Determination

"It was just a coincidence!"

"What a pity about Koharu's beautiful Safety Bunt!" Sendou sighed as he saw Koharu eliminated.

"So it's a bit of a waste to have such good talent with Wooden Bat!"

He simply couldn't unleash his full potential!

"If it's your physical condition, Sendou-kun, then there's no problem." Coach Ochiai said quietly from behind.

"I'll pass on it!"

Speaking of which, Lei Shi's physical attributes are also excellent. His reaction time, speed, and strength are all top-notch, but he's just too clumsy. "Sendou immediately told Coach Ochiai to give up on that idea and that he would have to use Wooden Bat himself, which would mean missing out on so many good pitches. This was his only hobby.

"If we compare him to you, Sendou-kun, that's certainly true." Since Sendou wanted to change the subject, Coach Ochiai didn't bring it up again; this was one of the unspoken understandings between the two.

"But compared to ordinary people, he's practically a monster!" However, when he heard Sendou say that Raichi's various physical qualities were quite good, he rolled his eyes.

However, Sendou did not hear his muttered last sentence.

"This guy's sprint speed is so fast!" Raichi, on third Kuramochi, gritted his teeth as he watched Raichi get a beating from the whole team.

Because of Raichi's performance, they lost an excellent start.

"Your aim is good, but it should be like this, like this, like this." The master of short-range fighting was teaching Xiaochun his secret techniques, even though no one could understand what he was saying.

"One out, runner third!"

"Even though it's the first game, we can force a point if we want to score..." Coach Ochiai observed Coach Kataoka.

However, Maezono struck out with three Forkball.

"Why?" Coach Ochiai was very puzzled.

"When that shortstop was on third base, even though he was in the Center Batting Lineup, he could still force a run."

Moreover, the runner's distance also contributes to a very high score rate.

"That hitter hasn't been hitting any good balls lately, he's been hitting mostly Changeup, there's no need to fight him!" Coach Ochiai said softly.

"The competition has only just begun!"

I think that Sunglasses Uncle wanted to see what those guys were really capable of! The people Sendou was referring to were, of course, the true skill level of Seidou Batting Lineup.

"It seems that the third batter isn't quite suited for the third batter position!" Coach Ochiai couldn't match the players' names with their faces yet, so he could only identify them by their appearance.

"Hmm! If we're talking about strength, the fifth batter is more suitable!"

"If it's just about power!" Sendou nodded and said.

Because of their fear of Coach Ochiai, there were hardly any other players around, so their hushed conversation went unnoticed by others.

Coach Ochiai raised an eyebrow upon hearing Sendou's assessment.

So he asked,

"So if Sendou-kun were to arrange the batting order, how many batters would you let the third batter hit?"

"If it were me..." Sendou stared at Maezono, who was frustrated by his missed swing.

"Judging from how he's been pushing himself too hard, it would be better to let him calm down on the bench!" Sendou said after watching for a while.

I feel the same way!

But why let him start, and in the Center Batting Lineup? Coach Ochiai noticed that Sendou was indeed very calm.

"It's not a big deal if the slap misses!"

Yuuta's Forkball has its own unique features.

However, that guy hadn't realized his strengths yet, and was still unconsciously swinging his big stick haphazardly...

Some things can't be solved by hard work alone; they require thought!

He's not ready to start yet, unless he can figure it out! Sendou pointed to his head, indicating that Maezono needed to think.

Coach Ochiai discovered that Sendou's opinion was not entirely the same as his own; he didn't want to use it at all, while Sendou simply thought it wasn't suitable at the moment.

"Strengths?" Coach Ochiai is experienced, but he can't seem to identify the strengths of each person.

However, after interacting with the Sendou, he no longer made such hasty judgments, but instead reflected more and tried to put himself in the immortal's shoes.

As Coach Ochiai fell into deep thought, their conversation fell silent.

Next up was Miyuki's turn to bat.

With two outs and third base, a reliable runner and a reliable batter, they have every chance to score.

Of course, this is assuming both people are at a normal level.

"That Forkball dropped quite a bit!" Maezono could only leave with her suggestion and walked off the field with unease.

"Ah! The speed is surprisingly fast too." Miyuki.

Looking at Maezono's expression, Sendou felt that he had nothing to be resentful about.

In Sendou's view, the pitcher and catcher performed consistently, and since he himself made a mistake, his elimination was only natural.

"Even when behind third base, I can still throw a low Changeup well."

They're a great pair of pitchers and catchers!

Although he could aim and hit his ideal Forkball, now was not the time to be greedy; he needed to make sure it landed in center field. Miyuki, observing the pitcher and catcher's performance, didn't aim for the game-winning pitch as he usually did, instead opting for a safe fastball to secure a run.

"Hateful!

There really was that kind of strong atmosphere!

"That bastard on the pool!" Mishima, with his physique and appearance, naturally envied Miyuki.

"Of course we have to attack, right? Yuuta!" Akiba opened his gloves and played the ball with unusual force.

"Of course!"

I am a man who is not interested in anything other than winning or losing.

If I run away at this point, how am I supposed to surpass that man? The image of Sendou's back flashed through Mishima's mind.

The reason Mishima respected Sendou so much was because, in Inajitsu, Sendou's posture during his final strike was incredibly cool.

The feeling of worship is simply impossible to suppress.

"Please, Miyuki!"

"That's when the fourth batter hits the ball!!"

"Let's fight out here, so that Sendou-kun can recuperate in peace!"

The observers on the sidelines were also Miyuki enthusiastically, after all, Miyuki was the center of the team in the Summer Tournament.

As the catcher, he is the team's commander-in-chief, second only to the coach.

"Can you do it? Can you become a true Leader?!" Sawamura shouted fiercely.

"Puff!"

"At this level, it doesn't even qualify as a crisis!"

"Call out!"

"Ah?"

"Pfft!" The call was missed.

"Ah!" (Mishima)

"...!"

Everyone else looked bewildered and speechless, but Kuramochi was not. Although he frantically rushed towards home plate to Backup Position, there was no way to stop him.

Kuramochi took the opportunity to run back to home plate.

They got a point in this unexpected way.

"Although there was absolutely no problem with the catcher's pitch selection."

But his catching skills are still far from perfect!

And Yuuta really is thick-skinned!

"This crisis situation actually made the investment even better." Sendou said softly, looking at the result.

Coach Ochiai stroked his beard without saying a word.

It's a done deal, there's nothing we can do about it!

Let's change our mood!

The two of them, the thrower and the catcher!

"Instead, use your own bats to win back the points you've lost!" Raizo Todoroki shouted immediately.

"Hi!!" the two men responded.

"It's a done deal, there's nothing we can do about it."

Let's change our mood!

The pitcher and catcher are a two-person team!

Hahahaha! Raichi walked by unnoticed.

"Don't have the father and son say it separately!" Mishima immediately turned around and scolded.

"As expected, this team doesn't care about things like this!"

"Let's aim properly!" Miyuki thought to himself as he overheard the team's interaction.

"Ping!"

However, the bases were empty...

So even though he aimed for the fastball, he still didn't hit it well and hit a fly ball to first base.

"Ah! First base fly ball!"

"It's still the same old thing..."

"This man!" Even the OB knows that if there's no one on base, this guy can't hit.

"It's not right to have no one on base!" Sawamura chimed in with a curse.

"Recently, no matter if there are runners on base, we haven't been able to hit many or even a few shots!!!" A second-year student next to him shouted a reminder.

"You aimed a little too far!" Miyuki ran back with an embarrassed laugh.

When there was no one on the base, he tried to hit it further, but he used too much force and it didn't go far.

"Hmm..." Sendou stared at Miyuki and made a sound.

This caught Coach Ochiai's attention.

"Well!"

"He's holding it in!" Coach Ochiai thought to himself as he saw Sendou sigh.

Just as he was thinking this...

"Well! We don't need to care about that Zaku (small fry, trash), we've already gotten our share anyway."

"If things continue like this in the Autumn Tournament, I'll probably be relegated to a lower-ranked lane. Out of sight, out of mind, I won't care how the match goes." Sendou silently turned his head to the side, indicating that he was ignoring the other person's thoughts.

"You still couldn't resist?"

"But calling him a 'senior' is a joke..." Coach Ochiai understood the relationship between the two men a little better, but he still found it funny.

However, this also reveals Sendou's dissatisfaction with Miyuki's growth rate.

Moreover, Coach Ochiai believes that this man is about to start his verbal persuasion.

This guy's verbal skills are incredibly sharp.

I silently mourned for the others; their ears would never have peace again.

"Did you only score one point in this round?"

"It was a free gift due to the opponent's mistake."

"Never mind, the competition has only just begun, and Seidou is still letting the contestants do their best!"

The next step is to figure out how to control the pharmacist's injection lines.

Some observers on the sidelines were worried, while others tried to comfort the others.

"But if it were Sendou-kun, he would definitely fight back in that situation."

That man's competitive spirit in crucial moments is no joke.

"His retirement in his third year, coupled with Sendou-kun's injury and recovery, completely changed him from the top-ranked player in the country ten days ago."

Even the powerful influence can be discarded!

"More than that! They're like two completely different teams."

Quite a few people around expressed their concerns about the future of Seidou.

After all, the Autumn Tournament Preliminaries are about to begin.

How could one not be worried when the Drawing Lots results are still unknown?

If around the 12th, they directly face a strong team like Inajitsu Ichidai San Grade in the first round...

However, these people probably don't know about Miyuki.

It's a situation where you either get the best possible outcome or the worst possible outcome; it's extremely stable, but it also causes immense anxiety.

"The rest is up to you!"

The current lanes, apart from a few players, are completely ineffective. Now, only you can suppress them.

During the break, Sendou called Furuya to his side and, as Furuya was about to go on stage, he stood behind him and said something.

These words made Furuya's eyes widen suddenly.

"I see!"

"Boom!!"

Sendou's words ignited Furuya Fighting Spirit, and he was the first to step out from the bench.

"Hey!" Miyuki tried to speak weakly, wanting to refute the point that his lane was completely incompetent, but he couldn't find the words.

Kuramochi, who was the most confident to speak, remained silent, because having hit a double, he certainly didn't consider himself one of the people Sendou was referring to, except for certain individuals.

Xiaochun dared not join in on this topic, after all, this child wouldn't dare speak to his elders like that.

It should be said that the few guys from the Sendou who dared to speak like that were the odd ones out, but there were quite a few oddballs in the First Team of this team.

"Alright! Let's go!!" Seeing that Miyuki had been defeated by his usual taunting technique, Kuramochi forward and led the team, shouting.

"Oh!!"

However, just as everyone ran out, they discovered that Furuya, who had come out first, had not moved.

Instead, he faced Coach Kataoka and stared directly into his eyes without moving.

So they all stood still.

"What's wrong?" After a moment of silence, Coach Kataoka broke the silence first.

"In today's game... can I pitch until the very end?"

Upon hearing Furuya's words, Sawamura and Kawakami, who were not far from the bench, immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

I was intimidated by Furuya's determination.

"My challenge is to conserve energy for as many innings as possible."

Three games are simply not enough.

Everyone was shocked that Furuya had actually started thinking. (Furuya had been observing Sawamura and Sendou and had thought about many things before, but his brainpower was simply lacking.)

"Bye..."

"No!" Just as Furuya was about to bow and beg, Coach Kataoka interrupted him.

"But Sendou-san..."

"Compared to pitching nine innings, getting one more out for the team should be a higher priority!!!"

This team doesn't belong to you alone.

I don't think Sendou wanted you to pitch all nine innings.

"It's about making you suppress the batter while you're pitching!" Coach Kataoka interrupted him again.

The Furuya plummeted in an instant.

"However... if your pitching is good enough, extending your innings is something we can consider." Kataoka Coach finished speaking to the dejected Furuya, almost panting.

"!!!" Furuya immediately perked up upon hearing this.

Then this guy's face lit up with happiness.

Kuramochi and Koharu, who were standing nearby, were startled by his series of changes.

"Really!"

"He's starting to take on the responsibility of being an ace!" Sendou chuckled softly from the bench.

Coach Ochiai's eyes flickered when he heard Sendou's words, and no one knew what he was thinking.

"Is this kid's trump card that he can pitch nine innings all by himself?" Miyuki, like Sendou, had a smile on his face.

"Then let's go!" Miyuki recovered from the momentary disappointment caused by Sendou's sharp tongue.

"Haha! You're hilarious!"

Even without an expression, it should be easy to understand! Kuramochi laughed heartily at the series of changes in Furuya Kuramochi.

Clearly, today's Furuya was also very powerful, or rather, even more powerful.

I really risked my life this time, and finally paid off the debt I'd been complaining about every day.

My temples are starting to hurt; the feeling of high blood pressure from staying up late is really noticeable, so I'm leaving now.

Finally, I'm asking for your votes...