Chapter 53: Legendary Guy

They were stunned!

The players on the Tokyo representative team were truly stunned.

Left-handed pitchers, among all pitchers, were already a rare and exceptional existence.

And now, this Conrad, with a pitch speed of at least 154 km/h (93 mph), combined with his tall, lean frame and long arms, the trajectory of his pitches resembled that of a full-speed drifting Ferrari —impossible to predict, let alone dodge.

The players on the Tokyo representative team, despite their high self-esteem and pride, were not foolish enough to underestimate the situation.

In fact, because of their high skill level, their judgment was even more precise.

These elite players from the Tokyo representative team quickly came to a conclusion in their minds.

Even with their skills, hitting a pitch like that was absolutely no easy task.

Let alone getting consecutive hits or scoring.

It was simply an impossible mission!

The players on the Tokyo team seemed to have completely lost hope of scoring.

On the other side, the American players were on fire.

Conrad's outstanding performance inevitably raised the morale of the American team.

"YEAH!"

"Nice Conrad!"

After all, they had already fallen behind by so many Runs.

Each player genuinely wanted to catch up with the score.

The overall momentum of the American team seemed even stronger now.

The tense atmosphere felt as if it could swallow a person whole.

Even the players on the Tokyo team, who had not yet taken the field, could feel the overwhelming pressure.

"The opponent's morale has been completely ignited!"

Before going on the mound, Miyuki suddenly said.

At this point, his choice of someone to converse with was naturally pitcher Sawamura.

"It doesn't matter…"

Eijun responded indifferently.

Although the American team also had several skilled players, it was clear that they hadn't prepared much for today's game.

A smile appeared at the corner of Sawamura's mouth.

In such a game, if the opponent had been so careless, then it was not his fault for being ruthless.

With Sawamura's current level of skill, unless the opponent had done a lot of intelligence gathering beforehand, they had no way to face him.

Sawamura had this confidence.

And reality proved this point.

"STRIKE!"

"STRIKE!!"

"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!"

Without even needing to employ any overly tricky breaking balls, just the pitching Form and his velocity were enough to overwhelm the American batters.

They had never seen such pitching before.

Due to the invisible release point, Sawamura's pitches seemed to come much faster than their actual speed, making it much harder for the batters to react.

Just adjusting to this fact was enough to make it difficult for the American players to cope.

Let alone the unique nature of Sawamura's fastball.

For the American hitters, aiming at the ball was no easy task.

With a fastball speed of 148 km/h (~92 mph), and added to the fact that they couldn't see the release point, facing Sawamura was like facing a 155 km/h pitch. (96 mph)

Such speed was difficult for the American batters to adapt to.

They swung their bats over and over again, hoping to hit Sawamura's pitch.

But it wasn't that easy.

The baseball, faster than the bat, passed through the strike zone with unstoppable momentum, piercing directly into the catcher's Mitt.

SNAP!

"STRIKE!"

"STRIKE!!"

"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!!"

Sawamura seemed to have completely turned on the switch, striking Out American batters one after another.

The small flicker of hope that had risen in the hearts of the American players was ruthlessly crushed by Sawamura.

One by one, they stood there, staring at the man on the mound.

They had hard expressions on their faces and question marks on their minds.

Although Conrad performed excellently on the mound, and they had managed to suppress the Tokyo team's offense, The game was already so far apart in score that as long as they couldn't score from Tokyo's battery duo, it was all meaningless.

All they felt from Sawamura was a complete enigma.

A puzzle they have no hope of solving soon.

Fortunately, they didn't leave empty-handed…

These American players had some level of skill, and by now, they had more or less figured out Sawamura's pitching style.

"Because of his natural flexibility, combined with that peculiar pitching form, he completely blocks the release point?"

"It's not just that, though. Because you can't see the release point, the pitch that was already fast seems even faster."

"I didn't expect Tokyo's team to have such a player."

"These three pitchers are each stronger than the last."

"And the last one is the fourth batter at that!"

Not all of the American players had failed to gather information about the Tokyo team.

One of them, who had researched Tokyo's players, muttered under his breath.

"This is the legendary Demon King..."

"Hmm?"

"Demon King?"

"Is he like Sauron or something?"

The players were surprised at the nickname and couldn't help but to question jokingly.

"This is what they call him here in Japan. Did you see the previous pitcher? The runner-up pitcher of Koshien?"

"Yeah…" The American players were guessing where this question was going,

And they don't like the sound of it.

"If that pitcher was the runner-up, then this pitcher is the Champion! And twice at that! He also has an amazing record in his middle school!"

"…"

"…"

If you browse through any high school baseball websites, the name Sawamura Eijun would be unavoidable.

Originally, the American player had thought that the reporters from Japan were exaggerating.

So, he never shared the information he gathered with the coach or teammates.

But now, it had all backfired, and the consequences were severe.

The strength of the "Demon King" Sawamura Eijun was even greater than he had imagined.

Three Outs, three Strikeouts.

The game entered the bottom of the sixth inning, with the Tokyo representative team stepping up to bat.

The first batter to step into the Batter's Box for Tokyo was their fourth batter, Sawamura!

Sweat began to flow down the faces of the American representative team's players.

These players from the baseball kingdom had never imagined that today's game would be so difficult.

Even those who had researched online didn't expect the actual game to be so tough.

What caught them off guard the most was their opponent in front of them.

At this moment, standing calmly in the Batter's Box was the calm-faced Sawamura.

It was his first time facing American baseball, and yet, facing these near-major league players, he was still dominating.

Among players his age, it was hard to believe such a person really existed.

The American players felt as if their worldview had been completely shattered. They looked at Sawamura with eyes full of awe and disbelief.

The fighting spirit they had at the start had faded considerably. Now, what filled them was more of a sense of gloom.

Any player with even a little bit of sense had already figured out the result by now.

Today's game—there was probably no way for them to turn things around.

Unless, of course, one of Tokyo's players made some unexpected mistake…

But unless that happened, it was completely impossible for them to catch up with the six-point difference in the remaining innings.

Of course, not everyone felt that way.

The first of them was the tall, long-haired pitcher currently standing on the pitcher's mound.

This tall young man was a blend of uniqueness and strength.

For most of the Tokyo players, Conrad was a completely unique presence.

But for Sawamura, standing in the Batter's Box, this guy was far from unique.

Although this was their first time meeting now, they had crossed paths many times before.

In fact, they had been on the same team,

And they spent five years together in that team,

Even if they hadn't spent every day together, they had always been familiar faces.

Such is the nature of professional athletes.

"I didn't expect to meet like this!" Sawamura muttered with some emotion.

When he meets an old friend, Sawamura usually takes it easy.

But given the current situation, Sawamura can't do that.

'I guess there's no other way. I'll give you this gift on the field,' Sawamura silently decided.

He wouldn't go easy just because Conrad was his friend.

That wasn't Sawamura's style. His style was to give the utmost respect to his opponent by going all out!

So at that moment, Sawamura focused all his energy.

'Hit it! '

'I will hit it!'

Whether for the team's sake or out of respect for his friend, Sawamura had to make sure to hit this ball.

ROAAR!!

At that moment, the small baseball flew toward him.

The baseball came around from the left side of the pitcher's body.

For the left-handed Sawamura, it felt as though the ball was coming at him from behind his head.

No matter how many times he saw a pitch like this, Sawamura still couldn't quite get used to it.

'NNNNOOOW!!'

Despite the awkward trajectory, Sawamura stubbornly swung his bat.

PAAK!

The small baseball was struck, soaring high into the air before dropping down again.

Snap!

"OUT!"

…

T/N: Well, that should be embarrassing. XD