Chapter 386

Furuya's highly aggressive pitching easily disposed of the first batter, Arai, and then, Yura High School's second batter, Hanai, stepped into the Batter's Box.

The rhythm remained unchanged, the strategy remained unchanged, and Miyuki still chose to attack the batter's inside corner.

"Come on! Furuya! Throw it in."

"Yes!!"

Whoosh!

Furuya was fierce, throwing the baseball in his hand toward home plate without hesitation; the rapidly approaching shadow of the ball made it difficult for Hanai in the Batter's Box to react in time, and he swung his tightly gripped bat instinctively based on pure reflex.

Bang!

"Jianjie!"

The small ball flew backward and landed outside the boundary.

So heavy! Hanai recalled the feeling of the moment he hit the ball; this ball had too much movement, it was impossible to control.

Come again, second pitch, Vertical Slider!

After returning the ball, Miyuki decisively signaled for a Vertical Slider.

Furuya on the Pitcher's Mound nodded obediently, whipped his slender arm forward, and the small white ball flew from his fingertips with a whoosh.

Hanai, who had selected a Fastball, found his body swinging the bat involuntarily the moment the baseball flew out.

Pop!

"Strike!"

The batter swung and missed, putting himself in a corner; Furuya's pitching and Hanai's batting were on completely different levels, and as Vice Captain, Miyuki would not show the slightest mercy. For the third pitch, an inside high ball jammed into the batter's chest, Furuya threw with all his might, and the rapidly flying small white ball entered home plate before Hanai's terrified and helpless eyes.

Pop!

"Strike! Batter out!!"

The moment the baseball leaped past the bat and drilled into Miyuki's glove, the umpire shouted loudly without the slightest hesitation.

Having easily secured two outs, the Seido fans cheered excitedly for the strength Furuya had displayed; just when everyone thought Furuya would easily secure the third out, Yura's third-batter cleanup hitter launched a sneak attack on the first pitch.

Bunt!

To everyone's surprise, the third batter, Niikawa, was originally a power hitter, yet he decisively set his bat in his first plate appearance, tapping one of Furuya's Fastballs toward the left side; the placement was excellent, and the speed was perfect.

Tap-tap-tap-tap~

Amidst the surprised gazes of the crowd, Niikawa successfully sprinted to First Base.

Two outs, runner on First Base; after Niikawa stood on First Base, the Yura High School players raised their fists one after another to celebrate.

"Chida! I'm counting on you!"

"You can do it!"

"It's all up to you!"

"Fourth Batter! Go for it!"

"Get that run!"

Even though two people had been struck out in a row before this, now that the third batter was on base and the Fourth Batter was next, they had reason to believe that the Fourth Batter, Chida, could find a breakthrough here and open up the situation for the team.

Haa~

Standing in the Batter's Box, Chida took a deep breath to adjust his state; before taking the field, Coach Sakaki had already given instructions: for the first two pitches, choose to hit the Fastball, don't swing too hard, the angle is what matters. By the third pitch, choose to attack with a Vertical Slider or a Forkball, as these were the two winning pitches this pitcher was best at.

Seeing Chida's stance, Miyuki raised an eyebrow; unlike the previous three batters who stood further back, Chida stood in the middle, clearly indicating a tactical change.

Wanting to hit for power? Is the target a Fastball?

Wouldn't such a clear objective be too straightforward? Miyuki questioned his own judgment; then again, it might be that the target was a Breaking Ball.

Since that was the case, he would completely change the pitching strategy.

Come on! Furuya!

First pitch, Forkball!

Whoosh!

Fastball!

Chida's pupils dilated, and he swung the bat in his hands.

The small white ball arrived in front of home plate in the blink of an eye like a bullet, and Chida's bat arrived just before the baseball at that moment.

Bang!

"Jianjie!"

Watching the baseball fly out of bounds from the side-rear, Miyuki's brow twitched; the swing was very decisive, and at first glance, one would think Chida was aiming for the Fastball, but Miyuki did not believe it would be that simple—the opposing manager was that Coach Sakaki, after all.

Let's probe a bit more.

Although the goal should be to get an out now, Miyuki felt that figuring out the opponent's intentions and objectives was more important.

Second pitch, Vertical Slider.

A beautiful arc, a leaping white shadow of a ball; Chida, who had selected a Fastball, hesitated for a moment, and by the time he swung, it was already too late.

Pop!

"Strike!"

The count was two strikes, the Fourth Batter was in a corner.

Then the third pitch, Miyuki signaled the pitch, and Furuya nodded slightly before throwing the ball.

It was still an arc; Chida, already in a corner, showed surprise in his eyes—it was a Vertical Slider! Chida swung the bat in his hands decisively.

As it turned out, the arc was correct, but it was not a Vertical Slider; it was just an ordinary Slider.

Pop!

"Strike!"

"Three outs, change of offense and defense!"

Successfully recording three outs, Furuya's suppression of Yura's Fourth Batter, Chida, had the spectators cheering endlessly; in the top of the first inning, Yura High School returned empty-handed.

"My apologies, Coach."

Returning to the dugout, Chida was extremely frustrated; he had originally thought he had picked up on the Vertical Slider, but ended up being fooled by a Slider from the opponent. With his level of batting, he was not yet capable of making adjustments after having already committed to a swing, and could only watch helplessly as the baseball entered Miyuki's glove.

"Don't be anxious, it's only the first inning. The Catcher on Seido's side is not someone who can be dealt with easily. He is very smart; although he couldn't completely guess our intentions, he resolved the trouble in a different way." Coach Sakaki's eyes were full of admiration as he looked at Miyuki while speaking; in the years he had been coaching, he had almost never encountered such a genius Catcher.

Hearing their Coach's words, the team members nodded silently.

"Come, let's go, don't panic, follow the plan and take it one step at a time."

"Yes!!"

Bottom of the first inning, Seido on offense.

"Kuramochi! Go!"

"Lord Cheetah, charge!"

"Seido! Seido!"

Seeing Kuramochi stand in the Batter's Box, the Catcher immediately became vigilant.

Or rather, among all the teams, there was no one who dared to underestimate this First Batter of Seido.

Whenever he reached base, one had to be prepared to give up runs and be tormented; it would be quite passive at that point.

The experienced Coach Sakaki naturally would not let this go easily; he also had arrangements targeting Kuramochi. As long as he could lock him down here, Seido's opening momentum would be greatly reduced, and their offensive means would also be diminished by much.

"Come on, Higashiyama, let me see what you've got."

Kuramochi Yoichi held his bat and revealed a cunning smile, which made the expression of Higashiyama on the Pitcher's Mound turn somewhat cold.

"Playball!"

As the umpire's voice fell, at home plate, the Yura High School Catcher signaled with a gesture.

Higashiyama on the Pitcher's Mound stood up slowly from his slightly hunched posture after seeing the sign, and swung his arm forward with all his might.

Whoosh!

A streak of white light shot out.

The little white ball entered home plate; Kuramochi maintained his swinging posture without moving, watching as the ball entered the high position on the outside corner of the Strike zone.

"Strike!"

Was it an outside high ball to start?

After seeing the first pitch, Kuramochi stood a bit further forward, closer to home plate, eager to try.

Is this, blocking the inside pitch?

Standing so close to home plate, an average Pitcher would be very troubled.

In the Seido dugout, seeing the move Kuramochi made, everyone from the Coach to the players was surprised.

"This guy, his fighting spirit is quite high today."

"He is trying to force the opponent to throw outside pitches."

"Quite an idea. Perhaps he guessed that Coach Sakaki would definitely have tactics targeting him; rather than waiting passively, it's better to take the initiative himself." Huangqian Yangyi guessed Kuramochi's thoughts.

Although doing this carries some risk—if the opponent really throws inside, it would be disadvantageous to himself—this is a psychological game. In this aspect, Kuramochi would not lose to the opponent.

At this moment, there was already movement on the Pitcher's Mound on the field.

Originally, he intended to use a ball far from the body and on the edge of the Strike zone to make it difficult for Kuramochi to bunt or push-hit, but at this moment, although it was still possible to pitch that way, they were now on the defensive.

Higashiyama took a deep breath, glanced at Coach Sakaki in the dugout, and then, under the guidance of the Catcher, threw the ball to the low outside corner.

"Ball!"

The baseball deviated from the Strike zone.

The count was one strike and one ball; Kuramochi bared his teeth and chuckled. His positioning clearly put tremendous pressure on the Pitcher. Not daring to throw inside, the only option was to throw outside. While being wary of his bunting, the opponent could only control the ball on the edge of the Strike zone, which was very risky; one careless move and they would self-destruct.

Wiggling his bat, Kuramochi continued to apply pressure to the opponent.

Higashiyama looked toward the dugout again, only to see Coach Sakaki gesturing with both hands at his chest, a sign that Seido could not understand.

Higashiyama nodded, then confirmed the information with the Catcher.

Kuramochi noticed this scene, but felt there was nothing he could do; unable to understand the opposing coach's signs, he could only quietly wait for Higashiyama to throw the baseball.

Soon, Higashiyama moved.

The white shadow of the ball flew toward home plate.

It's an inside pitch!

Kuramochi Yoichi's pupils shook; he did not swing to hit, but quickly retreated a step, and the baseball flew past him into the Catcher's glove.

This pitch path! So dangerous!

Kuramochi glared at Higashiyama.

Phew~

Higashiyama on the Pitcher's Mound was even more nervous than Kuramochi, who had almost been hit. Clearly, the sign Coach Sakaki gave was for a low inside ball, but he had made a mistake and thrown a high inside ball; if that had hit someone, it would have been truly dangerous.

The count was two strikes and one ball; this time Kuramochi did not continue to stand so far forward. Since the opponent dared to throw inside, standing there no longer had such a great effect; he would focus on batting.

Swish!

The fourth pitch was thrown.

Kuramochi swung his bat with force, contrary to his usual style.

Watching the trajectory changing in the air, Kuramochi realized this was a Breaking Ball; his forced-change swing trajectory collided with the baseball.

Bang!

The bat and the edge of the baseball met; feeling the uncomfortable sensation in his hands, Kuramochi gritted his teeth, wanting to pull the ball toward Third Base, but he failed to hit the sweet spot. Coupled with his own deformed batting posture, the direction of the baseball was completely out of his control, and the little white ball fell squarely in front of the opponent's Second Baseman. Although Kuramochi's speed was fast enough, in this situation, he was ultimately tagged out.

"Damn it!"

Kuramochi cursed under his breath, a flash of annoyance in his eyes, and after sighing several times, he walked off the field helplessly.

"What a pity, just a little bit off."

After Kuramochi returned, Huangqian Yangyi shook his head and said.

"That inside pitch, the opponent made a mistake."

Hearing this, Kuramochi turned his head sharply to look at him, "What do you mean?"

"Higashiyama, he probably intended to throw an inside low pitch, but he made a pitching error, the ball path was too high, and it just happened to be stuffed into your chest; you were bluffed by an error from the opponent," Huangqian Yangyi smiled.

"Huh?!"

Kuramochi had an incredulous look on his face, highly suspicious of whether Huangqian Yangyi's judgment was true.

"How do you know he made a mistake?" Miyuki asked.

"Intuition. That inside pitch's path was too dangerous; the opponent shouldn't have done that on purpose. Perhaps he just wanted to throw an inside low ball to make Kuramochi realize the inside is also not safe, but as for the result, it can only be called a happy accident."

Huangqian Yangyi looked at Coach Sakaki opposite them; this old manager of Seido would never make such an instruction that could potentially harm a player.

"Maybe, anyway, I didn't see it," Kuramochi said.

On the field, Kominato Haruichi narrowed his eyes slightly; do not be anxious to swing, this was the only instruction the Coach gave him. Gripping the wooden bat in his hands tightly, Kominato Haruichi prepared to bat.

The first pitch, Higashiyama attacked the inside; Kominato did not swing.

The second pitch was a Breaking Ball on the outside; the path was quite tricky. Kominato saw it very clearly and still did not swing.

After watching two pitches, Kominato Haruichi had some ideas in his mind; the next pitch, outside!

Making his judgment, the moment Higashiyama threw the ball, Kominato Haruichi swung the wooden bat in his hand toward the high outside position; this was the pitch path he found hardest to deal with, and the opponent would never let it go.

The facts were indeed so; the ball thrown by Higashiyama was indeed aimed here.

The thickest part of the bat happened to hit the baseball; although it wasn't a solid hit, the baseball bounced toward the position between Second Base and Third Base.

Tap-tap-tap-tap~

Kominato Haruichi seized the opportunity and dashed to First Base in one breath.

One out, runner on First Base.

Seido's chance had arrived.

After cheering for Kominato, the fans began to shout Miyuki's name in unison.

Seido's third batter, Miyuki's batting ability was definitely top-tier, not to mention his ability to select pitches, which was simply second to none.

Standing in the Batter's Box, Miyuki uncharacteristically did not observe the pitch path, but instead swung his big bat toward the inside on the very first pitch.

Bang!!

The baseball attacking the inside was blasted to the outfield.

Kominato Haruichi reached Third Base, and Miyuki reached First Base.

"Miyuki!!"

"Good hit! Great shot!"

"Seido!!"

It's over!

At this moment, everyone from Yura High School shouted in their hearts at the same time.

Runners on First and Third, next they would have to face that freakish super Batter.

Watching Huangqian Yangyi approach the Batter's Box step by step, Higashiyama and the Catcher only felt as if a great mountain was slowly pressing toward them.

Slowly standing in the Batter's Box, raising the bat steadily, he assumed a batting stance as immovable as a mountain. In this instant, Higashiyama seemed to see a boiling golden aura of Qi on Huangqian Yangyi's body.

Continuously rotating the baseball in his hand, until the Catcher gave the signal, Higashiyama took several deep breaths before slowly lifting his leg.

Whoosh!

The baseball flew from his fingertips, the leaping shadow of the ball arriving in front of home plate in the blink of an eye. The path was very tricky, flying almost right along the very bottom of the strike zone.

However, at this very moment, a thick bat swept in from below.

Boom!!

The crisp sound of the hit echoed in the Catcher's ears; Higashiyama looked up at the baseball in the air, dumbfounded.

A streak of white light shot into the stands, a Home Run!