Chapter 98: The Off Seidou

It was now the bottom of the first inning, and it was Kashiwagi High School's turn to bat.

In the dugout,

Kashiwagi High School's Coach furrowed his brows slightly. He had a strange feeling.

It seemed as if this Seidou High School team wasn't playing at their absolute best.

This wasn't about their roster composition—it wasn't because they were facing a lineup of first-year players that he felt this way.

"Something feels off…"

Muttering those words to himself, he couldn't quite figure it out. But since he couldn't afford to waste brainpower on it, he let it go.

His bigger concern now was how to close the score gap.

Their opponent was a former world runner-up pitcher.

Even though he had only been with Seidou High School's baseball team for a few months,

Neither Kashiwagi High School's coach nor its players dared to take him lightly in the slightest.

After all, even on the powerhouse team of Seidou High School, he was already a member of the first-string squad.

From Kashiwagi High School's coach's perspective, Kataoka's decision to field Nishiyama in this lineup must have been for his development.

Otherwise, he couldn't think of any other reason why Kataoka would do this.

For Seidou High School to invest in honing a player like him—

Did his ability even need to be questioned?

With that in mind, it seemed like closing the score gap wouldn't be an easy task.

At the catcher's position, Okumura stared unblinkingly at the opponent in front of him.

In his mind, there was almost no prior data available on the opposing batter.

So, for now, the only strategy he could use to call the game was playing to Nishiyama's strengths while avoiding weaknesses.

On one hand, he had to infer the opponent's weaknesses and intentions from any subtle clues.

On the other hand, he had to decide their pitching approach based on Nishiyama's current condition.

With his stamina nearly depleted, even Okumura found it difficult to maintain full focus.

He could clearly feel that it was hard to concentrate.

'In this situation, performing overly complicated tactics would be counterproductive.'

Here we go!

Having settled his thoughts, Okumura gradually steadied himself, opened his mitt, and prepared to receive the pitch.

On the pitcher's mound, Nishiyama wasn't in great shape either.

The "hell training" itself was already torturous enough, and on top of that, the workload for pitchers was nearly twice that of other players.

If it weren't for Sawamura waking him up in the morning, Nishiyama wouldn't have been able to get out of bed at all.

Under such conditions, even throwing a pitch felt exhausting.

His lack of mental sharpness was one issue, but the overwhelming physical fatigue was even worse.

Nishiyama felt as if every part of his body was screaming in protest.

If he forced himself to keep going, who knew what kind of consequences would follow?

'Am I really supposed to pitch in this condition?'

Nishiyama cast a pitiful glance toward the dugout, looking at Coach Kataoka.

Behind those sunglasses, Kataoka's expression was unreadable.

Nishiyama knew that Kataoka had already made up his mind.

No matter how he felt, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and keep going.

Of course, if he truly couldn't continue, Kataoka wouldn't force him.

In fact, he might even be happy to take Nishiyama off the mound.

After all, Seidou wasn't lacking in players at all.

Coach Kataoka was already struggling with deciding who to cut from the first-string roster.

If Nishiyama volunteered to step down, Kataoka would probably be more than happy.

'This must be what they call being pushed to the edge of a cliff!'

Nishiyama sighed helplessly and had no choice but to throw the pitch.

In the dugout, Coach Kataoka and Coach Ochiai were also evaluating their players.

For example, Toujou, who had just hit a base hit and successfully stolen home.

Both coaches approved of his performance.

In Seidou's team, Toujou wasn't the best in any particular aspect.

His defense wasn't as good as Kominato, Kuramochi, Kanemaru, or Shiratsu.

His batting wasn't on the level of Sawamura, Miyuki, or Kominato.

His speed was decent, but it wasn't his strongest advantage.

Overall, he didn't seem particularly outstanding in any area.

However, his greatest strength lay in his versatility.

Although he wasn't the best at anything, his overall capability and reliability were among the top.

He was undoubtedly a player who could secure a starting position.

He might not be a dominant, game-changing star like Sawamura or Furuya.

But he was definitely a solid and dependable player.

As for Nishiyama, the two Coaches had mixed feelings.

In terms of talent, Nishiyama was unquestionably one of the best players in Seidou.

His mindset was also exceptional!

He had the rare composure of a seasoned player despite his young age.

However, he also had one major weakness that couldn't be ignored—

He can't endure hardship!

Perhaps it was due to his upbringing, or maybe his exceptional talent meant he never had to struggle as much as others.

But Nishiyama had achieved incredible success without having to put in extraordinary effort.

As a result, he developed a certain mindset.

He only completed the required team training and didn't do much extra work on his own.

Compared to him, a complete rookie like Lee-Hyun stood out more in this regard.

Among all the new players, Lee-Hyun was the hardest worker.

His training volume even surpassed that of Yui Kaoru and Yuuki!

He trained harder than many second and third-year players.

Otherwise, there was no way he could have improved so quickly in just three months.

Nobody is perfect.

Coach Kataoka understood that not everyone was the same.

But he still found it a pity—if Nishiyama could endure hardship and work harder, his future would be great.

Whoosh!

Nishiyama's first pitch was released.

The batter from Kashiwagi High School stood ready in the Batter's Box.

When he saw the pitch, he was stunned.

A moment ago, he had been wondering—what kind of pitch would a world champion throw?

But it turned out to be... quite ordinary.

'The speed was only around 130 km/h.' (80 mph)

'The location wasn't particularly tricky.'

'There didn't seem to be any noticeable breaking movement.'

'I can do this!'

The moment he saw the pitch, the batter's confidence skyrocketed.

He believed he could definitely hit the ball.

With that conviction, he swung without hesitation.

Ping!

The ball was hit to third base.

On the mound, Nishiyama had a relaxed smile.

'Perfect!'

Even though he wasn't in great shape and his body was exhausted, his pitching strategy had worked.

"Third base!"

He turned to remind his teammate to defend—

Only to witness a shocking sight.

Hirota, the third baseman, immediately lunged for the ball.

But the moment he moved, his body froze as if locked in place.

'Hurt!'

'It hurts!!!'

A searing pain shot through his thigh.

Hirota nearly blacked out from the agony.

His body was already on the verge of collapse from the relentless physical training.

The sudden burst of movement triggered his body's protective response, paralyzing him momentarily.

Although he gritted his teeth and forced himself to chase after the ball, it was already too late.

The ball flew past him, rolling into the outfield.

"It Got Through!!!"

The Kashiwagi High School players erupted in excitement.

After their experience in the previous half-inning, they had imagined that Seidou's players were on a completely different level.

They had feared facing star players and world runner-ups.

But now?

It turned out Seidou wasn't so strong after all.

In fact... they seemed kind of normal.

A sudden realization struck the Kashiwagi High School coach—

'Again, that off feeling…'

But he couldn't quite believe it yet...

…