The Kanto Tournament Is Still Going On

"Eh, it's okay, just call the pitches as you see fit. I'll shake my head if I think there's a problem."

Such a cute, guilty catcher.

However, Su Qing still had no intention of shaking his head, simply because he didn't want to engage in a battle of wits with the batter. Come on, he had no information at all, so what could he use to target the batter? He could only try his best to throw strong pitches.

Harada heard the perfunctoriness in Su Qing's words, but he couldn't say anything. If it were any other catcher, they would naturally be eager for the pitcher to be as obedient as possible.

Su Qing trusted him so much, what else could he say? Of course, he would respond with action!

In the next two at-bats, Harada no longer called for pitches on the corners exclusively, but scattered some pitches here and there, using almost every location in the strike zone.

Shin Kō's second batter, Uesugi, and third batter, Morikawa, listened to Fujita's advice and chose to guess the pitch, and the result was naturally a wild swing and a strikeout. This inning was still three up, three down.

In the top of the fifth inning, Inajitsu's offense was still swift and fierce, scoring two more points, and the score had now reached 14-0. The faces of the Shin Kō players were naturally as ugly as could be.

In the top of the fifth inning, Su Qing once again stood on the batter's box, with two outs and a runner on second base. Standing on second base was Yoshizawa, who had finally gotten his first hit of the game, an RBI Double. Fourth batter Harada was forced out on a ground ball to third base.

Shin Kō's reliever, Kobayashi, was now sweating profusely. Every out he got was a hard-fought effort by the defense, and his pitch count had already reached 80, and he had only pitched three innings.

Facing Su Qing, Kobayashi was still afraid. Although he had given up a lot of runs in three innings, Su Qing was the only batter who had blasted his pitch out of the park. It was impossible not to be nervous.

This time, Su Qing, who was well-prepared, was holding the bat that was most suitable for his current body. Everything was great. After swinging the bat lightly a few times to test his feel, Su Qing stepped into the batter's box.

Su Qing had carefully observed this Kobayashi's pitching from the sidelines. His main pitch was a fastball, supplemented by a curveball and a changeup. He threw the curveball more often, and the changeup was completely crushed, so he didn't dare to throw it anymore.

Kobayashi's fastball speed was not very fast, with a maximum speed of 135 km/h, which was barely acceptable, and the changeup speed was about 120 km/h. His changeup was still the kind that didn't change. The first time, he could rely on the difference in speed to make the batter swing and miss, but after that, it was useless. Every time he used it, he would get hit. Now the catcher didn't dare to call for a changeup anymore, and even if he did, Kobayashi didn't dare to throw it. He had lost confidence in his changeup.

And Kobayashi's fastball was the kind that Japanese pitchers often threw, pursuing straightness as much as possible, and the spin rate was also average, otherwise it wouldn't have been blasted out by Su Qing with one swing before.

If he still chose to throw a fastball and duel with Su Qing this time, he would most likely be hit so hard that he would cry. As for his curveball, Su Qing had also seen it just now. Most of them were ground-scraping curveballs, and the change was just that. It started to drop before it reached the plate. This kind of curveball was really not difficult to hit. Su Qing had hit balls with more sharp changes and greater amplitude than this.

Su Qing watched Kobayashi shaking his head non-stop, feeling very bored, and once again fantasized, If only he had a chewing gum in his mouth at this time, chewing it would make him less bored.

Finally, Su Qing felt that the catcher was almost impatient, and Kobayashi nodded and entered the preparation stage for pitching. Su Qing quickly perked up. He felt the catcher moving to the outside corner.

So he's going to throw an outside pitch, but Su Qing doesn't have the idea of pressing forward. The catcher can play too many tricks, and he won't be fooled. This position is just right.

In fact, the most important thing is that this position can advance or retreat. If the pitcher has bad intentions towards him, he can quickly run out of the batter's box, and then throw his helmet and bat, and his teammates will rush up. He himself is a pitcher, so the most important thing is to protect every part of his body.

The first pitch, the catcher didn't play any tricks, it was indeed an outside pitch, but Su Qing didn't swing, because it was a bad ball. Although he could hit it, it would definitely be a very reluctant hit, after all, he was standing quite far away.

Rotating the bat in his hand again, Su Qing continued to wait for the second pitch. Regarding what kind of pitch to throw for the second pitch, the Shin Kō catcher and pitcher once again staged a silent battle. Yoshizawa, who was standing on the base, was bored and wanted to steal a base, but stealing a base with a large lead was a bit unethical, and the Manager hadn't given any instructions.

Yoshizawa just moved out a step or two in a decent manner to save a little time for starting.

Yoshizawa was bored, let alone Su Qing standing in the batter's box. He directly exited the batter's box, leaving more time for the Shin Kō pitcher and catcher to communicate.

When Su Qing stood in the batter's box again, the Shin Kō pitcher and catcher finally reached a consensus. Kobayashi went back to grab the magnesium powder bag, finally stood still, and threw his second pitch to Su Qing.

Relying on his excellent vision and memory, Su Qing dared to assert that the release point of this ball was at least half a fist off from the release point of the previous ball.

Is his pitching so unstable?

While complaining, Su Qing's eyes were firmly following the ball.

So slow~

Is it a changeup?

If it was a changeup, this ball should have entered the strike zone. Feeling the timing was about right, Su Qing swung his bat towards the spot he had predicted.

But just as Su Qing swung, the ball began to drop.

He'd been tricked.

Actually, Su Qing still had the chance to change the direction of his swing at this moment, or forcibly pull the bat back.

However, Su Qing did neither, swinging and missing completely.

The reason was that the former would make his batting stance look very awkward, with a high probability of him ending up kneeling on the ground and dirtying his clothes. The latter had a small chance of causing a muscle strain, after all, he was swinging with all his might.

Anyway, swinging and missing was just giving the opponent a strike, it wasn't like he had struck out, so Su Qing let the bat swing out smoothly.

By the time Su Qing pulled the bat back, the catcher Morikawa had already stood up excitedly, shouting, "Nice ball!" before throwing the baseball back to Kobayashi.

And Kobayashi also had a long-lost smile on his face, and many Shin Kō fielders shouted to cheer Kobayashi on.

Tch, small-minded and triumphant, acting like he struck me out! If he dares to throw another curveball next pitch, I'll send it soaring!

"Su Qing! Are you okay! If you're not, I'll go up and pinch-hit for you!"

Narumiya Mei didn't know when he had run to the outside of the dugout, shouting at Su Qing.

Narumiya Mei's shout made Su Qing extremely annoyed. It was just one strike, and one that he had deliberately given them! Why was everyone acting like he had already struck out! No, he had to hit another one to prove his dominance!