35 Forced into Service

In the top of the first, Narumiya cleanly retired the side with Three Up, Three Down. From beginning to end, Su Qing had not moved at all.

Little Angel beside him was dumbfounded.

"Why aren't the batters swinging?"

"At first, they probably wanted to take a look. Then they realized they simply couldn't keep up with the speed."

Sawamura did not understand what they meant by not keeping up. It did not look that fast, did it? Though he hated to admit it, Furuya's pitches were much faster than this, and batters still swung at them.

"They should be able to react by their next at-bat."

Compared to Shu Bei's lineup, which had achieved nothing, Inashiro's lineup was ferocious, scoring from all sides. Other than Narumiya Mei, the first five batters all got hits and brought in four runs.

Narumiya Mei stormed off from the batter's box with his bat in hand. Su Qing then hit a timely single, sending Harada from second and Shirakawa from third home while reaching first himself.

"He's not as amazing as you guys said."

Sawamura muttered that he could hit a single like that too if he worked a little harder.

"He controlled it deliberately."

Chen Xin would bet that Su Qing had caught the sweet spot of the ball just now. With a little more power, it would have flown out. Yet Su Qing had painstakingly sent it to the opposite field, which had clearly taken quite an effort.

Su Qing felt wronged too. Was this easy for him? Such a juicy pitch, and he had to turn it into an ordinary single. He was practically forgetting how to bat!

Shu Bei's pitcher panted heavily. What the hell was this? Was this what a powerhouse school was like? Damn it! He could not admit defeat!

"Come on!"

"Pull yourself together! It's only just begun!"

"One out!"

That was right, it had only just begun. He had to keep pitching!

Shu Bei's pitcher refused to give in, and Yoshizawa at the plate was no different. The resentment of having his jersey number taken away, the long period of obscurity—he had reasons he could not lose either!

Crack!

The ball soared high into the air. Shu Bei's outfielders desperately ran backward, only to watch helplessly as it smashed into the wire fence.

This time, Su Qing was not surprised. Once he confirmed the ball was unlikely to be caught, he began running the bases. He had originally wanted to celebrate with Shirakawa, who was waiting near home plate, but after seeing the Shu Bei pitcher's expression, he decided not to rub salt in the wound and merely clapped his hands.

Yoshizawa happily rounded the bases and returned to home plate. That was baseball—where there was happiness for some, there was sorrow for others.

Yet Shu Bei's pitcher did not collapse because of it. Without saying a word, he picked up the rosin bag, making everyone ache for him.

Little Angel could only swallow nervously. He was a pitcher too, but he had never seen a game where six runs were given up in the very first inning.

Only Chen Xin continued cracking sunflower seeds without a care in the world.

He had seen games where a team gave up double-digit runs in an inning. What was this? Was it not just runs allowed? Was it not just a Home Run? He only hoped the pitcher would be all right...

However, after Yoshizawa, Inashiro's batters became much friendlier. Everyone was an old hand, and since this was not an important game, there was no need to go so overboard.

Shu Bei quickly got three outs and ended the long half-inning.

Perhaps wanting to avenge their pitcher, Shu Bei's batters swung aggressively this time, and the heart of their order was up. Yet they still failed to touch the ball that half-inning, because Narumiya Mei was no longer throwing only Fastballs. He began mixing in breaking balls as well. His sharp Slider and forkball, difficult to distinguish before it dropped rapidly, left Shu Bei's batters unable to make contact.

They could only trudge dejectedly out of the batter's box.

"So boring."

Chen Xin hated one-sided games the most. He had rather wanted to see Su Qing get moving, but Su Qing was just standing there foolishly, offering no entertainment at all.

As he spoke, he yawned.

None of the others from Seido spoke. They silently watched Narumiya Mei reigning supreme on the mound, each lost in thought.

After the first inning, perhaps following a stern lecture from Coach Kunimoto, Inashiro's batters reined themselves in considerably. Even after Carlos reached base, he did not try to steal and put pressure on the pitcher.

Over the next two innings, Inashiro scored only one run, but Shu Bei still showed no signs of getting on the board.

"Doesn't it feel like Narumiya's pitching has gotten stronger than before?"

Miyuki had an indescribable feeling. He thought Narumiya Mei had become stronger, yet he could not pinpoint exactly where.

"He's steadier at the start."

Chris spoke up. He had the same impression. As divisional archrivals, he had collected a great deal of information on Narumiya Mei. Compared with Miyuki's more intuitive judgment, he could combine that information with analysis to find the real reason.

"I've watched all of Narumiya Mei's past games. He used to have one fatal weakness: he was very unstable at the start. Not only was his control erratic, but he could not bring out the full Pitching Power of his Fastball. At times like that, Inashiro's catcher would not call particularly daring pitches and would focus on playing it safe. But this time, Inashiro's catcher has been calling pitches freely from the very beginning."

Miyuki's expression grew grave after hearing that. He was happy that his friend Narumiya Mei had become stronger, but they were opponents. From an opponent's perspective, he still hoped Narumiya could be a little weaker.

Only three innings had passed, but Su Qing had already gone through two at-bats. In his second at-bat, to avoid being pulled from the game by Coach Kunimoto for failing to restrain himself, he relied on his batting eye and drew Four Balls. The process, however, had not exactly been subtle.

"This guy, why does he feel a bit like Ryosuke?"

"He's such a big brother. He deliberately spoiled so many good pitches. He could clearly hit them well, so why doesn't he?"

After speaking, Chen Xin stuffed another handful of sunflower seeds into his mouth.

He had already guessed why Su Qing was doing this. Had he been threatened?

After all, he had seen Su Qing look back at Coach Kunimoto three times during one at-bat, his eyes carrying a trace of pleading.

Inashiro's game was truly full of surprises. It was not only Narumiya Mei who had surprised them; this lineup, seemingly reborn, had also stunned everyone from Seido.

Could Tanba really handle a lineup like this? Could Furuya truly grow before facing Inashiro? The more they watched, the more oppressive the game felt.

Although Su Qing successfully drew Four Balls, no one could bring him home. For the time being, everyone had gone quiet at the plate.

Su Qing returned to the Rest Area to get his glove. As he passed Coach Kunimoto, Coach Kunimoto stopped him.

"If you dare play any more clever tricks, I'll replace you!"

Damn it!

"Yes."

Su Qing answered with a miserable face. What else could he do? He had already restrained himself enough. Shu Bei's batters were just too terrible! He could not even put on an act properly!

This utterly dull game finally saw a small surprise in the top of the fourth.

Shu Bei's third batter successfully hit a Slider that had failed to drop. However, it was not hit well, bouncing off the ground in front of third base. Yet the rebound angle was extremely low, making the ball travel very slowly.

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