Chapter 272: It's Not Over Yet
If one were to say who would win between Sendo and Narumiya, it was honestly hard to tell.
They faced each other three times—Sendo had one inside-the-park home run, one bunt single, and one strikeout. Even in individual results, he held the advantage.
In terms of pure ability, just as Harada had said, judging from the first three at-bats, Sendo was not on Tetsu's level.
But baseball isn't decided by raw strength alone. Condition, luck, judgment—any of these can become decisive factors in matchups where the gap is slim.
Narumiya had the edge in skill, but he'd already pitched eight innings. His stamina and focus had been significantly drained.
And speaking of strategy—it was Kataoka's plan. Don't fear strikeouts; apply pressure with the bat and wear the pitcher down mentally.
On top of that, Sendo's condition was getting better as the game progressed.
"The real critical moment begins now."
Coach Nakanishi said abruptly from the sidelines.
But this was something even Ichiro and the amateurs beside him already understood, so everyone waited for his follow-up.
Coach Nakanishi didn't explain. Instead, he silently took off his dress shirt, revealing a Seidou T-shirt underneath. (Even in this blazing heat…)
But that wasn't all—on his belly was taped a paper with the number 8 printed on it.
"This guy…"
Ichiro's expression went pitch-black.
"It's the crucial moment, so you've got to go all-out with your cheering."
Saying that, he grabbed his Aibo and prepared to shout—but it let out an ear-piercing burst of static. (That familiar electronic-device squeal.)
"Let's go! Come on! Sendo!!!"
Alright, just ignore the overly energetic old man…
Sendo could hear it—Nakanishi's Aibo was no joke—but he decided to pretend he hadn't, out of embarrassment.
As for everyone else, none of them spared a glance toward this crazy fan. Otherwise, several people would've recognized Nakanishi—he was a public figure.
.....
"Seriously… what an unbelievable first-year. The entire team's fate rests on his shoulders, and he's showing no signs of pressure. Is he even human? What is that heart of his made of? Honestly, even I would feel the pressure in this situation. But… no helping it. I'll crush him head-on and bring the victory back!"
Harada looked at the unshaken Sendo and strengthened his resolve.
Forget Harada—even the coaches from both sides could feel the suffocating pressure on the field. If you looked closely, sweat was visible on both Kataoka's and Kunimoto's faces.
In this heat, the pressure in the air felt like it had solidified into something between a liquid and a gel.
"Please, Sendo!"
"We're begging you!"
"Sendo!!"
Takako-senpai prayed again, too afraid to even open her eyes.
"Here."
Harada signaled.
"Since you didn't panic like I expected… then the 90–10 matchup I calculated—I'll raise it slightly in your favor. Make it 80–20… No, you're stronger than most batters… make it 75–25!"
Boom! Foot stomp.
Whoosh!
"Hm?"
Ping!
"Foul!"
"First pitch—slider! A huge miss that ended far outside the foul line!"
"As expected, he still swings at these bad pitches.
Is this nerves? But according to the data, he's always been like this. Anyway, he almost never swings at Narumiya's off-speed pitches. Maybe we can use that to disrupt rhythm. Second pitch—here!"
"Hit it out, Sendo!!"
"This is your chance to become a man! To become a hero! HIT IT OUT, SENDO!!!"
Sawamura screamed from the bullpen.
"What a noisy guy…Just sit there quietly and watch!
Stop disturbing me!"
Sendo grumbled in his mind.
Second pitch!
Whoosh!
Pop!
"Swing and miss!!! That's Sendo's third whiff today against the forkball!"
"Yes!! Got him cornered!"
"Aaahhhh!!!"
Yabe screamed in a strange attempt to vent his nerves.
"He's got the timing!"
"Stay in it!"
"Don't give up, Sendo!"
The alumni in the stands cheered desperately, afraid he wouldn't endure the pressure.
Such good people…
"Please, God-sama!!"
Takako was on the verge of tears.
"…"
Fumino watched the boy below with serious focus.
"Hm?"
Harada noticed Sendo move. He straightened up, then retreated two small steps, resetting his stance.
His back foot—left foot—was now touching the very back line of the batter's box.
He had retreated as far as possible.
"This is—!"
Coach Nakanishi exclaimed.
"What is it, Coach Nakanishi!?"
"No… his positioning resembles the style used by some major-league power hitters. Standing all the way back gives more time to observe the pitch and swing later. You can also wait for a breaking ball to finish its break before swinging. Of course, this 'perfect' method demands extremely fast reaction and bat speed. And he has both. Judging from his expression, he probably doesn't know the theory—he just figured out the optimal response from instinct and situation."
"Be cautious."
Harada said.
He knew Sendo now had more time to see the ball—so he chose to probe.
"Tch. Like I'd lose to some improvised stance."
Whoosh!
This time, Sendo had ample time to identify the pitch.
"It's dropping!"
Ping!
"Foul!"
Sendo chopped the forkball downward, sending it behind him while his bat kicked up dirt.
"Still getting used to it? Even so, he fouled it off…
We can't drag this out. We need to end the inning quickly."
"Yes! He saw it clearly!"
"Perfect timing!"
"Go for it!"
Even Haruichi at second couldn't endure the atmosphere and yelled.
"Crush him, damn it!"
"A hit! Please!!"
"Narumiya!"
"Go!!"
"Shut him down!!"
"Don't pitch! Don't pitch! Don't pitch!!"
Manager Ota chanted his spell again.
"If he throws a changeup into the zone, we're finished!"
Chris-senpai said gravely.
Sweat on Coach Kataoka's face increased visibly by the second.
"A ball is fine! Just keep it low! If he swings at it, that's the best outcome!"
As Narumiya began his motion, tens of thousands of eyes locked onto him.
Leg lift.
Stride.
Arm swing.
Release.
…
"Ch–changeup!"
Countless people in Seidou's dugout screamed in despair inside their hearts.
"Yamero!! (Stop!! Don't!!)"
Tanba-senpai's tears finally burst out.
"Nooooo!!!"
Manager Ota grabbed his head and shrieked.
Pop!
Before the scream fully spread, the ball was already in the glove.
"Ball!"
"Puuuhhh!!"
Dozens in Seidou exhaled at the same time.
Manager Ota nearly fainted—his soul almost left his body.
"Th–th–thank… thank goodness!"
Jun-san almost collapsed from relief.
"Yosshaaa!"
"The batter's rhythm has been disrupted!"
"Shut him down!"
"He saw it clearly! He saw it very clearly!"
Once they regained composure, Seidou's bench refused to back down.
"He really did see it clearly. Now that he's moved back in the box, he can identify changeups instantly without even twitching the bat."
Harada thought to himself as he watched Sendo's tightened brows.
"Top of the eighth inning, two outs, runners on first and second. The batter is the No.5 hitter. The count is one ball, two strikes! On the mound—the No.1 left-handed pitcher in the Kanto region! Who will have the last laugh? The pride of the ace? Or the determination of the fifth batter?" Even the commentator, who could see the pitcher's advantage so far, couldn't say it outright.
That's the terrifying thing about baseball—
In a pitcher-vs-batter duel, no one knows when the decisive pitch will come.
Even for spectators, it's terrible for the heart.
That changeup—aside from the Inashiro players who saw the sign—even Sendo himself thought it might be the decisive pitch for a split second.
But Sendo immediately noticed it was too low, almost a bouncing pitch.
Everyone else, though, was scared out of their minds.
Because Sendo didn't swing, even Tanba-senpai cried—he thought Sendo was about to get struck out looking.
The others weren't much better.
"If that pitch hadn't missed—Then the next one will definitely be the decisive pitch. But whether it is or isn't…It definitely won't be something easy to hit. Still—compared to breaking pitches, I'm already used to this type!"
Sendo adjusted his grip, making sure it felt perfect.
Then he stuck out his tongue, licking the corner of his mouth.
"Will I hit a single and keep our hopes alive? Or will our team's season end here? Either way— I will NEVER back down. Bring it."
Sendo's eyes were firm, his spirit burning.
"Yarou…"
Narumiya took that as a provocation.
"No need for a strike. Just tempt him into swinging.
Finish him off and end this game, Narumiya!"
"Will you swing… or not?"
Narumiya lifted his arm, staring coldly at Sendo.
Whoosh!
"It's coming! Outside!" The instant he saw the release, Sendo's instincts reacted—his foot stepped forward almost simultaneously.
"But this pitch… the speed isn't enough!"
His lower body started generating power, his arm muscles tense, the swing beginning—
But he held back, restraining himself from unleashing full force too early.
Before, Sendo always read pitches just a fraction too late, forcing him to stop thinking and rely entirely on instinct.
But after moving to the very back of the batter's box, he gained exactly that fraction of time he was always missing—
Time to think, to judge speed, to read breaking movement.
And the difference was massive.
"Good! He started swinging early! Even if he doesn't whiff, it'll be a powerless fly ball!"
Harada felt a surge of confidence.
Whoosh!
The ball approached the plate—and began to break.
"Slider!"
Ping!
That extra sliver of preparation created a massive difference.
A pitch he could only foul off before—he could now attempt to hit.
The moment Sendo connected, all of Seidou instantly began running.
With two outs, there was no need to worry about tagging up.
If it dropped, they lived.
If it was caught—it was over.
That was the cruelty of baseball.
"Yes! A soft, weakly hit ball! Center fielder!!"
Harada shouted, excited.
"Yosshaaa!"
"CARLOSS!!!"
"Carlos-sama!!"
Even Narumiya shouted for once.
This one felt easier than the earlier ones—lighter.
"Ah…"
Seidou's dugout stared in disbelief.
Tetsu clenched his fists.
Tanba and Onii-san watched the high fly ball with hollow eyes.
"Damn it! DROP! DROP, YOU BASTARD!!!"
Isashiki screamed as he sprinted.
Sawamura shouted the same thing—perfectly synchronized.
But as Sendo neared first base, he started to slow down.
"Ku! Ku! Ku! Ku!"
Carlos sprinted at full speed—he knew that although the ball had no speed off the bat, it was high and deep.
That's the hallmark of American-style low-ball hitting.
"Wait… wait…"
Carlos tried to adjust himself to the landing point—
POP!
"It—IT'S IN!!! THE BALL HIT THE CENTER-FIELD SCOREBOARD!!! A THREE-RUN HOMERUN!!! SEIDOU HIGH SCHOOL TAKES THE LEAD!!! A PERFECT ANSWER TO INASHIRO'S EARLIER HOMERUN!!!"
"Ah…"
Narumiya's excitement evaporated into blank disbelief.
And he wasn't the only one.
"YOSSHAAAA!!!"
"AAAAAHHHHH!!!"
The Seidou cheering section exploded.
A horde of grown men hugged, screamed, and lost their minds.
Among the managers, Yui, Takako, and Haruno clung to each other—Fumino spread her arms like she was about to "jump off a building" again—
And Sachiko, who had just finished striking a scary pose, barely caught her in time.
"Damn… she's so cute I'm falling for her as a girl…"
Sachiko thought.
"AAAHHH!!! YOSSHI YOSSHI YOSSHI!!!"
Manager Ota cried, arms raised in victory.
"YOSSHI YOSSHI YOSSHI! YOSSHI YOSSHI YOSSHI! YOSSHI! YOSSHI! YOSSHI YOSSHI YOSSHI!!!"
Sawamura screamed with rhythm.
"Yosh… yo… yosshi…"
Furuya tried to follow slowly.
Tanba-senpai cried again.
Even Onii-san banged his megaphone twice against the railing.
Coach Kataoka thrust both fists forward and yelled.
Because—
This game still wasn't over yet!
On the bases, Isashiki lost his mind, sprinting at full speed, storming home, and outright tackling Tetsu to the ground.
When Tetsu got back up, they high-fived—
Then embraced each other tightly.
Only God knew what these two had gone through in this one at-bat—
It felt like everything was over, Only to be thrown straight into heaven.
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