Chapter 97: Finals

The night before, Seido had already conducted research on Tongying Academy, and among the opposing team's roster, the most noteworthy player was their pitcher.

The ace, Hattanda Taichi, an extremely tongue-twisting name.

Hattanda Taichi is a left-handed pitcher with a Fastball exceeding 140 km/h; he likes to face batters head-on with his Fastball, and his combination of a Cutter and Sinker easily disrupts a batter's rhythm. Besides that, he has also mastered a vertical-breaking Curveball, making him a very capable pitcher.

As for the other players of Tongying Academy, there is nothing particularly worth noting. Although the addition of Yoshihawa Musashi has brought some attention to Tongying Academy to a certain extent, a team's strength cannot be improved solely by one manager.

Perfect facilities and excellent prospects are the two absolute hardware requirements, and Tongying Academy has neither.

Being able to pick up a Hattanda Taichi is already a stroke of immense luck for Tongying Academy.

After understanding the data on this team, the school that Huangqian Yangyi thought of that was similar to them was Kurotsuchikan.

Of course, compared to Kurotsuchikan, Tongying Academy is still lacking; the overall quality of the team is not as good, and although the ace's ability is decent, there is still a gap compared to Zaizen. It can be considered a low-spec version of Kurotsuchikan.

Hachioji Stadium, Seido High School's first-base side dugout.

Huangqian Yangyi is the starting pitcher today; in the words of Manager Kataoka, he is out there to find his feel, as the upcoming semi-finals will surely be a bitter struggle.

Not only Huangqian Yangyi, but Miyuki has also become the starting catcher today, with the goal of allowing the two of them to adjust their condition during the game. Among Seido's current catchers, the one with the most chemistry with Huangqian Yangyi is still Miyuki.

"Get your spirits up, we're going in!" Manager Kataoka shouted.

"Awoooo!!!"

The team members shouted in unison like wolf pups.

At 10 o'clock in the morning, the game began.

Tongying Academy is on offense first.

The Seido team members walked onto the field led by Huangqian Yangyi.

"Seido!"

"Huangqian!!"

The uniform, synchronized cheers rang out.

On the third base side, the Tongying Academy players were also in high spirits; they were not intimidated because their opponent was Seido. Having reached the top 8, they had also stood here after round upon round of competition.

Even if there is a gap in strength on paper, a game is a game, and it wouldn't be surprising if anything happened.

The first to stand in the batter's box was the Tongying Academy Shortstop. Listening to the cheers from the crowd in the stadium for Huangqian Yangyi, Daoya Dalang was not overwhelmed by the momentum; instead, he stared at Huangqian Yangyi with some excitement.

On the Pitcher's Mound, Huangqian Yangyi performed his usual motion; his fist dropped, and the sound vanished.

Seeing this scene, Daoya Dalang felt his blood boil even more. This is exactly the kind of guy he wanted; it's only interesting to battle against someone like this.

Sensing the gaze of the opposing batter, Huangqian Yangyi curled the corner of his mouth and looked at Miyuki.

Miyuki also smiled and gave the sign: a Fastball on the edge of the outside corner. In such a tricky spot, a catcher usually wouldn't call for this at the very beginning of a game; they would generally call for a relatively safer location to confirm the pitcher's condition for the day.

Yet, Miyuki did just that; he believed that Huangqian Yangyi could throw it into that tricky spot.

Huangqian Yangyi nodded slightly, his left leg lifted in one fluid motion, and the baseball in his hand shot out like a white laser in the next second.

Whoosh!!

The moment the baseball left his hand, Daoya Dalang in the Batter's Box knew he was wrong. All that talk of hot blood and interest—that could only be felt when the strength between the two sides was relatively equal.

Facing this baseball that was like a cannonball, Daoya Dalang couldn't react at all, watching helplessly as the baseball flew past his eyes.

"Pop!"

"Strike!"

After catching the ball, a flash of brilliance crossed Miyuki's eyes. Why does this ball feel heavier than before?

It clearly didn't feel like this during training yesterday. This guy actually evolved again at the very beginning of the game. Is it because he was pent up from not playing in the previous two games?

Returning the ball to Huangqian Yangyi, Miyuki couldn't help but feel a bit excited and immediately called for a Two-seam Fastball hugging the inside corner of the strike zone.

"Strike!"

Failing to swing again, Daoya Dalang's hands gripping the bat were already soaked with sweat. Even though he hadn't done anything, he felt his whole body going soft, feeling even more tired than during training.

Then for the third pitch, Huangqian Yangyi threw a Fastball straight into the center of the strike zone.

Daoya Dalang let out a roar and swung with all his might, but the bat had only just come down when the baseball had already entered Miyuki's glove.

"Strike!"

"Strikeout!"

Having easily dealt with the first batter, a burst of cheers erupted from the stands immediately. Huangqian Yangyi glanced toward the Seido dugout; his teammates were relatively calm, as they were already used to such scenes. If Huangqian Yangyi were ever to get hit for a base hit the moment he stepped up, that would be the surprising thing.

"Strike!"

"Strike!"

"Strike!"

"Strikeout!"

The two batters who came up afterward couldn't put up any resistance either, both easily dealt with by three Fastballs.

The game had only just begun, and Huangqian Yangyi's aggressive pitching gave Tongying Academy a stern warning.

"Huangqian! Huangqian!"

"Miyuki!"

Amidst the cheers, Huangqian Yangyi and Miyuki walked off the field together.

The ace pitcher and the genius catcher—the perfect performance of the Seido Twins left the audience thoroughly satisfied and calling it a thrill.

At the very top of the stands, the people from Inashiro Industrial looked grim as they saw the state of Huangqian Yangyi.

"This guy's condition looks way too good."

"Not being on the Pitcher's Mound for the last two games let him conserve his energy well."

"It's hard to deal with him when he's paired with Kazuya," Narumiya Mei said.

"Hmm? Mei, I can't believe you'd say something like that."

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean? Do you think I'm childish?!"

"Isn't it?"

The people from Inashiro were fooling around in the stands, while on the field, Seido's leadoff hitter, Kuramochi Yoichi, had already reached First Base.

Hattanda Taichi did not look down on Kuramochi, a First Year, despite facing him; he threw an Inside Fastball with full concentration, yet Kuramochi managed to fluke a hit with his bat, piercing through the infield defense.

"This kid, he's got good luck."

"Must have stepped in dog shit."

"Maybe today is his lucky day."

Seido's teammates complained one after another; even they could tell that Kuramochi's hit just now was a fluke, and it was not hard to imagine how frustrated Hattanda Taichi on the Pitcher's Mound must be.

Just as they thought, Hattanda Taichi looked at Kuramochi on the base and cursed under his breath; he was clearly very frustrated.

Next, the second batter, Kominato Ryosuke, stepped up to the plate.

Hattanda Taichi combined his cutter and Sinker, quickly securing two Strike counts, and then entered Kominato Ryosuke's zone of entanglement.

After being tangled for two pitches, Hattanda Taichi relied on a low Inside Fastball Sinker to make Kominato Ryosuke hit a soft Grounder.

"Out!"