Hirai Tsubasa stepped into the left-handed batter's box.
On the mound, Ushijima Wakatoshi calmly gripped the baseball inside his glove.
After several innings of adjustments and counter-adjustments, both sides had already become familiar with each other's tendencies.
This was now a battle of execution.
"Whoosh!"
Ushijima fired the pitch.
Hirai carefully tracked the ball's trajectory.
Seeing it drift toward the outside corner, he immediately swung.
To prepare for a possible Sinker, he deliberately lowered the angle of his bat.
However, just before reaching the plate, the ball didn't sink.
Instead, it rose slightly.
"Shootball!"
Hirai's expression changed.
He had guessed wrong.
Clang!
The lower half of the baseball struck the upper part of the bat.
The ball shot almost straight into the sky.
"Infield fly! Shortstop!"
Miyuki immediately pointed toward the infield.
Kuramochi laughed.
"Haha! Mine!"
He moved into position to make the catch.
But suddenly—
"Don't move. I've got it."
Ushijima stepped off the mound and headed directly beneath the descending baseball.
Kuramochi froze.
"Huh?"
The Inashiro players also looked confused.
Even Hirai remained standing in the batter's box.
Everyone assumed the play was already over.
Ushijima settled underneath the ball and raised his glove.
The baseball began dropping toward him.
Then, at the very last second—
He pulled his glove away.
Thud!
The ball hit the ground.
"What?!"
The entire stadium erupted in shock.
Why didn't he catch it?
Before anyone could react, Ushijima immediately scooped up the ball.
"Masuko! Third base! Double play!"
Without hesitation, he fired the ball to third.
Only then did Harada and Yamaoka realize what had happened.
"Damn it!"
Both runners broke for the next base.
Too late.
Thwack!
Masuko caught the ball and stepped on third base.
"Out!"
The third-base umpire raised his fist.
Masuko instantly threw to second.
Thwack!
Haruichi caught it and stepped on the bag.
"Out!"
The second-base umpire made the call.
Double play.
The inning was over.
For a moment, the entire stadium was silent.
Then—
"WHOOOOOOAAAAAA!!!"
The Seido supporters exploded with excitement.
"What a play!"
"That's incredible!"
Even Ushijima's father leaped to his feet in the stands.
"Beautiful! Absolutely beautiful!"
The Inashiro players could only stare in disbelief.
No one had expected a double play from what looked like a routine infield fly.
The key lies in baseball's force-play rules.
Before the pitch:
Normally, if Ushijima catches the infield fly:
However, Ushijima intentionally let the ball drop untouched.
The moment the ball touched the ground, it became a live ball.
That forced Hirai to run to first base.
Since first base was occupied, Yamaoka was forced to advance to second.
Because second base was occupied, Harada was forced to advance to third.
This created force plays at both third and second.
Ushijima immediately fielded the ball and started a relay:
Third Base → Out.
Second Base → Out.
Combined with the original out already recorded earlier in the inning, Seido completed all three outs and escaped the jam.
A risky play.
A dangerous play.
But also a brilliant one.
Only a player with absolute confidence in his judgment would dare attempt it.
"Hahaha! That's so dirty!"
Kuramochi ran over and kicked Ushijima in the backside.
"Yeah, Inashiro's definitely going to hate you for that one."
Haruichi couldn't help laughing.
Ushijima shrugged.
"It's called making full use of the rules."
"Exactly!"
Yuki nodded.
"Baseball isn't just about power. Sometimes you win with your head."
Meanwhile, Furuya looked completely confused.
"...What just happened?"
Everyone turned toward him.
"Seriously?"
Isashiki stared at him in disbelief.
"How are you still confused?"
Even Sawamura raised his hand.
"Actually... I don't get it either."
Chris sighed.
It seemed another baseball lesson was about to begin.