The Seidou High School baseball team was not too disappointed with the performance of Masashi. Perhaps they had experienced such things too many times before, and they were now accustomed to it.
Or maybe there was another reason; either way, they didn't express much opinion about it.
The game continued, and gradually, Seidou High School took control of the pace. In the second inning, Koizumi Sai—the fourth batter of Akamaji—took the lead to attack, but he found himself completely helpless against Furuya.
He was struck out cleanly.
"Even Koizumi couldn't touch the ball?"
This scene was truly shocking for the players of Akamaji High School.
Caught off guard, they received a harsh lesson.
Although they had heard the name of the "Monster Pitcher" Furuya Satoru before, his strength remained a mystery, especially when compared to the Maou Sawamura Eijun.
Before the match, the players from Akamaji High School had anticipated that their opponent would likely be Furuya.
They made some preparations in private, but when it came time to play, they realized their efforts were insufficient.
Even though their eyes could adapt to Furuya's unparalleled velocity, their swinging speed simply couldn't keep up.
By the time the fifth batter stepped up, he already understood the situation he was facing.
Against a pitcher with such fastball speed, trying to wait for the pitch and then swing at the right moment was simply too late.
In this scenario, if they still hoped to hit Furuya's balls, they had to mentally calculate the rhythm and swing in advance.
The players thought this way and acted accordingly.
'One, two!'
Seeing Furuya getting ready to pitch, he prepared themselves. As soon as the ball was released, he swung without hesitation.
'I guessed the timing right!'
The batter felt a surge of joy, but before his smile could fully blossom, his expression turned gloomy.
'I had calculated the timing perfectly—why hadn't I hit the ball?'
Snap!
"STRIKE!"
"STRIKE!!"
"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!"
In the dugout of Akamaji High School, their retired professional player of a Coach turned pale.
'These idiots!'
Before the game, he clearly told them that to hit Furuya's fastballs, they needed to swing at a position two to three balls above the fastball.
Following the route they saw, they had no chance of making contact.
'With such fastball speeds, the ball would surely float.'
'These fools completely ignored my orders...'
While Akamaji's Coach was fuming, Miyuki was feeling quite pleased with himself.
'Furuya's pitching looked very wild. After going through Koshien, he gradually honed his style. However, this style was still in its infancy, with many unstable factors.'
'Control, for example, was a major issue.'
'Furuya's current pitching seemed to have reverted back to when he first entered school.'
'Back then, his pitching was savage, showcasing his personality without restraint.'
'But there were advantages.'
'That included ball speed and power!'
'From Furuya's current pitching, you could clearly feel his fighting spirit.'
'Every pitch was full of spirit, and every pitch was infused with determination.'
'In short, Furuya was now in top form!'
"STRIKE!"
Ping!
By the time the sixth batter came up, he barely managed to connect with Furuya's pitch.
Although he made contact, the expression on the Akamaji player's face was far from relaxed.
'So heavy!'
It felt as if a truck had run over him, leaving both arms that swung the bat feeling crippled.
'How heavy was that ball?'
The ball he hit bounced high into the air.
Kominato Haruichi, positioned at second base, confidently caught it in his mitt.
Snap!
"OUT!!"
Three up, three down, cleanly.
Furuya showcased his unparalleled pitching ability.
In the stands, scouts of other teams who were watching Seidou High School's game wore grim expressions.
Facing Seidou High School, just this kind of super-fast pitch was already quite overwhelming.
Not to mention, Seidou High School also had Sawamura Eijun on their side.
Seidou High School's pitching lineup was indeed a big headache.
The scouts felt incredibly challenged by Seidou High School's pitchers.
No one had anticipated that another pitcher would make a stunning debut in this game.
In the second half of the second inning, Seidou High School attacked.
This time, Akamaji High School had better luck. With their defense's help, their pitcher barely managed to hold the inning.
However, despite not conceding runs, the pitcher of Akamaji High School wore a frown.
After just two innings, he was drenched in sweat, as if he had just taken a shower.
His shirt was completely soaked!
'Is the pressure that great?'
Seeing the state of his own pitcher, Akamaji's Coach frowned secretly.
Although it had only been two short innings against Seidou High School, it felt as if his players were more exhausted than if they had played a full match.
'The pressure this team brings is more terrifying than I thought!'
He couldn't help but sigh.
'High school baseball truly was different.'
"Fools! Didn't I tell you before that to hit that guy's pitches, you have to aim two to three balls above the fastball? Don't be intimidated by the opponent's pitching velocity; swing boldly. If we keep at it, the tide of the game will turn."
These words, however, Akamaji's coach himself felt uncertain about.
'The game was lost!'
Until just now, the Coach had seen no glimmer of hope for defeating Seidou High School.
But even if they lost, they couldn't lose too badly. After all, they hired him with a high salary, not for him to bring shame to the team.
Even if they couldn't defeat Seidou High School, for now, they had to show enough strength.
This way, the school management and board members could maintain their confidence in him.
Akamaji Osagara High School's current strategy was to aim for a loss that was less damaging.
But the real game was never that easy.
Seidou High School couldn't allow their opponents to remain comfortable forever.
So in the third inning, Seidou High School once again displayed their powerful offensive and defensive capabilities.
During this process, Akamaji High School's players held back, swinging less frequently.
Furuya pitched a four-ball Walk!
Yet he still managed to score three Outs and completed his defensive duties for the third inning.
"AMAZING!"
"SO FAST!"
"FURUYA!!!!"
Cheers erupted from the stands, and the audience seemed to sense victory in the air.
Especially as they watched Furuya's pitching and the strikeouts he continued to rack up.
Everyone was even more excited.
"Incredible!!"
"Though I wanted to see Sawamura pitch, this is also fantastic!"
"Damn, Seidou can't cease to amaze me! Every time, more and more amazing plays appear!"
Thus, the game approached the second half of the third inning.
Seidou High School was on the attack.
The order given by Coach Kataoka before the attack was to play steadily and expand the score.
The main reason for not scoring in the previous inning was that Seidou High School had been overly ambitious, giving the opponent a chance to capitalize and ultimately resulting in three outs.
Seidou High School could not allow the opponent's rhythm to continue, and they needed to disrupt it forcefully.
How to disrupt it effectively?
Of course, it was by steadily scoring points.
Ping!
First up was Miyuki Kazuya, the fourth batter. He cleanly swept the ball to the outfield and ran to second base in one go.
Next, Masashi, promoted to the fifth slot, hit the ball a pop-fly.
One Out, runner at second base.
Now it was Maezono's turn to bat.
With the intention of playing steadily, he waited until the ball was fully in his range before swinging his bat.
Ping!
After hitting the small ball, it hugged the third base line and flew smoothly into the outfield.
During this time, Maezono adjusted his batting rhythm. Initially, he went through a confusing phase, but as he grew more skilled, the power of his new hitting style gradually emerged.
He often achieved hits close to the sideline, and this type of hit had become his signature move.
Another double hit!
After making contact, Maezono sprinted to second base in one breath.
Immediately after, Miyuki returned home plate.
"SAFE!"
Seidou High School scored additional points, bringing the score to 5:0.
Next, Toujou, who stepped up to bat, delivered a timely hit.
He deftly placed the ball into the defensive gap.
The ball passed through Akamaji's defense and soared far into the backfield.
"GO THROUGH!"
"WELL PLAYED!"
"TOUJOU!!"
"TOUJOU!!!!"
"GO~GO!!"
"TOU~JOU!!!"
After that hit, the momentum of the entire Seidou High School shifted dramatically.
The supporters cheered joyfully.
They seemed to see the omen of the opponent's collapse.
In fact, they were not far from that collapse now.
Seidou High School's momentum was too strong, and they were likely to score additional points right now.
Akamaji's Coach ordered his players on the field to adjust their defensive formation.
Akamaji began to change their defense.
The players from Seidou High School didn't pay much attention to their adjustments.
In their view, they had secured victory.
The score gap had widened to six points, now standing at 6:0.
The situation on the field was that no one was out, and there was a runner on first base.
Now it was Furuya's turn to bat.
Ping!
The white ball, after being struck, hit the ground and bounced directly into the third baseman's mitt.
After the third baseman caught the ball, he did not immediately throw it to first base, but first tossed it to second.
Snap!
"OUT!"
The second baseman received the ball and then threw it to first base.
"OUT!!!"
This clean and neat double play left the Seidou players a bit dazed.
Suddenly, it felt as if their opponents had switched to a completely different, highly skilled team.
It caught Seidou High School's players off guard.
Furuya gritted his teeth in frustration; he had just been fooled by the opponent's changeup.
Three Outs, and the sides switched.
Furuya was eager to take the mound and get revenge for himself.
Unexpectedly, Coach Kataoka stopped him.
"Take a break for now!"
"Seidou High School is substituting players; pitcher, batting eighth, Nishiyama Kibo, comes on."
...
T/N: As always, Thank you all for reading!!
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