15 Celebration

Su Qing hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he did not spray Pine Tar onto his bat. God knew whether he would have to take the mound later. If he did, it was better not to use it.

Still, Su Qing had no particular qualms about Pine Tar. Back when he played professionally, he had even been ejected by the home plate umpire for secretly applying substances while pitching. It had been embarrassing beyond words.

The only trick Su Qing had never dabbled in was probably the spitball. He was a little germophobic, and his spin rate was already quite good, so he had never tried smearing saliva on the ball.

Pine Tar truly was a pitcher's best friend—though that only applied to pitchers with a high level of mastery. It could add icing to the cake, but it might not necessarily save the day. If Narumiya Mei dared to use it at a time like this, Su Qing would absolutely drag him to see the coach.

He tossed the spray aside, picked up a weighted bat ring, slipped it over his bat, and began taking practice swings.

While Su Qing practiced, Harada swung and missed, bringing the count to two strikes and two balls.

At this crucial moment, Kamizu called for a ball outside the zone. Harada forcibly held back his urge to swing. Two strikes, three balls—Full Count!

The next pitch would very likely be the final pitch of this at-bat!

After giving the sign, Kamizu held out his glove, and Ogata nodded firmly. Although he was not entirely satisfied with the pitch selection, he chose to trust Kamizu's call unconditionally. It was difficult to see that kind of trust when the catcher was a junior.

Take Tanba, for example. He would throw little tantrums and shake his head furiously when facing Miyuki, but he was much better with Miyauchi. If the catcher were Chris, he would probably obey without a word.

"Snap!"

"Strike out!"

Kamizu had once again called for an outside pitch, and it was once again a ball. But this time, Harada could not hold back. With the count full, he thought this pitch was more likely to be a strike. After all, if it was another ball, he would reach on Four Balls, filling Yamamori's bases—and Inashiro's next batter was Su Qing...

Under that pressure, Harada swung. But his bat came up short, and he failed to touch the ball.

So this was the pitch-calling style of Yamamori's catcher? Bold, yet meticulous.

Harada carried his bat back to the Rest Area and ran straight into Su Qing.

"I'll be waiting for you in the Rest Area. Make sure you come back soon."

Su Qing grinned when he heard that.

"Leave it to me!"

Su Qing stepped into the left-handed Batter's Box, and Kamizu's head began to ache the moment he saw him. Why did he have to face Su Qing at a time like this?!

For today's game, Kamizu had even asked someone to track down the records from Inashiro's practice games over the past few days!

And when he saw Su Qing's stats—was this guy even human? He had already had ten at-bats, yet his batting average was still 1.000, with no fewer than four Home Runs! Was this really a first-year player?!

Su Qing did not care what Kamizu thought. If he knew, he would definitely reply, Isn't this easy as long as you have hands? Especially since Japan loves calling low pitches right now, and the fastballs are so straight.

Seeing Kamizu continuously exchanging signs with Ogata, Su Qing stepped out of the Batter's Box and began chewing his gum furiously. He was chewing so loudly that even Kamizu could hear it.

Enough was enough. Kamizu had never seen a batter eat while at the plate! Wasn't this blatant disrespect?!

Kamizu immediately held out his glove. Seeing that they had finished discussing, Su Qing hurried back into the Batter's Box, though his mouth never stopped moving.

Ogata only had four pitches: a fastball, Changeup, slider, and Forkball. His slider had the highest level of mastery, with a beautiful break. Su Qing would have to see it clearly before swinging at it. But his other pitches were just average. Su Qing had faced the Forkball before, and he would not fall for it again!

As for the fastball, Su Qing could hit any of them that entered the Strike Zone. Ogata's Changeup mainly relied on the speed difference from his fastball to disrupt the batter's timing and steal strikes. As long as Su Qing stayed steady, even if it was a ball, he could send it flying if he caught it cleanly.

While Su Qing was thinking, Ogata threw his first pitch.

"Ball!"

Kamizu was clearly saying one thing and doing another. He wanted to teach Su Qing a lesson, but obediently called for a ball. Naturally, Su Qing had no intention of swinging at that kind of pitch.

He stepped out of the Batter's Box, symbolically tightened his batting gloves, then stepped back in.

"Ball!"

Another ball. Su Qing was beginning to suspect that Kamizu intended to walk him on Four Balls! It was not impossible. First base was still open, and there were already two outs. They only needed one more out, so there was no need to get it from him. They could get Yoshizawa out instead.

Just as Su Qing thought he was about to be walked on Four Balls, Kamizu gave him a surprise.

He called for a slider that broke in from the Inside Corner into the Strike Zone. At first, Su Qing thought it was going to hit him and quickly stepped back.

"Strike!"

That slider was genuinely good. It had that feel to it.

Seeing a slider like that, Su Qing became interested for the first time. He wanted to have a proper battle.

To prove his determination, he deliberately fouled off every fastball and breaking ball that followed.

Kamizu had wanted to finish him with a Forkball, but Su Qing had learned from experience and did not swing at all this time. The ball bounced off home plate, and Kamizu blocked it.

After picking up the ball, Kamizu quickly glanced at Carlos and saw that both Carlos and Shirakawa were standing on their bases without moving. They trusted Su Qing to bat them home.

After that pitch, Kamizu was visibly growing anxious. They could not keep dragging this out. Ogata's pitch count was already approaching thirty, and this was only the first inning!

Kamizu clearly did not have many options left. Either walk Su Qing, or use a deciding pitch and try to get him out.

Kamizu was not stupid. He could naturally tell that Su Qing had deliberately fouled off many of those pitches.

He fouled off the fastballs and Changeups but did not swing at the Forkball. In other words, Su Qing was waiting for the slider.

Kamizu thought for a moment before finally making up his mind and giving the sign. Come on! One pitch to decide it!

When Su Qing saw the baseball leave Ogata's left hand, his eyes lit up. He had finally gotten what he was waiting for!

Su Qing patiently waited until the slider reached him before swinging the bat. Being young was great—his reaction speed was even faster than in his previous life!

Bang!

After the off-speed pitch had been completely figured out, there was only one possible outcome—it got hit!

Su Qing casually tossed the bat to the ground and started jogging at an unhurried pace. After hitting with a wooden bat for so long, he could tell whether a ball had gone for a home run, and this one clearly had.

Sure enough, the baseball smashed into Inashiro's chain-link fence and bounced down weakly.

Ogata watched the flying baseball with an ugly expression, and Kamizu did not look much better. Only Su Qing and Shirakawa celebrated at the sidelines.

Shirakawa was the only person Su Qing could find who was willing to celebrate with him.

The two jumped up together, their backs bumping against each other.