Yamamori vs. 2

Damn it, a double steal! Yamagami's face under his helmet was uncertain, but this was also good. Getting one more out would make the next at-bat much easier.

Just as Yamagami was preparing to throw to third base, the batter suddenly swung.

Not good, hit-and-run!

The baseball was hit directly towards right field.

I have to catch it! Yamagami prayed frantically in his heart.

Yoshizawa immediately started running when he saw the ball heading his way, but unfortunately, his speed was too slow. Even though he dove at the end, he still didn't catch the baseball; it landed right next to his glove.

At this moment, Carlos also arrived, quickly picked up the baseball that had rolled to the side, and immediately threw it back to home plate.

Carlos's decision to throw back to home successfully prevented Kamizu from returning to home plate, but the batter took the opportunity to advance to second base.

One out, runners on second and third, and the second timeout was immediately called.

This time, all the fielders went to the pitcher's mound. As usual, Yoshizawa and Yamagami both made self-criticisms, apologizing for their misjudgment and failure to catch the baseball.

At this time, Harada Masaru, as a messenger, also ran onto the pitcher's mound.

With the captain's appearance, the atmosphere changed immediately. Everyone obediently gathered around Harada, listening to his instructions.

"The Manager said that today's game is to break in the lineup and prepare for the upcoming summer. Winning or losing doesn't matter. Everyone, don't feel pressured, play freely, and enjoy the game to the fullest. Instead of looking like you're all mourning, as if losing a point is the end of the world. Especially you, Maruse! Every pitcher has times when they give up runs! Otherwise, what are we hitters for!"

"Yeah, yeah, it's just one point! We'll get it back for you!"

Harada looked at the crowd whose morale had returned and nodded with satisfaction. Then he put his arm around Su Qing's shoulder and whispered to Su Qing:

"The Manager is very satisfied with your performance today, keep up the good work."

"Okay!"

After Harada left the field, everyone dispersed, leaving Maruse alone on the pitcher's mound again.

Because there was a runner on third base, Su Qing had to stay very close to third base to ensure he could catch any pick-off throws that Maruse or Yamagami might make at any time.

The runner standing on third base was Kamizu. This guy had a very honest face, but Su Qing didn't believe him at all. He absolutely wouldn't believe that someone who could become a starting catcher in his second year didn't have a devious mind. Su Qing strongly agreed with the saying that people who play tactics are all dirty at heart.

The Yamamori's base-running coach was very noisy, constantly giving instructions. Su Qing never heard him stop talking, and Kamizu was also annoying. He was taking a very large lead off the base, causing Maruse to throw a lot of pick-off throws.

But Su Qing didn't believe he would steal home at all. A catcher stealing home? What a joke! Everyone knew that squatting as a catcher was very hard on the knees. As long as Kamizu had been squatting since middle school, his speed couldn't be that fast. Stealing second base would be laughable, let alone stealing home.

Kamizu also noticed Su Qing's indifference to him, so he asked:

"Aren't you worried about me stealing?"

Su Qing rolled his eyes at him, but unfortunately, Su Qing was wearing sunglasses, so Kamizu didn't see anything, but he still sensed the contempt on Su Qing's face.

Ho~ He looked down on him so much, then he really had to try stealing home!

As Maruse began his pitching motion, Kamizu started running directly.

???

Su Qing's eyes widened in disbelief. Was this guy crazy?

If Su Qing was confused at this moment, Maruse was very anxious. He lost control and the ball went completely off target. Fortunately, Yamagami blocked the ball, otherwise the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Because Yamamori's ninth batter was a right-handed hitter, Yamagami noticed when Kamizu started running. After picking up the ball, he immediately turned around, ready to tag him out.

But when he turned around, he found no one rushing towards him. Kamizu was standing on third base with a grin. What was going on? As the third baseman, Su Qing naturally had the clearest view.

Kamizu did start running, but after Maruse threw the ball, he slammed on the brakes and quickly ran back to third base.

Clearly, Kamizu's goal wasn't to steal home, but to disrupt Maruse's pitching. That bad ball just now gave Yamamori's ninth batter a chance to catch his breath. Before Maruse threw that ball, the count was two strikes and one ball. The batter was already in a tough spot, and Yamagami intended to press the advantage.

Su Qing gave Kamizu a cold look. He was just taking advantage of Maruse's lack of experience. If he dared to play like this in professional baseball, he wouldn't know how he died.

Maruse's newly recovered mood was ruined by Kamizu, this turd-stirrer. He started throwing pickoff attempts non-stop until Kamizu didn't dare stray too far from the base.

Two strikes and two balls. Yamagami still didn't give up on pressing the advantage. In the end, he successfully struck out the batter with a curveball that bounced in the dirt.

Two outs, and the batting order returned to the first batter, Kaya Hiroshi.

This time, Kaya Hiroshi didn't swing at the first pitch, because he thought the Inajitsu battery would choose to throw a ball.

"Strike!"

Kaya Hiroshi wore an awkward but polite smile. He'd been slapped in the face. Kaya Hiroshi had to take another look at Yamagami.

Kaya Hiroshi was actually more of an intellectual hitter, like Miyuki. He relied on guessing pitches to get on base. His batting level was only average among Yamamori's first-string team, but with his seemingly impressive pitch-guessing probability and the highest on-base percentage on the team, Taiga Manager had put him in the leadoff spot.

In Kaya Hiroshi's batting career, he'd gotten on base more often by walks than by hits. Swinging at the first pitch in his first at-bat was just to leave the catcher with the impression that he liked to hit the first pitch. Unfortunately, the catcher wasn't fooled. Facing his second at-bat, the first pitch was still a strike, which was very awkward.

But it didn't matter. Getting a hit was much more valuable than getting a walk right now. So as long as it was a good pitch, he would definitely swing!

And Yamagami had many choices. What he was aiming for in this at-bat wasn't to strike out the batter. As long as he could get the batter to hit a ground ball to the infield and force him out, that would be a victory.

So he only had one requirement for Maruse, and that was to keep the pitch as low as possible. That way, even if the batter hit it, the probability of hitting a ground ball would be high. After all, not everyone was like that monster on their team who loved to hit low pitches and always hit home runs.

And Kaya Hiroshi didn't choose to swing at such a low pitch, because he didn't know if he could hit it well.

In the blink of an eye, the situation came to a full count. Getting walked wasn't unacceptable for Kaya Hiroshi, but it was clearly unacceptable for the Inajitsu battery.