Inashiro reaction was swift!
All the infielders set up for a defensive showdown, preparing for the final battle.
"It seems like Inashiro's players aren't planning to give Seidou any chance to score!"
"Of course not. They just managed to get ahead by one point. How could they let Seidou easily catch up?"
"That one point might be the deciding factor. Inashiro won't give it up! They'll do everything they can to stop Seidou from scoring."
The fans in the stands all seemed to be 'experts', analyzing the situation.
However, the players on the field didn't have so many thoughts on their minds.
They knew each other too well, and they understood exactly what the other side was thinking.
Take Sawamura, for example.
Inashiro's players had clearly shown they weren't going to give any opportunity for a bunt.
They forced Maezono to face off directly with Narumiya!
Inashiro knew well enough about Maezono's skills. They thought that Narumiya could handle Maezono without too much trouble.
As long as they prevented him from getting a bunt hit and didn't let Seidou force any runs… everything would go smoothly.
Similarly, if Maezono managed to hit the ball cleanly, it would be difficult for them to stop Sawamura from returning home.
Roaar!
SNAP!
"STRIKE!"
The first pitch and Maezono didn't even have time to swing. The baseball appeared in front of him and flew past, landing in the Mitt of Tadano.
Maezono had no reaction at all during the entire process.
"Good job!"
Tadano was encouraged by the Strike and tossed the ball back to Narumiya, urging him to keep going.
Narumiya didn't hesitate and quickly threw the second pitch.
'Fast!'
'The ball was incredibly fast!'
In the blink of an eye, the ball was already in front of Maezono.
Almost everyone thought he wouldn't be able to even touch it.
Not just the audience and Inashiro's players—Seidou's own players didn't have much confidence in their fifth batter either.
But no one expected it.
This usually unremarkable fifth batter stepped up when it mattered.
With a tense expression, he swung his bat.
PING!!
By chance, the ball struck the bat and was sent flying.
"Eh?"
"He hit it?"
The first reaction from Seidou's teammates and the majority of the audience wasn't surprise, but shock.
How was this possible?
Before they could process what had happened, the ball was already soaring toward the outfield.
Carlos the center fielder, who ran after the ball with his speed was able to catch up with it and caught it in the end.
It made everyone sigh.
To get a hit, skill is important, but luck plays a big part too.
A ball that lands right above the outfielder's head—how could it not be caught?
Though Maezono was Out, Seidou's offense didn't stop.
On third base, Sawamura stamped hard on the base and sprinted toward home plate!
From his own observations, he still had a good chance.
If he could just keep running like this, he was confident he could reach home before the ball was thrown back.
Whoosh!
Snap!
But unexpectedly, a laser-like throw came from the outfield straight to home plate.
By the time Tadano caught the ball, Sawamura was only five or six meters from home.
Sawamura gritted his teeth and pushed himself harder.
For others, those five or six meters would feel like a chasm.
But for Sawamura, with his special abilities, it didn't seem like much.
As long as he didn't make any mistakes, he was sure he could make it…
Tap!
"OUT!!"
Double play!
Sawamura, who had tried to use his flexible arms to steal home, was blocked by Tadano, who was already prepared.
Tadano pulled his Mitt back just in time and slapped it onto Sawamura's arm, preventing him from reaching the plate.
His arm was slapped with a mitt, and by the time Sawamura stood up, his arm still felt the sting.
It wasn't just his arm that hurt.
'All the efforts had vanished in an instant.'
He had originally thought that his stolen base attempt, though not a hundred percent certain, was absolutely a ten-to-one chance of success.
At the time, the ball hit by Maezono was caught by Carlos, and the position where it was caught was at least fifty or sixty meters from home plate.
From the moment Carlos caught the ball, to when it was thrown back, it naturally took some time!
In baseball, just the ball flying fifty or sixty meters takes about two seconds.
Adding up both ends, it was at least two to three seconds.
Even if the ball flew without any errors and landed in Tadano's mitt, Tadano would still need some time to react.
Taking this into account, the time the Inashiro Industrial High School baseball team had was very limited.
Sawamura himself had only taken about a little over three seconds to return from third base to home plate.
With such a short amount of time, how could his reaction be that quick?
Let alone counteracting his sophisticated base-stealing technique.
Because of his naturally flexible body, Sawamura could change direction in ways beyond ordinary people.
Sawamura only needed to avoid the reach of Tadano's Mitt while falling, and then with one hand, silently complete the steal.
This tactic, he had already used many times before.
He had faced almost all of the top-level opponents across the country.
Sawamura's stealing technique was always successful.
Whenever he used it, up until now, it seemed there had never been a failure.
Whether against national-level opponents, or even those fearsome monsters from America.
Sawamura had showcased this skill before them.
And it had never been countered.
Tadano Itsuki.
Sawamura looked at the guy standing in front of him again, and his evaluation of him kept rising.
Tadano's performance in the earlier confrontation had left a very deep impression on Sawamura.
It made Sawamura clearly realize that the person in front of him wasn't someone to be underestimated.
"How did you know the direction of my steal?"
Curiosity kills the cat. Sawamura was also an ordinary person, and he too had curiosity.
He couldn't help but ask.
At this moment, Tadano didn't hide anything and directly told Sawamura the answer.
"I've seen the same trick no less than ten times!"
Sawamura instantly understood.
There is no strategy in this world that is truly invincible.
Once the opponent sees through it, it's naturally countered.
Just like his own reasoning, others may have thought of a way to counter it, but due to rushed responses, and perhaps the timing not being right, they hadn't been able to counter it before.
That's why he had never been stopped.
But that didn't mean Sawamura's stealing technique was truly unbeatable!
If the opponent specifically targeted it, there were still ways to break it, just like Tadano did. Although he didn't explicitly state how he countered it, Sawamura could almost guess it.
After all, the person who knew Sawamura best was still Sawamura himself.
He himself clearly understood how to counter his own stealing technique.
You definitely can't catch up with it, you must defend against it.
From this perspective, Tadano was indeed clever.
Three Outs, offense and defense exchange.
The Seidou High School baseball team's offense slowed down.
In such a favorable situation, they still couldn't score. This matter was even more damaging to Seidou High School's morale than they had initially imagined.
At the start of the game, Seidou High School's baseball team had already conceded one run, trailing 1:0.
However, at the beginning, no one took that single run too seriously. Though Seidou High School's baseball team was built around Sawamura as their core pitcher, the players were still confident in their offensive abilities.
They believed that catching up to the score wouldn't be difficult.
But by the end of the fourth inning, especially after Sawamura was tagged out at home plate, the players of Seidou High School started to sense a slight sense of crisis.
That one run didn't seem as easily obtainable as they had imagined.
What once seemed like a small one-run deficit was gradually becoming larger, even to the point where it felt like it could become insurmountable.
Shaking his head, Sawamura threw away that absurd thought.
The players of Seidou High School straightened their backs and refocused on the game.
In the top of the fifth inning, it was Inashiro Industrial High School's turn to bat.
Tadano, who had earlier outsmarted Sawamura, was the first to step onto the box.
Sawamura dealt with him without any expression, no reaction at all.
With his tricky pitches, he made Tadano swing and miss twice in a row.
Facing the pitcher who had already struck out ten batters, Tadano knew there was no way he could escape another strikeout.
On the last pitch, he almost gave up trying to hit the ball, merely touching it to disrupt Sawamura's pitching rhythm.
Tadano succeeded!
With his bunt attempt, the ball was touched to the side of first base.
Maezono rushed forward to pick up the ball, then returned to first base.
"OUT!"
One Out, no one on base.
Yabe wasn't someone to easily admit defeat. Although he knew that Sawamura was unstoppable at the moment, he still chose to face him head-on.
"STRIKE!"
"STRIKE!!"
"STRIKE!!!"
"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!!"
This brave warrior got exactly what he wanted.
He was struck out cleanly by Sawamura.
And this made Sawamura's strikeout count reach a terrifying 11.
"Eleven!"
"Eleven!!!"
The fans in the stands couldn't control their emotions anymore.
It was only the fifth inning, and Sawamura had already struck out 11 batters.
The current strikeout record for this tournament was held by Furuya.
That record was already very close to the original record.
Seventeen!!
This record was set by a pitcher from Sankou, a long time ago.
Since then, many have come close to it, but no one has ever surpassed it.
In the West Tokyo regional tournament, this was the highest single-game strikeout record.
By the fifth inning of the Seidou High School versus Inashiro Industrial High School game, Seidou was still trailing by one run.
In terms of the game's situation, Seidou was undoubtedly in a passive position.
But this did not stop Seidou's fans from getting excited.
Because they had discovered something very interesting.
The Demon King they knew, the one they supported, was reaching higher.
He was crushing the opponent with his usual rhythm.
By the fifth inning, he had already struck out 11 batters.
How many would he end up with by the time the game ended?
Just thinking about it made everyone shiver with excitement.
At the beginning, they weren't this excited.
Although there were signs, the number was still far from the record.
So they didn't dare to speak too much about it.
But now it was different. The number right in front of them was already very close to the legendary record.
As long as Inashiro Industrial High School didn't target him specifically.
They believed Sawamura could definitely surpass it.
In Inashiro Industrial High School's dugout.
An assistant coach approached Kunitomo and suggested controlling the rhythm.
If they let Sawamura reach this terrifying record, Seidou's momentum would certainly skyrocket.
Kunitomo turned and asked the assistant coach.
"What was the previous record?"
"Seventeen! In the West Tokyo regional Tournament, the current record is Seventeen!"
After hearing the answer, Kunitomo nodded and muttered.
"It's still a bit far!"
After all, Sawamura had only struck out 11 batters so far, still six short of 17.
"Well then, let's help him achieve it!"
…
T/N: Well, That's it for now!
As always, Thank you all for reading guys!
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