"Bottom of the third inning! Seidou High School's attack..."
Nine sticks! Right fielder, Shirazu-kun! "
"Go! Shirazu-senpai!"
"Fight your way out! Shirazu!"
"In the bottom of the third game, can the Seidou Batting Lineup, who scored a point in the previous game, continue to put pressure on Kiryu?"
" Kan! Crush them!" Kiryu's captain shouted from the bench.
That's right, the captain at the same time wasn't a starting player, but rather the man with the brightest smile on the bench during Practice Match.
This captain is very prestigious and is always the first to encourage his teammates.
"Laugh!"
"Call out!"
"Smack!"
"Nice shot!"
"The attacker is out!"
With a light laugh Hirobi Tate struck out Shirazu, putting Seidou's second-round batting lineup in place.
However, Kuramochi was defeated once again!
Kuramochi's weakness in attacking has long been noticed by the major clans.
He's fast, but we just need to prevent him from reaching base!
The reason why Seidou placed Shirazu in the ninth batter position is this: if all nine batters are weak, wouldn't that create a gap in the batting order?
"Second baseman, Kominato Ryosuke-kun!"
" Kan is currently in a position to go toe-to-toe with that fourth or fifth batter, but we absolutely cannot let Sendou-kun get to second base!"
But... is loading the bases really too difficult? Coach Matsumoto looked at Seidou's bench and pondered.
"We absolutely must end this inning with this batter!" Coach Matsumoto gave the final, forceful instruction.
Hirobi Tate was very happy to see this instruction, although his smile was already quite bright, so you couldn't tell.
"Use Low Ball to completely decide the outcome, and suppress him with the quality of your balls!" Nagumo saw the instructions and thought of the corresponding battle plan.
It's difficult to hit Low Ball behind the opponent, and against a weak hitter, it's easy to make them hit Ground Ball.
"Call out!"
"Smack!"
"Nice shot!"
"First ball Low Ball the outside corner! The batter didn't even get a shot off!"
"Of course, even if you control the Ball Trajectory this way, you can't take the first shot!" Oni-san thought to himself as he heard the commentator's shout.
"Call out!"
"Smack!"
"Bad ball!"
"The second ball went low to the outside corner again!"
But it was slightly off the Strike Zone! Bad ball!
This pitcher has really good control!
And the ball is very heavy!
"That's right! Seidou's hitter lacks sufficient strength!"
As the match began to enter a dull period, the two commentators engaged in a brief conversation to lighten the mood for the audience.
"Call out!"
"Smack!"
"Ping!"
"Outside the boundary!"
" Slider! I thought it was going to be another outside corner!" Oni-san frowned seriously.
"I never expected that even Ryo-san would take on such a tricky ball. Just how sharp is he!" Miyuki exclaimed.
"Don't rush! It's only the first game!" Sendou was quite relaxed.
Regardless of the opponent's condition, they only have one path to take: to win.
Having come this far, nobody wants to go back now.
"Call out!"
" Inside Corner Ball! This... this bastard!"
"Ping!"
"Smack!"
"Out!"
"Three outs, change of game!"
"Ah! A fly ball right in front of the pitcher!"
"Were you completely overwhelmed by the opponent's power?"
"Hateful!"
"But we're still in the lead! Even if it's only by one point!"
Supporters of Seidou were discussing the matter with varying degrees of sympathy.
"Nice ball! Kan!"
"This guy is tough to deal with once he gets into form!"
The competition has only just begun!
"Kiryu is the strongest!"
"Are there at least two more rounds left?" Miyuki glanced at the big screen and muttered to himself.
The coach had spoken to him privately, saying that he wanted Tanba and Furuya to finish the round, and if Furuya had any problems, Kawakami the game.
However, all of this requires Tanba to last at least five innings, and to increase the number of innings as much as possible.
Of course, it's not a shutout, but rather that Tanba himself isn't completely overwhelmed while the point difference isn't too large.
"Top of the fourth inning! Kiryu High School's attack..."
Two sticks! Second baseman, Hirata-kun! "
"Left-handed thug! This is really troublesome!"
But we have no reason to back down!
"Straight ball from inside corner!
You idiot... do you even know they're aiming for a straight shot?
You know, right?... You know it better than anyone else!
"Ha!" Senior Tanba was also thrilled by Miyuki's powerful ball placement.
"We're in the lead! Throw it all the way at us!" Miyuki's eyes sparkled as he saw Senior Tanba's reaction.
"That bastard!"
"Puff!"
"Ugh... fushi!"
"Call out!"
"Sudden..."
"Smack!"
"Nice shot!"
Hirata was also taken aback by the shot and didn't actually shoot, or rather, the tricky Ball Trajectory of the shot made it impossible for him to shoot.
Straight balls also have angles, and some straight balls are not necessarily easier to hit than Changeup.
"Call out!"
"Ping!"
"Outside the boundary!"
"What happened all of a sudden? Why did you suddenly start throwing fastballs!"
And they're all so tricky!
After hitting the second low fastball out of bounds, Hirata couldn't quite understand what the catcher was thinking.
There's no need to waste points!
"Call out!"
"Smack!"
"Strike! Batter out!"
" Forkball! I've been completely fooled!" The batter walked off the Batter's Box, somewhat indignant.
Harada, watching Hirata walk down from the Batter's Box while watching TV, slowly began to empathize with him.
He could understand the feeling of being completely manipulated by the captors.
"Nice ball, Tanba-san!" Miyuki stood up and passed the ball.
Tanba received the ball, took a breath, and did not respond.
Tanba's pitch count is almost fifty. Except for a few players, his hitting line is completely aimed at the straight ball and he doesn't lift his leg, which has allowed Tanba to throw a lot of pitches.
The number of balls may not be particularly high, but the key point is that a lot of Changeup were thrown.
But next is the Center Batting Lineup, and you really can't skimp on the Changeup!
"Third batter! First baseman, Ishizaki-kun!"
Speak of the devil, and he appears; the broadcast made Tanba's breathing become even heavier once again.
Tanba is under a lot of pressure; although he's in the lead, he only has one point.
Even if you say you shouldn't care about the points you lose, and that it doesn't matter if you're behind, a pitcher would never accept that.
With the goal of not losing any points, Tanba naturally felt fatigued beyond the number of balls scored.
Therefore, Miyuki, who cannot control the pitcher's desire for a shutout, hopes that Senior Tanba will maintain this Fighting Spirit.
then,
"A curveball from the Inside Corner Ball!"
"Throw your most confident shot here, Tanba-san!"
"Fushi!"
"Call out!"
"Smack!"
The pitcher's high Fighting Spirit and the batter's mistaken posture of trying to dodge the attack were in stark contrast.
"Nice shot!"
"Call out!"
"Ping!"
"Center forward!" Countless Seidou Base Supporters on the sidelines shouted at the same time!
"Smack!"
"Out!"
This was a high fly ball to center field, so Sendou should have had an easy time catching it and was unlikely to make a basic mistake.
After a curveball to the inside corner, a high-speed fastball to the inside corner followed immediately, and Kiryu's third batter, the powerful right-handed batter, was taken down in a rather haphazard way.
"Four bats! Pitcher, Hall-kun!"
"Here they come! The second round's Cleanup Hitter!"
"The second exit is really great for him!" It's not just Tanba who doesn't want Kiryu to score; Miyuki the same way, and they're probably not the only ones who think this way.
However, pitchers cannot be distracted by distractions, so everyone is just encouraging the ace.
" Tachi-senpai! Fight them out!"
" Tachi-senpai's smile is amazing!"
"Give me one, please!"
"Now it all depends on you! Go and create a breakthrough!"
"Second out! Second out! Tanba-san!"
"Let him call!"
"I will definitely kill him!"
"You can do what you say today!"
"Two out! Tanba-san!"
Both sides' ace players fully demonstrated their abilities.
Although Hirobi Tate gave up one run, the only solid hit she conceded was Captain Tetsu's.
Tanba only managed one good pitch, which resulted in an Infield Hit single.
Although Tanba can control the Four-Quadrant, his ball control is not that stable. Even Narumiya Mei has a few balls that are relatively easy to hit!
The only thing that would never miss a single misfire was that precision machine, Yang Shunchen.
However, the occasional easier shots that Tanba managed to hit were saved by the solid defense.
The fact that Hirobi Tate hasn't lost a vote yet is quite alarming.
All I can say is that this guy is acting strangely today.
You can tell just by looking at his smile.
This guy is simple and easy to understand, although he's not very useful, and it's Seidou who's having a headache.
In fact, Seidou was also reluctant to face Kiryu, since the two sides knew each other very well, and Kiryu knew what should and shouldn't be revealed.
In the Inajitsu almost exposed Seidou's true strengths, but what the video couldn't reveal was Sawamura's shot where the placement point was nowhere to be seen.
Unfortunately, Kiryu was also fully aware of this during Practice Match...
Even during the off-season before Koshien, Sendou's strategy was broken.
Even Sendou was unaware that Coach Matsumoto had analyzed the Captain Tetsu.
However, knowing this doesn't really offer a good solution. It would be best to suppress it head-on, but if that's not possible, then a huge sacrifice is necessary.
To put it bluntly, this match was a head-on battle where neither side had any secrets to hide.
It's like the strategy of using the orthodox to engage and the unorthodox to win in military tactics.
The point is self-evident. However, relying on intelligence for a surprise attack is no longer feasible; any such attempt would be a last-minute flash of inspiration, and no one would depend on that.
After the initial probing between the two sides, it can be said that the real meat grinder mode has begun.
Just like in history, in wars where both sides knew each other inside and out, and the generals and troops were evenly matched or not much different, excluding those where both sides called for retreat, every one of them was an extremely brutal battle. To put it bluntly, it was a fight to the bitter end, with no skill involved.
However, in this match, both sides' aces withstood the first wave of attack thanks to their outstanding performances.
Of course, Tanba is now facing enormous challenges.
Hirobi Tate may not be as terrifying as any of the fourth or fifth batters in Seidou, but she is still a formidable hitter.
Otherwise, how could he have become the backbone of this team's offense and defense, leading the team to this point?
Not to mention his current godlike state.
"I still can't understand Sendou's taste. What's so addictive about this? That face..."
"It looks absolutely terrifying, okay?" Miyuki thought to himself as he looked at Hirobi Tate's face.
"But that's no reason for us to back down, is it?"
" Tanba-san!" The two hunters exchanged a smile.
"Suppress him here and completely control the pace of the game. ×2!"
At this moment, the hearts of the captors and the hunters are in perfect harmony!
"Fushi!"
"Um?"
"Smack!"
"Nice shot!"
The attacker watched as the man left!
"Another first-goal Inside Corner Ball!"
"This guy...!" For a moment, Hirobi Tate's smile vanished, but only for a moment.
"However, it wouldn't be fun if it weren't like this!"
Then it revealed an even more terrifying smile, looking exactly like a skull!
"How terrifying!" Miyuki was startled by the smile.
"But such a terrifying face means you're fully enjoying the game!"
"It's about time we got to enjoy the game." Only Miyuki Kazuya could laugh at this moment.
"That bastard! He's still so domineering!"
"Fushi!"
"Curveball!"
"Ping!"
"Got it! Tanba's winning shot has been hit!"
Although the defense was quick, it was too late; the runner reached second base!
Kiryu High School's second hit!!!
"Yoshia!!!"
"Yoshia!!!"
"Yoshia!!!"
Hirobi Tate struck a victory pose, and then people on the bench and in the cheering section responded simultaneously.
"Ah! Once this ball is hit, there's nothing we can do!"
"Hahaha!" Miyuki -Senior Tanba after ordering the garrison to pause.
"Trying to cover up your embarrassment with a smile?" Senior Tanba asked Miyuki with a rare, gentle smile.
"Haha! Ah?" Miyuki didn't expect that Senior Tanba would expose him so directly.
This is even more awkward.
"Or are you afraid that I will be affected?"
"Anyway, getting kicked out is entirely your fault for the ball placement, so I'm fine!"
"Uh!" Miyuki couldn't laugh anymore; he sensed that Senior Tanba was acting a little differently.
Although this is something that sounds... no matter how many times you hear it.
"But you're right, the fact that this ball went out of bounds can only be attributed to the hitter's skill!"
Suppress the subsequent attackers!
None of the attackers after that were easy to deal with!
"Oh!" Miyuki was shocked by his senior's change and instinctively agreed, turning around.
"Two out!"
After taking two steps, Miyuki turned around and looked at the figure who had spoken first, feeling somewhat relieved.
"I have a feeling... that Tanba-san is a bit carefree, like he's let go of everything?" With another smile, Miyuki quickly ran back to home plate.
"We can't cause any more trouble for the team!"
This is the last one!
This team has only three more days left to spend together this the Last Summer.
"I don't want to have any regrets!" But Tanba, with his back to Miyuki, wasn't as carefree as Miyuki thought.
However, Tanba clearly understands the importance of cherishing the last moments the team spends together.
Such a great and powerful team; perhaps we'll never see another like it again.
After all, Yuki Sendou are already at the Super High School level, which means they can be considered professional-level players.
It would be incredibly difficult to assemble such a lineup again at a university.
Since Yokogaku is an important first battle, it is necessary to introduce the situation of Seidou.
As mentioned in the chapter, the Kiryu match was initially a phase of mutual probing and adaptation, so some matches were only briefly mentioned in a sentence to keep the writing fast.
We'll start slowing down from here.
We'll talk about it after Koshien.
Going to sleep now. Lastly, my usual request for votes...