But just then, the entire stadium let out a strange gasp in unison.
"What's going on?" Kanzaki Ryou turned his head to look, and the high-bouncing ball had actually bounced directly out of bounds.
"Nani!!"
"This is… a ground-rule double?"
Kanzaki Ryou slowly ran to second base, his expression not particularly happy.
"Why not… bounce back? Let me run to third?"
Although he felt a little regretful, the current result was acceptable. After all, forcibly advancing still carried risks.
Kanzaki Ryou looked at Shida Shota, who was already walking toward the batter's box, and saw him give a thumbs-up.
Stepping into the batter's box, Shida Shota let out a loud roar, startling the Omori catcher.
Not only had he failed to get Kanzaki Ryou out, but he had also allowed a ground-rule double. Amano Yamato was truly struggling. It was one thing for there to be a gap in skill, but why wasn't luck on their side either?
Hearing Shida Shota's provocative voice at this moment, Amano Yamato wished he could go up and punch him.
Fortunately, his long-accumulated game experience told him what to do now: get the out. That was the most urgent matter—otherwise, if this guy got on base, even if he dealt with the second batter, he would still have to face Seidou's third batter, Yuuki Tetsuya.
Seemingly having finally found his rhythm, Amano Yamato successfully struck out Shida Shota with a sufficiently low Forkball after a two-ball, two-strike count. After that, he quickly retired Kominato Ryosuke using three different pitches, ending the half-inning.
Kanzaki Ryou was firmly held at second, unable to advance further. During this time, he tried to influence Amano Yamato by faking a steal, but the guy completely ignored him, focusing solely on his duel with the batter.
"Sorry, Kanzaki, I couldn't send you home."
In the dugout, Kominato Ryosuke walked up to Kanzaki Ryou and said.
"Kominao-senpai, why would you say that?" Kanzaki Ryou wiped sweat with a towel in his hand. He had to go up to pitch again soon.
Watching Kanzaki Ryou put on his glove and walk out of the dugout, Kominato Ryosuke just smiled.
In less than 5 minutes, Kanzaki Ryou easily retired Omori High's 7th, 8th, and 9th batters.
His consistently effective super-fast Four-seam fastball and Two-seam fastball gave the opponents no chance whatsoever.
Especially that cunning guy, Tanaka Wataru, who even started mimicking Miyuki's tactic of three consecutive inside pitches followed by three consecutive outside pitches. It was only because the opponent was Omori High; if it were Inashiro or Ichidai Third High, Tanaka Wataru would absolutely not dare to call pitches like that.
"Senpai, you're messing with Omori's mindset," Kanzaki Ryou said to Tanaka Wataru as he came off the field.
Tanaka Wataru chuckled sheepishly: "I wanted to try this pitch calling too, right? Your pitching is so amazing, it's not too much for me to be a little willful, is it?"
"Heh heh," Kanzaki Ryou smiled, "Feel good?"
"Good!" Tanaka Wataru nodded honestly, especially when he saw the opposing batter's furious expression—it felt even better.
"Too bad, it makes us look like villains," Kanzaki Ryou said.
"Aren't we?" Tanaka Wataru grinned mischievously.
Although the score was still 3–0, the game was truly one-sided. Omori High was truly miserable; all nine batters had taken their turns, but none had even touched Kanzaki Ryou's pitches. How could they possibly hit?
Bottom of the third inning.
Yuki Tetsuya chased a bad pitch after two strikes. The baseball landed in the infield and bounced into left field. Omori's shortstop failed to field the ball, resulting in a single.
"Hit it out!!"
As Azuma Kiyokuni stepped into the batter's box, a loud shout came from the stands.
Whoosh Whoosh
In the batter's box, Azuma Kiyokuni casually swung his bat a few times, the sound of the wind extremely clear and intimidating.
"Walk him?"
The catcher instinctively had this thought. Facing this guy—one of the strongest batters in all of Tokyo high school baseball—choosing to walk him was a very wise decision.
But what then?
Once Azuma Kiyokuni was walked, it would become no outs, runners on first and second. This was purely putting pressure on themselves.
Furthermore, Seidou's fifth batter, Tanaka Wataru, was not easy to deal with, and the sixth batter after him, that wild guy who looked like a delinquent, was also very troublesome.
They couldn't walk everyone, could they? Then would the game even be played?
Amano Yamato on the mound didn't know what kind of mental storm his catcher had gone through in just a few seconds.
He only saw the opponent's expression shift several times, then suddenly become serious again, and then he gave the signal.
Three seconds later—bang!
"Roar!"
Azuma Kiyokuni, who had hit the ball, roared and rushed to first.
"Home run!!"
"It's happened again! The second home run of this game, from Seidou's cleanup hitter and third-year monster batter, Azuma Kiyokuni!"
The home run reignited the entire stadium. Seidou's supporters stood up, offering applause and cheers, uniformly shouting Azuma Kiyokuni's name.
Just then, Omori High made a pitching change.
Ace Amano Yamato was replaced by third-year Iwao Sho.
But Seidou continued their assault, loading the bases after only one out.
"What a great opportunity."
Kanzaki Ryou stepped into the batter's box excitedly. With the bases loaded and his turn to bat—how could he not score?
No way.
Kanzaki Ryou's eyes revealed a burning desire.
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