Chapter 346: Coach Matsumoto's Insight
The impression the spectators had of Sendo's baserunning could be summed up in one sentence:
Everyone knew he was fast—but no one realized he was this fast.
When he was fielding in the outfield, the distance was so great that people couldn't truly feel how incredible his speed was.
But his opponents, Kiryu High, knew very well.
They had already witnessed it during the practice game…
---
"Men have their own worlds! If I had to compare it—it's like that star streaking across the sky! Hit it! Yuuki!
Hit it! Yuuki! Yuuki! Yuuki! Yuuki!"
As Yuuki stepped into the batter's box, Sendo simultaneously took an exaggerated lead off first base.
The lead was huge.
But after Tate threw a pickoff attempt and saw Sendo easily return to first base, he gave up trying.
It was almost as if he was saying:
As long as you keep that lead… run whenever you want.
From the stands, Hakuryu's coach watched Sendo with a hint of envy.
This was practically the perfect cleanup hitter.
....
In the batter's box, Yuuki glanced at Sendo and tightened his grip on the bat.
At this moment, the opponent didn't seem particularly eager to get Sendo out.
They might allow Sendo to steal second and then face Yuuki head-on.
....
"This batter might swing to help Sendo advance. And even if we walk him, it wouldn't be a problem."
Kiryu's pitcher and catcher had already decided on their strategy.
Walking him really wouldn't be a big deal.
After all, Sendo would already be on second, so first base would effectively be open.
Compared to having a runner only on second, having runners on first and second might create more scoring chances—
but it also made it easier to force an out.
A rather optimistic way of thinking, perhaps.
.....
"Steal!"
"Just as expected!"
Kiryu's catcher and Yuuki both tensed up as the pitch came.
"Whoosh!"
"Smack!"
Ball!
"Smack!"
Safe!
"So it didn't work after all?"
"Stolen base successful!"
"So fast! He didn't even need to slide!"
"What a terrifying monster!"
"2.87 seconds… seriously?"
Hakuryu's coach stared at the stopwatch in his hand in disbelief.
Although Sendo had taken a big lead, the truly frightening part was this:
He didn't even slide.
He had already begun slowing down before reaching the base.
After all, except for first base, steals to second and third can still be tagged out if the runner doesn't stop on the base.
Which meant that if Sendo sprinted at full speed—
even with a lead of over five meters, covering just over twenty meters could be even faster.
Compared to that, Hakuryu's own 3.1-second stolen base time suddenly felt unimpressive.
....
"Again? That ridiculous lead again!"
"Hey, hey… is that really okay? Can they really allow that?"
Other spectators didn't carry stopwatches like a certain someone did.
And since runners weren't racing side by side, it was impossible to see a difference of a few tenths of a second with the naked eye.
So hardly anyone believed he could steal third base.
After all, third base was much closer to home plate.
Only the catcher Nangumo and the man who had just measured the time knew the truth:
This guy really did have that kind of speed.
.....
"Whoosh!"
"Smack!"
Ball!
"The second pitch is an outside curveball—also a ball!"
"Steal!"
At that instant, Coach Matsumoto slightly opened his eyes.
.....
"Whoosh!"
"Ping!"
Foul!
Seeing Yuuki miss the pitch, Sendo looked a little surprised and had to retreat back to second base.
.....
"…No way."
Coach Matsumoto stared at Seidou's cleanup duo and muttered quietly.
"What did you say, Coach?" the scorekeeper beside him asked, thinking Matsumoto had spoken to him.
"Nothing."
After replying casually, Coach Matsumoto returned to his usual Maitreya Buddha-like smile.
.....
"Steal!"
"Ping!"
"The outside fastball was hit! …It's dropped!!! The runner from second scores! Seidou High scores first!
An RBI hit from the fifth batter!"
After several pitches of battling, Yuuki received Sendo's signal again.
This time he drove a low outside ball into a double.
"YOSHA!!!"
From the dugout entrance, Sendo raised his arm and shouted.
Reaching second base, Yuuki lifted his right fist at a ninety-degree angle and struck a victory pose.
In Seidou's cheering section—especially among the substitutes—megaphones clashed together like a toast as they celebrated wildly.
....
"…This is getting a little troublesome."
Coach Matsumoto finally confirmed that his earlier suspicion had become reality.
Sendo's stolen bases to second were signals.
The evidence was simple:
In the first game and now in this matchup, three steals had occurred—and every time Yuuki swung without hesitation.
(Seidou's second-round match was ignored since it was a one-sided game.)
If it were merely a hit-and-run, they wouldn't play it like this.
And there was another common point:
Every time Sendo stole second, he could have easily stolen third as well—yet he never even tried.
Because of all these strange coincidences, Matsumoto concluded there was only one explanation:
The steal itself was the signal.
At the same time, it wasn't hard to guess another possibility—
Sendo might be able to see the pitcher's grip from second base.
Of course, it might also simply be pitch prediction.
Sendo was extremely good at guessing pitches, and this signal had only been used three times, so it wasn't certain which one it was.
Otherwise, none of the previous logic would make sense.
.....
"No matter which possibility it is… we cannot allow Sendō to reach second base again."
Coach Matsumoto made his decision instantly.
There was no time to verify the theory.
He had to act now.
If they allowed another run or two, even knowing the correct answer later would be meaningless.
He wasn't the type of coach who needed absolute confirmation before acting.
This was what made him a great manager.
While other coaches hadn't even noticed anything strange about Seidou's play, he had already figured out most of it.
....
Sixth batter: Third baseman, Masuko!
The game continued.
Kiryu's ace wasn't going to collapse so easily.
Catcher Nagumo didn't even call for a timeout.
Just looking at Tachi's terrifying smile was enough to know—
even after giving up the hit, his mentality hadn't wavered.
Today's Tachi… is really strong, Nagumo thought.
.....
"Ping!"
"Ahhh!"
"Smack!"
Out!
Masuko was retired in just two pitches.
....
Seventh batter: Catcher, Miyuki!
"This batter… he's that strange guy, right? He ignores easy pitches and swings at the hard ones. And he always makes me want to complain…If you want to hit, then go ahead and try!"
....
"Whoosh!"
"Smack!"
Strike!
"That slider in this spot is impossible to hit… He's improved a lot these past few months!"
Miyuki sighed after swinging and missing.
And just as Nagumo expected—
Miyuki actually swung at that pitch.
Nagumo didn't want to talk to him.
Every time they exchanged words, Miyuki would make him want to complain.
....
"Let's finish him seriously."
"Whoosh!"
Inside pitch!
"Ping!"
Foul!
"So heavy…" Miyuki muttered quietly.
"With such a tricky pitch—and coming from Tate—of course it feels heavy. Is this guy an idiot?" Nagumo complained internally.
"Idiot," Sendo murmured from the dugout.
....
"Whoosh!"
"Smack!"
Batter out!
"I thought for sure it would be outside!" Miyuki grumbled as he walked back.
.....
The eighth batter was Tanba.
Well…
He got out in one pitch.
.....
"Nice ball, Tachi!"
Hearing his teammates' praise, Tate's smile grew even wider.
Sendo's happiness meter increased by one.
Everyone else… well, it was hard to describe.
When it came to frightening expressions, Tanba wasn't inferior to him.
After all, Tanba was the man whose glare alone once scared the white-haired guy into grabbing Harada's leg for protection.
....
Top of the 3rd Inning
Although one ball was hit into play, Seidou quickly secured two outs.
With two outs, the lineup turned over.
....
First batter: Center fielder, Amazawa!
"Hm? No substitution? So they're entrusting this to their ace?" Coach Matsumoto murmured.
Kiryu's lineup was known for tremendous average power, but only a few hitters were exceptionally precise.
However, today they had all abandoned their leg lift and were aiming for fastballs.
That put tremendous pressure on Tanba.
If Miyuki hadn't realized by now what pitch they were targeting after so many innings, he might as well retire.
Yet Kiryu hadn't changed their approach.
The hitters with excellent bat control still had freedom.
Letting the others aim at different pitches would only benefit Seidou.
Matsumoto wouldn't make such a foolish decision.
Without the leg lift, they were less likely to swing and miss at breaking balls.
Even if they struck out on high floaters or splitters, it didn't matter.
Breaking balls couldn't be thrown endlessly.
Eventually, the pitcher would have to throw a fastball.
Matsumoto's goal was simple:
Get Tanba out of the game as quickly as possible.
The third-year ace had overwhelming fighting spirit and was currently at his peak.
There were no clear weaknesses in either his pitching or mentality.
Kiryu's lineup couldn't blow him up quickly.
But the other Seidou pitchers…
Matsumoto had already found their weaknesses during the qualifiers.
The most troublesome was actually Sawamura.
But even he had been analyzed—his outside pitches were just good luck and good form at the time.
Matsumoto had obtained footage of every Seidou game in West Tokyo.
From that analysis he discovered something:
Not only were Sawamura's outside pitches unstable—
his inside pitches were unstable too.
So if they could knock Tanba out quickly, Kiryu might be able to crush Seidou's entire pitching staff.
Unlike Inashiro, Kiryu had far more information about Seidou's pitchers.
Those earlier games had become stepping stones for Matsumoto's analysis.
.....
First of all, Furuya couldn't overpower Kiryu's lineup the way he did against Shirakawa and the bottom of Inashiro's order.
If nothing else, in terms of back muscle strength, Kiryu was probably the strongest team in Japan.
Furuya currently only had:
High fastballs
Fastballs
A fast splitter
If the hitters completely focused on his fastball, he wouldn't last long.
Sawamura was similar.
If he couldn't reach the same level as the Inashiro game and kept throwing pitches down the middle, he would only last a couple innings.
Could they rely on Kawakami at critical moments?
So Matsumoto's analysis was sound.
The key questions were:
How many innings could Tanba last?
What condition were the other pitchers in?
If Furuya's fast splitter could enter the strike zone consistently, he would be very difficult to deal with.
If his fastball could drop to knee height—or even slightly above—it would rival his Spring Koshien form.
Even if it didn't drop that low, as long as the splitter could reliably enter the strike zone, he wouldn't be a pitcher who could be taken down in just a few innings.
.....
"Tanba! Attack!"
"That's right! Let them hit! We're the ones in the lead!"
Although they didn't know Matsumoto's full plan, Seidou wasn't about to let their ace leave the mound so early.
If Kiryu wanted to target fastballs—
then let them hit.
Let them see the defensive strength Seidou was proud of.
What they saw in the practice game wasn't even the full strength.
....
"So they're not lifting their legs again, huh… Fine. Even if they tie the game, just swing your arm with everything you've got!"
Miyuki glanced at Amazawa's stance and looked firmly at Tanba.
"Yeah."
I've already caused enough trouble for the team.
If I shrink back here, what would be the point?
Believe in myself!
And believe in those guys behind me!
....
"Whoosh!"
"Ping!"
Foul!
"YOSHA!!!"
"Inside fastball! A powerful pitch from Seidou's ace, Tanba, full of momentum!"
"Whoosh!"
"Smack!"
Strike!
"The second pitch—splitter!"
"Whoosh!"
"Smack!"
"Damn it! The trajectory is exactly the same as the fastball! This guy…"
Amazawa stared at Tanba with a serious expression.
"He's been cornered!"
"Keep attacking, Tanba-san!"
"Tanba!!!"
"Attack! Tanba!"
"Go on the offensive!"
The energy from Seidou's side suddenly surged.
.....
"Don't be afraid!"
"Fushi!"
"Whoosh!"
"Smack!"
Ball!
"Close! I almost swung! That high floating pitch! Not lifting my leg really saved me!"
For the first time, Amazawa felt grateful for his overly cautious choice of not using a leg lift.
After all, he wasn't like Sendo, whose natural batting stance already looked like that.
Changing your batting form mid-game was basically showing weakness.
But compared to getting out, none of that mattered.
.....
"Come on!!!"
Amazawa shouted loudly, encouraging himself.
"Full of fighting spirit, huh? But I'll finish you with this pitch!"
"Fushi!"
"Whoosh!"
"Smack!"
Strike!
Batter out!
Three outs! Change sides!
"YOSHA!!!"
Tanba roared again, powerfully asserting his presence on the mound.
In Kiryu's lineup, aside from Tate, the most dangerous batter was the leadoff hitter Amazawa.
Getting Amazawa out carried enormous significance.
.....
"Nothing we can do."
"Let's reset our mindset."
Kiryu's players encouraged each other.
At that moment, Coach Matsumoto said something that shocked the entire dugout.
"From now on, don't give them a single run."
If it hadn't come from the coach, the players might have questioned it.
"Are you serious?"
"Is that a problem?" Matsumoto asked Tate calmly.
Tate responded with an even more terrifying grin.
"Coach…" Nagumo finally spoke up.
"Depending on the situation, you are allowed to walk their fourth and fifth batters."
"But don't do it by standing up and deliberately walking them."
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