"Boom."
The white ball charged forward with a tremendous roar.
The speed was extreme. Even with Coach Kataoka standing directly in the ball's path, Furuya Satoru had shown no hesitation at release. He squeezed every last drop of strength from his body into that one pitch.
The people standing on the outskirts of the field broke into a cold sweat. Kataoka had already taken one hit from an earlier pitch, but that pitch was nothing compared to what was flying toward him now. If this one hit him and caught a poorly protected spot, the consequences could be serious.
Kataoka's own expression was a few shades more serious than usual. Even he couldn't keep the tension completely out of it.
From Zhang Han's perspective, the view was even more immediate.
The ball came at him like a living thing, letting out a sharp whistle the entire way, arriving in the blink of an eye. Its flight path looked low, almost certain to bounce off the ground before reaching him.
But Zhang Han knew that was an illusion.
Zhang Han had studied his own fastball extensively, and had studied every pitcher known for raw velocity. At the same speed, those other pitchers were considered formidable. Only Zhang Han's pitch had been labeled as having no future by Coach Kataoka and the coaching staff.
He didn't doubt they were right. But he had always wanted to understand the exact difference between his pitch and a true fastball.
Through his own research, he had found the answer. The biggest difference lay in spin rate.
The more force a pitcher applies to the ball, the faster it spins. When a pitcher throws a fastball, that spin partially counteracts gravity. When the spin rate is high enough, the ball appears to rise as it approaches the plate. This is the true reason a Light Speed Ball pitcher is so terrifying to face.
Zhang Han's fastball lacked this quality. His pitches didn't carry enough spin. What he threw traveled in essentially a straight line, and a straight pitch, however fast, is easier to read and target than one that moves late.
That was the reason Coach Kataoka and the coaching staff believed his fastball, however fast, had limited potential for development.
Of course, if his speed could one day reach 160 kilometers per hour, as his left hand had shown was possible, the picture would change. And as his velocity increased, even without elite spin rate, the spin would still climb at sufficient speed. Miyuki had noted that during the Yakushi game, Zhang Han had thrown pitches that showed upward movement.
Zhang Han already knew all of this.
But he had still wanted to stand in the batter's box and see for himself what a true fastball pitcher's ball actually looked like up close.
It rose.
The ball that had seemed almost certain to drop into the dirt had already begun climbing by the halfway point.
A wry smile crossed the corner of Zhang Han's mouth.
His talent in this area really wasn't that exceptional. Compared to a rising fastball like this, a straight pitch was far easier to target.
But at the same time, something sharp came into his eyes.
He could acknowledge that his fastball was not as good as this newcomer's. That did not mean he was going to accept defeat. Whatever Furuya Satoru's future claim on the ace position, right now, Zhang Han was not letting this ball past his bat.
By the time the ball had traveled about three-quarters of the distance, Zhang Han had already read the direction and started his swing early. He had to. With a pitch this fast, waiting until the ball was fully within reach was not an option.
As his bat came through, he noticed something that surprised him.
The ball's upward movement was still accelerating.
It had risen more than three ball-widths above where it had appeared to be heading, and it showed no sign of leveling off.
If he completed the swing as planned, every ball he hit would turn into a pop fly.
He needed to pull the bat away and let the pitch pass.
But almost immediately he realized that wasn't an option either. There was no catcher behind him. There was Coach Kataoka. If he missed, the ball would hit him directly.
Zhang Han gritted his teeth and, mid-swing, rose onto his tiptoes.
The adjustment raised the height of his swing by roughly one and a half ball-widths.
The ball caught the bottom edge of the bat and deflected away. It landed in the infield and rolled foul.
"Foul."
Kataoka looked at Zhang Han and called it.
Zhang Han's hitting form just then had been completely uncoordinated.
The people outside the field didn't have Kataoka's eye for detail. What they saw was the immediate result, and that result surprised them.
"That rookie actually got the better of Zhang Han?"
It seemed impossible. Furuya Satoru's velocity was high, but what he had thrown was the most standard fastball. Given Zhang Han's level, he shouldn't have been that flustered. Was this newcomer's pitching ability truly that formidable?
The proud Seido players couldn't easily accept what they had just witnessed.
Though not everyone saw it that way.
"He saw the pitch once and made contact on the second. That's Zhang Han."
Yuuki Tetsuya said it quietly.
In the senior team's dugout, Chris had the same thought.
As a teammate, this kid was genuinely reliable.
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