Practice Match (3) A King's Pride

"This catcher is pretty good!" the third batter on second base muttered to himself upon hearing Harada's shout.

"He guessed right, but our cleanup hitter here is no joke. The Old Man would rather ruin our overall coordination than keep him out of the fourth spot. That guy's a real bakemono, damn it!" he thought at the same time.

"This catcher is the cautious type—when facing an unfamiliar batter, he'll test them with outside-corner pitches."

Recalling what the two seniors who'd scored had said when they returned to the dugout, Sendou slowly walked into the left batter's box.

"Play!"

"Whoosh!"

"Smack!"

"Play! (sometimes used to call a strike)"

"Not moving at all? That actually makes it harder to mix up the pitches. Next ball, same thing! But shift it just a bit!" The opponent was clearly fixated on Sendou's reaction to that pitch.

Even without the coach's reminder, he knew that a player this team would promote even at the cost of sacrificing coordination couldn't be an easy mark.

The Wildcats' teamwork was famous nationwide, so if his batting was anything like that...

Thinking this, Harada, still shaken by the Wildcats' coordination, shuddered.

"No way, I can't back down now!" Pulling himself together, Harada clapped his left and right mitts together and signaled he was ready.

"Whoosh!"

"Thwack!"

"What? That was a ball!" But the next scene made his face twist in shock.

"Fair ball!" The umpire's distant voice rang out as the ball hit the ground.

"Youxia, (nice one), left-field long-hit trajectory." The Wildcats' dugout erupted.

"Run, run, get to third base, they won't make it in time!"

In elementary school, outfielders with the arm strength for a direct throw were few and far between.

And Sendou's foot speed was way too fast, plus the hit was sudden and the landing spot was perfect.

The ball bounced out of play after landing in the outfield—as long as the outfield ball lands fair, it's not called foul, completely different from the infield.

Even an outfielder with a direct-throw arm could only watch him take the base. But no matter what, that ball wasn't coming back to home plate for an inside-the-park home run.

"An outside-corner ball hit straight to left field for a triple? You've got to be kidding me, and his swing—the front-end start-up is terrible.

Now it's no outs, runner on third. Batter's the fifth spot, and wasn't this fifth batter last year's cleanup hitter for the Wildcats?" Harada was starting to feel lost. He really hadn't expected the guy to swing at a clearly off-target ball and forcefully pull it to right field, the same direction as the left-handed batter's box.

"That bastard Sendou still can't tell a good pitch from a bad one." The next slip accidentally exposed Sendou's weakness.

"Ba~ka~, who just blurts out intel like that!" Sure enough, Sendou muttered the same complaint under his breath.

Their ace's pitch speed wasn't fast—a pitcher like that in an elementary league that mostly threw fastballs was easy pickings for strong hitters.

But swinging at obvious balls was rare. Even Harada Masakatsu's composure was starting to crack.

Though the elementary league was mostly batting battles relying on overall defense, the Wildcats' coordination put too much pressure on the defense.

Even among super-elite schools, individual comprehensive strength among elementary students—except for a few—wasn't that different, and that's when the overall gap started to show.

"Time out!" Coach Yasuda walked out and called for time, and the whole team gathered on the pitcher's mound.

"What's wrong, already giving up?" Coach Yasuda said, then smiled as he spoke.

"The Wildcats are strong, aren't they!"

"Yeah, even though their individual strength should be about the same as ours..." Harada Masakatsu said.

"That's right, the Wildcats are strong—I'd even say most Little Senior League teams wouldn't be a match for them.

Their strength isn't in individuals. I don't have the same foundation as Coach Nakanishi to teach you those things.

But I want you to learn something from this practice match and know the direction you need to work toward.

Xiaoya, you're right—aside from that cleanup hitter whose technique is terrible, and one at-bat doesn't tell you much.

I dare say you're the strongest among the rest, so after this, you need to think hard about this game." Then Coach Yasuda cleared his throat and continued.

"Listen up, when I applied for this practice match, I never cared about winning or losing from the start—I didn't even care how many runs we lost by. I only have one request: no matter what, don't give up the will to fight. Got it?"

"Hai!!!" A huge voice instantly reached everyone's ears. Under that sound, Coach Yasuda returned to the dugout.

"That wouldn't be any fun." The Wildcats' third batter, who had just come off the field, said.

"Of course not. The Sailors are a famous school after all, and Coach Yasuda's no slouch." The second batter beside him replied.

"Play!"

As the pitcher and catcher confirmed their signals, the former cleanup hitter, now the fifth batter, made a gesture to Sendou.

"That gesture is... omoshiroi (interesting)! No mercy, huh?" Briefly recalling the signals and understanding the other's intent, Sendou gave a light smile.

At that moment, the pitcher and catcher confirmed the signals, and the game began.

"Whoosh!"

"Steal!"

"Squeeze Play?" Hearing the signal from third base, Sendou was already moving before the pitch was thrown. As the ball was about to be released, the fifth batter squared to bunt, executing the squeeze play. By then, it was too late to alter the ball's trajectory.

"First!"

Harada gave the order quickly, but no one had anticipated such a sudden squeeze play. The infield defense, already rattled by the relentless pressure and attacks, reacted sluggishly, and the runner successfully reached first base.

"Damn it!!!" Harada's shout was more frustration than anger, directed at his guilt-ridden teammates.

"That's the cleanup hitter in the five-spot, and a former four-hole batter at that—why would he lay down a bunt for a squeeze play, especially with no outs and a runner on third? And the batter's a power hitter to boot." Harada couldn't wrap his head around it. Coach Yasuda's hard-won composure shattered once more.

"Choosing to crush the opponent's morale over preserving a cleanup hitter's pride? What kind of team is this? Every player thinks and pursues victory purely as a unit. These kids have been trained remarkably well!" Coach Yasuda praised sincerely.

As for not bunting in a practice match? That depends on the opponent. For the Wild Cats, holding back on tactical plays would be like going easy on them—they'd tip their hand ahead of time, and the game would involve constant substitutions.

This match, however, was more of a full-strength joint practice. There was no way they'd hold back. That meant showing the King's true strength.

Crushing the opponent by any means and winning the game—that's the King's pride. And with the full lineup in play, flexibly employing every tactic was the Wild Cats' starting roster giving it their all.

Before I knew it, it's three in the morning again. Sorry, everyone, I really can't stay up any longer. If I'm busy past midnight next time without an update, I might have to skip a day. This chapter only covers one at-bat for the protagonist, but it's a crucial one. I wanted to focus more on the opponent's shifting mindset and psychology. Since it's almost dawn, I received a contract offer yesterday at noon. I'll probably have to sleep in until noon today, so tomorrow I'll head to the city bank to check the bank name so I can reply to the reviewer. Also, exam registration has started—I need to deposit money in my card for the fee, so I have to go no matter what. Even though the exam isn't until next May, I'm really nervous!