"In the top half of the second set, Seidou High School's attack..."
Fourth batter! Center forward, Sendou-kun!
"They're here! They're here! They're here! Monster showdown!!!"
"But we've been waiting for so long!"
" Sendou-kun!!!"
"Authentic!!"
Before either side could even raise their voices, the noise from the audience inside the stadium had already drowned out everything else!
"They're out! Monster Batter!"
The man who was considered the number one high Number One High Schooler in Japan!
There's nothing special about watching the video or looking at the two sides, let's experience it for ourselves!
Is there really such an amazing guy?
Right? Authentic!
This guy has the ability to fire a single shot! Be careful!
"This is a rare opportunity won through resistance against oversight; we can't waste it!"
Seeing Sendou enter the Batter's Box and get ready, Enjo took the opportunity to observe this "legendary man" closely.
Aside from being slender and having good body proportions, there was nothing else to tell. Moreover, judging from his face, he seemed like a very gentle person.
Hongo Masamune nodded solemnly.
"You must truly experience it!"
The strength of the Monster Batter!
We provoked them so much before!
"I hope I can grow again through this opportunity!" Coach Nitta thought to himself.
As for the provocation, not sending Isashiki through the referee's pass was courageous, even though they were prepared to lose a point. However, to some extent, it was a form of provocation.
No one else knew that he was prepared to concede runs; the others simply assumed they were confident they could prevent Sendou from reaching base or that they could handle his pace.
Others would find it hard to believe that Coach Nitta would be the latter, so in other people's eyes, it was a preemptive declaration that would resolve Sendou's situation.
Sendou certainly doesn't know what Coach Nitta is thinking.
However, even if he also felt that the other party was underestimating him, Sendou's personality wouldn't turn into a powder keg like some other guys.
Instead, they took it all in stride, as the pitcher had the advantage in their first matchup against a batter.
Major League hitters wouldn't dare say they'd get a hit from Hongo in their first at-bat.
The bat is so narrow, and the pitch is so unpredictable, let alone Fastball.
Although the Sendou has not suffered any setbacks in this regard, he takes it all in stride.
However, being open-minded doesn't mean that the immortal Sendou will remain silent.
This guy gave Hongo Masamune a careful look. (That's it?)
"Sure! The fighters are ready, and the first climax of the day is about to begin."
Both players are first-year students who have only been enrolled for a little over four months, and both are monster players who have shocked Koshien.
One of them is almost universally recognized as the Number One High Schooler in Japan!
The two faced off for the first time!
In a matchup where the pitchers have an advantage, what kind of pitching will Hongo Masamune show us?
How will Sendou Akira respond? It's something to look forward to!
"That's right!"
The thought of a monster hitter and a pitcher whose pitches can reach speeds of almost 150 kilometers per hour is exciting.
No one knows what will happen next, and that's what makes baseball so terrifying!
That's part of the fun!
The two commentators took this opportunity to express their feelings freely.
" The Signals for the capture has been confirmed!"
The pitcher raised his arm!
"Puff!"
"Piu!"
"Thump!!!"
"Nice shot!!"
"148!"
"High straight ball inside corner!!!
Hongo Masamune's challenge was like a formal declaration of war, and he scored a goal!
Just one ball, because of this head-on collision, was enough to make the entire Koshien Stadium boil over.
"I just can't get used to it every time I watch it!"
Wow, that's fast! 150 kilometers!
And it was a living, breathing person, and they controlled it at such a tricky angle!
I can already feel the pressure!
Sendou's personality makes it difficult for him to feel pressure.
The last pitcher was Narumiya Mei!
Sendou was right not to swing. The difference between human pitches and machine pitches is too great. With such good control, blindly swinging would not have worked. It would have been better to observe the pitch.
With such a top-tier Fastball, even when paired with Wild Pitch, it's difficult for the batter to tell the Changeup.
Although it might seem silly from other people's perspectives—just don't throw bad balls—it's simply because fastballs are too fast. Most high school hitters don't have time to discern the Ball Trajectory; they can only roughly identify the inside and outside corners.
For these hitters, 140 kilometers per hour is already very fast, even for someone of Inajitsu's caliber like Shirakawa.
What makes Hongo Masamune so terrifying is his top-notch Fastball, top-notch ball control, and top-notch Changeup —all three combined!
Otherwise, it wouldn't be possible, because in the original timeline 'Koshien finals, where youth prevented energy management and the number of balls gradually decreased, he could still go toe-to-toe with Narumiya Mei for at least seven innings.
"Puff!"
"Call out!"
"Whoosh!... Boom!" A huge swing of the bat exploded in Yuancheng's ears, startling him.
"Thump!"
"Nice shot!"
"K... missed!!!"
Sendou missed his Fast Forkball!
Two good shots!
"Kuruma-san! This should be the first time Sendou-kun has missed a shot in Koshien, right?" The commentator shouted loudly, then looked at the guest next to him to confirm his memory.
"That's probably true. In my memory, Sendou-kun has been taken out by the pitcher several times in at-bats, but this is the first time he's swung away!" Mr. Che gave an affirmative answer, indicating that he didn't seem to have any recollection of Sendou swishing away.
"That's amazing! I'll have to check it out when I have time to see if that's true!"
If that's true, it would be truly astonishing.
Whether it's Sendou-kun missed his first swing at Koshien, or Hongo, Hongo-kun caused Sendou-kun to miss his first swing at Koshien!
"What a crazy showdown!"
Moreover, this leaves Sendou-kun with no way out!
The Kyoma was also extremely excited!
"No problem, Sendou!"
"The timing is perfect!"
Sendou closed his eyes, ignoring the cheers coming from his ears.
He's not the kind of person who'd be swayed by something so trivial.
Moreover, I believe the real fun is just beginning. Even the emperor himself isn't in a hurry, so these eunuchs shouldn't be worrying. ( Seidou followers: Who's the eunuch?)
"This guy really shouldn't have done that!"
What a fast swing speed!
What an impressive roar!
This shows that this guy's explosive power is on a completely different level from the previous attackers!
You can keep up with a genuine Fastball without any pre-emptive action!
"Perhaps we can delay our attack a little longer!" As Sendou closed his eyes, Enjo, who was staring at him, was equally shocked, without a trace of joy in pressing his opponent.
With just one swing, Enjo witnessed the true quality of the Number One High Schooler in Japan, despite his great reputation.
If you accidentally get hit, it's no joke.
"We can't keep shooting Inside Corner Ball! We need to find the four corners to distract him!" Yuancheng made up his mind.
Sendou's closed eyes may seem slow, but in reality, it only lasts two or three seconds. When he opens them again, he still has that gentle face, with a slight smile on his lips, staring at Hongo in the Batter's Box.
To someone else, all you could see on his face was a gentle, warm smile.
But the Kyoma hunter could no longer sense "gentleness" in that expression.
Human aura and Killing Intent are all imagined by the person facing them.
The deafening roar of the previous swing had completely demonized people...
"It's only the first game!"
Be careful when betting!
"Let him call!"
"Relax! Your expression is too stiff!"
"Renji! Masamune!" The seniors on the field also began to encourage the pitcher and catcher at home plate!
The core of this team is this pair of first-year students. In student sports, the " Divine Beast " are not as exaggerated as one person taking on five opponents in basketball.
For example, Kobe Bryant led four Cheerleading Squad to victory in his senior year of high school.
However, it is still possible to lead such a well-rounded team to great heights.
The fielders at the Kyoma are like an iron wall, but they lack players at home plate and on the Pitcher's Mound. Suddenly acquiring two Divine Beast naturally propelled them from an unknown school to the top.
Therefore, as long as these two maintain their high Fighting Spirit, they can continue to win.
It's no wonder these seniors misunderstood, since the pitching and catching team is a first-year student.
However, none of the three first-year students who are currently competing are ordinary individuals.
Everyone has a big heart!
"In a situation where there are two good shots, even if they are in the outside corner, it would be too dangerous to decide the winner directly."
The third ball was a bad ball to the outside corner!
Although almost everyone outside the court perceives Sendou as a reckless batter due to his poor pitch selection, no one dares to relax even slightly.
While Enjo was giving Hongo the Signals, Sendou was secretly relaxing his muscles. Although he had timed his swing perfectly last time, it was still a bit rushed.
So I'm making adjustments in these few seconds.
This guy is human after all, he has feelings too... oops, I mean, his condition fluctuates slightly.
"Two consecutive inside corners mean the next one will definitely be Outside Corner Ball, but there's absolutely no way to predict the others. We still know too little about them!"
"Don't rush, don't let them know I've already guessed the Ball Trajectory!" Sendou had guessed Madoka's almost inevitable plan, and he secretly suppressed his body's instinct to step forward immediately.
This guy is hiding his trump card, and at the same time, he's confident in his swing speed, so he can keep up without needing to step in advance.
"Puff!"
"Aaaaah!" Hongo revealed a ferocious expression and threw the third ball with all his might.
"Piu!"
"Whoosh... Boom!" The power accumulated in his body exploded instantly!
"Ping!"
Yuancheng felt a flash of white light before his eyes.
"Bump!"
"Foul!" The ball, with half a bat stuck in it, slammed heavily into the wire mesh behind home plate. The impact of the Fastball startled the spectators behind.
"I see! It was a straight shot!"
This Fastball and its power are indeed completely different from the previous opponents!
Knowing the Ball Trajectory but not the type of ball, no wonder I didn't play well!
"Speaking of which! I always feel that this guy's personality is somewhat similar to mine!" Sendou thought to himself as he looked at the ball speed displayed on the big screen and then glanced at Hongo, whose face was full of Killing Intent intent.
The number 146 was clearly displayed on the screen. In the at-bat against Sendou, both fastballs were close to his full pitch count, which shows how good Hongo Masamune was.
"Even though the ball selection wasn't smart, this is still terrifying!" Yuancheng couldn't help but complain in his heart.
Based on his performance in the first two pitches, Enjo didn't believe that Sendou was like the previous hitters, who didn't have time to carefully analyze the Ball Trajectory before taking the shot.
In terms of single-round swing speed, Sendou is definitely the fastest in Seidou.
Their innate explosive power is something that others cannot imitate. When it comes to talent, some people start higher than the average person ends up.
It's like how some people can reach the level of a second-rate athlete just by playing around in elementary school, while others train their whole lives, overloading their bodies and getting injured, and still can't reach that level.
Therefore, Enjo mistakenly believed that Sendou made a move on such an obviously bad ball because he wasn't smart enough at choosing the ball.
Even a single match can be thrilling.
Looking back at Seidou's previous games, most pitchers didn't throw any good pitches at Sendou, pitching with the mindset that it wouldn't matter if he got on base.
It won't be like it is now, with crazy Strike Zone Head-on Showdown.
So everyone in the stadium felt their adrenaline surge, experiencing a constant surge of excitement, as if they were the ones playing the game, their expressions a mixture of tension and excitement.
"Puff!"
"Piu!"
"Thump!"
"Bad ball!"
The fourth ball was a bad ball that went high to the outside corner, and this time it went even further out, so Sendou didn't shoot.
Their attention was drawn to that direction.
Sendou closed his eyes again for two seconds, using this method to erase some of the profound impression his body had of the outer corner.
If Hongo's ball speed hadn't been so fast, he really wouldn't have been able to do it, leaving a deep impression on Sendou's mind.
"The deciding ball will be... x2!" (Those in parentheses are Sendou's inner thoughts, those without are Enjo Renji's.)
"Puff!"
"Piu!"
"Low straight ball from the inside corner!!" (Yuancheng's heartfelt words)
"Inner corner!"
They thought Sendou's choice of pitch was unwise, which is why he chose such a difficult pitch.
"Ping!!!"
The ball flew over the head of Hongo Masamune, whose eyes were wide open.
"I hit it! And surprisingly, the feel of it was pretty good!" Sendou threw down his bat and ran as fast as he could.
Sendou, who also knew the Ball Trajectory of the ball but not the type, originally thought that he could just hit it out of bounds when he saw the Ball Trajectory, but unexpectedly his feel for the ball was quite good.
"Thump!!!"
"They're... they're in!!!"
home base!!!
And the scoreboard hit the target directly!
A blow from the fourth batter!!!
Seidou High School was the first to break through!
This is also the twenty-ninth bomb that Sendou-kun has mastered in high school!!!
"Yoshia!!!"
"First of all!!"
"That pitcher's pitch was actually hit by that bastard!"
"Unbelievable!" the Seidou bench shouted, even they were extremely surprised, such a sudden Home Run, it just came so suddenly.
"This is acceptable?"
Well, never mind!
Even Home Run by luck is still Home Run! Not only were the Seidou bench players shocked, but even Sendou himself, who was sprinting up the bases and slowed down by the Home Run, was speechless.
But he immediately accepted this outcome, and on the surface, he remained calm and composed.
When I took the shot, I just wanted it to be a ball out of bounds...
There was a problem with the beginning of the previous chapter. Yesterday, I was writing about Sasaki, but it turned into something like Curved Ball. It's been corrected now. You can take a look if you're interested.
A final plea for votes before I go to sleep...