With a home run, the score in the game became 1:0.
Hearing the commentator and the audience talk about Sawamura's record, Kuramochi smugly approached Sawamura and poked him with his finger, asking, "Makes you happy that he is no longer a first-year, right?"
"I don't care about that!" Sawamura didn't care at all.
"Huh?" Kuramochi was frustrated. How could Sawamura be so indifferent about his Koshien home run record?
'Aren't you trying a bit hard to look cool?' Despite Kuramochi's good performance at Koshien, he had never hit a home run.
"You're really trying hard!" Miyuki laughed at them.
"I can take criticism from others about this, but you are the last one to say that!" Sawamura's words had hurt him deeply.
Who can compare to the sly Miyuki in trying to act cool and being sharp-tongued?
"Don't say that; I'll be embarrassed." Miyuki was shamelessly admitting it.
Sawamura shook his head helplessly and continued to focus on the field. He didn't think Akashi Seiya would give up that easily.
'So how would you turn it around?' Sawamura was very curious about this.
After giving up a home run, Akashi's face turned grim. He continued to pitch sharply as if the home run had never happened.
He smoothly dealt with three batters, including Sanada, achieving three outs.
The offense and defense exchange.
The game continued like that until the seventh inning.
After seven innings, the score remained at 1:0. The only point came from Raichi's home run.
Aside from that home run, Raichi also received a walk in the second inning. This was exactly what Sawamura expected.
Realizing the Ace was not yet a match for Raichi, Seihou's Coach gave his order to Walk Raichi.
There is no way that he will risk worsening the count with the opponent in the lead.
Mishima managed one hit!
That was all.
None of the others could overcome Akashi's pitching; they either struck out or were caught out.
There were even two strikeouts.
He maintained his pitching rhythm very well, completely unaffected by the home run.
In the dugout of Yakushi High School, Todoroki Raizou looked like he might bleed from his eyes.
"Is this guy a human?"
How could he be not affected at all?
'When lost a home run, you could feel shaken, disheartened, or self-doubting, anything would be fine! As long as you have a reaction, I could adjust accordingly.'
'But no, the guy was like a wall of steel, he lost a home run and remained head-strong and unyielding.'
'What the hell happened to this guy?'
Todoroki Raizou felt helpless.
But vaguely, he sensed danger.
Coach Kataoka, wearing sunglasses in the stands, suddenly said, "It is about time!"
Ochiai, stroking his chin, nodded. "Almost."
The two spoke in vague terms, leaving the players around them puzzled. Only Miyuki nodded thoughtfully. "I see."
Originally, Yakushi High School had a certain advantage, but as time passed, that lead hadn't increased.
Their advantage had disappeared, and instead, that single point became a heavy burden.
One point is simply too little.
Especially for a team like Yakushi High School, known for its aggressive batting.
"The opponent is trying to exhaust Sanada's pitch count."
Almost simultaneously, Todoroki Raizou realized they had been tricked.
He stood up angrily and looked at the dugout of Seihou.
There, Coach Nishidera was looking at the field with an impassive face, as if everything was under control.
That first home run was they were happy and proud of, was cunningly used as bait to make them let their guard down.
With a one-point lead, to maintain that edge, Yakushi High School had unknowingly wasted too much energy on defense rather than offense.
The players probably thought that as long as they could hold onto that score until the end of the game, they would win.
That single point had become a curse for Yakushi High School!
"That cunning red-nosed fox!!" Raizou's face turned extremely ugly.
The game had unknowingly fallen into the rhythm of Seihou High School.
It became a pitching duel between Akashi and Sanada.
At first, the players wanted to attack aggressively, but as time went on, their resolve weakened.
Unconsciously, they even began to accept this outcome.
Humans are easily satisfied with the status quo. As long as their side is ahead, the first thing that comes to mind is usually not to expand the score, but to maintain the lead.
"This strategy is amazing!" Miyuki sincerely praised.
This was the first time he had seen such a bold strategy.
Yes, as long as Yakushi High School takes the lead, their defensive pressure decreases significantly.
While that's true, in Koshien baseball, who really dares to do this?
What if the score doesn't come back? What if the pitcher makes a mistake? What if the opponent's lineup explodes?
If the situation changes, there's no way to control it.
Too many uncertain factors directly restrict people's imagination.
Even Miyuki would never dare to attempt this.
Yet Seihou did just that.
Coach Nishidera used his confidence in his Ace and the overconfidence of the opponent against them.
While allowing Yakushi to take the lead and savor their triumph, he simultaneously consumed Sanada's pitches and shifted the pressure onto his opponents.
"How many pitches has Sanada thrown?"
Almost simultaneously, Kataoka, Kunitomo, Raizou, and Nishidera asked the recorders beside them.
"110 pitches!"
Upon hearing this number, Coach Kataoka's expression turned extremely cautious.
Coach Nishidera smiled in confidence.
Raizou felt like he had been struck by lightning.
Unwilling to stay silent, Seihou High School began their attack.
Exhausted, Sanada faced the onslaught of his opponents with a tenacious fighting spirit.
This man is reliable in critical situations.
But this reliability lasted only one inning.
By the eighth inning, he finally began to give up runs.
And he gave up two points.
The score became 2:1.
In the final moments of the game, Raichi was at bat.
Under the watchful eyes of tens of thousands of spectators, Akashi angrily threw four balls, Walking Raichi against his will and by the Coach's orders.
Akashi fuelled this anger to go head-to-head against Sanada and the sixth batter behind him.
Ping!
The last ball was hit and landed squarely in Akashi's mitt.
"OUT!"
The game was over.
The third semifinal of the Spring Koshien Trials was concluded.
And the team that emerged was Seihou High School.
After Seihou High School's victory, they were met with cheers even with a lot of the audience dissatisfied with them skipping the last duel.
In the middle of this strange atmosphere, Coach Nishidera strode forward seemingly uncaring about all of that.
With his experience, he knew the audience would all forget about this by the next game. What is important for him now is to console his Ace.
…