Chapter 347: Tanba's Transformation
Bottom of the 3rd inning — Seidou High's offense
9th batter: Right fielder, Shirasu!
"Let's go, Shirasu-senpai!"
"Hit it, Shirasu!"
"Bottom of the third inning! Seidou managed to score one run in the previous inning—can their lineup continue to keep the pressure on Kiryu?"
"Acchan! Crush them!" Kiryu's captain shouted from the dugout.
Indeed, their captain wasn't in the starting lineup. It was the man with the brightest smile on the bench during the practice game.
He was highly respected and always the first to encourage his teammates.
....
"Heh."
"Whoosh!"
"Smack!"
Strike!
Batter out!
With a light chuckle, Tate struck out Shirasu, and Seidou's lineup entered its second rotation.
However, Kuramochi was quickly retired again.
His weakness at batting had long been noticed by the nation's powerhouse schools.
Yes, he was incredibly fast—but if you simply didn't let him reach base, that speed meant nothing.
That was exactly why Seidou placed Shirasu in the ninth spot. If both the ninth and first batters were weak, the lineup would completely break apart.
....
2nd batter: Second baseman, Kominato Ryousuke!
"With Tachi's current form, he can definitely challenge their fourth and fifth batters… but we absolutely cannot let Sendo reach second base. Still… intentionally loading the bases is too difficult."
Coach Matsumoto looked toward Seidou's dugout, deep in thought.
"In any case, we must end this inning with this batter!"
He finally gave a firm signal.
Tate was delighted to see the sign—though his smile was already so wide it was hard to tell.
"We'll settle this with low pitches. Use the weight of your fastball to overpower him," Nagumo quickly formulated the plan.
Low pitches were hard to drive deep, and against a batter lacking power, they often resulted in ground balls.
....
"Whoosh!"
"Smack!"
Strike!
"The first pitch—low outside! The batter didn't swing!"
"Well, obviously. When the pitch is placed that precisely, there's no way to swing at the first pitch," Ryousuke muttered in his heart as the commentator spoke.
....
"Whoosh!"
"Smack!"
Ball!
"The second pitch is also low outside, but slightly off the strike zone—ball! This pitcher's control is truly impressive. And his pitches have serious weight!"
"That's right! And Seidou's batter doesn't have much power!"
With the game slowing down, the two commentators chatted casually to lighten the atmosphere for the audience.
.....
"Whoosh!"
"Smack!"
"Ping!"
Foul!
"A slider! I thought it was another outside pitch!" Ryousuke frowned seriously.
"Even Ryousuke-san swung at such a tricky pitch… just how nasty is it?" Miyuki sighed.
"Relax. It's still early in the game," Sendo said calmly.
No matter the opponent's condition, there was only one path for them—
Victory.
They had come this far. No one wanted to go home now.
.....
"Whoosh!"
"Inside pitch! You bastard—!"
"Ping!"
"Smack!"
Out!
Three outs! Change sides!
"Ah! A soft fly straight to the pitcher!"
"Were they completely overpowered by the pitcher's strength?"
"Damn it!"
"Well, we're still ahead! Even if it's only one run!"
Seidou's supporters murmured among themselves with mixed emotions.
.....
"Nice ball, Tachi!"
"When he gets into rhythm like this, he's tough to deal with! But the game has only just begun!"
"Kiryu is the strongest!"
....
At least two more innings…
Miyuki glanced at the big screen and thought to himself.
Coach Kataoka had privately told him that this inning would ideally be handled by Tanba and Furuya.
If Furuya struggled, Kawakami would finish the game.
But for that plan to work, Tanba had to last at least five innings, preferably even longer.
It didn't mean he had to pitch a shutout—
just that he couldn't collapse, and the score gap couldn't widen too much.
....
Top of the 4th inning — Kiryu High's offense
2nd batter: Second baseman, Hirata!
"A left-handed batter… troublesome. But we have no reason to back down."
"Inside fastball!"
You know they're aiming for fastballs, don't you?
Of course you do… better than anyone.
Tanba saw Miyuki's aggressive call and felt his blood boil.
"We're the ones in the lead! Throw it with everything you've got!" Miyuki's eyes sparkled as he watched Tanba react.
"You bastard!"
"Pah!"
"Fushi!"
"Whoosh!"
"Suddenly—"
"Smack!"
Strike!
Hirata was startled and didn't swing.
Or rather, the pitch's sharp angle made it impossible to swing.
Even fastballs had angles—some were no easier to hit than breaking balls.
....
"Whoosh!"
"Ping!"
Foul!
"What's going on? Why the sudden barrage of fastballs? And all of them this sharp?"
After fouling off the second pitch—a low outside fastball—Hirata couldn't understand what the catcher was thinking.
There's no need to waste pitches.
"Whoosh!"
"Smack!"
Strike! Batter out!)
"Forkball! He was completely fooled!"
The batter walked back from the batter's box, clearly frustrated.
Watching on television, Harada slowly felt the same frustration in his heart.
He understood that feeling well—the feeling of being completely toyed with by a catcher.
.....
"Nice ball, Tanba-san!"
Miyuki stood up and tossed the ball back.
Tanba caught it, exhaled slowly, but didn't reply.
His pitch count was already approaching 50.
Aside from a few hitters, the Kiryu lineup was completely targeting fastballs and not even lifting their front leg while batting. That forced Tanba to throw quite a lot of pitches.
The number itself wasn't outrageous yet—but the real issue was that he had already thrown many breaking balls.
And now the heart of the lineup was coming up.
Breaking balls simply couldn't be saved here.
.....
"Third batter! First baseman, Ishizaki!"
As if summoned by the announcement, Tanba's breathing grew heavier.
The pressure on him was enormous.
Seidou was leading—but only by one run.
Even if people said not to worry about giving up runs, or that falling behind wouldn't matter—
For a pitcher, that was impossible to accept.
Tanba always pitched with the goal of not allowing any runs, so fatigue naturally accumulated when he pushed himself beyond his normal limits.
Miyuki, knowing Tanba's tendency to chase a complete-game mindset, wanted him to maintain this burning determination.
So he called:
"Inside curveball!"
"Throw your most confident pitch right here, Tanba-san!"
....
"Fushi!"
"Whoosh!"
"Smack!"
The pitcher's fierce fighting spirit contrasted sharply with the batter's awkward posture as he tried to dodge the pitch.
"Strike!"
.....
"Whoosh!"
"Ping!"
"Center field!"
Many Seidou supporters shouted at the same time.
"Smack!"
Out!
It was a high fly ball to center, an easy catch for Sendo. There was no way he would make a basic mistake on a ball like that.
After throwing an inside curve, Tanba followed with a high-speed inside fastball.
Kiryu's powerful No.3 right-handed hitter was retired just like that.
....
"Fourth batter! Pitcher, Tachi!"
"Here it comes—the cleanup hitter in the second rotation!"
"With two outs, this situation is really ideal!"
Tanba wasn't the only one determined not to give up a run.
Miyuki felt exactly the same way.
In fact, many of the Seidou players probably thought so too.
But pitchers must not be distracted by unnecessary thoughts, so everyone simply focused on encouraging their ace.
....
"Hit it, Tachi-senpai!"
"That smile is amazing!"
"Give us a hit! Please!"
"We're counting on you! Break through!"
"Two outs! Two outs, Tanba-san!"
"Let him hit it!"
"We'll cut him down!"
"You can do it today!"
....
Both teams' aces were performing brilliantly.
Although Tate had allowed one run, the only clean hit against him had been Tetsu's RBI hit.
As for Tanba, he had only thrown one relatively hittable pitch, which resulted in a weak infield single.
Even though Tanba could control the four corners, his control wasn't perfectly stable.
Even Narumiya Mei sometimes left a pitch a little too hittable.
The only pitcher who never missed even slightly was that precision machine—You Shunshin.
Still, every slightly hittable pitch Tanba had thrown had been rescued by Seidou's solid defense.
Meanwhile, Tate had not made a single mistake pitch today.
That was terrifying.
The only explanation was that his condition today was abnormal.
You only had to look at his smile to know.
....
Of course, that terrifying grin was easy to understand.
Unfortunately, that didn't help Seidou at all.
Truthfully, Seidou didn't particularly want to face Kiryu either.
The two teams knew each other inside out.
Everything that should or shouldn't have been revealed—
Kiryu already knew.
The Inashiro match had practically exposed Seidou's entire arsenal.
The only thing the recordings couldn't reveal was Sawamura's hidden release point.
But unfortunately, Kiryu had already seen that during the practice game.
Even the tactics Sendo had devised during the Koshien break had been countered.
Sendo didn't even realize that Coach Matsumoto had analyzed the cooperation between him and Tetsu.
Still, even knowing it didn't necessarily provide a good solution.
If you could overpower them directly—great.
If not, it would require huge sacrifices.
This game was essentially a head-on battle with no secrets.
Just like the saying in military strategy:
"Win with orthodox tactics, triumph with surprise."
The orthodox part was obvious.
But with no possibility of surprising the opponent using information, the only surprise left would be a sudden flash of inspiration during the game—and no one was relying on that.
After the first rotation of both lineups tested each other, the game had essentially entered a meat-grinder phase.
Historically, when two armies knew each other perfectly and were evenly matched in strength, the battles that followed were always extremely brutal.
In other words—
A pure fight to the finish, with no tricks left.
So far, both aces had withstood the first wave of attacks.
But now Tanba faced a serious challenge.
.....
Tate might not be as terrifying as Seidou's fourth or fifth batters, but he was still a formidable hitter.
Otherwise, how could he be the offensive and defensive pillar who led this team this far?
And now he was in superhuman form.
....
Miyuki glanced at Tate's face.
"I still can't understand Sendo's taste…How could that face be addictive? No matter how I look at it, it's just terrifying."
"But that's not a reason for us to retreat, right?"
"Right, Tanba-san?"
The pitcher and catcher smiled at each other.
"We'll shut him down here and take full control of the game's rhythm."
Both of them thought the same thing at that moment.
Their hearts were perfectly in sync.
.....
"Fushi!"
"Hm?"
"Smack!"
Strike!
The batter watched it pass.
"Another first-pitch inside fastball! This guy…!"
For just a moment, Tate's smile disappeared.
But only for that moment.
"Still… if it wasn't like this, it wouldn't be interesting!"
His grin returned, even more terrifying than before—
like a grinning skull.
"Scary…" Miyuki muttered.
"But if you're making a face like that, it means you're enjoying the game too.
It's about time we enjoy it as well."
Only Miyuki could laugh in a situation like this.
"Damn you… still so aggressive."
"Fushi!"
Curveball!
"Ping!"
He hit it!
"Tanba's finishing pitch has been struck! The defense reacted quickly, but it's too late! The runner reaches second base! Kiryu High's second hit!"
"YOSHA!!!"
"YOSHA!!!"
"YOSHA!!!"
Tate struck a victory pose, and both the dugout and cheering section roared in response.
...
"Yeah… that one couldn't be helped.
Hahaha!"
Calling for a defensive timeout, Miyuki laughed toward Tanba.
"Trying to cover your embarrassment with a smile?" Tanba replied calmly.
"Ha—huh?"
Miyuki didn't expect Tanba to call him out so directly.
Now he was the one embarrassed.
"Or were you worried I'd be shaken?
Anyway, if the ball gets hit, it's your pitch calling that's to blame—so I'm fine."
"Uh…"
Now Miyuki couldn't laugh at all.
Something about Tanba felt different.
Although hearing that statement still felt… complicated.
"But you're right. That pitch getting hit just means the batter did well. Let's shut down the next hitters. None of the guys after him are easy."
"Yeah!"
Miyuki answered instinctively, still stunned by his senior's change.
He turned back toward home plate.
"Two outs!"
After taking a few steps, Miyuki turned around again.
Seeing Tanba standing there, he suddenly felt relieved.
Tanba-san feels… lighter somehow.
Like he's let go of something.
Smiling again, Miyuki hurried back to home plate.
But Tanba, standing with his back turned, wasn't nearly as carefree as Miyuki imagined.
I can't cause any more trouble for the team.
This is already the end.
Our final summer.
The longest we have left together as this team… is only three more days.
I don't want to leave any regrets.
For Tanba, one thing was crystal clear:
He wanted to treasure these final days with this team.
A team this strong… this wonderful…
He might never be part of another one like it again.
After all—
Tetsu and Sendo were already beyond high school level.
Players who could be called professional caliber.
Even in college, assembling a lineup like this again would be incredibly difficult.
-------------
If you want to read 30 chapters advanced.
Visit my patreon: patreon.com/Shu_21