Amid cheers from the audience, both players entered the bench.
Sendou had already put down his backpack and was sitting on the bench waiting.
His gaze swept back and forth across the opposing team's bench. (A habit of daydreaming)
However, Hongo, who happened to Hongo this scene, saw a condescending look in that gaze.
"Is everything ready? Um..." While checking if his teammates had prepared their luggage, Captain Tetsu inadvertently saw Sendou sitting there.
This guy seemed not to hear him at all, and he always seemed to be very imposing.
After playing for so long, Sendou, who cherished this final match, unintentionally created an aura around him that gave off a very oppressive feeling.
Although he couldn't control his habit of looking around aimlessly, his gaze was more intimidating than anyone Hongo's.
" Sendou!" Captain Tetsu walked up to Sendou and called out.
"Huh?... Oh! Are you ready?" Sendou heard Captain Tetsu call his name, his eyes returned to normal, and he looked up to find everyone looking at him. He knew that this group of people was waiting for him!
"We've been waiting for you!"
"It's still early!" Sendou glanced at the time on the big screen, somewhat puzzled.
"This guy went to bed early yesterday, so I didn't tell him!" Captain Tetsu explained to everyone.
"What?" Sendou asked, clearly indicating that they wanted to do something.
"We plan to do 'that' before the competition!"
"Um?... I see!" Sendou, who was initially puzzled, suddenly understood when he saw everyone's smiles.
"Then let's go!"
"Hi!"
" The Seidou players are out! How many minutes left?"
"Is it time to do that?" a viewer from Tokyo said.
"That?"
" The King's Slogan!"
"???"
However, the spectator did not answer and looked directly into the arena.
The Seidou athletes had already formed Circle Formation.
"They're here! They're here!"
I haven't heard this in ages!
"Haha! Sendou-kun! Don't just lip-sync, shout it out loud!!!"
I don't know which bastard leaked the fact that Sendou likes to lip-sync.
( Sawamura: "???")
After everyone waited a while, and when everyone put their hands on their chests, Captain Tetsu suddenly patted his heart.
"Who... are we?!"
" The King Seidou!!!"
Who has put in the most sweat?!
" Seidou!!!"
Who shed the most tears?!
" Seidou!!!"
"Are we ready for battle?!"
"Ouch!!!"
"Bearing the honor of our school in our hearts, we have only one goal: to dominate the nation!"
We're just one step away from our goal!
Let's go!
"Oh!!!"
"Haha! How youthful!" laughed an audience member who heard the slogan for the first time.
"It's a bit cringey, but it's really cool, isn't it?"
"This is the motto of King!"
"Truly befitting a prestigious family!"
As an ordinary people's team, their strength increased greatly after Hongo Masamune and Enjo Renji entered the school.
In a sense, it was Hongo Masamune who brought Kyoma into Koshien, so their team had more first and second-year students than third-year students combined, a total of six.
However, this young team, which was entering Koshien for the first time and reaching the finals for the first time, had mixed feelings when they saw Seidou's slogan. Some were excited and their fighting spirit was high, while others were slightly shaken.
Hongo and the others naturally belong to the former category.
While the audience was discussing, the referee had already entered the field, and both teams had lined up in a long line.
"Line up!!!"
"Let's go!"
"Oh!!!"
"Yoshia!!!"
"Let's go!"
"Oh!!!"
"The upcoming match is the Koshien final, with the West Tokyo team..."
The match between Seidou High School and Kyoma Daifuji Maki South Hokkaido!
Now let's introduce the starting players from Seidou High School.
One hit! Shortstop, Kuramochi-kun!
Second baseman, Kominato Ryosuke-kun!
Third batter! Left fielder, Isashiki-kun!
Fourth batter! Center forward, Sendou-kun!
Fifth batter! First baseman, Yuuki-kun!
Now let's introduce the starting lineup of the Kyoma Daifuji Maki!
above! "
When introducing the Seidou contestants, Azuma Kiyokuni was beaming.
The stands were naturally filled with familiar faces: Ozawa, Wakaba, Sendou's family, Sawamura's family, Akashi's friends, a certain Sendoh fanboy, and so on...
The audience was somewhat dissatisfied because Furuya did not start. This year, in addition to two first-year monster pitchers, both of whom have a pitch speed of nearly 150 kilometers per hour, the audience naturally hoped to see the two of them compete on the same pitch.
Many people are saying that Coach Kataoka doesn't understand the atmosphere!
With the players having finished warming up, the competition is about to officially begin.
" In the Top of the First Inning, Seidou High School's attack..."
One hit! Shortstop, Kuramochi-kun!
"The match has finally begun!"
The match between Seidou High School, the champion of West Tokyo, and this year's biggest dark horse, Kyoma Daifuji Maki!
Unfortunately, Seidou High School did not let Furuya-kun start, so everyone's wish to see a duel between these two great pitchers will be dashed.
However, there is a high probability that Sendou Akira, the first-year batter and genius hitter from Seidou High School, will make his first appearance in the batting box!
In order to limit Sendou-kun's speed, the practice of Coach Kunimoto sending a batter ahead of Sendou-kun in the Regional Preliminaries and finals gradually became the norm!
However, while this approach avoids the possibility of losing almost 100% of the points.
However, we must also avoid Long Hit, since Sendou-kun's nickname is Home Run!
Having only been enrolled for a little over four months, he has already hit 28 Home Run!
This is something you need to pay extra attention to!
Moreover, Yuuki-kun behind him is also a top hitter in the country!
"A clash of titans is one of the highlights of today's game!" The commentator gave a lengthy opening explanation to the soundtrack of Seidou's cheers.
"Anyway, no matter what I say, this guy will throw it at me with all his might!"
Then I don't need to provide any extra pitches! Come on! "Yuancheng and Hongo have been pitchers and catchers since junior high school, and they know each other's personalities well.
"I know it perfectly well! My mission is to get to base!"
Indeed, piling up runners in front of Sendou is the best way to suppress his pace!
However, if that runner were me, the side effects would be minimized!
Although I'm unwilling to accept it, no matter what, I really can't outrun that bastard!
"Pfft!" With a fierce look in his eyes, Hongo Masamune took his first step of the day.
" Safety Bunt!"
"It's no use!" Yuancheng thought coldly.
"Piu!"
"Thump!!!"
"Nice shot!!"
"147!"
"The first goal has come!!!"
147 kilometers!!
And he threw it so accurately into the inside Strike Zone zone, it was unbelievable that this was a rookie pitcher!!
"Absolutely unwavering!" Cold sweat beaded on Kuramochi's forehead.
After all, not everyone can be as good as that idiot and easily hit such a Fastball. Moreover, this guy's ball control was very accurate, hitting the inside corner high edge and the player's chest.
"Is this the guy who led this team from obscurity to the Koshien finals?"
"Ah!" Hongo Masamune's pitching looks like he's gritting his teeth, giving the impression of being rough, but in reality, the Ball Trajectory is very delicate.
"Piu!"
"Thump!!"
"Nice shot!!"
"145!"
"How tricky!!"
"At this speed and angle, whether you throw it low to the outside corner or high to the inside corner diagonally, no one should be able to hit it, right?"
No! No! No!
"Those two men are hard to say!"
"It's still unlikely that they'll be the first to play, right?"
Just two goals... Hongo Masamune made the entire Koshien erupt in excitement.
Achieving this level of average speed while maintaining such excellent ball control is rare even among third-year players.
Moreover, the power of that straight shot was visible to the naked eye.
Not to mention the existence of the Magic Ball... and the Fast Forkball!
" Fast Forkball?" The name of this ball popped into Kuramochi's mind.
Coach Kataoka has also instructed his players to abandon low balls and instead gamble on aiming for high balls.
Otherwise, you'll be so distracted by the diagonal that you won't be able to hit anything.
"Thump!!!"
"Strike!! Batter out!!"
"148!"
"It's here! 148 kilometers!"
Hongo Masamune's fastest speed today, still ending with a low outside corner, his astonishing speed prevented the batter from getting a chance to strike!
"That guy was in top form today, wasn't he, Senior Chris?" Sendou asked, pointing at the man on the Pitcher's Mound.
"Hmm! Although I often throw balls that are close to full count."
"But two out of three goals were scored this quickly, that's unprecedented!" Senior Chris nodded solemnly.
" Furuya! This guy's ball speed is about the same as yours!"
However, the difference in ball control is like heaven and earth! Miyuki turned around and went to provoke Furuya!
The gas stove in Furuya never stopped running.
This kind of pitching made Miyuki's heart race wildly, and he couldn't calm down at all!
He might be trying to distract himself from this feeling by bullying Furuya!
"Second baseman, Kominato Ryosuke-kun!"
"Onii-san! Charge!"
" Ryosuke!!"
"Don't let that first-year student get too cocky!"
Although he was still smiling, Onii-san's expression was somewhat unnatural.
It's hard for him not to think of that guy on his own bench when he throws a shot like that!
That man had been pitching to them for a while, but no one had gotten a hit!
Although the pitcher in front of me was much more inexperienced and weak, I still saw the same shadow in him.
Onii-san felt that the man in front of her had some traits that were very similar to Sendou!
For example, the sharp look in his eyes when he stands on the Pitcher's Mound...
Although Sendou only has this look when he's standing on the Pitcher's Mound, he's always been like this, but there's no difference now.
Looking at Hongo, who was raising his leg high in front of him, Onii-san felt as if he were seeing Sendou.
"Puff!"
"Piu!"
" Inside Corner Ball!"
"Thump!!!"
"Nice shot!"
" Fast Forkball! The first goal?"
Oni-san looked at home plate in shock, and he began to understand why the Kyoma had started two freshmen at the same time.
The bespectacled guy next to me isn't a simple person either!
Not only did he and his Hongo have been pitching and catching for three years, but they also became starters because of their youth team background.
"And falling from such a height!"
"This guy is even more difficult to deal with than we imagined!" The Seidou players originally thought that after being baptized by Sendou, they could quickly adapt to Hongo Masamune's style of play.
However, there's no way you can quickly adapt to this kind of top-level Fastball just because you've experienced it before!
His body couldn't keep up; he just couldn't keep up!
"Yoshi!"
"Family Heirloom Fast Forkball!!"
"That ball also exceeded 140 kilometers!" a spectator exclaimed, looking at the scoreboard showing 142 kilometers.
"Piu!"
"Thump!!!"
" Inside Corner Ball kick! Missed!!!
"Two good pitches!"
" Fast Forkball to the inside corner is followed by Inside Corner Ball; nobody can hit that kind of shot!!!"
"Thump!!!"
"Nice shot!!!
The hitter is out!
"Strikeouts of two in three straight!"
Will they walk the third batter next?
"Of course!"
If there are no runners ahead of Sendou-kun, even a single base hit could result in a run!
This match is a situation with at least two eliminations!
"That's true!"
Most viewers agreed that this round resulted in three eliminations, with Sendou, as the first hitter, practically giving away points.
Just like the coach in Xianquan, the probability of success in baseball is also very high.
No one can control the exact landing point of a ball after it flies out; there are too many random elements in a game.
Therefore, this situation of giving away points with almost no risk is even more unacceptable.
"Masamune! You..." Enjo saw the look in Hongo Masamune's eyes. As his childhood friend, he knew at a glance that this guy had no intention of being recommended for the Sendou.
Then he looked at the bench, but this was not something he could decide.
Surprisingly, Coach Nitta nodded.
Let them face Sendou when they have no one on the base.
This left both pitchers and catchers baffled, wondering what the coach was thinking.
This is completely different from what he said to Hongo Masamune during the previous War Council.
They thought that asking them to fight against the Sendou was the truth, but they didn't expect that even that could be changed at any time.
However, as a coach, one naturally has a broader perspective.
That's because high school baseball is all about probability; chance plays a huge role compared to tactics.
The War Council said it would be difficult to score, but that was under ideal conditions for the Seidou defense.
After all, War Council to compare strengths, you can't just take into account situations like the opponent making mistakes or being in poor condition – that's just a matter of luck!
Seidou High School's pitching lineup isn't as well-rounded as it seems, so the probability of them scoring is actually quite low.
Losing one or two points is within Coach Nitta's acceptable range.
He played this devilish character entirely for the sake of Hongo Masamune's growth.
Just like in the original story, Coach Nitta was shoveling snow alone in winter, and you could tell from the surprised expressions on the athletes' faces that it was the first time Hongo and his seniors had ever seen this.
All of this is quite obvious, but these players are either too young and naive, or they are too caught up in the situation to see the bigger picture.
No matter how smart you are, if you can't put yourself in someone else's shoes and think from their perspective, you're doomed.
At most, people would assume it was done to secure a consecutive championship.
Okay! I even got the last name of Coach Kyoma wrong before. I was having a headache those two days and wasn't paying much attention.
That catcher's full name is Enjo Renji, that's for sure.
The character is the yuan of Japanese yen, and the Japanese kanji is yen, so it is a round city.
Taking a break is bad luck; resuming updates means resuming asking for votes, lol.