Chapter 36: Miyuki's Batting

This man's batting can only be expected to do something when there are runners on base; even though he is currently a First Year, Huangqian Yangyi believes that Miyuki Kazuya will certainly be able to perform at this critical moment.

Hearing his good friend's cheers, Miyuki Kazuya didn't even turn his head, shouldering his bat and walking with long strides toward the batter's box.

Zhenzhong Yao, his fastball speed exceeds 140 kilometers, his specialty breaking ball is a high-speed curveball, and when his condition is stable, he can accurately throw the ball to very tricky spots in the strike zone.

Information regarding Zhenzhong Yao flashed through Miyuki's mind continuously; although this Ichidai Sanko Second Year ace has few pitch types, his mental fortitude is quite strong, and after being scored on repeatedly by the Seido lineup, he is still barely able to maintain the situation, which is quite remarkable.

However, let it end here; let me thoroughly knock you off the mound!

With Huangqian Yangyi's home run preceding him, Miyuki Kazuya's competitive spirit would not allow him to fall behind, especially since this person is his good friend, a good friend who would never hold back his tongue and would mock him relentlessly.

Must get on base! At the very least, must hit a base hit!

Miyuki's gaze was firm; judging from the opponent's pitch calling in the previous few innings, today, when facing the Seido heart of the order, they were almost all high-speed curveballs on the outside corner, occasionally mixing in some balls to earn strikes.

Runners on first and second, no outs, must get outs as quickly as possible to resolve the crisis; if it were him as the Ichidai Sanko catcher, how would he call the pitches? Miyuki began to put himself in the other's shoes.

The Ichidai Sanko catcher was also observing Miyuki; the people at Ichidai Sanko had all heard of this genius catcher's reputation, and they had even had contact with him before, wanting to invite him to join Ichidai Sanko.

Logically speaking, as a powerhouse school, basically no one would refuse, but the result made Ichidai Sanko feel surprised; Miyuki Kazuya refused Ichidai Sanko's recruitment without hesitation, and Director Tahara once felt it was a great pity.

The next time he heard news of Miyuki was after he joined Seido.

One cannot underestimate him just because he is a First Year; being entrusted to play in such a critical game is enough to show Seido's trust in him; the catcher made up his mind to treat Miyuki as a true heart-of-the-order batter.

After exchanging glances with Zhenzhong Yao on the pitcher's mound, the latter quickly threw the ball.

It was a high-speed curveball flying toward the batter that would shift horizontally into the inside corner in the latter half; this kind of pitch, which easily becomes a hit by pitch, is very hard to hit well if one's mental fortitude is not strong enough, let alone for a First Year lacking experience.

No matter how much of a genius you are, without having gone through the baptism of rigorous high school baseball, it is absolutely impossible to hit this ball easily.

The reality was just as guessed; facing this high-speed slider coming toward his body, Miyuki Kazuya simply didn't swing, subconsciously dodging back a step.

That's aggressive enough! Miyuki smacked his lips; he had calculated that the opponent would throw an inside pitch, but he hadn't expected it to be a high-speed curveball—a show of force for a First Year?

"What are you dodging for! Don't be a coward! Just take it head-on!"

Suddenly, the shouting from the bench made Miyuki's face darken.

"Arogabaka!"

Miyuki cursed under his breath and prepared to hit again.

The first pitch had a good effect; after throwing the baseball back, the catcher had already decided how to call the second pitch.

The inside high-speed curveball close to the body left a deep impression on the batter; at this time, an outside pitch was undoubtedly the best choice; seeing the signal, Zhenzhong Yao nodded his chin slightly.

Following Zhenzhong Yao's fluid pitching motion, the baseball flew off his fingertips, stabbing straight toward Miyuki's chest!

Good, that's it; watching the small white ball fly in, the Ichidai Sanko catcher's mouth curled up slightly.

The impression left by that high-speed curveball just now was still there; although throwing to the outside corner was a better choice, considering the batter was also a catcher, normal patterns might not necessarily work on him; the Ichidai Sanko catcher chose to do the opposite, calling an inside four-seam fastball with a speed and trajectory completely different from the high-speed curveball.

Bang!!

A crisp sound rang in his ears; the Ichidai Sanko catcher's pupils shrank violently—how is that possible!

Then a figure flashed past his eyes; having hit the ball, Miyuki quickly dropped his bat and ran toward first base.

The small white ball flew over second base toward center field; Yuki Tetsuya, Dong Qingguo, and Miyuki Kazuya had all successfully run the bases before the center fielder could throw the ball back, forming a bases-loaded situation.

Standing on the first base bag, Miyuki panted as he looked toward home plate; nice idea, but unfortunately, I predicted your prediction.

"An amazing First Year! Seido rookie Miyuki Kazuya's perfect performance continues the lineup's offensive momentum, further expanding the scoring opportunity," the commentator roared.

"This Miyuki is also pretty good."

"He hit Zhenzhong Yao's ball on the first try."

"Is it luck?"

"It should be that he just happened to guess the pitch."

"That's possible."

The audience had different opinions, and the Seido student cheering squad was also calling Miyuki's name sparsely.

Unlike the thick-skinned Huangqian Yangyi, Miyuki, who hadn't given a heads-up beforehand, was playing for the first time, and not many people knew him.

Turning his head to look at the Seido bench, Miyuki reached out and made a 'V' sign toward them.

"That makes it bases loaded, a great scoring opportunity," Department Head Ota said, clapping his hands incessantly while looking at Miyuki on the field, "I didn't expect student Miyuki's batting to also be able to perform."

Kataoka nodded and said, "Miyuki's batting is also top-tier among the new students, but the biggest reason he was able to hit that ball is his understanding of baseball."

"Understanding of baseball?" Department Head Ota frowned and thought for a while, looking as if he half-understood, and Director Kataoka didn't explain it to him further.

On the Ichidai Sanko bench, the moment Zhenzhong Yao's pitch was hit by Miyuki, Director Tahara's heart also tightened; should he make a substitution?

Director Tahara stared fixedly at Zhenzhong Yao; as long as a trace of discouragement or confusion appeared on his expression, he would replace him without hesitation.

The Spring Metropolitan Tournament, losing in the semi-finals is a bit of a pity, but if one can take this opportunity to train a true ace, it might not be a bad thing; after all, the main event for powerhouse schools is always in the summer.

"Zhenzhong Boy, you must hold on!" Director Tahara's palms were sweating.

*Hoo*~ Zhenzhong Yao opened his arms, tilted his head back, and took a deep breath; how could he not know the Director's expectations? Not being replaced after giving up so many runs—is that the expectation for an ace?

It really is a huge amount of pressure.

Zhenzhong Yao did not want to let his teammates down, and even less did he want to fail the Director's trust.

"Focus on retiring the batter!" the catcher shouted.

Zhenzhong Yao nodded and prepared to pitch again; the game continued!

Bases loaded, no outs, Isashiki Jun went up with great momentum, swung his big bat three times with full confidence, and was struck out in a completely embarrassing fashion.