"That won't do. If you guys keep looking so listless, I'll ask the Coach to just forfeit."
Sanada spoke mercilessly, but a smile played on his lips.
"Who's listless? This genius is clearly full of fighting spirit, okay?"
Mishima retorted, unconvinced.
He wasn't lying; he himself was indeed full of fighting spirit and couldn't wait to get on the field and play.
It wasn't just him; the three first-year players on the Yakushi High School Baseball Team were mostly like this.
Raichi Todoroki, gripping his bat, exuded surging fighting spirit from head to toe. His eyes were fixed intently on Zhang Han.
He wanted to compete with Zhang Han.
He not only wanted to hit Zhang Han's pitch, which had the fastest speed in the nation, but he also wanted to compete with Zhang Han in hitting.
Within the Yakushi High School Baseball Team, the truly dispirited ones were mainly the third-year players.
Originally, they were indeed very dispirited; facing a game against the Seido High School Baseball Team, they were very anxious.
But after Sanada said that, no matter what they were thinking before, at this moment, they absolutely couldn't admit it.
"You second-year brat, you're still wet behind the ears. What nonsense are you spouting?"
"Who's scared? It's just a practice game."
"Just like our Coach said, if we want to break out of West Tokyo, this is the enemy we must defeat."
Although Todoroki Raizo hadn't been with the Yakushi High School Baseball Team for a long time overall, his training of the Yakushi High School Baseball Team players was simply too thorough.
Over the past half-year, the current third-year players of the Yakushi High School Baseball Team had experienced a hell they previously couldn't imagine.
Their total practice volume in these few months even exceeded their total time playing baseball before.
To put it bluntly, in these few months, the players of the Yakushi High School Baseball Team grew through sweat.
Now, they hadn't yet shed their previous weak mindset. As soon as they encountered a powerhouse of Seido High School Baseball Team's caliber, they subconsciously believed they would definitely lose.
This notion was deeply ingrained in all of their minds.
So much so that even though their team's strength was clearly far from what it used to be, their third-year players still felt very weak.
Especially when facing a powerhouse opponent, they subconsciously believed they would definitely lose.
This was the fundamental reason for their low morale before.
But after Sanada provoked them like this, their original worries vanished without a trace.
Men, their heads can be broken, blood can flow, but their mouths can absolutely not admit defeat.
The more others tell them they can't do it, the more they want to prove themselves.
In the dugout.
Originally, seeing the players' atmosphere was off, Todoroki Raizo wanted to give a few instructions.
But very quickly, their players resolved the issue themselves.
"What a reliable bunch of guys!"
The game officially began, with the Seido High School Baseball Team batting first.
Kuramochi, who was the first to step into the batter's box, wanted to get a good start for the team.
So he stared at his opponent like a tiger, ready to hit the ball at any moment.
But very quickly, Kuramochi realized that his idea seemed a bit unrealistic.
The pitcher for the Yakushi High School Baseball Team was their Ace, Sanada Shunpei.
This guy aimed for the inside corner from the start, continuously pitching the ball there.
If it were just ordinary inside pitches, it wouldn't stop Kuramochi.
Kuramochi could still hit the ball out very easily.
But the balls Sanada threw would have irregular changes as they approached the batter's hand.
Facing such changes, Kuramochi had no way to deal with them.
After losing two consecutive strikes, Kuramochi, who had no room left to retreat, could only grit his teeth and swing at the last pitch.
As a result, his bat was at least 10 centimeters away from the baseball; he didn't even touch it.
This wasn't because Kuramochi's skill was poor; it was mainly because Sanada completely saw through Kuramochi's thoughts, so he directly targeted that point.
He used a ball to entice Kuramochi to swing, and ultimately Kuramochi struck out.
The Seido High School Baseball Team's First Batter, Kuramochi, who was called the offensive engine, was dealt with just like that.
One out, no one on base.
The Seido High School Baseball Team players were not surprised by such a result.
As early as the Spring Tournament, they had already witnessed Sanada's pitch level.
It wasn't realistic to expect Kuramochi to hit his ball out in the first round of confrontation.
Unless he was extremely lucky.
Now it seemed that, for today's game, luck was not on the Seido High School Baseball Team's side.
Next, Kominato Ryosuke stepped into the batter's box.
Kuramochi walked past Kominato Ryosuke, looking dejected.
"My whole body hurts. I can't even maintain a basic swinging posture."
Kuramochi made an excuse.
"That means your training isn't complete yet."
Kominato Ryosuke said.
Kuramochi's face instantly fell.
He really wanted to deny it, but he didn't know how to.
One out, no one on base.
"Ping..."
After the white baseball was hit, it flew out of bounds.
"Foul!"
The first pitch flew foul.
The Yakushi High School Baseball Team players suddenly felt very uncomfortable.
They were very annoyed.
They had watched videos of the Seido High School Baseball Team's games more than once or twice before. Not to mention, they had truly faced each other during the Spring Tournament.
The Yakushi High School Baseball Team players knew exactly what Kominato Ryosuke wanted to do.
But what good was knowing? They still had no way to deal with this boy, who was just over 1.6 meters tall.
They could only leave it to Sanada.
"Ping!"
"Foul!"
Soon, Kominato Ryosuke fouled off a few pitches.
His actions seemed exactly as the Yakushi High School Baseball Team players had thought.
"We trained until 8 o'clock yesterday, and ran 5 kilometers this morning. We're exhausted now, so we can't let you have it too easy, can we?"
The Yakushi High School Baseball Team players were not wrong in their guess; Kominato Ryosuke was thinking exactly that.
"It's okay, I don't believe he can hit all his pitches foul. If we keep battling, we will definitely win in the end."
A player cheered for Yakushi from behind the field.
"Pop!"
"Foul!"
But very quickly, the guy cheering was proven wrong.
If the battle continued indefinitely, Kominato Ryosuke was very likely to be struck out eventually.
But at the same time, they overlooked another possibility.
That is, the confrontation could remain deadlocked.
Kominato Ryosuke could also be walked on four pitches...
"Ping!"
"Foul!"
Unknowingly, Kominato Ryosuke had already battled Sanada for a full 11 pitches.
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