Four Bats

In the bottom of the first inning, Team B took the field. Shibasaki-kun was pitching, and he would probably only throw three innings, so everyone on Team A had to be prepared for there to be no second time through the order. They had to score off him the first time around.

"Whoa—Shibasaki-kun's sidearm delivery really does look strange."

"That makes him a pitcher we're completely unfamiliar with."

Kōshū sensed the tension in the Dugout. Covering his mouth with a hand as though sharing a secret, he said, "I'll let you in on something—Shibasaki-kun still isn't very familiar with his new form. And I'm guessing he can only get his fastball into the strike zone right now, so everyone should sit on the fastball."

The catcher beside him, Hiramiy, could not help glancing at Kōshū. They practiced in the same Bullpen, so he knew Shibasaki-senpai's progress. In fact, after a week of trying, Shibasaki-senpai had more or less mastered his new form. He just was not satisfied with it himself.

"Hahaha, then I'll lead the way and test the waters for you." Nitta laughed as he left the Dugout.

Nitta was a Left-Handed Batter, and Shibasaki sent an Inside Corner Ball charging into his chest.

"Whoa—that was dangerous."

"Has Shibasaki-kun's control gotten better? That's strange."

"And it was a strike, too."

The second pitch went Outside Low Corner, and the third came inside again.

A left-handed sidearm pitcher against a Left-Handed Batter was practically maxed-out BUFFs. Nitta could not laugh when he returned to the bench, only warning the Second Batter, "Be careful. His pitches are a little hard to adjust to."

The Second Batter carefully picked his pitches, and with two strikes and three balls, he took advantage of a misplaced Cutter from Shibasaki to reach second base.

"Ah, was that a Changeup?"

"If so, then the fourth batter will definitely get a turn." Everyone turned to look at Kōshū.

Kōshū laughed awkwardly. "Even though I've watched Shibasaki-kun pitch plenty of times, I can't guarantee I'll be able to hit him."

Before he had even finished speaking, the third batter had been retired. Kōshū hurriedly fled everyone's eager stares. Are you kidding? I still haven't practiced hitting enough. When you're batting, you have to wait in line for your turn before you can face someone. But when you pitch, even control of the baseball is in your own hands. Pitching really is way more satisfying.

In the bottom of the first, Team A was batting. With Two Outs and a runner on second, the fourth batter, Kōshū, stepped up.

When Shibasaki-kun saw who was standing in the Batter's Box, his expression visibly grew more serious, and even his nod to the catcher became much more emphatic.

Kōshū settled into his stance. Behind Home Plate was his good friend, Hayakawa Aki, who knew him extremely well. Across from him was Shibasaki, his teammate who had fed him pitches and was thoroughly familiar with his hitting style. Neither of them would be easy to deal with. He wondered what plan they had discussed to handle him.

He sensed the catcher shifting toward the inside. Shibasaki released the ball, and from Kōshū's perspective, it shot in a straight line from the distant area to his left toward his right, almost directly into his chest. He jerked backward and avoided the Inside Corner Ball. He really was not used to left-handed sidearm pitching.

"Ball—"

Once he had reset himself, Hayakawa Aki looked up at his partner. Looks like that inside pitch didn't rattle him.

Then the next pitch. Shibasaki let out a breath. Ever since Kōshū had stepped into the Batter's Box, he had felt his breathing grow much shorter. Damn, has he hit too many of my pitches before? Is that why I'm in such bad shape right now?

The ball left the pitcher's hand and headed straight for the outside. Kōshū's eyes sharpened. He stepped forward and swung immediately, only to see the ball break toward the inside as it neared Home Plate.

Damn it, I guessed wrong. Kōshū fouled it off.

Then, before Kōshū could adjust his hitting rhythm, Team B's pitcher-catcher duo suddenly quickened their pace. Kōshū did his best to adjust and keep up, fouling off two more pitches in a row.

"Two strikes and one ball—they've completely backed our fourth batter into a corner, haven't they?"

"Did Shibasaki-kun become this scary after changing his pitching form? His velocity is still the same."

"Yeah, we really haven't faced many left-handed sidearm pitchers. Usually they're right-handed pitchers."

"No, there are still left-handed sidearm pitchers. Submarine Pitch is the rarest."

The Dugout conversation began to drift off topic. Amid everyone's chatter, Kōshū locked onto another Inside Corner Ball and successfully sent it into Right Field. The runner from second came home, scoring a run.

"Huh? Huh? Did you guys see that?"

"We only looked away for a second..."

Kōshū waved toward the Dugout, but instead of praise, he received only a bunch of puzzled looks.

What are these people even thinking? And Hayakawa, too. He already showed me one inside pitch—did he think I still hadn't adjusted, so he came inside again?

After getting hit, Shibasaki did not manage to catch his breath until Kōshū reached first base. Thank goodness it wasn't a Home Run. At my current level, it's hard to deal with Kōshū and Hayakawa.

Still, his new form was quite effective against people unfamiliar with it. Team B's fifth batter was quickly retired, and the game returned to Team A's hands.

Kōshū eagerly headed up to the Pitcher's Mound. Even with his glove covering his face, it could not hide his smile.

Kōshū really is different when he's on the Pitcher's Mound, Hiramiy, who was discussing strategy nearby, thought as cold sweat ran down his face.

"Don't hesitate, Hiramiy. You know their batters well, right? Then don't hold back—keep putting the ball where they hate it most. I'll throw exactly where you want it. Let's strike every one of them out together."

"Okay—" Hiramiy felt an incredibly strong fighting spirit from this pitcher. He secretly felt sorry for the upcoming batters. Based on Coach Kinoshita's lineup for this game, Team B had crammed all its power hitters into the front of the order, making the later batters much easier to handle. Still, he could not shake a faint sense of unease. Would Coach Kinoshita really surrender so easily?

Thus, in the top of the second inning, Hiramiy and Kōshū saw Coach Kinoshita's plan. He had his batters constantly battle Kōshū pitch after pitch. Those with Hitting Techniques kept fouling balls off, and if they were truly pressed, they began to lay down bunts. It was clear that they were bunting toward the Pitcher's Mound, forcing Kōshū to repeatedly come off the mound to field and draining his energy.

"Tch—" To get them out, Kōshū could only go all out, which drained even more stamina. This is bad. Team A only has me as a pitcher, while Team B has two. If they use this strategy for the rest of the game, then I have to use everything I've got against the power hitters at the front, while the batters in the back keep dragging things out and wearing me down. This is very unfavorable for us.

Coach Fujii gave no Signals from the Dugout. Ever since the game began, he had allowed the players to decide their own strategies, especially because he wanted to see how the Kōshū-Hiramiy battery would deal with Team B's approach.

After Three Up, Three Down in the top of the second, Kōshū returned to the Pitcher's Mound without feeling relaxed in the slightest. Hiramiy stood at the entrance, cheering everyone on.

"You've all seen Team B's strategy, right? They want to drain our pitcher's stamina as early as possible. Team B will relay two pitchers, making it impossible for us to hit, so we have to score from here on out and take some pressure off our pitcher."

Everyone responded in agreement, except Kōshū, who said at an entirely inappropriate moment, "All right, all right, I've still got plenty of stamina. Don't worry about me. You should worry about yourself—it's your turn to bat."

Kōshū was telling the truth. Explosiveness was what mattered most for a pitcher, and he had plenty of that. But he did not lack endurance either, especially now that he had visibly put on weight and gained another level of stamina along with it.

Hiramiy had spoken impressively in the Dugout, but he only barely managed to slide safely into first for a Single.

Next, Team A's batting lineup linked up, and Hiramiy ran home for a run. The offense ended with the second batter, and as Nitta returned to the dugout from first base, he patted his teammate on the shoulder. "Don't worry. Our Central Batting Lineup will be up again next inning."

The support from the batting side greatly reduced Kōshū's pressure. In the top of the third inning, it was Team B's turn to attack. The batters at the bottom of the order failed to fully carry out Coach Kinoshita's instructions, while Kōshū pitched steadily and delivered another Three Up, Three Down.

"Yosha—!" Kōshū and Hiramiy had agreed not to throw needless bait balls. A steady stream of fastballs, alternating between inside and outside, kept the batters guessing. Even if they guessed right, they still couldn't handle the power generated by his high spin rate.

"Nice pitching—!" Back in the dugout, everyone high-fived Kōshū.

Compared to the boisterous Team A, Team B's situation was looking rather poor.

"This is bad. Kō's pitches are getting sharper and sharper." Kōshū alone had put enormous pressure on them. Team B's scoreboard was still completely blank, as though it were telling everyone: If you want to score, first get over the mountain called Kōshū.

Coach Kinoshita looked stern on the surface, but inwardly, he was unexpectedly delighted. Haha, that kid Kōshū is completely suppressing our team. He's slowly starting to look like an ace.

In the bottom of the third, Team B directly replaced their pitcher with Sato, a first-year middle schooler. His average velocity was 135 kilometers per hour, with his fastest pitches approaching 140. He was currently the fastest pitcher on the team, but his stamina and control in the Second Half were both problematic. That was why everyone was puzzled when Coach Kinoshita put him on the mound with four innings remaining.

"Sato, you can handle four innings, right?" Coach Kinoshita had been trying to maintain the stern demeanor of other coaches. Of course, he could only imitate the stern look on their faces; his constantly swaying body and the gum he kept chewing made it hard for the players to feel intimidated by him.

"No problem." Sato's weight had exceeded the target by quite a bit.

"Then it's fine." Coach Kinoshita said that aloud, but inwardly, he thought, It's already been three innings, and Kōshū still looks like he has plenty of stamina. Looks like we only have three innings left. If we still can't score by the top of the sixth, we can end the game right there.

At the same time, they also replaced the shortstop with Lang Zhi. He was placed third in the batting order, which meant that he would face Kōshū in the next inning.

Ah, I'm so nervous. What do I do? I haven't even faced that guy yet, and I'm already nervous. Lang Zhi's mouth kept producing saliva, and his heart was beating abnormally fast. Yet he didn't repeat his previous dropped-ball mistake. Even though he wasn't fully focused, he still pulled off a fine defensive play, diving for a low line drive and catching Team A's third batter out.

"Woohoo—! Not bad. Looks like that extra training this past week really worked." Kōshū stepped into the Batter's Box, still teasing Lang Zhi. Hayakawa Aki said nothing and stared solemnly at Sato.

Sato, this guy is tough to deal with. You need to go all out from the start.

Sato nodded. High and outside—a pitch close to 140 kilometers per hour. Kōshū caught up to it and sent it foul.

"Ah—what amazing velocity for a first-year." Kōshū's hands were a little numb, but his mouth kept running, seemingly trying to interfere with Hayakawa Aki's judgment.

Another outside pitch came. Sato put too much force into it, his fingers caught the ball wrong, and he spiked it into the dirt right in front of home plate.

"What, nervous?" Kōshū didn't even move.

Then came the third pitch, fouled off. The fourth pitch, fouled off... Slowly, everyone understood his strategy.

"Is this guy trying to drain Sato's stamina and make him crash early?"

"...Surprisingly, that might work. Sato's stamina is a serious problem."

"But he's a pitcher too. Won't that affect his fingers?"

Another peaceful day.

Today, the wind was exceptionally noisy.

I came to the office to mooch off the internet and write, but before that, I spent forty minutes in the massage chair. I almost fell asleep.

Before I leave this company, I'm going to unlock the achievement of getting a hundred massages. (8/100)