Score: 11:7, Seido High School Baseball Team on offense.
Two outs, runner on Second Base.
Stepping up to the plate now was Seido High School Baseball Team's third batter, the man who had already secured five runs for the team.
Zhang Han.
When Zhang Han stepped up, the fans in the stands were incredibly excited. Some even stood up in anticipation of the miracle about to unfold.
In today's game, Zhang Han hit an unprecedented three Homeruns. His other at-bat also resulted in a successful hit. This means that so far, Zhang Han had not failed in any of his at-bats in today's game. His hitting percentage had reached a terrifying one hundred percent.
Normally, this might not be surprising. After all, sometimes batters have limited at-bats, or the opponent isn't strong. In such cases, even hitting 100% of the time might not be something to brag about.
But Zhang Han's game today was clearly different. First, he had played the entire game, having already stepped up to the plate four times, and now it was his fifth at-bat.
Secondly, regarding the strength of the opponent, Yakushi High School Baseball Team had previously defeated Inashiro, who had just dominated the nation.
The key player in that victory was their Ace pitcher, Sanada Shunpei. The opponent's strength was absolutely outstanding, and Yakushi High School Baseball Team's overall defense was by no means poor.
In this situation, Zhang Han had stepped up to the plate four times, hitting three Homeruns and one single. The value of this was extremely high.
If he could continue his excellent performance and get his fifth hit, Zhang Han would have inadvertently created an incredible record: five hits in a single game, with a 100% hitting percentage. Even searching through the history of the Spring Tournament, no batter had ever accomplished such a feat.
As supporters of Seido High School Baseball Team and witnesses to today's game, how could they miss such an exciting moment? The fans in the stands were all incredibly excited.
In the Seido High School Baseball Team's dugout, the second team and third team players who had specifically come to cheer on the First string were also very excited. They continuously shouted the names of Seido and Zhang Han. At this moment, what they wanted was no longer a simple victory, but a resounding, exhilarating triumph.
Sanada, standing on the pitcher's mound, felt quite complex at this moment. He felt as if the whole world was against him. Everyone seemed to be eyeing him covetously. This was the pressure that Seido and Zhang Han put on him.
So much so that even if Zhang Han did nothing extra, just stood there calmly, coldly observing him, Sanada felt as if he were in a swimming pool, the surrounding air becoming stagnant. Every step he took, he had to face enormous resistance.
"He truly lives up to his reputation as Koshien's strongest rookie!"
Sanada exclaimed from the bottom of his heart. In fact, from his own perspective, Zhang Han was no longer at a rookie level. It was no longer appropriate to evaluate him as a rookie. This was a monster, a monster standing tall at the pinnacle of high school baseball, capable of looking down on all others.
Facing such a monster, he had to be extremely focused.
Sanada took a deep breath, then gritted his teeth and threw the pitch. He had to give his all; only then could he barely overcome the surrounding resistance and throw the pitch he wanted.
The white ball flew past Zhang Han's eyes. Facing this pitch, the previously menacing Zhang Han seemed to have lost his temper. He just watched, eyes wide open, as the baseball passed him and landed in the catcher's mitt.
"Thwack!"
"Ball!!"
The baseball was outside the strike zone. And Zhang Han, as if he had seen through it all, did not react to this pitch at all.
Sanada, who had thrown the pitch, couldn't help but wonder. What was going on? According to his original plan, when faced with such an opportunity to potentially break a record, even Zhang Han should have found it difficult to control himself. As long as it wasn't too forced, he would basically swing. Unexpectedly, Zhang Han held back.
The fans in the stands were first confused, then quickly understood what was happening.
"This guy wants to use an intentional walk?"
"That's too shameless, why can't they just have a fair duel?"
"This also indirectly proves Zhang Han's strength, doesn't it?"
To force the usually tough Yakushi to resort to an intentional walk, how incredible of an achievement was that?
Of course, some people didn't think so. Because it didn't make sense. If they intentionally walked Zhang Han, would they also intentionally walk Yuuki Tetsuya? If they didn't plan to intentionally walk Yuuki, then intentionally walking Zhang Han wouldn't make much sense.
If Yakushi also planned to intentionally walk Yuuki, then would Yakushi High School Baseball Team's players be able to handle Isashiki Jun and Miyuki afterwards?
Analyzing from a rational perspective, Yakushi High School Baseball Team shouldn't be so naive. Even if they intentionally walked Zhang Han, their situation wouldn't improve much. Especially in the current situation, Yakushi High School Baseball Team was trailing Seido by a full four runs. They had no other path but to go all in, with their backs against the wall. Confront Zhang Han head-on and get him out.
Although Yakushi's hope of a comeback was still slim, there was still hope. But if they avoided the confrontation with Zhang Han, then even that last shred of hope would be gone.
"Whoosh!"
"Thwack!"
"Ball!"
Two consecutive pitches, both balls. Zhang Han remained motionless throughout, not even shifting an inch. He seemed to have made up his mind to wait for an intentional walk.
However, the pitcher for Yakushi High School Baseball Team seemed unwilling to let him off so easily. After seeing Zhang Han's indifference, Sanada finally gritted his teeth and threw the first strike. The previous balls were all intentionally thrown to entice Zhang Han to swing. Since Zhang Han was unmoved, he could only think of other methods.
When he saw the baseball flying towards him, a slight curve appeared at the corner of Zhang Han's mouth.
Losing his composure already?
He had originally thought Sanada could throw all the way to the third ball. Unexpectedly, after only two balls, Sanada changed his strategy and returned to throwing strikes.
However, if it's a strike, then I won't be polite.
Zhang Han's pupils widened instantly as he fixed his gaze on the incoming baseball. He silently calculated the timing in his mind and swung his bat.
As Zhang Han swung, the Yakushi catcher instinctively shivered. How could he see it so accurately? He didn't move for two consecutive balls, and as soon as it turned into a strike, Zhang Han eagerly swung. Did he see it with his eyes, or did he guess that the third pitch would be a strike? All these questions lingered in the mind of Yakushi High School Baseball Team's catcher.
But unfortunately, no one could answer his doubts. So he could only watch, eyes wide open, as the bat connected with the baseball, and the white ball soared into the sky.
This time, because the pitch had a sharp break, Zhang Han didn't hit the center of the ball perfectly. He only managed to sweep the ball into the outfield.
"Thwack!"
The baseball landed and bounced. Akiba, who was prepared, arrived at the ball's landing spot immediately and successfully caught the ball. But when he stood up, Akiba sadly realized that he was too late. Zhang Han had already successfully reached First Base.
"Safe!"
Kominato Ryosuke, who was originally on Second Base, also took this opportunity to round Third Base and run towards Home Base.
"Safe!"
Ultimately, Kominato Ryosuke reached Home Base before the baseball was thrown back.
Two outs, runner on First Base. Seido High School Baseball Team successfully scored an additional run. The score between the two teams became 12:7. Seido High School Baseball Team's lead reached a terrifying five runs.
This was undoubtedly a very heavy blow to the players of Yakushi High School Baseball Team. So much so that their teammates were stunned for a while before they realized what had happened. A five-run difference, appearing before them like a huge chasm. With only one more inning of offense remaining, did they really still have a chance to come back?
Not to mention, Seido High School Baseball Team's offense in the eighth inning was not yet over.
"Fourth batter, first baseman, Yuuki Tetsuya."
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