After the first-pitch foul ball, the count had reached two strikes and two balls in the blink of an eye.
The count looked favorable for the pitcher, but Tojo was actually being suppressed, and the ball trajectory was being tracked closely!
That couldn't be helped. It was clear from last year's Practice Match and from the games Tojo remembered from middle school.
Tojo's mentality wasn't bad, but he definitely wasn't a big-game pitcher like Sawamura, nor was he the kind of hot-blooded pitcher who could fire himself up!
Right from the start, it was the late game, facing a powerhouse's desperate counterattack for the sake of its pride. The pressure was enormous.
That was only because Sawamura's pitching and the score had given him a psychological advantage beforehand!
Likewise, this was also a training opportunity Coach Kataoka had given him. Last year, he had already learned what a pitcher needed!
At Seidou, Tojo's current role was somewhat different from that of an ace.
He was positioned somewhere between an ordinary relief pitcher and a Relief Ace.
The role of an ordinary relief pitcher wasn't judged by how many hits he gave up, how many runs he allowed, or even whether the team won or lost!
As long as a pitcher performed at his usual level, there would naturally be fluctuations in his ceiling and floor. The coach already understood that when sending him onto the mound!
As long as he carried out his own pitching, if he got hit, then all they could do was praise the batter's ability.
Even if someone had to be blamed, it could only be that the pitch selection had a problem, or that it was simply bad luck!
Even every pitch a pitcher threw, even with the same ball trajectory and same pitch type,