The flying high ball just above the mound was firmly caught in the Mitt by Sawamura.
SNAP!
"OUT!"
One Out, no one hits base.
On the pitcher's mound, there was a glint of contentment in Sawamura's eyes.
He is not without gains in this year's Koshien. Compared with the period of the West Tokyo Games, Sawamura's understanding of high school baseball and even baseball itself has changed a lot. For a player of his level, any gain is a huge leap.
Not to mention the great mental progress!
Before, when Sawamura was facing the high school's strong batters, he still thought of using force and power to crush them. Now his mindset has changed, he doesn't have to use tough pitching to crush his opponents.
His own talent is not suitable for such an approach.
That being the case, why not look for another way?
No matter what kind of pitching it is, as long as it can solve the batter, it is good Pitching. It doesn't matter whether it's a Strikeout or a Shutout…
As long as it can get an Out then it is a good pitching.
Sawamura seemed to have taken off the shackles that he had been wearing, and let go of his whole body.
Now, he is also confident in dealing with Akutsu.
On the strike zone, Akutsu's eyes were very sharp.
'One hit!'
'No matter what, get a single hit first, this is the groundwork that Seihou High School needed to conquer Sawamura.'
Although Akutsu said that in front of all the players at Seihou High School before, but in fact, he was very clear that the only three people who could really take hits from Sawamura were the next three.
Him, Sano, and maybe Hirahara.
In a head-to-head duel with Sawamura, the three of them are the most likely to get a hit. However, for the other batters, they have to rely on some tricks and luck to get hits.
Luck is misleading, and small tricks are not necessarily useful for an experienced player like Sawamura.
With Akutsu's IQ, he would never pin his hopes on such imaginative things. He believed more in the plain's strength of his and Sano's.
In the catcher's position, Chris solemnly looked at Akutsu who was waiting in the strike zone, and smiled in his mind.
Before the game, Akutsu revealed too little information, and they didn't collect enough information at all. And the opponent's IQ of 200 is scary enough. He should have guessed what we're going to throw next.
Even with Chris's Cold Reading, he couldn't guarantee that he could see through Akutsu's thoughts.
However, this did not prevent him from developing a pitching strategy against Akutsu.
'Since the ball will be seen through, let's throw some balls that have no effect even if they are seen through.'
The biggest difference between Sawamura and Akutsu is that although Sawamura has a lot of breaking balls, every one of them could be used as a winning shot.
'Come on, next ball, Moving ball Kai!'
Moving ball Kai!
It is the same as the normal Moving ball, but this ball breaks with a more sharp and noticeable break.
For Sawamura, it was all in the grip of the ball, with all five fingers firmly clawing the baseball and throwing it like a Straight Fastball. Because of the different grip of the ball and his naturally elastic wrist and elbow, the ball will produce different sharp breaks.
It was Sawamura using Kataoka's advice of turning the Moving ball into a winning shot.
Sawamura could throw it naturally before, but yesterday he, Chris, and Miyuki decided to dub it as a different ball from the normal Moving ball.
Even Sawamura and Chris can't predict how it will break. Even if Akutsu has a super brain comparable to a computer, he can't predict the break of Sawamura's Moving ball Kai!
On the pitcher's mound, Sawamura stretched out his entire body, all five fingers of his left hand firmly grasped the ball, and then threw the ball with the same motion as before.
Whoosh!
The small white ball whizzed and reached the top of home plate in the blink of an eye.
On the strike zone, Akutsu decisively chose the path of the ball and swung the bat.
Ping!
The small white ball was hit and flew behind Sawamura.
"OK!"
Watching Akutsu hit the ball forward, the players in the rest area of Seihou High School were extremely excited.
Behind the pitcher, generally speaking, there is a defensive gap.
Although this kind of ball will be stopped by the trained fielders, and the batter will not be able to get to second base, but the first base is still enough.
It's just that this gap is for other high schools, and for Seidou, there is no gap for anything to pass through between their second baseman and shortstop.
"Hyaa-ha-haa!"
As if a white-blue shadow suddenly appeared in front of the rebounded baseball, Kuramochi caught the baseball, and then without straightening his back, he directly passed the ball to Kominato Ryosuke, who had long arrived and ready.
Kominato Ryosuke caught the ball with his bare hands and passed it to first base in one move.
This lightning-like change directly stunned the audience in the stands.
Akutsu threw his bat and was blocked before he even got halfway through the hitting zone to home plate.
Two Outs, no one on base.
"Appeared! The iron wall!"
"Seidou's strongest barrier!!!"
"Cool!"
On the stand, in the rest area of Seidou, countless fans cheered Kominato Ryosuke and Kuramochi excitedly.
In the position of the catcher, Chris' face was a little ugly.
'Moving Ball Kai were hit!'
'Is this guy named Akutsu really a monster?'
That being said, in fact, Chris knew that it was a lot of luck that Akutsu could hit the ball just now.
Although Sawamura's Moving ball has the break, the magnitude of the break is not very large.
Thinking about it, he looked at Sawamura thoughtfully.
Sawamura shrugged helplessly.
He also has no way of manipulating the break of the Moving ball. Sometimes the breaks are extremely sharp, and naturally, sometimes the breaks are not so sharp…
'With someone on the base bag, it still can't be used as a winning shot.'
Although Sawamura's strength is extremely powerful, it is not perfect. Just like now, Chris has discovered a small problem.
Sawamura now has three Winning Shots.
Straight Fastball, Forkball, and Moving ball Kai!
'Among them, it is best not to use the Moving ball Kai when someone is on the base bag.'
The risk is simply too high!
The only ones that can really be used as the winning shot are the Straight Fastballs and the Forkball!
'After this tournament, it looks like Sawamura will develop a new Winnings Shot!'
Without any warning, this thought appeared in Chris's mind. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but smile bitterly. In the days to come, he probably won't be able to develop a new Winnings Shot with Sawamura anymore…
After all, this competition is over, and he is about to graduate.
"Fourth Batter, third baseman, Sano-kun."
After two Outs, it was the turn of the fourth batter in the lineup of Seihou, Sano Shuzo.
Before the attack, Sano Shuzo kept thinking back to what Akutsu had asked him to do before.
"Sano, you must get a hit first no matter what!"
One hit!
Not a score, just a hit.
I didn't expect that Akutsu, who was confident normally, would ask him so gravely.
Now, he has to take this hit no matter what, even if the opponent is a real Demon King, he has to do it.
This is his duty as a Seihou fourth batter.
"Come on, Maou-kun!"
…