Decisive Victory
"Although his posture is quite reckless, we shouldn't underestimate this man just because of that!"
"Throw the first ball here, high in the inside corner, about one ball's width off, come on!" Kenken Ken finished giving the Signals when he saw Mukai nod, so he raised his glove.
"They will fight me to the death!"
No prestigious family can be intimidated by its reputation!
When the rain gets heavy, it affects the fielders' vision, making it very difficult to defend the ball that flies out!
Although I hate playing in the rain, I have to admit that it seems like they were just unlucky!
Wrong!
"It'll probably affect my ability to watch the game too!" Sendou muttered to himself. Kenken Ken that he didn't know who would be lucky, but that didn't mean he really thought so.
However, he finally realized that he was different from other hitters because he relied too much on his eyes.
After all, only he would wait for the ball to change shape before shooting.
So, I never expected that my casual remark would actually come true!
"This pose is definitely a deliberate attempt to mislead me into shooting Outside Corner Ball, and then just stepping out to shoot!"
Even when acting, you should act like that second-rate guy from earlier!
Who would believe that this is a normal standby posture!
Even with such a simple move, Qian-san managed to figure it out!
Let me use this ball to test your mettle!
If you dodge in an awkward way, I'll look down on you!
"Japan's Number One!!" Mukai, who had put down the anti-slip powder and hidden his left hand inside the glove, was wildly imagining things.
However, his thinking is normal.
Who knows how many mythical Divine Beast ran through the hearts of Coach Kataoka and the Seidou members when they first saw Sendou in this pose?
"Puff!"
"Call out!"
"Inside Corner Ball!" Upon seeing the ball, Sendou felt reassured; his judgment was indeed correct, and it had indeed confused some of the view.
"Didn't make any progress?" Kenken Ken thought the same thing as Mukai, believing that Sendou would definitely not make any progress.
"Boom!"
"Ping!"
"Puff!"
"Outside the boundary!"
"That's too fast!"
This is playing ball...
"He's in the outfield in the blink of an eye," the right fielder of Teitou thought to himself, cursing wildly.
"What an intense swing that is!"
That stance really works!
And that was a bad ball!
Although it's off-center, its power is no joke!
Just now, for a moment, it felt like thunder roared in my heart! "Well, Kenken Ken has been struck by lightning again."
Mukai Taiyou's eyes widened; he was equally startled.
"This is it! This is it!"
That's why I came here!
"It was a lightning-fast shot!!!" The audience was thrilled by this play.
"Damn rain!"
I almost missed!
It really does affect visibility...
Fortunately, the Pitcher's Mound is close by, so I can adapt if I have some time.
"Then I can't just be eliminated!" Sendou thought to himself, and he slightly shortened his grip on the bat.
Did you grip the bat too short?
Looks like he's serious about getting a hit!
The blow you just received should have made you understand!
This man is a true monster!
But we were lucky to have taken that shot.
When facing this fighter, you absolutely cannot rush to decide the outcome!
The previous hitter did indeed completely abandon low Ball Trajectory before pressing!
"Throw the second ball here!" Kenken Ken had already noticed some clues after observing for one game.
"Really?! Qian-san!"
This person shouldn't be scared just because they've only scored one goal!
There must be some consideration behind it!
"Since that's the case... let's throw it!" Mukai finished reading the Signals, glanced at Sendou, and straightened up.
"Puff!"
"Call out!"
"Smack!"
"Bad ball!"
"He missed! How could Mukai miss by such a large margin?"
Did your hand slip?
"As expected, the hitter wouldn't shoot at a ball like that!"
The supporters of Teitou all felt it was a pity that the hard-won advantage in the number of goals had been squandered.
"Did it fail to win the bid?"
"Can I say I'm very lucky?" Sendou amused himself inwardly.
Meanwhile, Seidou's supporters were very happy.
A high ball that went way off to the outside corner caught the catcher completely off guard.
"Apply more anti-slip powder!" Kenken Ken shouted as he passed the ball back.
"So, it really didn't make any progress?"
"This man can really handle wide-angle Ball Trajectory with this posture!" But what Kenken Ken was really concerned about was Sendou's response.
Kenken Ken observed that Sendou's stepping speed was very fast, which led him to this conclusion.
"What are you talking about! Didn't you tell me to cast it like this?"
"Really!" Mukai thought to himself as he received the pass.
Because it was the ball that Inui wanted, he was able to observe Sendou's response.
It was just a pretense of being caught off guard.
As for giving away a bad ball for free, it's no big deal.
Kenken Ken learned from the Koshien tournament that Sendou was not good at watching baseball and rarely had a full count of three balls.
After the bad ball to the inside corner, they called for a ball that was far off to the outside corner, just to distract the batter and expand the Strike Zone in the batter's eyes.
Just like that seemingly dangerous Inside Corner Ball during the duel with Kuramochi.
Of course, this shot wasn't without its benefits, because Sendou often made shots like this during the summer.
This time, he merely took a step, showing no intention of making a move.
This also made Kenken Ken realize that Sendou had made progress, and it also gave him a general understanding of the scope of Sendou's actions.
That bad ball was a huge win!
To match Kenken Ken, Mukai actually used a little more anti-slip powder.
"Puff!"
"Call out!"
"Ping!"
"Outside the boundary!"
"We're after him!"
"Keep going, Taiyou!"
"Nice ball! Taiyou!"
"The outer corner is low!
It really makes full use of the four corners!
When he throws a spin shot, that's probably when the game will be decided!
Please! Sendou!
"You're the only one who can hit that ball in the first at-bat!" Miyuki thought to himself as he crouched in the preparation area.
"Puff!"
"Call out!"
"Ping!"
"Outside the boundary!"
"Ping!"
"Outside the boundary!"
The two sides began to fight around the four corners.
Teitou hasn't been throwing any good pitches to Sendou, and they haven't been throwing any spin balls either.
The real problem is that nobody knows when the final outcome will be decided.
They've already thrown seven balls, and Teitou doesn't seem to be in a hurry at all.
"Here!"
Just when everyone was thinking the same thing, the Teitou Pitcher-Catcher made a move without making a sound.
"Puff!"
"You've really worked hard!"
It's about time you left the stage!
"Call out!"
"Here it comes! Low inside corner!"
"Into the Strike Zone!! Could it be a spin ball?" Miyuki tensed up the moment he saw the ball enter the Strike Zone from the ready area.
Miyuki isn't Sendou. Sendou can't tell good from bad balls, but he can!
"Pfft!" Sendou decisively stomped his right foot, shifting his weight while keeping his eyes fixed on the ball.
Sendou didn't know whether the previous shots were good or bad, but he did know that this shot was relatively the easiest to hit.
"For a moment, the image of a spiral ball flashed through your mind... right?" Mukai revealed a long-lost smile, but Sendou no longer had the energy to look at him.
"Ping!"
"It's out!!" Someone shouted loudly in the silent stadium.
"Wait a minute!"
"Shouldn't you be wary of the spin ball?" Mukai's expression was already blank; the batter hadn't swung as he expected.
Even at this moment, he didn't believe that Sendou could hit his spin ball.
"A midfielder!"
Everyone in the stadium gaped, their eyes following the baseball, while the spectators in the stands seemed oblivious to the rain getting into their mouths.
This shot was high and far, but the ball speed wasn't fast.
At that moment, a gust of wind blew through the arena.
"Smack!"
"Out of the game!!"
Finally, the ball landed a few meters in front of the fence.
"Yoshi!!" Mukai Taiyou shouted without any regard for his image.
"What a pity!!!" Many audience members held their heads and cried out in disappointment.
After all, there are definitely more neutral viewers who support Sendou.
"That was close!!!" The voices of Teitou's supporters trembled.
"Phew!" Seeing this result, Sendou breathed a sigh of relief and then turned to home plate.
"Senior Qian!"
"Who did you say was unlucky again?" Sendou suddenly remembered what he had said before going on stage, and little did he know that more than one of his words had come true!
"Who knows!" Kenken Ken didn't know how to answer this result.
He knew that the rain gradually intensifying at the start was undoubtedly bad luck for them, but in the end, this situation saved them.
The rain resistance was considerable for this kind of high-flying, low-speed ball, and a gust of wind blew in at the last moment.
Otherwise, it might really fly out!
Thinking about how he had avoided a Home Run, Kenken Ken felt both relieved and helpless.
"Damn it! That's why I hate playing in the rain!" Sendou said, walking off home plate, clearly annoyed by the rain.
This left Inui Kenjiro, who had originally wanted to ask why Sendou knew that Kenken Ken was straightforward, speechless.
"Huh? The rain is getting lighter?" At this moment, Kenken Ken suddenly noticed that the rain was starting to lessen.
"What a pity! That last shot!"
If it weren't for the rain and wind...
"However, how did you know they would use a direct approach to decide the outcome?" Miyuki saw Sendou return and took the initiative to strike up a conversation, asking the question that Kenken Ken hadn't asked.
"Who knows about that kind of thing?"
Do you think it's so easy to predict the ball when you have a pitcher with that kind of ball control and a catcher?
"Really!" Sendou said irritably.
"And you!"
"My striking stance is a scooping motion; I strike vertically when I strike."
That spiral ball also has Ball Trajectory with a large range of vertical variation.
For a straight shot and a spiral shot, the bat doesn't need to be changed as much.
So just go for it; if you see it drop and need to adjust, that's fine.
"Amazing!"
"No wonder you shot so decisively, you were aiming at two different balls at the same time!" Miyuki exclaimed.
"Forehead...!
But I don't know what it will look like when it's fired!
That pitcher is quite skilled!
The rainy weather makes it difficult for me to wait until things start to change before taking action!
It's barely enough to go without rain!
"And with that awkward stance, this pitcher and I are really incompatible!" Sendou gave Miyuki a look that said, "Are you crazy?!" before explaining.
To prevent Miyuki from continuing his Miyuki and becoming a mythical figure, it wouldn't be good.
"Uh!" Miyuki was also taken aback by Sendou's reply!
"So you don't have much confidence in hitting, so you're aiming for two different Ball Trajectory at the same time!" he then mentally complained.
"Well!"
"Now it's my turn!" Miyuki said with a smile, his expression incredibly sunny.
"...!"
"Well... Miyuki luck!" Sendou replied after glancing at Miyuki and then at the base.
What's with that look in your eyes?
"You bastard!" Miyuki noticed Sendou's gaze at the base and muttered under his breath.
Don't worry about it!
I still hope you'll call it out!
"After all, you hit the ball even when there were no bases open during your first Practice Match with your seniors!" Sendou said with a smile after hearing Miyuki's words, and then walked towards the bench.
"What a pity!" Then, various words of comfort came from the bench.
Not long after,
"Ping!"
"Smack!"
"Out!"
"The spiral ball is too powerful!"
"As expected, it's not something you can hit on the first try!" Miyuki said after hitting a Ground Ball to first base and returning to the bench.
"Yes! That's true!" Sendou replied calmly, but his gaze...
"You bastard! Don't look at the bases!" Miyuki complained.
"This is the Miyuki Kazuya!"
"It's normal to not get a hit when there's no one on base!" Sawamura, who had just returned from the Bullpen to drink water, delivered the Miyuki blow to Miyuki.
"Hey!" Miyuki said, indicating that I was still right next to him.
"That's true! At least wait until I've taken off my protective gear!" Sendou said, then walked off the bench. Staying on the bench without changing his clothes would make his body cool down.
They didn't give Miyuki a chance to open his mouth to argue or emphasize anything.
"Call out!"
"Ping!"
"Outside the boundary!"
"Ping!"
"Outside the boundary!"
"Puff!"
"Call out!"
"Smack!"
"Nice shot!"
"The attacker is out!"
"Three outs, change of game!"
After Furuya an outside and an inside ball out of bounds, Furuya was struck out.
"That was a good shot!... That one just now!" Furuya thought to himself as he walked back.
"The referee today was way too biased towards the Low Ball," NakaTen said to Miyuki, who was passing out defensive gear.
"A crisp sound, and gloves that can catch even Low Ball beautifully!"
Just like Sendou said, it's not just Mukai's ball control that's outstanding!
That catcher! His catching skills are exceptional!
"If this continues, the opponent will hit more and more Low Ball!" Miyuki replied seriously.
The people on the bench also understood.
If a catcher's skills are good enough, they can influence the referee, causing him to make a wrong call or favor the catcher's judgment.
"Although Sendou wasn't talking about the catcher's skills!" Miyuki then added.
"Alright!
"Let's keep this under control!" Miyuki spoke again after Furuya returned to the bench and changed out of his protective gear.
"Oh!!!"
I looked up some things in the middle, and ended up working on it so late.
Requesting votes...