Unmoving like a mountain! Perhaps it was an act, or perhaps it was just a gilded cage, but no matter what, simply from the surface, Aj's performance undoubtedly gave everyone present a refreshing feeling!
That steady demeanor and calm expression made Tanba on the pitcher's mound slightly shiver, and the hand gripping the Baseball involuntarily tightened its grip.
Miyauchi, beside Aj, was also surprised by Aj's posture, as if an aura of certain victory was swirling around him.
Coach Kataoka's expression remained cold, without the slightest change, seemingly unmoved by Aj's performance. But what he was thinking internally, only he and the heavens knew.
This kid must be strange! I'll try him with an outside bad pitch to see how he reacts!
Miyauchi signaled, and Tanba nodded slightly after seeing it. Aj gave Tanba a truly dangerous feeling, even though he was just a first-year rookie.
First pitch! As Tanba swung his arm and the ball left his hand, a cold glint flashed in Aj's eyes. That cold glint made Miyauchi, who was closely observing Aj from the side, feel a chill in his heart, sensing something extremely bad.
Looking at the ball's trajectory, it should be an outside pitch, but Aj couldn't tell if it was a Fastball or a breaking ball.
In that instant, Aj could only swing the bat based on what he glimpsed in his peripheral vision and his body's instincts! As the bat swung, Miyauchi seemed to be able to sense the whooshing sound of the swing and the oppressive feeling!
"Clang!"
The bat and Baseball merged instantly. The moment he touched the ball, Aj knew that his hit was probably problematic. The bat hadn't fully swung, and it could even be said that the swing was a bit late.
It was just barely enough.
Aj pressed down, and with brute force, he swept the ball out horizontally!
Everyone present immediately gasped in surprise. The ball, under everyone's astonished gaze and Tanba and Miyauchi's incredulous eyes, instantly flew over the right field.
"Foul ball!"
Aj looked down at his bat. The moment he swung, he knew that this ball definitely wouldn't be in play. The angle, speed, and even the batting stance itself were already a bit off.
It was already a blessing that he wasn't caught by a fielder. He was also lucky that he ultimately swept it out with brute force. Aj frowned slightly.
"How is that possible!" Tanba looked at Aj, who had a calm expression in the batter's box, with a shocked look and murmured, "You know, if that ball had been in play, it would have been a Home Run!"
How could a mere first-year have such a swing!
If he had swung a little earlier, wouldn't it have been a Home Run? Tanba was a bit startled by his own thought. In fact, he was still deceived by the illusion of Aj's swing. To be honest, that hit just now, objectively speaking, was indeed a bit late.
It could even be said that a ground ball was more likely.
It was only due to luck, then brute force, plus a precisely tricky swing angle and many other factors combined, that it became a foul fly ball.
In other words, even if Aj's swing timing was perfect, hitting a dead ball, at most it would have been a hit that went past the infield. A Home Run? That's overestimating Aj too much.
But among the people present, very few could see this. For example, Coach Kataoka raised an eyebrow, and a strange look flashed in his eyes as he looked at Aj. And Miyuki looked at Aj with a solemn expression. It was at this moment that he truly realized what kind of monster this junior from his dorm was.
That's right, in Miyuki's eyes, he was a monster! Even though Tanba wasn't a very famous Pitcher of the same era, being able to hit like this on his first encounter with Tanba's pitches was no joke.
"So amazing!" The first-year students almost all looked at Aj in the batter's box with shocked faces. That's right, among them, some had indeed hit the ball, but that was clearly intentional to let them hit it. Getting caught out was much simpler and easier than striking out.
"This guy...!" Kanemaru widened his eyes and murmured.
"Oh oh! Go, go! Show those Arrogant second and third-years a thing or two!" Sawamura, seeing Aj's performance from not far away, immediately shouted loudly, causing the second and third-years to glare at Sawamura Eijun.
Well, that silly kid didn't know how much hatred he had already provoked with just one sentence.
"Oh oh oh! This first-year is really interesting!"
"To be able to hit Tanba's Fastball like that, this Filipino kid seems to be a talent worth cultivating!"
Damn it! Miyauchi felt a sense of anxiety in his heart. It was just one hit, just one pitch, but Miyauchi, a third-year senpai who was a regular player in the first team and the number two catcher, felt a chill in his heart the moment Aj swung the bat.
This was a disgrace! A mere first-year! Just act like a first-year should!
Don't test him anymore! Get serious! Absolutely do not give this first-year kid any chance to build momentum! Miyauchi gestured, his expression stern.
Tanba nodded coldly. Aj never expected that he had used all his strength to make such a hit, and it actually caused such a big stir among everyone present.
What he didn't expect even more was that he had successfully provoked the anger between the Pitcher and catcher.
"Inside Fastball! Straight to the chest!" As Aj got into his batting stance, Miyauchi unhesitatingly signaled an inside pitch!
Whizzing, as if to devour the batter, it felt like it appeared in front of him the moment it was released. Aj swung the bat almost instinctively, and naturally, the result was a swing and a miss.
And due to inertia, coupled with his body's lack of coordination, Aj stumbled, almost falling to the ground.
At this moment, a look of shock finally appeared on Aj's face. Tanba would throw such a powerful ball? In his memory, wasn't Tanba always very soft, with a personality similar to that substitute Pitcher?
Well, that was a bit subjective. In the fiercely competitive environment of Japanese high school Baseball, there are only slightly soft personalities, but no truly weak ones, because truly weak people cannot step onto the high school Baseball field.
"Whew!" Aj took a slight breath, tightened his grip on the bat, bit his lip, and looked at Tanba coldly, leaning his body forward, showing a stance that completely fearless of a hit-by-pitch!
"This kid!" Miyauchi looked at Aj's resolute expression with cold eyes. If those second and third-years were showing an unstoppable momentum in the Red and White Battle because they had experienced the cruelty of high school Baseball...
How could this first-year kid in front of him have such momentum!