Chapter 95: Confident Steps

"WOOOOOOAH!!!"

"IT IS HEREEEEE!!!"

"ANOTHER ONE!!"

"THIS GAME IS FIRE!!!"

This change truly caught everyone off guard.

Not only the players from Inajitsu High School but even the teammates from Seidou High School were left bewildered.

Kuramochi in the rest area scratched his head in disbelief.

"That just went out!"

He had previously faced Hirano and managed to secure a hit, but he had to admit Hirano's strength.

He was undoubtedly a tough opponent.

Unexpectedly, Furuya blasted the ball by himself.

Now the score was 3:1, and Seidou High School had a good lead.

It wasn't that a two-point difference was particularly large; it was just that the game had only reached the second inning, and Seidou was already ahead by two runs.

This situation was a huge shock for both teams.

After a few seconds of processing, the audience in the stands finally understood what had happened.

"Wow, a home run suddenly like that!!!"

"Amazing!!!!"

"Furuya!"

"In the previous game against Komadai, he pitched the entire match, only allowing two runs, helping Seidou defeat a strong rival. Now, facing Inajitsu High School, his performance is equally impressive."

"And let's not forget that home run he just hit."

"What a powerful hit!"

"This guy is already on the road to stardom!"

After the match against Komadai Fujimaki High School, Furuya Satoru's fame had already risen significantly.

Today, that reputation took an even greater leap.

He could be said to have reached new heights, becoming one of the top star players in the nation.

Facing powerhouse teams like Komadai Fujimaki and Inajitsu High, he continued to shine.

Furuya's rise to fame seemed unstoppable.

As it was known, the importance of the stage cannot be overstated.

In the Koshien finals, he effectively suppressed the impressive lineup of Inajitsu High School while scoring a clean home run to extend his team's lead.

If someone like Furuya isn't famous after that, then what could make him?

"It's truly a pleasant surprise," Coach Ochiai from Seidou High School remarked, holding his goatee thoughtfully.

While he had high hopes for Furuya's potential, believing his future achievements could rival Sawamura's, potential alone isn't enough.

There are still many hurdles to overcome before turning that potential into strength.

Furuya had effectively leaped over a dozen obstacles.

"There are still many shortcomings!"

Kataoka, wearing sunglasses, maintained a stricter standard of evaluation.

While he acknowledged Furuya's excellent performance today, he couldn't overlook the weaknesses that still existed.

If Furuya truly wanted to challenge Sawamura, he had two significant hurdles to clear: experience and consistency!

What truly sets Sawamura apart isn't just his pitching talent but his terrifyingly composed mindset.

A pitcher lacking stability on the mound finds it difficult to go far.

This is what Furuya still needs to work on.

Of course, stability is also a vital hurdle.

And none of this can be achieved overnight.

In the stands, Owada Akiko was snapping photos excitedly.

Fujio was busy jotting down notes.

"Kingdom of Pitchers Seidou High School!"

What had started as Fujio's intuition was quickly becoming a reality.

In just half a year, Seidou High School had produced three outstanding pitchers.

Together, they formed a pitching lineup that was a nightmare for other teams.

But that's a story for another time.

Now, back to the game.

After hitting a home run, Furuya returned to Seidou High School's rest area, greeted by teammates like a hero returning from battle.

Yet, two players felt uncomfortable in the spotlight.

One was Maezono.

He wasn't jealous but felt guilty.

During this year's Koshien, Kataoka had continued to trust him, despite past concerns.

But he had not performed well.

'Damn it!'

He always prided himself on his hard work and felt terrible for not delivering.

He resolved to train even harder and strive to show his worth soon.

The other player feeling out of sorts was, of course, Sawamura.

Although he had hoped for Furuya to perfectly step in for him to ensure the team's victory, now that the moment had arrived, his feelings were complicated.

He stared blankly at Furuya, lost in thought.

"Eijun-kun!"

Suddenly, someone called out to him.

Sawamura turned and saw Kominato Haruichi.

"What's up?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Kanemaru, batting ninth, was quickly Out.

Three Outs, offense and defense exchange.

"STRIKE!"

"STRIKE!!"

"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!"

"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!!"

In a clean sweep, Furuya notched two strikeouts before facing Carlos.

Ping!

The white ball soared into the outfield.

Sawamura took a few steps forward and caught it in his mitt.

Snap!

"OUT!!"

Another flawless three Outs—three up, three down.

Furuya Satoru's performance was almost unbelievable.

So far, he has recorded five strikeouts and hit a home run!

The game entered the bottom of the third inning. 

The atmosphere on the field was unprecedentedly intense.

Cheerleaders and fans from both teams gave their all to support the players.

Under the powerful pitching of Furuya, Seidou High School unleashed an unparalleled fighting spirit.

Ping!

After reaching base for the first time and facing Hirano again, Kuramochi Yoichi hit a single once more.

This man had completely awakened; although he didn't possess the home run power of Carlos, he excelled in other areas—speed and base-stealing techniques.

In every respect, Kuramochi Yoichi was no longer overshadowed by Carlos; in fact, he surpassed him in some ways.

Even his weakest hits were now catching up.

"Hyaa-ha-haa!"

Once such a batter reaches base, the intimidation factor far exceeds that of an average player.

He was eager to steal bases.

In the Batter's Box, Kominato Haruichi was equally prepared.

At this moment, they received a signal from Coach Kataoka.

'Bunt!!!'

This was actually a great opportunity for a continuous attack; if they could keep the pressure on, they might be able to take down Inajitsu in one fell swoop.

However, Kataoka clearly had different plans.

As a fierce rival from the same region, he had thoroughly studied Inajitsu.

Even though the pitcher currently on the mound for Inajitsu wasn't particularly impressive, underestimating their defensive strength would be a grave mistake.

Their team had several star players who could deliver stunning performances in impossible situations.

Given this context, Seidou High School's confident offensive play had great potential to widen the score, but it also carried significant risks.

One small mistake could allow the star players to take advantage, turning a favorable situation into a lost opportunity.

That was simply unacceptable.

The current score was 3:1, with Seidou High School holding a two-point lead.

In this situation, should Seidou High School really engage in a head-on battle and risk losing the advantage?

Choosing a reckless approach just because you are in the lead was unwise. What was most needed now was to snowball their advantage, slowly wearing down their opponent.

This had always been Seidou High School's style, and Coach Kataoka believed it was the best way to secure a decisive victory.

Paak!

The small white ball was bunted successfully.

Kuramochi dashed to second base.

Given his speed, reaching second base was almost like entering scoring territory. As long as the next batter could manage a hit, Kuramochi would have a clear path back to home plate.

Next up were Seidou's core hitters.

Third in line was Sawamura Eijun, followed by Miyuki Kazuya in fourth, and Shiratsu Kenjiro in fifth.

It was hard to believe that none of them had managed a hit yet.

Just one hit would suffice.

Coach Kataoka wasn't greedy; with the score at 3:1, if Seidou High School could score just one more point, the score would become 4:1.

With a three-point lead, even if they couldn't completely defeat Inajitsu, they would maintain absolute control on the field.

In a pitching battle where both teams' Ace pitchers weren't present, Seidou High School had no doubts about winning.

The game continued.

One Out, with a runner on second.

In this situation, Sawamura stepped up to the plate, his eyes firmly locked on the pitcher's mound.

'This was an excellent opportunity to take down the opponent.'

'It wouldn't take much—just one home run would be enough.'

That would give Seidou a commanding lead, and even if Narumiya took the mound later, Inajitsu would have little hope of a comeback.

Once the score gap widened, unless Seidou made mistakes, no opponent could recover that many points.

Even if their pitcher struggled, Seidou had an ironclad defense.

Sawamura was confident in that.

'Bring it!'

He raised his bat high.

Hirano's pitch speed was only 135 km/h; against that speed, Sawamura didn't need to guess where the ball would be thrown.

As long as the ball landed in the strike zone, he could hit it.

He had that level of confidence.

Currently, the two strongest hitters on Seidou were Sawamura Eijun and Miyuki Kazuya, but they performed differently.

Miyuki excelled at tackling tough pitches. If the opponent was average, his intensity tended to drop. (This was mainly because, without good control, he couldn't read the pitches.)

On the other hand, Sawamura, with his wealth of experience, excelled at hitting both tough and easy pitches.

Of course, if the opponent was truly strong, it would be harder to handle. Against weaker pitchers, Sawamura felt he had an 80-90% chance of making contact.

Thus, he was more skilled against a pitcher like Hirano than Miyuki was.

Bring it on!

He was confident in hitting all the pitches that entered the strike zone.

Whoosh!

The pitcher seemed to respond to Sawamura's challenge, settling into his form before decisively throwing the ball.

The small ball darted like a sharp arrow, instantly targeting the inside corner.

From Sawamura's perspective, it seemed the ball wasn't merely heading toward the inside corner but was flying close to him.

Relying on it, it missed.

At that moment, Sawamura instinctively took a step back, successfully dodging the pitch.

SNAP!

"BALL!!!"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to," Hirano said a sheepish grin on his face.

Sawamura nodded indifferently and raised his bat again.

He didn't believe the opponent's move was just a bluff.

'They must have a plan in place.'

'Then I'll just have to wait and see!'

Sawamura's eyes narrowed dangerously.

He couldn't wait to see what the opponent would do next.

…