The adjustment time before the Bottom of the Eighth Inning
"A seven-point difference?"
It's not a score that can't be caught up with.
With two more rounds of attacks left, we can't let that freshman continue to be happy.
That second-year side-shot, his performance in previous games, didn't make much of an impact when he came on.
As for Furuya, his Fastball are indeed impressive, but he completely lacks ball control. If you can't lower the ball because it's just fast, then no one is better at it than you guys who always play the proper style of ball control.
If you abandon high balls and Fast Forkball, you can easily beat him.
Let alone seven points, even ten points can be rewritten in an instant. That's... baseball!
"Do you understand?" Before the start of the second half, Coach Nitta issued his declaration of victory.
"Oh!!!"
"Then let's crush that first-year student and take the Victory Banner home!"
"Hi!!!"
Seeing the players' Fighting Spirit, Coach Nitta nodded in satisfaction.
"Let's settle this once and for all Coach Kataoka!"
Coach Nitta then turned his attention to Seidou's bench, thinking to himself.
The Seidou athletes were still gathered on the bench, and it seemed that Coach Kataoka was giving a speech, this time for even longer.
However, he always felt that something was off.
Before he could think it through, he noticed someone from the Seidou bench running towards the head referee.
Coach Nitta then realized that the first-year left-handed pitcher had not left the bench.
Should we change players?
That first-year left-handed pitcher really couldn't last long.
But if it were me, I would definitely let him vote until the end.
Even if we don't say that the child has exceptional talent and is worth nurturing, it would actually be good to let him hold on a little longer.
"Is Coach Kataoka really planning to put all the blame on Furuya and that second-year student who's completely out of sorts, letting them pitch the last two innings?" Coach Nitta wasn't optimistic about Coach Kataoka's move.
Many spectators at the sidelines also noticed that Seidou was going to make a change of players.
The live broadcast camera also turned to them, and everyone knew that the real moment of victory had arrived. This change of personnel by Seidou might be the turning point.
After all, the performance of newly introduced players is uncertain; they could become gods or be eliminated.
The answer was then announced on the radio.
"Notification regarding the replacement and change of positions for Seidou High School players."
In exchange for pitcher Sawamura, Itai- kun!
Eighth bat, left field, Mr. Itai!
Isashiki-kun has become a midfielder!
Third batter! Center, Isashiki-kun!
"Huh?" A gasp of surprise came from the audience.
"Hmph!" Ozawa snorted softly from the sidelines, a slight smile playing on his lips.
Azuma Kiyokuni looked on with surprise and doubt.
"The center Sendou-kun, has become a pitcher!"
Four sticks! Pitcher, Sendou-kun!
above! "
"Pitcher Sendou?!" The stadium erupted in uproar.
Some spectators were frantically flipping through the player handbook, and no matter how they looked at it, the evaluations described him as a genius outfielder and a genius hitter, with not a single pitching record.
Cough! Cough!
I have to say that Coach Kataoka's substitutions were quite baffling!
My records tell me that Sendou-kun has not made any pitching attempts in the four months since he entered high school.
Moreover, the same applies to Kouya's Practice Match records.
Reporters who have interviewed Seidou have never seen Sendou enter the Bullpen!
But how should I put it?
The fact that Seido allowed him to take the stage at this time demonstrates the extent of Seidou's trust in him.
Judging from the outfield passes, the ball speed is still quite fast!
"Kuruma-san! That's right!" The commentator didn't know what to say for a moment, so he could only keep giving the commentary.
"That's true!" The commentator was also in a daze.
The entire room was almost completely silent.
Meanwhile, Inajitsu was listening to the radio.
"Ha! You still ended up on the Pitcher's Mound!"
" Sendou!" Harada said with a touch of emotion and an envious expression.
"Huh? Yuan..." The person next to him was about to ask when he suddenly realized something and quickly turned around.
Narumiya Mei has already transformed into Super Saiyan.
It felt as if a raging fire was boiling within him.
"Wait! Ming!!"
" Harada-san?
"What's going on?" Narumiya Mei asked in that strange tone.
"Wasn't he the ace batter of the Wildcats Little League back in elementary school?!"
When I borrowed the Strategies of the Warring States from him before, I threw a few balls at it!
"Actually, I really wanted to ambush and catch..." Harada explained briefly, but didn't have a chance to finish.
"Boom!!!"
"So what was the result?" Narumiya Mei instantly turned into a resentful woman.
"Three at-bats! All three strikeouts, not a single ball touched. As expected of that guy..." Harada sighed.
Then, the people in the room felt that Narumiya Mei was about to explode.
The Hanshin Koshien Stadium was completely silent.
On the Seidou supporters' stand, seeing Sendou obediently walk onto the Pitcher's Mound, many people were whispering among themselves, confirming that the substitution was correct!
Even after hearing it on the radio or seeing it with my own eyes, I still couldn't believe my ears and eyes.
What magic did the coach use to persuade that incredibly stubborn guy to step onto the Pitcher's Mound?
The third-year students all watched the figure on the Pitcher's Mound with smiles on their faces, waiting for something.
really,
Seconds later, Seidou's supporters erupted in their loudest cheers of the day.
"Ha ha!
Go forth, Sendou!
Let them see what real power is!
"Your chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) spirit is off the charts!"
"No problem!
This is the time to be a little immature!
"We've got this in the bag!!!"
"Slaughter them all!"
"Yoshi! We won!"
We won!!
Although the other audience members were too far away to hear what they were shouting, the volume was undeniable.
They all understood their confidence in Sendou's pitching.
They also accepted the inferences made in the previous explanation.
However, they didn't shout along, because they didn't know anything!
"Look, look! You still say you don't? I think that Sendou is your boyfriend!" Seeing the smile on Ozawa's face, Ichinose's anger rekindled.
Even Shiina was a little surprised.
Then, Ozawa pinched Ichinose's face hard with his hand, delivering a severe punishment.
What nonsense are you spouting?
"I just thought it was a rare occasion for that guy to make an appearance," Ozawa said calmly.
"And...!
How wonderful! Men and all that!
"After junior high school, it's very difficult for women to compete with men!" Ozawa sighed to himself.
What?!
Mutsu, even if you make it to Koshien, you'll still be a national-level pitcher!
"No less than a man!" Ichinose retorted, covering her face.
"But that man is different!"
That guy is a true genius!
That's just a blow!
We don't even know what his pitching will be like yet!
I think you're just protecting your boyfriend...
"Ouch! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!" Ichinose usually doesn't act like a catcher at all, and even seems to be missing a screw in his head, completely different from when he's playing.
"Such a high evaluation?" Shiina said, ignoring Ichinose was causing trouble.
"Um!"
"Um...!" Azuma Kiyokuni, who was standing nearby, couldn't help but interrupt after hearing the conversation.
"Huh?" The three of them turned their heads at the same time.
"Have I seen you somewhere before?" Ichinose asked directly.
"The third pick in last year's professional baseball draft, Azuma Kiyokuni!" Ozawa said calmly.
"That Azuma Kiyokuni?"
"I'm glad you know me!"
"Right now I'm just an ordinary Seidou OB!" Azuma Kiyokuni said somewhat embarrassedly.
The three girls in front of me are all very pretty, and as for the baseball player... they're all single!
" Azuma Kiyokuni is from the Seidou sect!" This was the first time Ichinose had heard this.
She has only a superficial understanding of men's baseball; aside from celebrities, she knows most people but doesn't know much about them.
"By the way, do you guys know that kid Sendou?"
"Only she knows him!"
"That kid used to train with his university a lot during middle school," Ichinose said, pointing at Ozawa.
"Excuse me, I overheard your conversation by accident!"
Are you Sendou's girlfriend?
"But as far as I know, Sendou's girlfriend is our Baseball Club's vice-captain, Rei-chan!" Azuma Kiyokuni said, somewhat bewildered. (By the way, where did you hear this gossip from?!)
"Speaking of which, you and Rei-chan seem to have very similar personalities!"
But it's also a little different!
Ozawa had already prepared for what he would do in his junior high school days when he was asking about Sendou in Azuma Kiyokuni, but he didn't expect it to be this, and the amount of information was quite large, so he didn't quite catch on for a moment.
" Rei-chan?"
How old is she?
"I don't know!" Azuma Kiyokuni answered honestly, but he should be a little older than twenty-five!
"Rival in love!... Ouch!" Needless to say, the talkative Ichinose got punished again.
"You've misunderstood. I don't have that kind of relationship with that kid!" Ozawa replied politely, still with the same expression.
Oh! I see!
Feel sorry!
What a coincidence!
"Our seats are actually together!" Azuma Kiyokuni chuckled, but didn't say anything more.
However, at this point, Pitching Practice began on the field, and the topic of conversation came to an end.
Ichinose had been observing Ozawa and discovered that she really didn't seem to have that kind of relationship with Sendou.
On the big screen, Sendou's face was also displayed, and the data could only be shown as his stats as the hitter.
"So handsome! Too bad he already has a girlfriend!"
"You can't tell the ball speed by looking at it, but it definitely feels very fast." Ichinose was still determined to steal it.
Professionals are professionals. Under normal circumstances, from a pitcher's perspective, if you only look at the ball, it's even difficult to distinguish between 130 km/h and 160 km/h.
However, based on the time difference, a professional catcher Ichinose could tell that Sendou's ball speed was very fast.
"And his ball control is very stable, which really makes me feel at ease!" said Azuma Kiyokuni in his Kansai.
After all, they are professionals and don't have time to understand the details of the team. They don't know much about Seidou's situation, and they don't even know that Sendou can pitch.
"What? This is just Pitching Practice, the kind where you throw lightly."
"At times like this, that guy will definitely slack off rather than put in any extra effort," Ozawa said calmly.
"Well?
"That was a gentle throw..." Ichinose remained silent.
She suddenly remembered that Ozawa had just said that this guy was a true genius.
Azuma Kiyokuni frowned, instinctively putting himself in the role of a fighter as a professional.
"Then this match is in the bag!" He then looked very happy.
"Why do you look so unhappy?" Ichinose pointed at Sendou and asked Ozawa in confusion.
Shiina and Azuma Kiyokuni also looked over.
"That guy hates the pitcher and catcher positions the most!"
"So you haven't been able to take the board yet?"
But your ball control is excellent!
You have a lot of questions!
"In that guy's words, this kind of thing doesn't need practice!" Ozawa wanted to watch the match and was a little reluctant to answer, but he still replied.
The people around were speechless...
On the other side, in the Press Box.
"So that's how it is! All my previous guesses were wrong!"
The same applies to the previous Osaka Toin match.
"Is Coach Kataoka's reason for arranging the pitchers in this order because there's still one card left?" Mine Fujio whispered.
" Mine-san?" Owada Akiko asked.
"Because of our confidence in Sendou-kun, and the fact that we have a last card to close the gap, we chose the most reliable Tanba as our starter in both Osaka Toin and this match."
Previous guesses were all based on the current situation, but no one could have guessed this kind of hidden information! Mine Fujio exclaimed.
"That's it!" Owada Akiko said clearly.
Inside the venue,
"Call out!"
"Smack!"
"It's a nice ball, but you should have used more force!" Miyuki said, dissatisfied.
Sendou's gaze drifted to the left, ignoring it...
"Forehead!"
Then he ran forward.
"That's enough for the warm-up! Now it's Signals!"
"Don't expect me to be like those two idiots, listening to everything you say!" Sendou said.
"Of course, it's a rare opportunity to team up with you as a caster and catcher, how could we waste such a chance?"
"It wouldn't be fun if I had to give all the Signals!" Miyuki said.
"Don't get too close, and don't be too happy too soon!"
"I agreed not for your sake, but for the sake of my seniors!"
"I'm your senior too!"
Okay! I've been ignored again..."
"And the coach gave us way too much!" Sendou added.
"What did you say?
"I bet you only agreed because you wanted to enjoy yourself!" Miyuki put his hand to his ear and said exaggeratedly.
"Don't come any closer!"
In this competition, if you hit us, we will be judged to have lost, and we might even be penalized!
"Calm down!" Sendou had just lifted his left foot when Miyuki chickened out.
"It's not as exaggerated as you say."
Even if it's seen, it will be taken as a friendly exchange... a "ritual"!
Just like patting Tanba-san's head, Cheetah and Ryo-san caress Eijun!
Moreover, I am here entirely for the sake of my seniors! " Sendou emphasized.
"I know!
Then I'll have to ask you for help!
aibo!
"Don't give me that, my aibo is with Fumino!"
"Hey hey! I know! I know!"
Let's exchange Signals!
The pitcher's Signals are much more complex. By the way, what Signals have you used before?
"I have absolutely no idea! Teach me!" Sendou replied immediately.
"Uh! By the way, didn't you plan to be Sawamura's substitute in junior high?"
How could there be no Signals?
"At that time, the original plan was to use a fastball to decide the outcome, and A Shin, who was not the catcher at the time, would give the Signals and I would be responsible for nodding or shaking my head."
"A straight shot without using your full strength is enough back then!" Sendou replied casually.
"So casual! But there's no way to argue with it!"
"Can you remember it?" Miyuki asked speechlessly.
"Just say it once and demonstrate it once!"
"Fine!" Miyuki shut up again.
I won't write about this match, evil grin
This should be the only time the main character throws the ball. Yeah, I guess that's fair to say.
Finally, I'm asking for your votes...