Maezono was now on cloud nine, he was so excited about the home run he just hit, that the players around him tried to calm him down with a wry smile.
'Perfect!'
Watching Maezono hit a home run and roar in frenzy, Sawamura silently gave himself a thumbs up.
"Zono-senpai! Can you step aside now? There are others still waiting to bat," he said, not hiding the wide smile on his face when he talked to the joyful senior.
"Okay."
Maezono, having just smashed a home run, contently stepped aside like a child who just got his favorite candy after a lot of nagging.
"Next up, let me have a go!" Kuramochi was the second to step up.
"Okay! I will throw the ball right down the middle!" Sawamura replied with enthusiasm.
Ping!
After the white ball was struck, it landed in the outfield.
"You little punk, see that? That's the hitting prowess of this genius."
Kuramochi felt satisfied as if he had avenged his earlier loss to Sawamura's speed.
"Yes yes Senpai, you're amazing! Can you step aside now?" Sawamura's tone was like an adult humoring a child.
"Tsk!" Which made Kuramochi annoyed, but he stepped aside too.
Ping!
Subsequent batters also hit Sawamura's pitches one after another, and Sawamura, who had restricted himself to specific courses and even told them in advance, suddenly seemed like a toothless tiger.
Ota, the head of the baseball club, looked like he was about to cry. He nervously rubbed his hands, watching Sawamura on the pitcher's mound with a worried expression.
"Even though I know this is Sawamura is deliberately going easy, seeing his pitches constantly getting hit out still gives me conflicted feelings."
President Ota's feelings were not hard to understand at all. After all, Sawamura Eijun was the prized Ace pitcher of Seidou High School. How could the president of the baseball club feel good watching Ace's pitches constantly being hit out like this?
If he didn't start panicking on the spot, it was already considered good mental fortitude.
Coach Ochiai cast an unbelieving glance at Ota. He couldn't fathom how this guy ended up as the president of the baseball club.
'The real talent here is Sawamura, the pitcher.'
Ochiai had been firstly perplexed. There had even been a moment of doubt—were the batters from Seidou High School really that good?
Even if Sawamura was holding back, his pitch speed still hovered above 141 km/h. (88 mph)
His pitching courses were not sweet either as many of them were quite tricky.
With pitches like these, Seidou High School's batters could easily hit and get a base.
Has their batting prowess indeed reached a terrifying level?
But how could this be?
Even a blind person could see it. The current players' skills were obviously at least two levels lower than those of retired third-year players.
Under such circumstances, how could they continuously hit pitches with such high speed and tricky angles?
'Too much coincidence is not a coincidence. There's something fishy going on here.'
Despite sensing something off, Coach Ochiai couldn't figure it out, but he knew it had to do with Sawamura.
If Coach Ochiai was merely skeptical, Kuramochi, with his sharp intuition, had already figured it out.
His expression twisted more and more, resembling a ghastly zombie.
"What's gotten into you all of a sudden?" Miyuki asked Kuramochi oddly.
"That bastard has been playing us for fools!" Kuramochi exclaimed angrily.
At this point, Kuramochi couldn't help but realize that Sawamura was pitching exactly to their best courses.
For example, Maezono excelled at hitting inside fastballs.
The timing and angles were perfectly suited for the loud guy, allowing Maezono to smoothly hit a home run.
Everyone knew Sawamura was going easy, but hitting a 141+ km/h fastball of the Koshien Ace still excited them.
"Ignorant chumps!" Kuramochi looked sympathetically at them.
How could they know Sawamura was pitching exactly to their best courses intentionally?
In essence, he was pitching to let them hit.
To achieve this, not only did he need strong premeditated support but also precise ball control.
'That bastard was just using them to practice his ball control.'
"There is much more to that. Sawamura's helping you adjust your batting form."
"What?" Kuramochi looked at Miyuki in disbelief.
Miyuki shook his head and smiled.
"Haven't you noticed yet? Your swings are smoother. And it's not just that, everyone's morale is up. Sawamura's using his pitching to help you find your rhythm."
"How is that possible?"
It wasn't that Kuramochi didn't believe Sawamura would do this. Judging by that guy's character, he really could.
For the sake of the team, Sawamura would do anything. Despite only being at Seidou High School for half a year, his dedication surpassed that of many third-year Senpai.
If Sawamura knew Kuramochi saw him that way, he'd definitely give Kuramochi a thumbs up.
He will thank this guy for the support!
Kuramochi didn't doubt Sawamura would do such a thing. What surprised him was how well Sawamura could execute it.
"This guy? Would do this much…?"
Kuramochi looked at Sawamura with astonishment.
Almost at the same time, at Inajitsu High School in West Tokyo.
Someone expressed the same sentiment as Kuramochi.
"STRIKE!"
"STRIKE!"
"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!"
After Raichi hit a home run, Narumiya Mei didn't crumble but instead became even more intense.
At first, relying on defense to get Outs, but later on, when his firepower was fully unleashed, he began striking out Yakushi High School's middle and lower lineup.
Even when facing Raichi again, Mei showed great pitching. Although Raichi hit a beautiful ball to the outfield, he was caught out by Carlos.
The coordination between Inajitsu's new pitcher-catcher duo was astonishing.
"I didn't expect Tadano to sync up with Narumiya so quickly."
"I was worried watching their practice games. Now it seems we were worrying for nothing."
"Tadano is talented and it was easy to see that before in middle school."
"Of course, otherwise, he wouldn't have been promoted to Inajitsu's starting catcher."
Almost everyone around praised Tadano Itsuki.
But despite being praised, Tadano Itsuki didn't look happy.
In the recent events, all he'd done was serve as a wall to catch the ball.
It was all Mei-san's credit for achieving these results.
…