Kuse Hikaru!
Among the pitchers who had already made a name for themselves in this Koshien, his reputation was extremely prominent.
Hidezawa was also outstanding. Especially as the Seido High School Baseball Team's momentum grew stronger and smoother, he even showed faint signs of catching up from behind.
But no matter how one ranked them, in the eyes of true professionals, Kuse Hikaru's ability still surpassed Hidezawa's.
In this Koshien, among all the team aces, Kuse Hikaru could rank at least in the top ten, and even in the top five. This ranking might not sound that impressive at first, but it truly was. Pitchers who could reach such a level had already stood out from countless elite players across the country.
To put it bluntly, they were the very best pitchers in the nation at this stage.
Such pitchers were powerful enough to suppress everything. With their own strength, they could lift an entire team.
Before the matchup between the two teams, many people had speculated about the outcome.
Seido High School was known as one of the teams with the strongest offensive firepower in the country.
And Kuse Hikaru was one of the top pitchers nationwide.
The confrontation between them carried the flavor of a clash between spear and shield, like Mars colliding with Earth. The only question was whether the spear was sharper, or the shield sturdier.
In today's game, however, Kuse Hikaru and his team had been unlucky.
From the very beginning, they were caught off guard by the Seido High School Baseball Team's tactics, and on top of that came Azuma Kiyokuni's powerful home run.
As a result, a clash that had been highly anticipated now carried far less suspense.
In fact, everyone understood that once Seido High School Baseball Team took the lead in this game—and led by more than one run—the outcome was almost decided in advance.
Although Kuse Hikaru was powerful, it would still be extremely difficult for him to carry the team to a comeback by himself.
Even so, despite many predicting that Shinko High School might lose, people still believed the rest of the game would be worth watching.
After all, as one of the top pitchers in the country, Kuse Hikaru, bearing such a great reputation, was bound to put up a fierce fight.
They expected to witness a true clash between a powerhouse hitting lineup and a top-tier defensive core.
But reality seemed different.
Seido, after scoring two runs, showed no intention of stopping. They continued to push forward aggressively.
Yuuki, the fifth batter, smashed a hit to reach second base.
Two outs, runner on second.
Immediately after, the player who stepped into the batter's box was Zhang Han.
The fourth, fifth, and sixth batters—the core of Seido High School Baseball Team's lineup.
Even before this tournament began, their names had already spread across the country. Online media and newspapers were filled with news about them.
Originally, Shinko High School's players had not been very convinced.
They believed that these so-called three core batters were largely the result of Seido High School Baseball Team's hype.
Yes, their records were impressive, and their performances in the regional tournament were dazzling.
But Shinko High School believed that had more to do with the weakness of Seido's opponents than Seido's own overwhelming strength.
To put it bluntly, the opponents Seido had faced in the regional tournament were simply too incompetent.
If it were Shinko High School instead, they believed they would definitely teach Seido that iron was harder than clay.
Now, after actually facing them, they finally understood what kind of opponents these were.
Let alone the first three batters.
Although Shinko had still suffered a loss there, conceding one run, that run clearly had elements of deliberate tactical design.
While it was painful, it wasn't unacceptable.
Such tricks didn't have many opportunities to be used repeatedly.
Seido had only taken advantage of Shinko being caught off guard at the very start of the game. They believed they could regain control later.
When it came to dealing with those three batters, Kuse Hikaru and his teammates had been confident they could suppress them.
But Azuma Kiyokuni and Yuuki were different.
As the saying goes, "a man's name is like a tree's shadow."
Before this confrontation, Kuse Hikaru and his teammates already knew exactly what kind of monsters they were facing.
They had made extensive preparations in advance.
Yet even with sufficient psychological readiness and carefully planned strategies, Kuse Hikaru's pitches were still ruthlessly smashed. The cruel reality kept hammering away at the confidence of Kuse Hikaru and his teammates.
Now, they had to consider whether they should continue challenging Zhang Han with a runner on second base.
To be honest, this was a very difficult decision.
Put plainly, even their catcher felt uneasy.
A two-run deficit was a heavy burden, but it wasn't enough to plunge Shinko High School into despair.
They were just unlucky to have fallen into such a passive situation early on.
"Should we intentionally walk him?"
The catcher signaled his question.
Seido's three core batters were simply too terrifying. This was the first time he and Kuse Hikaru had been suppressed so completely since they began working together.
It felt as though there was no room left for hope.
"No!"
Kuse Hikaru's response was firm. He had no intention of intentionally walking Zhang Han.
They would have to face these three batters many more times later in the game. If they chose to walk him now, the rest of the game would become impossible to play.
So even if there was risk, they had to face it head-on. They had to confront the three core batters directly.
If they lost, there was nothing more to say. But if they won, they could reverse some of the disadvantage they were currently facing.
Besides, no matter how brilliant Zhang Han had been in the regional tournament and in the previous game, he was still just a first-year rookie. Even though Kuse Hikaru was under heavy pressure today, he refused to believe he would lose to a first-year kid.
"Whoosh!"
Having made up his mind, Kuse Hikaru no longer hesitated and decisively released the baseball from his hand.
To this point, he still didn't fully understand how Azuma Kiyokuni and Yuuki had managed to hit his pitches so effectively.
He had clearly forced both of them to make off-center contact.
Logically speaking, those balls should have turned into fly balls or grounders.
Yet they hadn't.
It was completely unbelievable.
How could balls that were clearly hit off-center end up as a home run and a long hit?
And that wasn't even the most uncanny part.
The most unbelievable moment was now.
"Ping!"
The bat struck the dead center of the white ball, sending it flying far into the distance.
Again?
Under the stunned gazes of Shinko High School's players and supporters, the small white ball soared more than a hundred meters through the air and crashed into the outfield stands.
"Thwack!"
"Homerun!"
"Two-run homerun!!"
At that moment, the entire stadium erupted.
"In this Koshien, there are many teams with powerful batting lineups, but if we're talking about the strongest offense of all, it would have to be Seido High School Baseball Team!!!"
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