"Now's when it really begins!
Get fired up!!" Miyuki rose to his feet and shouted at everyone on the field.
"Yeah!!!"
"Fourth batter! First baseman, Hoshida-kun!"
"The score remained 8 to 5, with Ichidai San High in the lead, as they entered the Bottom of the Eighth Inning!!
Ichidai San High was on offense. After striking out leadoff batter Miyagawa beautifully, it was one out with no runners, and the fourth batter, Hoshida, stepped up!!!
The highly anticipated first pitch!!"
"Pff!"
"Whoosh!"
"Smack!"
"A low outside fastball!!
The batter did not swing. Another exquisite ball trajectory, strike!!!" By this point, even the commentator was getting fired up.
After receiving the first pitch, Miyuki quietly observed Hoshida's condition.
After the discomfort of his first at-bat and the panic caused by the sudden attack, Hoshida had calmed down as well.
That was why Miyuki had to be even more cautious with his pitch selection.
"No matter what, this guy should still remember the inside corner ball from his previous at-bat!
We can't throw that pitch carelessly, but we can use it as bait!" Miyuki was quite skilled at dealing with simple-minded guys like this.
He smacked his right hand into his mitt and got ready.
"I thought that last pitch was going to be a ball!
That was seriously nasty!
With the pitcher in such great form, I can't expect to get a long hit easily!
And he's the kind of pitcher who settles things in the strike zone. I have to swing at every pitch with the determination to decide this matchup!!
I can't leave any openings for them!" Hoshida's thinking was crystal clear. He would not give Seidou the same kind of stance as his previous at-bat, where he had been utterly unable to react to a certain pitch.
With