"That's awesome." Looking at the threatening pitcher, Kōshū muttered in a daze.
The game has not started in the second half of the seventh inning now, and I have not exerted any force due to pitching, but there is already a faint feeling of soreness in the muscles all over my body. 'How many innings has this been? It's already started. '
Perhaps unlike what everyone imagined, it was probably not Kōshū's psychology that collapsed first, but his body. In seven innings, Kōshū has already dealt with three crises caused by two pitchers. When dealing with crises, he cannot conserve his energy at all and can only continue to carve each ball to the best level. In this way, the mental and physical energy consumed by each ball also increases exponentially.
"Be sure not to drop the ball." Kōshū's words were heard by Haruichi next to him. He looked at the pitcher who was still sweating a little worriedly and handed the sports drink to Kōshū.
"Oh, thank you." His thoughts were interrupted, and Kōshū finally sat back Dugout and began to have a good rest.
With his eyes closed, he thought of Coach Ninomiya from Kinoshita Little League.
After hearing Kōshū's high school ambition school, Coach Ninomiya was a little disapproving of the decision, "Kōshū, you are about to become an adult. One of the most important characteristics of an adult is to be prepared to bear the consequences of your own choices. Why did you choose Seido? Is it just because of your stepfather's recommendation?"
At that time, Kōshū couldn't answer because he really had no direction.
When I think about my future, the picture I draw is just to go to college after graduating from high school, then find a job, work hard during work, watch TV and play with the dog after get off work, and time passes quickly.
To be honest, he didn't even believe how careful he was about this choice. At that time, when he imagined the result, it was as if he was discussing other people's affairs. "I haven't been to Koshien for several years... That can just test my abilities."
"Hey, you've been playing baseball for almost two years, why don't you understand? Baseball is a team sport. One person's excellence cannot affect the outcome. Some excellence can even become pressure. You have to bear the mediocrity of your teammates to compete with others."
"I know." Kōshū has seen many teams and understands this truth.
But his actual experience was the opposite. His teammates were all excellent and no one was holding him back, so he couldn't empathize with the heaviness in Coach Ninomiya's tone.
"Huh——" Kōshū was lying on the bench. On the uncomfortable stool was the cushion just laid by Eijun. He felt the love from his teammates, but his heart became heavier and heavier, 'How can I win? Is it okay to just persevere? As long as you don't lose points.. '
"Three out! Change sides!" The voice in the stadium was particularly harsh.
'As long as I don't lose points! ' With the difference in physical condition, even Kōshū didn't notice that he had gone from fighting for every point in the opening to becoming more and more conservative, and retreated as long as he didn't lose points.
However, as soon as he stood on Pitcher's Mound and started pitching, the heaviness in his body immediately disappeared. The adrenaline of the game smoothed out the physical gap between the two pitchers. The next seven, eight, nine, and three bats were all pitchers from Kyoma University.
Even after watching Kōshū pitch for the second time, Nakata still couldn't break through the power of the ball and was struck out in a hurry.
As for Ba Ba, this is the first time he has faced this pitch, so he is naturally more helpless.
"Nine bats, pitcher, Hongo."
This is the first time Hongo and Kōshū have faced each other on the court.
Kōshū frowned. The experience of being stared at several times before made him not feel particularly good about the pitcher Kyoma University. What's more, now Seido might lose the game because of this pitcher.
"Pitch more relaxed." When the pitcher was discussing this inning, he might have seen the pitcher's nervousness. The first thing Miyuki said was to let the pitcher relax, "The next three pitches are all pitchers from Kyoma University. They just didn't hit your ball very much. So now you don't have to use all your strength and just get the effective number of outs."
So facing the two pitchers just now, Kōshū adopted the strategy of making the opponent play poorly, but this third pitcher.
The people on Pitcher's Mound once again shook their heads at the catcher's Signals.
'What's wrong, do you want to fight this pitcher? A child? '
Miyuki complained in his heart, but his gloves moved. So let's go to the outside corner first and test this guy's strength.
The pitcher turned sideways and prepared to pitch. At the same time, Hongo also tensed up his body. He kept hearing the batter in front of him say "the ball is very heavy" in Dugout, so he wanted to see who was stronger.
"Good ball!" Hongo swung the bat for the first ball, but he saw the ball drifting up and passing over his bat.
Hongo, who is also a pitcher, certainly understands the reason, "The speed is very fast, and you need to let your eyes adapt to this upward drift." '
The second ball hit the inside corner of the chest. Kōshū was a little rushed, so the ball was slightly red and hit.
Hongo Of course, seeing this rare sweet pitch, he immediately swung the bat, but still failed to seize the opportunity.
"Good shot!"
A drop of cold sweat hung on Miyuki's face under the mask. He could already clearly feel the emotional fluctuations of the person Pitcher's Mound.
"Good shot!"
"Three out! Change sides!"
"Kōshū, don't worry." Miyuki frowned. In the eighth inning, Seido also started from the seventh bat Shirazu. If the nine-bat Kōshū worked as hard as before, the incomplete coverage would affect the pitching.
"I know." The pitcher responded, but in his heart he was thinking about getting a smooth hit in a while.
The difference in hits between the two teams accumulated to the end, which was a full three hits. In the 8th game, Seido started with 7 sticks, but the 8th game with Kyoma University started with the 1st stick. In this way, they will definitely finish Central Batting Lineup and Seido in the last two games...
This is the source of Kōshū's emotional fluctuations. He feels that the progress of the objective world is not affected by subjective factors at all.
"Furuya, you're on the field, you must fight out, I will send you back." Furuya was stunned for a moment, it was rare to hear such words, and then nodded firmly, "Yes!"
'The worst is On Base, so that in the 9th round, it will be Yuki's turn. '
Entering the eighth game, everyone's anxiety level increased to another level.
Shirazu, who was the first to play, returned in vain, and Furuya was already in trouble. His hitting skills were not very good, and he usually relied on his natural ball feel. Once he hit, he could use his strange strength to pull the ball to a very far place. If he didn't have the ball feel, he would swing in the air, which is commonly known as the "blind cannon".
"Bump--" A straight ball thrown high inside the corner was successfully hit by Furuya's intuition.
"Safe!"