"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!!!"
With Sawamura throwing his Rocket punch-I mean pitch, Carlos, the leadoff batter of Inajitsu High School's baseball team, was easily struck out.
As the core batter of Inajitsu High School's baseball team, how could Carlos not have made contact with Sawamura's pitch in the third round?
This, though not a huge deal, was already noteworthy.
However, people found it hard to focus on something so small at this moment.
Because at this time, all the fans' focus was on Sawamura's new breaking ball and his strikeout count.
After Sawamura struck out Carlos, his total strikeouts reached an alarming 15.
Fifteen strikeouts in six innings!
Only two more to tie the West Tokyo Tournament record of 17 Strikeouts, and just three to break it.
There's hope. There's really hope.
They were about to witness history right here—watching the great Demon King, Sawamura, break the tournament record once again.
The fans' expressions changed, just like hungry wolves spotting their prey.
They cheered madly for Sawamura, even as he returned to the dugout.
Their enthusiasm didn't fade.
Carlos, back in the dugout, ignored Narumiya's taunting.
After taking a couple of sips of water, he quickly changed his gear and prepared to play defense.
"How did it feel to face Sawamura's pitch just now?"
Coach Kunitomo approached and immediately asked him.
Anyone could see that the pitch Sawamura just threw was very different from the ones he had thrown before.
Yet after he left the field, Carlos didn't share any information about that pitch.
This was clearly odd.
Coach Kunitomo really wanted to know what Carlos thought.
"The ball's trajectory was similar to a Straight Fastball pitch, but it wasn't like a normal Straight Fastball pitch, from my perspective, it seemed like it even increased in speed."
Hearing Carlos' words, Coach Kunitomo didn't counter but instead confirmed it. They had a radar gun in the dugout and had measured Sawamura's pitch speed.
"The speeds of the three pitches were 147, 148, and 150 km/h! These are Sawamura's peak pitch speeds, and the final pitch was even the fastest he's thrown! Your feeling was right—the speed was faster than his usual pitches, and each one was faster than the last."
Carlos, who had only been guessing before, suddenly turned pale.
If he had just misjudged, that would've been fine!
But now, it was clear that his judgment had been correct. Sawamura had indeed thrown a breaking ball faster than his fastball.
A breaking ball with a speed of 150 km/h! (93 mph!!)
Aside from Furuya from their own team, it seemed like no one had ever managed to do this.
"Just give me your judgment."
Coach Kunitomo said coldly.
"I…don't know. If I must say, I only have one suggestion. This kind of pitch can't be aimed at. You can only hit other pitches."
"You're saying that our batters won't be able to hit this kind of pitch? Including you?"
"That's right. At least in today's game, I'm afraid we won't be able to figure out this kind of pitch. If we focus on it, we'll never defeat Sawamura."
Carlos wasn't someone who easily gave up. For him to say this, it was clear how tricky Sawamura's pitches were.
Coach Kunitomo turned away, not saying anything more.
Carlos' words were similar to what he had guessed earlier.
The breaking ball Sawamura had just shown was completely an unknown field for Inajitsu High School's players.
It seemed that Seidou High School's baseball team had planned to use this pitch to deal with Inashiro from the very beginning.
If they hadn't seized the opportunity and scored right away, Seidou High School might not have even allowed Inashiro's players a chance to get on base.
Coach Kunitomo looked up at the electronic scoreboard, which clearly showed two large numbers: one and zero.
At the start of the game, neither team had placed much importance on that one run. Although Inashiro had staked their hopes of victory on that single point, they knew deep down that it wasn't a guaranteed point.
In baseball, the chance for surprises was too high.
Considering that their opponent was the formidable Seidou High School baseball team, staking everything on a single point was foolish.
If possible, Coach Kunitomo would certainly prefer that his players score more.
But with the game progressing as it had, the possibility of Inashiro scoring another run from Seidou seemed extremely slim.
On the other hand, the possibility of holding onto their one point was much higher.
If Narumiya could get through this inning successfully, there would only be three innings left.
Nine Outs.
At this point, Coach Kunitomo was already thinking about how to win.
To win, you naturally need to play to your strengths while avoiding weaknesses—this was the most basic strategy.
And for Inajitsu High School, compared to Seidou, their only remaining advantage now was that extra point.
Apart from that, there was nothing else Inashiro could take advantage of.
To win, they would have to find a way to protect that one point.
Coach Kunitomo saw this very clearly. He believed Seidou's players understood it too.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Seidou's team began their offense.
Earlier in the dugout, Coach Kataoka had already given very clear instructions.
"The other side has made up their mind to go all in, and no bluff will scare them. We'll continue with our previous strategy: steady and strong, rely on our solid strength to break their defense. If that doesn't work, we'll wear down Narumiya's pitch count."
In today's game, Narumiya's performance was not inferior to Sawamura's.
So far, he had given up only two hits and had even Walked Sawamura once.
But the total effective hits against Seidou were barely two.
To be able to suppress Seidou this much, Narumiya truly deserved his title as the Prince of Tokyo.
Because of his excellent pitching, even though Seidou's team was on a roll, Inashiro had not fallen behind.
It was a fairly even contest.
Sawamura had racked up more strikeouts, and Narumiya had also had quite a few strikeouts...
Of course.
A pitcher trying to keep up with the Demon King's rhythm couldn't do so without paying a price. In the five innings just concluded, Narumiya had already thrown 74 pitches!
Even though his stamina was outstanding, one of the best among all high school pitchers, his peak pitch count was nearing its limit.
Getting a hit was the most ideal.
If they couldn't manage that, wearing down Narumiya's pitch count would be the next best thing to force him into exhaustion.
Once his stamina was no longer at its peak, his pitch speed would drop.
And when Narumiya's pitching wasn't as tough, Seidou would have a chance to defeat him.
Coach Kataoka's strategy was ringing loudly in his mind.
His players did not disappoint, fighting hard against Narumiya once they went on the field.
Kanemaru battled through five pitches, Kuramochi faced six pitches, and Kominato Haruichi entangled seven pitches.
Though none of them managed a hit, they wore down Narumiya by forcing him to throw 18 pitches.
That shot Narumiya's pitch count up to 92 pitches!
Later on, Narumiya wasn't able to use his tricky breaking balls to strike out Kominato.
Paak!
He only forced Kominato to make contact but did not hit the sweet spot.
When the ball was hit, it sped off quickly. If it weren't for Carlos in the outfield reacting quickly and throwing it back with speed, Kominato might've reached base.
Three up, three down—two strikeouts, one shut out.
Narumiya got through the inning.
Back in the dugout, Narumiya looked utterly exhausted.
The opponents were Seidou High School, and every batter was excellent.
Dealing with them had not only drained Narumiya physically but mentally as well.
His exhaustion wasn't just physical—it was psychological.
"Such a tough opponent!"
Narumiya had been looking forward to this game for a long time.
But it seemed the opponents were even tougher than he had imagined.
Still, Narumiya wasn't discouraged. In fact, he was happy to have such a tough opponent.
The intensity of the game made every cell in his body feel alive. Battling against such a strong opponent, competing against such an amazing Rival, made him feel like he was on the top of the world!
He was completely energized!
…