Chapter 332: Crisis Once Again
Masuko, who had swung and missed, tilted his head back to look at the sky. As Sendo ran past him, he spoke.
"Sorry, Sendo!"
"Hm? Don't worry about it! The game's still long! They've changed their pitching pattern again! Just hit it out next time!" Sendo replied with a gentle smile, realizing Masuko-senpai was talking to him.
"Let's head back," Tetsu said, placing a hand on Masuko's shoulder.
"Yeah."
"Don't let it get to you, Masuko-san!" Kuramochi was the first to speak up when they returned to the bench.
"They even went with back-to-back intentional walks! Isn't that perfect? Next time we'll just load the bases and see how they try to walk us then!" he said fiercely, slamming one fist into his palm.
"Kuramochi-senpai! You still don't have a hit yet," Sawamura suddenly cut in as he returned to the bench to get ready.
For a brief moment, the atmosphere turned awkward.
"What did you say?!!! Kura!" Kuramochi kicked him immediately.
"Smack!"
"Don't get cocky!" Ryosuke followed up with a chop to the head. He wasn't exactly hitless either!
Then Kuramochi put him in a headlock.
"I haven't even settled the score with you for calling me a shaggy mutt!" Isashiki joined in as well.
The scene quickly turned lively.
"Let's go!!!" Tetsu waited a few seconds for them to finish fooling around before speaking up.
"Yoshiiiii!!!"
"—Oh!" Sawamura was still being choked and could barely make a sound, with Kuramochi practically climbing on top of him.
"Let's definitely score!" Yokohama's captain shouted loudly.
"Yeah!!!"
"Absolutely hold them here and wait for the seniors to widen the lead," Sawamura thought to himself as he watched Yokohama's momentum.
"Top of the sixth inning, Yokohama Kohoku's offense.
Eighth batter! Catcher, Shiraha-kun!"
"Yoshiiiii!"
"As his battery mate, I can feel the pressure Ino is under! I have to get on base! Create a chance—"
Sawamura's pitch cut off his inner monologue.
"Pang!"
"Smack!"
"Out!"
"Damn it!" Things didn't go as planned. He was out on the very first pitch!
Then he saw a pair of golden eyes.
In Sawamura's eyes, there was only straight ahead!!!
"Smack!"
"Ping!"
"Foul!"
"Ping!"
"Smack!"
"A high fly ball to center field off Ace Ino's bat! Two outs in just four pitches!"
"First batter! Second baseman, Ishioka-kun!"
"What kind of pitch is that?!" Ishioka stared intensely at Sawamura on the mound.
"Puh!"
"Whoosh!"
"Smack!"
"Strike!"
"First pitch, crossfire fastball! The batter watches it go by!!!"
"Yeah! The release point is completely hidden! Damn it!" Ishioka tightened his grip on the bat.
"Whoosh!"
"Same course?"
"Ping!" Ishioka grit his teeth at the feel of the cutter.
"Ryosuke!"
An easy grounder to second!
"Smack!"
"Out!"
"Three outs, change sides!"
"Yoshi yoshi yoshi!" Sawamura pumped his left fist and shouted in celebration.
"Three outs! Seidou's first-year left-hander needed only six pitches to retire the side!" the commentator exclaimed.
"I'm starting to understand why Baseball Kingdom calls Seidou's first-years the Super Diamond Generation! Whether it's Sawamura-kun or Furuya-kun, they'd both be reliable backup pitchers on any team. And Sendo would be a cleanup hitter anywhere," the other commentator added.
"Nice ball, Sawamura!"
"You idiot! Nice ball!"
"That was great!"
Sawamura returned to the bench to a wave of praise.
"Hehe! It's your turn, Miyuki Kazuya! Hit it out! Don't—mmph!" Sawamura handed the bat to Miyuki, who was taking off his gear, but Sendo covered his mouth halfway through.
"Stop saying unlucky stuff!" Sendo said exasperatedly.
"You're not qualified to say that! ×N"
The entire bench immediately shot back at Sendo—Miyuki included. Sendo could only stare in disbelief. He was trying to help!
"Bottom of the sixth, Seidou High's offense. Seventh batter! Catcher, Miyuki-kun!"
"Both teams are starting the inning with their catchers! What kind of surprise will Miyuki-kun bring us? During the summer preliminaries, his RBIs were second only to Sendo on Seidou! This should be exciting!" Clearly, this commentator didn't know about the 'runners-on-base rule'…
"Hit it out, Miyuki Kazuya! It's time to show your manly spirit! I've got your back! Hahahahaha!" With Sendo no longer restraining him, Sawamura went wild again in the on-deck circle.
"Shut up…" Miyuki muttered.
"Whoosh!"
"Smack!"
"Strike!"
"First pitch, low outside fastball, strike!!!"
"He didn't move! Was he sitting on a certain pitch?!"
"Smack!"
"Ball!"
"Second pitch, same low outside fastball, but just off the plate! Ball!"
"Whoosh!"
"Ping!"
"Foul!"
"That was close! It almost dropped fair for an out! A curveball at that moment, huh?" Miyuki thought to himself.
"But now I'm behind in the count…"
"Yoshiiiii! He's got him cornered!"
"Finish him off!"
"Your timing's there, Miyuki!"
"Guess it's no good… Looks like I'll have to do it myself!" Sawamura said in the on-deck circle with a look of disappointment.
"Puh!"
"Whoosh!"
Yokohama's deciding pitch came in.
Miyuki saw it coming inside again and pulled his right foot back!
The ball suddenly dropped!
"Ping!"
"Thud!"
"It dropped!"
"Yoshiiiii!!!"
"He hit it!" Furuya and Kuramochi said in unison.
"There weren't even any runners on base…" Sawamura muttered as if responding to them.
"Safe!"
Miyuki recorded his first hit of the day and reached first base.
"They've used the forkball to finish at-bats so many times this game. Don't think it'll keep working! That forkball really is tough to hit… Now I see why he's so confident in it!" Miyuki thought as he stood on the bag.
No wonder he'd seemed in a good mood even when he was cornered.
"Hahahaha! Nice job, Miyuki Kazuya! Leave the rest to me!" Sawamura was back to his familiar lines.
"Where does he even get that confidence from…?" many in the stands wondered silently.
"Ding!"
As if they'd let him swing in this situation!
Sawamura obediently laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runner. Even though Yokohama was prepared, he executed it well. They had no choice but to take Sawamura's out.
"One out, runner on second! Yokohama's battery, who escaped the biggest jam last inning, finds themselves in danger once again. Seidou's offense is surging yet again! Can Yokohama escape this crisis safely once more?" the commentator said. Even he hadn't expected Yokohama to be unable to get hits while Seidou managed to create scoring chances almost every inning.
--------------
If you want to read 20 chapters advanced.
Visit my patreon: patreon.com/Shu_21