20 Continued

In the top half of the eighth inning, Coach Kunimoto replaced Narumiya Mei, moved Su Qing from Second Base to the pitcher's mound, shifted Hirai Tsubasa back to Second Base, and Fujikawa returned to Right Field after a long absence.

This was also something Coach Kunimoto had discussed with Taiga Manager, or rather, Taiga Manager had pestered Coach Kunimoto into agreeing. Who wouldn't want their own players to see the world, especially with a 155 km/h fastball?

Coach Kunimoto thought that even if both teams made it to Koshien, the chances of them meeting were slim, so he agreed. He entrusted the final two innings to Su Qing as the main pitcher.

The Yamamori batters had naturally been looking forward to Su Qing's pitches for a long time! Each and every one of them was ready to hit the over 150 km/h fastball.

However, the gap between reality and ideal was far greater than they had imagined. They had hit 150 km/h fastballs before; their own pitching machines could throw over 160 km/h. So even if they didn't hit well, they should at least be able to make contact, right?

"Strike Out!"

The Umpire enthusiastically made the call. This Umpire also worked part-time as an NPB umpire, well, just a Linesman. But he was far more passionate than the umpires mainly responsible for high school baseball. If it were a formal match, he would make the call calmly even if he was excited, but this was a friendly match, so there weren't so many rules.

Su Qing walked off the pitcher's mound after throwing the last ball. They were all swinging big, how much were they looking down on him? He knew that even in his previous life in the Major League, few dared to swing big against his fastball during his peak.

Admittedly, his current ball speed was far from his peak, but could these kids compare to Major League hitters?

Kamitari Mototsugu watched Su Qing walk off the pitcher's mound without even looking at the result of the last ball, his heart burning with anger. This was too disrespectful!

But what could he do? The last ball was undoubtedly a good one. Whether he swung or not, not swinging was a strikeout, and swinging and missing was still a strikeout.

Kamitari finally lowered his head and walked off the batter's box, his right hand tightly gripping the bat. Yamamori was already in an uproar, but it was quickly suppressed by Taiga Manager.

"Why does the opponent look down on you? Isn't it because you're too weak! The pitcher on the mound thinks you don't have the ability to hit the balls he throws! And what about you? Besides impotent rage, what else can you do?"

At that moment, everyone at Yamamori lowered their heads.

"If you're really angry, show that pitcher with your bats! Hit his ball hard! Look at his surprised expression, and tell him you're not to be trifled with!"

"Yes!!!"

All the Yamamori batters instantly rubbed their fists and palms, and some even took out their bats, preparing to practice hitting.

"Damn it! We're going on the field to defend, what are you doing with a bat!"

"Manager, I'm sorry!"

Inajitsu naturally noticed the abnormality at Yamamori. Shirakawa, who was supposed to come on as a pinch hitter, quickly approached Su Qing. He had discussed it with Carlos, and Carlos would try to engage the pitcher as much as possible until he was done with his business.

"Su Su, aren't you being a bit too much?"

Shirakawa had seen the scene on the field just now clearly. If he were the batter, he would be angry too! But the one who did this was his precious pitcher. Which pitcher didn't have some temper? Their own pitcher naturally had to be indulged. However, based on what Shirakawa knew about Su Qing these days, Su Qing wasn't someone who got angry easily. He would only retaliate when someone angered him. So what outrageous things did the Yamamori people do?

"They weren't even trying to hit my balls seriously! What do they think I am? A cheap pitching machine? They don't respect me, why should I respect them?"

As soon as Su Qing said this, Shirakawa instantly understood. Apart from the pitcher, the ones who saw the batter's swinging motion most clearly were the Shortstop and Second Baseman.

The Yamamori batters' state of mind was completely different when hitting Narumiya and Su Qing's balls. When Narumiya was pitching, every batter at Yamamori was hitting very seriously, selecting pitches, and they would do anything as long as they could get on base and score.

But after Su Su came on, the Yamamori batters changed. Each and every one of them was like they were letting themselves go, swinging wildly, either too fast or too slow, and none of them could hit.

After being struck out, some were also frustrated, but this frustration wasn't obvious, and there wasn't even any annoyance. The Yamamori batters' performance was like they were testing a new type of pitching machine that had just been installed in the batting center.

No wonder Su Su was angry, he would be angry too if he were in that position.

Narumiya Mei and Harada also came over, and as soon as they arrived, Su Qing took the bat, put on his helmet, and went on the field. So they consciously approached Shirakawa and asked Shirakawa what had happened.

Shirakawa told Narumiya Mei and Carlos his guess. As a pitcher, Narumiya Mei immediately empathized and became angry. How could the Yamamori people do this?!

Harada, on the other hand, was much calmer. As a catcher, he knew that when the pitcher was unhappy, he should quickly adjust the pitcher's emotions. But he felt that Su Qing's emotions were just right now.

With such emotions, Su Qing would naturally try to teach the Yamamori batters a lesson, and he just needed to cooperate well.

"Shirakawa~"

Hearing someone call his name, Shirakawa couldn't help but look up, and then he saw Carlos with a face full of resentment. In order to buy time for Shirakawa, Carlos naturally tried every means to entangle.

But if you walk by the river often, you're bound to get your shoes wet. In the end, he didn't hit well and was caught out.

"Carlos? Why are you back?"

"Hurry up and grab your bat, put on your helmet, and go up to bat!"

Although Carlos was easy-going and a bit introverted, he would not hesitate to retort when he needed to.

Shirakawa looked at the field and saw that the batter's box was indeed empty, and everyone was waiting for him. He quickly grabbed his bat, put on his helmet, and jogged to the batter's box.

After Shirakawa went up to bat, it was Fujikawa's turn next.

Shirakawa originally wanted to take revenge for Su Qing by hitting, but he found that this Relief Pitcher from Yamamori was not an easy person to deal with either. Especially since this pitcher was the catcher's younger brother, Shirakawa was inexplicably struck out, perhaps due to the telepathy between twin brothers.

Walking off the batter's box with a dusty face, he was too embarrassed to go next to Su Qing.

Su Qing took the initiative to pull Shirakawa to his side.

"Shirakawa has been seen through. The opposing catcher has grasped Shirakawa's preferences, and even seen through the Umpire's preferences."

Shirakawa's strikeout was not inexplicable at all. Every pitch from the Yamamori catcher was very targeted, and even calculated whether Shirakawa would swing or not.