Whether it's the Red and White Battle or a formal game, no matter who the opponent is! The place I stand right now is the battlefield!
So the only thought is to defeat the opponent in front of me! Get on base! I must get on base!
Aj clenched his fists, bit his lip, and thought with a determined expression, he didn't want to lose! He wouldn't admit defeat! Even if there was only a one-in-ten-thousand chance! He would grasp that tiny possibility!
If watching the protagonists struggle in his previous life gave Aj great emotion, then the greatest inspiration was that spirit of relentless struggle!
This is their battlefield! It's the place where the loser is decided! It's where only the victor can be king!
"This kid!" Miyuki Kazuya looked at Aj's expression and aura with shining eyes, muttering in admiration. If it was surprise before, then at this moment, Aj's presence was a shock to Miyuki...
It was a kind of fearlessness, a relentless forward momentum, as if he had experienced some painful ordeal...
Is this truly ignorant and meaningless, or is it persistent and fearless?
Why are these second and third-year students so serious and hardworking? Isn't it because they've experienced the cruelty of high school Baseball? They know that in high school Baseball, there's no such thing as 'next time'!
However, why! This guy, who hadn't even participated in a formal game in middle school, displayed such an aura! No, although he didn't want to admit it, the feeling this boy gave them was as if his aura was even more profound!
"Because there's no 'next time' in a game!" Aj murmured softly.
Miyauchi and Coach Kataoka beside him seemed to be struck by lightning, their bodies trembling. At this moment, even Coach Kataoka's expression was slightly moved. He gazed slightly at Aj, seemingly wanting to re-evaluate what kind of existence this young man from Philippines next to him truly was!
"Foul ball!"
"Foul ball!"
Aj desperately fouled off Tanba's pitches. Every pitch, every swing, he put all his strength into it!
Perhaps in the eyes of some outsiders in the first year, Aj was gradually catching up to Tanba's pitches. The entire first-year team was cheering and shouting for Aj!
But in the eyes of Coach Kataoka and those discerning second and third-year students, Aj himself knew very well...
It was already very difficult for him to keep up with Tanba's pitches, and in some places, he was barely able to hit those pitches foul by guessing. A hit? Not swinging and missing was already Aj's limit. Getting a hit was currently a pipe dream!
But this struggle was already reaching its limit. Yes, the second and third-year Senpai were indeed very serious and desperate in facing this Red and White Battle, but attitude doesn't represent strength...
To deal with these rookies in the eyes of the first-year students, they didn't need to use 100% of their strength. Take pitch calling, for example; Miyauchi and Tanba had no intention of calling pitches at all. Just simple Fastballs down the middle, with an occasional Curveball, were already enough to make those first-year kids unable to cope.
And with Aj's performance, Tanba had already decided to use his true strength against him, and Miyauchi was also calling pitches very carefully. In other words, it was only a matter of time before he was struck out, possibly in the next two or three pitches...
Then I can only take a gamble! Aj thought, gritting his teeth.
I'll bet the next pitch is an inside pitch! It's not that Aj thought an inside pitch was the most likely. Indeed, for the past few pitches, Tanba and Miyauchi's pitch calling leaned more towards the inside.
The bigger reason was because....
As long as it's an inside pitch, if I time it right, even with my current half-baked skill, I can at least get it between first and Second Base. If I'm lucky, a long hit to center field isn't impossible!
A determined look flashed in Aj's eyes as he stared intently at Tanba on the pitcher's mound, his muscles tensing!
At this moment, Miyauchi and Tanba had already decided on their signal. Looking at the two of them, their aura clearly indicated they intended to resolve Aj in the next pitch. It must be said that the three of them were surprisingly in agreement at this moment: to decide the outcome in the next pitch!
"Hoo!" Tanba stood sideways on the pitcher's mound, exhaling softly. His hand lightly gripped the Baseball inside his glove, and his gaze, clear and cold, fixed on Aj in the batter's box not far away. Tanba could clearly feel Aj's will, that aura of certainly hitting his pitch!
From this moment on, Tanba truly regarded Aj as a genuine opponent!
Then he would use 100% of his strength to deal with him! This was the respect due between adversaries!
He swung! It seemed everyone present had a vague premonition that this pitch would be the decisive one between the pitcher and batter! Out of the corner of his eye, Aj caught sight of the ball released at that instant. His excellent dynamic vision allowed him to instantly capture the ball's trajectory.
"Great! It's an inside pitch!" A hint of joy flashed across Aj's face. This time, he didn't wait until he captured the trajectory to swing, but rather prepared to swing based on the possibility of Tanba throwing an inside pitch, and he even predicted the height of the ball somewhat...
After confirming the ball's trajectory with his peripheral vision, Aj's swing seemed perfectly natural...
At the moment of bat-to-ball contact, unfortunately, there was no pleasant sound of the metal bat hitting the ball. Aj, momentarily stunned, remained in his swinging posture.
"Thwack!" The perfect sound of the ball entering the glove.
A Curveball! An inside Curveball. Aj felt an inexpressible sense of frustration. How stupid must he be to only guess Fastballs? Tanba's decisive pitch was a Curveball!
It was just wishful thinking to assume that he would only throw Fastballs!
Well, actually, it was just that Miyauchi had called nothing but Fastballs for the past few pitches, making Aj subconsciously completely overlook the possibility of Tanba throwing a Curveball...
How foolish was he to assume he wouldn't throw a Curveball? Wasn't it obvious! Alas, Aj shook his head helplessly.
Still lacking experience, Aj looked at his bat with a somewhat dazed expression, unable to describe what he felt inside...
"Strike! Batter out!" Coach Kataoka's voice was still as loud and calm.
Aj sighed slightly and walked off with his bat. This inning, once again, ended with the first-year team getting no hits and no runs. Aj's strikeout undoubtedly made those first-year students, who had initially been excited and seemingly full of great hope, deflate like leaky balloons...
Discouraged expressions appeared on their faces.
Aj composed himself, putting away the slightly dejected look on his face. Hadn't the game just begun! Even according to the original plot's progression, he would get at least two more at-bats! Of course, that's assuming he wasn't taken out!
Aj stepped out of the batter's box to prepare for fielding...
Aj didn't know that behind him, Kataoka was already looking at Aj with a slightly appreciative gaze. As for this exchange student, Kataoka felt that, overall, he was a talent worth cultivating...
However, Coach Kataoka's personality was such that he would never easily utter words of praise. But Aj's name had already quietly entered Kataoka's memory.