In the first half of the fourth inning, Hoshiryu High School, which had been full of energy and wanted to show their might, once again returned without success.
Three ups, three downs, two Strikeouts!
With such a clean performance, Tanpa's pitching seemed to be even stronger than in the first three innings.
This made Hosho Ryuki, Hoshiryu's efficient Coach very puzzled.
Regarding Ryuki's personal sentiments, the strategies he has devised may not be flawless, but overall, they should be sound and free of significant issues.
He hadn't considered it before, but he mentioned that solely depending on that particular strategy would be enough to defeat Tanpa. However, based on his intuition, even if the tactic was akin to a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse, he believed that the first three batters could manage to secure at least one or two hits.
'In this way, we can rely on the fourth Batter, Nanami, to score Runs!'
The attacking plan was good.
But Seidou High School's response speed was much faster than he expected. Just by seeing the ball that Oda hit, the catcher of Seidou High School seemed to be sure of what ball they were aiming for and even decided the corresponding tactics very decisively.
From Hosho Ryuki's perspective, such a rapid and accurate assessment seemed highly unbelievable.
'How can you determine the opponent's batting strategy by relying on a hit that is not even a hit?'
'Isn't this bullshit?'
But Chris, the catcher at Seidou High School, did just that, and he did it very successfully.
He successfully took Out the first three batters of Hoshiryu High School.
"Seidou High School!" Ryuki said in contemplation.
'Even if Sawamura Eijun didn't stand on the pitching mound, do they still have such strong strength?'
Hosho Ryuki made a wry smile and turned to talk to Nanami.
"Clearly, this hurdle is not one to be outmaneuvered by mere tactics. The stage is set, the spotlight is on, and all eyes turn to you, Ace. It's your moment to shine!"
Nanami Haruka has no need for all the extra words, just one word is enough.
"Alright!"
Fighting against Seidou High School makes Nanami's blood boil.
'It's been a long time, it's really been a long time since I met such a strong opponent.'
'Although it was quite interesting when I played against Narumiya Mei at the beginning. But in that kind of practice game, even if everyone played to the fullest, they couldn't be sure that they and the opponent were showing 100% of their strength.'
'Not like now.'
'Koshien quarterfinals, if you win you get to advance to the next stage, if you lose you get the first ride home.'
'In order to be able to win, both sides will milk every kind of strength they have.'
Why did the people from Hoshiryu High School think that Sawamura would be the pitcher?
It was because they were convinced that Seidou High School was the same as them and couldn't afford to lose.
Now that they have gained some insight into Seidou High School's strategy, with a substitute like Tanpa Koichiro at their disposal, they will undoubtedly send him to the field at the right moment to push the team forward.
"Bring it on!"
'Let's bet everything and have a good game.'
In the second half of the fourth inning, Seidou High School attacked.
"Fifth Batter, Center, Isashiki-kun."
"Please take care of me!"
After Isashiki Jun stood on the strike zone and greeted the referee, his eyes immediately became fierce.
"Come at me brat!"
Isashiki let out a ferocious roar, brandishing his bat menacingly towards Haruka Nanami.
That felt like a bluff.
'But actually it is not.'
Isashiki Jun's actions were not without justification. His primary objective was to leverage their team's leading position to utterly dismantle Nanami Haruka's confidence.
To put it bluntly, it is just like playing cards, where even bluffing is part of the strategy.
It is unfortunate that Isashiki's opponent is not one to be intimidated solely by bluffs.
Nanami Haruka's demeanor remained composed throughout.
His performance, akin to his pitching, was very stable.
Whoosh!
The small baseball flies to the inner corner.
The feeling of this pitch is very bad, it should be close to the edge of the strike zone, and the ball is between Strike and Ball.
Well, even if it strayed from the strike zone, as long as it didn't stray too far, Isashiki would still swing.
Not to mention a ball that doesn't even count as a Ball.
He swings the bat directly and decisively!
Ping!
When the bat hit the small white ball, Isashiki immediately felt the difference.
'The ball is so heavy!'
Before he could react, the small white ball bounced forward.
SNAP!
"OUT!"
Until the end of the play, Isashiki was stunned.
Not only him, but even Sawamura, who was most familiar with Nanami Haruka before, was stunned.
This feels obviously wrong!
'Is Nanami's Straight ball so powerful?'
While the players on the field were confused, a bystander understood the situation.
Miyuki, who had not dealt much with Nanami before, saw the essence of the matter.
"This guy's pitching is a bit weird. If it's not that the Jun-san didn't hit well, it means that his Straight ball is not easy to hit."
One Out, no one hits base.
"Sixth Batter, third baseman, Masuko-kun!"
It wasn't just the people in the rest area of Seidou High School who noticed the strangeness of the pitch just now. Masuko on the strike zone was not idle either.
'Jun didn't even hit the Straight ball well?'
This result made Masuko very puzzled, and at the same time strengthened his attack strategy.
Although it is not clear what trick is in the opponent's Straight ball, but even if there are breaks, there are nothing more than two, one is a small break, and the other is the terrifying power of the ball.
'To deal with these two things, using power is enough!'
As long as he swings the bat with enough power, he can hit the ball regardless of whether the opponent throws with a small break or the ball is powerful.
"STRIKE!"
"STRIKE!"
"STRIKE BATTER OUT!!!"
The idea of Masuko is simple and straightforward.
It's just a pity that Okuchi and Nanami have no intention of cooperating with him.
When Hosho saw Masuko holding the bat so long, he immediately gave Nanami a sign to use the Breaking ball.
Because of Nanami's own pitching characteristics, the Breaking balls he throws have a particularly large range of breaks.
Masuko, who is ready to crush everything with strength, can't hit the ball with such a big break.
Three consecutive swings and three consecutive misses.
Masuko gets a strikeout.
'Nanami Haruka!'
Before the game with Hoshiryu High School, Seidou High School collected information on Nanami Haruka very seriously.
At that time, there were a lot of comments on Nanami Haruka. Most people believed that Nanami Haruka was very high level, but he was barely able to squeeze into the top level in the country.
Among pitchers of this level, Nanami Haruka should be at the bottom.
For example, if you were to single out ten of the best high school pitchers in the country.
Nanami Haruka may barely be able to squeeze into these ten people, ranking ninth or tenth.
This is the evaluation of Nanami Haruka's strength when collecting data before Seidou High School.
But it now appears that their previous estimates may be false.
The guy in front of them has the strength to keep pace with Narumiya Mei.
The reason why the batters at Seidou High School were able to get hits time and time again when facing him is not because of his weak strength, but because Seidou High School's own players have really grown up!
If Seidou High School and Inajitsu were to play another game now, the result of the game would definitely not be the same as before.
...