Chapter 91: Seido's Offensive

In just a few seconds, the catcher thought of many things; the sound of Dong Qingguo swinging his bat empty reached his ears, and the catcher silently extended his hand to give Suzuki Yu the signal.

Quickly, Suzuki Yu pitched!

Bang!

Dong Qingguo swung at the first pitch directly, and the baseball flew foul.

"Strike!"

Kenda Takasaki gained a strike count; Dong Qingguo twisted his neck and looked at Suzuki Yu with a ferocious grin; although this guy's pitching wasn't hard to guess, it was truly difficult to hit.

Then the second pitch, Suzuki Yu threw with all his might a high-speed forkball that seemed to be heading for Dong Qingguo's stomach; Dong Qingguo swung again without hesitation, and with a bang, the baseball flew high into the air.

Flyout.

Dong Qingguo failed to help the two people on base return to home plate to score in this at-bat, and he wore a sour face as he walked off the field.

"Senior Dong, your condition isn't quite right today; are you perhaps paying too much attention to that Ishii Yohei?" Huangqian Yangyi asked while following beside Dong Qingguo.

"Bullshit, would I care about him?" Dong Qingguo sneered; it was true that he and Ishii Yohei were old friends, but this was a game, and he was very professional; he would never let personal reasons affect the game.

"Heh, that's good then; I believe Senior will definitely hit a home run today," Huangqian Yangyi said.

Dong Qingguo's current home run count was 39, just one away from entering the 40-40 club.

"That goes without saying!" Dong Qingguo said; he also really wanted to secure his fortieth home run today.

But for now, the team's victory was more important.

"Nanjo! Strike him out for me!"

Just as Nanjo Taishi was about to walk out of the dugout, he was pressed on the shoulder by Dong Qingguo and given instructions.

"Got it! I won't let them get on base!" Nanjo Taishi said decisively.

In the top of the fourth inning, the first batter Nanjo Taishi faced was the fourth batter, Ishii Yohei; the promise made to Dong Qingguo before taking the field could not be fulfilled, as Ishii Yohei blasted his high-speed slider for a home run, scoring a run directly.

At this point, the score became 0:1, Kenda Takasaki in the lead!

Afterwards, facing Kenda Takasaki's lower batting order, Nanjo Taishi pulled himself together and took three consecutive outs.

"You guy, you really are disappointing."

After Nanjo Taishi walked off the field, Dong Qingguo said unpleasantly.

"An accident, this was an accident; watch me strike him out next time," Nanjo Taishi laughed; although he gave up a run, his mentality was still quite good.

"Senior, how about you let me do it?" Huangqian Yangyi leaned over.

"Go away, there's no spot for you to play today," Nanjo Taishi said.

"Exactly," Tanba also said.

"Hehehe," Miyuki snickered.

The atmosphere in the dugout was relaxed; on the field, Tanaka Wataru had already stepped into the batter's box.

After taking a few practice swings, Tanaka Wataru looked at Suzuki Yu seriously; as a member of Seido's center batting order, he had been easily struck out by Suzuki Yu in his previous at-bat, so he had to perform this time.

High-speed forkball, vertical curveball, vertical slider.

With these three types of pitches working in coordination, it was quite difficult to hit well; Tanaka Wataru pondered to himself how the catcher would call the pitches.

After several innings of observation, Suzuki Yu threw his signature high-speed forkball the most; combining it with the fastball could effectively disrupt the batter's rhythm, making it hard for them to find the hitting point and causing a large number of ground balls.

Tanaka Wataru understood this point; since that was the case, he would just aim for the high-speed forkball.

Bang!

Suzuki Yu threw the first pitch, and it was the high-speed forkball Tanaka Wataru was waiting for; the opportunity arrived, and Tanaka Wataru scooped the ball out with one swing.

"Safe!"

Successfully reaching first base, Tanaka Wataru finally breathed a sigh of relief; that was close, he hadn't hit that ball very well, and the opponent's defense was also very quick; the baseball and he arrived at first base almost one after the other, and he was nearly forced out.

Suzuki Yu glanced at Tanaka Wataru; had his pitching pattern been figured out? Swinging decisively on the first pitch, he was clearly aiming for the high-speed forkball.

No outs, runner on first.

Seido's sixth batter, Isashiki Jun, stepped up; he first bowed to the umpire properly, then let out a roar and stared fiercely at Suzuki Yu.

Suzuki Yu was not provoked and threw a fastball toward Isashiki's chest.

Bang!

The little white ball was hit solidly amidst Isashiki's roar.

No outs, runners on first and second.

In the blink of an eye, Kenda Takasaki fell into a predicament; Seido was steadily attacking Suzuki Yu's pitching; although the seventh batter, Nanjo Taishi, failed to reach base, he tangled with Suzuki Yu until a two-strike, two-ball count before being finished off by a vertical curveball.

After Nanjo Taishi, the eighth batter, Shinoki Keita, exploded, hitting an extra-base hit to center field; even more unexpectedly, Kenda Takasaki's center fielder actually dropped the ball.

Tanaka Wataru seized this opportunity and returned directly to home plate to score a run; Isashiki Jun reached third base, and Shinoki Keita reached second base.

"Hehe, it's my turn again," Huangqian Yangyi was very happy; runners on second and third, one out, the opponent must be under a lot of pressure, right?

Although he reached base in his previous at-bat, he ultimately couldn't score; this time, even if he couldn't return to home plate himself, he would make Isashiki on third base return.

Suzuki Yu pitched, an outside high-speed forkball.

Ping!

With a crisp sound, Huangqian Yangyi swung decisively on the very first pitch; the baseball hit the ground and landed in the direction of second base.

Huangqian Yangyi sprinted toward first base, while Isashiki left home plate; Kenda Takasaki's second baseman threw the ball toward home plate, attempting to force out Isashiki and prevent him from scoring.

As a result, just as the ball was thrown, Isashiki turned around and returned to third base.

Tricked!

The catcher who received the ball looked left and right; Huangqian Yangyi and Isashiki Jun had each safely reached their bases, and Shinoki Keita on second base hadn't moved an inch from start to finish.

It's over, the bases are loaded!

They wanted to get the runner on third, but it resulted in this current situation; the catcher and second baseman looked at each other helplessly.

"Hahaha, that's just too stupid," Kuramochi laughed loudly off the field.

Isashiki's fake move just now was so obvious, yet it actually managed to fool the opposing Second Baseman; Isashiki isn't stupid, so how could he possibly risk rushing to Home Plate on a ball rolling toward the Second Baseman? That would be no different from seeking death.

It wasn't just Kuramochi; all the Seido supporters in the stands burst into laughter, and on the field, the Kenda Takasaki Second Baseman's face turned red—if there were a crack in the ground, he would have desperately wanted to crawl into it.

Suzuki Yu looked back at him; what a useless teammate, wouldn't it have been fine to just throw to First Base earlier? There was only one out, wasn't this just putting unnecessary pressure on themselves?

Sighing helplessly, Suzuki Yu had no choice but to gather his focus and prepare to deal with the next Batter.

Zhitian Jiangtai, who had been easily dealt with in his previous plate appearance, returned to the Batter's Box once again; this time, he was going to take back what he had lost!

Bang!

After two Strikes, Zhitian Jiangtai picked out Suzuki Yu's Forkball, and although he didn't hit it squarely, he still managed to whip the ball out, and Isashiki Jun returned safely to Home Plate.

The score became 2-1, Seido was in the lead, and the bases remained loaded on the field.