Chapter 295: How Could I Run Away?
"Out!"
"A line drive back to the pitcher! The pinch hitter Yabe, known for handling inside pitches, was completely shut down!"
Even the commentator piled on.
You couldn't blame him—Yabe's hit had about as much power as a casual warm-up toss between fielders.
From any angle, this duel was a decisive victory for Sawamura.
"OH!!!"
"That was incredible, Sawamura!"
"He's in amazing form!"
"That expression alone is terrifying! Hahaha!"
"But don't relax yet, Sawamura!"
"Keep attacking!"
Ota was practically spinning in circles in the dugout. Baseball games have long pauses, and both players and spectators tend to live for the moment.
Among the powerful teams already eliminated from the summer tournament—aside from the neutral Akikawa and the Inashiro-leaning Sakurazawa honor students, Yakushi, Ichidaisan, and Sensen—there probably wasn't a single team that wanted Seidou to lose.
Especially Ichidaisan's seniors. Because of Sasaki and Manaka, they had long since thrown their support behind Seidou.
"Yoshi! Leadoff batter down! Great job, you little punk!"
Azuma laughed, looking like a two-hundred-pound bear—though, come to think of it, he probably really was around two hundred pounds.
"Well, of course! He's the guy who went head-on against me, after all!"
Zaizen said proudly, full tsundere mode.
This was probably the moment when this so-called genius—who'd only had eyes for Narumiya Mei—finally started to realize how much he truly loved baseball.
"One out!"
Sawamura calmly called out to the defense behind him.
"One out!"
Haruichi answered first, standing face-to-face with him.
"One out!"
"One out!"
From the dugout to the field, voices echoed in succession, encouraging one another as they prepared for what came next.
.....
"Leadoff batter! Center fielder, Kamiya Carlos!"
"Now the lineup cycles back to the leadoff hitter—center fielder Kamiya Carlos! Will Seidou shut down Inashiro's proud one-two punch and keep the game alive? Or will Inashiro seize this chance and end it in one stroke?!!"
"What an incredible secret weapon…Using inside pitches to deal with Yabe?"
"But we won't back down! Absolutely not…!!"
Carlos once again took a stance that blocked the plate.
He was trying to seal off Sawamura's inside pitch.
Sawamura's outside pitches simply couldn't be controlled precisely into the corner—basically, his true weapon was still the inside pitch.
At best, his outside pitches could be kept low, around knee height. They weren't sharp enough to be truly dangerous. Push them lower and they'd just become balls.
Even if they helped expand the batter's perception of the strike zone a little, without entering the zone, their effect was limited.
At most, they could make a batter hesitate—forcing them to suppress the urge to swing.
That was all.
"This guy…In a way, Sawamura's just like Nori—he has no real choices! No—Sawamura has even fewer options. He's basically an inside-pitch-only pitcher. So there's only one answer—attack! Use sharp lines and attack! If it's you, you can do it! Go on the offensive, Sawamura!"
With the coach's approval, Miyuki boldly signaled for an aggressive approach.
All the others could do now was cheer.
Sawamura raised the ball in his hands without fear.
"Don't run away! ×n"
That was the shared will of everyone on the field and in the dugout.
"Show your fighting spirit! That's your weapon!"
Sawamura's golden eyes reflected blazing determination. Miyuki didn't even bother with a waste pitch outside like he had in the ninth inning in a past life—he went straight inside.
"Eijun…"
Wakana watched the mound with worried eyes.
"Whoosh!"
"Pop!"
"Strike!"
"A fearless inside pitch from Seidou's first-year lefty—
the batter can only dodge!!!"
With a stance that blocks the plate, if the pitcher actually goes inside, the batter has no choice but to avoid it.
"This kid… Is he really that fearless?! Would it be fine even if it hit me?"
Carlos thought as he stumbled awkwardly while dodging.
In reality, Sawamura's thoughts were much simpler—he hadn't even considered that.
Even Miyuki had been a little scared there, worried a hit-by-pitch might put Carlos on base.
"What incredible nerve, that first-year!"
Oomae exclaimed from in front of the TV.
"Right—Carlos is the team's fastest runner. They definitely don't want him reaching base via hit-by-pitch! And this is the late innings of extra time, where even one run is fatal. The pitcher should be under tremendous pressure… And yet…"
Manaka trailed off. Everyone understood what he meant.
"If only back then…"
Manaka recalled Raichi Todoroki's home run.
At this point, aside from Sendo—and the Ichidaisan seniors watching today—everyone might actually be overestimating Sawamura's courage.
"Good life on the ball," Miyuki said encouragingly as he tossed it back.
"Pop!"
"Phew…"
Sawamura took a deep breath.
"That scared me…"
Miyuki thought, his heart still pounding.
"But thanks to that, I can use the strike zone more effectively now. The batter has to respect the inside pitch. If the ump thinks he's stepping too far out, that could even be called a strike. And dodging like that really disrupts timing—he should play it safe...Huh?"
Miyuki saw that Carlos still hadn't moved—his body once again blocking the plate.
Carlos continued to trust his team's data and his coach's instructions.
Even with all the logic in the world, Miyuki still didn't dare go too deep inside.
Leaving the game's fate to the umpire?
He didn't trust the umpire that much.
"Attack, Sawamura!"
The trio of third-year seniors shouted in their hearts.
"Sawamura-kun!" —Haruno.
"Eijun!" ×2 —Fumino and Wakana.
"Go for it, Sawamura…"
Even Kanemaru and Maezono—afraid of saying the wrong thing—cheered silently.
"GO!!!"
But as Sawamura pitched, Kanemaru finally couldn't hold it in and shouted.
"A ball is fine… a ball…"
Miyuki kept chanting internally.
"Whoosh!"
"That's too sweet—he'll crush it!"
From Miyuki's angle, the pitch was right in a hittable zone—barely a strike.
"Ping!"
"Foul!"
Carlos's hit had little power, but thankfully it stayed low and went straight out.
"…!"
Carlos swallowed hard as he looked at where it landed.
If that ball had stayed fair, even with two extra legs he'd have been thrown out by Seidou's infield.
"Hey—so even you swing late? By that much?"
Regaining his composure, Carlos adjusted his helmet and reset his timing.
"It's fine. The ball's got life, Sawamura!"
Miyuki stood up and encouraged him loudly.
"We can't drag this out. Next pitch decides it. Use the cutter…"
Miyuki told himself.
"The coach was right. This pitcher's control isn't stable—there will be hittable pitches. But the timing is awful. That release point you can't see… it's brutal for hitters. It's like Furuya's fastball with no runners on—there's almost no time to react. 'Too fast…' Another terrifying first-year. Forget the sharp balls outside…I'm not a scarecrow who just stands there. If I get a pitch I can hit, I won't hold back."
Carlos cleared his mind and prepared again.
All of this took no more than a second or two.
This time, his stance changed.
His feet were still close to the inside edge of the plate—But his upper body no longer blocked it.
With just one step back of his rear foot, he could swing freely at the inside pitch he was targeting.
His eyes carried the resolve of a warrior ready to die.
"Why… Why go this far?"
Sawamura looked into Carlos's eyes and remembered seeing that same desperation in Narumiya Mei and others.
Gritting his teeth—
"I don't know what Koshien is really like. I don't know why you all push yourselves this far…But—If I run away here… I feel like I'll never be able to stand on the mound again…How could I run away?!"
"Puff!"
Sawamura's stride was more powerful than ever, screaming his resolve.
Carlos's pupils shrank instantly.
He saw eyes that had poured everything into this one pitch.
Even though Sawamura's supple body completely hid the ball's release point—
Carlos knew.
This pitch would decide life or death for this at-bat.
"Inside!"
He knew the course too.
All of Sawamura's finishing pitches, according to the data, were inside.
"Whoosh!"
The ball suddenly appeared in Carlos's vision.
He reacted instantly, stepping his back foot half a pace and starting his swing.
Just before bat met ball—
The pitch deflected upward, like a refracted ray of light.
Carlos clenched his teeth.
Anyone watching would see frustration at being outplayed—and the madness of a final, all-or-nothing swing.
"Ping!"
"Ugh—!!"
After completing his swing, Carlos forced out one last roar with the strength he had left.
It wasn't loud—his energy was spent.
But anyone who heard it could feel the emotion inside:
Regret.
Desperation.
A strike thrown with his entire being.
It was as if that single swing had drained every last drop of strength from his body.
Seidou's infielders retreated frantically.
The outfielders charged forward.
The ball floated slowly toward shallow right—clearly powerless.
But it carried Carlos's will, refusing to fall in the infield.
By Sendo's estimate, it would drop just behind first base.
To guard against a safety bunt, Captain Tetsu and Masuko were both playing in.
If they hadn't been, the ball would've been an easy out right to Tetsu's face.
But—
"SAWAMURA! Cover first!"
Miyuki shouted instantly, his eyes fixed on Tetsu, Shirasu, and the rapidly closing figure of Sendo.
"! Pop!"
Tetsu dove without hesitation.
He caught the ball—and slammed hard onto his back.
Even after that impact, he wrapped both arms and his entire body around the glove, afraid to let the ball slip free.
At the same time, tens of thousands of eyes—
including Carlos, sprinting toward first—locked onto that curled-up figure on the ground.
"Cough—cough…"
Tetsu slowly rolled over.
Still on one knee, he raised the glove high the moment he could.
"OUT!!!"
After confirming the catch, the line judge declared loudly.
"OHHHH!!!"
In an instant, Seidou's supporters threw their arms into the air and roared!
On Inashiro's side, all they could do was watch in despair.
Coach Kunimoto, who had been leaning forward, slowly straightened up—his forehead drenched in sweat, his expression full of loss.
At this point, even he couldn't hide his nerves.
Carlos, still wearing his helmet and gear, tilted his head back toward the sky.
His closed eyes spoke of frustration and helplessness.
"Tetsu-san!"
Shirasu, already nearby, shouted his name excitedly.
"Tetsu-san…?"
After calling out, Shirasu noticed that Tetsu hadn't stood up.
He was still on the ground, knees and elbows down, breathing heavily.
"Are you okay, Tetsu-san?"
Sendo asked worriedly, having just arrived.
"You—are you alright?"
The line judge also sensed something wrong.
"I—I'm fine…Just got the wind knocked out of me,"
Tetsu said slowly but firmly, wiping his mouth with his glove.
The motion looked like something straight out of a martial arts novel—as if he were wiping blood from his lips.
That fall had knocked a mouthful of air—and maybe more—out of him.
"Time!"
The umpire called for a stoppage.
Giving Tetsu a moment to recover.
"Because Yuuki-kun requires treatment, please wait a moment. The game will resume shortly!"
With the official timeout, players gathered around, and Coach Kataoka sprinted out of the dugout immediately.
The tournament medical staff entered the field as well.
The organizers had to confirm the player's condition.
High school baseball exists to protect and develop players.
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