"Let's see how this round goes!" said Mine Fujio on the sidelines as he saw Seidou's players come out to defend.
"Huh?" Owada Akiko was a little confused. The match had clearly started to become evenly matched from the Seidou, so why was it called "watching this game"?
"Although the game looked like it was going to end with neither side able to score, it was a stalemate."
However, one was No Hit game that couldn't score, while the other was a scoreless game achieved through defense. Moreover, Seidou started the fifth inning with the first batter. In fact, the combination of Sendou and Yuki was something that Seido couldn't solve.
If we can't find a way to get a point from Sawamura in this game, or if we can't suppress his offensive line in the subsequent defense, the match is probably over.
"I see!"
"Top of the fifth inning! Yokogaku Kohoku Academy's attack."
Fifth baseman! Third baseman, Sonomura-kun!
"Be careful with your bets, Sawamura!" Miyuki understood the importance of this round.
He also hoped to maintain the score and carry the advantage into his own attack in the second half of the game.
Sawamura continued to take deep breaths.
"I'm definitely not in bad shape today! But am I a little too excited?"
In short, just throw it at that glove.
"Puff!"
"First goal! Be careful!"
"Call out!"
"Smack!"
"Bad ball!"
"Ugh!" Sawamura was deeply shocked by the verdict.
"Damn it! You're being overly cautious!" Miyuki cursed inwardly.
But they can only continue to use Signals, as their own first-year pitcher has been inconsistent for quite some time now.
"Call out!"
"Ping!"
"Onii-san!"
"Flutter!"
"Ah!" Sawamura was hit again as the ball landed.
To be precise, the ball landed right in the no-man's-land, in the area between Oni-san, Sendoh Isashiki Sendou.
"Too high!" Miyuki gestured to tell him that the ball was too high.
Sawamura's ball is easily hit far away when it hits the Metal Bat, and there's nothing that can be done about it.
"The ball landed between the second baseman, the center baseman, and the right fielder."
Yokohama Kohoku Academy's first hit!
"Yo!!!" The students on the bench joined in the celebration.
Miyuki didn't even bother to call a timeout; Sawamura wouldn't be swayed by something like this.
Unlike Furuya, Sawamura is the type of player who lets the opponent hit, so he will naturally get on base. He just needs to stick to his pitching.
Therefore, in his previous life, Hakuryuu Match, Sawamura was still quite inconspicuous nationwide.
"Sixth batter! Left fielder, Komura- kun!"
"Let him call! Sawamura-chan!"
Let's tackle them one by one!
At the same time, Miyuki placed the gloves in the inner corner without hesitation.
"Wow! Just how powerful is that!"
"I just got hit!" Sawamura thought to himself as he started pitching.
"Call out!"
"Smack!"
"Nice shot!"
"See! It can be thrown out, can't it?" Miyuki thought to himself with a hint of smugness.
Then, for the second Signals, the glove was placed in the inside corner again.
"Call out!"
"Another Inside Corner Ball!"
"Ping!"
"Damn it! Carter ball!"
This time, Onisan picked up the ball with his left glove and made a glove pass.
"Smack!"
"Yahaha!" Kuramochi, Kuramochi second Backup Position, jumped up after catching the ball.
"Smack!"
"Out!"
"Double kill!!"
"Yoshi ah! Yoshi yoshi yoshi! Yoshi yoshi yoshi!" Sawamura celebrated wildly on the Pitcher's Mound.
That's how exciting Sawamura's pitching is. One minute there were no outs and the runner was on first base, and the next two pitches turned it into two outs and no runners.
As expected, Sawamura secured his third elimination with a single point in this set.
Three Up Three Down!
In the Bottom of the Fifth Inning, Ino got into the rhythm, Kuramochi failed to reach base again, and even Oni-san only managed to hold on for a few more pitches.
Two out!
"Third batter! Right fielder, Isashiki-kun!"
"My turn! You bastard!" Jun-san walked up as if she was about to hit someone.
The referee was startled. Although he knew the man had a somewhat fierce personality, he had always been very obedient to him. This expression was still a bit frightening.
Please give me your guidance!
"Phew!" The referee instinctively breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Isashiki walk up to him and instantly become as polite as before.
As for how he bared his teeth at Ino afterwards, that had nothing to do with the referee. Now he understood what was going on with the kid.
"Come on, you bastard! Come on, you bastard!"
Ino ignored Isashiki's fierce face and glanced at Sendou in the preparation area. Clearly, he didn't want to fight the fourth batter and the fifth batter behind him here.
" Yalu!" Isashiki was furious when he saw this.
"Go all out!"
"Although I know that too!..." Isashiki muttered to himself as he watched Ino lift her leg.
"Call out!"
"Smack!"
"Bad ball!"
"I'm not some kind of genius hitter!"
"Ping!"
"Outside the boundary!"
"But..." Isashiki paused for a moment, thinking of this.
"Don't underestimate me!... You bastard!" Isashiki shouted.
"Ping!"
As he paused, the ball came over and hit him just as he yelled "bastard."
"Hit!... A single to center field!"
The runner has reached second base!
"Yoshia!!"
"That's great!" The female managers hugged each other.
"Oh!!! Evil Oni Senpai!"
"We're not just a team with those two guys! You bastards!" Isashiki yelled at Ino from second base.
"This is all I can do!"
"The stage is set up, take me back! Sendou! Tetsu!" After shouting, Isashiki looked at Sendou in the preparation area and Captain Tetsu walking out of the bench, thinking to himself.
Only when it is in his heart, or under certain special circumstances, can Isashiki truly reveal his gentle side.
"Heh!" Sendou was in the preparation area, chuckled and stood up as if he had heard Isashiki's thoughts.
"Fourth batter! Center forward, Sendou-kun!"
The broadcast, coinciding with Sendou's as he stood up, sent a jolt through Ino's heart, as if struck by a sledgehammer. In his eyes, Sendou and Captain Tetsu seemed to be surrounded by something terrifying. (Similar special effects to those in Raichi Todoroki!)
Ino looked up at the scorching Taiyou and slowly sat down, taking deep breaths.
With two outs and a runner on second base, it was Sendou's turn to at-bat for the third time.
Yokohama Kohoku Academy is facing a huge crisis!
Standing in the Batter's Box is Sendou, the fourth batter Strike Zone, on his first at-bat, hit a pitch that was clearly off the strike zone and went on to hit Long Hit!
Next up is Seido's Seidou Batting Lineup, with fifth batter Yuki, who narrowly escaped elimination in the previous round!
"Yoshia!!!"
"We got it!" several veteran substitutes on the bench shouted excitedly.
"Calm down!" Oni-san said with a smile.
"Please, Sendou!"
"Fight like the Silky Inu-senpai!" Sawamura jumped up and down even more excitedly.
"Who's the silky dog?!" Jun-san shouted fiercely from second base.
"Baka! That's a great pitcher too!"
And he probably won't throw any good pitches to me!
"I can only try to hit the relatively easier bad shots!" Sendou thought to himself.
With Sendou's arrival, the three outfielders retreated frantically, after all, he was the kind of terrifying Long Hit could hit at any moment.
"Now is the time to make a decision!" Bucktooth Coach thought to himself.
Subsequently,
"Sorry! Requesting a timeout!" The timeout called from the bench was naturally a defensive timeout.
However, instead of sending a messenger, he personally walked off the field!
All six infielders gathered on the Pitcher's Mound, waiting for the coach to slowly walk over.
"Supervision! ×n!"
" Ino!"
"...Hi!" Ino paused for a moment before responding.
"Want to settle this with him?"
"Huh?" Unlike those two idiots who were the Double Pitcher at Seidou, Ino didn't immediately understand that the coach meant to ask about his level of resolve. He was a self-aware person.
"What methods will they use to fight against Sendou at this time?" Even though the opposing coach himself was present, Head Manager Oota still said in a good mood.
After the Summer Preliminaries, Head Manager Oota had a blind confidence in Sendou. It's not that Sendou can't be dealt with by the pitcher, but he becomes more reliable in crucial moments. That's how Head Manager Oota saw Sendou.
After witnessing Seidou's Fourth and Fifth Batter Combination, even though they had already been out twice, no one felt that the situation was in Yokohama's favor.
"They have two empty bases!" Chris said with a serious expression, realizing a highly probable possibility.
The fact that the supervisor has to personally intervene in this situation indicates that there's something he needs to do to persuade his own players.
Senior Chris believes this is the most likely possibility.
"Huh?!?!?" Since this was the first time he had encountered such a situation, Head Manager Oota didn't understand for a moment, but he figured it out the next second and chose to remain silent.
The excited bench instantly fell silent, and Pudding-senpai tightened his grip on his bat.
If that's the case, then it means you'll have to fight him to the death, how could you not feel pressure?
On the other side,
I want to win the game!!!
"I want to increase the chances of winning as much as possible." Ino glanced at the three pitchers preparing in the Seidou Bullpen and answered with unwavering determination.
He knew he couldn't let the score widen too easily.
If the risk of a decisive battle is too high, Sendou's elimination in the last inning was due to luck, and Captain Tetsu also put in a lot of effort to strike out. Nobody knows if there will be a second time.
To reduce the risk, he chose to comply.
"I understand! Let's settle this with the sixth batter!"
Although he hit the Changeup, he couldn't say he had overcome his weakness in Changeup, compared to the two power hitters who had no weaknesses.
"The risk of going head-to-head with him is the lowest. A bases-loaded strategy is easy to get outs, but it's also easy to give up a lot of runs, so we have to be careful." Bucktooth Coach still said the tactic that the players already knew.
"Hi!!!"
" Shirau! Be bolder with your pitches! That sixth batter is under pressure too; he definitely doesn't want to miss such a great opportunity!"
"Hi!!!"
Everyone knew that they absolutely could not be allowed to launch such a reckless attack.
Sendou and Captain Tetsu are both the kind of hitters who can change the course of a game with a single blow, stimulating and exciting subsequent hitters. This is the typical scenario of a major breakout in the batting lineup, which often starts with a stunning strike.
Bucktooth Coach, stepping off the Pitcher's Mound, also felt a sense of powerlessness. Seidou's batting lineup was just too unfair.
It's really frustrating to have to rely on the opponent to walk two batters in a row, and most of the other batters are also strong.
"Damn it!" Ino lowered her head and vented her frustration.
His teammates patted him on the shoulder to comfort him, and then ran back to their respective defensive positions.
People both inside and outside the arena didn't notice any difference. Even Sendou didn't expect Hengxue to make such a big decision, sending both of them to the top in one go.
However, as the coach of Xianquan said, it is also a common way of playing baseball to fight against opponents that can be truly defeated, and the bases-loaded tactic is also very common.
At least, consecutive walks in a bases-loaded strategy are more acceptable to the audience than mindless walks.
Although the audience was just unhappy with the walk-off hitter, and many people booed, not everyone did.
"Timeout over, game resumes!"
The catcher didn't crouch down, Intentional Walk!
... The catcher hasn't even crouched down yet, bases loaded! Yokohama Kohoku Academy has opted for bases loaded.
That's two outs and the bases are loaded! The commentator was also surprised by the decisiveness of the side.
"Sixth batter! Third baseman, Masuko-kun!"
"Phew!" Pudding-senpai took a deep breath, a little sweat appearing on his face.
"Phew! Yoshi! Let's begin!" Ino whispered to herself from the Pitcher's Mound.
He knew this wasn't an easy opponent either, but the Fourth and Fifth Batter Combination were simply too outstanding.
Seeing that Ino was ready, Shirau gave the first Signals.
"Phew!" Ino see the Signals and took another deep breath.
"The supervisor told you to be bolder with your ball selection, and you really were bold!"
"Let's do it!" Ino thought to herself as she straightened up.
" Masuko- san!" Sendou said in a low voice, sounding a little worried.
Although he was on second base, Masuko knew he could use base runs as Signals, but now Sendou was sandwiched in the middle, and using base steals as Signals would be too easy to expose, so it was useless. Masuko had to rely on herself.
"Puff!"
"Call out!"
"Woo-ga!"
"Smack!"
"Nice shot!"
"What a bold ball-handling move!"
The first pitch was the Slider that Masuko at-bat!!!
The batter missed his chance completely and swung his sword!
Where will the second ball be thrown?
"Puff!"
"Call out!"
"Smack!"
"Strike! Two!!!"
" Masuko-senpai is using too much force!" Miyuki thought to himself as he watched Masuko-senpai the bat.
"Inside corner straight shot! Complete Ball Trajectory the Slider before the change!"
That makes two strikes!
"Yoshi!!! I'm chasing him!"
Let's finish him off in one go!
" Masuko-senpai!"
"Go for it! Hurrah!" Sachiko, the second-year manager on the sidelines, once again revealed her true colors.
"Woo-ga! Woo-ga!" Even when Masuko, she made a woo-ga sound...
And he was sweating more and more on his face.
"The third goal!"
"Call out!"
"Woo... woo-ga!"
"Smack!"
"Nice shot!"
"The hitter is out! Change of game!"
"The same Ball Trajectory at the end! Forkball in the inside corner!"
In the very end, Yokohama Kohoku Academy's ace player still chose to decide the outcome with his decisive shot!
Moreover, all three balls had the same Ball Trajectory!
A truly ace pitching performance!
First of all, thank you for today's votes. I was really surprised by everyone's monthly votes and recommendation votes. Especially the monthly votes, this is the first time I've ever seen a notification of 20 monthly votes!
These past few days have been really unlucky, even worse than the period at the beginning of the year when I was constantly taking leave. Attentive readers may have noticed that the numbers in the first few chapters were all wrong, with 330 being written as 310 for two consecutive days.
I was so tired last night that I could barely keep my eyes open, and I deleted hundreds of things I wrote when I went online today.
I slept all day today, and my head has been aching all day.
I finished getting the coal yesterday, and while I was cooking for my mom today, I pulled up a few rows of beans. Then, looking at the corn cobs burning outside, and the huge pile of sweet potatoes I hadn't even started growing, I got a headache.
Although I really have a headache right now, and my temples feel like they're being pricked with needles, I don't know if it's an illness or what.
I'll try to update twice a day; owing a whole chapter feels like too much...
However, I can't guarantee it. If my head hurts too much, I'll post 2,000 words as soon as I finish writing them. If I don't reach 2,000, I'll try again tomorrow...
Thank you again.