3:2!
That one-run difference was like an ice water bucket landing on the faces of every player of the Seidou High School baseball team.
Regardless of whether the people on the field were first-year freshmen or not, they all represented the first team of the Seidou High School baseball squad.
How could the first team of Seidou High School, fielding at full strength, be overturned by one of Chiba's top-four teams?
No matter what their current condition was—or what they had been thinking before—the teammates of the Seidou High School baseball team now believed that they had reached the point of no further tolerance.
They had to strike back!
Even though the fatigue and physical discomfort had not improved in the slightest, once their resolve shifted, it was as if those constraints simply did not exist.
One by one, their eyes turned fierce—as though they intended to devour their opponents whole.
One Out, no one on base.
With the base cleared of runners, they no longer had to expend energy watching every base runner's movement.
For Nishiyama on the pitcher's mound, his only task now was to deal with the batter currently in the box—namely, the fifth batter of Kashiwagi High School.
Not in good form and with the possibility of errant pitches…
Although Nishiyama had not yet been driven to the end of his rope, the situation he faced was far from optimistic.
To break this deadlock, he had to find a solution:
How could he record an Out under such physically disadvantageous conditions?
Velocity! Control! Rhythm! Deception…
All the various pitching techniques flashed through Nishiyama's mind, and then he made his choices.
This pitcher—who had once won a world runner-up—once he calmed down and entered his zone, exuded an air of reliability.
His gaze toward the opponent likewise took on a war-like look.
At the catcher's position, Okumura first glanced at the opposing batter beside him and then at Nishiyama on the mound.
'Rhythm!'
In unison, he and Nishiyama realized that their only means of survival in this unfavorable situation was to rely on exactly that—rhythm.
And it was the only aspect completely under their control.
'Let's go!'
Okumura squatted down, opened his Mitt, and prepared to catch the ball.
Almost simultaneously, Nishiyama on the mound reacted.
Whoosh!
He hurled the small baseball from his hand with force.
'So fast!'
The fifth batter of Kashiwagi High School, standing in the Batter's Box, was struck with disbelief.
It wasn't that Nishiyama's velocity was so overwhelming that he could not possibly contend with it; rather, the pitching rhythm was much quicker than he had anticipated.
Before he had even had time to prepare, the small baseball had already zipped past his eyes and dropped into Okumura's Mitt.
Snap!
"STRIKE!!"
Taken completely by surprise by the stealth attack, the fifth batter of Kashiwagi High School found himself unable to cope.
When one is ambushed, the instinctive reaction is to defend and counterattack.
Seeing Nishiyama change his pitching rhythm, the batter realized he must not rush—if he became hasty at that moment, he would very likely fall into the opponent's rhythm and trap.
That would be absolutely inadvisable.
'Steady yourself, calm down, and watch what the opponent does—'
Before the fifth batter even had time to prepare mentally, Nishiyama's second pitch was already on its way.
It appeared that as soon as Okumura had just relayed the ball back to Nishiyama, Nishiyama had already delivered his next pitch.
'This rhythm!'
The fifth batter of Kashiwagi High School maintained a solemn expression.
The threat that Nishiyama posed was far greater than he had imagined.
Nishiyama's current rhythm had absolutely nothing to do with his previous deliveries.
That meant he couldn't, like the previous batters, rely on the same approach to hit the ball.
He had to adjust his own rhythm accordingly!
But just as the batter became aware of this issue, Nishiyama's third pitch came!
Whrroosh!
This pitch felt exceptionally sharp—as if someone had fired a bullet from a handgun.
"Gyro ball!"
Among the players of Kashiwagi High School was one avid fan of the International Youth Baseball Championship.
At the very moment Nishiyama threw that pitch, he shouted out the name of the pitch.
Snap!
The "bullet" tore through the bat's obstruction and forcefully drilled into Okumura's open Mitt.
"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!!"
After witnessing this pitch, the players of Kashiwagi High School clearly sensed its extraordinariness.
Their Coach deliberately called over the player who was especially keen on the International Youth Baseball Championship.
"What on earth was that pitch?"
"That was Nishiyama's Winning Shot—the very reason he became Japan's Ace was because of a pitch like that. Last year, barely any batter managed to hit it…"
The Kashiwagi Coach nodded and immediately issued an order:
"Do not wait until the third pitch—don't give the opponent the chance to use their Winning Shot. Before that happens, get the ball hit out for me!"
"Oh!!!"
The Kashiwagi players responded with resounding vigor.
But for that inning, the outcome was already sealed.
After Nishiyama struck Out the fifth batter of Kashiwagi High School, he effortlessly dealt with the sixth batter as well, thereby completing their defensive effort for the first inning.
In the following two innings, both sides traded blows without yielding an inch—
Not a single run was scored by either side.
Even Toujou, the second batter, on his second confrontation with Kashiwagi, hit a fly ball and was caught for an out.
Kashiwagi's Ace pitcher was a slow starter.
He often made mistakes at the beginning, but once he got into his rhythm, his abilities would fully emerge.
In that sense, he was still a very reliable pitcher.
Of course, the Seidou side was not about to be outdone.
Even though Kashiwagi High School later changed its strategy, who exactly were Nishiyama and Okumura?
They were among the elite of their peers; perhaps they weren't yet considered the absolute top high school players, but they were undoubtedly outstanding.
Especially Nishiyama—with his superb technique, skill, and vision, he had reached an extraordinarily high level.
When he surveyed the field and began to focus all his efforts on targeting Kashiwagi, it truly was no easy matter for the Kashiwagi batters to score off him.
Even in the third inning, when Kashiwagi's heavy hitters stepped to the plate, the result remained unchanged—
at best, they could merely make contact, but hardly hit the ball well.
Meanwhile, the fielders on Seidou gradually adapted to their physical condition.
Though they still couldn't compare to their peak performance, they had at least recovered to a decent state.
Under these circumstances, as long as the difficulty wasn't too high, they generally managed to field the ball.
Especially Kominato Haruichi at second base—
not only was he responsible for his own defensive area, but he also shouldered a significant portion of the fielding duties for his nearby teammates.
In doing so, the defensive area for the others shrank considerably, and naturally, their fielding success rate improved.
By the end of the third inning, the score remained 3:2, with the Seidou High School baseball team trailing by one Run.
In the Kashiwagi High School dugout, their Coach was extremely excited.
Although the ability of Seidou's first-year players was somewhat beyond what he had imagined, in terms of the overall situation, Kashiwagi still held the advantage.
As long as the game continued in this manner, their probability of ultimately winning should be high.
'For some unknown reason, the young players of the Seidou High School baseball team appeared exceptionally fatigued.'
'Only three innings in and they were already drenched in sweat.'
"Steady and methodical—don't give the opponent a chance to score. As long as we drag this out until the end, the winners will undoubtedly be us!"
At the start of the fourth inning, their Coach rallied the players on the field.
In his view, if the game was prolonged just a little longer, the Seidou players would surely surrender one by one.
After all, their physical endurance was not something to take lightly, and the sweat on their bodies was all too real.
But this was something the Kashiwagi Coach had not noticed.
Although the Seidou players appeared especially exhausted, the spark in their eyes had not dimmed at all—in fact, it grew even brighter.
At the beginning of the game, they felt as though their bodies were shackled, making every movement unbearably difficult.
But now, as they had gradually adapted, they suddenly realized that things were not as hard as they had once imagined.
Once people grow accustomed to their shackles—even though they can never move as freely as they would without them—they still adapt and eventually perform better and better.
That was exactly the case with these first-year players; though they couldn't move as lightly as swallows, they were gradually regaining their form.
It was believed that once their bodies and stamina fully recovered, their abilities would receive a modest boost.
Paak!
The first to take the field, Kominato Haruichi, unsurprisingly got a hit.
For most, getting a hit is no simple matter, but for Haruichi it was only natural.
If he failed to get a hit, it would have been truly unusual.
"SAFE!"
No Out; there was now a runner on first base.
At that moment, the at-bat fell to Yuuki.
Yuuki's swing looked quite intimidating.
Fortunately, having already seen much, the Kashiwagi players were not easily daunted by him.
Although the young man's swing looked very powerful, its wide motion made it hard to adjust to his off-speed pitches.
The Kashiwagi players believed they could handle Yuuki using those very pitches.
Having made up their minds, the Ace pitcher of Kashiwagi High School hurled the small baseball once more.
At the moment of the pitch, he was inwardly exclaiming,
'Let your bat swing freely!'
'After all, in the end, you'll never make contact anyway.'
Bullied by an underclassman of such ability, the pitcher's whole body and mind were filled with delight.
But what happened next was something he had never, in a million years, expected.
SHUUUUUUUUUU!!!!
The deep, resonant sound of the bat's swing—carrying immense force—struck the small baseball fiercely.
If there had been a high-powered magnifying glass at that moment to capture the exact scene of the bat meeting the ball, you'd be astonished to see that the bat did not actually make contact with the center of the baseball.
But so what?
PAAAANNNG!!!
Even without hitting the sweet spot, Yuuki, relying on his unparalleled strength, forcefully sent that ball soaring.
Whrroosh!
The small baseball, moving even faster than before, shot straight up into the sky.
It flew out!
The spectators who witnessed this scene were utterly dumbfounded.
They had various thoughts originally, but such a beautiful sight was truly unexpected.
Yuuki Masashi, astonishingly in the second round, had cleanly and decisively hit a home run!!
The score, originally 3:2, was completely transformed.
A two-run home run directly changed the situation on the field to 4:3.
Seidou High School had taken the lead!
…
T/N: Well, That's it for now.
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