Long before the tournament starts, Sawamura's ball speed has reached a bottleneck. No matter how he tried, he couldn't increase his ball speed.
Moreover, in order to maintain the flexibility of the body, Sawamura knew he could not exercise too much strength. If he exercises his strength wholeheartedly, his speed may grow, but he will inevitably pay a heavy price.
before his return to the past, it was not that Sawamura did not experiment. With the increase in his body muscles, although his own flexibility can be maintained through exercising, the characteristics of his breaking ball have changed a lot.
Therefore, Sawamura concluded that he could exercise, but not too much if he wanted to maintain his own characteristics and advantages. He cannot take such a road if he wants to go further.
For these reasons, Eijun worked hard to improve his ball speed and strength without losing his physical characteristics after his regression.
It may really be due to his personal talent. Compared with the Breaking ball that Sawamura had at his fingertips, his improvement in ball speed and strength never satisfied him.
Finally, due to all the challenges he faced this summer, and his intense focus right now, he got the breakthrough that he wanted.
Although he himself is unaware due to his said focus.
Meanwhile, in the batting box, Renji was having a hard time.
'I believe that after this improvement, he will soon be able to improve to the speed of 145 km/h.' (90 mph)
Just thinking that Sawamura's ball speed could go up a step, Renji felt as uncomfortable as swallowing something bitter.
'He was already very hard to deal with before. After the ball speed increases, how should we play against him?'
Complaining in his mind, Renji adjusted his glasses and looked at Sawamura again.
Renji was very calm, but he had no idea how to hit Sawamura's ball.
Originally, they had a plan. At the beginning of the fourth inning, Sawamura's pitching would be mixed with Moving balls, and they were aiming at Moving balls. And Sawamura will through the Moving balls at them to make contact with.
Therefore, it will be a showdown on the Moving ball!
However, Sawamura obviously did not intend to play cards according to this rhythm, and he still chose to Strike Out his opponent in the fourth inning.
'In this case, we can't give you more momentum like this.'
Renji chose to give priority to disrupting Sawamura's pitching rhythm like Takeda.
They can't let Sawamura continue to strike them Out like this.
Thinking about it, he also made a bunt stance.
Not letting him down, Sawamura's pitch came quickly.
Whoosh!
A ball to the lower side of the strike zone.
Seidou's first and third basemen have already started to charge forward.
Renji was overjoyed, the bat in his hand kept sinking, ready to knock the ball forward.
Then the baseball sank rapidly as it approached the zone.
SNAP!
Approaching the strike zone, the baseball sunk to the plate and bounced dunking directly into the catcher Mitt.
"STRIKE!"
On the strike zone, Renji, who was chased by two Strikes, smiled wryly.
It's a Forkball again!
Didn't expect Sawamura's pitching to be so flexible? anyhow...
Without letting Renji think about it, Sawamura's strong third ball flew over.
Whoosh!
Renji reluctantly swung the bat, and after the baseball approached his hand, it suddenly rose rapidly.
'This is, the floating(Moving-up) ball!!'
Renji was stunned, but the result was cruel.
"STRIKE BATTER OUT!!!"
Without hesitation, Renji was struck Out.
"Eleven in a row!"
A young reporter in the stands almost groaned.
How far will Sawamura's record for consecutive strikeouts continue?
It's not over yet.
The Komadai's third Batter was more confident in himself and didn't put out a bunt.
But the result is the same.
"STRIKE!"
"STRIKE!!"
"STRIKE BATTER OUT!!!"
Three Outs, offense and defense exchange.
"Twelve strikeouts in a row!"
"And he broke his speed barrier just now!"
"He is doing so many things at the same time, are you sure he is a first-year?"
"The title of the demon King is not for nothing."
"Wait, is this the Koshien final? Did I go to the wrong stadium?"
The final between Seidou and the Komadai was very exciting.
The people who are following this game now, in addition to the 60,000-70,000 viewers at the scene, there are also millions of viewers in front of the TV and online media.
When Sawamura scored twelve consecutive strikeouts, those who followed the game couldn't help themselves.
Has any first-year in Koshien scored 12 strikeouts in a row before? To be honest they really don't know. I feel that even if there is, it is already an old history, and in recent decades, it is absolutely absent.
But Sawamura was the first to score 12 consecutive strikeouts in the final.
"Sawamura-kun has broken the previous record and a new record that belongs to him. In the previous record, the highest for a first year is ten consecutive strikeouts. Sawamura-kun has improved this record by two."
After a while, the commentator in charge of the commenting announced a new record excitedly, and the creator of the new record was Sawamura.
Generally, when you encounter a situation of consecutive strikeouts, as an opponent, you will definitely try to avoid it. In fact, the Komadai did the same, trying to disrupt Sawamura's strikeout rhythm with bunts.
Unfortunately, Sawamura's skills were far beyond their expectations.
Even if he put on a bunt, the Komadai Fujimaki's player failed to hit Sawamura's ball, and he still struck Out without error.
Moreover, he was getting even stronger!
He broke his previous limit and increased his ball speed!
"Demon King!"
"Demon King!!!"
At first, it was the members of the Demon King's Guards, but more and more people followed, so that the entire Koshien echoed the Demon King's cheers.
"Congratulation! You brat!"
"Well done Ace!!"
"You little runt! Who told you to be this awesome?"
When Sawamura returned to the rest area, the surrounding teammates were also very excited.
In their first year Ace was soaring to new heights!
With a reliable pitcher like Sawamura, they are at ease.
In the next inning, they just need to figure out a way to score.
Chris looked at the abnormal sweat on Sawamura's face and frowned slightly. Sawamura's stamina has always been very good, but after only nine balls in this round, his stamina seems to have consumed a lot.
'This is unusual! Did the breakthrough affect him this much?'
"Are you going to continue to maintain this rhythm?"
A little uneasy, Chris asked Sawamura.
Sawamura shook his head like a rattle. While he was happy with the breakthrough and the new record, he also knew he could not hold on to the next nine innings.
Four innings, thirty-six balls.
So far, Sawamura has not wasted a single ball, and the count is not too many, even very few.
But Sawamura's physical exertion is quite a lot!
In the beginning, it was okay to just throw the Breaking ball and Strike Out the opponent, but the batter of Komadai who was forcefully struck Out just now is different.
At that time, Sawamura's focus must be highly concentrated, and pay attention to the batter's every move, and then made minor adjustments at the last moment to make the batter's bunt miss.
After 12 strikeouts in a row, Sawamura knew he was going to stop. Otherwise, if it continues like this, this very dazzling data will be refreshed, but Sawamura's physical strength will inevitably be burned. Even if he can barely hold on until the end of the game, he can't guarantee that his pitching will remain at the same level.
Moreover, he made the breakthrough he always wanted. And stopped the momentum of the opponent.
All in all, it's worth it.
"It's better to pitch with the Moving ball as the core. If the opponent was stunned by strikeouts, then it is enough to scare them. If not, then even more Strikeouts are useless. But can I ask you to mix the Straight Fastball too?"
Seeing that Sawamura was very calm, Chris was relieved.
He was really afraid that Sawamura would be stimulated by the achievements, and wanted to continue this crazy rhythm.
"So you want to pitch more Straight balls?" Chris asked with a smile.
"Yes!" Sawamura smiled widely and was a bit embarrassed. He was really happy about his speed increase and wanted to pitch more.
"Okay, I will keep that in mind." Chris replied, knowing that his Kohai was really excited even when he tried to look calm.
…
T/N: Thank you all for reading!! And I hope you all have a good day!
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