Chapter 17: Uncertainty

"He's...he's done it!!!"

The scene, filled with nearly ten thousand spectators, was left in stunned silence.

Even though they were seasoned baseball fans, they were still at a loss for words.

Some of them were completely confused—what exactly just happened?

Anyone with eyes could see that the second batter from Minori Shigeru was very average.

The reason he was in the second spot was partly because of his good bunting skills, which allowed him to cooperate with the first batter in offensive plays.

Another reason was his speed, which made him quite valuable for tactical plays.

But if we're talking about his ability to hit, he was even worse than the lower-order batters on his own team.

And yet, this somewhat weak second batter managed to hit Kawakami's pitch and send it flying!

Wasn't this just a little too surreal?

The second batter from Minori Shigeru felt the same way.

He was still in a daze, completely unaware of what had just happened.

How could such a simple swing have sent the ball flying?

It was truly magical!

So magical!

Could it be that he was the legendary genius who never showed his true abilities until the most critical moment?

And now, at the moment of life and death for his team, his hidden potential had finally exploded.

That's why he was able to hit the baseball to the outfield.

Incredible!

'Could it be that I'm the main character of fate, destined to stand out at this moment?'

Experiences often lead to strange delusions.

Just like now, the second batter from Minori Shigeru couldn't shake off the strange feeling that he might actually be the protagonist of destiny, meant to shine in this very moment!

"Idiot, Run!!! Why aren't you running?!"

In the Minori Shigeru dugout, Coach Miwara was practically losing her mind.

She couldn't care less about how the ball had been hit.

How the ball was hit wasn't important anymore—what mattered was…

"Hurry up and run forward!"

The teammates from the Seidou High School baseball team were incredibly fast in their response.

Within that short amount of time, their outfielder had already closed the distance and was approaching the ball.

If the batter didn't start running quickly, and forget advancing to second base, he might not even make it to first.

If that happened, the kid might as well go buy some marshmallow and choke himself to death.

He'd never seen someone mess up this badly.

The second batter from Minori Shigeru heard his Coach's yelling and finally snapped out of his daze.

He no longer had time to fantasize in his head; he scrambled to run forward.

He barely made it to first base!

Yes, just first base.

Behind the first baseman, there was a huge gap in the defense.

Normally, when the ball is hit to that spot, there's a 99% chance it would be a super long hit.

But this time, after hitting the ball, the batter was so caught up in the moment that he didn't run fast enough.

Meanwhile, Seidou High School's players reacted with lightning speed.

Although they didn't catch the ball immediately, they quickly retrieved it and threw it to first base.

If not for Coach Miwara intervening, the batter probably would have been Out.

The fact that they didn't manage to get the Out was a huge regret for Seidou High School's team.

But Minori Shigeru, despite hitting a long ball, played it so cautiously that it was almost comical.

They nearly got Out.

The result was truly terrifying!

Kawakami, the pitcher on the mound, wore a confused expression.

From the pitch he just threw, he thought it was a good one.

The feel of the pitch was just right; it naturally came out of his hand.

The trajectory of the ball seemed fine too...

So how did it get hit out?

Behind the plate, Miyuki also looked perplexed.

He couldn't understand how the second batter from Minori Shigeru managed to hit the ball out.

In the dugout,

Yui was scratching his head.

"That pitch was fine in terms of speed and location...so how did it get hit out?"

What was strange was that the second batter from Minori Shigeru had such average skill.

In Yui's opinion, if he had been behind the plate, regardless of which Seidou High pitcher was on the mound, it wouldn't have been difficult to get him out.

So how did the batter hit such a great long ball?

"We are unable to see the whole picture!" Sawamura suddenly said.

"What does that mean, Senpai?" Yui asked.

When Sawamura heard his question, he smiled and patted his shoulder, saying, "The world is full of strange things! Even a blind cat can catch a dead mouse. Look at his face, he just got lucky!"

This woke everyone up to the realization.

While this kind of thing doesn't happen often, it's not entirely rare.

Especially when a batter and pitcher are still learning the game; when they're not yet fully developed, the chance of getting lucky and hitting the ball is 99% just pure chance.

But as players mature, those lucky moments become rarer.

Batters with solid skills are less likely to rely on luck, preferring to trust their own ability to get a hit.

And pitchers, once they've matured, make it much harder to get a lucky hit off.

At the Seidou High School baseball team's level, it's almost impossible to get such a lucky hit.

Most of the players, including Yui, had trained from a young age and were highly honed.

They never even thought about relying on luck in years.

When a batter hits the ball, their first instinct is to wonder if they've exposed a weakness that the opponent could have exploited.

But Sawamura was different!

Even though he received the best training after entering high school, before that, he had seen all kinds of strange things.

Like the time a batter swung the wrong end of the bat!

Just thinking about it made Sawamura's stomach twist.

It was too funny!

Don't worry about it, it was just a coincidence...

The players in the dugout understood this. But Kawakami, the pitcher on the mound, still didn't.

Sawamura didn't have time to explain it to him.

The batter had perfectly hit his pitch, but Kawakami couldn't shake off the feeling that maybe his habits had been read by the opponent.

Once a player falls into confusion, their mental state and performance take a huge hit.

That's exactly what was happening to Kawakami. Despite his efforts to block out the doubt, his performance was affected.

That smooth pitching was now being hit to the outfield...

Could his pitching still hold up?

Deep down, Kawakami had no confidence left.

At this point, though his pitching didn't seem overly affected, the core of his focus had already disappeared!

This gave Minori Shigeru the opportunity to push forward.

Ping!

First, the catcher, Tekuno, made a beautiful hit.

No Outs, a runner on first and second bases.

Finally, the fourth batter, Hanayama, stepped up and sealed the fate of the inning.

Facing Kawakami's pitch, he hit the ball to the back of the outfield!

Ping!

The baseball flew high into the sky, landing behind the outfielders.

Asou raced to catch it, but it was already too late, the score was set!

Tak!

As the ball landed, the outcome was clear.

The runners on second and first scored, bringing Minori Shigeru two more points.

The score was now 11-4!

But the inning wasn't over yet!

With no Outs, Hanayama made it to second base.

If Asou hadn't thrown it back so quickly, Hanayama might have even made it home.

No Outs, with a runner on second!

Ping!

The fifth batter stepped up, swinging a perfect bunt.

He advanced Hanayama to third base.

In the Seidou dugout, the players were silent, unsure of what to say.

However, their resolve was clear—they were ready to take the field at any moment.

Ochiai opened his mouth to say something but stopped when he glanced at Coach Kataoka.

Kawakami's state was critical, and Coach Kataoka knew better than to take any chances in this first crucial game.

He didn't speak, leaving everything to the Coach.

…