After finishing the defensive play of their half inning, the Waseda Jitsugyo players jogged back to the players' area.
Facing the intimidation brought by Takasugi Masahiro in the top of the first inning, Waseda Jitsugyo managed to counterattack successfully—almost effortlessly, sending East Asia Academy's batters back in order.
Sitting on the bench, Lin Guanglai admired the team's pitcher-catcher duo and said: "The captain's control today is outstanding! Tsuchiya-senpai's guidance is strong too."
Receiving sincere praise from his junior, Tsuchiya Ryota was privately delighted, grabbed Lin Guanglai's neck, and waved his hand: "Hey, I told you, my combination with Kensuke is definitely better than the opponent's, a quick succession is only natural."
Then he released his hand, took the batting helmet handed by a teammate, and said to Lin Guanglai: "Guanglai, just sit here and watch—the next moment, I'm surely sending Mihori Yuusuke's pitch out."
Subsequently, Tsuchiya Ryota donned various protective gear and, upon the umpire's call, stepped into the batter's box.
Although he seemed rugged and uninhibited, Tsuchiya Ryota was actually a very intelligent batter: as the team's fifth hitter, besides often hitting for extra bases, he possessed a skill many batters lacked—using body language to disturb the pitcher's mindset.
Facing Waseda Jitsugyo's strong middle-order hitters, East Asia Academy's pitcher-catcher duo opted for some trial runs—the first pitch thrown by Mihori Yuusuke was a high inside fastball, failing to enter the strike zone.
Following the umpire's "ball" ruling, Tsuchiya Ryota began his performance: lowering his center of gravity, he exaggeratedly twisted his hips slightly toward the pitcher, as if saying "Look, I gave you room for a good pitch and you still couldn't throw," perhaps not of great power, but intensely insulting.
To Mihori Yuusuke, who already found Tsuchiya Ryota unpleasant, seeing this stance made him a bit hot-headed:
Facing the secret pitch signals given by Takasugi Masahiro after careful consideration, Mihori Yuusuke shook his head in refusal—the catcher is responsible for signaling, but the pitcher has the right to reject—being the catcher, Takasugi had to continuously switch pitch signals, taking some effort to reach Mihori Yuusuke's intention.
Though Takasugi wasn't very supportive of his partner's ideas, respecting the pitcher's opinion was necessary at that moment—he prepared to crouch and catch the ball.
With a "whiz," the baseball shot out from Mihori Yuusuke's hand—staring fixedly at the incoming ball, Tsuchiya Ryota revealed a look of plan completion, then, with his body driving his arms, he swung the bat forcefully.
As the baseball collided with the bat, it flew even faster toward the space between first and second base—Watanabe Tetsuya, East Asia Academy's second baseman, tried to dive and catch it, but the speed was too fast, and before hitting the ground, the baseball already penetrated the infield.
When the right fielder came up for backup to scoop the ball into his glove, Tsuchiya Ryota was already firmly planted on first base, still making a "yeah" gesture toward his team's player zone, followed by laughingly handing over his gear to Lin Guanglai, saying confidently: "How was it, Guanglai? Didn't I tell you I wasn't lying? I said I'd hit it out hard, and I did."
Lin Guanglai gave a thumbs-up in response, flashing a bright smile to Tsuchiya Ryota.
The Waseda Jitsugyo player area was also full of praises—the start of the second inning was exceptionally smooth, a zero-out, runner-on-first situation made the game relatively easier: whether choosing to continue normal batting or sacrifice bunt to advance a runner, the initiative was solely held by Waseda Jitsugyo.
Nevertheless, Mihori Yuusuke, being the ace pitcher of East Asia Academy, appeared to regain his form almost immediately following adjustment by Takasugi Masahiro—
Facing Waseda Industries' subsequent batters, Mihori Yuusuke opted to actively increase his speed, experiencing a burst in control, consecutively delivering several tricky, hard-to-judge fastballs, eliminating the three hitters following Tsuchiya Ryota one by one—a dominant performance remaining, he let out a loud roar after striking out the last batter of the half inning, fully releasing his emotions.
With both sides swapping innings, East Asia Academy's fourth batter first stepped into the batter's box.
The newcomer was precisely their captain and ace hitter, Takasugi Masahiro—his hefty figure and cold demeanor alone applied immense pressure on the pitcher just standing there.
The umpire's announcement of the game's start had barely sounded when Suzuki Kensuke swiftly pitched the ball—within the batter's box, Takasugi Masahiro calmly chose the pitch, still standing as still as a mountain.
"Ball."
Out of apprehension toward the power hitter, Waseda Jitsugyo's pitcher-catcher began the inning with a trial strategy, this high outside fastball failing to enter the strike zone.
The second pitch was still a high outside fastball, and Takasugi Masahiro similarly made the same choice—however, Suzuki Kensuke's control was good this time, earning a strike count.
1 ball 1 strike.
For the third pitch, Tsuchiya Kenta swiftly signaled the pitch signal, and upon the umpire's command, Suzuki Kensuke pitched—the ball flew toward Takasugi Masahiro's inside low direction, aiming to quickly seize a strike count.
Yet, the reason power hitters are powerful is their ability to do what ordinary batters can't—facing the uncomfortable-angle inside pitch, Takasugi Masahiro showcased his formidable adjustment ability in the batter's box:
His back leg withdrew outwardly, swiftly turning inward to gather strength, then forcibly adjusted his bat head with both hands, swinging the bat strongly—the lower half of the baseball was struck hard by the bat, then shot up into the air, flying in the deep direction of the field.
The ball's descent was extremely fast, plummeting directly between Central Field and Right Field's empty area. Although Kenshu Yasuda in Central Field and Onoda Shunsuke in Right Field were highly focused, they couldn't manage to catch this fly.
Kenshu Yasuda, who reached the ball's post-landing position first, quickly picked it up, then swung his arm to throw it toward second base—Takasugi's robust physique favored hitting for distance, but also meant his sprint speed around the bases wasn't particularly fast.
Thus, although this hit was quite deep, as long as the throw to second base was fast enough, Takasugi Masahiro would bear the risk of being tagged out if he hoped to reach second base—seeing the defensive action, Takasugi Masahiro wasn't greedy and ultimately stopped at first base.
Witnessing Takasugi Masahiro's hit, even Waseda Industries' players had to commend with a phrase like "Indeed the fourth batter of the middle order for a strong hit"; but Suzuki Kensuke wasn't flustered—allowing a hit from Takasugi Masahiro was preemptively expected before the match, and no pitcher could claim they'd never be hit in their career.
Let the past pass, focus all attention on the coming batter, is the demeanor a quality pitcher should have.
In response to Takasugi Masahiro's impactful entrance, Waseda Jitsugyo's pitcher-catcher duo made their own reply:
Against East Asia Academy's fifth batter, with calculated ground balls, they forced the batter on base, executing a double-play;
Then facing the third batter, the duo repeated their skill, continuously pulling the batter to miss swinging through pitch combinations, resulting in strikeout.
The rhythm of the second inning mimicked the first, with both pitcher-catcher pairs deploying all their resources;
This fierce confrontation between Waseda Industries and East Asia Academy was evolving into a distinct pitcher-catcher showdown.