"Damn… I got too fired up and lost control of the pitch."
Sanada Shunpei muttered quietly to himself after throwing the first ball.
"Good thing it didn't hit him. Starting the game by putting a runner on base would've been a disaster."
Despite the mistake, Sanada showed no signs of wavering.
On the contrary, he quickly adjusted his breathing and prepared for the next pitch.
Meanwhile, in Yakushi High School's dugout, Todoroki Raizo was already getting a headache.
"These brats really think I have too much hair left, huh?" he grumbled. "Not a single one of them knows how to make things easy for their coach."
"I just hope nothing unexpected happens today…"
On the opposite side, Hakuryu High School's coach, Kotaro Sasaki, wore a strange smile.
"According to our data," he said calmly, "Yakushi's catcher, Watanabe Tatsuya, averages 2.23 seconds on throws to second base."
"As for pitcher Sanada Shunpei, his delivery time is around 1.33 seconds."
"The slowest runner on our team reaches second in approximately 4.2 seconds."
He tapped lightly on the stopwatch in his hand.
"That means as long as we get on base, our probability of stealing successfully exceeds eighty percent."
"Still… to be safe, we should confirm it ourselves."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"Soichiro…"
"You absolutely must get on base."
Completely unaware of the thoughts of both coaches, Sanada Shunpei remained fully immersed in his duel against Mima Soichiro.
Without hesitation, he fired the second pitch.
"Ball!"
The velocity was slightly slower than the first pitch, but the location remained high and inside.
This time, however, the ball barely missed the strike zone.
Its trajectory was also extremely tricky, making it difficult to make solid contact.
But because the count already favored the batter, Mima decided to observe one more pitch.
"Smack!"
"Ball!"
Two consecutive balls immediately caused unrest among the crowd.
"Can this guy even pitch?!"
"If he can't do it, put Kitamura Kou on the mound already!"
"Three pitches and none of them are in the strike zone!"
"This is the team that beat Seihou High School? They should just surrender now!"
The audience's dissatisfaction grew louder and louder.
Yet compared to the agitated crowd, the players on the field remained remarkably calm.
Yakushi High School's players knew Sanada well.
They trusted his pitching completely.
As for Hakuryu High School—
The entire team felt like a perfectly synchronized machine.
Cold.
Precise.
Emotionless.
No matter what happened on the field, they simply continued executing their assigned tasks.
Three straight balls.
Yet Sanada Shunpei's expression remained unchanged.
Without the slightest hesitation, he threw the next pitch with full force.
"Strike!"
The velocity hadn't dropped at all.
And once again, the pitch targeted the high inside corner.
But this time, judging by its trajectory, the ball would definitely pass through the strike zone.
Mima Soichiro immediately swung.
After carefully watching three pitches, he already had a decent understanding of Sanada's style.
Strong.
Aggressive.
But not unhittable.
At least, that was what Mima believed.
However—
Just as he committed to the swing, a sudden sense of danger exploded in his mind.
Instinctively, he adjusted the angle of his bat mid-swing.
The baseball sharply cut inward toward his chest.
"Ping!"
"Foul!"
The ball shot into foul territory.
Mima stared intensely at Sanada Shunpei.
A trace of fear flashed through his calm eyes.
If he hadn't changed his swing at the last second…
He probably would've missed entirely.
"So this pitcher isn't simple after all…"
Mima slowly exhaled and reset his stance.
He realized he had underestimated Sanada.
"Tch… he reacted."
Sanada clicked his tongue in annoyance.
Even though the count still favored the batter, he had no intention of backing down.
Taking another powerful step forward, he swung his right arm with full force.
"Strike!"
This time, the pitch targeted the low outside corner.
Around 143 km/h.
A sharp contrast to his previous inside pitches.
If a pitcher endlessly attacked the same area, eventually every batter would adjust.
Unless that pitcher possessed overwhelming variety and elite deception, getting crushed would only become a matter of time.
Even pitchers like Sawamura Eijun in his first year constantly struggled because of predictable pitch patterns.
Sanada understood that very well.
That sudden outside pitch instantly made his arsenal far more dangerous.
Mima froze briefly.
By the time he reacted, the ball had already settled into Watanabe Tatsuya's mitt.
"Smack!"
"Strike two!"
Full count.
Three balls.
Two strikes.
At this point, either side could still seize victory.
"So his pitching pattern changed…"
Mima narrowed his eyes.
"That means our scouting report needs updating."
"But…"
"I'm not losing this easily."
He focused completely on Sanada Shunpei.
Waiting.
Watching.
Analyzing.
Sanada didn't keep him waiting long.
The next pitch arrived almost immediately.
SWOOSH!
Once again—
Inside corner.
In the end, Sanada Shunpei was still an aggressive pitcher who loved attacking inside.
The previous outside pitch had only been bait.
A way to disrupt Mima's rhythm and make the inside pitch even deadlier.
Mima was momentarily surprised.
But with his concentration pushed to the limit, he reacted instantly.
He decisively swung the bat.
This time, he specifically targeted Sanada's finishing pitch—
The cutter.
Although the outside pitch earlier had been unexpected, Mima still trusted his own judgment.
After all, habits weren't something a pitcher could change so easily.
The baseball screamed toward his chest.
Closer.
Closer.
But strangely—
It showed no sign of breaking toward the inside corner.