Third inning, Bottom Half!
The fans in the stands went wild, excitedly waving anything they could to cheer on the pitcher on the field.
"Sawamura!"
"Sawamura!!!"
Tens of thousands of voices shouted in unison. The sound that spread over Koshien was deafening.
At this moment, it seemed like the whole world was the backing of the Seidou High School baseball team.
The Komadai Fujimaki High School baseball team, while they had never won directly against Seidou in competition, had performed quite well over the last two years.
They had made it to Koshien and had shown impressive performances there.
Teams that made it to Koshien and performed excellently showed their brave performances to fans across the country.
For such players, even if they didn't eventually dominate the country, they couldn't be considered failures.
The Komadai Fujimaki High School baseball team was clearly such a team!
They were strong and had performed well.
Through last summer, this spring, and this summer's performance, they made everyone aware of the fighting spirit of men from Hokkaido.
Born in Hokkaido, a region not conducive to baseball, they had managed to rise above and possess the top-level strength in the country.
The most miraculous part was that the two fastest pitchers in the country, Hongou and Furuya, were both born in Hokkaido.
No matter how you look at it, the Komadai Fujimaki High School baseball team was very popular, and they had many fans across the country.
When the game started, besides supporters from their hometown, you could occasionally hear other fans cheering for Komadai Fujimaki High School.
But by now, it was silent.
There was not a single cheer left.
Under the crushing force of fan groups for Sawamura and the immense support from Seidou's gigantic fanbase, there was no sound of cheering for Komadai.
Whether it was the elders from Hokkaido or their fans from across the nation, they had all disappeared.
It seemed like the whole world had tilted toward Seidou.
The fans in the stands were eagerly awaiting Seidou High School's victory.
Sawamura on the pitcher's mound seemed to understand the fans' feelings.
While pitching, he used everything he had.
The unexplainable breaking balls kept coming.
The lower-order batters of the Komadai Fujimaki High School baseball team, how could they stand such a situation?
They quickly fell, having no ability to resist.
They could only watch the baseball fly past them again and again, eventually striking out because they didn't swing.
In the rest area of the Komadai Fujimaki High School baseball team, Coach Nitta's face was as dark as could be.
"Cowards, all of them!"
He had rigorously trained the team before, yet it had all been for nothing.
The middle-order batters had done okay.
Though they didn't get hits, at least they hadn't been completely crushed in their duels against the great monster Sawamura Eijun.
At least, on the surface, they hadn't been crushed.
But the lower-order batters, who usually performed remarkably well against weak teams, now, facing Sawamura, were completely useless.
They couldn't even make a proper swing.
It was absurd.
They were struck out without even attempting to swing and were pushed into a two-strike count.
At that point, even if they decided to try and make a change, getting a hit became almost an impossible task.
It was difficult. Extremely difficult.
This wasn't exaggeration; it was simply the truth.
Once Sawamura Eijun got two strikes, he went into an almost berserk state.
At that point, the balls he threw were unstoppable.
The lower-order batters of Komadai Fujimaki High School were unlucky to face someone like Sawamura.
They were completely dominated.
Three Outs, offense and defense exchange.
The first three innings were over, and the aces of both teams had completed their tasks flawlessly.
Neither team allowed any batter to reach base.
This wasn't an easy feat.
Both teams had strong offensive power.
However, compared to the pitchers' strength, their offensive abilities seemed lacking.
One by one, they were all taken care of.
Although in terms of results, the Aces of both teams were equal.
It was still hard to tell who would win the game at this point.
However, the atmosphere in the stands told a different story.
The great monster Sawamura had completely unleashed his full potential, while Hongou, though strong, couldn't seem to dominate in the same way.
For Seidou's batters, they didn't seem to be at a disadvantage when facing Hongou.
If they were lucky, they could still score.
But facing Sawamura, the Komadai batters had no chance.
It was clear that they were going to be defeated, and the audience could see that they had no hope of getting a hit or scoring a run.
Under such conditions, victory was increasingly tipping in Seidou's favor.
Coach Nitta of the Komadai Fujimaki High School baseball team, though a fiery and ill-tempered person, soon realized that the advantage was slipping away from his team and leaning toward Seidou.
He couldn't understand why.
It wasn't fair!
During the exchanges, his team hadn't gained much, but Seidou hadn't gained much either, right?
It had been mostly an even match.
So why did it feel like Seidou had the upper hand?
In a pitcher's duel, a one-run lead was invaluable.
Why was this happening?
In a pitcher's duel, both teams found it difficult to score.
Once one side had the lead, they could focus on defense with steady minds.
On the other side, it wasn't easy to catch up.
The trailing team had to take risks because if they didn't, they wouldn't have any hope.
But who could predict how their luck would turn out?
Understanding this, it was clear that in a pitcher's duel, the team trailing would feel a sense of urgency.
They would desperately want to change the situation.
But this urgency, more often than not, wouldn't help them. It could even harm them.
They could easily get caught in a mistake and be defeated.
It wasn't impossible.
Now, though both teams were equal, it seemed the balance was tipping toward Seidou.
This was hard to accept!
The Komadai Fujimaki High School team's players were clearly getting anxious.
They were no longer satisfied with the current score and desperately wanted to change something.
Wasn't that asking for disaster?
The situation was equal, and it could have gone either way.
Yet the Komadai Fujimaki High School team had inexplicably become the one to panic.
The game had moved into the top of the 4th inning.
It was now Seidou High School's upper-order batters' turn.
First up was Kuramochi.
The young man looked solemn as he stepped up to bat.
It was as though he had made a firm decision: no matter what, he had to get a hit.
At least, he had to show something.
Ping!
But the reality was harsh.
Snap!
"OUT!"
By now, Hongou had reached his peak form.
To put it bluntly, this was the best Hongou had ever been.
Simply relying on Kuramochi's ability, it was unrealistic for him to hit Hongou's pitch in this peak state.
Soon, he was defeated. Though he managed to make contact with the ball, it flew high and was caught by the second baseman.
Kuramochi, after his strikeout, could hardly believe what had just happened.
'How could this be?'
'How could the baseball have so much power?'
Even Kuramochi, a battle-hardened veteran, felt the terrifying force when the bat hit the ball.
Not to mention Kominato Haruichi.
Compared to his older brother, Kominato Haruichi was clearly taller now.
Though still shorter than most players, his height was perfectly normal for an average person.
His strength had also grown much stronger.
After joining Seidou, Kominato Haruichi's growth had been remarkable.
But no matter how incredible his growth was, some things were simply unchangeable.
Power wasn't Kominato's strong point.
In fact, power was one of his weaknesses.
Now, facing Hongou, it was like he had met his natural enemy.
Even though he desperately lowered his center of gravity in an attempt to hit the ball, the result wasn't optimistic.
When the bat made contact with the baseball, Kominato Haruichi felt like his arms had just been run over by a huge truck.
It was terrifying!
That frightening power was totally irrational.
Anything was helpless against pure strength.
Snap!
"OUT!!"
Two outs, clean and swift.
Hongou on the mound was showing more and more dominance.
The atmosphere in the stands, which had been fully supportive of Sawamura and Seidou, now found it hard to keep shouting for victory.
Although Hongou wasn't as overwhelmingly strong as the great monster Sawamura Eijun, there was one thing that everyone could agree on.
That was, Hongou was also very strong, and it wouldn't be easy for Seidou's batters to get a hit off him.
Two outs, no one on base.
Now, it was Sawamura Eijun's turn to bat.
Before stepping up to bat, the situation on the field subtly changed.
Originally, Sawamura's pitching had tilted the advantage to Seidou.
But now, with Hongou's outstanding performance, the balance had shifted back.
'This is what makes it interesting,' Sawamura thought.
Standing in the Batter's Box, he didn't use the metal bat that Mazono offered him but borrowed a wooden bat from Kominato.
To outsiders, it seemed unimportant, but to those who knew the situation, it was surprising!
Why did Sawamura persist with a wooden bat?
Was there some special reason?
In fact, no. There was no special meaning.
Sawamura continued to use a wooden bat simply because it was what he was more familiar with.
Compared to the metal bat he used in middle and high school, Sawamura was far more comfortable with a wooden bat.
As the cleanup hitter for Seidou High School, Sawamura was excited.
Facing Hongou head-on, his teammates had already been dealt with.
Now it was just him. The last Out remained.
It was all up to him!
Sawamura wasn't discouraged. In fact, seeing Hongou on the mound only made him smile.
'Now was the time!'
He didn't need to hold back anymore. This time, it was his time to go all out.
In fact, he didn't even need to wait. This very moment, he was confident in getting a hit...
...
T/N: Well, That's it for now.
Thank you all for reading!
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