Lang Zhi Sent Out?

Amid the discussion, Hayakawa Aki frowned deeply. Kōshū chased both balls and strikes. When he had first started learning baseball and picked up a bat, he had already been relying on instinct to keep up with the ball. If his only goal had been to make contact, Kōshū alone could have hit until Sato was forced off the mound.

"Ball four—" Coach Ninomiya, acting as the umpire, glanced at Kōshū. Kōshū lightly tossed aside his bat and headed off with quick steps. Sato had already thrown twenty pitches in this bottom of the third inning, and now that he had finally walked Kōshū on base, he took off his cap and vigorously wiped away his sweat.

"Wow—no mercy at all." What was going on? Why had Team A's fifth batter become so chatty too? Could it be that their strategy for the bottom of the third was to spare no effort in disrupting the catcher and wearing down the pitcher? They had even sacrificed their cleanup hitter—otherwise, with Kōshū's ability, he absolutely could have hit it. Being walked to first was actually the inferior outcome.

Even though he wanted to keep his mind quiet, all sorts of thoughts continued to scatter Hayakawa Aki's focus.

So on the very next pitch, Hayakawa Aki saw Kōshū on first take off to steal, yet he failed to stop him. Kōshū patted the dirt from his legs and greeted the Sato who looked back at him. "Careful, Sato."

Sato had just been about to say something when Hayakawa Aki called out to him. "Time, please! Sato!"

"Now that the runner from first has reached second, we don't need to worry about a steal anymore. Just focus on dealing with the batter."

Sato steadied his breathing and nodded vaguely.

Hayakawa Aki could tell that Sato was distracted. His gaze was unfocused. The prolonged battle just now had probably drained a huge chunk of his stamina, and his attention had drifted with it.

Suddenly, Hayakawa Aki pointed toward the sky, drawing Sato's eyes upward.

"Look, a UFO!"

"Huh? Where?" Sato asked curiously.

"Look at how blue the sky is today. The ginkgo trees by the entrance have covered the ground with yellow fallen leaves. The ones that just fell are still bright yellow-orange, untouched by dust. If you went outside to look right now, the blue and yellow would definitely be beautiful together." Hayakawa Aki rambled on about things unrelated to the game, successfully drawing Sato's thoughts toward the beautiful autumn scenery. More than half of his tension melted away.

Naturally, everyone in the dugout looked baffled. They watched Hayakawa Aki point at the sky one moment and outside the next, and within just a few sentences, the pitcher had visibly settled down.

"Hayakawa's got a knack for this." Once Hayakawa Aki returned to Home Plate and crouched down, the fifth batter started up his nonsense again. But Hayakawa ignored him. Right now, all he and Sato needed to focus on was how to strike out the batter.

There's no need to worry about the batters coming up. They aren't like Kōshū—they'll always let some strikes go by. That's when we can get the strikeout.

First pitch, Outside Low Corner. Team A's fifth batter barely managed to foul it off. Sensing the change in this pitcher-catcher pair, he uneasily looked toward Kōshū, only to see Kōshū shake his head, signaling for him to continue with the strategy.

Second pitch, Outside Low Corner again. The fifth batter swung, but halfway through, he saw the ball break toward the ball zone.

It's Sato's Slider! The fifth batter swung straight through it for a Strikeout.

"Two outs!!"

Support from every direction further steadied Sato's nerves. Then, with another outside fastball, he got the sixth batter out as well.

"Whoa—" Team B was instantly fired up. The moment Sato took the mound, he had stopped Team B's bleeding.

Kōshū returned to the dugout without considering whether the strategy from the previous inning had been a mistake. The game had entered its latter half, and the other side's momentum was rising. How to immediately crush their hopes was Kōshū's top priority.

"Kōshū, Team B's Upper Batting Lineup is coming up again in the fourth." Kōshū nodded solemnly. He threw two warm-up pitches first, checking whether his fingers had been affected by all the consecutive batting.

"No problem at all." Catcher Hiramiy tossed the ball back to Kōshū.

"What's this? Your fingers aren't affected at all?" The one speaking was Team B's leadoff batter, Katsumura. "You're amazing, Kōshū."

Right from the start, Kōshū went Full power. 137, 132, 135—three simple fastballs. Katsumura swung and missed twice and fouled one off. He had originally intended to test Kōshū's stamina, but now a bead of cold sweat hung from his forehead. This guy is practically just like he was at the start.

The final pitch, a Cutter around 125, got Katsumura out at first.

"This guy isn't worn out at all." As he passed Hayakawa, the second batter, the leadoff batter grumbled.

Hayakawa stepped into the Batter's Box, fully aware that if they failed to score in this at-bat, Team B had practically lost. A two-run gap was an enormous burden when it fell to the lower part of the order, so he was especially focused. This time, he had to hit for extra bases.

Kōshū doesn't lose much accuracy even when his pitch count is high. So at a time like this, I should think about what kind of pitch Hiramiy, as the catcher, usually calls. Then I'll guess an Outside Low Corner High Rotation Speed Straight Ball for the next pitch.

Hiramiy put down the signals. Kōshū hesitated for a moment as he looked at the glove set at the Outside Low Corner, but he nodded anyway. At that moment, he felt Hayakawa staring him down intensely, and he had the vague feeling that the ball would be hit.

Stay calm. Focus on pitching. Kōshū released the pitch—it was indeed an Outside Low Corner High Rotation Speed Straight Ball.

Crack— To everyone's surprise, Hayakawa Aki did not hesitate in the slightest and struck the ball squarely on the sweet spot. It flew high and fast before finally dropping in front of the Right Field wall, becoming an enormous triple.

"Whoa—" Team B's dugout practically boiled over.

"Hayakawa really is amazing!"

"Sasaki-kun! Come on! Hit a run in off your brother!"

At such an important and thrilling moment, the only one on the verge of tears was the person involved.

Why give me a job like this?! I don't want that guy staring me down!

But once he settled into the Batter's Box, his mood was exceptionally calm. Public matters were public matters, private matters were private matters. If he got a hit, he would say it was all Coach Kinoshita's fault. If he failed, he would spend a week in the nursery under the excuse of keeping warm, avoiding Kōshū. And if Kōshū came over in the middle of the night intending violence, he could naturally sleep in his parents' room.

Eh? That actually didn't sound too bad. When the time came, he would sleep in the middle. But Mom was pregnant, and it would be bad if he kicked her in his sleep. No choice, then—he could only snuggle closer to Dad.

So, brother, there's no helping it. If I want you to bully me mercilessly, I can only hit your pitch!

Kōshū sensed Lang Zhi's especially fiery gaze and became fired up as well. This kid looks pretty convincing standing over there.

If Kōshū, whose heart was full of my child has finally grown up, knew what Lang Zhi was thinking, he would definitely have thrown him a Hit-by-Pitch right now.

The first pitch was a high outside fastball. With Lang Zhi's height and reach, it was difficult for him to fully control a pitch in that location.

But at that moment, Lang Zhi seemed to enter a state of flow. As he watched the ball, he could see every seam amid its blazing speed. Ah, this ball's spin axis is really true. It's a fastball, and it's headed—high outside.

Once again, another batter swung at the first pitch without hesitation, and once again it became a hit.

"Whoa—We scored!" Team B shouted, slapping the railing.

"Huh? I hit it?" Lang Zhi lay sprawled at second base, still looking utterly confused, when he sensed a gaze from the Pitcher's Mound that sent a chill down his spine. Keeping his head down and avoiding eye contact with Kōshū as much as possible, he got up and patted the dirt from himself.

But then a voice carried over. "Lang Zhi, you hit it. Nice job."

Huh? Lang Zhi jerked his head up, but Kōshū had already turned away. With his back to Lang Zhi, he raised a hand. "I'll strike out every batter from here on. Everyone on defense, please help me out!"

"Got it—"

"Take them down one by one!"

"Strike them all out!"

Everyone on Team A had still been worried about Kōshū's condition, yet he turned around and encouraged them instead.

Crouched behind Home Plate, Hiramiy felt a sense of crisis. Why had two consecutive batters swung without hesitation at the very first pitch? Had they seen through my Pitching Strategy?

"Hiramiy, the ball!" Kōshū stepped off the Pitcher's Mound, startling the catcher, who had been completely lost in thought. "It's fine. There's nothing wrong with your Pitching Strategy. My pitches in the Second Half just didn't have enough bite."

"Ah—"

"Don't worry. It won't be like that from here on."

The batter beside them gritted his teeth at Kōshū's arrogant declaration, but he was soon struck out on three pitches.

"One out!" The strikeout lifted everyone's spirits.

Lang Zhi was pinned at second base. Before every pitch, Kōshū would turn and look at him. Lang Zhi had already been scared of Kōshū to begin with, and now he clung even tighter to the base.

"Two out!" The batter who had wanted to use the same trick again failed to hit a Foul Ball. Fooled by the Cutter, he sent a grounder toward first base.

Another swing and miss. "Switch sides!"

"Whoa—" Everyone in the infield ran over to Kōshū. "Great job!"

"Our ace!"

"Hahaha—" Kōshū laughed heartily, but inwardly, he added another note to Lang Zhi's little ledger. To hit my pitch so arrogantly... Looks like the special training worked well. Maybe it's time to add some new drills.

Lang Zhi had only just managed to get off second base and breathe a sigh of relief when his neck tightened again. "What's going on? I've got a bad feeling about this."

What followed went just as the coaches had expected. Although Sato's pitching temporarily stabilized the runs allowed, Kōshū was even steadier against the lower part of the lineup. As if to rally everyone's spirits, he struck out almost every batter. Even at the end, his stamina had not run dry, but Sato was having a much harder time—by then, he had to wipe his sweat after getting every single batter out.

In the end, Team A won the Intra-squad Practice Match, 3–1. Kōshū and Sato each gave up 1 run, while Shibasaki gave up 2.

The pandemic is picking up again. Everyone, stay safe.