Chapter 113: The Tenacious Struggle Against Yakushi
"Whoosh"
"Pop"
"Strike, batter out!!!"
"Three outs, switch sides!!!"
"Ohhhh!!! Another three up, three down!!!"
"Great pitch, Sawamura! You threw beautifully!"
"Nice job, Sawamura."
"Perfect pitching, keep it up, Sawamura!"
"Seidou, Seidou, Seidou!"
As Eijun once again subdued the Yakushi High School lineup in the top of the sixth inning, the scoreboard displayed its fourth "0," causing an overwhelming cheer to erupt from Seidou High School's cheering section.
From the fourth inning to now, they had successfully stifled Yakushi High School's batting order, allowing them no runs and no hits.
Eijun proved his strength with his performance, earning the recognition and cheers of everyone!
After returning to the dugout, Eijun received praise from his senior teammates.
They had taken another step closer to victory.
"Sawamura, the pitches were solid, but they need to be a bit lower. If they catch the sweet spot, you should know that with Yakushi's power, they could send it flying."
Anyone could praise Sawamura, but at that moment, Miyuki needed to give the necessary reminder.
Complimentary words could wait until after the game.
Only in this moment could he not afford to be complacent.
"Understood, Miyuki-senpai," Eijun nodded slightly, responding softly.
There were still three innings left, and Raichi's turn to bat would come around at least once more; they couldn't afford to let their guard down. After all, it was a moment in the original story where Eijun had been perfectly caught off guard in his second at-bat against Raichi.
Could he hit a home run?
Certainly, Eijun's current abilities far surpassed those in the original story: precise control, a cutter, and the changeup—his trump card that Yakushi High School was unaware of.
This was already Eijun's demeanor in autumn.
However, Raichi was certainly not an opponent to underestimate; he needed to maintain his utmost focus.
Besides, even the autumn-season Eijun had been hit before.
Caution never harmed anyone.
"Bottom of the sixth inning, Seidou High School's turn at bat, sixth batter, catcher, Miyuki-kun."
Was he a pitcher similar to Sawamura?
Unlike his first at-bat, Miyuki wanted to hit Sanada hard and didn't spend too much time evaluating him. As he stepped into the batter's box, he looked at Sanada with a playful glint in his eyes, sizing him up.
Miyuki gently tapped his bat against home plate.
Internally, he pondered,
"In my last at-bat, I was stifled by his cutter. His inside pitch approach—alternating between the cutter and the fastball—can make batters overly cautious about the inside pitches. Even if they are consciously guarding against it, their defensive focus on the inside can weaken regarding outside pitches. That is this pitcher's biggest advantage."
He quickly recalled all the relevant information about Sanada in his mind.
"Stay glued to inside pitches, don't be thrown off, and aim for the gaps in defense," a spark flashed in Miyuki's eyes.
Miyuki knew that quickly figuring out how to deal with this pitcher was challenging, but just because he found it difficult didn't mean others would too!!!
"Coach?" The expression on Chris's face in the dugout revealed a hint of curiosity, "What does Miyuki plan to do?"
"Hmm, probably something bold; he's always been daring. You all should pay close attention to Miyuki's hitting in this at-bat," Coach Kataoka said with a smirk, then addressed everyone around Seidou.
"Yes!!!" The players, including Isashiki and Eijun, responded loudly.
"Whoosh"
"Pop"
"Ball!!!"
A pitch brushing against his cheek on the inside corner was two balls away from the strike zone.
Miyuki swiftly sidestepped, avoiding the pitch.
This guy really has some guts.
A different glimmer shone in Miyuki's eyes as he watched Sanada, still smiling on the pitcher's mound.
A declaration of war!?
"Whoosh"
The second pitch, again an inside pitch.
Miyuki narrowed his gaze; something felt off about this pitch!?
Miyuki's expression changed, his body tensing as an instinct warned him that this pitch was definitely not as straightforward as it seemed.
"Whoosh"
But since it was inside the strike zone, he had to swing.
"Crack!!"
In the next moment, as he swung the bat, the ball deflected, seemingly escaping towards the outside corner and darting away.
A cutter? At this moment!?
A flicker of shock crossed Miyuki's eyes.
However, there was still time to adjust. He forcibly stopped his twisting motion, pulling back his foot halfway while subtly shifting the bat to the side, always alert for Sanada's tricks.
This quick response allowed him to send a once ground-bound ball flying upward.
"Whoosh"
"What!?"
At home plate, Watanabe showed an expression of astonishment, his composure crumbling. How could he pull that off!?
"Third baseman!!!"
"Bang!!"
The ball struck hard between third and second base.
During this moment, Raichi was positioned for the catch, but dealing with this challenging infield hit was likely beyond him.
The Yakushi shortstop was also a bit far from where the ball would bounce.
They could only watch helplessly as the ball passed through Raichi's defensive coverage and landed in left field.
Leading off, Miyuki successfully got a hit and stepped onto first base!!!
"Did you see that? You don't need excessive power, and there's no necessity to aim for the outfield. Yakushi's defense isn't nearly as strong as their batting. Their defensive cohesion is lacking, and the little details in catching need improvement. Aim for the gaps in the infield. All I needed was a stable hit, got it!?" Coach Kataoka said in a serious tone.
Miyuki could see through Yakushi High School's defensive flaws, and of course, Coach Kataoka could too.
Yakushi's team had too many gaps in their defense. This was well-illustrated in the original story; during the autumn finals, Kuramochi managed to exploit the holes in Yakushi's infield and outfield coordination to score a run.
Moreover, this was a team that hadn't yet faced the honing that comes from a summer training session; thus, their gaps were even wider now.
"Seventh batter, left fielder, Sakai-kun."
However, Miyuki's hit didn't seem to have a significant impact.
Eijun crouched in the batter's box, watching Sanada push Sakai to the edge with just three pitches, a look of concern flashing through his eyes.
Strictly speaking, Sakai was probably the weakest batter among the starting third years. He had power but lacked skill and feel for the game, creating a significant gap between him and his teammates from Captain Tetsu.
In the original story, he had barely found success against Sanada, and in this inning, it likely wouldn't end well...
"Whoosh"
"Crack"
Just as that thought crossed Eijun's mind, Sakai, failing to judge the cutter's angle, struck out.
"Strike!!!"
"Batter out!!!!"
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