Chapter 688 - 688: Getting Better
In the top of the ninth inning, the Inashiro Industrial High School Baseball Team was on offense.
Even though in the previous inning, the Inashiro Industrial High School Baseball Team's defensive performance was perfect.
Narumiya Mei even recorded his twelfth strikeout. While this number of strikeouts was not small, Inashiro Industrial and Narumiya Mei had achieved it a few times before.
But facing Seido today, the feeling was different.
Precisely because the opponent's strength was sufficient, these twelve strikeouts seemed especially precious.
By the end of the bottom of the eighth inning, even the staunch supporters of the Seido High School Baseball Team felt a slight waver.
Originally, they had firmly believed that the Seido High School Baseball Team would definitely be fine and would surely win the final victory of the game.
But now, it seemed their previous estimation might have been too optimistic.
With only three outs remaining, Yuuki and Zhang Han were up to bat first.
The one-run difference, which had originally seemed easy to overcome, now appeared somewhat insurmountable to the players of the Seido High School Baseball Team.
Zhang Han's task at this moment was to disrupt the momentum that the Inashiro Industrial High School Baseball Team had just built up.
He had to respond to Narumiya Mei's performance on the pitcher's mound with an even more dominant innings.
On the other side, the players of the Inashiro Industrial High School Baseball Team had also gathered to discuss their next strategy.
Although based on previous circumstances, the probability of the Inashiro Industrial High School Baseball Team scoring additional runs in this final inning was negligible.
However, they did not want to miss this last scoring opportunity.
"The Fastball is very fast, and there's an unknown drop ball. When hitting, just aim for these two and judge based on the opponent's pitch state."
Coach Kunimoto had actually vaguely guessed what Zhang Han's pitch was all about.
But his drop ball just now had such a large break that Coach Kunimoto didn't dare to confirm it.
Without a way to confirm, he naturally couldn't tell his disciples how to act.
He could only let them go up and experience it themselves.
Fortunately, Narumiya Mei's intuition was always very sharp. Perhaps without saying anything, he would find it easier to hit the ball if he relied on his own feel.
"Yes!"
Narumiya Mei raised the bat high in his hand, his eyes fixed on Zhang Han.
This time, when he stepped up to bat, he didn't even bicker with Miyuki.
On the pitcher's mound, Zhang Han also felt Narumiya Mei's fighting spirit. Everything he wanted to say was clearly expressed on his face and in his eyes.
This genius's second round of hitting, I must hit the ball out.
Ambitious.
Zhang Han praised him in his heart, and he likewise brought out 100 percent of his fighting spirit to confront this opponent.
"Whoosh!"
The baseball was like a white flash, instantly crossing 18 meters and appearing above home plate.
Narumiya Mei knew very well that he couldn't think about anything, because once he started thinking, it would be very difficult for him to hit the ball.
Don't look at him complaining about Harada Masatoshi before, but Narumiya Mei had never doubted the strength of his senior.
In the end, even Senior Harada couldn't hit the ball, and his bat was so far from the baseball.
This meant that trying to guess what kind of pitch Zhang Han would throw was completely unreliable.
He had to rely on feeling.
Here it comes.
The moment the baseball approached, Narumiya Mei instinctively swung the bat in his hand.
"Ping!"
A Fastball with a speed exceeding 155 kilometers per hour was actually caught by him, and not only that, but the baseball bounced very far.
"Foul!"
Narumiya Mei's face was expressionless, as if everything he could do was a matter of course.
This invisibly brought great pressure to Zhang Han and Miyuki.
For an instinctual hitter like Narumiya Mei, once he can keep up with the speed and changes of the baseball, it is very difficult to deal with him.
Miyuki hesitated a little. He knew he couldn't drag this on, but the current situation made it difficult to cleanly resolve this troublesome guy.
What should he do?
Miyuki looked up, wanting to consult his partner's opinion, and then he saw the decisive expression on Zhang Han's face.
There was no need to retreat, and no need to use tricks, just a straightforward confrontation.
This was the first time Miyuki had seen Zhang Han like this.
Before today's game, although Zhang Han had very strong pitch ability, his awareness as an Ace seemed to be consistently lacking.
But now, he saw the shadow of Senior Hidezawa from last year in Zhang Han.
What about the Kanto Tournament final, what about the final confrontation?
These things simply did not exist in the eyes of a true Ace Pitcher.
"Good!"
With his partner having such momentum, Miyuki couldn't afford to falter at this moment. He very decisively gave the signal, and then squatted down.
"Whoosh!"
"Ping!"
"Foul!"
Zhang Han's second pitch, despite having a large downward break, was still caught by Narumiya Mei.
The baseball flew out along the Third Base line.
On the pitcher's mound, Zhang Han felt an inexplicable power continuously surging within him.
Not enough, far from enough.
His fingers were not flexible enough to completely control the baseball in his hand.
To truly throw the pitch he wanted, he needed to be faster.
With almost no pause, after receiving the ball, Zhang Han directly took his stance, stepped forward, and released the pitch.
This time, his two fingers were tightly pressed against the baseball, and only when the baseball completely left his grasp did his fingertips gently push forward.
"Whoosh!"
This last pitch seemed faster than any previous one.
Narumiya Mei's mind had gone blank; he didn't even think about what kind of pitch would come.
He just aimed at that white blur and swung the bat in his hand.
"Buzz!"
Only the sound of the bat swinging was heard, but the bat hitting the baseball was not seen.
"It disappeared?"
Narumiya Mei suddenly woke up, looking incredulously at his opponent on the pitcher's mound.
He clearly felt that the bat was about to hit the baseball.
But the baseball suddenly disappeared?
Then he heard the sound of the baseball entering the catcher's mitt.
What's going on?
In the catcher's position, Miyuki's surprise was no less than Narumiya Mei's.
He had practiced so many times with Zhang Han.
This ideal result had never occurred even once.
He hadn't expected it to happen in this Kanto Tournament final.
Zhang Han!
What kind of monster was his partner? Not only was his hitting powerful, but was his pitch also so unsolvable?
"Strike, strikeout!"
Zhang Han successfully struck out Narumiya Mei.
The momentum Narumiya Mei had gained from his consecutive strikeouts was now broken.
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