuki Tetsuya and Huangqian Yangyi, Seido ultimately defeated Seibo with a score of 15:5, successfully advancing to the Koshien semi-finals.

"Game set!!! After 9 innings of fierce battle, this clash between powerhouses ended with Seido High School taking an overwhelming victory with a score of 15:5. That's right! Overwhelming!"

"In this tournament, Seido High School's ace Huangqian Yangyi, appearing as a Pitcher for the first time, did not let Seibo High School get even a single scoring opportunity in the first five innings of the game. Even Seibo High School's monster Batter Sano Shuzo could not take any runs from his hands!"

"An impeccable, perfect pitching performance; this is the aesthetic of violent pitching from the undefeated Overlord of the mound!"

In the television broadcast, the commentator stood up from his seat and shouted excitedly.

"Hahahaha! Semi-finals! We advanced!"

"Seido is so cool!"

"So strong!"

"King Seido!!"

The deafening shouts were the intense cheers coming from the Seido stands the moment the game ended.

In stark contrast to the cheering Seido side were the members of Seibo High School opposite them. Desolation and dead silence—this was the current atmosphere of Seibo.

Whether it was the mentally mature third-year players or the first-years on the team, the pain of defeat swept over every one of them at this moment, especially when looking at the score. Those 5 runs were so ironic, as if they were charity given to them by Seido.

Lost again. As the current ace of Seibo, including last year, this was the second time they had met Seido at Koshien and been defeated.

"Time to line up."

The Seibo Manager patted Katsuyama Kotaro's shoulder gently. At this moment of losing the game, he couldn't say any words of comfort.

"Let's go, our summer is over." Sano Shuzo squeezed out a smile.

He wasn't very satisfied with today's duel. After all, Huangqian Yangyi was substituted after the 5th inning, and there was no chance for a head-on confrontation in the second half of the game, which made him feel some regret.

"Thank you for the game!"

"Thank you for the game!"

Red-rimmed eyes, choked voices, staggering steps, hunched figures—the aura of the losers was manifested vividly on the Seibo players.

"Honestly, I'm convinced; it's a total defeat," Sano Shuzo said with a bitter smile while shaking hands with Huangqian Yangyi.

"Convinced already? No way," Huangqian Yangyi laughed.

"Heh, I'll be waiting for you in the professional league. We'll settle the score then," Sano Shuzo said.

Huangqian Yangyi nodded. He would definitely enter professional baseball.

"You'll win, right? In the end! That pinnacle!" Sano Shuzo continued.

"Of course, I'm aiming for a Three-peat."

"I'll be watching the game on TV."

"That's good."

"Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

As the Seido High School Baseball Team left the stadium, the first game of the day came to an end. In the stands, apart from the majority of Seibo High School supporters who had left, everyone else was still savoring the game that had just taken place. Facing Seibo, who had a batting lineup capable of squeezing into the top five in the country, Huangqian Yangyi's pitching was still able to suppress them completely. Many people felt such pitching ability was even terrifying. At the very least, in the world of high school baseball, they really couldn't think of anyone whose batting could deal with Huangqian Yangyi's pitching. Perhaps, only he himself could.

Facing a Seido anchored by Huangqian Yangyi, the audience was pondering the question of what kind of batting lineup it would take to achieve victory.

Seibo's batting lineup was already strong enough, but the only one who could truly pose a threat to Huangqian Yangyi's pitching was Sano Shuzo. To sustain an offensive and score runs, a team needed at least three, or even four, Batters of the same level. This was the opinion of the vast majority of the audience.

Otherwise, just looking at this game, Sano Shuzo got a hit and reached base, but what was the result? The following players didn't have the ability to send him home to home plate. What was the use of being on base then?

On the Seido side, after changing clothes in the locker room and packing their luggage, they didn't immediately leave the stadium to return to the hotel. Instead, led by Takashima Rei and Department Head Ota, they prepared to head to the spectator stands to watch the upcoming game.

In today's Quarter-finals, besides Seido versus Seibo, there was another game very much worth watching: Osaka Kiryu versus the biggest dark horse of this Koshien, Komadai Fujimaki.

Just as they walked out of the locker room into the outer corridor, a crowd of reporters immediately surrounded them. In the end, Manager Kataoka, Huangqian Yangyi, and Chris stayed behind to accept interviews, while the others headed to the spectator stands first.

During the post-game interview session, Huangqian Yangyi, surrounded by reporters, answered questions with composure.

"First of all, congratulations on defeating Seibo High School and becoming the first team today to advance to the semi-finals."

A very official opening statement; such an opening is the most common after any type of game.

"Thank you," Huangqian Yangyi said.

"Then, may I ask how Huangqian-kun is feeling right now?"

"Happy."

"Before this game, most people believed Seido would win. We also saw that in the first half of the game, Huangqian-kun suppressed Seibo's batting lineup very well, but you were moved to Left Fielder after the fifth inning. May I ask if this was because the victory was already secured and it was to conserve stamina?" The reporter asked the first real question.