Chapter 695 - 695: Win!!
Two outs, no one on base.
"Sixth batter, catcher, Miyuki Kazuya."
Although they had no idea what the situation would be like once they entered extra innings, the players of Inashiro Industrial High School Baseball Team were still uncertain.
But for now, the only thing they could do was to end this inning as quickly as possible and push the game into extra innings.
After all, Seido High School Baseball Team's offense hadn't ended yet. If they managed to get a hit, or even a run…
Then Inashiro Industrial High School Baseball Team would have completely lost face.
"Get the batter out…"
"Let him hit it, we'll definitely stop the ball!"
The players of Inashiro Industrial High School Baseball Team started cheering for the pitcher from their positions.
It seemed they were all prepared to stop the ball no matter what, and not give Seido High School Baseball Team any chance to get a hit and score.
Narumiya Mei understood his teammates' determination, and he also felt a power silently supporting him.
Having pitched until now, his pitch count had exceeded 130, not to mention.
The most crucial thing was that his opponent was Seido High School Baseball Team.
Although Narumiya Mei had perfectly completed his task before, consistently suppressing Seido High School Baseball Team's batters and not giving them a chance to score more runs.
But Narumiya Mei also had to admit.
Seido High School Baseball Team truly lived up to its reputation as the strongest hitting lineup in the country.
Their batters were all very strong.
Not only Zhang Han and Yuuki, but when dealing with other Seido High School Baseball Team players, Narumiya Mei also used 80 to 90 percent, or even 100 percent of his strength.
He had never had such an experience before; there wasn't a single batter he could easily get out.
As a result, the physical energy he expended in today's game was incomparable to any previous game.
Given his current condition, if he really had to pitch in extra innings, he probably wouldn't be able to keep going.
Narumiya Mei was as clear as day about this.
But even though he knew he would struggle to continue, Narumiya Mei had no intention of giving up the game.
At this moment, he had no energy to think about the games that would follow.
He didn't want to think, didn't want to consider what to do in the games after this.
For now, he just wanted to fully enjoy the pleasure this game was bringing him.
"Hoo!"
Narumiya Mei, letting out a long breath, carefully observed his opponent. In his mind, he involuntarily recalled the moment he first invited Miyuki to join Inashiro.
"With your addition, the blueprint of my dream will be complete. You've probably received an invitation from Inashiro too, right?"
Narumiya Mei felt he was being very sincere.
He had never put so much genuine emotion into inviting other teammates before.
As a pitcher, he genuinely hoped he could partner with Miyuki Kazuya.
However, the other party's thoughts were completely different from his own.
"Rather than conquering the nation together as teammates, I'd rather be your opponent. Seeing such a strong team in the same era, I'd rather defeat you with my own hands."
Not long ago, Narumiya Mei and his teammates achieved their previous dream.
They participated in the Spring Koshien qualifiers, made it to the end, and won the Spring Koshien.
And thus, conquered the nation.
He wondered if Miyuki regretted his refusal at that time?
Looking at Miyuki, who had already taken his hitting stance in the batter's box, ambitiously wanting to hit the ball.
Narumiya Mei knew very well that this guy probably wouldn't regret it.
After all, Seido High School Baseball Team had struck gold by recruiting Zhang Han, who hadn't fully risen yet at that time.
Although Inashiro Industrial High School Baseball Team successfully conquered the nation, the players of Inashiro Industrial High School Baseball Team never dared to underestimate Seido High School Baseball Team, or Zhang Han.
They knew that this team, this young man, would be their biggest competitor in the future.
Just like now.
The two teams from Tokyo, assigned to different groups, competed in the Kanto Tournament.
In the end, didn't they also meet in the Kanto Tournament finals?
This was their strength.
Presumably, the same scene would appear in the summer of this year.
Even though that game was still about two months away.
But Narumiya Mei could already faintly smell the tension between the two sides.
"Before that, let this Kanto Tournament be a rehearsal for the final battle."
Narumiya Mei took his stance and threw the baseball with all his might.
He didn't want to keep thinking about it, making it seem like he had many regrets.
Being able to be with so many teammates, being able to join Inashiro Industrial, and receiving guidance from Coach Kunimoto. Being able to form the strongest partnership with Harada-senpai.
He had nothing left to regret.
Next, it was about conquering the nation with his teammates.
Not the kind of nominal national conquest like in the qualifiers.
But in the summer Koshien.
To compete with the champions from all regions of the country on the Koshien field and become the final overlord.
"Whoosh!"
The white baseball arrived in front of Miyuki in the blink of an eye.
With no one on base, Seido High School Baseball Team's savior seemed to have lost his usual magic.
He watched the baseball fly past him without being able to swing.
"Pop!"
"Strike!"
The count was one strike, zero balls.
In the dugout of Seido High School Baseball Team.
The teammates who had been actively cheering for Miyuki all fell silent.
They put themselves in Miyuki's shoes to consider this confrontation.
They were surprised to find that it seemed quite difficult.
"With no one on base, the opponent has too many pitching options. Narumiya Mei's Fastball is so fast, it's probably not that easy to hit his pitch."
In the dugout, some players were already muttering this.
They weren't trying to boost the opponent's morale and dampen their own.
Rather, they were stating a fact objectively.
From the current situation, it was indeed very difficult for Miyuki to hit the ball.
"No information at all, do we just have to gamble on luck?"
Kuramochi said, gritting his teeth.
Although the score was tied now, and Seido High School Baseball Team had a high probability of turning the tide in extra innings.
But he was still very upset, extremely upset.
Not just him, but almost all the players in Seido High School Baseball Team, except for Zhang Han and Yuuki, felt this way.
There was nothing they could do; the other players of Seido High School Baseball Team had been so terribly suppressed by Narumiya Mei that they hadn't even gotten a decent hit.
They didn't have high hopes for Miyuki's hitting and were already prepared for extra innings.
After doing eye exercises a few times and resting for a while, Zhang Han's vision had almost recovered by this point.
It seemed his dynamic vision wasn't something that could appear at any time; it required special focus.
This meant that if he wanted to fully master it in the future, he would probably need to spend some time and effort.
Of course, there were also benefits.
As his eyes recovered, if they went into extra innings, Zhang Han should be able to continue playing.
When his teammates were discussing earlier, Zhang Han had been doing eye exercises and didn't have time to speak.
But not speaking didn't mean he had no thoughts.
Everyone said Miyuki had no information, but Zhang Han didn't think so.
He had just hit a Homerun to tie the score. Isashiki Jun-senpai had also hit that ball out…
Although the ball was eventually caught, that was just Inashiro Industrial High School Baseball Team's good luck.
It didn't mean they would continue to be confident in that kind of pitch.
Being hit out twice in a row, with Narumiya Mei's personality, he might be defiant and stick to his guns.
But his catcher was Harada, a relatively conservative catcher.
So, the probability of them using a gyroball in their final confrontation with Miyuki was probably not high.
From Harada's perspective, the three-pitch sequence would also probably be difficult to continue using as they have already used it too many times.
Once the gyroball and the low-angle three-pitch sequence were excluded, there weren't many pitch options left for Narumiya Mei and Harada.
If Miyuki could see this.
The probability of him guessing Narumiya Mei's pitch should be very high.
Thinking this, Zhang Han turned his gaze to the batter's box.
He wondered if their teammate on the field could figure these things out?
"Whoosh!"
Narumiya Mei's pitch speed had decreased compared to the beginning of the game.
However, the angle of the pitch was still tricky, and the placement was also very good.
Harada felt a slight sigh of relief when he saw it.
Although Narumiya's body was very tired now, his pitch could still maintain a relatively high standard.
This was a true Ace.
What kind of skill was it to perform well when things were going smoothly?
Only like Narumiya Mei, who could steadily perform his best even when the team faced adversity, was a true Ace.
Miyuki fixed his eyes on the incoming baseball, staring intently at it.
Low-angle breaking ball and Fastball, as well as gyroball, could basically be ruled out.
In addition to the reason for apprehension, another reason was that these pitches consumed too much mental and physical energy.
When Narumiya Mei's physical strength was not very sufficient, using these pitches would greatly increase the probability of errors.
Then, only the Fastball and slider remained.
The first pitch was a Fastball close to the outside corner.
So, this pitch would be a slider close to the inside corner.
The baseball went straight to the inside corner, pitched very sharply. That wasn't all; the baseball changed as it approached the strike zone.
Now.
Right here.
Fixing his eyes on the incoming baseball, Miyuki took a direct step and swung his bat.
"Ping!"
The bat solidly hit the white baseball, sending it flying high.
Miyuki smiled; it was exactly as he had thought.
Releasing his bat, he immediately ran towards First Base, cornered and continued on to Second Base…
The outfielder of Inashiro Industrial High School Baseball Team felt incredibly nervous when he saw this ball.
If he fumbled the catch, Inashiro Industrial High School Baseball Team was very likely to say goodbye to this game.
But the more nervous he was, the less he was able to catch the ball well.
The baseball landed in front of him, and as he went to field it, the ball bounced off his glove.
He made an error.
Miyuki had already passed Second Base at this point, and he hesitated whether to continue advancing.
But very quickly, he received a signal from his teammates, telling him to continue.
Miyuki couldn't see what was happening behind him on the field, but he saw his teammates' signal.
Without further hesitation, Miyuki stepped on the Second Base bag and quickly headed for Third Base.
It wasn't until he was almost at Third Base that the outfielder of Inashiro Industrial High School Baseball Team ran over and picked up the ball.
Even if the opposing outfielder now set himself up and threw the ball to home plate without making an error, it would still take about three seconds or more.
This was a huge test for Seido High School Baseball Team's base running coach.
He gritted his teeth.
He thought that even if Miyuki was out, they would still win if they went into extra innings.
Conversely, if they didn't gamble here, the Seventh Batter who would come up next might not be able to hit Narumiya Mei's pitch.
Continue, run!
Seeing the signal from the base running coach, Miyuki was full of questions.
He didn't know what was happening behind him on the field.
Because he was constantly running forward, he didn't look back either.
But one thing he was very clear about was that the ball he hit, although its landing spot was good, definitely did not fly out of the field.
So, it wasn't a Homerun.
Being able to reach Second Base with such a ball was already pretty good.
Reaching Third Base would be extremely lucky.
And not stopping at Third Base, but continuing to advance?
This was no longer just good luck; it could almost be called a miracle.
Homerun, for Seido High School Baseball Team players, although not common, was definitely not rare either.
Almost every game, one of their players would hit a Homerun, sometimes even more than one.
But an inside-the-park Homerun, Miyuki had never experienced once since joining the team.
Really, was it possible?
Although he had such doubts, Miyuki's actions showed no hesitation. He stepped on Third Base, not stopping as most people would expect, but continuing to advance.
"Home plate…"
Harada, who was usually calm, had his voice hoarse at this moment. He raised his glove high, signaling his teammate to throw the ball back.
"Pop!"
The baseball was thrown back.
But, it was one step too late…
Just as the baseball was thrown back, Miyuki rounded the bases and returned to home plate.
"Safe!"
"Kanto Tournament Finals, West Tokyo Seido High School Baseball Team versus Inashiro Industrial High School Baseball Team, final score 5:4, the winner of the game is Seido High School Baseball Team!"
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