Harada Masatoshi, who caught the ball, smiled with relief and threw it back. As expected, even though Narumiya Mei seemed a bit erratic, he was still very reliable once he started pitching.
"Strike!"
"Strike!"
A Slider, a Forkball. Isashiki Jun swung his bat in anger but achieved nothing, walking off the field with a flushed face.
"This kid is getting stronger and stronger."
After watching Narumiya Mei's pitching, discussions began in the Seido dugout.
"His pitches are sharper."
"Yeah, he's tough to deal with."
"Just looking at his pitching, this kid is already better than Matsumoto Takumi."
"Kazuya, what do you think?" Kanzaki Ryou turned his head and asked.
Miyuki nodded: "After a few months of high school baseball, especially losing to us twice, Mei absolutely cannot accept such results. He must have been secretly practicing some new moves, so we need to be careful."
"Oh? You really understand him, don't you?" Kanzaki Ryou said.
Miyuki didn't reply, his attention fully focused on the game.
Seido's 7th batter, Araki Keita, was also struck out shortly after coming to bat. Then, the 8th batter, Yoshikawa Junpei, hit Narumiya Mei's Slider, but the baseball was intercepted by the defense and thrown to first base, just barely missing a successful on-base.
Three up, three down. Inajitsu's first-year pitcher showed a perfect performance as soon as he came on.
The first-year pitchers from both sides immediately displayed a confrontational attitude, which made the game even more intense. The audience was happy to see such a scene, with constant cheers from the field, and fans from both schools refusing to back down.
"Kazuya, it's time."
Getting up and putting on his glove, Kanzaki Ryou pulled Miyuki up with one hand.
"What's your hurry?" Miyuki rolled his eyes.
Nine Seido players walked onto the field, and the game continued. Top of the 7th inning, Inajitsu's offense.
At the start of the 7th inning, Kanzaki Ryou had to face Inajitsu's middle lineup.
Standing in the batter's box, Inajitsu's captain, Hada Kazuki, first looked at Miyuki, then at Kanzaki Ryou.
What kind of pitch will it be? Hada Kazuki pondered. In the previous Kanto Tournament, when Inajitsu faced Kanzaki Ryou for the second time, they had already hit several singles off his Straight ball.
He didn't believe that after that, Kanzaki Ryou would still dare to only throw Straight ball.
He must have a breaking ball hidden, Hada Kazuki thought, but for now, the first pitch was most likely a Straight ball. Getting ready to bat, Hada Kazuki exhaled lightly and waited for the pitch.
Signal: Two-seam fastball.
Kanzaki Ryou nodded slightly, then threw the ball. The pitch was very low, almost hugging the very edge of the strike zone.
Seeing the baseball flying, Hada Kazuki swung his bat without hesitation. The pitch path was very clear, and the bat swept downwards. Just as the bat was about to collide with the baseball, the ball quickly deviated, directly leaving the strike zone and entering Miyuki's glove.
This was a ball!
Hada Kazuki would never have thought that Miyuki would call for a ball on the very first pitch!
Successfully deceiving the batter into swinging and getting a strike count, Miyuki's mouth curved into a smile. It felt so good to see the batter being toyed with by his pitch calls.
Returning the baseball to Kanzaki Ryou, Miyuki squatted down and, without a second's delay, gave the signal for the next pitch.
Slider!
He called for a Slider on the second pitch!
Kanzaki Ryou's pupils constricted slightly. He knew that if he didn't use breaking balls today, it would be impossible to suppress Inajitsu's lineup, but he didn't expect Miyuki to call for a Slider so early.
What an unpredictable guy.
After sighing, Kanzaki Ryou prepared to pitch with his unique cutter slider grip.
It was his first time throwing this strange cutter slider in an official game, and Kanzaki Ryou was a little nervous. Will it be a wild pitch?
After hesitating for two seconds, Kanzaki Ryou saw the excitement in Miyuki's eyes.
You dog, you call pitches so freely, but I'm under a lot of pressure, you know.
Soon, Kanzaki Ryou lifted his left leg, raised his hands high, and with a powerful swing of his arm, threw the baseball.
A Slider, with a speed not much weaker than a Straight ball, rapidly flew towards Hada Kazuki.
In the batter's box, Hada Kazuki was startled, instinctively tucking in his stomach to dodge.
Whack!
The baseball, just before entering home plate, suddenly made a large horizontal movement and landed in Miyuki's glove.
"Strike!"
This....
Everyone who saw this pitch was stunned. Such fast speed, such a large horizontal displacement, what kind of ball was this!
Hada Kazuki's heart was in turmoil. At first glance, it was indeed a Straight ball, but the deviation was too large.
What kind of ball is this? A cutter?
Hada Kazuki couldn't figure it out, but he was sure that Kanzaki Ryou indeed had a breaking ball hidden, and it was used on him for its first appearance.
"Haha, the Inajitsu guys must be scared stiff." Kuramochi Yoichi said in the dugout, holding his stomach with one hand and pointing at Hada Kazuki in the batter's box with the other.
"Hmm, he looks like he's been stunned." Nanjo Taishi said.
"Oh, poor guy, it's really hard to hit that ball."
"Terrifying guy."
The teammates below the field were discussing, and the spectators in the stands were also whispering to each other.
"Did you see that? What kind of ball was that?"
"A cutter, right?"
"Bullshit, whose cutter has such a big displacement?"
"Exactly, I think this should be a Slider."
"Is your Slider that fast? And the pitch path isn't an arc!"
The Inajitsu dugout was silent. Narumiya Mei bit his collar fiercely, his eyes already vertical slits, clearly greatly stimulated by that last pitch.
And among everyone on the field, Hada Kazuki had the deepest experience.
After feeling the shock brought by this pitch, Hada Kazuki began to simulate the pitch path in his mind. A few seconds later, Hada Kazuki smiled bitterly and came to a conclusion: this pitch was too difficult to hit. It would be impossible to accurately time and hit the ball in a short period.
Furthermore, with such a breaking ball, the threat of Kanzaki Ryou's Straight ball instantly increased by another level.
There was no extra time to think, and the third pitch was also thrown very quickly.
Hada Kazuki swung his bat, but with his mind distracted, his swing was ultimately a little slow.
Whack!
"Strike!"
"Struck out!"
Inajitsu's captain, the third batter, was struck out just like that.
"Good!!"
A loud shout came from the stands.
Then all of Seido's fans stood up, roaring and shouting Kanzaki Ryou's name.
Shaking his head, Hada Kazuki walked off the field expressionlessly. As he brushed past the fourth batter, Shinkawa Kenichi, he said, "Hit the Straight ball! Don't worry about that weird pitch."
Shinkawa Kenichi nodded. He wasn't a fool either; trying to hit such a ball in one go was undoubtedly a pipe dream. Instead of overthinking, it was better to just choose to hit the Straight ball.
That's true, but with that speed, it's also very difficult to distinguish whether it's a Straight ball or a breaking ball.
Forget it, just hit it when it comes, no matter what kind of ball it is!
With this thought, Shinkawa Kenichi stepped into the batter's box.