In the rest area of Seidou High School.
Sawamura is ready to hit the field. The Batter after Kuramochi is Kominato Ryosuke, who is now waiting on the on-deck. After Ryosuke, it was him.
Although prepared to swing, Sawamura's attention was not fully focused on the next strike. Instead, he looked at Kuramochi, who ran desperately on the field after using the bunt.
Sawamura was very happy, Kuramochi had fully awakened!
From the perspective of player progress, players who constantly challenge their limits in the competition are more likely to grow and evolve than players who stably train.
But people are always blind, especially the hot-blooded teenagers.
They are eager to be better themselves but often get lost. Like Kuramochi before, despite his rare talent for speed, he was not willing to take this path.
What Kuramochi wanted to be the most was not a runner, but a strong switch hitter!
His idol is Kazuo Matsui (a baseball star) who is famous for being a switch hitter. This figure has existed in Kuramochi's mind for many years, and it has always affected him.
Although he can play as a switch hitter, but in fact, he does not have much talent in this.
It's not that he can't improve if he trains hard, but the speed of improvement is really slow.
On the contrary, in terms of speed, Kuramochi is the number one player at Seidou, even if he did not deliberately train hard. As far as the threat of stealing bases is concerned, he is not even inferior to Carlos, the No. 1 runner in West Tokyo.
After Ochiai saw Kuramochi, he was also happy to see a talent.
He very straightforwardly suggested to Kataoka that if he wanted to fully utilize Kuramochi's strengths, he only needed to increase his hit rate.
It doesn't matter if he is stealing bases, swinging, bunting, Walking, or flying.
Since Kuramochi feels more threatening on the base bag, then just increase his on-base rate.
In this regard, if Kuramochi is willing to work hard, the speed of growth will definitely be much stronger than when he practiced switch-hitting.
This is the choice!
On the one hand, it is a personal ideal, and on the other hand, it is a fast-growing road.
On the surface, there is nothing to hesitate.
How can a young man willingly give up his dreams?
Seidou respects the players' own opinions very much. The coaching staff will only make their own suggestions. As for whether to change or not, it is entirely up to you.
Kataoka told Kuramochi exactly what Ochiai told him.
It's been a little over a month since this happened!
Now, Kuramochi finally figured it out.
Compared with his unrealistic dreams, it is more important to sharpen the weapon in his hand.
He bet his victory or defeat on speed!
"Stop dreaming!"
Seeing Kuramochi's bunt, Narumiya ran to first base non-stop to cover.
Inashiro's first baseman was running forward, ready to pick up the ball.
Inashiro's action speed is very fast, but unfortunately, this ball position is really good for bunts, and the speed and position of the ball are very good.
While Yamaoka, Inashiro's first baseman, was picking up the ball and passing it to Narumiya, Kuramochi's foot also stepped on the base bag.
Kuramochi and Narumiya looked nervously at the first base umpire.
Right now, the eyes of the audience were also involuntarily placed on first base. Including Inashiro's second baseman, shortstop, and third baseman.
"PASS THIRD BASE!!"
From the rest area of Inashiro, there was an urgent shout.
Unfortunately, it's too late!
Chris wasn't on the second base's bag. When Yamaoka was picking up the ball, he moved to third base without anyone noticing.
And Inashiro's third baseman and shortstop, when they didn't see Chris move at first, unconsciously let go of their vigilance.
By the time the first baseman passed the ball to Narumiya, who was on the first base, Chris had quietly advanced a dozen meters.
Just when the focus of the audience was on first base, Narumiya and Kuramochi stared intently at the umpire at first base.
Chris suddenly accelerated!
A distance of more than ten meters is less than two seconds.
In a moment, Chris went to third base.
Not to mention the result of first base, third base Chris is safe on base.
At the position of the first base, Narumiya heard the reminder in the rest area, and then turned to look at the third base, but is there still time?
'Seidou played their hand, too…'
"SAFE!"
Before, the umpire at first base was also dumbfounded.
It wasn't until he saw Chris got to base that he came to his senses and announced the result. Invisibly, the umpire at first base gave Chris a beautiful assist.
In the eyes of the umpire, Kuramochi was one step ahead of the baseball that returned.
One Out, runner at first and third base!
After a series of changes ended, Akiko was stunned.
It took a long time before she heard her mutter.
"It's too exciting!"
Kuramochi's stealing base is a thrill in itself. If the bunt is a little bit off, or he's a little slower he would be Out.
Of course, the more adventurous is Chris.
Chris's actions, even the audience and media reporters, few can notice.
This kind of base stealing is too scary!
Just like an assassin.
Move and approach quietly, and then kill with one hit. When the opponent found out, it was too late to stop it.
In the rest area of Seidou, Sawamura looked at Chris with bright eyes.
"SHISHO!"
'He did it again!'
This kind of sneaking like base stealing was a very rare thing to see and mostly depended on luck.
'So Cool!'
'Sure enough, geniuses are something else.'
Chris' actions are easy to say, but the execution is something else.
He must be keenly aware of the movements of the first baseman, second baseman, shortstop, third baseman, and pitcher Narumiya.
Finding the blind spots and gaps in these people's vision is needed to accomplish all this.
At Inashiro's level, such a gap would never have appeared. Only due to Kuramochi's surprise bunt drew the attention of the Inashiro infielders, causing a gap in Inashiro's defense.
And Chris keenly grasped this gap.
The injury did make Chris miserable for a while. However, this period has also brought Chris's understanding of baseball to a higher level.
It is not without reason that Chris finally became an all-powerful coach after retiring as a player.
One Out, runner at first and third base.
The next two Batters were Kominato Ryosuke and Sawamura Eijun, who had hits before.
Seidou High School had an unprecedented scoring opportunity.
In the dugout, Ochiai can clearly see Kataoka's anxiousness.
If they can get another point or two, the balance of victory will be more inclined towards Seidou.
Koshien is so close at hand!
Ochiai glanced at Kataoka, he thought that right now, Kataoka would definitely give orders to the players on the field.
Unexpectedly, when Kominato Ryosuke looked back at the rest area, Kataoka didn't say anything.
This means that Kominato Ryosuke and Sawamura Eijun are allowed to play freely.
'As always, he trusts the players.'
Ochiai sighed with emotion.
If it were him, right now, a sign would definitely be given.
The closer they are to their goals, the easier it is for players to worry about gains and losses, especially for a giant team like Seidou.
In the finals, a king like Inashiro took advantage of this, and the dark horse teams too, took advantage of it.
The reason why Inashiro can take advantage of this is because they have rich experience in the finals.
Don't underestimate the accumulation of experience, the closer you get to the goal, the easier it is for people to do some stupid things.
Experienced players tend to be very calm right now.
Calmness is a very rare thing.
This is why in some regions, the champion teams often dominate for several years.
Excellent strength itself is an important criterion, but the team's experience in winning championships is also a factor that should not be underestimated.
As for the dark horse teams.
Dark horse teams usually don't think about it that much.
For them, any victory is a breakthrough, a new history!
That way they will be less stressed.
'The most troubled is a Famous team like Seidou High School.'
With the strength to enter Koshien, they have always been aiming for the national championship.
Such a team certainly doesn't take a simple win as everything like the average dark horse team does.
Their players will easily think of unnecessary things due to pressure.
But there is no experience in facing the finals and adjusting their psychological state.
At such times, players are prone to problems.
After all, they're just teenagers…
With Ochiai leading such a team, at this critical time, he will use the players as pawns.
The player's role is only to fulfill his instructions.
This makes it easier for players to not think too much.
It is a pity that Coach Kataoka did not intend to do this, he fully trusted his students.
He believed that his students would definitely produce results.
…