Two outs, a runner on Second Base.
Kawakami, on the pitcher's mound, clearly hadn't recovered from the tense showdown earlier. He seemed a bit out of sorts.
"Seido's pitcher is clearly intimidated by Inashiro's offensive rhythm!"
As expected of a professional commentator, Fujita noticed it quickly. But just as he was about to continue, there was a sudden change on the field.
Miyuki stood up from his catcher's position and signaled for a timeout.
"Seido requests a timeout."
He ran to the pitcher's mound.
"There's no need to mind it. Your performance just now wasn't bad. For that pitching to be hit, we can only praise the opponent."
The blow Kawakami was suffering couldn't be fixed by a few words of comfort. But Miyuki's actions still greatly surprised Fujita.
"Seido's Miyuki has already noticed this and is finding ways to compensate. Looking at his information — he's also a first-year player, and by summer he had already become Seido's main catcher."
Fujita hadn't paid too much attention to Miyuki before today. Although he had followed Seido's performance when commentating at Koshien, he had never personally covered one of their games. He wasn't very familiar with their roster.
What had caught his attention at the time were the three hitters in Seido's core positions and Ace Hidezawa. The other players had all been supporting roles.
Before today's game, Fujita hadn't had time to prepare. He had been catching up with an old friend. He assumed his general knowledge of Seido would be enough, that he could improvise based on what he saw during the game. He had handled that situation before. What the TV station needed was his reputation and his voice. The commentary itself didn't need to be airtight.
But now he found himself very underprepared, not even knowing Miyuki was a first-year.
He could only do his best to make up for it.
"This first-year catcher seems very perceptive. When he sensed danger, he took action immediately."
Fujita had a feeling that Miyuki would surprise everyone before this game was over.
As it turned out, that moment came quickly.
Nobody knew what Miyuki had whispered on the pitcher's mound, but Kawakami miraculously recovered his form afterward. His pitching wasn't as smooth as at the start, but it was full of spirit. He pitched consecutively, making Inashiro's ninth batter increasingly flustered.
In the end, the ninth batter could only grit his teeth and swing with difficulty. A hit like that was never going to have a good result. The white ball bounced directly in front of the First Baseman.
Yuuki ran forward two steps, caught the ball, and quickly retreated to First Base.
"Out!"
Seido ended the difficult inning.
Bottom of the fourth inning. Seido's offense.
In the dugout, Zhang Han frowned and asked Miyuki, "I really didn't see it before. You little rascal, you're quite good at getting into people's heads, aren't you?"
With Kawakami's state just moments ago, Zhang Han had thought they had no chance. Inashiro's players not only had amazing hitting skills, their teamwork was strong and they weren't afraid of a positional battle. Kawakami's ability in that regard wasn't outstanding. Zhang Han had assumed he wouldn't be able to hold on.
And yet he had.
"I have my ways."
Miyuki looked mysterious.
Zhang Han shrugged. He was just curious, not looking to press for answers.
"Be careful in the next inning though. This inning wasn't the key one. The next one is."
In the fifth inning, Inashiro's upper-order hitters would be back. That would bring a different kind of pressure entirely. Whether Miyuki and Kawakami could hold on then would be the real test.
"Aren't we hitting first?"
Miyuki geared up and headed to bat.
Zhang Han shook his head.
Commentator Fujita believed Miyuki would cause a stir in this game. Zhang Han wasn't so sure. Strength alone wasn't enough for that. It also depended on the opponent, on timing, on luck.
Their current opponent was Narumiya Mei, and he was not easy to deal with.
As expected, Miyuki only lasted two pitches before being forced into an infield grounder and thrown out.
Most tellingly, Narumiya Mei hadn't used his Changeup once. He was making a statement: against anyone other than Yuuki and Zhang Han, he had no intention of going all out.
They weren't worthy.
That was infuriating. Even more infuriating was that there was nothing they could do about it. He had the ability to back it up.
Masuko and Sakai had the same result. Masuko hit the ball quite far, and it looked satisfying, but it came down almost vertically and was caught cleanly by Carlos in the outfield. Sakai was even worse. He didn't touch the ball at all and was struck out cleanly.
Less than half the game had passed, and several Seido players had already been struck out. They had scored two runs, but the overall momentum was still being suppressed.
Three outs. Change of sides.
Score: four to two. Top of the fifth inning. Inashiro's offense.
Earlier, it had been Carlos who led off with a hit and helped Inashiro score their third run. His speed was extreme. Once on base, his threat was no less than Kuramochi's. From any angle, Seido's battery had no desire to let him reach base.
However.
"Ping!"
The moment Kawakami released the pitch, Miyuki knew it was bad. The ball was off by a few centimeters, drifting away from the center of the strike zone.
Given Carlos's skill, there was no chance he would let that go.
Sure enough, the moment Carlos saw the ball flying, his pupils widened. He swung without hesitation.
"Ping!"
The ball shot behind the pitcher at tremendous speed. Kominato Ryosuke and Kuramochi both dove for it, but neither could reach it. They could only watch as the baseball flew past them.
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