If you walk by the river often, you're bound to get your shoes wet.
Sawamura and Renji thought they had accounted for everything and believed they could easily manipulate the American players.
So, they resolutely chose a very risky pitching strategy.
After throwing tricky inside pitches, they immediately followed up with a changeup.
What they never expected was that this pitch was exactly one of the styles American player Francis had been waiting for.
'Here it comes!'
The moment Francis saw the baseball flying slowly towards him, his eyes lit up brilliantly.
'Finally!'
After waiting so long, hard work had paid off, and he had finally gotten the pitch he wanted.
Looking at the baseball flying towards him, Francis calmed his mind and gripped the bat tightly with both hands.
At this moment, he had no intention of a normal hit.
An ordinary hit no longer satisfied his ambition. He was eager to blast the ball straight out of the stadium.
Sawamura's pitches not only had fast speed but also a strong tailing movement.
American players had a natural physical advantage and absolutely crushed the Japanese players in terms of power.
However, despite this, none of those who had faced Sawamura dared to guarantee they could hit a home run off him.
This clearly shows how powerful Sawamura's pitches were.
He was a headache-inducing presence for anyone.
For American players to hit their ball out of the park and get a home run, after thinking it over, there was probably only one possibility:
When Sawamura threw his changeup.
After careful thought, it seemed only that the pitch lacked strong tailing movement.
Apart from that, even those slightly varied breaking balls clearly carried the strong tailing movement of the ball.
Tricky breaking balls probably didn't either. But once such tricky breaking balls were thrown, with such large movement, even American players couldn't guarantee they would hit it.
In fact, Sawamura had only thrown that kind of pitch once before in their previous encounters.
But just seeing it once had left a huge psychological shadow on the American players.
They believed that just tracking the ball's movement on that tricky breaking ball already consumed all their energy and luck.
Not to mention putting all their power into swinging.
In plain terms, it was just too difficult!
So, even though American players often talked big, not a single one dared to brag they could definitely hit a home run off Sawamura.
Even Francis believed that besides the changeup, hitting any other pitch from Sawamura for a home run was nearly impossible.
With boundless ambition in his heart, naturally, Francis took Sawamura's changeup as the pitch he must hit out.
So when the changeup came, there was no shock or surprise in his eyes.
Only excitement.
Shuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!!!!
Francis swung his bat with all his might.
At this moment, he had obviously made up his mind to get a home run no matter what and smash the ball far away.
Renji, at the catcher's position, clearly felt this change in the opponent.
He did not expect the American player to harbor such ambition.
'Damn, miscalculated!'
Originally intending a surprise attack, they ended up hitting the opponent's trap, the very pitch they had been aiming at early on.
In Renji's mind, the changeup was undoubtedly a double-edged sword.
If combined well with fastballs, it could disrupt the opponent's swinging rhythm.
But if used poorly, and the opponent had already predicted the changeup, the situation would be grim.
If the opponent had already targeted pitches like the changeup, it would be easy to hit it out.
Francis swung with full force and appeared to have hit the baseball solidly.
During this, Renji's heart was in his throat.
PAAAAKKKKK!!!!!!
The bat struck the baseball solidly.
Everyone supporting Sawamura and Japan team felt as if a huge stone pressed on their hearts.
Naturally, they were very nervous.
Only Sawamura on the mound and Miyuki in the stands remained calm.
They both trusted Sawamura's pitches. Sawamura's changeup involved more than just speed variation.
There were also other subtle breaks.
But those breaks were so subtle that most people couldn't detect them.
Of course, Francis, as the one facing Sawamura's pitches, felt the breaks deeply.
His brow furrowed deeply, and his eyes were filled with disbelief.
'It's just a changeup, how can it drop so quickly near the strike zone?'
'This is impossible!'
'This is too unscientific!'
Turbulent waves raged in Francis's mind, unable to calm down for a long time.
No matter how shocked he was inside, the baseball he hit did not fly past the infield.
It only flew for less than twenty meters before falling.
Although Francis barely caught up with the ball's movement during the swing, he obviously could not change the ball's direction.
The ball bounced immediately after hitting the bat.
This was due to Francis's incredible swinging strength.
So the ball was only lifted slightly and flew just over ten meters before landing.
Otherwise, it would have bounced immediately upon contact with the bat.
This kind of infield bounce was relatively easy to handle.
"Shortstop!"
The shortstop didn't disappoint, he calmly caught the ball and threw it to first base.
But things weren't that simple.
Just as the ball was a few meters away from the first baseman, Francis, too, was a few meters away from first base, bolting toward it with unparalleled speed!
'Wha…!'
'So fast!'
'How could he be here?'
Although he failed to get the hit he wanted, Francis didn't give up and wanted to get to base with his speed!
"…SAFE!!"
The umpire was silent for a few seconds before judging Francis's efforts worthy.
This sudden turn left everyone stunned.
In the stands, veteran reporter Fujio from Baseball Kingdom magazine sighed with regret.
From his experience, this was a very troublesome situation.
Though now there is only one Out and a runner on first, after what just happened, the situation has drastically changed.
Such a scene in such a high-profile stage like the World Finals would baffle not just a high school player, but even veterans in professional baseball probably couldn't find a good solution.
Those who could solve their way out at times like these were usually the super Aces on each team.
They were powerful and experienced.
Experience is a very valuable asset.
Looking at Japan team's current lineup, even with Sawamura, solving this problem was almost impossible.
Though Sawamura had a tremendous talent with skills not inferior to professionals, in terms of experience, he had only played high school games, never professional level.
Without professional experience, let alone professional game experience...
Fujio wasn't optimistic about Sawamura's fate.
What happened next was just as Fujio expected.
The second batter from America stepped into the Batter's Box and immediately took a bunt stance.
In this situation, the opponent showed an obvious bunt intention.
For Japan players and supporters, this was almost unbelievable.
"Were these Americans crazy?"
"They already had the upper hand."
"Why not finish the game outright?"
"Why add unnecessary moves?"
"Were they not afraid the situation might suddenly turn?"
Once that happened, the entire situation could change dramatically.
...