In the stands, the first-year students from Seidou High School were also incredibly excited.
"AMAZING!"
The scene before them thrilled them immensely.
"As expected of Sawamura-senpai; it seems so easy for him to Strike Out opponents!"
Takuma exclaimed with enthusiasm.
Okumura, next to him, shook his head and muttered quietly.
"That's not his best."
Takuma overheard this comment. He looked at his friend in confusion, wondering if Okumura had discovered something even more impressive.
This time, Okumura didn't play the mysterious role but patiently explained to his friend.
"Don't you see that Sawamura-senpai isn't trying to make the batter miss the ball at all?"
'What?'
Takuma had never considered Okumura's point, and he looked at him in disbelief.
"Even though Sawamura-senpai has been throwing breaking balls, not a single pitch has deviated from the strike zone. In other words, he isn't even thinking about avoiding a duel with the batter."
Normally, to make a batter miss, the best approach is to deceive them with a Ball.
But Sawamura never thought of it that way; he always faced his opponents within the strike zone.
It's just that his opponents were too weak to hit his pitching.
"That's incredible!"
Before hearing Okumura's analysis, Takuma felt that Sawamura's pitching was even more deep.
After listening to the explanation, he felt it was even more astonishing.
'As expected of the man known as the Demon King.'
Three Outs and offense and defense exchanged.
Next, Seidou High School went on the offense.
Facing April's powerful pitching, the Seidou High School baseball players couldn't find any effective strategies and quickly got three Outs.
Shiratsu, Maezono, Toujou!
Their batting strength was decent, but they still lacked the intensity to hit April's pitches.
Just as April and his teammates struggled to adapt to Seidou High School's rhythm, the Seidou players were equally unable to adjust to April's straightforward pitching.
Simple and crude!
But efficient and effective.
This was the American style, the most basic clash of forces.
Of course, when it comes to the Major Leagues, it's not just about brute strength; there are complex tactical applications.
But those are the Coach's job.
For players, their job is simply to play.
Of course, if you want to escape being a mere tool, you need to understand baseball better—that is, you need a certain level of baseball IQ.
The two sides battled it out back and forth for a full five innings.
Until the end of the fifth inning, the score on the field remained unchanged.
Staying at 1:0.
At this point, no one dared to underestimate Bunkyo High School.
To hold their ground against Seidou High School, even if just for five innings, was no small feat.
Bunkyo High School's strength was undeniable.
Until just now, Sawamura had not allowed a single batter on base.
Five innings pitched, and it was three up, three down for the opponent.
He delivered a truly dominant performance.
On the other side, Bunkyo High School was not to be outdone. After falling behind, they quickly adjusted their game, denying Seidou High School any chances to capitalize.
Aside from Sawamura's opening home run, he was the only one who managed a hit in the second round.
No one else managed to get a hit!
Even Kazuya, batting fourth, went silent.
The reason Sawamura could hit home runs and get on base wasn't solely due to his own strength. He had an advantage: he wasn't as clueless about April as the others.
Conversely, April had no idea that Sawamura understood him so well.
So it was no surprise that Sawamura was able to continuously exploit them.
The only downside was that after the first round of the lineup, Aoki and Jack adjusted their strategies.
Though they didn't know how Sawamura hit that home run, they decided to stop throwing him the same pitches.
Especially after noticing that Sawamura preferred breaking balls and seemed particularly eager to hit them, they certainly wouldn't continue throwing those pitches to him. Instead, it would be better to walk him.
Ultimately, Aoki and April opted for the safest strategy.
They aimed to intimidate Sawamura using Jack April's fearsome pitching.
As a result, in their second encounter, although Sawamura managed to connect and hit the ball to the outfield, it didn't leave the park.
"This isn't fun!"
Sawamura certainly wasn't pleased with this outcome.
But no matter how much he disliked it, he had to accept it.
Soon, the game reached the top half of the sixth inning.
Bunkyo High School was up to bat.
Ping!
Sawamura seemed to lack the momentum he had in previous innings; his pitches seemed easy to hit.
Just like now, even Bunkyo's lower-order batters could easily connect and send the ball forward.
The ball bounced in the field, perfectly aimed at the shortstop's fielding area.
"Hyaa-ha-haa!"
A quick shadow darted out, effortlessly catching the ball and throwing it to first base.
"OUT!"
Damn!!
The batter seemed a bit frustrated. He finally managed to hit Sawamura's pitch, and he had intended to...
In the other dugout.
Aoki was not as optimistic as his teammates. He didn't gloat over their success in hitting Sawamura's pitches.
On the contrary, his expression grew more serious.
His brows were tightly furrowed as he glanced occasionally at Sawamura on the mound.
'The rhythm of the pitching had changed once more.'
And they had to adjust their attack to Sawamura's changing rhythm.
It felt like a thirst-quenching trap: knowing it was highly poisonous, yet having no choice.
"Did that ball sway just now?"
Emil frowned and asked.
Even though he had been in Japan for some time on an exchange program, his language skills weren't yet up to the level for normal conversation.
So he had to ask Aoki.
Aoki was not just a good baseball player; he was also a brilliant student.
He could easily explain in English.
Hearing Emil's question, Aoki nodded.
"Yeah, that was just the Maou's Moving ball."
This was one of Sawamura's signature moves.
With his straight pitch, he was virtually unbeatable.
What was most terrifying was that the man on the mound possessed more than just that.
How many types of breaking balls does Sawamura have?
That's a question only Sawamura could answer.
If you wanted to aim for a specific type of pitch, unless Sawamura deliberately threw it, you wouldn't be able to target it at all.
It was as if Sawamura was now using his Moving ball to entice the opponent into swinging!
This allowed him to rack up Outs through fielding.
He didn't even hide this; he used it outright.
Of course, Bunkyo High School knew this, but what could they do?
Now they could only swing actively and try to hit the ball!
If they didn't, once they fell behind two Strikes, Sawamura would surely strike them out with a sharp breaking ball without hesitation.
So even though they knew it was a trap, they could only jump into it.
Because only by taking the risk could they hope to hit the ball.
The game continued!
Sawamura's Outs were piling up smoothly.
Next, the eighth batter hit a pop-fly.
The small ball fell straight onto Haruichi's mitt.
Snap!
"OUT!"
Then the ninth batter hit a grounder right back to the pitcher.
Sawamura calmly fielded the ball and threw it to first base.
Snap!
"OUT!"
Another clean three up, three down.
And the most frightening part was that Sawamura completed this inning having thrown only four pitches.
Even if they wanted to tire him out, it was impossible.
Watching Sawamura toy with his opponents, the supporters of Seidou High School were ecstatic.
They roared and cheered wildly.
It felt as if Seidou had already won.
Such a display unknowingly put immense pressure on Bunkyo High School.
Players like Emil, April, and Aoki, whether due to prior experience in grand situations or a naturally calm disposition, could still perform under such pressure.
But that didn't mean everyone in Bunkyo had that ability.
A few players, lacking experience, were already at a loss and visibly nervous.
'Opportunity!'
The first to spot this chance was the ninth batter from Seidou High School, Nishiyama Kibo.
His previous duel with the opponent had been effortlessly resolved, leaving no significant impression.
Until he stepped into the Batter's Box for the second time, he hadn't attracted Bunkyo High School's attention.
From the data, it was clear that Nishiyama was a freshman at Seidou High School.
The purpose of putting him in at this moment was likely just to acclimatize him to the game atmosphere.
As for betting the key to victory on such a freshman, that was absolutely impossible.
After all, the other first-year batter with decent hitting power had been placed in the fifth spot right off the bat.
That reflected the intention to promote and develop talent.
Nishiyama was merely the ninth batter, clearly not receiving much attention...
With that mentality, even Aoki and April didn't take this opponent too seriously.
In fact, they were more focused on the two batters behind Nishiyama.
Those were the first and second hitters from Seidou High School.
Aoki was a classic overthinker, a typical academic type.
He was already calculating the situation he would face after resolving Nishiyama.
If that were the case, regardless of whether Seidou's first and second batters reached base, they would face considerable trouble.
'If someone got on base from the first or second batters...'
'Then we would have to confront Sawamura with someone on base.'
'If neither the first nor the second batters reached base...'
'Then in the seventh inning, Sawamura would be the first batter up.'
Neither scenario was what he wanted to encounter, yet he had to choose one.
Just as Aoki was weighing the pros and cons, something unexpected happened.
That is, April's pitching was hit.
Ping!
Without any warning, the small ball was struck.
The baseball drew a perfect arc, landing precisely behind the first baseman.
Nishiyama dropped his bat and sprinted to second base in one go.
The situation turned into no Outs with a runner on second.
It wasn't until Nishiyama reached second base that the fans finally realized what had happened.
"Wow!"
"Aside from Sawamura, someone quietly made a hit."
"And it was a double!"
In the dugout, Coach Kataoka, wearing sunglasses, and Coach Ochiai, stroking his chin, exchanged glances.
They finally began to appreciate their earlier decision.
A pitcher who can lead a team to greatness!
One of the strongest players of his generation!
Kousoku, Nishiyama!
He truly lived up to his reputation.
In baseball, a player's skill doesn't always correlate with fame.
But if a player is famous, they definitely possess some level of skill.
Nishiyama, even within the pitching kingdom of Seidou High School, could be considered a valuable asset.
And an essential one at that.
"Hyaa-ha-haa!"
Immediately after, Kuramochi stepped into the Batter's Box. He waved vigorously in Nishiyama's direction.
It was as if signaling a secret message.
From second base, Nishiyama nodded silently and began to stealthily move to third base.
In the freshman evaluation, in terms of speed, Lee-Hyun was exceptional.
But another player also performed admirably.
He ranked third among the freshmen, just after the standout Han Lee-Hyun and the speedy Seto Takuma.
This player was Nishiyama Kibo.
Seeing Nishiyama prepare to steal, catcher Aoki furrowed his brow slightly but chose to ignore it.
…