"Don't worry about the runners! Just watch my glove and throw! Furuya!" Miyuki shouted after the first ball.
"Even if you say you don't care, that's impossible, isn't it?"
"Hey! Furuya Satoru!" Coach Matsumoto muttered to himself.
"Thump!!"
"Bad ball!"
"Pause!" Miyuki had no choice but to call a pause.
"Hey! Furuya!
What's wrong? Are you scared already?
"I'm not scared!" Furuya replied simply.
"Boom!"
"If you're not afraid, why are you running away from it?"
"Could it be that you can't even make Strike Zone shot?" Miyuki ended his flippant tone with that. (Anyway, Furuya couldn't tell the difference.)
"You... do you want to be replaced?" Miyuki, having abandoned his flippant and provocative tone, stared at Furuya with utmost seriousness.
"Ah!" Furuya was startled, but he didn't understand the meaning of the Back Number.
"If you continue like this, you will undoubtedly be replaced!"
"Don't want!"
"This isn't something you can decide! It's about supervision, isn't it?"
"Uh!" The towering gas stove paused for a moment at those words.
"If you don't want to be substituted, throw my gloves over!"
Don't worry about the runners, just let them order what they want!
Did you hear me?
Furuya nodded first, regardless of whether he understood or not, though his movements were unusually stiff.
"Really!" Miyuki, you can't see that although your words made him understand the seriousness of the matter, he has a hard time controlling himself.
"Heh!" Miyuki suddenly grinned.
"Smack!"
Then he cupped Furuya's cheeks with both hands.
"Just keep your eyes on the batter, whether it's short-range or anything else, it doesn't matter."
We won't give them a single cent.
If you don't listen to my instructions, then I'll substitute you! Got it?
Furuya nodded, his hands resting on Miyuki's.
"Don't worry! The players on the field are our best lineup, and they are all reliable people!"
"Trust those guys!" Miyuki said before walking back to home plate.
Suddenly, the scene of the Yakushi Game echoed in Furuya.
" Sendou's techniques are really effective!" Miyuki chuckled to himself as he turned around.
"Well..." Miyuki, who had returned to home plate and crouched down, glanced at Coach Kataoka.
Coach Kataoka saw the determination in Miyuki's eyes, understood his thoughts, and nodded.
Miyuki then extended his right hand, gesturing for someone to step forward.
Seidou Uchino stepped forward, adopting a stance that he wouldn't give away a single point.
If you want points, then let's fight tooth and nail!
Seidou was demonstrating this to Coach Matsumoto and Kiryu's players through their actions.
"That pitcher's eyes have changed! It looks like we have no choice but to take him down head-on!" Coach Matsumoto immediately realized that his previous idea had failed.
"Never shoot a low Ball Trajectory! Aim for an easy straight shot!" Coach Matsumoto's advice was spot on.
Now that Seidou has made it this far, they have to face the fact that they are being targeted, and the Kiryu batting lineup has the ability to devise tactics specifically to target pitchers.
"Come on!" Miyuki unfolded his gloves.
"Puff!"
"Piu!"
"Thump!"
"Nice shot!"
"Swing at nothing!"
"He swung? Is that pitcher's pitch really that aggressive?" Coach Matsumoto frowned as he saw Nagumo hit a high ball.
This happened during Practice Match.
"Well! Never mind!"
"As long as they don't hit Low Ball, it will take them a lot of effort to get outs!"
"Piu!"
"Ping!!"
"Outside the boundary!"
"Yoshi! We're chasing him!"
"Suppress him!"
"The timing is perfect!"
"I'm late again! This is only a first-year student!" Nagumo thought to himself.
Then, looking at the bench, he saw the supervisor's Signals and nodded approvingly.
"As expected of Osaka Toin! He touched the ball on the second shot!"
"But I'm being pressured like this, so I'll finish you off with this shot!" Miyuki was slightly impressed with Kiryu's batter.
At this moment, the third runner moved forward a little, Miyuki noticed, but he could only let him be.
"Runners, start!" The voice rang out again just as Furuya was about to take his first step.
"Puff!"
Don't worry about the runners!
"Swing your arm more forcefully!" Miyuki could only shout in his heart when he saw that the attacker was not in a close-quarters fighting stance.
"Piu!"
Hit and Run!
"Ping!"
"Bump!"
The ball was hit into the guardrail netting behind him.
"Outside the boundary!"
The runner then returned to third base.
"We know Furuya lacks experience! We didn't expect him to be so determined to take him down!" Miyuki looked at the runner on third base as he went back and pondered.
Although we were prepared to lose a point, we couldn't just give away a point for nothing, and the Fast Forkball was shut down.
Coach Matsumoto only allowed the runner to perform another fake base steal.
This is telling Seidou that this time it was Hit and Run, but next time it might be two strikes forcibly scoring.
In this case, throwing Fast Forkball would be giving away points.
Furthermore, if it had been Fast Forkball, Nagumo would have Ground Ball around to allow the runner to score.
Fast Forkball is different from Forkball; it doesn't drop as much, so it's impossible for the batter to hit a short-hit ball that stops just in front of home plate, like Tanba's Forkball used to be.
Even with that ball, Miyuki wasn't absolutely certain of victory.
After seeing the attacker assume a short-range stance again for a few seconds, Miyuki gave the Signals.
This Signals surprised Furuya greatly.
The Signals is clearly "Fast Forkball "!
"Forced scoring... Come on, grab it if you want!"
"If I could guess this ball!" Miyuki thought to himself.
"Puff!"
"No need for tricks! Go straight for it!" Coach Matsumoto thought to himself, oblivious to the fact that Furuya was taking a step.
"Piu!"
The batter pulled back his bat the instant the ball flew at high speed towards him.
"Thump!!!"
"Nice shot!"
"The attacker is out!"
"Two out!" Miyuki shouted excitedly.
"Two out!"
"Two out!"
The Seidou athletes were also greatly encouraged.
" Fast Forkball!..."
That catcher has incredible courage!
"Did I end up making things worse?" Coach Matsumoto sighed.
"Seventh batter! Shortstop, Nakai-kun!"
After Nagumo struck out, not only was there no room for dirty tricks, but Coach Matsumoto also calmed down completely.
"Piu!"
"Thump!"
"Bad ball!"
The first ball was a bad one that went too high!
"Piu!"
"Ping!"
"Outside the boundary!"
"Piu!"
" Low Ball!"
"Thump!"
"Bad ball!"
"They're not hitting Low Ball at all!"
Unless Furuya can lower the Ball Trajectory himself or Fast Forkball into the Strike Zone, his effectiveness is really limited!
"Piu!"
"Thump!"
"Nice shot!"
"Seriously! You just threw it in right after I said that!" Miyuki looked at the fastball that Furuya in his glove, somewhat speechless.
"Piu!"
"Thump!"
"Bad ball!"
Even when pressed, Kiryu's batter remained steadfast and let the low Ball Trajectory go, rendering the second Fast Forkball useless once again.
"Puff!"
"Piu!"
"Ping!"
"I swung too late!" This time, the batter actually wished he had swung even later, because the ball had gone in bounds.
"Smack!"
"Out!"
Onisan made a diving save and caught the ball smoothly.
"Three outs, change of game!"
"Could this be considered a blessing in disguise?"
Although the Fast Forkball wasn't even released, it slightly disrupted the batter's rhythm. Miyuki could still manage a smile.
"Abandoning lower Ball Trajectory isn't the kind of strategy you can just take anywhere... huh?" Coach Matsumoto looked at Furuya with a somewhat puzzled expression.
However, he was not worried about this at all, because there was no other batting lineup in the country with back muscles weighing more than 180 kilograms and batting skills that were not bad.
"Bottom of the sixth inning! Seidou High School's attack."
Nine sticks! Right fielder, Shirazu-kun! "
With the score at 5-4, Coach Kataoka's surprise attack has ended, and the game has returned to square one, entering a true meat grinder mode.
"Call out!"
"Smack!"
"Nice shot!"
"The first ball went low to the outside corner, just grazing the edge of the Strike Zone."
"Call out!"
"Smack!"
"Nice shot!"
Although Shirazu waited until the very last moment to make his move, he still missed the Slider that was coming from the outside in.
"Smack!"
"Nice shot!"
"The attacker is out!"
Three strikeouts in three pitches, and finally, at the moment when Shirazu was being interfered with, he finished off Shirazu with a high-speed and tricky inside fastball.
For left-handed hitters, the Inside Corner Ball is indeed difficult to hit. The reason why left-handed hitters are better at hitting right-handed pitchers is because left-handed hitters have an easier time hitting Changeup and fastballs from the outside corner.
After all, straight balls don't have much angle and lack the power of Inside Corner Ball balls, while most Changeup, except for the sinker, are from the outside to the inside.
When it was Kuramochi's turn, Hirobi Tate, won once again without any suspense.
After that, Onii-san missed slightly, which led to Kiryu's solid defense, which finished him off with a brilliant defensive play.
In the seventh game, Kiryu maintained his offensive mindset and his determination to avoid hitting Low Ball.
Although the eighth and ninth batters were eliminated one after another, Furuya felt the pressure of the national level.
This nationally top team knows us too well, and the coach is a real veteran.
Finally, they managed to secure two wins through defense, and the real test began.
"One hit! Center forward, Amasawa-kun!"
The fourth-round batting lineup, and right from the start, they are top-tier batters with virtually no weaknesses.
By the fourth round of the competition, the players were starting to get hot.
Moreover, Tenzawa had already watched enough games in the preparation area; all he lacked was the actual experience.
"Please, Tenzawa!"
"Fight them!"
"Let them learn their lesson!"
"Attack!"
"Two are out! Furuya!"
"Just suppress him!"
We're still leading by one point!
"The number two player in Kiryu High School's batting lineup!"
They have no weaknesses in speed, power, or striking technique, and they are also the best in the team when it comes to watching the game.
To be honest, this hitter is the one who has the worst chemistry with Furuya on the team.
"First, let him memorize the trajectory of Fast Forkball, then trick him into shooting a high ball!" Miyuki was already thinking about the ball selection.
"First goal! Fast Forkball!"
"Hmm!" Furuya saw the Signals and nodded deeply.
Although they managed to hold out through defense, no one managed to take them down easily.
Everyone was exceptionally resilient, which was also a test for Furuya.
The large number of balls, the hot weather, and the anxiety of not being able to get outs for a long time all caused his stamina to disappear rapidly.
Keep in mind that he was already sweating after only four eliminations.
Seidou was relieved that it was the seventh inning, and relieved that their ace was reliable. Coach Kataoka was ready to replace Kawakami in the next inning.
"Puff!"
"Come on! Furuya!"
"Piu!"
" Fast Forkball!"
"Ping!"
After hitting the ball, Tenzawa immediately started running.
"Midfielder!!"
The audience in the arena could even imagine the sound of Sendou Tenzawa and his companion running wildly.
Both of them are the type with speed, although Tenzawa is much slower than Sendou.
"This feel!" Tenzawa, who was running, could feel that he hadn't hit the ball all the way to the center, and he kept glancing at the outfield as he ran.
All he could do was try his best!
"Land! Land!"
"Catch it!!"
"Bump!"
"Huh?" Tenzawa looked completely bewildered.
They're inside!!
A tiebreaker Home Run for Kiryu High School!
"Yoshia!!!"
After seeing the umpire's confirmation gesture of throwing Home Run, Kiryu's bench erupted in cheers.
"The ball is still a bit too high!"
But can he really hit it like that? He truly lives up to his reputation as Kiryu's second-best hitter. Miyuki could only sigh inwardly.
Furuya somewhat numb, but he hadn't lost his Fighting Spirit.
"Second bat! Second baseman, Hirata-kun!"
"Keep the attack, Hirata!"
"The pitcher is scared!"
"I'm not afraid!" Furuya retorted inwardly, referring to the person who shouted this from the Kiryu bench.
"Don't take it to heart, let's change our mood!" Miyuki shouted to Furuya after taking off his mask.
Furuya nodded obediently, after all, he was the one who had told him in the last game that he would be kicked out if he didn't listen to him.
"Thump!"
"Nice shot!"
Hirata, seeing an opportunity to aim for the first pitch, touched it and immediately set it up with Fast Forkball that had just been hit Home Run.
This boldness surprised even Coach Matsumoto, but after recalling Miyuki's Miyuki to use Fast Forkball in the previous game, he understood.
However, missing that shot was significant for Seidou.
For the hitter, this shot will be an unforgettable experience.
"Piu!"
"Ping!"
"Outside the boundary!"
"We're after him!"
"Good shot! Furuya!"
That's it!
"Since you didn't hit this ball well, this is simple!"
"Thump!"
"Nice shot!"
"The attacker is out!"
"Three outs, change of venue!!!"
"151!"
When the ball speed of 151 was displayed on the big screen again, the whole stadium gasped in surprise.
"A high drop Hanging Ball!"
"This is it!"
One hundred and fifty-one kilometers!!!
"He threw with that speed again!"
"Seeing it in person really makes a difference!"
"Nice ball Furuya!"
"Haha! Nice pitch!"
Although the score was tied, Furuya still managed to secure the final elimination in this game.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Center Batting Lineup of both sides in the fourth round will become the biggest highlight.