A Homerun for a Homerun.
Raichi Todoroki's Homerun was a huge blow to Seido High School Baseball Team.
Although before the game, Coach Kataoka had already told everyone in Seido High School Baseball Team during a meeting that the main purpose of their practice game today was not to win against the opponent, but to adjust the team, and the most important thing was to adjust the pitcher rotation.
So, in today's game, it didn't matter how badly the pitcher was hit.
The key was to see if the players' reactions were up to par when faced with a crisis.
This was a test.
Almost all the teammates of Seido High School Baseball Team were well aware of this test.
But understanding was one thing, and achieving it was another.
Watching the baseball being hit out with their own eyes, watching their former defeated opponents swaggering on their own turf, their eyes changed, and their attitude towards this game also changed accordingly.
No matter what, they could not let such a scene continue. Seido High School Baseball Team could not afford to lose face like that.
The players of Seido High School Baseball Team were ready to regroup and launch a counterattack.
But Yakushi High School Baseball Team was not to be trifled with either.
Especially now, they had just hit a Homerun, and their morale was soaring.
In the dugout of Yakushi High School Baseball Team.
Todoroki Raizo was very excited, constantly directing his players to attack.
The second player to step into the batter's box was their team's first-year player, Akiba Kazuma.
He was also one of Yakushi's three main first-year players, one of the hidden cards Yakushi High School Baseball Team had deliberately kept secret before.
From the beginning of the game, Yakushi High School Baseball Team played as if their lives depended on it, almost putting everything they had on the field.
When facing Akiba, Furuya's pitch showed almost no improvement compared to before. The Hell week of training seemed to take a massive toll on the first-year.
In fact, let alone improvement, it was already quite good if he could maintain the current situation without regressing.
Such a pitch still appeared very fast in Akiba's eyes.
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, Akiba would have found it incredibly difficult to believe that the guy standing opposite him was also just a first-year, just like him.
Unlike Raichi Todoroki, Akiba and Mishima both came from regular youth baseball. Although their youth baseball team wasn't a super powerhouse like Matsukata, their strength was still quite good.
During his time learning baseball in youth baseball, Akiba had seen some of the world, including many formidable pitchers.
But among these pitchers, not a single one's pitch speed could compare to Furuya Satoru's.
This guy, he's just a monster.
Thinking of this, Akiba's mind inevitably began to wander.
This pitcher, a first-year like them, his pitch speed was already this fast.
Then Zhang Han, the fastest pitcher in the entire high school baseball world: what incredibly astonishing speed would his pitch reach?
Just thinking about it made one anticipate.
"Pop!"
"Strike!"
Akiba didn't swing at the first pitch.
It was as if it wasn't the pitch he was waiting for.
Although, it's not impossible that this guy deliberately let the first pitch go, wanting to observe first.
But Miyuki still chose to continue with the same type of pitch.
Based on their previous game, Akiba should be one of the few normal people in Yakushi High School Baseball Team.
His mind was very meticulous, and he was definitely not an impulsive person. When he made such a choice, it was probably because the first pitch wasn't the pitch he wanted to choose.
Miyuki's guess was actually correct.
Furuya Satoru's first pitch was indeed not the pitch Akiba wanted to choose.
But this did not mean that he could not hit such a pitch.
The ball speed was really fast.
Looking at the flying baseball and feeling the astonishing momentum on it, Akiba's heart thumped rapidly.
It was only after entering high school and starting to play against these top national powerhouses that Akiba truly understood a truth.
Before, when they were in youth baseball, they thought they were well-traveled and had met many impressive peers.
But in reality, their so-called experience was not that complete.
During the junior high school stage, there were many very capable players who, for one reason or another, simply did not appear on the youth baseball stage.
In other words, it was impossible for them to meet.
For example, Raichi Todoroki from their team and Furuya Satoru from Seido High School Baseball Team, among all the first-year rookies in the West Tokyo area this year, were undoubtedly among the best.
But these two top players had no reputation whatsoever during their junior high school youth baseball days.
It wasn't until high school that they could truly meet.
Being able to compete against such talented players was truly an exciting thing.
Akiba was very excited.
Especially when he was confident of defeating the opponent, this excited and thrilled emotion would multiply many times over.
Here it comes.
Before the game started, they had done a lot of practice with the pitching machine.
Furuya Satoru's pitch speed approached 150 kilometers per hour, which definitely made him a top-tier Fastball pitcher among high school students.
But...
They had already adapted their eyes to a pitch speed of 155 kilometers per hour to counter Zhang Han.
Now, looking at Furuya Satoru's 150 km/h pitch, it didn't feel that fast anymore.
Especially since Akiba also noticed that Furuya Satoru's pitch lacked the momentum they had seen before.
That kind of monstrous, devouring momentum.
Now, Furuya Satoru's Fastball looked a bit like Zhang Han's Fastball, or rather, it looked a bit like the pitching machine's Fastball.
He definitely could hit such a pitch.
"Ping!"
Akiba's swing was without any hesitation, clean and decisive, without any sloppiness.
The hit baseball flew high, tracing a perfect arc in the sky, and landed in the outfield.
Isashiki Jun rushed to the landing spot of the baseball with all his might, but he was still a step too late; the baseball landed and bounced in front of him.
"Damn it!"
The feeling of fatigue in the body could be controlled during short bursts of physical exertion, but during long-distance sprints, speed could not help but be affected.
If Isashiki Jun hadn't just finished the training camp, where he trained until 8 PM yesterday, and then practiced 200 swings with his teammates, he would have had an 80% chance of catching this ball directly.
But now, he could only watch the baseball bounce, even if he dove and stopped the bouncing ball from going behind him.
The runner who was supposed to get on base still got on base.
"Safe!"
No outs, runner on first base.
The next batter up was Yakushi High School Baseball Team's Third Batter, who was also their Ace pitcher, Sanada.
"Ping!"
This guy seemed to have a special feel for hitting the Fastball. He didn't even wait for Furuya Satoru to throw the second pitch; he hit the ball cleanly.
And that wasn't all; he also successfully ran to second base with that hit.
Akiba, who was originally on first base, also ran to third base accordingly.
If Zhang Han, who was fielding in the outfield, hadn't made a timely return throw this time, Yakushi High School Baseball Team might have already completed the comeback.
No outs, runners on second and third base.
Yakushi High School Baseball Team had a very good opportunity to turn the game around.
In the dugout of Seido High School Baseball Team.
Although Coach Kataoka had already instructed before the game that their goal for today's game was not to win, seeing the team in such a huge crisis, everyone in the team inevitably became anxious.
"This practice game opponent, the choice is really..."
Coach Ochiai commented thoughtfully.
Although Yakushi High School Baseball Team had beaten Inashiro Industrial before, Seido High School Baseball Team had never really considered this team as their main competitor.
If they were to meet in the Summer Tournament, the players of Seido High School Baseball Team were confident of victory.
Using such an opponent, who had strength but was unlikely to pose a fatal threat to Seido High School Baseball Team, as a practice game opponent, Seido High School Baseball Team naturally had their own considerations.
To test their own strength and the problems currently existing in the team, although Yakushi High School Baseball Team was not their best choice, they believed it was a relatively suitable one.
But now, it seemed that their idea might not be accurate.
There was one point they had not anticipated: Yakushi High School Baseball Team's hitting ability far exceeded Seido High School Baseball Team's previous imagination.
Perhaps in other aspects, Yakushi High School Baseball Team's players still had many shortcomings, but in terms of hitting ability, they would definitely not be inferior to West Tokyo's three powerhouses.
Using them to test the two first-year pitchers was, of course, no problem.
No matter how badly these two first-year pitchers lost, for them personally, it was a very good tempering experience.
If any player performed particularly well in this practice game, he would easily stand out.
Coach Kataoka and the coaching staff of Seido High School Baseball Team would certainly not mind giving that player more opportunities in the Summer Tournament.
But there was one thing that Seido High School Baseball Team could not accept.
At least the players on the field, no matter what, could not accept it.
That was a crushing defeat.
In the process of testing the two first-year pitchers, Seido High School Baseball Team missed opportunities and lost today's game...
This result was acceptable to the players of Seido High School Baseball Team.
Everything was for the team, after all.
But if they were to lose by more than ten runs in today's game, they simply could not accept it no matter what.
So they absolutely would not allow such a situation to happen, even if they had to use every trick in the book.
Nevertheless, what was meant to happen still happened.
"Ping!"
The person batting cleanup for Yakushi High School Baseball Team was a chubby guy named Mishima.
This guy was particularly arrogant when he spoke, often referring to himself as a genius.
Usually, people who say such things are not very strong.
Mishima was an exception.
He was also one of Yakushi High School Baseball Team's monster trio, and his hitting ability in Yakushi High School Baseball Team was only second to Raichi Todoroki.
He could basically sit firmly in the second-in-command position.
And now, he also hit the ball cleanly.
The white baseball landed behind the Third Baseman.
This was a super long hit.
The runners on second and third base successively returned to home plate, helping Yakushi High School Baseball Team score two runs in one go.
The score on the field became 3:1.
Seido High School Baseball Team was trailing by two runs at the very beginning of the game.
Seido High School Baseball Team called a timeout.
Coach Kataoka and Miyuki tried to help Furuya Satoru regain his composure.
They did a lot of work, but in the end, it was all in vain.
One out, runner on second base.
"Seido High School Baseball Team requests a pitching change."
In this situation, Coach Kataoka's patience was completely exhausted.
He could no longer remain silent and acted decisively.
First-year Sawamura replaced Furuya Satoru.
Sawamura Eijun, for the first time, represented Seido High School Baseball Team's First string in a practice game.
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