"What's with that expression, Miyuki Kazuya!" Before the game started, Sawamura, on the Pitcher's Mound, said to the guy in front of him with dissatisfaction.
"Nothing! What did Sendou say to you?"
"Uh! That..."
"Don't tell me! Give me more surprises!"
"Huh? You actually let that guy do whatever he wanted?"
"Hehehe! We'll only know if things went wrong after it's all over!"
I think I heard it was the outer corner? Anyway, I'll give you the Signals if I get the chance.
"The outside corner is just a bad ball no matter what."
"You... sometimes you really are just like Sendou!" Sawamura remarked.
"Thank you so much! I've been studying all along!" Miyuki put his right hand behind his head.
"This isn't a compliment! Cheer up!"
"This is the final! Get nervous, you bastard!" Sawamura panicked, and in front of tens of thousands of people, he lifted her up high.
"I... am your senior!" Miyuki realized he was being humiliated.
"It's okay! Trust me and Sendou!" Miyuki said, patting Sawamura as he was put down.
"Well! You really can be trusted in this tense situation!"
"Alright! It's settled then!"
"I'll give you this Signals later!" With that, Miyuki turned and left.
Sawamura was completely fooled by the Good-for-nothing Duo!
"Bottom of the 12th inning! Inajitsu's attack!"
Four sticks! Catcher, Harada-kun! "
"We haven't lost yet!"
"Go for it, Harada!"
" Harada-san!"
"Yes! No matter where the team is, they all don't want to lose!"
But only victory can prove one's strength!
I... will absolutely not back down!
"Call out!"
"Smack!"
"Nice shot!"
"Yoshi!" Sawamura's morale soared once again.
"This... this is what this guy pitches!" Harada stared in shock at the guy in front of the Pitcher's Mound.
He had initially thought the other person was just a substitute, but unexpectedly, the other person turned out to be the one who stood in front of him at the end.
Harada gripped the bat tightly.
"Call out!"
"Ping!"
"Outside the boundary!"
"Damn it, I missed the opportunity!"
"Really? They closed the gap on the opponent's fourth batter with just two balls!"
Is it really possible to do this?
"That guy is Sawamura, right? Not some other person, is it?"
The way the guys in the support section were encouraging each other started to get a little strange.
" Inside Corner Ball and Diagonal Fastball from Inside Corner Ball kicks!"
Two strikes, no bad ones!
Although they managed to catch up with the batter, getting enough outs was still too difficult.
However, isn't this a perfect opportunity for experimentation?
What exactly did that bastard Sendou say to him?
"Please amaze me as much as you like!" Miyuki cheerfully gave the Signals.
"Really?! That's a fourth batter!"
He really is an impatient guy.
But... can it really go that smoothly? Sawamura asked himself.
"But, we have no choice but to do it...!" Sawamura thought to himself, remembering what Sendou had just told him.
"Listen up, you idiot!" The first sentence wasn't a kind word.
then,
"Don't call me an idiot!" Sawamura shook his head frantically on the Pitcher's Mound, and his mutterings were heard by his seniors in the infield, who stared at him in bewilderment.
It's as if they're saying, "What are you talking about? Who called you an idiot?"
Sawamura continued reminiscing, oblivious to the expressions on his seniors' faces.
"The way I'm teaching you ball control now is based on my own experience. Do you know how difficult it is to break down something that doesn't require practice into a simple knockout?" In his memory, Sendou had said all the right things.
"If you want to control the ball well, you have to focus some of your energy on your fingers. You're an idiot, so you need to focus all your attention, you know?"
The entire body and arms provide energy to the ball, but ultimately all the power needs to be released through the fingers and controlled by the fingers.
The last two fingers that touch the ball before you release it are key to whether you can control it.
Focus all your attention on these two fingers, and then let these two fingers guide the trajectory of the ball!
If you can't concentrate, try to relax your whole body before you throw!
"Your movement was good when I told you to relax before the supervision!"
Unlike the ball control method that Sawamura devised in his previous life, Sendou's ball control is something his body can do instinctively. However, by carefully recalling the force exertion process of each part of his body and combining it with logic, it is easy to reverse-engineer the correct method.
Although it's similar to what Sawamura thought, the ball control master's reverse deduction method is definitely more practical and effective.
Although Sendou had long forgotten this part because he thought it was too heartbreaking and only read it once before selectively forgetting it, Sendou's earliest and most vivid memory of what happened after the Summer Tournament in the original work was Maezono shouting at the top of her lungs, "The first match is actually Teitou!"
This guy watched the first few episodes, specifically the Practice Match between Sawamura and Nissou, then jumped to the match at the Kokudo Hall, and kept watching until Inajitsu got the number of eliminations from God of Cards before jumping directly to the Maezono with Maezono's loud voice. By then, his memory of what he watched is already hazy, let alone those he doesn't remember at all.
The Outside Corner Ball was entirely Sendou's own idea.
So even Sawamura felt that Sendou was being too reckless. In his words, this was a decisive battle, a decisive battle concerning Koshien!
Are you just going to make me take this Outside Corner Ball kick you described?!
However, when he protested, Sendou said, "You can do it today!"
And then that was it. He got cocky and only realized how unstable it was when it came time to actually throw the ball. Then Miyuki played his part perfectly, and Sawamura was dragged down with him.
"You can do it today!" Recalling Sendou's words, Sawamura made up his mind.
"Relax your whole body! Focus all your attention on your fingertips!"
Guide the ball's trajectory with your fingertips!
"Call out!"
"Smack!"
"Ah!" Harada had absolutely no way to react to this extremely tricky shot.
"...!"
"Ball!" Because the ball was stuck in the Strike Zone, the referee thought about it carefully for a long time, but finally gave the ball a bad ball.
"This... Low Ball to the outside corner!"
"How did you do that?" Miyuki asked, his face filled with disbelief as he received the ball.
"Phew!" Harada's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets; he almost watched someone strike out.
So everyone was breathing in the fresh air like crazy, just like the benches at Inajitsu.
"The outer corner is low?" Senior Chris even stopped writing.
The others were equally shocked.
"This is... Could it be that Miyuki is going to practice throwing New Pitch under these circumstances?" Head Manager Oota said in surprise.
"Ugh! They're such a troublesome bunch!"
"Them?"
"Do you believe that Yalu wasn't involved?" Coach Kataoka asked rhetorically.
"That Yalu? Could it be...?"
"Otherwise, Miyuki wouldn't have had the guts, and he wouldn't have had any objections to helping Sawamura master the Outside Corner Ball kick so quickly!"
Only that guy, someone who is born with ball control ability in more than Four-Quadrant, can do that!
But it's probably mostly a crash course level!
"Use the kind of Ball Trajectory that only Sawamura could pull off today!" Coach Kataoka saw right through what was happening on the court.
"Supervision... supervision!"
"No need to stop! There's no need to worry about Sawamura in this state. Those two bastards aren't completely reckless either."
"Oh!"
"This pitcher! How could he throw such a tricky spot?" Harada was completely unable to calm down. It was already difficult enough to adapt to the timing when facing Sawamura for the first time.
Coach Kunimoto's face was constantly covered in sweat.
Whether it's luck or being in top form!
The key is that it was cast!
Even if the ball control isn't extremely tricky, Low Ball to the outside corner is very difficult to hit when combined with the posture that makes it impossible to see where to place the ball.
Including Hirai's previous hitters, all of them were facing this pitcher for the first time, and it was in a do-or-die inning.
If this pitcher can simultaneously throw a high inside and a low outside, in such a short time, the only thing Coach Kunimoto can do is to have the batter aim for the inside.
This is the only thing that can be done in this situation. If both players can get into the Strike Zone, there is almost no solution at this point in time and in this situation.
The fact that Coach Kunimoto was able to give instructions so quickly demonstrates his decisiveness and wisdom. If it were the younger Coach Kataoka, he probably would have taken much longer to make a decision.
"That outer corner looks so far away! The coach's judgment was right! Focus!"
We shouldn't be the team that loses here! Gather together!
"Puff!"
"Call out!"
"Boom!"
"Concentrated!"
"Ping!"
"Outside the boundary!"
"Carter's shot! That was close!"
Although Harada's shot went out of bounds, it was almost caught and killed by Pudding-senpai's diving save.
Whether inside or outside the boundary, if you're caught before landing, you're dead!
"That Outside Corner Ball just now almost caught me off guard!" Harada was so shocked that he broke out in a cold sweat.
However, Miyuki had already laid out the gloves again.
"That's... Naruto!!!" As Sawamura raised his right foot, Harada seemed to see Narumiya Mei from last year.
"Puff!"
"Call out!"
"Ping!"
"Smack!"
"Out!"
When Koharu caught that high-flying ball, Harada looked up at the sky.
"Yoshi! Out of the game!" Sawamura was the first to shout.
"Out of the game!"
"Out of the game!"
" The Outside Corner Ball went into the Strike Zone? That's why Harada took the hit?" Iguchi was in a dilemma. As a substitute pitcher, he didn't have Narumiya Mei's strong hitting ability. Normally, when he came on the mound, the game would be decided.
Alternatively, they could substitute him and move him to the lower position in the batting lineup; he has no experience playing as the fifth batter in a do-or-die game.
"Call out!"
"Ping!"
"Smack!"
"Out!"
With just one pitch, an inside fastball, he hit a high fly ball to center field, which Sendou caught very easily.
"Two out!"
"Two out!"
Six-ball secured two eliminations.
"There's one more!" Fumino whispered.
"There's one more!"
"There's one more!"
"There's one more!"
"There's one more!"
The audience chanted slogans again.
"Sixth batter! First baseman, Yamaoka-kun!"
" Yamaoka! I'm begging you!"
"Let's get a hit!"
"There's one more!"
"There's one more!"
"One more!" However, Inajitsu's cheers were quickly drowned out.
"When facing Yamaoka, you need to be wary of his Long Hit!"
Even if you don't hit the target squarely, he'll still sweep you away with his power!
A hitter of the same type as Masuko- san, in a way, is Sawamura's Nemesis!
I'll take advantage of the surprise that Sendou brought me!
Let's start by testing the waters with a low shot to the outside corner!
"Call out!"
"Smack!"
"Nice shot!"
"That's it! I really can't see where to place the ball!"
But I can't just give up like this!
This guy's ball control is just due to his form, and even on bad pitches, it's not Ball Trajectory that the bat can't touch at all.
A four-point difference means that even if the student is admitted through a special admission program, it would still be a loss!
Just keep going! Just keep going!
"Call out!"
"Smack!"
"Bad ball!"
"If you persevere!... Opportunity!"
"Call out!"
"Ping!"
"Outside the boundary!"
"There will definitely be an opportunity!"
"Call out!"
"Ping!"
"Carterball!" Yamaoka dropped his bat and quickly ran the bases.
"That ball is so far! Will it hit the ground?"
"A key player!!!"
"Fall down!!!"
"Stop it!!!"
"Ku! ku! ku! ku! ku!"
"Ah!"
"Smack!"
In the end, to the despair of the Daocheng Industrial players, the long hit that flew with a beautiful parabola toward the outfield was intercepted.
"Out!"
"Match over!!!"
"Oh!!!"
"Aaaaaah!!!"
As the referee announced the end of the game, amidst cheers from the crowd, the players from Inajitsu stared blankly at the outfield, their gazes gradually becoming vacant.
A sharp pain shot through my chest, and tears welled up in my eyes at the same time. It felt as if all the strength had been drained from my body.
Narumiya Mei, who had just begun to show signs of improvement, froze again. Before, it was for his own sake; now it was for the sake of the team.
Their summer... is over!
Coach Kunimoto closed his eyes again. Even though he had experienced too many failures, each one was just as heartbreaking.
This time, they were clearly the stronger team overall, but that's what makes this single-elimination tournament so terrifying!
A single battle decides life or death!
At the very last moment of the game, the air raid siren sounded again, and all the players on the Seidou bench rushed to the Pitcher's Mound.
"The match is over!"
In the top of the 12th inning, the fifth batter, Sendou-kun, hit Home Run, which led to the pitcher, Sawamura Eijun, closing the scoring perfectly!
After Death Struggle lasting four hours and seven minutes!!!
In the end, the King's dream of consecutive championships was shattered!
Seidou High School makes it to Koshien after six years!!!
Just as the commentator was about to shout, Sawamura was interrupted by Kuramochi's lunge.
Then one after another, the contestants rushed forward.
Until no one can get on anymore.
" Jun-san! Did you cry this time?" Sendou asked, looking at Isashiki-senpai beside him.
"Something got in my eye! Baka yarou!"
"Oh dear! That's really unfortunate!"
"Ah!" Isashiki shouted with her last bit of strength, unable to suppress her emotions any longer.
"Yoshi!!!"
Congratulations! Keep an eye on them!!!
"And you bastards!" Azuma Kiyokuni cried out, offering his blessings to the team and the younger generation.
"Phew! This is really... I'm exhausted!" Sendou looked up at the sky, which was still hot even at five o'clock.
In the end, they couldn't even come up with chapter titles...