Shintaro mindset had started to waver.
To begin with, he had never been happy about intentionally walking Kitamura Kou. As a young pitcher filled with pride and competitive spirit, how could he willingly admit inferiority before even challenging his opponent head-on?
But in the end, he had convinced himself that it was necessary for the sake of the team's victory.
Yet now… weren't they the ones being completely overwhelmed on the bases instead?
"Phew…"
Shintaro slowly exhaled, forcing himself to calm down before preparing for the second pitch. This time, his motion became even quicker.
Far off second base, Kitamura Kou exploded toward third the instant Ono committed to the pitch.
"Pitch!"
"He's stealing!"
The shortstop shouted a warning immediately.
This time, Ono and Ito had clearly decided to challenge Kitamura Kou head-on in a battle of stolen bases.
"Smack!"
"Ball!"
The baseball reached Ito's glove even faster than before. Without wasting a single motion, Ito sprang up and made the quickest throw he could manage.
"Throw!"
As he neared third base, Kitamura Kou launched himself into a feet-first slide, stretching his left leg as far as possible in an attempt to touch the bag first.
"Smack!"
As expected from the team with the highest stolen-base success rate in the nation, the baseball arrived a split second ahead of Kou and landed cleanly in Honda's glove.
Honda immediately dropped the glove downward, completely sealing off the path of Kou's extended left foot.
At Kou's current speed, it was practically impossible for him to stop his momentum.
For a moment, it seemed certain that he would be tagged out.
"Whoosh!"
Everything had happened so quickly that most of the audience couldn't even process what they had just seen.
All eyes instantly turned toward the third-base umpire.
Players and coaches from both teams stared nervously at third base. Some clenched their fists tightly, while others grabbed their heads in anxiety.
Then, under everyone's gaze, the umpire spread his arms wide.
"Safe!"
The stadium immediately split into two completely different worlds.
Yakushi High School erupted into cheers and celebration.
Meanwhile, the players of Hakuryu High School froze in shock, disbelief, and frustration.
How was that safe?
Honda had clearly blocked the base completely!
The replay on the giant screen finally revealed the truth.
At the critical moment, Kitamura Kou had suddenly pulled back his outstretched left leg just before it could collide with Honda's glove. Using the momentum of his slide, he twisted his body backward to avoid the tag.
Honda reacted instantly and adjusted his glove upward in pursuit.
But at the same time, Kou used the rotation of his body to swing his right leg around, barely touching third base with the heel of his foot.
It was an unbelievably acrobatic slide.
Fortunately, Koshien Stadium had a replay screen. Otherwise, the players of Hakuryu High School might have collapsed from frustration on the spot.
Even so, the situation still hadn't improved for them.
They had executed everything perfectly.
They had nearly tagged Kou out.
And yet… he still stole third base.
How could they not feel suffocated by that?
More importantly, with Kou's speed and positioning, it was entirely possible for him to steal home at any moment. After all, he had already done it before.
No outs.
Runner on third.
A 0–2 count.
For the first time in the game, Hakuryu High School found themselves under the exact same pressure Yakushi had faced earlier.
Hakuryu called a timeout immediately. The infielders gathered around the mound while Coach Sasaki sent a player over to relay instructions.
"We still have a two-run lead. Even if they score once, we're still ahead. Don't force things—just focus on getting outs. That's Coach's message."
"That's right, Ono. Don't let them provoke you. Just stick to our baseball."
"It's only one run at most. We've given up runs before. The important thing is not losing our composure."
"Exactly. In fact, letting him reach third might actually help us. Now we can focus entirely on the batter. Just pitch confidently—we'll back you up!"
"Alright! One out at a time! We still have seven innings left to widen the gap!"
"One, two, three—Hakuryu!"
After steadying themselves mentally, the game resumed.
Standing in the batter's box now was Yakushi's fifth batter, Watanabe Tatsuya.
"The dangerous first-years have already batted," Ito thought calmly. "The remaining batters are mostly upperclassmen with decent but manageable skills. As long as Ono's condition hasn't been shaken, we should still be able to escape this inning safely."
After a brief moment of thought, Ito gave the sign.
Ono nodded, glanced briefly at Kitamura Kou dancing aggressively off third base, then ignored him and delivered the pitch.
"Pitch!"
The ball came in at 140 kilometers per hour, low and outside, barely clipping the edge of the strike zone.
Tatsuya Watanabe swung decisively.
"Ping!"
"Foul!"
"Good," Ito thought inwardly after confirming Ono's pitch quality. "His condition hasn't dropped. We can still stop them here."
Ito immediately called for two consecutive inside Cutters aimed near Watanabe's hands, successfully striking him out.
Kitamura Kou remained stranded at third.
"Sixth batter, pitcher, Sanada-kun!"
A pitcher-versus-pitcher showdown.
"Honestly, I'm not much of a hitter," Sanada Shunpei admitted inwardly. "The only pitch I can really handle is a fastball. But I was the one who gave up those runs… so I'll get one back myself."
His eyes sharpened with determination.
Ono started him off with two high inside Cutters.
Sanada didn't swing at either.
Then came the third pitch—a low outside fastball just off the plate, clearly intended to bait him into chasing.
Sanada Shunpei swung.
"Ping!"
The ball rolled weakly back toward the mound.
It was an easy out at first base.
But while Hakuryu recorded the out, Kitamura Kou dashed home successfully, scoring Yakushi High School's first run of the game.
2–1. Yakushi finally pulled one back.