Chapter 8: Counting On You

Fast!

The blue figure running with lightning speed, faster than a flash of lightning. In the blink of an eye, it passed third base and didn't stop after crossing it.

Instead, it continued to dash toward home plate!

At the catcher's position,

Tekuno was almost scared out of his wits. He looked at the rapidly approaching Kuramochi and hoarsely shouted at the outfielders.

"BAAAACK HOOOOME!"

But it was too late.

Not only had the outfielders not even picked up the ball yet, but even if they had, a long throw of over 50 meters wouldn't have stopped Kuramochi from reaching home plate.

"SAFE!!!!"

In the end, it was a smooth and uneventful play—Kuramochi successfully reached home plate, scoring the first run for the team.

The score on the field became 1:0.

At the same time, Kominato Haruichi had also passed first base and was preparing to advance to second.

However, seeing the outfielder pick up the ball, he gave up on the tempting idea of advancing further.

He stopped at first base.

"Seidou!"

"Seidou!!"

"Kuramochi!"

"Cheetah!"

"Well done!!!"

Scoring so early in the game was undoubtedly a great start.

But could there be a better start?

Of course!

That would be to continue scoring, score more, and ideally score so much that the opponent starts questioning their very existence.

In other words, utterly crush the opponent.

That way, it would be an even better start.

And now, the Seidou High School baseball team was moving in that direction.

And they were confident they could achieve that!

"Third batter, pitcher, Sawamura-kun"

When Sawamura stepped into the Batter's Box, he carefully observed the pitcher on the mound, who was Hanayama.

Miyuki, who had been praising Hanayama so much that he could have turned into his fan, noticed that, from Sawamura's perspective, Hanayama didn't seem to be that remarkable.

As a pitcher, his specialties weren't very strong; he was just average.

And with two years of inactivity!

Even if he had been practicing privately during those two years without interacting with peers of similar level, just working in isolation, the results of his practice would have been negligible.

Under such circumstances, how much had Hanayama improved?

It was good enough if he hadn't regressed.

In Anime worlds, there are characters who grow invincible just by practicing alone, without ever competing with others.

But that doesn't happen in the real world.

Even Sawamura, with his experience, wouldn't dare take such a route.

If he had, he was sure that his skills would never have grown to this level.

'Let me see for myself!'

With his bat raised, Sawamura kept his eyes locked on Hanayama.

He didn't know Hanayama's thoughts or whether this guy had the courage to face him head-on.

But that didn't matter to Sawamura.

Based on the current level of both teams, he believed that even without him, Seidou would still win.

Right now, he was more curious to see Hanayama's pitching.

Whoosh!

Hanayama's pitch was slower than Sawamura had expected!

The pitch missed the strike zone.

Though it wasn't impossible to hit, Sawamura decided not to swing at it.

A pitch outside the strike zone wouldn't matter much, even if he hit it.

Unless he already knew exactly where the ball would land.

Otherwise, it would be hard to get a clean hit.

Snap!

"BALL!"

Snap!

"BALL!!"

Hanayama threw two more Balls outside the strike zone.

During this, Sawamura wasn't completely without a chance to hit the ball.

If he adjusted his stance slightly, he might have been able to connect with the ball and get a base hit.

But Sawamura didn't do that!

He figured that getting Hanayama to throw a Four-Ball Walk wouldn't be a bad idea.

On the other side, Miyuki couldn't help but shake his head.

"Look at you, you've become even more devious!"

Miyuki knew what Sawamura was planning, and it was actually a pretty good move.

The game was only just beginning, and getting a Walk for Sawamura was already a way to weaken the opponent's morale.

Even if the spectators didn't make a big deal of it, thinking it was perfectly reasonable, the truth was that the opponent had already flinched.

In youth baseball games, morale has a huge impact.

If things are going smoothly, it's possible to win easily.

But once things start going wrong, the team could collapse in an instant.

If in the first inning, they were forced to throw four Balls to Sawamura, no matter how you look at it, it wasn't a good morale booster.

'Did Hanayama not understand this principle?'

Miyuki glanced at the pitcher's mound.

From what he knew about Hanayama, he was aware that Hanayama knew the potential negative effects of Walking Sawamura.

But there was no way around it.

Even if Hanayama knew, he still had to do it.

Anyone who studied Sawamura closely would come to one conclusion:

He was extremely strong now!

Miyuki, knowing the outcome, had already figured out the next steps.

His eyes weren't on the current battle but on the future matchups.

Hanayama's choice didn't surprise Miyuki.

With no one out and a runner on first, Hanayama chose to Walk Sawamura with Four Balls.

"BALL!"

"BALL FOUR!"

"Walk To Base!"

The stands were filled with Seidou fans, most of them Sawamura's fans.

When they saw the opposing pitcher flinch, they were all satisfied.

This team, which didn't even seem like it had a name, wanted to challenge their Demon King? It was just a dream!

The opponent admitting defeat was the expected outcome.

Even so, they still let out a huge boo, hoping to provoke them into facing Sawamura directly.

From this perspective, Hanayama's ability to remain calm and walk Sawamura despite the boos of thousands of spectators was remarkable.

His mental toughness and thick skin were far beyond the average player!

'I guess he must have something in mind.'

Sawamura, now on first base, thought quietly to himself as he glanced at Hanayama.

Anyone who can endure what others cannot usually has bigger ambitions.

That meant he wasn't giving up on victory.

He truly is a tough opponent!

Sawamura thought to himself.

For someone to catch Miyuki's attention, the opponent's strength aside, his character alone was worth noticing.

A troublesome opponent like this could become more and more difficult the longer you face him.

If he fully unleashes his power, even if Seidou High isn't worried about losing, they would still have to be careful.

The best way to deal with it now was to crush him before he rises.

'I'm counting on you, partner!'

Sawamura glanced toward the Batter's Box.

Miyuki nodded slightly.

With their level of understanding, he knew what Sawamura was thinking without him needing to say it aloud.

Miyuki also agreed.

He understood Hanayama better than Sawamura did.

The team Hanayama was from during his middle school years wasn't strong, but they often won against stronger opponents.

Their style was very similar to the team Miyuki had been part of.

Therefore, Miyuki had paid more attention to Hanayama.

He later heard that Hanayama was a fan of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and sometimes even called "the Toyotomi Hideyoshi of the baseball field."

In other words, he didn't follow the usual rules and often made surprising moves.

Now, as a third-year student, this was Miyuki's last summer tournament.

He absolutely couldn't allow Hanayama's style to be used against them.

Whoosh!

Miyuki locked his eyes on the incoming ball.

There was no confusion in his eyes.

Shuuuuuuuuuuuu!

His hands tightly gripped the bat, and with all his strength, he swung.

PAAAAAAKKKKKKKK!

With this swing, Miyuki put everything he had into it.

The baseball soared into the sky and flew into the left-field stands.

"IT IS GOOOOOOONNNNEEEEE!!!"

…

T/N: Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537–1598) was a Japanese military leader who rose from humble origins to unify Japan after Oda Nobunaga's death. He was highly regarded for his strategic and political mind. His actions set the stage for the Tokugawa shogunate.