Chapter 134: Over Their Bodies!!

In the dugout of the Komadai Fujimaki High School Baseball Team.

Coach Nitta's face was a deep shade of purple.

On the field, Sawamura was handling the team's most reliable players as easily as chopping vegetables.

One by one, they were dealt with.

Throughout this process, Sawamura maintained an emotionless expression, his cold demeanor revealing an overwhelming sense of power.

Without even needing to look at the ugly faces of his own players, Coach Nitta could clearly feel the immense pressure his team was under just from the atmosphere emanating from Sawamura.

If this had been before, as soon as his players performed poorly, Coach Nitta wouldn't have hesitated to criticize them harshly.

He would have made sure those guys knew they were worthless to express his frustration.

But now, he just couldn't bring himself to be overly harsh on these players, whom he had taken so much pride in.

He knew very well that it wasn't that his players weren't trying hard enough or giving their all.

The main issue was that their opponents were just too strong.

The Great Demon King, Sawamura.

Looking at the imposing figure on the pitcher's mound, Coach Nitta's heart was filled with bitterness.

No one could understand what he was feeling.

Around two years ago, when Hongou Masamune decided to join the Komadai Fujimaki High School Baseball Team, nearly all the coaches had high expectations for his arrival.

Even the school principal was excited about it.

Although the Komadai Fujimaki High School Baseball Team didn't have any glorious past records, they were still quite competitive in Hokkaido.

They just couldn't break through the blockade of the two dominant teams in the region, which prevented them from reaching Koshien.

However, they had often finished in the top four in the region and even made it to the finals a few times.

With a powerhouse like Hongou joining the team, it wasn't hard to see why the principal and coaches were practically his fans, willing to fulfill any request from Hongou.

But as the coach of the baseball team, Coach Nitta wasn't as enthusiastic about Hongou's joining as the others.

Over the years, he had seen many talented baseball players.

But Hokkaido's environment was not ideal for baseball.

The two dominant teams had survived mainly because they had indoor training facilities.

Simply put, they had money!

With money to back them, they were naturally at an advantage over other teams in Hokkaido.

While the Komadai Fujimaki High School Baseball Team wasn't exactly a working-class team, they were certainly not rich either.

They couldn't afford the luxury of indoor training facilities.

Because of this, many talented players who joined the team failed to develop and eventually gave up baseball.

Compared to those with raw talent but no drive, Coach Nitta admired the players he coached.

Although their talent wasn't on par with Hongou's, they had the heart to improve.

As long as they had that heart, they could overcome all obstacles and eventually stand tall on the baseball field.

As for someone like Hongou, who was from a privileged background, they could go do whatever they were used to.

Unexpectedly, after joining the team, Hongou turned out to be quite different from what Coach Nitta had imagined.

Even when treated poorly, even when upset, he never gave up on baseball.

On the contrary, he seemed to put in even more effort because of it.

The fragrance of plum blossoms comes from the bitter cold!

With someone like him on the team, dominating the nation wasn't impossible.

Even though Coach Nitta was already in his sixties, his passion had never cooled.

He always believed that one day, under his leadership, the Komadai Fujimaki High School Baseball Team would rise to dominate the nation.

No one expected things to turn out this way.

Despite all their effort, a new challenger emerged unexpectedly.

The mighty Seidou High School Baseball Team rose, and the Great Demon King, Sawamura, appeared.

Who could have thought that Seidou, a team that hadn't made it to Koshien for several years, would suddenly rise!

Under their new ace, Sawamura, they cut through opponents one after another, crushing them, and ultimately reached the peak of the nation.

The performance of the Komadai Fujimaki High School Baseball Team was solid, but compared to Seidou High, they always felt lacking.

They could clearly sense the gap.

Last year, when they lost, Coach Nitta thought to himself:

The Seidou Baseball Team's lineup was too perfect, not only in defense but also in offense—their batting line was the most powerful in the nation.

Just wait another year, just one more year.

Once the third-year players from Seidou graduated, Coach Nitta was confident their offensive power would decline, and the remaining players wouldn't be able to maintain such a fearsome offense.

In fact, Coach Nitta's thoughts weren't wrong.

After Yuuki and the other third-years graduated, Seidou's offensive strength indeed dropped a level.

But so what?

The already strong Sawamura had evolved into the true Great Demon King.

Though the team's offensive power had weakened, under Sawamura's leadership, their defense was growing stronger.

Now, they were the nation's number one defense!

To this day, no team, not even the legendary American Dream Team, has been able to completely defeat Seidou's defense.

And right now.

The game had been going for six or seven innings, and the Komadai Fujimaki High School Baseball Team had only given up one run.

Hongou had managed to suppress the mighty Seidou lineup to this extent.

Could anyone say his strength wasn't impressive?

Ridiculous. If Hongou's strength couldn't even be called strong, what would real strength look like?

Hongou, now, was truly the top pitcher in the nation, the true ace of the Komadai.

Without a doubt, he had completed his task excellently, suppressing Seidou's batting lineup.

The reason the Komadai were now trailing by one point to Seidou wasn't because of Hongou; it was because of the team as a whole.

Up until now, apart from Renji's unexpected single, no one had managed to get a hit off Sawamura.

Not a single hit.

Without even a hit, scoring seemed impossible.

Sawamura, on the pitcher's mound, looked like an invincible warrior.

Where he stood, that place was forbidden.

Coach Nitta couldn't see any possibility that his players would manage to get a hit off Sawamura.

There was no hope—absolutely none.

Though it was harsh, this was the reality.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Komadai players felt like they were glued to the strike zone.

Despite Sawamura's fast pitches, they knew getting hit by such a pitch would definitely hurt.

But the players of the Komadai were desperate.

Even if they got hit by a pitch, they would still try to get on base.

Looking at the players pressing close to the strike zone, cold sweat began to form on Sawamura.

What was going on with these guys?

Were they trying to cheat?

Sawamura, who had experienced thousands of games, was facing his first encounter with such shameless players, especially in the Koshien finals.

It was incomprehensible!

But he had to admit, the Komadai players were indeed resourceful.

If they can get a hit, they would pressure him and his control, even if they would get hit by the ball.

Clever idea!

But just wanting to hit the ball with their bodies wasn't enough.

Though people say baseball is a game where the ball doesn't have eyes...

The ball in Sawamura's hand certainly had eyes.

It wasn't a ball you could just hit with your body because you wanted to.

Sawamura made his stride and pitched!

…