In the bottom of the ninth inning, the Seidou High School team goes on the offense!
The first batter stepping up to the plate is the leadoff hitter for Seidou High School's baseball team, Kuramochi Youichi.
As soon as Kuramochi enters the Batter's Box, he immediately feels the extraordinary aura coming from Narumiya.
'This guy's condition is strange, not at all like someone who is exhausted. On the contrary, he seems very energetic, giving off the impression that he could throw another thirty or fifty pitches without any problem.'
This makes Kuramochi feel a bit frustrated.
The players of the Seidou High School baseball team had put a lot of effort into dealing with Narumiya.
For today's game, the players of Seidou High School had made substantial preparations.
There were two opportunities earlier in the game when Seidou High School almost scored, but unfortunately, they lacked a little bit of luck and ultimately went without success.
The strategy they had prepared was all set by Seidou High School's team members in advance.
Unfortunately, today, luck wasn't on their side, so they hadn't been able to execute successfully.
Instead, it was Sawamura who, aside from the initial time when the Inajitsu High School team set a trap for him, had been consistently showing his own might.
He had prepared thoroughly in advance, and the Inajitsu High School players had never been able to stir up any trouble in Sawamura's hands.
Aside from the first inning, he had smoothly dealt with all the batters in the other innings.
In desperation, the Seidou High School team had to resort to the tactic of exhausting the pitcher's stamina.
If possible, the players of Seidou High School, including Kuramochi, were proud and didn't want to resort to this.
They also wanted to defeat their opponents fairly!
But because the straightforward path wasn't working, they had no choice but to take another route.
However, even this shortcut wasn't easy to navigate.
On the pitcher's mound, Narumiya still appeared lively and energetic, unaffected by the situation.
Kuramochi knew, of course, that this was only temporary, and the opponent was nearing the end of their limits!
But human willpower is unpredictable, and if Narumiya holds Out, he could easily throw another ten or twenty pitches.
Right now, the Seidou High School team had the upper hand, and Kuramochi, along with his teammates, didn't really want to make any unnecessary moves.
If they could just take care of Narumiya in an orderly fashion, that would be the best outcome.
After all, tomorrow is the final!
If possible, the players of Seidou High School naturally hoped to achieve the biggest gain with the smallest cost.
However, from the looks of things, the opponent clearly hasn't given up yet.
And why would they? The score is still tied! They have no reason to surrender.
'Victory can only be seized by our own hands!'
Kuramochi silently made up his mind, his eyes firmly locked on Narumiya.
His little apprentice had been able to score off Narumiya Mei, so there was no reason why he, as the Shisho, couldn't do it.
He had to score! He had to hit the ball out!
With this belief, Kuramochi was certainly not going to be easily dealt with.
Even if he couldn't get a hit, he was determined to follow through with the Seidou High School team's strategy.
After Narumiya had thrown over 130 pitches, Kuramochi didn't believe that the opponent wasn't tired!
You could say he's human, or even if he were a machine, there would be times when he needs to cool down and be maintained.
Let alone a person.
"STRIKE!"
"BALL!"
The next two pitches were one Strike and one Ball.
Kuramochi was picking his pitches carefully, not rushing to swing.
On the catcher's position, Tadano Itsuki, the catcher, had veins faintly throbbing on his forehead.
He, who was usually gentle and refined, rarely showed such a worried expression.
But now, he couldn't help but worry for his partner.
Although the Seidou High School batters hadn't really posed a threat to Narumiya Mei,
Aside from Sawamura and Miyuki, the others hadn't even gotten a hit.
If you think that this is enough to underestimate the Seidou High School team's players, you may not even know how you lost.
The players of Seidou are all very tough.
Narumiya had wasted a lot of pitches while dealing with them.
Take Kuramochi here, for example.
His eye for selecting pitches was top-notch, and once he decided to dig in, he wouldn't swing at any Ball.
Narumiya Mei's pitches might be fast, but Kuramochi's eye was sharper, and he couldn't be easily fooled.
So, if Narumiya truly wanted to deal with Kuramochi, he would have to win within the strike zone.
'Mei-san, the breaking balls aren't working, go straight for it!'
Narumiya, looking at Tadano's signal, nodded slightly.
No one knew better than he did the strength of Seidou's batters.
Every one of them was a thorn in the side, hard to deal with.
But Narumiya still had confidence that he could get them Out.
His previously sore arm suddenly felt fine.
It felt like the soreness in his legs after a morning run. After running long enough, the feeling in his legs disappeared.
Narumiya Mei felt this way now.
Maybe it was because he had thrown so many pitches with all his might, but now he couldn't feel any pain in his arm.
His condition had suddenly returned!
What was once a slightly forced deciding pitch now felt effortless.
Of course, this was just Narumiya's own feeling, but he had to try it out.
When he saw Tadano's signal, he didn't hesitate and threw the pitch immediately.
Here it comes!
Roaar!
The baseball sped toward the strike zone like a white light.
Kuramochi, facing the incoming ball, decisively swung his bat.
'If I wasn't mistaken, this should be a Change-up.'
Whether it was a normal Change-up or a screw Change-up, that's something Kuramochi couldn't discern.
He could only guess, gambling on one of those two types.
Considering his weight, Kuramochi didn't think Narumiya Mei would use a screwball change-up on him.
Although it might sound a bit too much, it would indeed be using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
Thus, Kuramochi gambled on a normal Change-up.
And as he predicted, the ball came slower than expected.
'It is a change-up!'
Kuramochi seized the opportunity and swung at the ball without hesitation.
Just as his bat was about to make contact with the baseball, it suddenly dropped.
A slow Change-up had a surprising drop. It dropped so fast that Kuramochi didn't have time to adjust, and he could only watch as the ball passed by his bat and landed in Tadano's Mitt.
Snap!
"STRIKE!"
The count is now two Strikes, one Ball, and Kuramochi was being pressured.
After Kuramochi was pressured, Tadano and Narumiya didn't stop their attack.
In the Seidou High School dugout,
Miyuki, who had been replaced, was bored and lying next to Sawamura.
After seeing this pitch, he shook his head with some regret.
"A suddenly dropping Change-up is really hard to time correctly."
Unexpectedly, Sawamura just smiled and said nothing and continued to put on his batting gloves.
For Sawamura, this kind of change-up was practically a free hit, whether it was a normal change-up or a screwball change-up. In his incredible state, hitting a home run was not an issue.
What really made Sawamura wary was that pitch earlier, the one that made him hit the ball off-center.
That mysterious Cutball!
Though Miyuki had previously hit it out, that was because Miyuki was more of a gambling-type batter.
As long as he had enough information, no pitch was impossible for him to hit.
Sawamura was different, relying on his intuition more than rational thought during that incredible state.
He would instinctively act based on his intuition!
This had its pros and cons.
The benefit was that his power and observation were both strong, making home runs easier to achieve.
But because of his intuition, he often ignored the subtle changes in the baseball.
This type of pitch was one that Sawamura wasn't so good at hitting.
The heavens were fair, giving Sawamura both advantages and limitations.
Though it temporarily limited his abilities, Sawamura was very grateful for it.
Because of this limitation, he recognized the drawbacks of his incredible State earlier on.
It was still early, and he had time to adjust.
Otherwise, when he eventually entered the professional baseball world, it would be harder to fix.
Finding this problem in high school was definitely Sawamura's luck.
Let's get back to the game.
Narumiya threw another ball outside the strike zone. Leading with two Strikes, he intended to tempt Kuramochi to swing.
Unfortunately, Kuramochi's rich experience made him ignore it, and he wasted a ball.
The count was now two Balls, two Strikes.
In this situation, Tadano and Narumiya couldn't afford to delay any longer.
The count quickly reached five pitches, increasing at a rapid rate, making them nervous.
To avoid being too passive, they had to win it in the strike zone.
'Then, another change-up!'
Kuramochi, back at the plate, had to face his earlier choice again.
'Again! Was it a normal Change-up or a Screw Change-up?'
It was already impressive that he could differentiate a Change-up.
It was impossible for him to tell the type.
Kuramochi, feeling bold, decided to continue betting on the normal Change-up.
The result? His bat missed the ball entirely.
Snap!
"Strike! Batter out!"
After five pitches of entanglement, Kuramochi Youichi was struck out.
On the mound, Narumiya Mei, who should have been exhausted by now, showed no signs of fatigue.
On the contrary, he was still full of energy.
Although Sawamura had already set a record earlier, Narumiya Mei had now struck out a total of 16 batters.
If not for Sawamura breaking the record, Narumiya would only have been one strike away from tying the record.
This performance should have caused the whole stadium to erupt in excitement.
However, because Sawamura had already set the record with 21 strikeouts, no matter how many strikeouts Narumiya Mei got, he wouldn't catch up to Sawamura.
In the rest area of the Seidou High School baseball team.
Everyone's expression was heavy.
They had already dealt with so many pitches from Narumiya Mei. Initially, the teammates of the Seidou High School baseball team believed that Narumiya was at the end of his strength.
Even if he didn't collapse immediately, he wouldn't last much longer.
No one expected that after throwing over 100 pitches, Narumiya was actually becoming stronger.
Up to this point, he was even able to Strike out Kuramochi.
When they saw Kuramochi get struck out, their hearts sank.
They all knew Kuramochi's determination and strength. Especially over the past six months, Kuramochi's hard work has been evident to everyone.
After putting in the effort, he saw immediate results. Kuramochi's strength on the Seidou High School baseball team was highly regarded.
And yet, even someone like Kuramochi was struck out.
Moreover, it was a completely inevitable strikeout.
So, who else on the Seidou High School baseball team could hit Narumiya's pitches?
One Out, no runners on base.
"Second batter, second baseman, Kominato-kun."
…