In the rest area of Sakurazawa High School.
The players had just returned, and before they even had time to rest, their offense was over.
This fast!
It's too fast that they didn't have time to catch their breath, and they're going to play defense again.
In the dugout, Akira Nagao stared blankly at Inashiro's team, especially Narumiya Mei in the team.
He didn't know if it was his illusion. He felt that Narumiya Mei was deliberately showing the difference in strength between them.
To be honest, Sakurazawa's players were a bit frightened after seeing Narumiya's pitching.
"Clap!"
Behind him, there was a sudden applause.
Everyone followed the sound and saw the Coach clapping his hands there.
"The opponent will play with his way, we just need to play our own style. Only those who believe in themselves can have the chance for a change."
These words are like a bell that awakens the players.
Akira took his pitcher's Mitt and stood up.
Although his own Coach often says some curious things, he has to admit that what he says is reasonable.
Now, all they have to do is show their style.
They had a head-to-head fight with Inashiro, and they knew the result before the match.
'Don't be in a hurry, take your time, and take the number of eliminations step by step.'
In the stands, where the Seidou players gather.
"Next, is the real test for Sakurazawa pitcher's will," Chris said in a low voice.
In the first half of the second inning, Inashiro attacked. Their lineup is the core lineup.
The first to play was the fourth batter, Harada.
As soon as Harada came on stage, cheers rang out from the stands in Inashiro's team.
"Hit it out!"
"It is on you, Harada!"
In the on-deck circle, Narumiya said enviously: "Your popularity is so high, Masa-san!"
"Shut up, stay there and watch."
Harada didn't pay any attention to Narumiya's compliment.
His eyes were on Akira Nagao on the pitcher's mound.
Before the game, they had studied and trained.
Honestly, his pitching is hard to hit off. The Knuckleball itself is not easy to pitch, and Akira Nagao has also honed it for two years.
In this way, his Knuckleball will be more difficult to hit!
If you want to hit the ball steadily, you must observe carefully.
"Is that kind of slow ball that hard to hit?"
Furuya looked at Akira Nagao on the pitcher's mound in confusion.
As a pitcher with great instinct, he instinctively felt that the Inashiro Batters were difficult to deal with.
Among the batters that Furuya had seen before, these three guys were all batters with their own style. When a Batter has developed his own style, it means that he is already challenging to deal with.
Even among the nine batters selected by the Seidou First String, not everyone has their own unique style.
Inashiro's top three Batters are all batters of this level!
In the face of such an opponent, Akira Nagao actually made them go up and down three times. Even if Furuya Satoru doesn't understand Akira Nagao's pitching, he has to admit that his skills should be good.
"Can that guy Harada hit that Knuckleball?"
"Harada can hit and pull the ball anywhere."
Isashiki and Yuuki exchanged information about Harada with each other.
From the few words they said, it is not difficult to see their recognition of Harada's strength.
On the other side, Sawamura explained the Knuckleball with Furuya Satoru.
"Knuckleball is to hold the ball and bend the index finger and middle finger on it, and at the moment of releasing the ball, use the finger to pop the ball forward, so there will be no spin. There will be irregular ball paths that even the pitcher himself cannot predict!"
"This is the Knuckleball!"
Precisely because no one can predict the breaks of the ball, the Knuckleball is also called the magical ball.
Miyuki also nodded and continued with Sawamura's words.
"The more eager you are to swing at the Knuckleball, the easier it is to be played around by Sakurazawa. The team that lost to Sakurazawa High School before probably didn't have time to show their strength, and they were defeated in confusion."
On the strike zone, Harada was not in a hurry to swing his bat without seeing the first pitch. He patiently observed the pitcher's course.
SNAP!
"BALL!"
'This ball is very well trained.'
In the process of flying over, the ball did not rotate at all. Although the speed of the ball was not fast, when it came to the batter, there was still a big break.
'This kind of ball is really hard to hit!'
After the ball is at hand, there is still such a big break, which requires very high swing accuracy.
"Hit is away, Masa-san!"
Just when Harada was feeling troubled, a cheer suddenly came from behind him.
Narumiya Mei suddenly cheered him on right now.
"Shut up and take a good look!"
After scolding Narumiya Mei, Harada focused on the pitcher on the mound and watched the ball fly over.
'No need to swing accurately, as long as you hit the ball.'
With the speed of the opponent's ball, as long as he can really hit the ball, Harada has the confidence to hit a Home run.
Ping!
He seized the opportunity and swung the bat decisively.
After the white ball was hit, it bounced to the ground.
Harada's face was ugly, and the break in baseball was beyond his expectations.
It was completely different from the course he remembered before!
The ball bounced off the ground and was picked up by a player from Sakurazawa High School and sent to first base.
"OUT!"
Harada was solved.
One Out, no one hits base.
"Masa-san, what a shame! Do you call yourself the fourth batter of the team?"
"Shut up!"
In the face of Narumiya's malicious ridicule, Harada rudely told him to shut up.
"All right!"
Narumiya Mei was also well-behaved and didn't say anything else.
"Let me, this Kohai, avenge Masa-san!"
'I really want to beat him up!' Harada thought.
On the pitcher's mound, Akira Nagao looked at Narumiya Mei.
'The guy in front of him is the No. 1 pitcher in Kanto, Narumiya!'
'No, no!'
'I became nervous!'
'The more you want it to work, the more you have to calm down your heart.'
"One Out!"
"Take down the batters One by one!"
"Pitch to contact!"
"Come on, Akira!"
The players of Sakurazawa High School continue to give Akira Nagao cheers.
Come on, and Akira Nagao stretched out his hand to signal that he had gained everyone's strength.
'Don't throw with too much force, just keep it as usual, keep calm, and throw with a calm mind.'
Whoosh!
The white ball doesn't seem to be fast at all.
"Damn."
Narumiya murmured in dissatisfaction.
He actually swung the bat on the first ball, and the little white ball broke abruptly before approaching his bat so that he missed the swing.
"STRIKE!"
"STRIKE!"
"STRIKE BATTER OUT!!!"
Narumiya didn't want to lose. He swings the bat for every ball, and all of them are full swings.
However, three times in a row, he didn't even touch the ball. Before the small white ball approached his hand, there were irregular breaks, and these breaks were very large.
So that even if he saw the opportunity, he couldn't hit the ball.
Go back to the dugout.
Narumiya Mei immediately faced the cold face of his Coach, which looked like an ice mountain.
Narumiya Mei was quite embarrassed.
"Didn't I say don't swing the bat?"
On the pitcher's mound, Akira was clearly in a very strange state.
'Don't throw the ball too hard, don't try too hard, and definitely don't get emotional!'
This is the secret of Knuckleball pitchers, the Zen Mind!
Ping!
"OUT!!"
Three up, three down, three up and three down again.
Facing the overlord of West Tokyo, Inashiro Industrial, Akira Nagao's performance is perfect!
He has shown his charisma by taking Outs again and again.
…
T/N: The Zen Mind is a state of calm attentiveness in which one's actions are guided by intuition rather than by conscious effort.
And well, That's it for Today.
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