One Out, and a runner on second base!
This result caught the members of the Yakushi High School baseball team a bit off guard.
"The score is 6:0, and only one more point is needed."
"This game is probably going to end early today."
Although they still have an opportunity to attack, everyone on the field knows deep down that the Yakushi High School baseball team's chances are slim.
Up until now, only Raichi had gotten a single hit. The chances of someone else managing a hit were incredibly low.
You have to understand that on the mound for the Seidou High School baseball team is none other than the legendary "Great Demon King" Sawamura.
When a stable performance is needed to secure Outs, Sawamura has never wavered.
This leaves the Yakushi High School baseball team with only one chance left to salvage the situation.
They have to stop Seidou High School's offense now, or they won't be able to hold on.
But is that easy?
Now, Seidou High School's batters are already on second base.
They still have two Outs in hand.
Even if the next batter isn't a monster like Sawamura or Miyuki, players like Maezono and Shiratsu are no pushovers.
At this point, it's highly likely that they'll continue hitting successfully.
"Don't be scared, just do it!"
In the dugout of the Yakushi High School baseball team, Coach Raizou murmured.
To be honest, he didn't really care whether the game ended early.
Although he constantly taught his players that they should never give up until the last moment of the game, even in baseball, where the outcome might not be decided until the bottom of the ninth inning with two Outs, he knew very well that there was still a possibility of a comeback as long as there was one out remaining and the opponent hadn't finished it yet.
This is one of the charms of baseball.
However, the gap in strength was not something that could be easily overcome.
If the score were tied, or if Yakushi High School was only one point behind, there would still be a chance for a comeback.
But with Yakushi High School trailing by six points, a comeback was almost impossible.
In a hopeless situation, whether the game ended after the seventh inning or Sawamura set an unprecedented strikeout record didn't make much difference to Coach Raizou.
Both scenarios would still elevate his son, Raichi's, position in the process.
Seidou High School is strong, right?
The "Great Demon King" Sawamura Eijun is a monster, right?
But even they couldn't stop Raichi from getting a hit.
When you compare Raichi to all the top batters across the country, how many can achieve that?
Seeing this, Raichi's status naturally rises.
With victory out of reach, this became one of the only two remaining pursuits for Coach Raizou.
Aside from this, his other goal was for the third-year players on the field to play a game without regrets.
Looking at it now, Sanada and the others had done a great job in this respect.
They were focused on this game, all that remained was their strong fighting spirit and excitement.
Both of their goals were achieved. As for how the game ended, Coach Raizou didn't care anymore.
He was at peace with it and didn't care about how would they look as much as others.
So, his advice to the players at this point was simple: Don't be afraid, just go for it.
This was, after all, the best strategy that fit Sanada's style.
Though Sanada's pitch speed was fast, his style wasn't the type that would make batters miss swings.
Instead, he relied on his constantly changing cutter to make batters miss the sweet spot of the ball.
For someone like him, it was beneficial to continue the engagement.
After receiving the signal, Sanada didn't hesitate to use his pitch.
He trusted his Coach with unwavering faith. Even if the advice wasn't exactly in line with his thoughts, Sanada would still willingly follow it.
Whrroosh!
The pitcher put all his strength into the pitch.
The baseball came rushing at the batter and, in an instant, entered the strike zone.
Originally, Maezono, who was ready to swing hard, suddenly changed his mind and went for a bunt after seeing this pitch.
Ping!
The small baseball was sent flying without any suspense.
Watching the ball rolling forward, the Yakushi High School players were stunned.
They couldn't understand why Seidou High School players would choose to do this.
However, the third baseman from Yakushi High School, Raichi, saw an opportunity and immediately rushed forward.
He ran like a beast, quickly arriving in front of the ball, picking it up, and preparing to throw it to first base.
"Stop!"
At that moment, someone shouted.
It was the catcher, Akiba.
Although Raichi was confused, he trusted his teammates greatly.
Without thinking, he stopped his action.
"Back to third base!"
Next, Raichi heard Sanada's advice.
He immediately turned back to look at third base, where Miyuki was already approaching third base.
Even if Raichi ran there, he wouldn't be able to prevent Miyuki from advancing to base.
If it were anyone else in this situation, they might have ignored third base and thrown the ball straight to first base.
But Raichi, with his clear thinking, didn't hesitate and immediately followed Sanada's suggestion, heading for third base.
Miyuki, running full speed toward third base, slightly furrowed his brow.
Then, he made a dive.
Seeing Miyuki's move, the pitcher, Sanada, immediately gave the second command.
"Throw to first!"
This brief delay cost them almost a second. If Seidou had sent a faster runner, Yakushi wouldn't have been able to stop him.
But unfortunately, Maezono wasn't a particularly fast runner. At best, he was average. Among the main Seidou players, his speed ranked near the bottom.
On top of that, Raichi had an incredibly fast arm.
Before Maezono could make it to first base, the ball had already been thrown.
Snap!
The baseball landed precisely in Mishima's mitt. Maezono was a step too late in reaching first base.
"OUT!"
This exchange left everyone watching, bewildered, unsure of what was happening. What were the two sides even doing? What were they contesting?
Though the moves were exciting, they were hard to understand.
For example, why did they go back to third base to try and tag Miyuki Out?
To most people, that move seemed incredibly unreasonable. It was hard to find any logical explanation.
Without any apparent reason, why did the Yakushi players still make such a move?
They almost allowed the opponent to exploit a gap.
If Maezono had made it to base, it would have been one Out, with runners on first and third. Seidou's chances of scoring would increase dramatically.
Of course, there were some people at the scene who understood what was going on.
One of them was a young man hiding in the back corner of the stands, wearing a baseball cap with most of his face covered.
That person was Narumiya Mei.
He deeply appreciated the strategy Yakushi High School employed.
Seidou High School had a runner on second base with two outs in hand—how should they have attacked?
He had already come up with an effective strategy, one that might have included a bunt or even a hit-and-run.
Like just now, Maezono's bunt appeared to be meant only to advance Miyuki to third base.
But what was the real situation?
If Raichi had thrown the ball to first base at that moment, Kazuya, sprinting at full speed, would have likely overrun third base and headed home.
By the time the ball was thrown to first base, the first baseman would react and send it home.
Overall, the delay would be about 2-3 seconds.
With that time, there was a good chance Kazuya could have made it home.
The real reason Yakushi High School's Ace had Raichi return to third base wasn't to tag Kazuya Put at third.
It was to prevent him from continuing forward.
As for dealing with Maezono's bunt?
That was just an unexpected bonus.
Yakushi High School's real goal was to avoid giving up that final point.
From the result, Yakushi High School had succeeded, and they had succeeded quite brilliantly.
This tactic of disrupting the opponent's attack rhythm was something Inashiro Industrial High School hadn't thought of before.
Subtle yet profound.
Today, it was clear that the Yakushi players had planned and prepared meticulously.
'It was just unfortunate that the gap in strength was so obvious.'
In the end, Yakushi's pitching squad couldn't stop Seidou's offensive.
And so, the game reached its current state.
Two Outs, with a runner on third base.
It was now Shiratsu's turn to hit.
Ping!
"OUT!!!"
Three Outs, offense and defense exchange.
In the end, Seidou High School didn't achieve their goal.
They couldn't score the seventh point as planned.
It looks like ending this game early is impossible.
Yakushi High School's players were ecstatic at the result, and it didn't feel like they had just stopped Seidou's offense.
It felt like they were the ones in control of the game.
"Well, it won't matter much!" Sawamura muttered as he took the mound.
…
T/N: The game is almost over!
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