Chapter 91: The Dual Pitching Relay
The white light flashed as the first pitch was thrown, showing no signs of hesitation.
With this swing, Miyuki once again proved his strength!
"Whoosh!"
The white ball soared through the air above the infield, reaching the left field before the Akikawa High School players could even react. Lady Luck would not continue to smile upon Akikawa.
This time, Akikawa's left fielder was completely powerless against the ball.
"Thud!"
The small ball raced toward the deepest part of left field, plummeting to the ground.
After confirming the ball had landed, Miyuki quickly tossed aside his bat, rounded first base, and sprinted toward second. Just as the Akikawa left fielder retrieved the ball and threw it, Miyuki was already stepping onto second base.
"Whoosh!"
"Thud!"
"Safe at second base!!!!"
In the bottom of the fifth inning, the first batter, Miyuki, hit a double with no outs, placing a runner in scoring position. Seidou High School now had a fantastic opportunity to score!
"Woohoo!!! Awesome, Miyuki!!"
"Perfect hit!"
"I can't believe he pulled that off!"
"You're pretty good, aren't you? You should perform like this all the time!"
"Exactly, exactly!"
"Seidou, Seidou, Seidou!"
With a double and no one on base, Miyuki's hit had the Seidou team cheering while also expressing a hint of astonishment. They didn't expect that he could come through in such a crucial moment.
On the bench, Eijun's expression was one of disbelief.
This could be one of the few quirks of A-class baseball; during summer competitions, when the bases were empty, Miyuki usually struck out seven or eight times out of ten. But during the autumn tournament, it was a completely different story—he hit when it counted.
He had the spirit of a team captain and a cleanup hitter.
It was a minor change in luck, but it could also be explained by the fact that with the third years gone, the change in responsibility, pressure, and position could lead to these alterations.
Surprisingly, in this year's summer tournament, with the bases empty, Miyuki had been frequently hitting well.
Hmm, this is quite uncanny.
Eijun stroked his chin while pacing toward the on-deck circle, pondering.
"Seventh batter, left fielder, Furuya-kun."
Did he find the gap?
On the mound, You Shunshin wore an ugly expression. He had thought that his slight opening wouldn't be exploited, but the reality showed him otherwise.
The reason elite teams are elite is that they won't miss any opportunity, no matter how small. In fact, they often capitalize on them even better than any other team.
Not a single tiny hole would go unpunished.
"Shun..." At home plate, Sekiguchi displayed a look of concern.
You Shunshin waved his hand lightly, signaling that it was fine. It was just a single base hit; as long as they prevented runs, everything would be okay. The upcoming batters were from the lower half of the lineup.
Just needed to maintain control, and they would be fine!
"Understood." Sekiguchi nodded slightly.
Indeed, compared to the upper half of the lineup, the lower half of Seidou's batting order was definitely not as strong.
Especially with the next two batters being two first-year pitchers.
It was obvious that they were the weakest points in Seidou's lineup.
You Shunshin took a deep breath, pushing aside the impact of the hit he had allowed due to carelessness, minimizing its effect.
His eyes, which opened again, returned to clarity.
Standing behind You Shunshin, at second base, Miyuki could clearly sense the renewed focus radiating from him.
The precise machine had begun its self-correction!
Furuya, be careful!
Miyuki narrowed his eyes slightly, focusing intently on home plate as if he wanted to peer through You Shunshin's figure to observe the situation at home.
It must be said that the re-focused You Shunshin showcased exceptional control.
At this moment, Furuya was struggling to keep up.
In the original story, during the autumn tournament, You Shunshin had continuously suppressed the Yakushi High School lineup until the end, only to be defeated by Raichi when he chose to go head-to-head. This was also why You Shunshin ranked among the top pitchers in the current A-class formula.
"Whoosh!"
"Thud!"
"Strike!"
The first pitch was an inside breaking ball, and Furuya swung and missed.
"Whoosh!"
The second pitch was still an inside pitch, targeting a low fastball near his knees.
Furuya found the right angle but was a split second late on the timing.
This pitch also ended up going foul.
"Thud!"
"Whoosh!"
"Bang!"
The ball smashed against the third base line, rolling out of play.
"Foul!!!"
With intense concentration, the pinpoint control was truly terrifying.
Eijun, crouching in the on-deck circle, wore a serious expression.
Such control forced Eijun to marvel; based on the current performance statistics of the pitchers in the original story, You Shunshin was undoubtedly the best at controlling the ball among them.
The next pitch needed to retire this batter.
It seemed Furuya still needed to...
At the same moment, both You Shunshin and Eijun in the on-deck circle had almost the same thought flashing through their minds.
"Whoosh!"
The white ball shot out, quickly approaching Furuya in the batter's box.
"Thud!!!!!"
A sudden, powerful impact left everyone wide-eyed in shock.
"Whoosh!"
The dazzling white light in the sky made everyone's eyes go wide.
Eijun's mouth dropped open as he watched the white ball soaring through the sky.
"Thud!"
The quickly flashing white ball reached the outfield, and before the Akikawa players could react, it landed on the ground.
Seventh batter, Furuya, with a single to right field.
He successfully reached first base.
Moreover, taking advantage of this, Miyuki stepped onto third base. With no outs and runners on first and third, Seidou High School expanded their scoring opportunity!!!
"Eighth batter, pitcher, Sawamura-kun."
With runners on first and third and no outs, the offense had many ways to score, while the defense was faced with a critical moment of decision-making.
Generally speaking, the offense was at an advantage; it was a 60-40 situation. Specifically for the matchup between Seidou and Akikawa, it might even be a 70-30 or 80-20 situation.
However, the batter stepping up to the plate was Eijun.
Although Eijun's hitting hadn't been as formidable as in the original story, he still lacked the prowess and potential of a truly skilled hitter.
Moreover!!!
"Bring the infield in!!!"
Eijun glanced at You Shunshin on the mound, noticing his obvious gestures, as well as the movement of the Akikawa infielders, a chilling light flashing in his eyes.
Are they trying to make sure they don't give up a run!?
Eijun took a deep breath.
He turned to look toward the bench, but the next second, his eyes widened in shock, and an expression of disbelief crossed his face.
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