Strikeout.
Ever since Zhang Han had started using his breaking ball, his strikeout count had kept climbing. The freshman team was finding it nearly impossible, not just to get a hit, but to make any contact at all.
The score gap was significant, and the freshman offense had been slow throughout. By any reasonable measure, their complete defeat should only have been a matter of time.
But their morale hadn't dropped at all.
That was entirely down to one person.
"That's it! You're getting closer to the ball than before. Keep at it and we'll definitely hit Zhang Han-senpai's pitch."
Sawamura stood at the front of the freshman dugout, directing the hitters with complete authority.
Coach Ochiai, the freshman team's actual coach, sat quietly on the bench and said nothing. Every time he watched Sawamura hold court, he fixed him with a cold, sharp look.
Sawamura didn't notice once.
If anything, he grew more animated as the game went on. And the freshman team, following his lead, had somehow become genuinely fired up.
"When did you become the leader of this team? Stop telling people how to hit."
Kanemaru had made that complaint more than once. But his motivation during the at-bats themselves was visibly higher than before.
"Next, it's our turn!"
Sawamura ignored him and pressed on.
"Yes, Captain!"
Jinguuji looked ready to cheer Sawamura all the way to the sky.
"I'm not the captain, but your instincts are good."
Kominato Haruichi raised his glove in quiet agreement.
Kanemaru looked at the three of them and briefly wondered what he had done to deserve this.
Why were all the most talented players in their freshman class so strange?
The game continued.
Bottom of the fifth inning, senior team offense.
"Ping!"
"Out!"
"Ping!"
"Out!"
"Ping."
"Out!"
Facing a straight fastball right down the middle, even the second string's main players could put the ball in play. The contact wasn't the problem. But the results were nothing like what they expected.
Hit after hit seemed to follow a predetermined path, landing directly in front of a fielder. On the rare occasion a ball was struck well, Kanemaru, Kominato Haruichi, or Jinguuji was there to run it down.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, the strangeness reached its peak. The freshman team had not given up a run in the fourth inning, and now they hadn't given up one in the fifth either.
In the fourth inning, it had been easy to write off as luck.
By the fifth, even the most stubborn observer could tell something was different about Sawamura's pitching.
Top of the sixth. Zhang Han got three more strikeouts.
His total on the day had passed ten.
In previous years, freshmen at this stage of a welcome match, even if they hadn't completely fallen apart, would have struggled to find the nerve to step into the batter's box. But today's freshman team was different. They couldn't make contact. They couldn't get a hit. But they weren't collapsing either.
And on the senior team's side, the situation wasn't much better.
No runs in the fourth inning. No hits in the fifth. The upper-order batters in the sixth were supposed to change things, but nothing changed. Three up, three down, and Sawamura had finished the inning before the bat even reached Zhang Han's hands.
"A pitch that moves right as it arrives at the plate. That's a nasty one."
After two full innings of observation, Chris had seen through it.
Zhang Han gave him a thumbs up.
"I only really saw it when I stepped in myself. He has naturally flexible shoulders and wrists, and his delivery is like a whip. Because of that, the ball changes just before it enters the zone. And I'd guess even he doesn't always know exactly what the movement will be. So, does he have the talent to be an ace?"
Chris nodded.
"No wonder he struck out Azuma-senpai. Even with preparation, hitting a pitch like that is not easy. Without any preparation at all, we didn't lose unfairly."
Three consecutive innings. No runs. One hit.
The senior team still held an overwhelming advantage overall. But in the personal duel with Sawamura, the frustration was real.
"Don't give him too much credit. His pitching is unique, but the fielders behind him deserve recognition too. Jinguuji, Kominato, Kanemaru, their contributions weren't small. Three scoreless innings happened because those players were cooperating and making plays."
"That doesn't sound like something you'd normally say."
Chris looked at him with mild surprise.
Knowing Zhang Han, he had always considered strong defense the most reliable shield a pitcher could have. The freshman fielders had performed remarkably well, especially Kominato Haruichi, who had personally bailed Sawamura out twice. But by Seido's internal standards, plays like that were considered baseline, not something Zhang Han would ordinarily single out for comment.
"Just a thought. This stage seems like it was set up specifically for him. If Coach Ochiai hadn't done the early training and brought together the right players, if this had been a standard welcome match like in previous years, he probably wouldn't have shone this brightly."
Sawamura Eijun had genuinely benefited from favorable conditions today.
"A diamond in the rough will always find a way to shine. Even without this defense behind him, anyone watching him pitch can tell that something is there."
Chris saw it differently.
Zhang Han thought about it and smiled.
He had been too narrow about it. Chris was right. Even without the spotlight circumstances, Sawamura's talent couldn't be hidden. Anyone with eyes watching him pitch would know, even if they couldn't identify the exact movement on the ball. The results alone would tell the story.
"After watching those two pitch today, I think I finally understand why Coach and the coaching staff said my right-handed pitching had no special characteristics. No matter how much I train, it will at best be second-rate. It might still have combat value in high school, but beyond that, the ceiling is low. Rather than pushing against that ceiling, it makes more sense to focus on developing as a shortstop and go further in that direction."
"It's good that you understand. What you want to do matters. But what you can do matters more."
Chris spoke from experience.
And so the game moved to the bottom of the seventh inning, senior team offense.
The score remained 6:1.
The first to step into the batter's box for the senior team was the fourth batter.
Zhang Han.
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