"This Ace of the Seido High School Baseball Team is too useless…"
"As soon as the opponent's batter reaches Third Base, his whole state collapses."
"Maybe he's too nervous?"
"If he were a first-year, fine. But he's a third-year. If he gets nervous facing Musashi High, then I honestly feel bad for Seido."
Although Musashi High had some strength, it was only "some." In all of Tokyo, they couldn't even break into the top ten. Breaking into the top twenty was already difficult. Against such an opponent, Seido was suddenly in a tough battle. If that was the case, how were they supposed to face real powerhouse teams?
"This year's Seido probably still won't make it."
"Ever since Coach Sakaki left, Seido hasn't truly risen again."
"Don't be so absolute. I remember they made it to Koshien once. Although compared to the other two powerhouses, their chances have always been lower…"
"That's right, they did. It was in Coach Kataoka's first year as Director. But that team was originally trained by Coach Sakaki; Kataoka just inherited the results. That doesn't prove his own ability."
In the stands, several scouting teams expressed similar opinions.
Seido's batting lineup was undeniably stronger than before. But as long as their Ace collapsed like this, there was nothing to fear.
These scouts were fully confident in their own teams' pitching strength. A real powerhouse, in their definition, had a dominant Ace and a reliable cleanup hitter. A team with weaknesses simply could not be called a powerhouse.
While they were talking, a middle-aged man wearing a baseball cap and looking quite ordinary slowly walked into the stadium. He had been standing in the back corner earlier but finally stepped forward after hearing their discussion.
"Hidezawa is a very famous pitcher in Tokyo," the man said calmly. "Although he has more unstable days than an ordinary Ace, he's still one of the most well-known pitchers here. As long as he's in good condition, he has no weaknesses."
The speaker was Fujio, a senior reporter from Monthly Baseball Kingdom.
His words carried weight.
The scouts all fell silent. After a short pause, one of them asked:
"Then, Mr. Fujio, what exactly is happening here?"
Since Fujio had stepped forward, he had clearly prepared his explanation.
"Have you heard? Chris, the main catcher of Seido, was injured during a previous practice. The current catcher is a first-year rookie."
"The reason for the problem now is likely due to the pitcher's distrust of the catcher."
Hidezawa probably didn't trust such a young underclassman. Especially with a runner on Third Base, when the opponent could score at any moment.
Whether a rookie catcher could handle that pressure—no one knew.
With a runner on Third, Musashi's players would naturally give everything they had. At such a critical moment, any hesitation was fatal. According to Fujio, this was the most important reason behind Seido's sudden collapse.
Hidezawa, now a third-year, was no longer the carefree boy he had been two years ago. He had to think of the team's overall interests. And because of that, even though his speed and power had improved, he had lost some of the fearless recklessness he had back then.
Was this change good or bad?
No one could say yet.
"That's nothing major. Whether the problem is with the pitcher or the team, the outcome for Seido is already set."
Many people on the field saw the problem clearly. Fujio wasn't the only one. Even Zhang Han sensed something was wrong. But seeing the problem was easy—solving it was another matter. Zhang Han certainly couldn't solve it.
Chris's absence was bound to have a big impact. Everyone on the team knew that. But they didn't expect the problem to explode so quickly and so suddenly.
Coach Kataoka frowned in the dugout, preparing to act. He intended to send a messenger to tell Hidezawa: "Don't think about the team's burden right now. Just pitch."
Leading the team on the field was not something Hidezawa could do. Not yet. Besides Chris, who was injured, none of the third-years had the leadership ability to direct the entire team.
But just as Kataoka was about to speak, someone beat him to it.
Behind the plate, Miyuki called timeout on his own. Without waiting for Kataoka's sign, he jogged straight up to the mound.
"Excuse me, senior, for making you worry. But please, don't worry about me. I can stop it!"
It sounded like an apology, but Hidezawa didn't hear anything apologetic in his tone. In fact, no matter how he listened, it felt like Miyuki was criticizing him.
Still, Miyuki had apologized. Even if Hidezawa felt uncomfortable, he couldn't refute it. When did he ever need a junior to worry about him?
But Miyuki's words struck exactly where they needed to. After the timeout, Hidezawa completely resolved the conflict in his heart.
Even as the Ace, he couldn't shoulder everything. When pitching, his first responsibility was to throw his pitches. Only afterward could he think about the rest.
Once he reached this clarity, his condition improved immediately.
But the Musashi runner on Third had no intention of letting him settle. Just as Hidezawa prepared to pitch, the runner took off.
A straight steal!
The entire stadium gasped. Even the players on the field were stunned. Musashi actually went for it.
Hidezawa, catching the movement from the corner of his eye, instinctively hooked the pitch with his fingers, killing the speed and sharply altering the trajectory.
The batter at the plate had already shown a bunt stance. A hit-and-run? A squeeze play?
Whatever Musashi's plan had been, they definitely wanted that run.
Fortunately, the altered pitch made the ball nearly impossible to hit properly.
But that also meant It was nearly impossible for Miyuki to catch.
"Since you ran up here and said all that," Hidezawa muttered internally, "you'd better live up to it."
For some reason, he suddenly had great confidence in this newly promoted rookie.
The batter swung, but the ball skipped off the ground, striking home plate and bouncing upward.
"Pop…"
Miyuki lunged forward and caught it cleanly in his glove.
At the same time, a figure dove headfirst toward home.
Oh no!
All of Seido's players felt their hearts tighten. In such a short window, Miyuki shouldn't have been able to stop him.
But at the last moment—
A glove shot across the lane, blocking the Musashi runner's path.
"Thwack!"
"Out!!"
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