At the start of the eighth inning, Takeya, Shoto's ninth batter and first baseman, was the first to step into the batter's box.
"Ka- Su- Ga! Ka- Su- Ga! Ka- Su- Ga!"
"Ka- Su- Ga! Ka- Su- Ga! Ka- Su- Ga!"
The noise from Kasuga's crowd grew even louder as they did their best to keep up the pressure on Shoto's players.
Imai stood calmly on the mound, watching Takeya in the batter's box. After seeing Shun's performance at the end of the seventh inning, Imai didn't feel the same pressure as his other teammates. In fact, for a moment, Imai forgot he was in the final of the Tokyo tournament.
At that moment, the inner child who loved baseball emerged within Imai, and all Kasuga's ace could think about was that he wanted to win this pitcher's duel against Shun. Therefore, there was no batter he wanted to face more than Shun, so he decided to take down Takeya quickly.
WOOSH
PAH
"Strikeout!"
