Chapter 325: The Real Deal
Ino used a feint to deceive Kuramochi and stole a strike with a forkball.
This greatly boosted Yokohama Kouhoku's defense. Kuramochi himself didn't hesitate either—after all, Seido baseball is an aggressive style that keeps attacking the opponent head-on.
They don't fear strikeouts, and they don't fear making outs. So when Shiraha saw Kuramochi getting restless again, his head still started to ache.
But at this point, all they could do was trust their ace.
"Pop!"
"Ping!"
"Pop!"
The two sides once again entered a stalemate, and before anyone realized it, the count was already full—two strikes, three balls.
"Pop!"
"Ball four!"
"Alright! Great plate discipline, Onii-san!!!" As always, the guy hopping around like a monkey near the bullpen couldn't be left out.
"Third batter! Right fielder, Isashiki!"
"Demon-senpai! You got this!!"
"One out, runners on first and second! Yokohama Kouhoku Academy is facing another huge crisis! The batter is now part of the heart of the lineup!"
"Come on, bastard!!!"
"Hoo… let's begin." Ino finished taking a deep breath on the mound and spoke to himself.
"Whoosh!"
"Yah—! You big shrimp!"
"Ping!"
Jun-san smashed the slider with a terrifying expression, sending a grounder toward third base…
"Pop!"
"Out!"
"Nice bunt!" Onii-san whispered as he took the opportunity to advance to second base.
"Damn it! I wanted to eat all the good stuff myself!Now it's all yours, Sendo! Guess you really are lucky!" Isashiki said to Sendo, who had just stood up.
"Thanks."
"Go blow him away! I… approve!" Isashiki said, patting Sendo on the shoulder.
Sendo smiled slightly but said nothing.
"Nice bunt!!! Silky-haired dog senpai!"
"Shut up, you idiot!!! What bunt?! And who are you calling a silky-haired dog, damn it!" Hearing Sawamura's voice, Isashiki—who had been about to head back to the dugout—turned straight toward the bullpen to deliver a loving iron fist.
This brat really thought no one could deal with him anymore. If he wasn't beaten for three days, he'd start tearing the roof off—no, if he wasn't beaten for three at-bats, he'd tear the roof off.
"Cleanup hitter!!! Center fielder, Sendo!"
"Two outs, runners on second and third…" The commentator took a deep breath.
"The batter… the cleanup hitter!!!"
"Oh!!!" The roar of the stadium was so loud that you couldn't make out what the crowd was even shouting.
"Isashiki-senpai! The game's started!"
"Huh? So… what about it?" Isashiki's expression was viciously fierce!
"Let's cheer together!" Sawamura said with great effort.
"No need! You never say anything good anyway!" Isashiki-senpai refused to let go, clearly planning to teach Sawamura a lesson.
"Isashiki, find somewhere with fewer people! But make it quick—he's pitching next inning!"
Miyauchi-senpai cut in.
He also thought Sawamura deserved a bit of punishment and joked along with them.
"Two outs, runners on second and third, batter is the cleanup hitter! None of the following batters are pushovers either—especially the guy behind him!
So this is where we settle it!" Shiraha glanced at Sendo in the batter's box and Tetsu waiting on deck, making up his mind to decide it right here.
If they couldn't show resolve here, they'd lose momentum—and then facing Tetsu would just be handing the game over.
Ino likewise nodded firmly to his partner.
Come to think of it, Kanagawa is also a fiercely competitive region. Although its overall strength and number of powerhouse schools are weaker than Tokyo's, there are still quite a few prestigious teams like Yokohama Kouhoku.
For example, many players from big-name youth leagues like Omura often go to Korin or Tsuruta. As for Yokohama Kouhoku, even before Sawamura earned the ace number, they had already faced Kanagawa powerhouses like Kokonoe—teams that were strong enough to put even a red-hot Sawamura in trouble. If memory serves, he didn't give up any runs in that game, though.
Overall, these teams are probably around the same level as Sensen—roughly Tokyo quarterfinalist caliber.
In other words, Kanagawa likely has at least four teams at the Tokyo top-eight level, but almost none that reach the level of the three major Tokyo powerhouses.
Still, they do have the ability to snatch one or two wins when those elite teams slip up.
"Even if this is a head-to-head showdown, they probably won't throw many good pitches,"
Chris-senpai said, watching Shiraha's glove.
"But my Sendo isn't the kind of batter you can deal with just by missing the zone a few times."
Sendo got along fairly well with almost all the upperclassmen, but if you had to name the third-year he was closest to, it would definitely be Chris-senpai.
Not only did Chris give him plenty of advice on a regular basis, the two also talked often. Likewise, the people who understood Sendo best weren't Sendo himself, but Chris-senpai and Coach Kataoka—because whatever Chris knew, Kataoka knew as well.
After exchanging several signs, Yokohama Kouhoku's pitcher and catcher finally settled on the first pitch.
"In this tense situation, what kind of pitch will Yokohama Kouhoku show us? The highly anticipated first pitch… here it comes!"
"Whoosh!"
"Pop!"
"Ball!"
"The first pitch is an inside slider. Learning from the previous at-bat, they aimed it around Sendō's waist?"
If that pitch had caught the strike zone, Sendo could have hit it. But missing the zone by two balls was simply too sharp—even this guy, who was jokingly called 'blind,' could tell it was a ball.
"Next, right here!"
"Whoosh!"
"Hm?"
"Ping!"
"Foul!"
"The second pitch is another ball outside! The height is just right, but it's still off the plate. Even so, Sendo barely managed to turn it into a foul!"
"He really swung at that? Such a fast bat speed! That pitch was just meant to guard against his swing—they didn't expect it to actually be used. A fastball there would've been dangerous. Still, they unexpectedly picked up a strike."
…
"Even though he himself may have forgotten what it felt like to be in the zone during that final at-bat against Inashiro Industrial, his body remembers it perfectly. Over these two weeks of rest, his swing has become smoother and faster. Moving him up in the batting order isn't just a tactical advantage—he may not realize it himself, but he's already our genuine cleanup hitter," Chris-senpai said, watching Sendo casually foul off such an extreme put-away pitch.
"Hmph. This kid may sound cocky sometimes," Coach Kataoka said with a smile, "but he always thinks his own strength is weaker than it really is. And yet, he's never afraid of those he believes are stronger than him. He's a truly humble kid."
Suddenly—
"BOOM!"
"PING!!!"
"Ah!!"
"Oh!!!"
In an instant, every player on both teams—and even the entire stadium—stared wide-eyed at the ball soaring toward the outfield.
"Pop!" The ball landed in a spectator's glove in the stands.
"Foul!"
-------------
If you want to read 20 chapters advanced.
Visit my patreon: patreon.com/Shu_21