Standing on Pitcher's Mound, Kōshū can feel the gaze from Batter's Box. The pitchers of the two teams also have four bats, which almost represents the strongest combat power of this team. In the last game, Kōshū did not benefit.
So the first ball, Inside High Straight Ball, Hayakawa, aimed at this hitter by using the speed difference to destroy his batting rhythm, so the first ball allowed him to feel the speed up close.
"Bang——" Left Batting Box's hitter felt that the ball was in a straight line, heading straight for his face, "Bad ball!"
The second ball was another very far Outside Corner Ball, which skimmed the sideline very skillfully, "Good ball!"
'I'm so envious, this ace has such strong control over the ball.' This is what most pitchers would think when faced with Kōshū's pitch.
Then came another Outside Corner Ball. Yongming's four-ball didn't dare to let it go again. It was a bad ball that would rub the boundary, and it was directly scored as Foul Ball.
After two good shots, Pitching Strategy had more space. Hayakawa thought about it and decided to go with Changeup, but the ball had to fall on the edge.
"Bang——" It was another Foul Ball ball. Yongming's four sticks knocked the ball out with great difficulty and re-glued the batting gloves tightly. He looked at Dugout. The coach did not give any instructions and stood up again.
'As long as the ball touches the boundary, it will be knocked out. Are you afraid that the referee will pick up the ball? ' And this four-stick Hitting Techniques is very powerful. I didn't guess it was Changeup just now, but I suddenly adjusted my posture and hit the lower edge of the ball, knocking the ball away.
Two good and one bad, the next ball was another Inside High Straight Ball, three consecutive Outside Corner Ball four-bats, and he swung empty and struck out.
"One out!"
Kōshū bent down to pick up the powder bag, and felt the wind getting through his neck. There was a chill on his back. He had only been on the field for a while, and his clothes were soaked with sweat.
As the saying goes, "If the sky falls, there will be someone taller to hold it up." But when that tall person is under great pressure, if you are not careful, your team will lose to someone else.
Wiping the sweat from his face, the next bat is the fifth one. This is another two-hitter. His height is probably First Year of High School, and he is really fat. Looking around Eimei Little League's Dugout, it seems that apart from the very fat ones, there are also very thin ones. The one who is more proportionate is their ace, but he is also very tall. It is really a strange team.
"The batting average of the fifth bat is also very good, about 30% these days." Hayakawa mentally reviewed the data of this hitter. Although it is a practice match, he still briefly analyzes the data of the next day's opponents every day. Some teams from other districts that did not have data before only counted Training Camp's situation in the past few days.
Hayakawa had a good idea in his mind. This hitter had a very strong will to swing, so he could just use a bad ball, but then he felt something was wrong with the pitcher. He couldn't say what was wrong, but he seemed a little absent-minded after solving the four bats. However, the opponent had already nodded to Signals, so he could only put aside his doubts first.
The first ball is an outside corner Cutter. Because this hitter is taller than others and has a shorter wingspan, a straight ball that is outside the corner may hit a Foul Ball ball to others. It will be just right for him, but Carter will move laterally to the outside corner. For this hitter, the original sweet spot is gone.
'But -' This Cutter, Kōshū's face changed slightly after the ball was thrown, and then Hayakawa's expression changed drastically, 'Why has there been no change? It is a straight ball?! '
Wubang was overjoyed, as the outer corner was fed directly into his mouth, directly piercing the second room. The situation suddenly tilted towards Eimei Little League.
"Time!"
Hayakawa quickly asked about the ball just now.
"Sorry, I didn't hold the stitches correctly just now." Fast Cutter's grip was taught to him by Shibasaki. It is very similar to the straight ball grip. It just moves a few seams to the side. The rest is exactly the same as throwing a straight ball.
This answer made everyone feel incredible. Kōshū actually missed the shot?
"Are you okay? Is the pitching rhythm too fast?" Lang Zhi asked.
"It doesn't matter, I will keep an eye on the runner." First baseman Nakajima said reliably, slightly changing Kōshū's expression.
"Then let's slow down the pace for a while." Hayakawa shook his gloves to attract the pitcher's attention to him, but after thinking about it in his heart, he thought that Kōshū was still the most reliable pitcher in the team, and what the coach asked later...
"Oh! Please."
The timeout ended, and everyone in the infield dispersed worriedly. Kōshū raised the brim of his hat and briefly covered his face with it for a second. There was no writing under the brim of his hat, and it was empty.
He knew that underneath Lang Zhi's hat was written 'fighting! ', Shibasaki's hat said 'Japan Number One', and Sato's hat simply wrote a girl's name, "This is what my childhood sweetheart scrawled!" he said. Sato, still wears the hat obediently. Others seem to have all kinds of things signed under it, so the blank under the hat brim has become a feature. The blank one is Kōshū's hat.
'Hey, why are you thinking further and further? Now is the time to deal with this seventh stick. '
Hayakawa opened his hands and seemed to be frowning.
A straight ball in the inside corner, Changeup in the outside corner, Cutter in the inside corner. The seventh baton hit the ball at Third Base and Shortstop. Lang Zhi bent down to pick up the ball and passed it to second base, blocking the first base runner, but it was too late to pass to first base. The seventh battalion used good luck and used an infield hit to get himself to first base and his teammates out.
'The inside corner is fast and the outside corner is slow. This pitcher's deviation is very high, so be careful. ' In the seventh bat, he quietly made a sign of Signals, which was a little far away from the base bag.
Hayakawa stared at him, but didn't hit Signals to Kōshū. Now with two outs and the runner on first base, as long as he strikes out the eighth bat, it doesn't matter what the runner on first base is. Besides - I don't know what Kōshū's situation is.
Sure enough, the first pitch was, "Stealing base——", Kōshū seemed not to hear it, and threw the ball normally, without making any attempt, "Good ball——"
Then, with a slower pace, the second ball was thrown, Changeup, which landed on the lower edge of Strike Zone. It landed well. The eight sticks followed carefully to the end, "Good shot——"
At this moment Hayakawa was wondering, what ball did the hitter choose?
A Outside Low Corner straight ball was tested, and the eight sticks hit Foul Ball. 'What's going on with this team? Have you ever practiced hitting a Foul Ball ball? '
Another inside-angle straight ball hit Foul Ball again.
After three or four goals, Hayakawa knew it completely. The coach over there must have noticed that Kōshū was out of shape and wanted to make him mess up. 'Did I call a timeout just now to give them a signal? 'Hayakawa is a little annoyed.
'It's the last ball, use the power of the ball to suppress him! ' In human terms, just put more effort into it! Turn the speed faster! The last ball, call it a day!
This straight ball, which was full of the wishes of the two pitchers, made the eight bats miss and the ball turned into a small fly ball at home plate, which was easily caught by Hayakawa, ending the half inning.
Everyone ran back to Dugout, only daring to speak in low voices, and ran two steps quickly to get in ahead of the two arresters.
Sure enough, the next second, the two people were blocked at the entrance of Dugout: "What happened to the ball just before the timeout? Was it a missed shot?"
This chapter has been changed