"Nice play!" Both teams encouraged and praised their teammates!
"Now it's our turn to attack! Let's win those runs back!"
"Yeah!!!" The players, whose morale had just been boosted by Coach Takei, now trusted him far more than before.
"Hahaha! This is what makes a game fun! But I'm not going to let you have your way. Witness the evolved Sawamura! The opening chapter of the Sawamura Legend!"
"Idiot, what kind of nonsense are you spouting? You weakling!"
"What did you say? Who are you calling a weakling?"
"Listen up, the real game starts now! The light hasn't gone out in their eyes yet. Their Fighting Spirit will be at an unprecedented high this inning, so suppress them properly and shift the entire game in our favor!" Sendou said, wrapping an arm around Sawamura just as he was about to bristle and rush over to scratch someone.
"I know already!" Sawamura grumbled, trying to break free, but...
"Let go! I need to go defend." Sawamura looked at Sendou resentfully.
"Oh! Sorry, sorry!" Sendou awkwardly withdrew his arm.
Sawamura then snorted and strutted toward the Pitcher's Mound with a haughty air.
"A Shin! I'm counting on you! Pitches down the middle and inside, both balls and strikes, will be enough. Leave the rest to the defense. That idiot's pitches won't be easy to hit, even if he isn't throwing at full strength!"
"Yeah, leave it to me!" A Shin, who had caught Sawamura's pitches before, knew just how terrifying their quality was.
That was right. Even when Sawamura was not throwing at full strength, his pitches still moved. The movement was simply small enough that Takeda could barely catch them. That was enough. With such subtle movement, middle school-level softball club batters had a hard time noticing what was special about