All the Yakushi High School players quickly gathered on the pitcher's mound.
"My bad," Sanada Shunpei said casually. "Looks like I created a huge crisis right at the start."
Even though he was apologizing, there wasn't the slightest trace of remorse on his face.
Instead, his dazzling white teeth practically sparkled as he grinned.
"You bastard!" Fukuda Daiki immediately stepped forward and kicked him lightly. "If you're going to apologize, at least look sincere!"
Of course, the kick had no real force behind it.
"Hahaha!" Mishima Yuta laughed loudly. "Throw without worries, Sanada-senpai! When it comes to offense, we've never feared anyone!"
"Just wait until I smash their defense apart with one swing!"
Meanwhile, Todoroki Raichi looked completely unconcerned about the dangerous situation.
"Hahaha! I wonder what kind of pitches Hakuryu's pitcher throws!"
"I can't wait to blast the ball out of the stadium!"
Everyone immediately rolled their eyes.
As expected—
Trying to make a baseball idiot like Raichi understand pressure was impossible.
"Well, giving up one run isn't the end of the world," Kitamura Kou said calmly.
"We can always take it back later."
"Sanada-senpai, just keep pitching your game."
Kou had already mentally prepared himself for this outcome.
Hakuryu High School's execution was simply too strong.
If they only possessed elite speed or elite teamwork, Sanada Shunpei could probably handle them.
But the terrifying part was—
Hakuryu possessed both.
That combination made them incredibly troublesome.
Sanada flashed another bright grin.
"I might end up causing even more trouble later, so take care of me when that happens too."
"Alright!" Watanabe Tatsuya shouted immediately. "The game's only beginning! Let's take them down one out at a time!"
"OH!"
The players roared together.
The game resumed.
"As long as I keep getting outs, it doesn't matter how much they run…"
Sanada gritted his teeth and began his pitching motion once again.
But halfway through—
Miyao suddenly squared to bunt without hesitation.
A sacrifice bunt.
Hakuryu clearly intended to force the run home.
Sanada showed no hesitation.
He fired the ball toward home plate with full force.
"Strike!"
The instant the ball left his hand—
Mima Soichiro exploded toward home plate at full speed.
"Stealing home!" Todoroki Raichi shouted in alarm.
Compared to before summer, Raichi had at least developed some basic game awareness.
"Ping!"
As a regular starter for Hakuryu High School, Miyao's fundamentals were exceptionally solid.
He deadened the powerful pitch perfectly, guiding the bunt softly toward the first-base line.
Mishima Yuta charged forward immediately to field it.
At the same time, Sanada reacted quickly and sprinted toward first base to cover.
"Mishima! Throw to first!"
Watanabe Tatsuya's voice rang out calmly.
At this point, Mima was already extremely close to home plate.
Trying to prevent the run was unrealistic.
The smarter decision was securing the out.
Mishima didn't argue.
He instantly threw the ball to Sanada at first base.
"Safe!"
"Out!"
"Smack!"
Hakuryu High School struck first.
The stadium instantly exploded with cheers from Hakuryu's supporters.
They had only needed one out to score a run against Yakushi High School—
The very same Yakushi team that had crushed Seihou High School.
How could they not be excited?
"Mima! That run was beautiful!"
"Keep crushing them!"
"Yakushi's nothing special!"
"Phew…"
Although he had prepared himself mentally, Sanada Shunpei still felt irritated after giving up the run.
But now wasn't the time to dwell on it.
Hakuryu's cleanup batter was stepping up next.
Hakuryu's third batter was originally their leadoff hitter before Coach Sasaki intentionally rearranged the batting order specifically to pressure Yakushi.
Although his batting and running abilities were slightly inferior to Mima Soichiro's, he was still an extremely dangerous hitter.
Sanada continued attacking aggressively inside.
"Strike!"
"Ping!"
"Foul!"
The baseball barely nicked the bottom of the bat and flew just outside the third-base foul line.
"Strike!"
"Ping!"
"Foul!"
"Strike!"
"Ping!"
"Foul!"
Two inside fastballs and one cutter aimed at the body were all fouled off stubbornly.
"Tch… they're really troublesome."
Even though he had thrown only a dozen pitches so far, Sanada was already breathing heavily.
Hakuryu High School's relentless pressure was exhausting.
Then he suddenly remembered the advice Kou had given him during the strategy meeting.
"There's no helping it…"
"It goes against my style of baseball…"
"But this isn't just my team."
"If we want to keep advancing…"
"Then I have to do it."
After calming his breathing, Sanada finally threw the next pitch.
"Strike!"
140–145 km/h.
Low outside corner.
The batter immediately swung decisively.
But just before reaching the plate—
The baseball suddenly broke sharply away from the hitter.
"What?! An outside-breaking cutter?!"
The batter's expression changed drastically.
At this distance, adjusting the swing was impossible.
"Smack!"
"Strikeout!"
Sanada Shunpei finally recorded his first strikeout of the game.
Against Hakuryu High School, the best way to suppress their terrifying mobility was simple:
Don't let them reach base in the first place.
Strike them out directly.
Previously, because the batter was left-handed, Sanada had focused too heavily on attacking the inside corner with only fastballs and cutters.
That predictability gave skilled hitters opportunities to react and foul pitches away.
But now—
Once Sanada stopped obsessing over the inside corner, the difficulty of hitting his pitches increased dramatically.
Using alternating inside and outside fastballs, he quickly cornered Hakuryu's cleanup batter.
Finally—
A low outside cutter that disguised itself as a strike before dropping into a ball forced the batter to swing helplessly through the pitch.
Strikeout.
The first inning finally came to an end.
However—
Yakushi High School had already fallen behind 1–0.