Ryosuke Kominato stepped into the batter's box with a calm smile.
Yakushi's pitcher quickly adjusted and threw a slider with a sharper break.
But against Kominato—
That kind of pitch wasn't threatening at all.
Even though Ushijima Wakatoshi had never thrown a slider during batting practice, Kominato had already faced plenty from Norifumi Kawakami.
CRACK!
Kominato swung cleanly and sent the ball through the infield for a single.
He reached first base safely.
Meanwhile, Youichi Kuramochi advanced to third base.
"Bring it on!!!"
Jun Isashiki shouted loudly from the batter's box, intimidating the pitcher.
The pitcher threw another slider with all his strength.
It missed the strike zone.
But Isashiki didn't care.
As long as the trajectory looked hittable—
He would swing.
"Get out of here!"
BANG!
Isashiki smashed the ball with tremendous force.
The baseball soared high and deep toward center field.
It slammed against the center-field wall—
Just barely missing a home run.
"Haha!"
Kuramochi sprinted home easily, grinning as he glanced back toward the dugout.
Kominato reached third base.
Isashiki stopped safely at second.
"Beautiful! An RBI double!"
From the dugout, Eijun Sawamura shouted excitedly.
"Nice hit, Foxhound-senpai!"
"Who are you calling a foxhound?!"
Isashiki yelled angrily from second base.
While Seido celebrated, Yakushi's dugout fell silent.
Todoroki Raizō watched the field calmly.
Only three batters had appeared—
And Yakushi had already allowed a run.
Next up was the cleanup hitter.
Tetsuya Yūki stepped into the batter's box.
On the very first pitch—
He swung.
CRACK!!!
The sound of the bat echoed across the field.
But unfortunately—
The ball flew straight into the glove of third baseman Raichi Todoroki.
"Nice swing."
"That guy really hits like someone with serious power."
Raizō crossed his legs as he watched.
Yuki could only shake his head and return to the dugout.
Then—
Ushijima Wakatoshi stepped into the batter's box.
With runners on second and third, Kominato and Isashiki were ready to run.
Given Wakatoshi's hitting ability—
A hit was almost guaranteed.
Unless he got unlucky.
Come on…
Show me your trump card already.
Standing in the right-handed batter's box, Wakatoshi prepared to swing.
On the mound, the Yakushi pitcher trembled slightly after sensing the overwhelming pressure from him.
Still—
He threw his fastest fastball.
Inside corner.
But Wakatoshi immediately saw through it.
The pitch didn't even reach 140 km/h.
He smirked.
"My batting average against fastballs under 140 km/h is ridiculously high."
"And besides…"
"I've got a Silver Home Run."
CRACK!!!
The bat connected perfectly with the sweet spot.
The sharp sound echoed across the entire stadium.
The ball rocketed high into the sky.
"Ohhhhh!!!"
The entire crowd gasped.
"Is this going to be the first home run of the tournament?!"
On the bases, Isashiki and Kominato stared in shock.
"This guy is ruthless…"
"They provoked him for no reason… now look what happened."
The baseball continued soaring—
Until it cleared the fence.
Home run.
"A three-run home run!"
"If Captain Tetsu had reached base earlier, that would've been a grand slam!"
"USHIJIMA!!!"
The Seido cheering section exploded with excitement.
But for the players from other schools—
This was terrifying.
At first, Wakatoshi had only managed infield hits during early games.
When the Summer Tournament started, he developed long-hit power.
And now—
In only the fourth game of the tournament, he had already hit a three-run home run.
"That guy's cannon just got bigger again…"
Masatoshi Harada muttered.
"Yeah…"
Carlos Toshiki replied lazily.
"He doesn't seem to have any weaknesses."
Shirakawa Katsuyuki said irritably.
On the field, Yakushi's coach Raizō was starting to feel restless.
In the top of the first inning, Yakushi's lineup had been shut down with three straight outs.
But now—
In the bottom of the first inning, Seido had already scored four runs.
And it wasn't over yet.
CRACK!!!
The sixth batter, Masuko Tooru blasted the next pitch.
"Another home run!!!"
"Masuko-senpai is amazing!"
Seido's dugout erupted again.
Two consecutive home runs.
Six batters had already appeared—
And five runs had been scored.
Only Yuki had been unlucky enough to make an out.
"Well, Tetsuya… nothing we can do about that."
Isashiki patted him on the shoulder.
Yuki simply nodded quietly.
Chris watched the field carefully.
"If Yakushi doesn't change pitchers soon…"
"This inning might turn into a complete disaster."
But before he could finish—
CLANG!
SMACK!
Miyuki Kazuya hit a ball straight back to the pitcher.
Out.
"Ah… that's awkward."
Miyuki scratched his head as he returned to the dugout.
Immediately—
His teammates exploded.
"Miyuki, you idiot!"
"What kind of swing was that?!"
"You ruined the rally!"
The older players yelled at him mercilessly.
Miyuki just laughed awkwardly.
Next up—
CRACK!
Shirasu Kenjirō hit a single and reached first base.
Then the ninth batter stepped up.
Satoru Furuya.
BOOM!!!
Furuya crushed the ball.
Home run.
A two-run shot.
Shirasu scored easily.
Even though Furuya hadn't pitched yet—
His bat was already on fire.
By the end of the inning—
Seido had scored seven runs.
Yakushi's number 10 pitcher had been completely overwhelmed.
Finally—
Raizō couldn't watch anymore.
"Time!"
"We're changing pitchers!"
He had no choice.
It wasn't that he didn't want to send Shunpei Sanada onto the mound.
The problem was—
Sanada was injured.
His leg injury meant he could only pitch effectively for a short time.
If he pitched too long, he would collapse in the later innings.
That was why Raizō had hesitated earlier.
But now—
Watching his team get crushed in the first inning—
Sanada stepped forward himself.
"I'll pitch."
With no other option left—
Raizō finally sent his ace onto the mound.