Chapter 76: Seidou’s Bold Gamble

"It's through!!!"

"A Long Hit!!!!"

That was when the Seidou High School baseball team had just fallen into the abyss, and nearly three minutes later, the situation on the field had changed.

The captain of Seidou High School's baseball team, the nation's top catcher, Miyuki, was the one who, when all hope seemed lost for the Seidou team, stepped up and turned the tide.

He struck the ball beautifully.

The hit baseball passed through the defense of Inashiro's second baseman and flew into the outfield.

Though the outfielder from Inajitsu High School quickly intercepted it, the Seidou High School baseball team still got a hit.

The fourth batter, Miyuki, successfully reached first base.

One Out, with a runner on first.

On the pitcher's mound, Narumiya watched Miyuki safely reach first base and couldn't help but feel emotional.

He never imagined that Seidou High School's baseball team would find a way to hit his new winning pitch so quickly and successfully!

It was truly incredible!

Even a prideful pitcher like Narumiya had to admit that Seidou High School's baseball team was not just any ordinary team.

Their players were undeniably formidable.

To play against a team like this, Inajitsu High School's baseball team had to be on their toes, or their hard-earned advantageous position could easily vanish.

'I won't give you any chances!'

Although Miyuki had successfully gotten a hit, there was a slight shift in the atmosphere at the field.

The Seidou team, which had just fallen into a deep abyss, suddenly saw a sliver of hope.

But Narumiya had no intention of letting Seidou continue to be so arrogant.

He was determined to use his baseball to get the next two Outs and end Seidou's attack right there.

As for the ninth inning, when it would be Eijun's turn…

Narumiya Mei didn't even consider that possibility.

There was no need for him to think about it.

If the time really came to face Sawamura in the final inning…

For the team, Narumiya wouldn't mind letting him go.

A baseball team is made up of nine players. It's not that if one player is extraordinarily strong, the entire team becomes invincible.

Narumiya had long understood this truth.

Though it was a little frustrating that Miyuki had safely reached base, it only strengthened Mei's resolve.

One or two players reaching base wasn't something to be overly concerned about.

The key was to quickly get the Outs.

Having made up his mind, Narumiya was ready to go after Seidou High School's baseball team.

Meanwhile, in Seidou's dugout, the Coach, Kataoka, was in a state of extreme conflict.

Miyuki's hit greatly lifted the morale of Seidou High School's baseball team.

The team had fallen into despair. For a brief moment, the normally resolute Seidou players had their heads down, feeling extremely pressured.

Seidou High School's current situation was extremely perilous.

It was no wonder the players were feeling so disheartened.

But Miyuki's hit served as a shot of adrenaline, instantly restoring the players' clarity and fighting spirit.

That's right, the game wasn't over yet. How could they give up so easily?

Even if Inajitsu High School was a formidable opponent that seemed impossible to defeat, Seidou would still try to tear off a piece from them.

Though their morale was back, the truth was that the difficulties Seidou was facing hadn't changed.

For some unknown reason, Miyuki had managed to hit Narumiya's new pitch!

While luck played a part, Miyuki's batting skills were undeniably instrumental.

Even though Sawamura had shared all the information about Narumiya's new pitch, who else besides Miyuki could have hit it on the first try?

Even if the team knew about Narumiya's pitch, they might not have been able to make contact with it this fast.

In fact, before Narumiya developed his new pitch, Seidou's players were already struggling to deal with his other pitches and fastballs.

Now that he had a new pitch, there was no comparison.

This meant that, apart from Miyuki's hit, Seidou's team was unlikely to get another hit in this inning.

If they couldn't get another hit, Miyuki wouldn't score.

'That base hit would be useless!'

In the ninth inning, there was a chance that with that successful hit, it would be the cleanup's turn to bat.

But the real question was: Would Narumiya really face Sawamura and Miyuki one-on-one?

If you had asked Seidou's players before, they would have been certain of Mei's pride. He wouldn't bow to anyone.

So naturally, he would choose to face Sawamura in a head-to-head battle.

But after today's game, if you asked Seidou's players, they would probably have serious doubts in their hearts.

Narumiya had changed too much during today's game. The once arrogant pitcher had started to shed his selfish habits.

Now, Narumiya was more mature in his thinking, always considering the overall benefit of the team.

Given that Seidou was at a critical point in the game…

Coach Kataoka couldn't calculate the exact odds.

But he knew that they would be extremely slim.

'At this moment, in such a life-or-death situation, it was time for the secret weapon.'

If he hadn't foreseen such a scenario, Kataoka would never have thought to promote Lee-Hyun.

If it were anyone else standing on base, even someone like Kuramochi…

Kataoka would have immediately replaced them with Lee-Hyun.

But now, it was Miyuki standing at first base.

In today's game, Seidou's chances of winning relied heavily on two players.

First and foremost, of course, was their Ace, Sawamura.

Without Sawamura on the mound, even if Seidou tied the game, they wouldn't have confidence for the remaining two innings.

Apart from Sawamura, the most important player was Miyuki.

Whether in offense or defense, Miyuki was the indispensable core of Seidou's baseball team.

It was hard to imagine the kind of crisis Seidou would face if he were replaced.

And besides replacing Miyuki, there was another unsettling thought.

'Would replacing Miyuki with Lee-Hyun guarantee a run?'

Right now, with one Out and a runner on first, the situation was very different from no Outs and a runner on first.

If there were no Outs, Lee-Hyun's chances of scoring would be higher—about 60-70%.

But with one Out, the situation became much more difficult.

Should Kataoka replace Miyuki with Lee-Hyun? Or should he leave things as they are?

These conflicting thoughts swirled in Kataoka's mind, making it hard for him to make a decision.

There were pros and cons to both choices for Seidou's team.

Not replacing him would mean little chance of scoring.

But replacing him didn't guarantee a score, and even if it did, there could be endless problems later.

Kataoka kept glancing at Lee-Hyun, making him feel like he was being tossed about by the wind.

To be honest, Lee-Hyun never expected that Coach Kataoka would want him to go on at this moment.

It felt like a joke.

He might have been asked to replace someone else, but replacing the team captain, Miyuki?

This wasn't the final inning. Even if they had to make a desperate move, it shouldn't be now.

In fact, not only him but none of the players on Seidou High School's team had thought of this before the game.

Seidou High School had, of course, prepared a secret weapon. But before the game, they probably didn't want to use it. The best secret weapon is one that doesn't need to be used.

Once this secret weapon was used, it would mean Seidou High School was already in a desperate situation.

"Want to gamble?"

Coach Kataoka thought for a while and finally made up his mind to take a gamble.

If you think about it, Coach Kataoka actually had no other choice at this point.

By sending Lee-Hyun onto the field now, they would have a chance to tie the game now.

And this hope wasn't small.

As for the potential consequences of scoring later, that was something to deal with after they scored.

If they didn't let Lee-Hyun play, then Seidou High School's chances of scoring in the remaining innings would be extremely slim.

The Inajitsu High School baseball team would do everything in their power to stop Seidou from scoring.

They had surely put a lot of work into this over the past six months.

Who knows what kinds of tricks they had prepared? If Seidou High School's offense ended up being just what Inashiro had prepared for, it would be disastrous!

So in the end, Coach Kataoka made the decision to send in the rookie.

Even if the Inajitsu High School players were clever, they would never have imagined that Seidou High School would send a first-year rookie with little skill into the game at such a critical moment.

Speaking of Lee-Hyun…

Since they decided to use Lee-Hyun as a secret weapon, his training focused mostly on base running and bunting.

Lee-Hyun was very talented at base running, which was probably because he was naturally fast.

But his bunting ability left a lot to be desired.

Up until now, he could only handle pitches around 140 km/h. If the pitch speed increased by five more km/h, he wouldn't be able to control the direction of the bunt.

If it weren't for that, the best way to use Lee-Hyun would have been to let him bunt and then steal a base.

Unfortunately, the opponent was Narumiya, with the Tokyo Prince's pitch speed and power.

Lee-Hyun simply wouldn't be able to deflect his pitches.

So letting him bunt on the field would only give Inajitsu High School a free Out.

With this in mind, Coach Kataoka had already made a decision.

He needed to train Lee-Hyun well.

Otherwise, this secret weapon would be too much of a resource drain.

Using Miyuki's hit to let Lee-Hyun show his skills...

Just thinking about it made Coach Kataoka feel pained.

"Seidou High School, substitution!"

It looked long, but during those ten or so seconds, Coach Kataoka went through a huge mental shift.

But in reality, it only took a few seconds.

Just as Narumiya was preparing to pitch, Coach Kataoka signaled the substitution.

The players on the Inajitsu High School baseball team instinctively thought that the one being replaced should be Maezono.

That guy didn't contribute much in this game except for looking scary.

So, the Inashiro team naturally thought that if Seidou High School made a substitution, it would be Maezono going off.

As for who else might be substituted, the players from Inashiro, their supporters, and Coach Kunitomo never even considered it.

And it wasn't just them. Even the media on the stands filming for Seidou High School's fans never imagined someone else would be substituted.

If Sawamura Eijun was the ace of Seidou High School, then Miyuki Kazuya was the foundation of the team.

Who would ever replace the cornerstone of the team?

It didn't make sense!

Then, an astonishing scene unfolded.

The one who everyone thought would never be substituted was taken off the field.

Lee-Hyun replaced Miyuki and was now the pinch runner!

"WHAT?!?!"

"WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?!"

"AGAINST INASHIRO?!!!!!"

"REPLACING MIYUKI?!"

"HAS KATAOKA GONE CRAZY?!?!!!"

"DID HE GIVE UP THE GAME?!!!"

Seeing this, everyone was shocked.

No one could understand why Seidou High School would do this.

Even some of Seidou High School's die-hard fans stood up, visibly bewildered.

"Who's Going To Catch Now That Miyuki's Been Replaced?"

That was a very real question!

Forget about Miyuki's batting ability; with the full power of the Dai Maou, Sawamura Eijun, who could catch his pitches?

If Seidou High School didn't find a proper replacement, they would collapse on their own without Inashiro even having to try.

The stands were in chaos as if they had exploded.

The players in Inajitsu High School's rest area were also stunned.

They clearly hadn't expected this scene and had no idea how to respond.

On the pitcher's mound, Narumiya looked at Seidou's Coach Kataoka with a confused expression.

Though Narumiya had always looked down on Kataoka's coaching skills, thinking he was younger and less experienced than their own Coach Kunitomo since he had led Seidou High School's baseball team to two national championships, Kataoka couldn't be a fool, could he?

"How could he do this?"

Even if they were giving up on the game, wouldn't it make sense to make a more good-looking decision than to replace their main Catcher?

Narumiya was bewildered.

The players at Inajitsu High School were equally puzzled.

The players on Seidou High School's team, however, understood exactly what their Coach was trying to do.

But they were still worried.

It was Lee-Hyun's first time playing in a major tournament in West Tokyo, let alone at the Jingu Stadium.

With tens of thousands of spectators watching, how could an ordinary person perform well under such pressure?

This was a big question, and a particularly significant one.

But they can't just sit still!

"LEE-HYUN!"

"IT IS YOUR TIME TO SHINE LITTLE BRAT!"

"SHOW THEM HOW COOL YOUR IMPORTED ASS IS!!"

"IF YOU DON'T SCORE I WILL GRILL YOU ALIVE LITTLE SHIT!!!"

"I WILL GIVE UP K-BOB YOU HEAR ME!!"

"RUN LIKE THE WIND!"

"YOU CAN DO IT!!"

As he is now on the field, they could only entrust their dreams to him.

…

T/N: No one saw that coming…