To accurately guess the thoughts of Sawamura and Miyuki, this clearly isn't something that Carlos could do.
In the Inashiro Industrial High School baseball team, the only one who could do this was Kunitomo.
Only he could study Sawamura and Miyuki so thoroughly, and only he could predict the duo of Sawamura and Miyuki from the very beginning.
"This old fox."
On the pitcher's mound, Sawamura muttered unhappily.
He had seen the level of Kunitomo's coaching firsthand. Over the past few months, Inashiro had been lying in wait, and there was definitely a reason for it. They must have carefully planned a conspiracy, waiting for him to jump right into it.
This kind of confrontation made Sawamura feel both excited and helpless.
Such a challenging game certainly excited him, but facing an opponent like Kunitomo, Sawamura couldn't help but feel a little helpless.
This was an entirely unknown guy, and no one knew what kind of scoring model Kunitomo was plotting in his mind.
In the current high school baseball world, among all the coaches, the one that Sawamura truly feared to this extent was Kunitomo.
Even if other coaches had plans, although Sawamura might not immediately figure them out, he could usually get a general sense of their tactics.
After all, there are only so many strategies in baseball.
The strategies that the opponent can use are just a few.
As long as they were prepared, no matter what tactics the opponent used, they wouldn't find it hard to solve the problem.
Only Kunitomo and his Inashiro Industrial High School team were completely unpredictable. It was impossible to know what kind of strategy they would adopt.
In this situation, it was very difficult for Sawamura and the others to come up with targeted tactics.
Sawamura Eijun looked up at the catcher, Miyuki, who was carefully observing Carlos on first base.
The little black guy was incredibly fast! Once he reached the base, Seidou would have no choice but to be on alert.
No outs, with a runner on first base.
Strictly speaking, this situation wouldn't be considered a difficult one to handle in a baseball game.
But now standing on first base was Carlos, turning what wasn't a crisis into one.
Even with Sawamura and Miyuki's abilities, this was still a serious threat.
Last Fall, it was in this exact kind of situation that they suffered a big loss.
Inashiro Industrial High School's baseball team scored two quick runs, putting Seidou into a losing position. In the end, they couldn't even catch up.
That was the only game Seidou High School's baseball team had lost in an official match since Sawamura joined.
If not for that blemish, Seidou's baseball team would be very close to the legendary position right now.
And that game became an indelible stain on Seidou High School's baseball team's reputation.
'This situation absolutely cannot happen again!'
Sawamura and Miyuki looked at each other and saw the determination in each other's eyes.
That's right. They would never allow a second defeat like that to happen.
They couldn't afford to lose in this situation again.
'We absolutely cannot let Carlos reach home plate.'
At this moment, Sawamura and Miyuki were completely on the same wavelength.
After making the decision, they immediately began to think about how to solve the current dilemma.
Sawamura glanced coldly at first base. If Carlos made any move, even a slight one, he would immediately make sure to tag him out.
But clearly, Carlos wasn't stupid. They all knew each other very well, and Carlos knew exactly what Sawamura was capable of.
Seeing Sawamura's sharp gaze, Carlos quickly played the obedient role, staying still at first base without daring to make a move.
He wasn't foolish enough to look for trouble.
In this situation, even Sawamura couldn't do anything to him.
'Since the runner isn't doing anything dangerous, let's focus on the batter first,' Miyuki suggested.
With that, Sawamura had no other choice but to concentrate on facing Inashiro's second batter, Shirakawa.
Although Shirakawa didn't appear to be physically imposing and didn't give off the same oppressive aura as other well-known baseball players, underestimating him would be a mistake. If they did, they might not even know how they lost.
This was Shirakawa, a player whose batting skills were honed to a freakish level.
It seemed like there was no pitch he couldn't handle, no ball he couldn't hit...
Facing a guy like that, even Sawamura and Miyuki couldn't afford to be careless.
Before throwing, Sawamura deliberately glared at Carlos, afraid that he might act out of turn.
Carlos, however, behaved perfectly, just like a dog on a leash, staying near first base and not daring to move a step.
'Is he really this obedient?'
In Sawamura's mind, Carlos was usually an aggressive player. He hadn't expected him to be this tame, making Sawamura doubt his own memory.
His memory should be correct.
Sawamura was sure of this.
So, was Carlos' current behavior just to show that he wasn't thinking about stealing second? That he never planned to shake the pitcher's confidence by using the situation with a runner on first?
What they really wanted was for Sawamura to face Shirakawa directly.
'Why?'
Either they had complete confidence in Shirakawa's hitting, or they wanted to walk Carlos to second base!
Miyuki, after analyzing the situation, quickly arrived at the answer.
'The true goal was to move Carlos into scoring position.'
Judging from their actions, this possibility seemed the most likely.
At this point, Miyuki suddenly had a moment of clarity. He thought he could finally figure out what Coach Kunitomo was up to.
He subtly signaled to Sawamura Eijun.
Having played together for so long, they were in perfect sync. The moment Miyuki signaled, Sawamura immediately understood.
After a slight nod, he decisively threw the ball.
Whrroosh!
The baseball cut through the air like a sharp bullet, flying toward its target.
At the same time Sawamura pitched, Carlos leaped up and sprinted toward second base.
Shirakawa, who had been in a normal hitting stance, suddenly switched to a bunt.
"A Bunt!"
The plan of Inashiro's baseball team was now obvious — they were intentionally advancing Carlos to second base.
Although it wasn't clear yet what their next move would be, once Carlos was safely on second base, it would mean he was in scoring position.
This was a significant pressure for Seidou's defense.
Miyuki had already seen this, which is why he had given Sawamura the signal.
Ping!
When the ball was struck, it didn't roll toward first base or third base.
Instead, it rolled right toward the pitcher's mound.
Shirakawa looked bewildered, clearly not expecting the ball to roll in that direction. This wasn't the outcome he had planned.
But it wasn't Shirakawa's fault.
The one who orchestrated it was Sawamura, who had anticipated the bunt and used a Splitter.
The pitch fooled Shirakawa, and by the time Shirakawa realized it, the ball was already out of his reach.
The ball rolled straight toward Sawamura, who swiftly snatched it up with his mitt and immediately turned to throw it to second base.
Aware of the situation, Seidou wasn't going to let Carlos advance to second base without a fight.
Shortstop Kuramochi was already prepared.
At second base, ready to make the tag and get the Out.
A two-for-one move!
This plan had been devised by Miyuki when he figured out Kunitomo's tactics.
Seeing the subtle signs, it was clear that Miyuki was truly a great catcher. He had the skill and insight to read the game like no other.
Everything had been calculated, and they executed it perfectly, shortening the time as much as possible.
The only thing they didn't expect was Carlos.
This guy ran so fast it was like he was flying.
Although Sawamura and Kuramochi reacted quickly, it wasn't enough.
By the time Sawamura threw the ball to Kuramochi, Carlos had already stepped onto second base.
"SAFE!!"
This outcome wasn't something Seidou had anticipated.
They felt a little stunned.
The defense strategy had been sound and successful.
But they couldn't stop their opponent.
Carlos had made it to second base.
"Throw to first!"
Miyuki remained calm, giving Kuramochi a decisive order.
Although Carlos couldn't be stopped, the outs that still needed to be made had to be dealt with.
Such as the one on Shirakawa.
Kuramochi grumbled but quickly threw the ball to first base.
One Out, runner on second.
Even though Miyuki had successfully seen through Kunitomo's plan and made the necessary adjustments, their efforts still fell short.
Carlos had successfully advanced to second base and was now in scoring position.
Seidou's situation had become much more difficult.
Next up to bat was the third batter, pitcher Narumiya Mei.
…