On the field, Sawamura stared blankly at Carlos who was on first base and preparing to steal base.
"Second Batter, shortstop, Shirakawa-kun."
Right now, Shirakawa entered the strike zone.
Carlos is on the base and Shirakawa is on the zone.
This combination is very similar to Seidou's.
It was like Kuramochi on the base and Ryosuke on the zone.
It's a combination of extremely painful attacks.
In the Press Box, Owada Akiko, after seeing the attack combination of Inajitsu, opened her mouth slightly.
"Inashiro seems to have a high probability of scoring in this attack."
Fujio nodded.
"On the base is Carlos, who is Tokyo's first in Speed, and the situation is no Out! The opponent is Seidou, and the pitcher is Sawamura. On the surface, Inashiro can choose many attack tactics. Nevertheless, right now, to be on the safe side, Inashiro should want to earn a point in a down-to-earth way."
"You mean?"
Fujio said with certainty.
"Right now, Inashiro should steadfastly walk Carlos to second base!"
As long as Carlos can get to second base, at his speed, as long as the baseball hits the ground, Inajitsu is likely to score a point.
In this crucial Pitching Duel, it is very important to get the first point.
On first base, Carlos spread his legs apart, in a stance that he would steal bases at any time.
But oddly enough, he wasn't very far from first base. It doesn't look like he has any plans to continue moving to second base.
At such a distance, Sawamura didn't even need to contain him.
He looks ready to steal bases, but distance doesn't look like he wants to.
Such a strange thing can't happen without attracting Sawamura's attention.
A sharp light flashed in Sawamura's eyes.
He already understood Carlos's plan.
Sawamura smiled slightly, and he gave a look to Miyuki who was in the position of the catcher.
Miyuki nodded vaguely.
During this process, the two just nodded and looked at each other without any other communication.
But it is these two movements that are so small that it is difficult for people to perceive, and the two have completed tactical exchanges.
Sawamura started his motion and raised his right foot high.
Carlos, who didn't look like he was going to steal bases, suddenly moved.
Without any warning, he was like a whirlwind, running towards second base with all his strength.
In the position of the catcher, the corners of Miyuki's mouth curled up.
Carlos' actions were exactly what Sawamura had expected before.
Looks like he wants to steal bases, but isn't far enough away.
Carlos did this to reassure Sawamura.
The experienced Sawamura was keenly aware of Carlos's intentions.
Therefore, he gave Miyuki a sign in advance.
Miyuki was ready, as Sawamura opened his stance and prepared to throw the ball, Miyuki's eyes never left Carlos' form.
When he saw Carlos steal bases directly, he stepped away from the catcher position without hesitation.
In the process of pitching, Sawamura also changed his pitching direction.
The running Carlos caught sight of Miyuki's movements out of the corner of his eye.
'It failed!'
Even if Miyuki was not ready, he still had a strong shoulder.
So Carlos has only a 50% chance of stealing second base!
Now, Miyuki and Sawamura are already prepared.
Then his stealing attempt is equivalent to sending Out to the opponent.
'Damn it all!'
Carlos, who was lamenting, still ran forward desperately.
At such a time, whether it is in vain or not, he has to struggle.
In the position of the catcher, Miyuki also looked at Carlos who was struggling, and there was a little playfulness in his eyes.
'How can we let a fish that has been hooked run away?'
Miyuki opened his Mitt to catch the ball, and at the same time adjusted his posture, ready to pass the second base after receiving the ball.
Kuramochi, who was at the shortstop position, was at second base at a swift pace.
He was waiting to cooperate with Miyuki to solve Carlos.
Everything went smoothly, with Sawamura's vigilance, Miyuki's containment, and Kuramochi's defense…
But just when Miyuki thought he could solve Carlos like this, a bat suddenly appeared in front of him.
Shirakawa!
Miyuki's pupils widened.
He stared in disbelief at the bat that suddenly appeared in front of him, and the man holding the bat.
Just when they were about to deal with Carlos, Shirakawa, who was on the box, didn't stand by, but made a decisive move.
His whole body was bent like a shrimp. With the bat in his hand, he stretched out of the strike zone by more than a meter and stopped the ball thrown by Sawamura.
Ping!
After the white ball was touched, it rolled directly in front of the pitcher.
On the pitcher's mound, Sawamura was shocked when he saw this sudden change.
He didn't have time to think about it, his body ran forward and picked up the ball before his brain could react.
Carlos was fast.
When Sawamura picked up the ball, Carlos was less than two meters away from the second base's bag.
"It's too late, pass first base!"
In the position of the catcher, Miyuki had recovered from the surprise just now.
He directly instructed Sawamura to let Sawamura give up passing second base.
"I know!"
Sawamura didn't hesitate and passed the ball to the first base's Tetsuya.
SNAP!
"OUT!"
Shirakawa was Out of course, but Carlos was saved by Shirakawa and successfully reached second base.
The situation became, one Out, the runner at second base.
Next, it was Inajitsu's third and fourth batters' turn.
As long as the two of them can hit the ball forward and get a hit, at the speed of Carlos, they can run straight from second base to home plate.
In the Press Box, Fujio spoke highly of Shirakawa's approach.
"High school students are not real professional players after all. Even if they are real professional players, it is difficult to make such a big sacrifice without orders. Shirakawa-kun really made an excellent."
Excellent!
Apart from this word, Fujio couldn't think of a more suitable word to describe Shirakawa.
"Thank you, Shirakawa!"
As a direct beneficiary, Carlos is even more grateful to Shirakawa!
He made a fist at Shirakawa, then smiled and nodded.
Shirakawa didn't pay attention to Carlos, just muttered in his mouth.
"I'm helping you only because you're at second base is more threatening than me on the strike zone. Don't let me down."
"Third Batter, third basemen, Yoshizawa-kun!"
In this situation, Sawamura is now facing the core line of Inashiro.
The third batter is Yoshizawa and the fourth batter is Harada.
At the catcher's position, Miyuki took a deep look at Carlos who was on second base.
'I didn't expect that we would have to face such a dangerous situation in the first inning.'
Yoshizawa Hideaki, and Harada Masatoshi both are top-class Batters in the country.
'This must be taken seriously!'
Miyuki made a decision and then conveyed his plan to Sawamura on the pitcher's mound.
'Although the game has just started, it may not be beneficial to have full firepower immediately. But the current situation is not up to us. Let's fire!'
Fire it up!
On the pitcher's mound, Sawamura looked at the sign Miyuki had called to him and nodded.
The opponents are Inashiro and Narumiya!
The game's situation is likely to evolve into a Pitching Duel or even a playoff.
In this case, in order to ensure that the pitch is still powerful in the latter part of the game.
Sawamura can't go all out for every ball!
Of course, this refers to when the situation is favorable.
But now, with this guy Carlos standing on second base, if a single hit hit Sawamura, they will probably lose points.
Sawamura can't hold back!
…