Yuuki Tetsuya gave Ichidai Third High School's pitcher-catcher duo a massive headache.
Even though this wasn't their first encounter—they had already faced Yuuki in two previous games—meeting him again still felt uncomfortable.
Yuuki was like a hedgehog with all its quills raised. While his overall threat wasn't as overwhelming as Azuma Kiyokuni's, there was simply nowhere to sink their teeth into him.
He never swung at bad pitches.
His waiting stance was rigid and infuriating, like a statue rooted in place, leaving no openings at all.
To deal with such a batter, Kameshima instinctively thought of his new trump card.
The Gyroball.
But reason quickly stopped him.
Setting aside the strain and damage it placed on his body, he couldn't throw it endlessly. And even if he could, the pitch wasn't truly invincible. Once Seido's hitters saw it enough times and studied its movement, they would gradually adapt.
If that happened, Ichidai Third High School would be in serious trouble.
Did they really think Seido's hitters were pushovers? They could be humiliated in a matter of minutes.
Taking a deep breath, Kameshima forced himself to calm down.
Don't let his plump build fool you. As Ichidai Third High School's captain, ace, and cleanup hitter, Kameshima was far from reckless.
He possessed a steady mind and keen insight.
Realizing that impatience would only make things worse, he adjusted his rhythm, subtly repositioned his teammates on defense, and only then turned his full attention back to Yuuki.
Yuuki's refusal to chase bad pitches wasn't entirely bad news for Ichidai San.
The real question was this:
How would he handle pitches right on the edge of the strike zone?
With a plan forming, Kameshima set and prepared to pitch.
Having just shut down Azuma Kiyokuni, Ichidai Third High School's morale was soaring. In contrast, Seido was clearly under pressure.
That meant Seido would be the side desperate to change the situation. As long as they were the first to grow anxious, Ichidai could remain calm and respond accordingly.
Stay steady. Right now, that was the most important thing.
In Seido High School's dugout, Manager Ota fidgeted restlessly.
"A fastball around 140 kilometers per hour is already elite at the high school level. Its velocity is on par with Hidezawa's, and his control is even better. Kameshima was already a top-tier pitcher in Tokyo, and now he's developed the Gyroball. His pitch deviation is huge. Facing him, it's unlikely there'll be any easy pitches."
There was no need to embellish it. The data spoke for itself.
Ichidai Third High School's ace, Kameshima, was terrifying.
Coach Kataoka, wearing his sunglasses, remained cold and impassive. It was as if he hadn't heard Ota's muttering at all. After four or five seconds, he finally spoke quietly.
"No one understands that better than the players on the field."
With such velocity and weight on the ball, it was impossible to cover the entire strike zone.
No hitter had that much energy or bat speed. In this situation, the batter could only choose one direction and commit to it.
Kataoka believed Yuuki had already made that choice.
Now, he was simply waiting.
"Whoosh!"
One pitch passed.
Then another came in tight to the corner. Yuuki didn't react.
"Pop…"
The ball landed in the catcher's mitt.
"Strike!"
The umpire's call rang out.
Yuuki's reaction was anything but calm. He turned his head back more than once, as if confirming what he had heard.
"Batter, do you have any questions?" the umpire asked proactively.
Yuuki narrowed his eyes and answered with just two words.
"No."
A pitch hugging the edge of the strike zone was notoriously hard to judge. It could be a strike. It could just as easily be a ball. On the surface, the difference seemed trivial.
But if it was called a ball, the psychological impact on the pitcher would be enormous. A strike call meant something else entirely. It forced the batter to expand his perceived strike zone.
To treat the area roughly one ball's width around the edges as dangerous territory.
It was only a few centimeters. But in practice, it was like expanding the strike zone into a larger ring surrounding its original shape.
"Luck's on our side," Kameshima thought, pleased.
This call would make the rest of the at-bat much easier.
Continue.
With his decision made, Kameshima delivered the next pitch.
"Whoosh!"
The white ball tore toward the plate.
In Seido's dugout, everyone was on edge. Azuma Kiyokuni's out had felt like a banner falling. If Yuuki also went down, Seido's situation would become truly dire.
Before the game, Seido had already concluded from their analysis that they would struggle to overpower Ichidai Third High School head-on.
Especially against the third-year players, who had already been thoroughly scouted.
If Seido had any trump cards—any unexpected variables it was Yuuki, who had risen rapidly over the past year, and Zhang Han, the newcomer.
The strength of these two had surprised everyone.
Both had begun to catch up to Azuma Kiyokuni, leaving many veteran hitters behind.
As one of the players Coach Kataoka placed his hopes on, Yuuki had never hesitated after stepping into the batter's box.
Just as Kataoka believed, Yuuki had chosen his direction from the very beginning.
As long as a pitch came into that zone—inside the strike area—
Whether it was a fastball or a breaking ball, he would not let it go.
This time, his luck was good.
On the third pitch, he got exactly what he was waiting for. Ichidai's pitcher-catcher duo believed they had executed this pitch perfectly. But the result had already been decided.
"Whizz!"
The baseball screamed forward.
Yuuki Tetsuya's bat moved even faster. The catcher hadn't even registered what was happening when the bat flashed past his eyes.
"Ping!"
The barrel met the ball squarely, sending it rocketing into the outfield.
Ichidai's catcher felt his heart jump into his throat.
Seido's reaction speed was absurd.
He sprang to his feet and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Outfield!"
But it was already too late. The crack of the bat and the ball's arrival in the outfield were nearly simultaneous. The outfielder couldn't reach the landing spot in time. Yuuki Tetsuya rounded first and charged into second.
An extra-base hit.
Seido finally had their breakthrough.
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