Unable to stop him!
Watching Carlos already on second base, both Sawamura and Miyuki's eyes flashed with a hint of hostility.
The determination of the Inashiro Industrial High School baseball team and Carlos' speed...
They were both stronger than they had originally expected.
Before they knew it, the Inashiro Industrial High School baseball team had already completed their initial setup, and the next step was the final showdown!
This was, of course, not good news for the players of the Seidou High School baseball team.
Especially for Sawamura and Miyuki.
This event was a heavy blow to them both. They had prepared thoroughly, only to see things fall apart at the last moment, just as they were about to succeed.
'That's how a game is; there's nothing to get too hung up about.'
Miyuki worried that Sawamura might get too down, quickly signaled him.
It was Miyuki who had just devised the battle plan, and Sawamura was the one executing it.
The plan had been unanimously agreed upon by both of them, meaning they both thought it was viable. At least, in their minds, it was.
But why hadn't the plan worked?
The reason was actually very simple—Sawamura was slower than Carlos when executing the plan.
Of course, it could also be said that they had underestimated the situation.
No matter the reason, in the recent confrontation...
They had failed. Though it was close, that slight difference led to two completely different outcomes.
Now, the Inashiro Industrial High School baseball team could boldly proceed with their plan.
Meanwhile, the Seidou High School baseball team was still unaware of it.
If they had failed to see through Inashiro's plan from the start, that would be one thing. Everyone slips up sometimes, and if that situation arose, there would be no way to avoid it.
But that wasn't the case.
While Inashiro Industrial High School was executing its plan, Seidou High School had noticed.
Not only had they noticed, but they had also come up with a counter-strategy.
They saw through the opponent's moves yet still let them succeed.
Regardless of how many objective factors were involved or how fast Carlos was...
Seidou High School had clearly lost this round, and they had lost badly.
This made the Seidou players begin to doubt their own abilities.
"Is there something wrong with us that we haven't noticed?"
This thought barely formed when Sawamura and Miyuki immediately squashed it.
They couldn't think like that. Otherwise, they'd end up getting stuck in a vicious cycle.
Shaking their heads, they pushed everything they had just gone through out of their minds.
The task now for the Seidou baseball team was to get the Outs and prevent Carlos from returning to home plate.
As for the mistakes made during the game, they would review them after the match...
Right now, their most important task was to shut down the opponent and prevent any more runs.
It didn't matter if they couldn't fully see through Inashiro's exact plan. After all, in baseball, everyone has their own tricks.
One person could never fully read all of their opponents.
In this case, to deal with the opponent, they had to rely on overwhelming strength and an unyielding defense that gave the opponent no chances.
Sawamura was confident about this.
He was confident not just in himself but in the teammates behind him as well.
Sawamura believed that no matter what tricks Inashiro's team had, they could handle it.
They wouldn't fall for the same tricks they did last year.
How could anyone trip over the same stone twice?
With that in mind, Sawamura prepared himself for his third opponent, Inashiro Industrial's pitcher, Narumiya.
As he was about to pitch, he suddenly received a signal from Miyuki.
"Hmm?"
Sawamura quickly turned around and immediately saw something incredible.
Second baseman Kominato was stuck at second base with Carlos.
Unlike first and third basemen, second basemen typically don't stand right by the base. Even if there's a runner on second, the second baseman or shortstop usually doesn't occupy the base directly.
They typically position themselves so they can cover both their defensive area and second base.
Like now, Kominato had been standing around three or four meters away from second base. This was a reasonable distance—if something happened, he could dash back to second base in a single step.
There was nothing wrong with this. The problem was Carlos.
Kominato had moved away from second base, and Carlos moved with him, heading toward third base.
When Kominato tried to rush back, Carlos immediately followed...
And they became tangled together.
At this point, Kominato didn't dare leave second base.
If he left, Carlos would dare run five or six meters ahead.
With his monstrous speed, Carlos could cover that distance and reach third base without needing the batter's help.
Although second base is a scoring position, it's still far from third...
If Carlos managed to reach third base safely, Seidou would be in real trouble.
On the pitcher's mound, Sawamura nodded in understanding.
He now knew what Inashiro's strategy was: using Carlos on second base to tear a hole in Seidou's infield defense.
This way, if Narumiya could hit the ball to second base—where Kominato, the original fielder, had been—
They would have a very high chance of getting a hit!
"Nice try," Sawamura muttered on the pitcher's mound, his earlier frustrations vanishing as he grinned.
The unknown opponent was always the most terrifying, which is why Sawamura had been cautious about Inashiro, not being able to fully predict Coach Kunitomo's intentions.
But now that he saw their move, Sawamura could only laugh.
He had thought Coach Kunitomo was a genius, but it turned out the plan was nothing extraordinary.
Though the strategy was clever, Sawamura saw through it clearly and had multiple ways to counter it.
With a slight nod to Miyuki, Sawamura signaled: "Don't worry. I won't let them hit to that side."
Sawamura was confident in his pitching and control.
Not to mention, Narumiya was no formidable batter.
Getting Narumiya out wasn't going to be difficult.
With that resolve, Sawamura made his stride and pitched.
Whrroosh!
The small baseball shot toward the outside corner of the strike zone like an arrow.
Avoiding a hit to second base was easy.
All he had to do was aim for the outside corner!
Narumiya, being a left-handed hitter, would hit any outside pitch toward the third baseman and shortstop's area.
This not only prevented Narumiya from hitting into the gap, but it also thwarted Carlos' steal attempt.
After all, if Carlos ran further, he would be heading toward third...
And if the ball was hit to that area, with the skills of Sawamura and Kanemaru, even Carlos wouldn't easily steal a base!
Sawamura had thought through everything before pitching.
With full confidence, he watched the pitch fly.
Then, something truly unbelievable happened. Narumiya, whose bunting skills were subpar, actually attempted a bunt.
'Now that was interesting!'
After releasing the ball, Sawamura began running toward second base.
If Narumiya thought this was an open spot, Sawamura would make sure to teach him a lesson.
Though he had always believed Narumiya's bunting skills were terrible...
Even a blind cat can catch a mouse sometimes.
What if Narumiya got lucky and managed to bunt into that spot?
So Sawamura couldn't afford to be careless.
Sawamura had been through many battles in both this life and one before it.
He knew that in baseball, once a team lets their guard down...
They're not far from disaster.
That's why he would never let his guard down. In every battle, he would go all out.
Just like now, Sawamura had set a trap for Narumiya.
He was just waiting for Narumiya to fall into it.
Ping!
The ball was hit, but it didn't land in the second baseman's area.
Instead, it rolled toward third base.
'Told you so!'
Sawamura chuckled, realizing he had overestimated Narumiya.
This guy may have acted like he knew what he was doing, but his bunting skills were absolutely awful.
He was leagues behind Sawamura in that department.
Snap!
Third baseman Kanemaru sprinted forward, snatched the ball, and without hesitation, threw it to first base.
Narumiya barely got the bat off the ground, let alone make it to first base.
With one Out, Sawamura turned to praise Kanemaru when his eyes suddenly widened.
A figure dashed past him at third base.
It was like a panther on the hunt, racing toward home plate.
"BACK HOME!!!"
Miyuki, from the catcher's position, immediately shouted the command.
Snap!
"OUT!"
The ball was caught by Maezono, who swiftly dealt with Narumiya.
Then, he got into position and hurled the ball to home plate with all his might.
Snap!
The ball landed perfectly in Miyuki's Mitt, and before he even had time to look up, a wave of cheers erupted from the crowd.
"SCORE!!!"
Carlos had made it back to home plate, securing a miraculous run for the Inashiro Industrial High School baseball team.
It truly felt like a miracle.
Not even a few moments ago, when Carlos was at second base, no one but their own team believed he could make it back to home plate.
Over the course of this year, the great demon Sawamura had shown everyone too many miracles.
Throughout the game, there had been other batters who reached base.
But almost all of them had been dealt with by Sawamura.
People had seemingly forgotten the last time Sawamura had allowed a run.
Even when Carlos reached second, no one thought he'd actually score.
Yet, everyone was proven wrong.
In this epic battle, the Inashiro Industrial High School baseball team used a more decisive strategy...
And in the very first inning, they had taken the lead!
…