Yamamori, 6; Kaya, 3

Seeing what was most likely the last pitch of this at-bat, Kaya Hiroshi's eyes lit up. He had finally waited for it. Although it was still a low pitch, this one was completely within the strike zone, unlike the previous two, which had only grazed the edge.

Kaya Hiroshi swung directly, and the ball was powerfully pulled to the third base line. Everything happened so suddenly that even the camera couldn't react in time.

Only after the batter had already started running did everyone shift their gaze to the direction the ball had been hit, searching for its trajectory. But they only saw Su Qing quickly get up from the ground and swiftly throw a white object to first base.

This time, the throw wasn't high. Yamaoka made a small split, catching the ball securely. Kaya Hiroshi reluctantly ran back.

Three outs, change of sides. Yamamori left two runners on base.

After confirming the out, Shirakawa quickly ran to Su Qing's side. He had personally witnessed Su Qing blocking the hard-hit ball with his body, and it was impossible not to be worried.

"Su-Su, are you okay?"

Su Qing quickly waved his hand, indicating that he was fine. Fortunately, he had used his glove to block the ball before, otherwise, it would have been hard to say whether he could have gotten up in time to throw. Being a third baseman was truly not for ordinary people. A first baseman could leave such balls to the left fielder, but a third baseman had to dive for them.

Luckily, it was just a ball hit by high school kids, and the force wasn't too great. If he really went pro, where everyone's strength was incredible, it would definitely hurt much more. Well, he should just stick to being a pitcher in this life. Anyway, he now had ligaments that would never wear out, so he could do whatever he wanted. He was just afraid that the team would be worried when he pitched.

After all, a pitcher who had been pitching for several years but hadn't had TJ surgery was like a ticking time bomb, ready to explode at any moment. Generally, teams were unwilling to sign such pitchers. (Refer to Tanaka's recent return to NPB for specifics)

But Su Qing believed he could land a big contract soon after going pro.

Back in the dugout, Su Qing didn't even have time to take a sip of water before he had to quickly change his equipment and prepare to go on the field.

"Fourth batter, third baseman, Su Qing."

That's right, Su Qing wasn't rushing to the on-deck circle, but to the batter's box. Coach Kunimoto had directly placed him in the fourth spot when arranging the batting order yesterday, which shocked him. He had too much trust in him!

"Fourth batter, don't embarrass our Inajitsu!"

Su Qing didn't need to turn around to know who shouted that. It was undoubtedly Narumiya Mei, and only he could do such a thing.

Accompanied by Narumiya Mei's shout, the other batters in the Inajitsu dugout also shouted, mostly encouraging Su Qing. Only Narumiya Mei and Shirakawa, the two bad friends, were saying provocative things. He wouldn't fall for it this time!

Kamizu, squatting behind home plate, sized up Su Qing like he did every batter, and couldn't help but recall his surprise when he received the Inajitsu roster yesterday.

For Inajitsu to use a substitute and not take their Yamamori seriously was one thing, but for the fourth batter to be a first-year! It was simply incomprehensible! But out of conscientiousness for his position as catcher, he still looked at Su Qing's information. He didn't know until he looked, and he was shocked.

Although Su Qing had only had two at-bats so far, both were home runs, with a batting average of 1.000, and he was also a powerful pitcher! His ball speed reached over 150.

This made Kamizu put away his inner contempt. Even though the pitcher who gave up the home runs to Su Qing was a Shin Kō relief pitcher, it wasn't like he gave up home runs every time. He hadn't seen him give up home runs to anyone else. Only Su Qing had hit home runs, that was a fact.

Moreover, both at-bats were on bad pitches! And he was using a wooden bat! This was even more unimaginable!

Kamizu stared at Su Qing for a long time. Even if Su Qing wasn't sensitive, he felt the gaze from behind home plate. Just as he was about to turn his head and give Kamizu a friendly look, Kamizu withdrew his gaze.

Tch, coward, what's taking so long? Hurry up and pitch! He was still waiting to go back to the dugout and drink water.

Kamizu naturally didn't know that Su Qing still had the idea of hitting a home run directly this time and going back to rest early. He was still thinking about Su Qing's limited information.

Su Qing didn't seem like a batter who particularly liked to hit the first pitch, because he didn't even think about swinging at the first pitch in his second at-bat. This wasn't something a batter who liked to hit the first pitch would do. But there was no doubt that he absolutely loved hitting low pitches! No matter how low, he wouldn't let them go!

Such a batter was simply an anomaly! Kamizu finally signaled for a high, outside pitch, to see if Su Qing really liked to hit the first pitch. He really didn't dare to call for a Slider.

The bat moved! But in the end, Su Qing didn't swing, because it was a little too high. His current height was really a bit lacking, and hitting high pitches was very uncomfortable, not as comfortable as hitting low pitches. But when he grew to 1.8 meters, it wouldn't be a big problem, he could hit high and low pitches together.

"Ball."

The umpire signaled 1-0.

He's seriously picking his pitches, not swinging at bad balls? Then let's try an outside pitch. Kamizu knows that the umpire's strike zone is biased to the right today, so he can definitely use that to his advantage.

This pitch is still a fastball.

Ogata's fastball is also very straight, so the moment he released it, Su Qing knew where this pitch would enter the strike zone. He swung directly and fouled the ball off. Trying to use the umpire's strike zone to trick me into swinging? You should see who you're up against.

"Beep~ Foul!"

Wait, it seems he didn't gain anything. Fouling it off counts as a strike. If he had let it go into the catcher's mitt, the umpire might have had a change of heart and called it a ball. Calculating it like that, he actually lost out, emmm.

Intentionally fouling this pitch off just to tell me that you also know the umpire's strike zone is biased to the right? Kamizu saw that Su Qing didn't run after hitting the ball, but just put his bat back and stomped on the dirt in the batter's box, and couldn't help but imagine.

But even if he told him, what's the point? He would still continue to call the pitches. The only one who can ever benefit or lose from the umpire's strike zone is the batter, not the pitcher and catcher. Kamizu really couldn't figure out what Su Qing was doing.

He then called the next pitch. Since senior Ogata's fastball can be fouled off so easily, let's try a breaking ball. Kamizu called for a slider that breaks towards the inside corner.

But the entry point is the same as the previous fastball, hoping to trick Su Qing, but in Su Qing's eyes, it's just too naive.

The release point is so different, does he think he's blind? Su Qing didn't swing until the ball changed direction, hitting the baseball accurately.