Three Outs, offense and defense exchange.
Sawamura was dealt with cleanly. In the first inning, Inajitsu not only scored first but also defended against Seidou High School's attack.
They made Seidou's top lineup go three up and three down.
"Narumiya!"
"Narumiya!!"
"Mei!!"
"Inashiro!"
At this moment, countless fans supporting Inajitsu cheered loudly, their chants of Narumiya Mei's name echoing for a long time.
It is so thrilling for them!
Since Sawamura joined Seidou High School, they had never encountered such a situation where Seidou were so thoroughly suppressed. It wasn't luck or external factors; it was simply being overpowered.
This scene provided Inajitsu's supporters with immense visual enjoyment.
In stark contrast, the players of Seidou were dejected, their heads hung low and looking dispirited.
The spectators were enjoying the spectacle, while Seidou's players, as the Champions, were under enormous pressure.
This situation had only intensified the pressure they faced.
"This situation is truly dire!"
As the team's core, Sawamura had not demonstrated his strong abilities either offensively or defensively!
This was one of the reasons why Seidou was being pushed back.
"Sawamura!"
In the top of the second inning, Inajitsu was on offense.
Before the inning started, Miyuki approached Sawamura with concern, seemingly about to say something.
Strictly speaking, this situation was not directly Sawamura's fault, but the pressure had all fallen on him.
As Sawamura's partner, Miyuki was naturally worried, but he didn't know what to say. As the team's core, it was Sawamura's responsibility.
"Yeah, I know."
The fire in Sawamura's eyes could no longer be hidden.
He didn't want to say anything; it wasn't that Sawamura couldn't encourage his teammates.
He simply trusted his Seidou teammates, believing they didn't need verbal motivation like the players from Akagi High School before.
What he could do now was very simple:
'Use strong pitching to lead everyone forward.'
"Fifth Batter, third baseman, Yabe-kun!"
At this moment, Inajitsu's batter was Yabe. Previously a substitute player at Inajitsu High School, he was promoted to a core batter after the graduation of third-year seniors.
'Unlike Inajitsu's top fourth batter, the fifth batter and those following had never faced Sawamura directly before.'
'This meant they had only imagined Sawamura's pitching and had not seen it in person.'
'Perfect!'
Such an opponent was exactly what Miyuki preferred.
If you hadn't seen Sawamura Eijun's pitching, you didn't truly have the qualification to face him.
As his partner, Miyuki was confident in this approach.
'Now was the time to handle all opponents with force and show off the Demon King's power to suppress Inajitsu's rising momentum.'
Whoosh!
Yabe could barely see Sawamura's arm before the pitch was thrown. Suddenly, the baseball was speeding toward him.
Yabe's eyes widened in shock.
'Fast!'
'Faster than Mei!!'
Although he had heard such analysis from his teammates before, it was the first time he had seen a pitch soar at 144 km/h but actually felt like 154 km/h.
'This wasn't a joke.' Witnessing it firsthand, Yabe had to believe it.
'Such pitches really existed, capable of altering a batter's perception!'
SNAP!
"STRIKE!"
"STRIKE!!"
"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!"
"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!!"
"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!!!"
Nine pitches, three Strikeouts.
Sawamura Eijun, pitching at full strength, seemed unbeatable.
He felt as though, as long as he was on the mound, he was unshakable.
Powerful!
The sensation was truly intense.
Yabe couldn't connect with the first pitch, missed the second, and was ultimately struck out by a breaking ball from Sawamura.
With one Out, Tada was up next.
Unlike Yabe, Tada was very cautious. He had studied and estimated Sawamura's pitching extensively and devised a series of countermeasures.
Unfortunately, none of these strategies worked in practice.
Sawamura was using a variety of breaking balls, with no discernible pattern.
His pitching was endlessly varied. Not only did the batter struggle to understand his pitches, but even if they did, hitting them was no easy task.
Such a pitcher at full power was not something ordinary batters could handle.
Fortunately, Inajitsu was still leading by one point, which gave them some confidence. Otherwise, Sawamura's pitching power alone could have driven them to despair.
Three Outs, offense and defense exchange.
The game moved to the bottom of the second inning.
Sawamura's powerful pitching had somewhat revived Seidou's morale. Despite being one run behind, they now only needed to focus on scoring against Narumiya Mei and not worry about defense.
"Fourth Batter, catcher, Miyuki-kun."
Looking at the figure in the Batter's Box, Narumiya Mei's emotions were extremely complex.
This had to do with Mei's past experiences.
When he had just graduated from middle school, Narumiya, determined to defeat Eijun and dominate the country, sought out all the famous players in the Tokyo area.
He aimed to form the strongest team to edge closer to the throne of dreams and dominate the national Koshien stage.
Miyuki Kazuya was also someone Narumiya had initially targeted and was considered a crucial part.
Narumiya believed that if he could form a partnership with Miyuki, their combined strength would rival Eijun's.
Unfortunately, Miyuki declined his offer.
He chose to join Seidou High School.
Originally, this didn't matter much; everyone had their own aspirations.
But for some reason, Sawamura Eijun also went mad and joined Seidou High School.
Thus, they formed an almost flawless team.
Not only that they even defeat him, but they went and achieved the dream he wanted to achieve.
'Truly enviable!' Narumiya murmured.
Despite his words, Narumiya's eyes were not filled with gloom.
His gaze was fixed firmly on Miyuki, contemplating how to handle him.
One plan after another emerged and was rejected by Narumiya Mei repeatedly.
They currently held the initiative and had no need to evade; they should confront them directly.
Determined, Narumiya took his stance and pitched the ball.
Roaar!
The ball whistled sharply, heading straight for the home plate.
It was a perfect inside corner pitch, almost brushing the edge of the strike zone as it flew into the Mitt.
SNAP!
"STRIKE!!"
The umpire made the call without hesitation, showing confidence in Narumiya Mei's control.
'This is troublesome!'
Miyuki frowned slightly.
'Although the pitch was within the strike zone, it wasn't obvious, yet the umpire called it a strike without hesitation.'
'This meant that when Narumiya is the pitcher, the umpire's strike zone is widened, making even ambiguous pitches count as strikes.'
'Moreover!'
'Narumiya showed no hesitation throwing such inside corner balls, seeming unconcerned about hitting the batter.'
Narumiya's pitch speed is 150 km/h. If such a pitch hits the batter, the consequences are severe.
Facing such speed, it's natural for the batter to be intimidated.
'Correspondingly, the pitcher should not throw recklessly.'
After all, it's just a game, not a battle to the death.
Narumiya must be quite confident in his pitching to act this way.
'Tricky!'
Miyuki exhaled deeply, his expression grave.
They had already lost points in the first inning, making the game very passive. If he, as the cleanup hitter, couldn't produce results, this passive situation would persist.
To avoid this, he needed to produce results now.
Even if he didn't score, the primary goal must be achieved.
'To tell everyone that Mei is not invincible.'
Even without third-year seniors' help, they could still overcome him.
'Focus, and hit it!'
With a clear goal, Miyuki raised his bat high and stared at Narumiya Mei on the mound, waiting for him to pitch.
…
T/N: That's it for now!
As always, Thank you all for reading guys!
Have a good day!
This Volume AND the next Volume are completed on Patre0n!
So can check my Patre0n for extra Chapters.
https://www.patre0n.com/ColdColt
There are +120 Chapters there.