"What was that just now?"
"It looked just like a golf swing."
"Zhang Han is incredible. He can even pull off something that difficult."
"That hitting style is fairly common in North America, but here we mostly use fixed swing mechanics. I really wonder where he learned to play baseball."
The stands erupted into discussion.
Watching the game through an online live broadcast, Director Tahara of Ichidai Third High School crossed his arms and spoke thoughtfully.
"Zhang Han… that boy always surprises me."
Originally, he had thought Zhang Han only possessed exceptional hitting intuition.
He never imagined that his raw strength would be this terrifying, or that he would master such an exquisite hitting technique.
Truly remarkable.
If he had known this earlier, he would never have allowed such a powerful player to slip into Seido's hands.
It was only a scholarship. If he had swallowed his pride and pushed harder back then, it wouldn't have been impossible.
But in this world, there was no such thing as medicine for regret.
No matter how much Director Tahara regretted it now, the outcome couldn't be changed.
All they could do was study Zhang Han carefully in the future and figure out how to deal with this terrifying opponent.
Seido had already passed the test of Inashiro Industrial.
Even if Zhang Han's performance in the Autumn Tournament declined due to other schools deliberately targeting him, as long as he was given time, he would inevitably become a mountain Ichidai Third High School would have to climb someday.
"Why didn't Zhang Han have this kind of reputation when he was at Matsukata?"
Director Tahara couldn't help asking Hoshida.
If Zhang Han had displayed this level of talent back then, Tahara would never have missed him.
"Zhang-san was already one of Matsukata's core hitters," Hoshida replied honestly. "It's just that his spot in the batting order was earlier, so we usually took the spotlight. If our positions had been swapped, his numbers definitely wouldn't have been worse than ours."
"Zhang-san's growth since joining Seido has been extremely fast," Miyakawa added. "He's a completely different person now compared to when we were at Matsukata."
What the two said was true, leaving Director Tahara with nothing to refute.
"Then where did he learn that golf swing?" Tahara asked again. "Did he pick it up at Matsukata, or did he practice it on his own?"
"Zhang-san didn't come up through a formal youth baseball system," Hoshida explained. "Before junior high, he mostly just watched baseball and never trained seriously. He only started learning after entering junior high, so he's basically self-taught. Compared to players with orthodox training, he naturally developed some unconventional methods. That golf swing is something he figured out himself, specifically to deal with low breaking balls."
After hearing this, Director Tahara didn't say anything aloud, but his heart sank.
It seemed Zhang Han didn't just have talent.
He also had a sharp mind.
Talent alone would already be frightening. Talent combined with intelligence was downright terrifying.
In that case, Zhang Han's future potential was almost unimaginable.
"Maybe this kid will cause a huge sensation someday…" Director Tahara thought silently.
A few years later, that speculation would come true.
The score now stood at 5–2, the gap stretched to three runs.
Seido High School Baseball Team looked as if they had already secured victory.
On the other side, Inashiro Industrial High School Baseball Team suffered a heavy blow.
Losing such a critical run at this moment made the rest of the game extremely difficult for them.
And Seido's offense wasn't finished yet.
One out, runner on second.
Zhang Han stayed alert on base, ready to advance at any moment. Isashiki Jun stepped into the batter's box aggressively.
Narumiya Mei's decisive pitch had just been smashed by Zhang Han for an RBI.
That had to have shaken him.
Isashiki Jun believed this was his chance.
A 5–2 lead, three runs ahead, was already enough for Seido to lock in the win.
But when it came to runs, more was always better.
If there was an opportunity, Isashiki Jun wanted to seize it.
On one hand, it would ease the burden on Hidezawa in the upcoming inning. On the other, it would prove his own worth.
Although Isashiki Jun was currently a regular starter, his position wasn't completely secure.
Among the third-year seniors, there were others capable of replacing him.
In fact, due to his lackluster performances in the last two games, whispers had already begun about letting another senior take his spot.
If he were pushed out of the starting lineup when Seido had a real shot at Koshien, he might even be one of the players cut from the roster.
That would be devastating.
Isashiki Jun was determined to perform. He believed he had a chance.
After all, Narumiya Mei couldn't possibly be completely unaffected by what had just happened.
There was an opening—definitely an opening.
But Isashiki Jun underestimated his opponent.
Narumiya Mei on the mound wasn't as fragile as he imagined. Even after giving up a run, Narumiya was annoyed, but his performance remained steady. He continued pitching calmly, using sharp control to force Isashiki Jun into an infield grounder.
"Thwack!"
"Out!!"
Isashiki Jun was retired.
Two outs, runner still on second.
Narumiya Mei's composure even surprised Zhang Han on base. This guy was stronger than he had expected. He dealt with Isashiki Jun far too easily.
Fortunately, Seido still had Miyuki.
With runners on base, there was no one more reliable than him.
However—
After a few pitches, the ball was lifted high into the air.
Miyuki's expression darkened.
The final pitch hadn't been the breaking ball he anticipated, but the most ordinary fastball.
Harada Masatoshi and Narumiya Mei had tricked him at the last moment.
Three outs. Side retired.
The game entered the final inning with a three-run gap.
As long as Seido High School Baseball Team gave up no more than one or two runs on defense, they wouldn't even need their bottom-of-the-ninth offense to secure advancement.
But if the opponent somehow scored three runs or more…
Then Seido would have to fight with everything they had in their final at-bat.
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