Chapter 77: The Desperate Omori Academy

Hmm, the angle is a bit tricky, but at this speed, I can hit it!

The bat was already swung; Zhitian Jiangtai gritted his teeth fiercely and slammed the bat into the underside of the incoming baseball. A high-speed fly ball soared toward the sky, crossing over second base and heading straight for the outfield.

Zhitian Jiangtai threw his bat on the ground and sprinted toward first base.

These idiots, actually thinking they could retire him by pitching inside. The strategy wasn't bad, but if he couldn't hit an inside fastball at this speed, there would be no point in him staying at Seido.

Catch it!!

The players from Omori gritted their teeth as they watched the baseball flying further and further away, praying silently in their hearts.

Zhitian Jiangtai reached first base, but didn't stop! He was seen sprinting rapidly toward second base again.

The moment he made contact with the baseball, he had a clear feeling: this ball would score a run directly!

Sure enough, the baseball was flying in the sky while the center fielder was running on the ground, yet his expression was extremely grim.

"It's gone!!"

"Home Run!"

"Seido's first batter, Zhitian Jiangtai, has achieved a perfect start!"

The whole stadium was in an uproar!

No one expected Seido to score a home run right at the start. It was only the first pitch; what a way to set the tone.

Many people now turned their eyes toward Omori's ace, Xiangtian Dahe. Fortunately, his mental fortitude was still quite strong; although he had taken a significant hit, he hadn't completely collapsed.

In the Seido dugout on the third-base side, after seeing Zhitian Jiangtai blast a home run to start the game, the players off the field were screaming and slapping the railing like monkeys.

Soon, Seido's second batter, the Second Baseman Kominato Ryosuke, who was making his first start, stepped into the batter's box.

With his eyes narrowed in a smile, his gaze locked onto Xiangtian Dahe.

Heaven is helping me, Kominato Ryosuke thought to himself. A pitcher whose speed isn't fast and who relies mainly on breaking balls is easier for him to hit.

In the previous at-bat, an inside fastball was hit for a home run, so they shouldn't pitch like that again. Glancing at the Catcher, Kominato Ryosuke stealthily gripped his bat a bit shorter; this small movement was caught by the Catcher.

Want to hit an inside pitch?

The Catcher felt a bit annoyed. Do they really think we'll keep pitching like that after getting burned?

Outside low! Slider!

The Catcher signaled. Looking at Kominato Ryosuke's build, an outside pitch should be harder for him to hit. Even if he could barely make contact, with his power, he definitely couldn't hit an extra-base hit; it would most likely turn into a foul ball. Hmm, let's get a strike first.

However, the moment Xiangtian Dahe on the pitcher's mound lifted his leg, Kominato Ryosuke quickly gripped the bat longer. As soon as the ball flew out, he stepped forward toward home plate and swung the bat down!

Bang!

Kominato Ryosuke cleanly locked onto the outside pitch and hit a line drive. The baseball passed between first and second base and slammed into the ground, allowing Kominato Ryosuke to reach first base.

Damn it!

Got played!

The Catcher stared at Kominato Ryosuke's figure, feeling extremely irritated. How could this guy be so cunning? Sure enough, people with narrowed eyes have dark hearts.

A bad start. The pitcher had only thrown two pitches—one home run, one hit. If it were someone with poor pressure resistance, they would have probably collapsed already.

The Catcher looked at Xiangtian Dahe with a worried expression, only to see the latter nod at him.

He looks okay. Since that's the case, let's focus on dealing with the next batter.

On the Seido side, Yuki Tetsuya walked calmly to the batter's box, his gaze toward the pitcher remaining unruffled.

End the game early—that was the only thought in Yuki Tetsuya's mind.

For some reason, Xiangtian Dahe felt an intense pressure looking at Yuki Tetsuya's stance. *Hoo*—he took a deep breath to calm himself down, and Xiangtian Dahe immediately threw a curveball.

"Strike!"

The baseball entered the mitt, and Yuki Tetsuya didn't move an inch. This was his batting habit; when facing an unfamiliar pitcher, he usually observed one pitch before taking action.

The first pitch was a curveball, so the second pitch was unlikely to be a curveball, unless this battery was confident enough to think that repeating a curveball with little drop could retire him.

With that in mind, the options were fewer, and Yuki Tetsuya gripped his bat tighter.

The baseball flew rapidly toward home plate, and as it reached the hand, it immediately dropped.

Yoshi.

The Catcher's eyes lit up. Just as his mitt was ready to catch the ball, a bat flashed across his line of sight.

With a *ping* sound, the bat struck the baseball hard and sent it flying.

How could this be!

The Catcher's pupils shrank, and he immediately stood up and shouted, "Left Fielder!!"

By this time, Yuki Tetsuya was already sprinting toward first base, and Kominato Ryosuke on base was also running for second.

This line drive to the outfield was enough to give them time to reach base safely.

Three batters in, one run given up, runners on first and second, no outs—such a terrible start left everyone at Omori in silence.

Omori is considered a well-known, strong team in West Tokyo. Although not on par with the three major powerhouses, they usually win more than they lose in clashes with other schools. They never imagined they would be beaten so miserably one day.

Should we make a substitution?

The Omori manager's brows were already knit together. Xiangtian Dahe's pitching was already the best on the team; if even he could only manage this against Seido's lineup, putting someone else in would likely be even uglier.

And next was Seido's fourth batter, the monster hitter Dong Qingguo. In this situation, who could withstand such pressure if they made a change?

I have to rely on you, Dahe. Even if we give up runs, just hold on until the bottom of the lineup and get the outs to end this inning.

The Omori manager and Xiangtian Dahe's eyes met in the air. Xiangtian Dahe nodded; he felt his heart rate was already incredibly high, but he had no choice but to bite the bullet and continue.

The development of the situation was much like what Manager Asen had thought. After Dong Qingguo came up, he blasted an extra-base hit to the corner of left field, and then, under pressure, a throwing error occurred, allowing Kominato Ryosuke to return to home plate and score the second run.

Yuki Tetsuya took the opportunity to reach third base, while Dong Qingguo was tagged out as he ran past first base toward second.

"Hahahaha, Senior Dong is still as slow as ever."

Isashiki clutched his stomach and laughed. Although it was his respected Senior Dong who was losing face, such teasing would not affect the bond between the two.

"Yeah, his stomach is too big. Manager, we need to make Senior Dong lose some weight," Huangqian Yangyi added, twisting the knife.

Dong Qingguo, who had just come off the field, immediately glared and looked toward the two of them.

The two of them immediately shut their mouths, turned their heads to look elsewhere, and stopped giggling.

After this, the Fifth Batter Tanaka Wataru swung and missed twice in a row, and the Omori Pitcher and Catcher secured two Strikes.

The third pitch was also thrown quickly, and Tanaka Wataru swung and missed again, yet after passing the bat, the baseball hit the edge of the Catcher's glove directly and bounced away.

The Catcher made an error? Run!

Tanaka Wataru reacted extremely quickly; he threw his bat and dashed toward First Base.

Damn it! The Catcher also realized what happened at this moment and immediately stood up to retrieve the ball; by the time the Catcher picked up the ball and threw it to First Base, Tanaka Wataru had already successfully reached base.

"Good!!"

"Not bad reflexes."

"He runs fast too; he was almost caught by the ball."

"Haha, a dropped third strike."

(A dropped third strike refers to when a Pitcher throws a third Strike, but if the Catcher fails to catch the ball thrown by the Pitcher, the Batter may attempt to run to First Base. If they can reach base safely before the Catcher throws the ball to First Base, then although it is still recorded as a Strikeout, the Batter reaches base and the number of outs does not increase; this situation is called a dropped third strike.)

The occurrence of the dropped third strike made the people from Omori Academy incredibly depressed; what is the use of recording a Strikeout if it doesn't count as an out? After all that effort, it was still only one out.

They hadn't been depressed for long before the Sixth Batter Isashiki continued the offensive by hitting a base hit, Yuki Tetsuya returned to Home Plate to score the third run, and Tanaka Wataru also reached Second Base.