Ping!
The ball soared high, falling out of bounds.
"FOUL!"
Mei's frown deepened. Clearly, Sanada was anticipating the Change-up.
'It's time for a straight ball or another breaking ball,' Narumiya thought. The straight ball was Sanada's best pitch.
After a few more pitches, Narumiya threw his final shot.
'Straight ball, here it comes!'
The Straight ball flew towards Sanada, who had been waiting for it. He knew Narumiya would eventually throw his best pitch. Despite the earlier distraction with the Change-up, he had been preparing for this.
Sanada swung with precision.
'Idiot, how could I throw the best Pitch for you to hit?'
A smirk crept across Mei's face. The ball, coming right at Sanada, suddenly dropped and evaded his swing, going safely for the catcher's Mitt.
But just as Narumiya prepared for the strikeout, a disaster struck.
Tadano, fully committed to catching the ball, misjudged its break. The pitch was too far out of reach and too fast. The ball avoided his mitt and flew behind him.
Catcher error!
"Keha-ha-haa!"
Raichi's haunting laughter echoed from home plate as he dashed back to the plate.
By the time Tadano retrieved the ball and attempted to touch him Out, Raichi had already crossed home plate.
"Second base!"
As Tadano threw to second base, Mishima, who had advanced from third, sprinted towards home plate.
The missed catch led to a two-run deficit.
The final score was: 3-1.
In this thirty-fourth practice game, Yakushi High defeated the top giant of West Tokyo, Inajitsu, securing their thirty-fourth consecutive win.
This autumn in Tokyo was now marked by a fierce whirlwind called Yakushi.
Inajitsu, facing this brilliant but ill-fated moment just before the Fall Tournament, now faced an uncertain future.
***
The practice match between Inajitsu Industrial and Yakushi High School has concluded.
In the end, Inajitsu was defeated due to a mistake by Tadano Itsuki.
The impact on Inajitsu was significant. For Yakushi High School, it held extraordinary significance as well.
After the match, even the Coach, Todoroki Raizou, couldn't help the wide smile on his face.
"Thank you, thank you. Playing against your team has been a really great opportunity." He smiled brightly.
When shaking hands with him, Coach Kunitomo did not lose his composure due to the loss. He remained very stoic as he shook hands with Todoroki Raizou.
"During your professional baseball career, your performance was outstanding. I heard you played until the age of forty. I never expected that after retiring, you would coach with such enthusiasm. We've also learned a lot from this game. It was indeed a good practice match."
Coach Kunitomo's tone was calm, but Todoroki Raizou frowned upon hearing this.
'Forty years old, professional baseball?'
'This guy really knows how to touch a nerve!'
'When they say 'practice match,' doesn't that imply it's just a practice match? '
'Winning or losing doesn't matter, there's no need to make a big deal out of it.'
'You crafty hard face!'
"As expected of the best coach in the West Tokyo. Indeed, I understand why now! We too learned a lot of this game, it was such a good game."
With a wave, Todoroki Raizou led his students away. The Inajitsu players who remained behind would soon experience the chilling, winter-like care of their Superintendent.
***
At the same time, on the baseball field of Seidou High School.
The players were undergoing their final evaluations.
Kawakami was the pitcher, and the batter was Furuya.
Today's Furuya could only be described in one word—exceptional.
In his batting, he displayed a performance that was no less than Sawamura's.
The Sawamura of today was vastly different from his previous self. During his high school days, Sawamura was just starting out and was very inexperienced, not just in batting but even in pitching. If it weren't for his natural talent, Sawamura would have struggled to make a name for himself during his student years.
Now, Sawamura was undoubtedly a star player of the demon king level, not just in prestigious Seidou High School, but across all of high school. Everyone considered Sawamura a super boss that had to be conquered to win the Championship. In this situation, Sawamura's strength was unquestionable.
Not only in pitching but even in batting, Sawamura was among the best at Seidou High School.
When the third-year seniors were still on the team, only two batters were better than Sawamura, Yuuki and Ryosuke, and there were two other Senpais who were on a similar level to Sawamura.
Now that they had left, only Miyuki Kazuya could barely compete with Sawamura in batting.
Furuya's performance today has been so extraordinary.
Ranked in the top three at Seidou High School!
Keeping up with Sawamura and Miyuki.
Now, the way everyone looks at Furuya is completely different from before.
"When the third-year Senpai's have not left the team, the first-year students were very eye-catching, but that's it. But now, there is no way to hide the brilliance of the first-year students." President Ota said very emotionally.
Not to mention the great Demon King Sawamura, the prowess of Kominato Haruichi is also heart-warming. Speaking only of his hitting skills, he is not that inferior to his older brother, the legendary Devil Brother, Kominato Ryosuke.
What Kominato Haruichi currently lacks is physical fitness. He may be half a head taller than his brother, but when it comes to physical capability, he is far behind.
Then there's Furuya.
When he was on the previous team, he was more of a pitcher with an outstanding performance. In other respects, he was completely worthless. Even if he got a hit, he was a blind cannon, which is a bit too blind, and when he is needed, he is useless. When he is not needed, he explodes.
Now, with the new team being formed, Furuya's existence suddenly was shining like a supernova, and it was terrifying!
In the hitting test, he was comparable to Sawamura and Miyuki, being Simply incredible.
And, it's not just the three of them.
Among the new students, Toujou Hideaki and Kanemaru Shinji have also started to emerge, and they have shown their strength to compete for the main force.
As expected of players who made a name for themselves in middle school!
However, when middle school students graduated and entered Seidou, they were pushed around and bullied in all sorts of ways in the field. But it must be admitted that those who are talented are talented. They are the fastest to emerge from the freshmen.
Toujou Hideaki and Kanemaru Shinji are all like this.
The same is true for the great Demon King Sawamura and Kominato Haruichi of Kanagawa.
As for Furuya, well, he is an exception.
Furuya's current feeling is simply overwhelming.
The bat in his hand was like his arm. like he can manipulate it freely.
It seems that no matter what the ball is, he can hit it!
Mentality, to a large extent, determines a person's momentum. And with the current Furuya, his momentum is high and scary.
Even the onlookers could clearly feel the momentum of Furuya's presence, not to mention who was directly facing him, Kawakami and Ono.
"This guy's momentum is very strong now, and the Coach wants us to take this seriously now, is there any strategy you want to go with?"
Before playing, Ono took the initiative to ask Kawakami as his next performance would determine many things for him.
"No, just use my Winning Shot."
'Going head-to-head?'
Ono looked at Kawakami in surprise, and when he saw Kawakami's firm gaze he understood a little.
It looks like Kawakami has already thought about this, and he will use his strength to prove himself, not a game calling.
"All right!"
Ono happily agreed, then looked at Kawakami seriously and said, "Although now the team has Sawamura and Furuya. But you have always been our Ace, so don't lose!"
"Nori, come on!"
"Hyaa-ha-ha, get rid of them."
"Show these Kohais the strength of our second grade."
After listening to Ono's words, the surrounding second-year players also began to cheer for Kawakami one by one.
They are all on his side of the river.
"Yes!" Nori agreed heavily and then walked up to the pitcher's mound.
In terms of his character, such a scene rarely occurs.
Even the old alumni who were on the sidelines could see that there was competition between the two sides unknowingly.
"Do they want revenge from the Kohais?"
"It's really exciting."
"Speaking of which, this is really the golden generation! I thought that there were Toujou, Kanemaru, and others who were already very good. Unexpectedly, Takashima Rei also invited Sawamura, and there were surprises such as Furuya Satoru and Kominato Haruichi. What a joyful thing!"
Because of the continuous failure to enter Koshien, Seidou High School also lost a lot of appeal for new talents. A lot of good seedlings didn't even consider Seidou!
The year that Sawamura and others entered Seidou was the year when the Seidou Era Started.
...
T/N: That's it for Today.
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