Chapter 238: Widening the Score
Bottom of the sixth inning, two outs, with runners on first and second, and pitcher Maki at bat.
The count is one ball, two strikes!
At this moment, Miyuki finally decided to face Maki head-on.
The signal he gave was a cross-seam fastball on the outside corner, which would naturally translate to the batter's chest on the inside corner.
It wasn't a breaking ball, but a straight four-seam fastball.
In that instant, Sawamura's pupils dilated.
This guy didn't know that Maki's weakness was high inside pitches. Nor could he fully understand Miyuki's strategy. This pitch demanded courage from the pitcher.
An inside pitch, if mishandled, would turn into the easiest ball to hit, potentially leading to disastrous consequences. The pressure on the pitcher was immense.
"Maki! Send it flying!"
"The pitcher's already scared!"
"It's up to you to crush him!"
"Come on, show some confidence! Maki, I know you can do it! Use your own hands to break through the top three's wall!" Who knows what emotions coach Ugai felt when thinking this. After all, it had been years since Sebsen had defeated one of the top three teams.
Through this many pitches in their showdown, Sawamura had already gauged Maki's capabilities. If he threw an easy pitch, it would likely be hit far.
Involuntarily, Sawamura began taking deep breaths, though not as exaggerated as before.
He recalled Miyuki's words during the timeout, as well as the home run from the Yakushi game. Finally, he glanced back at Sendo.
Sawamura didn't know where his teammates were, but when he and Sendo boarded the train to Tokyo, Sendo had said something.
Sendo, puzzled by Sawamura's look, then realized what Sawamura was thinking when he saw the seriousness in his eyes.
"Have you made up your mind, Eijun?"
"You're absolutely right, Sendo!
We have no way out!…
Whether it's for those guys, for our seniors' summer, for the team, or for myself… I must…
I absolutely must pitch into his glove."
"Sawamura! Don't lose in terms of presence!" As always, the player jokingly called "the guy who put all his talent points into his voice" shouted so loudly that even Kanemaru didn't need a megaphone.
"Throw it over with the same spirit as always!!!"
"Go for it, Eijun!"
Wakana never once took her eyes off Sawamura.
Sawamura's spirit had reached its peak.
Sendo, as a "follower," also lowered his center of gravity.
"Don't be afraid! Throw it with everything you've got!
You'll win in this state!"
The pitchers on Seidou's side also focused their attention on Sawamura.
"There's no way I'll be the only one left behind!" Thinking this, Sawamura reached his peak form and started to lift his leg.
"Ahh~!" Completely ignoring the runners, this pitch was aimed entirely at the batter.
"Hit it out!"
"Maki!" Sensen's bench shouted their cheers at this critical moment.
"Ku!" At that instant, the sound of his step rang sharply.
"Idiot! Your foot's turned in too much! You won't be able to swing your arm fully like that!" Miyuki noticed Sawamura's step was too short and couldn't help but mutter to himself.
But this was just Miyuki's initial judgment. Sawamura's flexibility was nearly inhuman.
Using his soft and supple body, he whipped his arm like a whip, which paradoxically gave the ball even more power.
The result was clear: a pitch that, in the original story, Miyuki might call a cutter. Its trajectory was even trickier than a regular cross-seam fastball.
Once it reached home plate, the ball's path just barely brushed the strike zone at the front of the plate before sharply breaking away, landing in Miyuki's glove far from the batter's reach.
Maki, a right-handed batter, stood to Miyuki's left. When Miyuki caught the ball, his left foot was even further left than Maki's.
The pitch was utterly absurd!
"Pop!"
Due to the angle and distance, only Maki and Miyuki truly grasped just how incredible that pitch was.
Sendo noticed a subtle detail from Miyuki's positioning.
When Maki struck out, the entire stadium fell silent.
"Seriously! With such a wild pitching form, only you could pull that off!" Miyuki was left speechless by Sawamura's body, though his tone was more admiration than criticism.
"Nice pitch! Batter out!"
"Yosh! Hahaha!"
"Seriously! …Nice ball, Eijun!" Sendo stood up, rubbed his forehead with one hand, and whispered his praise almost inaudibly.
"Eijun!!!"
"We held them down!" Ota opened his arms wide in celebration.
"Yosh!!!" Sawamura converted all his tension into a triumphant roar.
As Sawamura jogged off the field, he imitated his senior Miyauchi's stern expression, but to keep him from getting carried away, the middle infielders behind him threw in a playful kick and a chop to the back.
"Yasan! Sensen didn't score this inning!" the substitutes from Inashiro Industrial relayed the news to their pitcher and catcher.
After all, if Inashiro were to make it to the finals, their opponent would be the winner of this match.
"Is that so?"
"That crisis was resolved by that noisy first-year?"
"Yeah! What's more, a base hit that should've scored was cut off by that first-year outfielder!
I have no idea why that guy was in the right spot, but that arm— I've never seen such strength before!"
"Let's review the footage later! For now, we need to focus on the opponent in front of us." Harada clearly understood who their immediate challenge was.
"That was a situation where it wouldn't have been surprising if they'd been crushed!
But they managed to hold on! That guy!
When I first saw him, no matter how I looked, he seemed like just a backup player."
"Since summer started, he's appeared in three consecutive games!
It's just like when you were that age. For a first-year, game experience is the most valuable resource, and the fastest way to grow.
Tanba's injury gave them a massive opportunity, and they seized it, possibly making tremendous progress!
And that first-year Sendo Akira— his performance is completely out of the ordinary. Both in terms of ability and mental maturity…
Although he seems strangely familiar to me, I just can't pinpoint it. Maybe it's because it's been so long, and I only met him briefly or had limited interactions. Things like this need a trigger."
"Yasan! There you go again! So long-winded!"
"#!"
"This feels like something to enjoy for a change."
"Hmm?"
"A sense of 'Bring it on'?"
"True. If we want to make it to Koshien, we have to defeat all our opponents!
Let's warm up properly!"
"Got it!"
...
"SAWAMURA!!!" Coach Kataoka's powerful voice rang out while the defense was still a dozen meters away from the dugout.
"You're up again next inning!"
To Sawamura, those words were the most exhilarating thing he could hear.
"Ei-chan! Sen-chan!"
As they approached the dugout, the Akagi teammates had already jumped out of their seats and rushed to the fence.
Wakana, who had been staring intently at Sawamura as if afraid to miss a single moment, quickly turned her head and tried to hide behind the others. She feigned a casual attitude, as though she was just tagging along.
When Sawamura saw everyone's faces, he flashed his trademark toothy grin. Just as he was about to raise his fist in a cool pose, Kuramochi wrecked it with a swift kick.
"Ow! What the heck was that for? I was finally pulling off a cool pose!"
"That won't do, Sawamura-kun!" Haruichi protested, noting that he hadn't used polite language.
"Ah! You didn't use polite speech!"
"What the heck are you doing?" Sawamura tried to salvage the moment, but it was already too late.
"Was it this mouth that didn't use polite speech?" Kuramochi grabbed Sawamura's mouth, squeezing it into a distorted shape. He didn't even realize his own mouth was pouting as well.
"Shorry 'bout thaa!" Sawamura's apology came out muffled and misshapen under Kuramochi's grip.
It was oddly reminiscent of when Sendo used to pinch his mouth.
"Seriously! You two are practically kissing!" Sendo, now standing casually by Ryo-san's side, made a seemingly offhand remark.
As he spoke, he raised his left arm and struck a bow-and-arrow pose to signal his strength and good spirits. The motion was so fluid, it felt as if it had been planned from the start just to connect with his teammates.
Seeing Sendo chat with his teammates so warmly, Ryo-san didn't think too much of it. But when he walked over and gave Sendo a playful shove, it sent them both tumbling forward—right into an accidental kiss.
And with that, Sendo had orchestrated the perfect crime, as if by divine design.
…
"Hey! Four-eyed schemer! Even though you got a walk, your batting average today…" Before the next inning started, Sendo couldn't resist a sharp remark.
It was also his way of giving a little push to Miyuki, who was leading off the inning and had no one on base. A bit of a taunt never hurt, right?
Miyuki gritted his teeth.
"Top of the seventh inning! Seidou High School's attack! Batting seventh, catcher, Miyuki-kun!"
"Ugh, I can't even argue with him. My hits have been pretty pitiful today!"
After a brief struggle, Miyuki managed to connect, pushing through with sheer determination born of the teasing. He finally reached base—albeit with great effort, practically crawling.
His scramble to first was anything but graceful.
Though Shirasu followed up with a solid hit, the bases were still loaded with no outs.
"Batting ninth, pitcher, Sawamura-kun!"
With his signature bunting prowess, Sawamura advanced both runners. The sight moved his teammates to the verge of tears.
It reminded them of their early days—the essence of youth.
Entering the inning with two outs, the team felt a rush of nostalgia as they watched Sawamura's efforts. After losing two core players and fielding just a handful of regular starters, they hadn't tasted victory in a long time.
Ping! The sound of solid contact.
Thud!
Out!
Kuramochi's ground ball didn't land favorably, leaving Miyuki stuck at third.
After that, Onii-san and Jun both delivered hits in succession.
The score was now nine to two, with two outs and runners on first and second.
"Batting fourth, first baseman, Yuuki-kun!"
"Batting fourth, first baseman, Yuuki-kun!"
"He's a man in his own world! Like a star streaking across the sky! Yuuki, knock it out of here!"
"Send it flying, Yuuki!"
"It's up to you to finish this off!"
At this point, despite being in good form, Maki was replaced on the mound.
Pop!
"Ball! Walked him!"
The substitute pitcher, under immense pressure, couldn't handle it. This wasn't just any ordinary relief pitcher—they were facing immense expectations not to allow any more runs.
"Batting fifth, center fielder, Sendo-kun!"
"All the good stuff goes to you, doesn't it? Clean it up, you lucky bastard!"
"This guy's luck is unbeatable! He always gets to enjoy the sweet moments!"
"Roar!!!"
When Sendo stepped up to bat, the crowd in the stands went wild, completely drowning out the voices of his teammates.
"Send it flying, Sendo!"
"I came here just to watch you swing!"
"Go for it, monster batter!"
"Hit a home run!"
"Yeah!!!"
"Amazing! Sen-chan is so popular!" chubby Akio exclaimed in awe. It looked like he had gained a bit more weight.
The team was completely taken aback by the intensity of the atmosphere on the field. No one knew just how many fans Sendo had gained with all his home runs during the summer tournament.
"Sendo!"
"Sendo!"
"Sendo!"
"Sendo!"
"Sendo!"
Soon, all the scattered noise was swallowed up by the unified chant.
Seidou's players had heard this several times before, but their cleanup hitter was now more popular than the team captain.
Only when the game resumed did the crowd finally quiet down.
The Akagi team was still a bit stunned. Something like this had happened back in middle school, but the number of spectators back then was nothing compared to now, so it had never created this level of excitement.
"Damn it! Why does that guy have so many fans?
He's not even the ace!!!
And I bet all his fans are guys! Yeah, that's it!" Narumiya Mei, listening from the sidelines, was practically turning green with envy, muttering nonsense in his frustration.
"An ace and a power hitter—a fateful pairing!" Harada knew there was no point arguing, so he kept it to one sentence and ignored him.
Meanwhile, Coach Ugai, who had been unusually quiet, simply stared at the growing score margin.
Seidou's pitchers refused to crack, while their batting lineup had erupted.
As Sendo stepped up, the new pitcher from Sensen threw two straight balls without Sendo even making a move. (The protagonist was practically being used as a unit of measurement!)
The battery, desperate for a strike, didn't dare take risks and eventually decided to pitch into the strike zone, keeping it as low as possible.
Ping!
"The pitch was solid and low! Why…?"
Whoosh!
"That swing! …It's so fast!"
Thud!
"Yes! It hit the center field fence!"
The runners came streaming home! Seidou's No. 5, Sendo, delivered a clutch triple!
With that, the score gap reached double digits—10 runs!!!" the announcer declared with passion.
Later, Yagi called for a timeout. Strangely, because the Senden players already had a sense of inferiority, they didn't seem as demoralized as one might expect. It was an ironic twist.
Ping!
Smack!
Fortunately, senior "Pudding's" hit was caught by the center fielder!
A would-be long drive was neutralized, and they managed to hold on for the inning.
But the 10-run gap remained.
…
Ping!
"Shortstop!"
Smack!
"Out!"
Whoosh!
Ping!
"Onii-san!"
Smack!
A sudden irregular bounce occurred on the field, and the batter barely made it to first base.
"Yikes! Whoa!!!" Finally, after one out, Sensen managed to get a runner on base.
------------------
If you want to read 20 chapters advanced.
Visit my patreon: patreon.com/Shu_21