<91> Do You Think You're Furuya Satoru?

Chapter 91: Do You Think You're Furuya Satoru?

After Furuya was out, the next two batters from Seidou High School Baseball Team also failed to make any progress.

An enraged Narumiya, like an angry bull, was hurling pitches with terrifying intensity.

The 8th and 9th batters from Seidou couldn't even make contact with the ball, both striking out in quick succession.

With three outs, the inning ended, and the game moved into the top of the fourth inning, with the score still 0-0.

In Seidou's dugout, the atmosphere was heavy. Even Coach Kataoka's face reflected a shift from optimism to concern. It was clear that Seidou's situation wasn't as favorable as expected.

Miyuki pushed up his glasses with his ring finger. "What a shame! We had such a good chance and couldn't score."

For Seidou, this result was hard to accept. According to their original plan, Furuya would pitch the first three innings, and then they would switch pitchers.

In the past, Seidou couldn't afford to employ this kind of rotational pitching strategy due to their lack of pitching depth. But now, with Furuya's addition, their pitching lineup had seen an unprecedented boost in strength.

Though none of Seidou's pitchers could yet match Narumiya's ace-level skill, their rotation strategy could still potentially disrupt Inashiro's rhythm.

This strategy had been set in stone. However, the failure to score in the first three innings created significant risk if they chose to switch pitchers now—especially with Inashiro's 1st and 2nd batters up next, the team's most reliable scoring duo.

"What do we do?"

The players looked to their coach, unsure whether to keep Furuya in the game.

Coach Kataoka seemed to briefly consider letting Furuya continue, but he quickly made a decisive call.

"Tanba!"

The fans in the stands soon saw that Seidou had switched pitchers.

"Furuya moves to the outfield, replacing the outfielder Kusunoki, while their ace, Tanba, takes the mound."

Seeing Tanba step onto the pitcher's mound, Seidou's diehard supporters in the stands gasped in unison. They were clearly worried about the next stage of the game.

"When Furuya is on the mound, I feel so secure. Now, I feel like my heart's in my throat!"

"Can't they just let that monster kid pitch a few more innings?"

"I mean, he still seems full of energy…"

The fans weren't wrong. The game had been fast-paced, and though Furuya's stamina was depleting quickly, he had thrown fewer than 30 pitches by this point.

In such a situation, it was hard for the spectators to believe that Furuya was already exhausted.

"If they let Furuya pitch himself to exhaustion now, there'll be no way for Seidou to respond if the game takes unexpected turns later," someone explained with a wry smile.

From a rational perspective, it made sense for Seido to switch pitchers now, considering the challenges that might arise later in the game.

However, this decision wasn't without risk.

As the chubby reporter had noted, the key now was whether Seidou's newly subbed ace could hold off Inashiro's offense.

If Tanba could withstand the pressure, Seidou's overall strength would take a significant leap forward.

Until now, Furuya's performance as a first-year monster had been commendable. But relying solely on him wouldn't be enough to lead Seidou out of its current predicament.

Furuya had many issues to work on—stamina being one of the biggest.

If Seidou wanted to rise to the top this year, the pitching staff would need to share the burden.

Tanba was the key figure in this effort.

If Seidou High School's baseball team truly wanted to rise to the top, they absolutely couldn't do it without the strength of this ace pitcher.

As everyone eagerly watched, Tanba took the mound.

Without any fancy movements, he directly threw a fastball at Carlos.

Whoosh!

Seeing the fastball speeding toward him, Carlos clenched his teeth in frustration.

Earlier, he had barely managed to keep up with Furuya's 150 km/h-plus pitches but still couldn't make solid contact. He had no complaints about that.

But now, did Tanba really think he could do the same?

"Who do you think you are? Do you think your pitching is on the same level as that first-year monster? Stop dreaming!"

As the ball approached, Carlos decisively swung his bat.

Facing his familiar rival Tanba, he was confident he could hit the ball.

However, the moment his bat made contact with the ball, Carlos's expression changed.

Crack!

The instant the bat collided with the ball, Carlos felt his hands grow heavy.

Since they had faced off before, he could clearly feel the difference.

Seidou's ace pitcher, Tanba, was throwing much heavier pitches than before.

And not just a little heavier—significantly so.

What should have been a long hit ended up traveling barely 30 meters.

Whoosh!

A nimble figure, seeing the ball hit and bounce, instantly sprang into action.

He quickly ran to the ball's landing spot, caught it effortlessly in his glove, and then swiftly threw it to first base.

Smack!

"Out!"

Carlos was easily put out.

This extinguished any momentum Inashiro Industrial was building, like a fire suddenly snuffed out.

"Tanba's pitching is unexpectedly sharp today!"

The captain of Inashiro's baseball team scratched his head and muttered bitterly.

The one thing they feared most—Seidou's rotation pitching—was clearly throwing them off their game.

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