Furuya's Unsteady Start

"Puff!"

"Piu!"

"Thump!!!"

"Bad ball!"

"The ball count is full!!" a spectator shouted as he saw the referee use both hands to indicate the ball count.

How many goals are there now?

They really can be persistent!

They didn't shy away from the ball at all when it came Furuya!

"In yesterday's Inajitsu, he was selected to reach base on Four Balls!"

Getting them to base will be a real problem!

"Puff!"

"Piu!"

"Ping!"

"Outside the boundary!"

"Don't rush! Don't panic! Don't be careless!" Furuya reminded himself as he continued to throw the ball without any hesitation.

The two sides clashed without hesitation, instantly stirring up the audience's emotions.

"Puff!"

"Piu!"

"Ah!" Kondo saw that he couldn't shoot at all when he saw an extremely tricky ball.

"Thump!!!"

"Bad ball!"

Furuya was deeply affected, but he still felt the ball was pretty good!

Miyuki was also somewhat surprised; his movements were perfectly fine.

"Four Balls!" The referee seemed oblivious to Miyuki's objection and declared the foul immediately, though it wouldn't have mattered anyway...

"Lucky!" Kondo, who thought he was going to be eliminated, thought to himself that he was lucky.

"Yoshi ah!"

"Dai-chan, Nice pick!"

"Dai-chan...!" Upon hearing this shout, Sendou couldn't help but think of sauces.

"They just let them go!" Owada Akiko sighed.

She was also captivated by the tense match from the very beginning.

"Ah!

This is a very good Ball Trajectory that could be judged as either a good or bad shot!

"It can only be said that Seidou was a bit unlucky with the referee's calls today." Even Mine Fujio couldn't have seen from that distance that the batter was unable to make a move.

That's good!

That straight shot alone is tricky enough, not to mention the Fast Forkball!

"If the strategy is too difficult, just give up on Low Ball from the start, that way you can be sure it's a straight ball!" Minami Tomo thought to himself.

After all, the Ball Trajectory of Fast Forkball before it changes is unlikely to be a high ball, which is why Coach Ochiai taught Furuya to use Vertical Slider.

Because that kind of ball is a high ball, a ball that falls at high speed.

With Fast Forkball, both high and Low Ball can be Changeup, rather than hoping that a Furuya fast ball will enter the Strike Zone.

Of course, if Furuya's low straight ball enters the Strike Zone, you can't just not hit Low Ball; the Spring Kobe match between Hongo and Hongo is an example of this.

The result is that you have to choose one of the two poisons.

"Why!" Furuya, wrinkling his little nose in dissatisfaction.

Furuya certainly wouldn't understand the referee's decision-making criteria. He felt that what seemed like a good play was actually a bad one, which must have had a significant psychological impact on him.

"Let's switch it over!"

"Don't worry about it!!"

The new batter was in position, Furuya's right foot was on Home Plate. As he was on the batter, the runner on first base, who was facing away from the batter, was off the base by a large margin.

Startled, Furuya suddenly realized there was another runner behind him and turned around to look.

The runner was so startled that he quickly returned to first base.

After all, Furuya's ball speed was too fast, and he was afraid he wouldn't be able to react in time.

This is where right-handed pitchers are at a disadvantage; left-handed pitchers face the runner on first base directly, and the runner doesn't dare to go too far.

Although Furuya had already recognized the runner, it was impossible for him, as a right-handed pitcher, not to turn around.

I can only think of running from time to time.

"It's far from the base!"

"Even if the pitcher didn't care about this level of off-base movement, it would be impossible!"

Furuya suddenly became like he was on ecstasy, shaking his head wildly, wishing he could multitask.

It would be difficult to get him to concentrate on shooting now.

"Furuya!! Runners don't need to worry about this!"

Just glare at him before you throw the ball!

Instruction from Senior Chris!

"Hahahaha!!" Sawamura jumped out and shouted.

"Baka!"

"Furuya is a right-handed pitcher, how could he possibly do that!" However, he was immediately criticized by a group of people.

"We'll encounter this situation again in the future; we can only gradually adapt!" Miyuki had no other choice.

Just like Sawamura was initially outmaneuvered by the runners, he could only gradually accumulate experience.

Right-handed, traditional pitchers are more easily disrupted by runners.

It's as if his swing-style pitching has actually been phased out because it doesn't help the ball itself.

It wraps the ball around the shoulder but still needs to be taken off before throwing it; it has the disadvantage of being slow to throw, but no advantages.

To put it bluntly, it just looks good. Only some serious Japanese people like to use this move to show off.

Furuya is someone who doesn't understand, and has already gotten used to it.

Furuya's body was in the throwing motion, but his head was turned to look at the runner.

Similarly, as one of the pillars of the Ugumori batting lineup, Kondo Daiki is no ordinary guy once he gets on base.

His base-running skills are even better than Kuramochi's.

Kuramochi is too greedy now; he wants to hit, run bases, shoot from both sides, and defend.

Kondo Daiki, on the other hand, trained in batting techniques to get himself to base, as well as base-keeping skills and defense.

To put it simply, the key is to hit the hard-to-hit pitches out of bounds, make precise pitch selections, hit Four Balls to get on base, and then use various techniques and tactics on the bases to disrupt the pitcher's rhythm.

While defense is a core role, outfielders actually require less technical skill; their main strengths are speed, judgment, and experience.

Such an extreme runner is a real problem for Furuya.

"Pfft!" Furuya suddenly turned his head, wanting to throw the ball quickly.

The runners also start moving in an instant.

"Piu!"

"Thump!!!"

"Bad ball!"

When Furuya is completely focused on Miyuki's gloves, his ball control isn't very good, and this distraction makes it even harder for him to control the ball.

Kondo Daiki returned to base.

Seidou already knew about this runner's extreme nature, but once he got to base, there was nothing they could do.

They can be said to spend almost all their time on bases, and they are very fast. It would be strange if they weren't amazing!

"The timing of the start, the judgment of the pitcher's actions, and all aspects of the base running technique were perfect!"

"This runner is really troublesome!" Miyuki thought to himself, giving the first base runner a very high rating.

Although I wanted Furuya to stop worrying about runners, I could have just sent him to second base. In the summer, Yang Shunchen decisively sent Kuramochi to second base, which shows the difference.

Without experience, Furuya simply couldn't do it.

Even if you try not to notice, your eyes will unconsciously look over there.

The opposing team's second batter is essentially a weaker version of the first batter; while not as extreme, he still has a star player on the base who can carry the team...

"Four Balls!" Before long, Furuya was completely outplayed by Kondo Daiki.

From beginning to end, he was just pretending to steal the base. Furuya was watching him when he suddenly turned his head.

Even as he turned his head, his body had already moved in advance to prepare for the pitching motion.

In this situation, it would truly be a miracle if Furuya managed to make Strike Zone.

Of course, only a few people on the field can see this.

"NO!!" Head Manager Oota shouted.

"Here we go again, the start of the game is always so unstable!"

"Four Balls!"

"This situation seems so familiar!" Owada Akiko exclaimed.

After all, it's become the norm for Furuya to start the season like this.

"This is almost becoming a characteristic of this pitcher!" Mine Fujio exclaimed.

Mine Fujio didn't know Furuya, so he couldn't have imagined that runners would have such a big impact on him.

"It really feels familiar!" Sendou exclaimed.

"It's scheduled! It's always like this!" Sawamura shouted.

"I'm talking to you! You idiot!" Sendou continued to complain upon hearing Sawamura's voice.

Sendou is different from Owada Akiko; he knows Furuya's situation. When he said he was familiar with it, he meant that Sawamura had two four-ball starts yesterday.

The opposing team's three batters also stepped into the Batter's Box and prepared to strike.

"Puff!"

"Piu!"

"Bite!"

"Huh?" Everyone gasped when they saw the attacker's sudden strike.

"Outside the boundary!"

"Call!!"

"A safe and secure sacrifice!" Higasa, who was sitting on the bench, breathed a sigh of relief.

Normal sacrificial attacks are all prepared in advance.

In simple terms, "Safety Bunt" is stealing points; the attack posture is transformed into a touch technique.

"Wow, they really are proactive!"

I had already anticipated that they would steal two bases!

I never expected such a sudden attack!

"If we're not careful, we might advance to two bases at once, which could result in a run!" Yamaguchi was also startled.

This team's Small Ball Strategy are far more advanced than what Sendou and his classmates used in junior high.

After all, the contestants' qualifications are what they are, and Sendou and the others had too little time back then.

"Disrupt them! Disrupt them as much as you like!!!"

"The pitcher's wavering!!!" Umemiya Seiichi shouted from the ready area.

He was right about that. They used all sorts of unexpected Small Ball Strategy to disrupt Seidou's rhythm, making it impossible for anyone to figure out their true purpose.

"I didn't!" Furuya retorted inwardly, his Fighting Spirit ignited.

"That person's name is Minami Tomo... huh?"

"What a formidable guy!" Sendou thought to himself.

Sendou had only heard them call out Minami Tomo's name before, and didn't even know if Minami Tomo was his surname or given name, but that didn't diminish his admiration for Minami Tomo.

Don't worry about the runners!

"Let's settle this with the attacker!!"

"No matter what the batters and runners want to do, there's only one thing the pitcher has to do!"

"Let's keep it simple, just throw it straight at us!!" Miyuki, seeing that the opponent wouldn't shoot Low Ball, directly chose a low inside corner fastball to decide the outcome.

The important thing is that runners on first and second base have fewer tricks up their sleeves!

"Puff!"

"Piu!"

"Thump!!!"

"Nice shot!"

"Piu!"

"Thump!!!"

"Bad ball!"

Two consecutive straight balls completely disrupted the opponent's entire strategy.

"Puff!"

"Piu!"

"Thump!!!"

"Nice shot!"

"The attacker is out!!"

Moreover, the opponent's failure to shoot two consecutive balls greatly restored Furuya's confidence, allowing him to shoot the third ball very accurately.

A straightforward and aggressive shot selection resulted in the first elimination.

If the start is unstable, the most difficult thing is to get a certain number of eliminations to stabilize the situation.

"Nice shot!!"

"That's fine!"

Even without using force to suppress the opponent, as long as there is this kind of Ball Trajectory, the opponent will not be able to hit it easily! Miyuki looked at Furuya and thought to himself.

Furuya's atmosphere has finally returned to what it was at the beginning!

"Nice ball Furuya!"

"He's out! Furuya-kun!"

Let's tackle them one by one!

"This is only first grade!"

This is no joke!

"Damn it!" Umemiya said, placing his bat behind his back.

"Fourth batter! Pitcher, Umemiya- kun!"

"This batter will take the first pitch! Miyuki!" Watanabe-senpai with some concern from the stands.

However, he didn't know that Miyuki had no intention of Head-on Showdown.

Just like other teams when facing power hitters, they use all sorts of tricky Ball Trajectory, even if it means making mistakes and throwing bad shots.

Even if I let him get on base, I would never use a fastball to face him Strike Zone in the center of the strike zone.

He was even more cautious when facing Sendou, and would throw even Strike Zone a corner corner very carefully.

No one could figure him out, and no one knew what kind of ball suited him best.

I'm so sorry!

We have no intention of fighting you head-on!

If you're forced to shoot Fast Forkball, you can even get a double kill if you manage to trick them into shooting.

"Take control here!" However, Miyuki's strategy is slightly different.

After all, a hitter like Umemiya doesn't meet the standard of a strong hitter, and in Miyuki's eyes, he's easy to deal with.

What's truly terrifying is someone like Raichi Todoroki, who can shoot any ball and might hit any kind of ball.

This guy simply treats every ball as a straight shot.

"Focus on dealing with the attacker!"

"We have to keep them under control here!" Head Manager Oota urged.

"It's so exciting right from the start!" Owada Akiko exclaimed.

"The fourth batter, Umemiya- no-kun?"

"I have a feeling he's going to create some kind of atmosphere!" Mine Fujio was also looking forward to it.

Sawamura cheered for Furuya while doing the gymnastics he had just learned.

"Bring it on!

"Overthrow the superior! Let's take down Seidou too!" There will never be a shortage of viewers in this world who want to see strong teams eliminated.

Furuya looked at Umemiya, his expression changing slightly.

In particular, there was the provocation he received from Umemiya in the restroom.

However, no one else knew about these things.

Sawamura is an idiot and can be ignored, and Koharu is not an expert in this area either.

Furuya's breathing became somewhat labored.

"Give me a straight shot to the Outside Corner Ball. It's okay if it goes wide, just keep it low!" Miyuki knew that the opponent would suddenly shoot the first ball, so he used this shot to test the waters.

"Puff!"

"Piu!"

"Ping!"

"Outside the boundary!"

Miyuki didn't expect that he would actually make a move on such a bad ball, and that he would almost hit the right spot right away.

Umemiya gave Furuya a provocative smile, and Furuya's breathing became even more erratic.

"It's too high! Lower it a bit more!" Miyuki shouted.

"They really made a move!"

"The first ball was a direct Furuya!"

"The impact transmitted through the baseball bat!"

This is no joke!

It's about to explode!

... My adrenaline!!

"He's so far from the base, will he run?" Miyuki he saw Kondo on second base make another move.

Although he ran away before, he wasn't this far from the base.

"Although the swing is aggressive and powerful, it is very easy to deal with bad pitches."

Lower it a little more than before!

"Puff!"

"Piu!"

"Stealing a base!"

Furuya, provoked, completely ignored the runner and threw the ball almost entirely on instinct.

"Ping!!"

I was a little late today because of something...