Kanto Tournament

Unlike Su Qing, who was thoroughly fired up, the mood of Shin Kō's seventh batter was utterly depressed. He had actually lost the courage to swing! Was there anything more shameful than that?!

But there was something more important to do right now.

"Hirakawa! That first-year's fastball curves at the last moment—it's not an ordinary fastball! You have to watch it carefully before you swing!"

Shin Kō's seventh batter frantically relayed his experience to the eighth batter, Hirakawa, hoping it would help his batting.

But Hirakawa just gave a bitter smile.

Come on, don't joke around. A 154 km/h fastball! The only time he'd ever hit that kind of pitch was in the batting cages. If he could even make contact, he'd be thanking his lucky stars. And now he's being told it's not just a high-speed fastball, but it also moves?

Fine, whatever. He probably couldn't hit it anyway.

With the attitude of "just seeing it is an experience, and making contact is a bonus," Hirakawa stepped into the Batter's Box.

Unlike Narumiya Mei, Su Qing was a very standard right-handed pitcher. Just from his pitching motion, aside from a wider arm extension and a bigger stride, there wasn't much difference between him and other pitchers.

But how was his velocity this fast?!

Hirakawa only felt the ball fly out of Su Qing's hand like a beam of light. Before he could even swing, the ball was already in Harada's glove.

The umpire raised his right hand high and shouted:

"Strike!"

Hirakawa quickly stepped out of the Batter's Box—not to practice his swing, but simply to catch his breath. If he wasn't mistaken, that pitch had entered the Strike Zone from the lower right corner, slightly toward the upper left, then sharply cut to the corner edge.

Are you kidding me?! A first-year pitcher with this kind of velocity! And his control is terrifying! Even his fastball has movement! How is anyone supposed to survive this?!

Hirakawa truly had no solution. He felt he clearly couldn't hit this kind of pitch, so he turned his gaze to Shin Kō's coach.

Shin Kō's coach didn't have any good ideas either. He had initially thought Inashiro was just using the game to train a new player, but instead, they'd sent up a monster, just like Seido next door. Shin Kō's coach could only say: As expected from a big city—so many tricks!

This game seemed destined to be just as one-sided as expected. Since that was the case, he might as well let his players figure it out themselves. Whatever they could manage, they'd manage. After all, they weren't in the same block as Inashiro. The next time they'd meet this year would only be at Koshien—if they actually managed to qualify for the summer Koshien. By then, there would be plenty of time to study Inashiro.

Hirakawa saw the coach's signal to let him decide for himself. He touched the brim of his cap to acknowledge it, then returned to the Batter's Box in despair.

No! He was a batter! How could he be afraid of a pitcher's throw! No matter how hard that pitcher's throws were to hit, his job was still to put the ball in play! So how could he be afraid!

This time, Hirakawa swung without observing. His previous experience told him that by the time he saw the ball's movement and swung, it would already be too late. He wouldn't even have a chance to swing. He might as well gamble and see if he could make contact.

"Strike!"

Su Qing calmly took the ball from Harada.

He tossed the rosin bag in his hand again and inwardly started complaining about Japanese high school baseball umpires. Their strike calls were way too stiff—no passion at all.

As a pitcher, Su Qing really liked umpires with unique strike-calling motions. They always brought him a bit of entertainment. But he didn't like umpires who called strikes so slowly that he thought they'd called a ball. His little heart couldn't handle that kind of excitement.

After those five pitches, Su Qing had figured out the umpire's Strike Zone standards for today. It leaned slightly inside, and the calls on outside corner pitches were strict. That outside low pitch he'd just thrown—if the Shin Kō batter hadn't swung, it probably would've been called a ball. But luckily, he had swung.

Just as Su Qing reset his stance and waited for Harada's sign, he suddenly noticed that Shin Kō's seventh batter, Hirakawa, had pulled his bat back.

Hirakawa had decided to burn his bridges. He was determined—no matter what, he was going to make contact. That was his last shred of pride!

Harada also noticed Hirakawa setting up a bunt. But he called his pitches the same way regardless. After all, there was no one on base. Hirakawa's bunt was completely meaningless.

Trying to bunt for a hit was pure wishful thinking. If even Carlos and Shirakawa couldn't pull it off, who did Hirakawa think he was? If he really had that kind of skill, he would've done it in his last at-bat. Why wait until now?

Su Qing didn't feel much about it either. He just thought that if Hirakawa actually bunted, he'd have to charge off the mound to field it. He might get his uniform dirty. And he didn't want his jersey to be filthy. The team dorm didn't have a washing machine—he had to hand-wash everything himself!

Not wanting to leave the mound to field, Su Qing threw a slider straight to the spot Harada had called.

When Harada saw the pitch, he was startled. He thought Su Qing had lost control. But usually, when pitchers lose control, the velocity goes up. Why was this one slower?

Harada was panicked, but Hirakawa was thrilled. The velocity wasn't absurdly fast—he could hit this! Hirakawa pulled his bat back, ready to smash this seemingly sweet fastball.

But just as he thought he was about to make contact, the ball curved in a small arc toward another corner, making him swing and miss completely.

Harada was fooled too. He didn't pick up the ball until it hit the ground.

Harada quickly dropped to his knees, using his large frame to block the ball, then snatched it up and reached out to tag Hirakawa. Hirakawa only then realized what had happened. He tried to run, but it was too late. Harada's glove, holding the ball, touched him.

"Strike out!"

Hirakawa walked off the field in frustration, gripping his bat. How had he fallen for that! If he had just stuck with the bunt, he could have made contact, right?

Shin Kō's ninth batter—their backup pitcher—patted Hirakawa on the shoulder, offered a word of comfort, and then stepped into the Batter's Box.

But before he could even settle in, Harada called a timeout and walked to the Pitcher's Mound. Seeing Harada go, Inashiro's infielders followed him onto the mound.

"Nice work! Your pitching is almost as good as Narumiya's now! Keep it up!" The first to speak was Inashiro's carefree second baseman, Hirai Tsubasa.

"Yes."

The others also chimed in with encouragement. Yamaoka Riku and Yoshizawa Hideaki even went so far as to ruffle Su Qing's hair, turning his nicely curled locks into a messy bird's nest.

This made Su Qing desperately want to grow taller—so they couldn't reach the top of his head anymore!

"That pitch just now wasn't a fastball. It was a slider, right?"

The last to speak was Harada Masaru. He hadn't called the timeout just to praise Su Qing.