And his ace did not disappoint Akiyama Koji's trust in him:
Fastball, fastball, fastball! Shetsu Shou, who usually relies on breaking balls as his main pitch, uncommonly chose to increase his speed, delivering three consecutive fastballs to cleanly take out Seibu's number two batter, Hiroyuki Nakagawa — especially the last inside fastball, which left the opponent without even a chance to swing, watching helplessly as the baseball flew into the strike zone.
Facing off again against the third batter, Kuriyama Takashi, Shetsu Shou steadfastly adhered to the idea of fastball confrontation, enticing Kuriyama Takashi to swing at a central fastball, leading to a fly ball towards center field, which experienced Hasegawa Yu securely caught in his glove.
Three outs, switch sides.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh——!!!"
