When Kuramochi reached the opposite side of Kominato Haruichi, he originally wanted to say something.
But he opened his mouth and, in the end, said nothing.
After returning to the resting area, his teammates immediately gathered around him. They all knew Kuramochi's ability, and even though it seemed like a coincidence, he would be dealt with. It was never that simple.
"That guy's pitches are a bit strange."
Kuramochi didn't hide anything and directly expressed his thoughts. However, after saying that, his teammates from the Seidou High School baseball team were still as confused as before.
Upon reflection, his statement seemed to match what Yuuki had said earlier.
One said the guy was strong, the other said his pitches were a bit strange. Though it seemed like they were completely unrelated, upon closer inspection, it was easy to see.
The opponent's pitching must have some distinct characteristics.
Otherwise, Yuuki and Kuramochi wouldn't have found it tricky.
At that moment, Sawamura was already changing his gear, preparing to take the batter's spot.
He was the third batter for the team, meaning he was the next hitter after Haruichi.
During the gear change, Eijun was also closely watching Haruichi's duel with Tomobe.
He was interested to see how the opponent would handle Haruichi.
Considering Tomobe's control style, Haruichi was much harder to deal with than Kuramochi.
Whoosh!
The baseball whistled like an arrow, flying towards the Batter's Box.
At first, Haruichi remained calm and didn't swing at the incoming ball.
Snap!
"BALL!"
The first pitch was a Ball, which seemed to have grazed the strike zone.
Sawamura snickered inwardly.
If the opponent hoped to deal with Haruichi by throwing such a pitch, they must have completely miscalculated.
Haruichi possessed a top-tier dynamic vision, his ability to judge pitches was among the best in the country.
Trying to deceive him with a ball like that? Even Sawamura himself couldn't do that.
If that weren't the case, they wouldn't be called the "Demon Brothers." When it came to pitch selection, their judgment was almost unquestionable.
Having failed with that approach, what would the opponent do next?
Eijun was intrigued.
It was things like this that were the joy of being young, and he was particularly keen to watch excellent duels perform on the field.
It seemed that this was making his own mindset feel fresher.
The duel continued, and the freshman pitcher didn't give up. He threw another ball outside of the strike zone.
This one was even worse than the first; it directly flew toward Haruichi's body.
Haruichi slightly turned his body to avoid it.
Snap!
"BALL!!"
This pitch was truly reckless, almost flying straight at the batter.
The freshman pitcher seemed nervous and apologized to Haruichi.
"Sorry, my hand slipped!"
Haruichi displayed great sportsmanship in response. After all, they were the King's Seidou High, a standard-bearer for high school students across the nation. Necessary grace was expected.
But in his mind, he was still wondering.
'Did the opponent really make a mistake because of nerves, or was it intentional?'
'If it were intentional, there wouldn't really be a need to apologize.'
'If the apology was made, it probably wasn't intentional, right?'
These thoughts lingered in Haruichi's mind, making it difficult for him to make an accurate judgment.
At that moment, the opponent quickly threw the third pitch.
After two Balls, the opponent threw a more central pitch, still a fastball.
Regardless of Haruichi's thoughts, he couldn't hold back from swinging at the pitch.
Paak!
Before his brain could even react, his body instinctively took action.
The baseball was hit and flew far towards the outfield.
After hitting it, Haruichi dropped his bat and dashed to first base.
Though his physique wasn't particularly outstanding, as long as he made solid contact, the ball could still fly far.
After all, he had hit home runs in official games before.
This was something he was much better at than his second baseman partner, Haruichi.
The ball flew well, looking like it was going far and into a vacant field position.
This was thanks to the thorough training of Seidou High's baseball team. Even subconscious actions aimed at the traditional fielding gaps.
Unfortunately, the Yakushi High baseball team's fielding setup was a bit unusual. The space that should have been open was already occupied by a fielder.
That fielder slowly reached out with his mitt and calmly caught the ball as it descended.
Snap!
"OUT!!"
Two outs, no one on base.
One infield rebound, one outfield fly.
Though they seemed like coincidences, in reality, both were dealt with.
Sawamura's gaze flickered. He felt that there weren't many coincidences here.
'One time could be considered a coincidence, but twice in a row? It was hard to keep calling it that.'
Though the opponent's style seemed strange, Seidou High's baseball team had encountered it before.
Just like with Akutsu from Seihou High School.
That guy had a similar style. His intelligence exceeded normal levels, allowing him to predict everything happening on the field.
Coupled with precise control.
Seidou High's baseball team had suffered under his pitching before.
This freshman pitcher seemed to have a similar style to Akutsu.
However, compared to the meticulous Akutsu, this pitcher's style was still in its infancy, just beginning to show signs.
Sawamura cracked a smile, revealing a bright grin.
He was eager to teach this freshman a lesson. The Akutsu style wasn't something just anyone could pull off.
First of all, not everyone could have the monster-like intelligence that Akutsu possessed.
Moreover, precision in control was a major issue.
A style like Akutsu's required extremely high control. At the very least, it had to be at the level of Yoh Shunshin.
'Did this kid have that level of skill?'
Sawamura was doubtful.
Standing in the Batter's Box, Sawamura lifted his bat high, gently swinging it.
His eyes were locked on the pitcher, his stance neither too forward nor too backward, but covering the entire strike zone.
As long as the opponent pitched, no matter where it landed in the strike zone, or even near it, Sawamura seemed capable of hitting it.
The crowd, especially those who came specifically to watch Sawamura play, was ecstatic.
They waved their arms excitedly, cheering for Sawamura.
"Sawamura!"
"Sawamura!!"
"Demon King!!"
The atmosphere was electrifying.
The freshman pitcher, standing on the mound, was likely finding it hard to stay calm in such a charged environment.
Sawamura carefully analyzed the situation and thought about what he would do if he were the pitcher on the mound.
It was an interesting question, but Sawamura didn't have a specific answer.
However, the freshman pitcher quickly provided his own answer.
Snap!
"BALL!"
Catcher Akiba immediately stood up, moving at least a meter away from the plate, positioning himself to catch the ball.
It was clear that even a ball outside the strike zone wasn't going to touch Sawamura.
"Tsk!"
Though Sawamura had already predicted this outcome.
Those who liked to control the game with strategy usually didn't engage in a direct confrontation with their opponent.
Especially when they weren't confident in victory. They would never fight head-on in such a case.
So, Sawamura had guessed that the opponent might employ a Walk strategy.
But he didn't expect that, in such an atmosphere, with everyone watching, the opponent would choose to Walk him without any hesitation.
It didn't feel like something a young player should do. And it certainly didn't feel like something a freshman starting pitcher for the Yakushi High team would do.
…
T/N: Well, That's it for now!
Thank you all for reading and supporting!!
Have a good day!
You also can check my Patre0n for extra Chapters.
https://www.patre0n.com/ColdColt
There are +180 Chapters there.