Chapter 334: Shiraha's Bold Gamble
In Sendo's eyes, he thought Kuramochi was about to use that offhand joke he had once made—but in reality, he was overthinking it. Kuramochi simply didn't want to be outshined too badly by a first-year like him.
Beside Kuramochi, Shiraha now had a pounding headache.
Three balls already! What if they tried that trick again on the next pitch?
He still couldn't tell whether the previous move had been a fake or not.
After weighing the pros and cons, Shiraha resigned himself. They would go head-on with Seido.
With three balls, they absolutely couldn't afford to miss again. If it was another fake and they threw a ball, Kuramochi would walk—one out, bases loaded, and the next batter would be the ever-reliable Oni-san in a favorable lineup spot.
If they pitched normally, the worst case was giving up one run but getting the second out. Best case, Seido was bluffing again—they'd get the second strike and run the count full.
But that also meant Seido knew full well that the initiative was still theirs.
Yokohama, even knowing the batter might swing, had no choice but to challenge him in the strike zone. Shiraha couldn't gamble.
Bases loaded meant facing the second and third batters. If they couldn't end the inning before the third spot, then facing the fourth and fifth with the bases full would be a nightmare.
Even if he guessed right, all he'd gain was one strike. Shiraha didn't have Sendo's ability to read people, nor his bold, borderline-crazy confidence. Even with a seventy-percent chance of success, the remaining thirty percent meant bases loaded—and just those two words were enough to scare him off.
A straight-up duel in the strike zone didn't mean Seidō would necessarily dominate them.
Ino had a deep arsenal, good velocity, and precise control—four-corner command on his fastball, and breaking balls that could land in the zone.
With Furuya on first, everything came down to Kuramochi's swing. Even on a bunt, a foul would mean a full count.
If it stayed fair but didn't land well—say near second—there was a chance for a double play on Furuya and Kuramochi. Even if Miyuki reached home, if Furuya was out before he scored and Kuramochi didn't reach safely, the run would be nullified. Unlikely, but possible.
If it was caught cleanly, inning over.
On a squeeze play, if the batter popped it up, it would be an automatic double play. The runner from third would be dead—on a caught ball, runners must tag up, and since he had already broken for home, he wouldn't make it back. The defense could ignore force rules and simply tag him out.
For a high school catcher to see the field that clearly, Shiraha was exceptional. He might not have Miyuki or Harada's cannon arm, but a catcher was a commander—a strategist.
After weighing everything, Shiraha made his choice. If they wanted a double play and a shot at preventing a run, there was only one pitch.
Even if it failed, they might give up just one run and still turn two. Worst case, Seido executed a hit-and-run or dropped a perfect bunt and no outs were recorded, extending the crisis.
If the double play failed but they got one out, the inning would continue without a runner on third—ending it would then require a direct showdown.
"If it's a hit-and-run, our summer ends here," Shiraha swallowed.
"But that's the least likely scenario."
This batter wasn't great at bunting—he relied on speed.
And against the second batter, they still had a chance.
"…Let's do it."
Ino nodded.
Pitcher and catcher were partners—live or die together.
As Ino raised his arm, Miyuki edged off third again. Every muscle on the field tightened.
Leg lift.
Kuramochi tightened his grip.
Step forward.
Kuramochi's front foot twitched.
Just as the arm was about to whip forward—
"The runner's going!" someone from third shouted.
Kuramochi squared to bunt.
"So it's the squeeze!" Shiraha thought. This was the moment.
They would see who Lady Luck favored.
"Shoom!"
"A straight fastball down the middle?!" Kuramochi's eyes widened.
For someone not particularly skilled at bunting, this was the worst possible pitch—high-speed fastball, over 140 km/h.
He had no time to calculate.
"Damn it!"
He swung the bat forward.
Clack!
The ball shot off the bat at blistering speed.
It landed between second and third, closer to second—right in the shortstop's range.
The angle was almost perfect. Even for a pitch near the center, it was rare to deflect that cleanly toward second.
There was only a slim chance at a double play without allowing a run. Yokohama's luck wasn't bad—but it wasn't a guaranteed two either. Seido still had a chance.
"Pop!"
The shortstop stepped on second and fired to first.
Now Miyuki scoring was irrelevant. Kuramochi had to reach safely for the run to count.
Speed versus speed.
"Kuramochi!"
"Kuh! Kuh! Kuh!"
"Pop!"
From a distance, neither bench could tell who won.
"Safe!"
"Yoshahhh!!!"
The first baseman, base coach, umpire, and Kuramochi himself knew immediately. To them, it was clear.
Kuramochi's shout overlapped with the umpire's call as he sprinted through first.
Seido's bench and cheering section erupted.
They had been threatening every inning but hadn't scored since the second. This run meant everything.
That was why Shiraha had risked it—giving up a run also meant giving up momentum.
"A successful squeeze! An incredible tactical battle! Yokohama's bold gamble even drew Lady Luck's smile—but in the end, Kuramochi's speed won out by a split second! Seido adds another run! Two outs, runner on first! What unfolds next?!"
The commentator was electrified. He hadn't expected such high-level tactical warfare from high schoolers.
Yokohama's courage was admirable—but they lost by a blink.
In baseball, a split second decides life or death. Even 0.3 seconds is long—many plays are decided in 0.1.
"Three-run lead…" Isashiki raised his arm, feeling the tension ease, his aura swelling.
"So we lost that gamble… but it's not the worst outcome," Shiraha exhaled, locking eyes with Ino. The fire in them hadn't dimmed.
"Second batter! Second baseman, Kominato Ryosuke!"
"Yoshahhh!"
"Go! Seido's one-two punch!"
"Oni-san!"
"Just one hit!"
"Stay calm! Get them, Shiraha! Ino!"
As cheers roared, Kuramochi took a massive lead off first.
"That lead! Seido presses the attack without hesitation!" the commentator shouted again.
"Attack! Attack! Attack! No matter what—attack! That's Seido baseball!" a fan yelled from the stands.
"Pop!"
"Safe!"
Ino displayed his superb pickoff skills again and again, but Kuramochi refused to back down, challenging him each time.
A pickoff wasn't always about getting the runner—it disrupted rhythm, controlled the lead, and set up a tag at second.
Before deciding the pitch, pitcher and runner dueled.
Their battle was razor-thin. Kuramochi had already been fooled once by Inō's fake move.
Both his times on base had been nail-biters—and both had cost Furuya…
"Two at-bats and he's made us throw nearly twenty pitches," Ino thought.
"Struck out on a forkball the first time, drew a walk the second. Good bat control. Good technique. Don't give him anything easy."
Shiraha signaled the pitch. Ino nodded, faked a throw to first—then picked off again.
"Pop!"
"Safe!"
Kuramochi barely made it back.
But Shiraha had already signaled first base to fire it back quickly.
The moment Kuramochi rose to extend his lead—
Ino pivoted and fired in a fixed position.
That was what made a good pickoff pitcher terrifying.
Second-year Sawamura could be just as troublesome—though not as refined, being a lefty alone was pressure.
"Shoom!"
"Pop!"
"Strike!"
"Forkball on the first pitch! Swing and miss!"
"So fast! After that quick return throw, he still found the forkball grip and fired it in?!"
Kuramochi realized it—the first baseman's quick throw back, and Inō instantly switching to a forkball.
That finisher had become instinct.
Yokohama's biggest improvement since spring wasn't just velocity or sharper breaking balls—it was Inō's masterful pickoff.
He probably knew his growth ceiling as a pitcher was limited, so he sharpened every other edge.
Ino's development was Seido's biggest miscalculation.
That was high school baseball.
That was Koshien.
No one knew who would suddenly bloom—or who would fade.
That move fooled not only Kuramochi—but Oni-san too.
Even he hadn't expected that quick pitch to be a breaking ball instead of a fastball.
Now it was a true head-on duel.
This time, Ino used his eyes to hold Kuramochi in check. Kuramochi, fearless as ever, still took his lead—but everyone could see clearly that it wasn't as large as before.
He was avoiding a repeat of last time, when he had to dive back to the base, and the moment he got up, the pitch was already on its way.
But from the defense's perspective, that meant the pickoff had already done its job.
Pickoffs can't completely stop a runner from stealing. At most, they might gain an advantage once or twice with a fake move. But they can force the runner to start farther from the next base within the inning.
And even one or two successful fake moves are already unexpected gains. If used well, they can completely suppress a runner.
For Ino, though, the situation couldn't get much better. He had no choice but to accept Kuramochi's current lead distance and focus on the batter.
Still, both Kuramochi and Oni-san didn't dare relax—they were wary of Ino pulling off the same trick again.
That, too, was a kind of psychological advantage.
"Sawamura! Did you see that clearly?" Miyuki suddenly called out.
"What now?" Sawamura turned back irritably, just as he was getting fired up cheering.
"Ino-san's pickoff move! I'll explain it to you later!"
Sawamura ignored him and kept cheering for Oni-san.
Since Miyuki said he'd explain it later anyway, and Sawamura was used to being bullied by him, he chose to pretend he hadn't heard.
Miyuki sighed. Even a fool won't fall for the same trick over and over once he's been fooled enough times.
…....
"It's time to test skill and courage, Ino!
Let's go!" On the field, Shiraha flashed the sign for the second pitch.
But Yokohama wasn't the only one who understood that.
"Steal!"
"Whoosh!"
"Clack!"
"Foul!"
"A fastball on the inside corner—almost the exact same trajectory as the previous forkball! The batter couldn't square it up! That makes two strikes! One more strike and the inning's over!"
On the foul ball, Kuramochi returned to first, once again waiting for his moment.
Oni-san fell into thought.
"Sendo."
"Yeah?"
"If you take away the forkball, what do you think is that pitcher's lifeline? If they realize we're targeting the forkball, what pitch do you think they'd most likely choose as the finishing pitch?"
"…Hmm. The fastball and the curve. They're extremely confident in the forkball as their put-away pitch. But aside from that, the real lifeline of this pitcher is the contrast between the curve and the fastball—one slow, one fast. If they realize we're sitting on the forkball, then a low outside fastball or a curve on the outer corner are probably the pitches that catcher would choose to finish the at-bat."
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