20 Continues

In the top of the eighth, Coach Kunimoto took Narumiya Mei off the mound and sent Su Qing, who had been playing second base, up to pitch. Hirai Tsubasa returned to second, while Fujikawa, after a long absence, took up right field once again.

This had also been arranged between Coach Kunimoto and Taiga Manager. Well, Taiga Manager had shamelessly pestered Coach Kunimoto until he agreed. Who wouldn't want their own kids to broaden their horizons? A 155-kilometer fastball!

Coach Kunimoto figured that even if both teams made it to Koshien, the odds of them meeting were pretty slim, so he agreed. Su Qing would handle the final two innings.

Naturally, Yamamori's batters had long been looking forward to Su Qing's pitching! Every one of them was ready to send a fastball over 150 kilometers flying.

But the gap between reality and their ideals was far greater than they had imagined. It wasn't as if they had never faced 150-kilometer fastballs before. Their own Pitching Machine could throw over 160. So even if they couldn't hit it well, they could at least make contact, right?

"Strikeout!"

The home plate umpire passionately pulled back his arm. He also worked part-time as an NPB umpire—well, only as a line umpire. Still, he was far more animated than umpires who primarily worked high school baseball. In an official game, no matter how excited he was, he would make the call calmly. But this was an exhibition game, so there was no need to be so particular.

After throwing the final pitch, Su Qing simply stepped off the mound. Every one of them had taken huge swings. Just how much did they look down on him? Even in his previous life, in the Major League, few hitters dared to take such massive swings against his fastball at its peak.

Granted, his current velocity was nowhere near its peak, but could these kids compare to Major League hitters?

Kamitari Mototsugu watched Su Qing walk off the mound without even looking to see what had happened on the final pitch, and fury surged in his heart. That was far too disrespectful!

But what could he do? The final pitch had undoubtedly been a strike. Whether he swung or not, he would strike out. If he didn't swing, it was a called strikeout; if he swung and missed, it was still a strikeout.

Kamizu ultimately lowered his head and walked out of the batter's box, gripping his bat tightly in his right hand. Yamamori's side was also boiling with outrage, but Taiga Manager quickly suppressed them.

"Why do your opponents look down on you? Because you're too weak! The pitcher on that mound believes you simply don't have the ability to hit his pitches! And what about you? Besides raging helplessly, what else can you do?"

Everyone on Yamamori's side lowered their heads.

"If you're truly angry, then show that pitcher with your bats! Smash his pitches hard! Look at his shocked expression and tell him you're not to be trifled with!"

"Yes!!!"

All of Yamamori's batters immediately began rubbing their hands together eagerly. Some even pulled out their bats, preparing to take practice swings.

"Idiot! You're going out to play defense—why are you holding a bat?"

"Coach, I'm sorry!"

Naturally, Inashiro noticed Yamamori's unusual behavior as well. Shirakawa, who should have been heading up to pinch hit, hurried over to Su Qing. He had already discussed it with Carlos: Carlos would battle the pitcher for as long as possible, buying time until Shirakawa was done here.

"Su Su, wasn't that a little too much?"

Shirakawa had seen everything that happened on the field clearly. If he were the batter, he would have been angry too! But the one who had done it was their precious pitcher. What pitcher didn't have a temper? Of course they had to indulge their own pitcher. Still, based on what Shirakawa had learned about Su Qing these past few days, Su Qing was not someone who lost his temper so easily. He only retaliated when someone provoked him. So what outrageous thing had Yamamori's players done?

"They weren't seriously trying to hit my pitches at all! What did they take me for? Some precious Pitching Machine? If they don't respect me, why should I respect them?"

The instant Su Qing said that, Shirakawa understood. Aside from the pitcher, no one could see a batter's swing more clearly than the shortstop and second baseman.

Yamamori's batters had been in completely different states when facing Narumiya's pitches and Su Qing's pitches. When Narumiya pitched, every Yamamori batter had approached their at-bat with utmost seriousness. They selected pitches carefully and would do anything as long as it got them on base and let them score.

But after Su Su took the mound, Yamamori's batters changed. One after another, they acted as though they had completely let themselves go, swinging recklessly. Their timing was either too early or too late, and not a single one could make contact.

After striking out, they were somewhat disappointed, but it was not obvious. There was not even any frustration. Yamamori's batters acted as if they were consecutively testing out a new Pitching Machine that had just arrived at a batting cage.

No wonder Su Su was angry. Shirakawa would have been angry too.

Narumiya Mei and Harada also came over. But as soon as they arrived, Su Qing grabbed a bat, put on his helmet, and went up to bat. They therefore moved over to Shirakawa and asked him what had happened.

Shirakawa told Narumiya Mei and Carlos his guess. As a pitcher, Narumiya Mei immediately empathized and grew angry as well. How could Yamamori's players act like that?!

Harada was much calmer. He was the catcher, and with the pitcher upset, he should have quickly soothed the pitcher's emotions. But he felt Su Qing's current mood was just right.

In this state, Su Qing would naturally think of every possible way to teach Yamamori's batters a lesson. Harada only needed to cooperate properly.

"Shira~kawa~"

Hearing someone call his name, Shirakawa could not help looking up. Then he saw Carlos staring at him with a face full of resentment. In order to buy Shirakawa time, Carlos had naturally done everything he could to prolong his at-bat.

But if you walked by the river often enough, eventually you would get your shoes wet. In the end, Carlos mishit one and was caught for an out.

"Carlos? Why are you back?"

"Hurry up and grab your bat, put on your helmet, and get up there to hit!"

Carlos was easygoing and somewhat introverted, but when it came time to snap at someone, he never hesitated.

Shirakawa looked toward the field and saw that the batter's box was indeed empty, with everyone waiting for him. He hurriedly grabbed his bat, put on his helmet, and jogged all the way to the plate.

After Shirakawa came up to bat, Fujikawa was next in the order.

Shirakawa had wanted to avenge Su Qing with his bat, but he discovered that Yamamori's reliever was no pushover either. Especially since this pitcher was the catcher's younger brother—perhaps because of some strange connection between twin brothers—Shirakawa was inexplicably struck out.

He walked dejectedly out of the batter's box, too embarrassed to even go over to Su Qing.

Su Qing was the one who took the initiative to pull Shirakawa to his side.

"Shirakawa was read completely. Their catcher caught onto Shirakawa's preferences and even saw through the home plate umpire's preferences."

There had been nothing inexplicable about Shirakawa's strikeout. Every pitch Yamamori's catcher called had been extremely targeted; he had even calculated whether Shirakawa would swing.