Chapter 92: Home Run, 40!

On the Pitcher's Mound, Suzuki Yu had a grim complexion and a stiff expression.

It was still bases loaded, and the next batter was that troublesome second batter; even if he successfully retired him, that would only be two outs, and then he would immediately have to face Seido's heart of the order.

Suzuki Yu's palms were sweating; if he were the slightest bit careless now, it wouldn't just be a matter of giving up one or two runs—it was highly likely that the outcome of this game would be decided right here.

No matter how agitated Suzuki Yu felt, the game had to go on; after stepping up, Kominato Ryosuke did not tangle with Suzuki Yu this time, hitting a base hit through the infield defense on the first pitch to help Shinoki Keita, who was on third base, return to home plate.

The score was 3:1, and the bases were still loaded.

Next was the third batter, Jiecheng, who followed the Coach's instructions to look for a Forkball; after an extra-base hit, Huangqian Yangyi returned to home plate to score.

The score was 4:1, and yes, the bases were still loaded.

Following him was Dong Qingguo, who pulled the ball into the no-man's-land of right field with one swing.

Because the bases were loaded and they were facing the Fourth Batter, Kenda Takasaki was terrified of Dong Qingguo hitting an extra-base hit, so the outfield defense had retreated quite far, which resulted in no one being nearby when the ball landed.

By the time the Right Fielder threw the ball back, Zhitian Jiangtai had safely returned to home plate to add another run for Seido.

At this point, the score became 5:1, bases loaded, one out.

In the Kenda Takasaki Dugout, Coach Guan Ping had a solemn face; objectively speaking, Suzuki Yu's pitching performance was not bad, but Seido's batting lineup was stronger!

What made Coach Guan Ping even more helpless was that Seido's players could all demonstrate a certain level of ability when batting; there was almost no spot in the order that became a weak link, and they were able to connect their offense well in terms of batting continuity, steadily advancing runners to score—this was something their Kenda Takasaki team was completely unable to do.

Among their own players, there was a huge disparity in batting ability, especially the lower order, which was almost powerless when facing Nanjo Taishi.

I'm counting on you, Suzuki, you must hold on!

Coach Guan Ping had no intention of making a substitution; the current pitching strength on the team had a clear gap compared to Suzuki Yu, and if he was having such a difficult time facing the Seido lineup, others would likely give up runs even faster.

Seido's 5th batter, Tanaka Wataru, had a very strange expression on his face after stepping into the Batter's Box; he had truly never encountered a situation where he had to bat twice in the same half-inning.

Not to mention Tanaka Wataru, even Suzuki Yu had never encountered this; the batting order had already cycled through once, yet he had only managed to get one out, and the bases were still loaded—where exactly had things gone wrong?

Suzuki Yu's complexion was very poor; with such an unsightly pitching performance, the Kenda Takasaki fans in the stands had already started booing.

He had to get the outs quickly; he absolutely could not let the order cycle back to the 9th batter! This thought appeared subconsciously in Suzuki Yu's mind.

After psyching himself up, Suzuki Yu quickly began pitching; this time, Tanaka Wataru could not get on base again, as Suzuki Yu's pitching actually became more aggressive under this pressure, and he later forced Isashiki to hit a ground ball that resulted in a force out using a Vertical Curveball.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, when Suzuki Yu left the field, cheers actually erupted from the Kenda Takasaki Dugout on the sidelines, and applause even rang out from the spectator stands.

Being able to persist under such circumstances without making errors due to pressure, and still daring to face the batters head-on—the spectators were very satisfied with this attitude.

Seeing this scene, Huangqian Yangyi also felt some admiration for this guy; Suzuki Yu's mental fortitude was truly strong, and if this had been Senior Tanba facing this situation, he would have self-destructed long ago.

Next, in the top of the fifth, Nanjo Taishi struck out the 8th and 9th Kenda Takasaki batters to get two outs, then faced Kundijiarka once again.

Kundijiarka knew his own batting strength was not strong, so this time he actually chose to Bunt; the baseball bounced and rolled toward third base, and Kundijiarka almost succeeded in getting on base thanks to his super-fast speed, which really gave Nanjo Taishi a scare.

Afterward, in the bottom of the fifth, Seido was on offense, and it was Huangqian Yangyi's turn to bat again; he hit a fly ball and was retired by a flyout, and Zhitian Jiangtai and Kominato Ryosuke also failed to get on base.

After the 5th inning ended, Huangqian Yangyi was substituted off to rest after leaving the field, and Yoshikawa Junpei replaced him in Left Fielder.

Pitcher Nanjo Taishi and Catcher Tanaka Wataru were also substituted, replaced by Tanba Koichiro and Miyuki Kazuya.

"Good luck." Huangqian Yangyi and Miyuki high-fived.

Miyuki smiled and said, "I thought the game would end early in 5 innings today; looking at the current score, 7 innings is a possibility."

"It's up to you, hit a Home Run later," Huangqian Yangyi said.

Miyuki chuckled and didn't reply, walking onto the field with the seniors.

In the top of the sixth, Kenda Takasaki was on offense; the duo of Miyuki and Tanba faced the heart of the order right away, starting from the second batter, and the two quickly retired the second and third batters, then Ishii Yohei stepped into the Batter's Box; Tanba's Curveball was hard to get good results with against this monster, and it was hit on the second pitch, with Ishii Yohei successfully getting on base.

With only a runner on First Base, neither Tanba nor Miyuki took it too seriously; baseball was not a one-man sport, and no matter how good Ishii Yohei was at batting, if his teammates couldn't connect the offense, he wouldn't be able to return to home plate.

The two worked together and quickly retired the 6th batter, and Ishii Yohei returned empty-handed once again.

Looking toward the Seido side, Ishii Yohei sighed inwardly; he was very happy to be able to meet Dong Qingguo on the field, but now Kenda Takasaki was being one-sidedly suppressed by Seido, and it was incredibly difficult for them to score—and this was even with the opponent's ace not on the mound.

In the bottom of the sixth, Seido was on offense; after Yuki Tetsuya was retired, Dong Qingguo finally welcomed his fortieth Home Run, hitting the ball into the spectator stands in left field with one swing, successfully securing Seido's sixth run.

The spectator stands were ignited once again; Dong Qingguo's fans, who had been prepared early on, held up a giant flag at this moment with a large "40" printed on it.

"Hahaha!"

A smug Dong Qingguo ran slowly back to home plate, his jowls shaking wildly.

"Dong, well done." Coach Kataoka gave Dong Qingguo a thumbs up in praise.

The still-smug Dong Qingguo immediately wiped the smile off his face when he heard the Coach and shouted loudly, "Thank you, Coach!"

After Dong Qingguo, Miyuki and Isashiki failed to continue the offense, and Suzuki Yu held this inning, not letting Seido continue to score and widen the gap.

In the seventh inning, Kenda Takasaki started from the 7th batter, and every player who stepped up to bat swung very aggressively, causing quite a bit of trouble for Miyuki and Tanba; someone even reached third base, but fortunately, in the end, it was safe and sound, and Kenda Takasaki's counterattack was fiercely suppressed by Miyuki and Tanba.

And in the bottom of the 7th, Seido didn't score a single run and failed to end the game early in 7 innings; until the 9th inning was finished, the score was finally set at 9:1, with Seido winning.