Chapter 51: The Debut of the Two-Seamer

Miyuki called for another high inside Fastball; if it were any other Catcher, having just seen an inside pitch, they might have called for a pitch to a different location at this moment.

But Miyuki was not that type, especially when the Pitcher was Huangqian Yangyi.

Sure enough, seeing such an aggressive pitch selection, Huangqian Yangyi did not shake his head in opposition; instead, a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. If he could strike out Inashiro's Fourth Batter in the most aggressive way possible, it would surely be a massive blow to Inashiro's batting lineup.

Kazuya, you really understand me too well.

Silently praising Miyuki in his heart, Huangqian Yangyi's gaze met Shinkawa Kenichi's. This Batter was expressionless, giving one the feeling of being as immovable as a mountain.

Watch me blow away that poker face of yours! Huangqian Yangyi violently shoved the ball toward Shinkawa Kenichi's chest.

It was at this moment that Shinkawa Kenichi moved; the bat whistled as it smashed toward the incoming little white ball. The two met in front of Home Plate, passing each other by.

"Strike!"

Swinging and missing, Shinkawa Kenichi showed no expression on his face; he simply shouldered his bat again and muttered faintly.

It was off by the distance of a single ball; the swing needed to be faster—no, earlier. The swing speed just now was already his limit and could not be improved, so he would just have to seize the timing and swing earlier.

This First Year kid is even better than their own Narumiya Mei; things are going to be difficult from here on out. With two Strikes already, he would have to swing at the next pitch no matter what.

Shinkawa Kenichi focused all his attention on Huangqian Yangyi's glove, not daring to be the least bit careless.

Huangqian Yangyi also sensed the opponent's fighting spirit. With two consecutive Strikes, the pressure on the opponent would be much greater. At a time like this, throwing a subtle Ball to lure the opponent into swinging would undoubtedly be a great choice, but after seeing Miyuki's pitch selection, Huangqian Yangyi smiled slightly—so wicked.

Two-seam Fastball!

Huangqian Yangyi was so excited his mouth went crooked; he had held back for so long and could finally throw it in a game.

He had thought that at the very least, he would have to wait until the final inning for Miyuki to call for a Two-seam Fastball.

But thinking about it, it made sense; the opponent before him was Inashiro's Fourth Batter. To take him out reliably, just throwing a Fastball would absolutely not work, even if his pitch speed was very fast.

Switching to the Two-seam grip, Huangqian Yangyi raised his arm high and threw the ball toward the center of the Strike zone.

Seeing the little white ball flying straight toward him, Shinkawa Kenichi was overjoyed—it was a Red Center pitch! Is he looking down on me? So what if the pitch speed is fast, to dare throw a Red Center to me—in an instant, too many things flashed through Shinkawa Kenichi's mind, yet his swinging motion was not delayed. The bat swung in an arc; the path was right, the timing was right—he hit it!

Just as the baseball was about to be struck, at that very moment, the little white ball suddenly shifted to the right, even carrying a downward arc. The baseball grazed the thin part of the bat and entered Miyuki's glove.

"Strike!"

"Strikeout!"

The Umpire's voice rang out, and at the same time, the Seido supporters in the stands erupted.

"Huangqian! Great job!"

"One more strikeout!"

Lowering the bat in his hand, Shinkawa Kenichi looked at Huangqian Yangyi with a wry smile. Sure enough, it was impossible for this guy to only have one Fastball. It was a pity that he had only ever seen Huangqian Yangyi's Fastball before; there really was zero intelligence on anything else.

But being able to force out the opponent's Two-seam Fastball could be considered a contribution to the team.

Thinking this, Shinkawa Kenichi left the Batter's box, and then Huangqian Yangyi welcomed Inashiro's 5th Batter, Harada Masatoshi.

Having just advanced to his Second Year, Harada Masatoshi was not only an extremely excellent Catcher but also had outstanding batting ability.

Huangqian Yangyi stared at Harada Masatoshi, this future Inashiro Captain and Fourth Batter; knowing that he possessed a Two-seam Fastball, how would the opponent respond?

Swing at the Fastball? Or wait for the Two-seam?

According to the intelligence gathered by Chris-senpai, Harada Masatoshi was a guy who could even carry difficult pitches out to the outfield.

It would be better to mix the Four-seam and Two-seam Fastballs to confuse his thoughts. Huangqian Yangyi had just thought this when he saw Miyuki across from him make a gesture.

This is!

Interesting. Huangqian Yangyi was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized that this gesture meant to throw all Fastballs.

That made sense; thinking in reverse, having just thrown a Two-seam Fastball to strike out Shinkawa Kenichi, the current Harada Masatoshi must be extremely wary of that pitch.

Huangqian Yangyi hadn't expected that Miyuki would actually do the opposite; he was truly worthy of being a Catcher—his heart was so dark.

With a plan in place, the two accelerated the tempo without the slightest hesitation.

A 148 km/h Four-seam Fastball was shoved directly into Harada Masatoshi's chest; the latter's bat could not keep up with the speed of the baseball at all, swinging and missing. Huangqian Yangyi secured one Strike.

Looking at the expression on Huangqian Yangyi's face, Harada Masatoshi's eyes were sharp. He had long known this guy had fast pitch speed, and they had even used a pitching machine in training to simulate speeds over 150 km/h.

But a ball thrown by a real person was completely different from a pitching machine; it wasn't that rigid. After just one pitch, Harada Masatoshi felt an extremely strong sense of pressure from Huangqian Yangyi's pitching—this was a ball a pitching machine could never fire.

He had to hit it. Harada Masatoshi couldn't help but use a bit more strength. If he were also struck out, the morale would surely suffer a huge blow. This wasn't to say his batting strength was better than Shinkawa Kenichi's, but rather that Huangqian Yangyi had already struck out their Inashiro Third and Fourth Batters.

If he were added to that, then Inashiro's core batting lineup would have been completely wiped out by Huangqian Yangyi; this was absolutely not allowed. Even if he couldn't score, he had to at least hit a base hit.

Holding such determination, Harada Masatoshi swung his bat.

He didn't hit it...

"Strike!"

Both were Fastballs?

Harada Masatoshi frowned; in that case, was the next pitch very likely to be a Two-seam Fastball?

Or would it be a subtle Ball to lure him into swinging?

Of course, it was also possible it would be another Fastball.

At this time, the spectators on the sidelines were already so excited that they had all stood up, especially in the position behind and to the side of Third Base, where Mamiko had gotten a banner from somewhere with Huangqian Yangyi's name written on it, shouting cheers loudly.

"Tsk tsk, what a heated atmosphere."

Inside the Dugout, Kominato Ryosuke said with a smile.

"As expected of the Seido visual representative, just like me," Kusunoki Fumiya said.

"Uga!"

Unlike the lively atmosphere in the Dugout, the Seido players on the field were all very nervous; they also knew that if they could take down Harada Masatoshi at a time like this, the momentum of this game would completely tilt in their favor.