Steal!
The sudden steal attempt surprised many people.
However, Kanzaki Ryou remained completely unfazed.
Whoosh!
The baseball shot toward home plate.
The moment Chris caught the ball, he immediately fired it toward second base.
The white baseball streaked across the field like a laser.
Wham!
"Out!"
"Hey, hey… that throw was way too fast!"
Sanada Shunpei frowned as he looked toward Chris.
Another cannon arm?
Tagged out at second base, Sanada could only shake his head. In Yakushi's dugout, the players let out disappointed sighs.
They had finally managed to get a runner on base, yet they couldn't advance even a single step.
It was frustrating beyond words.
Thus, the top of the second inning came to an end.
Now it was Seido's turn to bat.
Standing on the pitcher's mound, Sanada Shunpei seemed like a completely different person.
His calm gaze and confident posture created a strong sense of pressure for everyone watching—even Kominato Ryosuke.
Although his pitch speed was less than 145 km/h, his pitches were sharp and tricky, packed with strong ball movement.
Most importantly—
He was a thinking pitcher.
"Sanada-senpai! Just let them hit!"
Todoroki Raichi shouted loudly toward the mound.
"Even if the ball comes to me, it's fine! I'll definitely catch it!"
"…Uh."
Sanada turned his head and looked at him speechlessly.
"I wouldn't dare hit it your way. You make too many errors."
"Raichi! Don't drag Sanada down!"
From the dugout, Todoroki Raizo mercilessly mocked his own son.
"Stinky old man! Don't talk about me like that!"
Raichi shouted back, completely unconvinced.
"Huh? Who do you think you inherited that dim-wittedness from?" Raizo shot back.
"Hahaha!"
"Todoroki, stop acting like a kid and focus on the game."
"Yeah, be careful or the ball really will come your way."
Teased mercilessly by his teammates, Raichi's face instantly turned red like a monkey's backside.
"How come Yakushi's atmosphere changed the moment this guy stepped onto the mound?"
Ota looked toward the field with some concern.
"They looked completely lifeless just now."
Chris also watched Sanada closely.
This player had already left an impression on him during his previous at-bat.
"Perhaps… this is their real Ace."
Soon, the bottom of the second inning began.
Sanada Shunpei and Kominato Ryosuke immediately engaged in a fierce duel.
Pitch after pitch.
Seven pitches in total.
Only after a long battle did Ryosuke finally make a mistake, hitting a fly ball that was easily caught for an out.
"He's really tough…"
Sanada took a deep breath.
The very first batter had already forced him to throw seven pitches.
If every batter dragged the count like this, his stamina wouldn't last long.
"How was it?"
As soon as Ryosuke returned to the dugout, his teammates immediately surrounded him.
After all, he was the first person to face Sanada's pitching.
After thinking for a moment, Ryosuke replied,
"His pitches are even sharper than I imagined. His cutter has a huge break and almost no drop."
"I see."
Kuramochi Yoichi rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"So it's like Kanzaki's—no, wait. Kanzaki throws a slider, not a cutter."
"Right," Ryosuke nodded.
"Most cutters drop while breaking, but Sanada's cutter doesn't. Instead, it bores aggressively toward left-handed batters. It's very difficult to hit that pitch far."
"It's a pity we haven't seen his splitter yet," Kanzaki Ryou added calmly.
At that moment, Isashiki Jun's roar came from the field.
"Strike!"
After swinging and missing, Jun was quickly pushed into a two-strike count.
He gritted his teeth and stared intensely at Sanada.
The first two pitches had both been fastballs—one inside and one outside.
One strike, one ball.
Both barely grazing the edge of the strike zone, making it extremely difficult to judge.
For the third pitch, after a moment of thought, Sanada threw to the outside corner again.
Seeing the ball moving away from his body, Jun didn't dare gamble.
He swung with all his strength.
Bang!!
The bat barely made contact.
A cutter.
The ball flew weakly toward first base, where Yakushi's first baseman Mishima Yuta caught it easily.
"Two outs!"
"Sanada!"
Yakushi's players cheered excitedly from the field.
As expected—
When Sanada was on the mound, things were completely different.
Even Seido's powerful lineup couldn't easily get hits.
But when Yuki stepped into the batter's box, Seido's supporters erupted into cheers again.
Yuki stood perfectly still in his ready stance.
Just looking at him made Sanada feel immense pressure.
A faint smile appeared on Sanada's lips as he spun the baseball lightly in his hand.
He didn't dare show even the slightest carelessness.
This batter was even more troublesome than Todoroki Raichi.
To face him, Sanada had to bring out his absolute best.
Behind the plate, Watanabe Tatsuya had already given the signal.
Sanada immediately delivered the pitch.
An outside cutter.
Yuki raised his eyebrow slightly.
Then—
He reacted instantly and swung.
Bang!
The ball shot toward first base—
Foul!
"Foul!"
Yuki slowly exhaled and calmly reset his stance.
"He's really tough… putting this much pressure on me."
Sanada muttered under his breath.
That pitch had been outside the strike zone.
A clear ball.
Yet Yuki had still swung—and even made contact.
Was that his way of showing dominance?
For the second pitch, Sanada again targeted the outside corner.
But this time it was a high fastball.
Yuki swung again.
Bang!
A dull impact echoed.
The baseball soared high into the air—
Another foul ball.
Two outs. Two strikes.
For Yakushi, the situation looked firmly under control.
Sanada knew that.
But he also knew something else—
Yuki would never give up on hitting his pitch.
If he relaxed even for a moment, the opponent might smash a huge hit off him.
Whoosh!
Sanada threw the third pitch.
An outside low cutter, barely grazing the edge of the zone.
A difficult pitch.
Under normal circumstances, no batter would gamble on whether that pitch was a strike.
And yet—
Yuki swung.
Not only did the sweet spot of the bat connect perfectly with the ball—
He even pulled the pitch despite being in an extremely awkward position.
The baseball flew high toward right field.
However, the hit lacked power.
Right fielder Yamauchi Yutaka calmly waited beneath it and caught the ball securely in his glove.
"Out!"
The Yakushi supporters in the stands erupted in cheers, applauding Sanada Shunpei's performance.
But only Sanada himself knew the truth.
Facing those three batters had forced him to give everything he had.
Especially against Yuki—
Luck had played a significant role.
Still, no matter what, retiring Seido three up, three down greatly boosted Yakushi's morale.
"Well… I didn't expect even Yuki couldn't get a good hit."
Kominato Ryosuke sounded slightly surprised.
"He is their Ace, after all. And it's their first time facing him," Miyuki replied calmly.
"That's normal."
The game soon moved into the third inning.
Kanzaki Ryou quickly retired Yakushi's eighth and ninth batters.
Finally—
He once again faced Yakushi's leadoff hitter.
Todoroki Raichi.