Senior Chris Takes the Field

"Two out! Two out! Tanba!"

"Let him call!"

"Two out! Let's go all out and see who wins!"

"If two consecutive banquets can resolve the Sendou, that would be interesting!"

The third-year students encouraged Senior Tanba in various ways.

With two players eliminated, and it being Practice Match, they naturally had to squat down to face off.

"Ha ha!

"Don't let us get taken down in two consecutive at-bats!" Miyuki said with a smile as he came out.

"That's hard to say!"

Tanba-san's shot today was very powerful and full of spirit!

"I'm serious!" Sendou said with a smile.

"I see!

You're such a loser!

"I got two hits in two at-bats!" Miyuki said with a V-sign.

Sendou wanted to punch him when he saw that smug expression, but he remained calm on the surface and looked at him with disdain.

If he just stays calm and doesn't show it, Miyuki should be embarrassed, since Miyuki's first hit was Hit and Run...

What?! Your expression!

"Are you envious?... I can't possibly be envious!" Miyuki was embarrassed, so he forced a conversation, but in the end he couldn't keep up the act, after all, the guy in front of him wasn't "that idiot".

"That's true!" Sendou walked directly into the Batter's Box.

"She's not cute at all!"

But this is our Main Gun!

"Whether it's two outs or two strikes, it won't shake this man in the slightest!" Miyuki thought with an excited smile.

When Sendou appeared in the peripheral vision of the Miyauchi-senpai, the senior couldn't help but glance over.

Senior Chris also gave them Signals, instructing them to use the cheaper method.

No matter how low he is in his game, a batter like Sendou can't just stubbornly stick to his game, especially if the ball is guessed correctly, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Furthermore, in official matches, Sendou's opponents won't throw him any good pitches, so it won't affect his practice.

Two at-bats were enough for them to see that Sendou's perception of the Strike Zone was already quite advanced, and that he still couldn't distinguish what kind of bad ball was being thrown.

Although Sendou intentionally concealed this information, there were simply too many balls involved in the two at-bats.

This style is very much in line with Senior Chris's style, adapting tactics according to the opponent, and he was incredibly steady against Sendou.

"First goal!"

Let's make a strong first move with this curveball!

"Hmm! Whew!"

"Puff!

"Fushi!"

"Call out!"

"Smack!"

"Nice shot!"

"He swung the curveball to the outside corner and missed!!!"

"The range of motion in this curveball is just too exaggerated!"

This is completely different from before! Tanba's condition...!

"Snort!

Although it is not as effective for left-handed batters as it is for right-handed batters.

"But such a range of change is enough!" Miyauchi-senpai exhaled, then turned his gaze to Sendou and thought to himself.

"The second goal!"

The bad ball in the inside corner!

If it's only a ball's distance away, this guy can't tell the difference!

It has to be tricky enough!

Like a left-handed pitcher hitting a right-handed batter's Diagonal Fastball, shove it into his chest!

"Puff!"

"Fushi!"

"Call out!"

"Smack!"

"Bad ball!!"

What? He didn't make a move?

Was Chris wrong?

Is Sendou able to discern such Ball Trajectory?

"Miyauchi-senpai looked up in shock, but Sendou still had that same expression that revealed nothing about his thoughts."

"Then they throw bad balls that I can't tell the difference, because they're afraid of getting hit out!"

As long as you don't get a hit, whether it's out of bounds or a swing, you have the advantage.

Although Miyauchi-senpai's ball handling has improved a lot since Koshien, it's still rigid!

Matching the ball is something that requires improvisation!

Everyone has different ideas. If someone like that idiot, or some Natural Airhead person, doesn't guess the ball, the effect would be quite good.

However, the fact that fixed patterns are easily predictable will not change.

That's why that bastard anticipated it.

Sendou was fully aware of what the Miyauchi-senpai were thinking.

While it's not as extreme as being able to pinpoint the exact type of every pitch, some pitches can be roughly guessed by combining the Ball Trajectory of previous throws and some subtle movements by Miyauchi-senpai.

"Sendou can't identify that ball just now, but it should be correct!"

After such a long and intense battle, there was no possibility of holding back.

"It must be that Miyauchi's thoughts were anticipated!" As an expert in guessing the other party's psychology, Senior Chris also guessed the reason roughly.

So, they just need to give the players Signals so that Miyauchi-senpai can distribute the ball according to his own rhythm.

After all, if Sendou leads the way, the ball selection will actually be guessed correctly.

"Chris said so!"

The third ball is here!

"Puff!"

"Fushi!"

"Call out!"

"Ping!"

"Outside the boundary!"

"Oh? It's not Changeup!" I thought that Miyauchi-senpai, who was caught up in guessing, would cautiously throw Forkball to the outside!

After all, the Forkball will fall further outwards like a sinker, making it a very good choice.

However, upon further reflection, he realized that his feint to shake Miyauchi-senpai had been foiled by Senior Chris.

This also caused Sendou to abandon the tricks he had planned to use later.

"Yoshi! We're chasing him!"

"We'll take him down this time too!!!"

"Let him call!"

"Tanba!!"

"Go! Go! Sendou!"

"Fight them out!!"

"Two outs, two good Ball Trajectory and one bad shot!"

"In this situation, there shouldn't be a rush to decide the outcome!" Sendou thought to himself.

"Puff!"

"Fushi!"

"Call out!"

"Um?"

"Ping!"

"Outside the boundary!"

"That was close!"

Curveball?

It seems that Miyauchi-senpai has really grown a lot!

"I'm quite impressed with you!" After guessing the wrong ball, Sendou struggled to hit the curveball out of bounds.

Now, this guy has a clearer understanding of his Miyauchi-senpai.

They also clearly realized that they couldn't be too confident in their predictions in this match, otherwise they would end up like that Black-bellied Glasses, getting it wrong and losing.

"I haven't felt this way in a long time!"

Let your body's instincts guide your actual judgment!

No matter how good your form is, it's impossible to maintain such precise ball control forever. Sendou turned his head, looked at the baseball bat standing upright on his outstretched arm, and couldn't help but lick his lips.

"Puff!"

"Fushi!"

"Call out!"

"Ping!"

"Outside the boundary!"

After hitting that shot, Sendou simply shortened his grip on the bat!

"Is this going to be a protracted fight?" Miyauchi-senpai wondered upon seeing this scene.

Senior Chris, was much more decisive, simply waving his hand towards the crowd.

Miyauchi-senpai was somewhat surprised, but after a few seconds, he sighed.

"Bad ball!!"

"Four Balls!"

"Intentional Walk?"

"Were they overwhelmed by Sendou-kun's aura?" the observer on the sidelines asked uncertainly.

Who knows!

"There's nothing we can do about it; our pitcher is basically just Tanba!"

If he can't hold on until the ninth inning, we might collapse!

Since he's already out twice, it's okay to let him get on base!

However, after he's watched so many games, I can't challenge him to a duel again, no matter what the situation is! Senior Chris said gently to himself.

Subsequently, despite Sendou stealing the base to the scoring circle, Miyuki was still suppressed.

At this moment, Senior Tanba vented all his anger on him.

The match has reached the Bottom of the Fifth Inning!

A burly, muscular man stepped into the Batter's Box.

"Hahaha!"

"It's been a long time since I've had a showdown with Masuko-senpai!" Sawamura laughed heartily.

The last time the two faced off was in Practice Match between first-year students and second and third-year students before the Kanto Tournament ended in the Spring Tournament.

"It has indeed been a long time!"

However, Masuko-senpai can be considered a natural Nemesis to Sawamura.

With Outside Corner Ball still unstable, what kind of pitching performance should we use to deal with Masuko-senpai, who can send the ball flying with just the slightest touch?

However, if we could also Head-on Showdown here...

Then let's cheer up and get going!

"Puff!"

"All the nerves in my body are concentrated on... my fingertips!!!"

"Call out!"

"Smack!"

"Bad ball!"

"Na!!!" Sawamura was deeply shocked by the verdict.

"Whoa!" Pudding-senpai was also extremely shocked, not only by the tricky Outside Corner Ball, but also by the fact that the point of the ball could not be seen.

In the last showdown, Sawamura hadn't changed his stance yet; what you hear about can never compare to the shock of seeing it for yourself.

"Calm down! Relax your body a bit more!" Miyuki shouted, seeing Sawamura's discouraged state of mind and worried it might affect his pitching.

"Relax!" Then this guy relaxed and looked completely silly, like a salted fish.

"This is going too far!"

"But let's regroup with Inside Corner Ball kick first!" Miyuki first commented on Sawamura's expression, then began to place the ball.

"Puff!"

"Call out!"

"Ping!"

"Smack!"

"Puff!"

Although Masuko-senpai didn't time her attack well, she still managed to break through the infield defense with brute force.

Sendou reacted incredibly quickly, only managing to touch her with his glove, thus avoiding Long Hit.

"Woo-ga! Woo-ga! Woo-ga! Woo-ga!" Pudding-senpai shouted as he reached base.

"This just goes to show how skilled the attacker was!"

Masuko-senpai has gotten even stronger!

"Although the timing wasn't right, at least we avoided Ground Ball," Miyuki thought to himself.

There's nothing you can do about it when that ball gets hit!

"Change it, Sawamura!"

"The attacker has the upper hand!" Miyuki shouted encouragingly to Sawamura.

"That's right! Sawamura!"

Let's tackle them one by one!

"Supervision!!!"

"We request a substitution!" shouted Captain Tetsu, who was on the bench.

The first and second year students looked over in surprise.

"You guys need to get ready too!" Captain Tetsu said, turning to the trio of Senior Shinbara.

"Of course! We're ready to go anytime!"

"We will keep sending in powerful weapons, so be prepared!!!"

"Sawamura!!!" Jun-san shouted immediately.

"Don't be polite, just kick him out!" Miyauchi-senpai Miyauchi said, raising his head to Senior Chris, who was wearing protective gear.

"Ah! Thank you so much!" Senior Chris was slightly touched.

"Don't worry about it!" Miyauchi-senpai replied before heading towards the Bullpen.

Miyauchi-senpai had no regrets, because he knew that with Kawakami still absent from the first and second years, Chris didn't have many opportunities to face off against Sawamura.

In the entire third grade, who hadn't received his kindness? They would only be happier to do something so small.

"Chris is the substitute player! You idiot!!!" Amidst the curses of Isashiki-senpai, Senior Chris walked off the bench carrying his bat.

"Chris... Senior Chris ..." The moment Sawamura saw Senior Chris, especially the comforting smile Senior Chris gave him, a surge of emotion overwhelmed him, leaving him speechless.

"That guy!"

Sendou looked at the guy on the Pitcher's Mound who looked like he was about to cry, grinned, and showed his genuine happiness for Sawamura with a bright and cheerful smile.

The female managers in the observation room all smiled knowingly.

Women are more easily moved by this kind of thing.

"Can that Sawamura guy really pitch aggressively against Chris?" Isashiki-senpai sighed, looking at Senior Chris tidying up the Batter's Box.

"Even though it's just Practice Match, it's bound to involve all sorts of emotions!" Oni-san said, his voice filled with emotion. At this moment, the most genuine feelings of this cunning Oni-san were revealed.

"Sawamura was able to find his own path this summer and be active in the First Team entirely because of him."

"So this is what you call a mentor!" Isashiki-senpai spoke again.

"That's why Sawamura can throw the best pitches!"

This was the only way he could repay Chris. Captain Tetsu also got involved this time.

"That's true!" Oni-san laughed.

"If it weren't for Practice Match like this, I definitely wouldn't have been able to have a serious duel with this person!"

Sawamura!... You can only repay this person with your best pitching performance! Miyuki's thoughts were completely in line with Captain Tetsu's.

In reality, Sawamura, who usually acts like an idiot, is just as clear-headed as anyone else.

"I'm so stupid..."

As a pitcher... he was so immature!

The person who told me all this... the one who helped me grow... was Senior Chris!

"Puff!"

"Call out!"

"Smack!"

"Nice shot!!!"

"Yoshi ah!"

That was the best goal of the day!

"Keep going, Eijun-kun!"

"Looking at it from the Batter's Box, it's really tricky!"

Such a tricky Diagonal Fastball, plus that posture!

"There's absolutely no way to make a move!" Senior Chris with a relieved smile.

"Sometimes things just get out of control!"

However, Sawamura should be in good shape when facing Senior Chris!

"... Probably!" Miyuki laughed.

"The ball speed can barely be considered the first half of 130 kilometers per hour!"

However, it's a very powerful straight ball!

Only after I stepped into the Batter's Box could I truly understand... what kind of pitcher you really are!

No words are needed; the ball has already said everything!

"This guy probably already came to this conclusion a long time ago!" Sendou -Senior Chris sighed as he entangled with Sawamura, who was fiercely attacking from the inside corner.

Every shot evoked different feelings in Senior Chris.

"Puff!"

"Relax!

Relax your body!

All the nerves in my body are concentrated at my fingertips!!!

"Call out!"

"Um?"

"Smack!"

"Nice shot!"

"The attacker is out!!!"

This part is a bit difficult to write today...