"The third goal!"
"Puff!"
"Call out!"
"Ping!"
"Outside the boundary!"
"Send the batter! He touched it a little, out of bounds!"
"That's it! That's it! Suppress him!"
Fortunately! "
" The Hoshinomiya!"
"Thank you, senior!"
Seeing their ace gain the upper hand, the West Bundesliga players were extremely excited.
" The Sendou!"
"Fight back!"
"The timing is perfect!"
Seidou's side was also trying their best to boost morale, unwilling to lose to their opponent in terms of momentum.
"Phew! Changeup pitcher is really tough to deal with!"
There are also Slow Curveball, and the Vertical Slider for the deciding shot!
It seems my strength is only at this level!
Regardless of the reason or what, he was previously called "Fourth Stick"!
I'm so happy!
There are players in scoring position; scoring is the job of the fourth batter, isn't it?
We absolutely must send the Cheetah back to home plate!
hateful!
"One day, I will take back the dignity I gave up today!" Sendou took a deep breath, looking at the baseball bat he held in his hands like a swordsman, and thought to himself.
Subsequently,
"Huh? Fourth batter... did you hold the bat too short?"
Is this... the resolve of a first-year fourth-year student? Kiriyama was deeply shocked when he saw Sendou abandon his dignity by the width of two fingers.
Normal first-year students haven't experienced the harsh realities of high school baseball, so they just enjoy the game to the fullest.
The desire to win isn't as terrifying as it is in third grade.
Moreover, top-level hitters in the country rarely hold the bat so short, especially in the first inning.
In addition, Sendou's striking stance is one where he doesn't lift his legs, so now he looks like a complete score slave.
The posture is adopted by sacrificing Long Hit ability in order to accurately focus the cue ball.
" The Sendou..."
"I really didn't expect this guy to actually take the short bat!"
The group on Seidou's bench were also very shocked, which was enough to show how much Sendou wanted to win.
"This guy!" Senior Chris understood what Sendou's competitive spirit was all for the sake of them, the third-year students!
"But even with that kind of explosiveness, this hitter should still have the ability to Long Hit. We can't let them get forward in the outfield." Kiriyama quickly analyzed the situation as well.
With a runner on third base and the fourth batter having taken a short grip on the bat, they couldn't afford to walk the ball at the start and ruin the morale, so they had to be extremely cautious.
"Here!"
"Puff!"
"Call out!"
"Ping!"
"Outside the boundary!"
"A low, straight ball to the outside corner! It's out of bounds again!"
Today, the referees were exceptionally lenient towards the outside corners, which resulted in the referees calling good shots, meaning Sendou would get to make the call.
The referee will call a bad ball today; even Sendou can tell it's a bad ball.
This inadvertently masked his weakness in not being able to distinguish between good and bad balls, Outside Corner Ball area.
"Can you still reach the target if you hold the bat shorter? The hitting range is really big!"
And this was after almost missing a sinker, and now they're going for an even faster fastball.
As expected of Cleanup Hitter, anyone else would have missed long ago.
That's enough! Finish him off with this one shot! Thank goodness!
"Um!"
"Phew!" Miyanouchi took a deep breath.
"It's about time to decide the winner!"
However, I was prepared for the situation of two outs, which is why I gripped the short bat!
Furthermore, after a straight ball, it should be Changeup!
Slow Curveball or Vertical Slider?
Choose one of the two!
"Wait a minute! Senior Kuramochi!" Just as Miyanouchi was adjusting his breathing, Sendou was also analyzing the situation.
" Sendou! With your speed, you could get to base even by Ground Ball!"
Of course I'll score at the same time!
Since you've become so enlightened, I don't think you'd care about being hit with "Ground Ball "!
It's not shameful to only Infield Hit in your first at-bat against this pitcher!
"If it's the fourth batter! Hit him right here!" Kuramochi was ready to charge the base at any moment, staring intently at Sendou.
"Puff!"
"Huh? Aiming for Ground Ball?" Kiriyama saw Sendou lengthen the bat he was holding again and made a quick judgment.
"Call out!"
"Yosh! The same trajectory as the previous fastball!"
Even if you touch the ball, you'll be very sleepy...
The ball then begins to drop diagonally downwards... Vertical Slider!
"Ping!"
This piercing sound interrupted Kiriyama's thoughts.
At the same time, Kuramochi began his assault on the base!
"Left field!"
" Miyanouchi's decisive shot has been hit!"
The left fielder is retreating frantically! The ball is high but doesn't look fast; is it safe to catch?
"Get down here!"
"Snap!"
They're inside!!!
Home Run!!
In the top of the Top of the First Inning, with the runner on third base and two outs, the fourth batter's hit gave Seidou High School a two-run lead!
This is the job of the fourth batter!
"Yoshi!"
"They're here!!!"
"A home run right off the Home Run! She's in top form today!"
"That bastard! Didn't I just run to third base for nothing?"
"You finally managed to put on a good performance!" Kuramochi, who had already returned to home Kuramochi before the ball even hit the ground, laughed and scolded.
But this feeling is just so amazing!
Sendou swore that he only wanted a single on that pitch.
But none of that matters now!
When Sendou returned to home plate, he gave high-fives to the guys waiting there.
"A home run on his first Home Run! He actually managed that!" Isashiki-senpai exclaimed as he returned to the bench.
"It was just a coincidence!"
Thanks to Senior Chris's information, the ball really did fall at an angle of about 45 degrees!
"There's clearly no footage from the attacker's perspective!" Sendou looked at Senior Chris and replied with a smile.
"Although there is no batter's perspective, I made some inferences based on the trajectory and landing point from the pitcher's point of view!"
However, Sendou, all I gave you was a side view video, not even the pitcher's perspective!
And that ball was difficult to hit!
Senior Chris is right; such a wide-ranging change makes it difficult to fight.
For example, a regular straight shot is just a single point for the hitter, and its trajectory doesn't change much.
So you just need to aim at its initial trajectory and then make some minor adjustments.
However, this kind of Changeup with a large displacement will change from a point to a line, just like a ball flying past your side. You have to intercept it accurately from the middle point.
Furthermore, since the Changeup is thrown from the front, the change is still three-dimensional. This means that you not only need to accurately intercept the horizontal point, but also have a good sense of space to judge the change in distance of that point.
Therefore, pitchers who primarily use Changeup and have a fast pitch usually only start to collapse in the final stages, and batters have a long time to adapt.
Senior Chris was surprised that Sendou hit the ball out in his first at-bat.
Even knowing that this kid watched pitcher videos for several hours yesterday.
"Yeah?
"I just watched his sideways movement, and combined with what Senior Chris said about a drop of about 45 degrees, I roughly simulated the trajectory in my mind!" Sendou said matter-of-factly, saying something that left everyone speechless.
"Hey! Simulation? Is your brain a computer?"
So a bunch of people playfully touched Sendou's head.
"This really is an exaggerated sense of space!"
"Even the West Bund's ace couldn't be completely unaffected by Home Run- winning pitch he was absolutely confident about in the first inning!" Senior Chris thought to himself as he watched the playful scene and then the figure being comforted by the catcher.
"I'm sorry! Xingzhi!"
"It was my pitching mistake!" Kiriyama stepped onto the Pitcher's Mound and took responsibility, hoping to relieve the pressure on the ace.
"No!
Your ball distribution is perfect!
"Did they guess it?" Hoshinomiya said slowly, head bowed.
"Forehead!...
That's about it!
Suddenly he gripped the bat longer and took a step! It was a replay of the scene where he was grappling with us while holding the bat shorter! Seeing the ace like this, Kiriyama could only honestly reply.
"That's really impressive! Even if you guessed it, you still attacked it the first time you saw it!" Miyanouchi kept his head down, making it impossible to see his expression.
"Just like the rumors say! This guy's Dynamic Vision, reaction speed, ball sense, and spatial awareness are all incredibly impressive!"
"Given that monster's mobility, it's not impossible to defeat it!" Hoshinomiya continued before Kiriyama could respond.
"However, don't be too discouraged! The Home Run was just a stroke of luck, and the batter himself was also surprised!" Kiriyama finally found an opportunity to speak and comforted him.
"I know! But I didn't really care that much!"
However, it's better to seal the Vertical Slider for now!
"There's a risk of losing the vote!" Hoshinomiya seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as he said this, and raised his head.
"I understand! Then let's focus on using sinkers and Slow Curveball as the main ball types!" Kiriyama understood; even if you don't consciously care, your body's instincts will still be affected.
No matter what, the opponent is only a rookie, and he hit his most confident shot in his first at-bat. It's not hard to understand why his body's instincts might have made him back down at the last moment.
At this point, you can't afford to miss your ace; you can only regain control of your body by building confidence through subsequent pitches.
"Watch out for the next five batters too!"
Although his Long Hit ability is inferior, he is undoubtedly a batter of the same caliber as the previous four batters and Shuzo!
He doesn't need to throw well; it's okay if he walks the ball if the pitch count is unfavorable!
"The most important thing is to get back into form." Kiriyama shoved the ball into Hoshinomiya's glove, giving her final advice.
"Inhale... exhale!"
Inhale... exhale!
"I understand!" Hoshinomiya replied after taking a few deep breaths.
Please! Xingzhi!
"We can't afford to lose any more points in this round!" Kiriyama said, then turned and ran back.
In fact, it wasn't just Hoshinomiya who was shaken by the impact; the Monster Batter at third base was even more affected, since, as a teammate, the one who hit the most game-winning balls to Hoshinomiya was Sano Shuzo.
However, Sano quickly turned his shock and disbelief into motivation and excitement.
It's a feeling of excitement when facing a stronger opponent.
"Maybe this guy is stronger than me!" This blow from Sendou made Sano think this way.
"Fifth batter! First baseman, Yuuki-kun!"
"Men have their own world!"
If a metaphor is needed, then it is like a star streaking across the sky!
Charge out! Yuuki!
Yuuki!
Yuuki!
"Let's take this opportunity to beat him to a pulp, Tetsu!"
" Tetsu-san!"
" Kuruma-san?" The commentator asked the guest for his opinion.
"That's what makes the Seidou Batting Lineup so terrifying."
When the fourth batter hits a Long Hit that is enough to break the pitcher's spirit.
Even if a pitcher has a strong will and manages to stay on the Pitcher's Mound, he still has to face another batter of the same caliber.
If they get hit beautifully again, even the best pitcher will find it difficult to maintain their dominance over subsequent batters.
That is to say, they were completely defeated!
Furthermore, Seidou's subsequent hitters are all power hitters, creating a vicious cycle.
"So that means?" the commentator asked in response.
"In other words, if the fifth batter hits the pitcher, Westbon will have to consider changing pitchers and sending their ace to the outfield to adjust."
Even if they can return, Westbrook's outfield will only be protected by their backup outfielders.
I didn't expect such an unexpected situation to occur right at the start!
The situation is actually quite similar to what the commentator described.
Think about how the pharmacist crushed the Ichidai San High Manaka in the city at the beginning. Wasn't it because of that level Home Run by Raichi Todoroki Raishi at the beginning?
Then the next batter hit a one-run home run, and the Home Run collapsed.
If it weren't for the Manaka the team was about to collapse and they had to go to the outfield, how could Yakushi have gotten so many points against the Ichidai San High?
Behind Raichi Todoroki, can Akiba, who is truly responsible for Manaka, compare to Captain Tetsu?
So the cheers from the Westbrook supporters were like those for a final battle.
Seidou was equally determined, seeing this as an opportunity to crush the opponent's ace in one fell swoop.
"Phew!" Captain Tetsu took a deep breath in the Batter's Box!
Captain Tetsu knew very well that with no one on base in two outs and in this situation, the Ball Trajectory he was to throw would not be easy to hit.
Moreover, it wouldn't be surprising if he were directly admitted to university.
In fact, when the catcher crouched down, Captain Tetsu had already made up his mind that no matter what kind of ball it was, it was much better than a direct walk.
The sidelines were still playing music and cheering wildly, and Captain Tetsu had already gotten into the game.
but,
"Smack!"
"Bad ball!... Four!"
"So he was admitted through a special program after all?" Some of the supporters in the Seidou supporters' section sighed.
"Yukio! You..." What they didn't know was that Kiriyama was also looking at Hoshinomiya in disbelief.
"Damn it! I can't make the Strike Zone!"
My body suddenly went limp at the last moment!
Did I not expect that Home Run to have such a big impact? Pitcher's Mound Hoshinomiya had a tough time.
This Four Balls wasn't intentional; it was just that the ball went out of control.
Once Captain Tetsu got into the zone, his relaxed state put too much pressure on the pitcher. Coupled with the deep impression of the previous Home Run, Hoshinomiya's body actually felt a bit fearful.
While it's not pitching phobia like Sawamura's, it does have a bit of that vibe.
It's the body that's afraid of being beaten out again.
Kiriyama could only call another pause in the fishing operation, run up to communicate, and buy Hoshinomiya time to make adjustments.
The ace absolutely cannot fall here, or their summer will be over.
I'm honestly asking for votes...
Oh right, I'd been forgetting, the score in the Kiryu match was 14 to 8.
When the score was being scored, I was thinking the difference was six points and muttering "fourteen to eight," so I wrote "seven." Then when the referee announced the result, I went up to the front and shouted "seven." Luckily, a fellow reader reminded me that the difference was fourteen to seven, not six, and I realized I had made a mistake.
Thanks to Qianzhaoya for the reminder!