"What happened?"
"What just happened? I didn't see it at all!"
Because of Chris's perfect comeback performance, most people focused their attention on Chris, so they missed the exciting scene that just occurred.
Let's rewind one minute.
Just as most players and fans were marveling at Chris, the next duel on the field began again.
Next to step into the batter's box was Masuko Toru, Sawamura Eijun's senior from the same dorm room.
He also took the largest bat, and while Sawamura looked at Chris, Masuko had already assumed a hitting stance.
Kariba had a very deep impression of Masuko. Even the second and third-year seniors were not omnipotent. Most seniors only got two or three hits. Against Sawamura, most of them didn't even get a single hit.
This was also why Kariba and the other freshmen felt they had the confidence to compete with their seniors.
Coupled with Sawamura's antics, everyone subconsciously forgot the score difference and began to enjoy this match against their seniors.
Although their strength still had a relatively obvious gap compared to their seniors, the freshmen could also face this gap squarely. For these prodigies, it was actually best that their seniors could perform like this.
If the seniors who entered the team one or two years before them were not even as strong as them, then they would probably start to doubt if coming to Seido still had any meaning?
Things in this world are like this: as long as you can understand and let go, there is nothing that cannot be resolved.
Originally, some freshmen were still overthinking things, but under Sawamura's leadership, they quickly got rid of this bad habit.
While enjoying the game, they would observe what they could learn from their seniors and seize the time to secretly learn.
But enjoying the game doesn't mean looking for abuse?
When Kariba saw that the opponent was Masuko, he actually didn't want to confront this senior head-on, according to his thoughts.
With this senior's powerful swing, it was estimated that as long as he grazed the baseball, he could send it flying far away.
The last time they faced off, Senior Masuko hit the ball that way.
Having just given up a Homerun and a hit, from a game perspective, the most important thing for Sawamura at this time was to stabilize his rhythm and not continue to give up runs.
Kariba hoped that Sawamura could pitch a few corner balls. It didn't matter if they didn't enter the strike zone; the most important thing was to disturb the hitter's vision.
But his well-intentioned suggestion was unhesitatingly rejected by Sawamura Eijun.
"A man should face challenges head-on. How can one choose to escape at this time?"
Sawamura's attitude was very firm.
Kariba had no choice but to compromise.
"If it gets blasted out, I'm not responsible!"
Unbeknownst to them, Sawamura had completely taken the core position of the pitcher-catcher battery in just a few innings.
This is also a kind of ability, the ability of an Ace Pitcher.
However, those who noticed this point were still very few. Even Zhang Han and Chris didn't notice it.
Most of the others who saw it only thought that it was just the pitcher being willful.
Coach Kataoka, in the Umpire position, clearly saw this scene. He lowered his eyelids and saw that the catcher almost didn't resist before agreeing to Sawamura's approach.
But at the same time, Sawamura Eijun's standing in Coach Kataoka's heart rose another notch.
Now, Sawamura, in Kataoka's mind, was probably not much worse than Furuya Satoru, who had just displayed his power.
All of this, of course, was not intentional on Sawamura's part.
Sawamura, determined to pitch a center ball, threw the baseball in his hand without any hesitation.
Even after giving up a Homerun and a hit consecutively, even if some people around him had started to doubt if he was still capable, it didn't affect Sawamura's pitching in the slightest.
At this time, Sawamura truly had a fearless demeanor. Perhaps it was precisely because he had never been exposed to formal baseball before and didn't know what it meant for his pitches to be hit repeatedly.
Once he truly understands baseball and becomes familiar with it, he probably won't have that simplicity anymore.
"Swish!"
The white little ball whizzed in. Kataoka didn't know if it was his illusion, but after a round of pitching, Sawamura's ball speed not only didn't decrease but seemed to have increased.
The change attached to his baseball also became stronger and stronger.
Kataoka, facing him, vaguely saw the trajectory of the baseball's change.
In this case, no matter how strong Masuko's swing was, it would not be easy to hit such a ball.
Especially considering that the current fielders are all elites who graduated from junior high baseball.
It would be very difficult to get a hit by barely hitting the ball.
Just as Kataoka was thinking this, he noticed that Masuko, standing in front of him, suddenly took two steps forward and stood at the very front of the batter's box.
Generally, to see the pitching better, everyone stands at the back of the batter's box.
Taking the initiative to stand forward like this is almost equivalent to increasing the ball speed for the opponent; only a fool would do it.
But when Masuko stood forward like that, Kataoka felt that he was very smart.
Sawamura's quirk ball is very special; it doesn't change at the beginning of the pitch. It only starts to change when it gets close to the strike zone.
This is, of course, an excellent advantage, as the hitter will find it difficult to keep up with the baseball's changing trajectory if it only starts to change when it gets close to them.
Not everyone can possess terrifying swing speed like Zhang Han, who can forcefully keep up with the baseball's change and hit the ball out.
Besides Zhang Han, among all high school baseball players in the country combined, those who can do this will definitely not exceed one hand.
Masuko was clearly not among these five people.
But he was very smart. He took two steps forward in advance, which allowed him to forcefully hit the ball before it completely changed.
"Boom!"
"Ping!"
The quirk ball, with a speed of less than 130 kilometers per hour and no time to change, was equivalent to an ordinary Fastball.
And it was a Fastball right down the middle!
The result of such a pitch was self-evident.
The white little ball soared into the sky, flew over the fence, and hit the net.
Masuko hit Sawamura's ball for the second time, securing a cool two-run Homerun.
Zhang Han, Chris, Masuko Toru.
They hit the ball one after another, one single, two Homeruns.
Even Sawamura, who was usually thick-skinned, clearly realized at this moment that his pitching was being seen through.
Although he didn't know how his seniors saw through it, being hit one after another, and with two Homeruns, were things Sawamura had never experienced before.
The games he played in junior high, though always ending in the first round, were never this embarrassing.
While in his hometown, Sawamura had never been able to lead his teammates past the second round.
But this wasn't due to his own lack of skill; in fact, Sawamura Eijun's performance was very good. It was mainly his hometown teammates who dragged him down. Despite being a first-round exit team, because of Sawamura Eijun's excellent individual performance, when he was close to graduating, some high schools even extended an olive branch to Sawamura, hoping he would enter their high school as a baseball scholarship student.
Being able to enter high school as a sports scholarship student itself proved Sawamura's ability.
Even in a rural place like Nagano, players with such treatment were few and far between.
However, later, due to the slapping incident, Sawamura's recommended admission was canceled by the high school.
What they needed was a positive baseball teenager, not a problem child.
Of course, they couldn't take Sawamura in anymore.
It was precisely because of this that Sawamura accepted Takashima Rei's invitation to Seido High School Baseball Team.
It must be said that Takashima Rei truly recruits talent in an unconventional way.
There's Kuramochi from their current batch, and Sawamura right in front of them.
If it were other high school admissions officers, there's no way they would bring such a problem child to their school.
From the perspective of other schools, they would certainly feel a bit sour seeing this. But from the perspective of Seido High School Baseball Team, especially from the perspective of those players, they are undoubtedly very grateful.
This is also why, even though Coach Kataoka's training is very strict, most players hold a sense of gratitude towards Seido High School Baseball Team.
Because behind the rigorous training, there is also this kind of tolerance and goodwill.
This is very rare in prestigious high schools.
Seido High School Baseball Team also cannot avoid the problems of other prestigious schools. For example, whoever is strong plays, and if they're not, they are immediately pulled out.
But at the same time they are pulled out, the coaching staff will not give up on you, but rather motivate and train you in another way.
Just like Masuko, who wasn't performing very well before, Kataoka and the Coach team were already quite dissatisfied with his performance.
But they still gave him a chance, allowing him to play in this Freshmen Welcome Game, giving him an opportunity to prove himself again.
If Masuko couldn't seize the opportunity, then it wouldn't be the coaching staff's problem, but the player's own problem.
Fortunately, Masuko seized it; his performance against Sawamura fully proved his ability.
Zhang Han scored one run, Masuko scored two runs, and the score on the field became 9:1.
Plus the ten points deducted earlier.
The score difference in this game would probably make all the trailing teams collapse.
But miraculously, this batch of freshmen didn't completely collapse. Led by a few excellent players, they still put on a stance as if they were going to fight to the death with the second and third-year players of Seido High School Baseball Team.
The Senior Team was determined not to give the Freshman Team any more chances, and not to yield any First string position to them.
The Freshman Team, on the other hand, clearly showed their attitude: even if they couldn't make it to the First string, they would still take a piece out of the second and third-year seniors.
The old alumni who saw this scene were all very emotional.
"I originally thought that last year's newcomers were the best batch Seido had in so many years. I didn't expect this year's newcomers to perform even more fiercely!"
Furuya Satoru, Sawamura Eijun, Jinguuji, Kominato Haruichi.
This basically already constitutes half a team, and it is precisely because these excellent players lead that the Freshman Team has not collapsed.
Their performance and fighting spirit received recognition from the old alumni.
And among them, the one who played a leading role was probably not Furuya Satoru, who had a pitching that could enter the soul, nor Jinguuji and Kominato Haruichi.
It was Sawamura Eijun, who was standing in front of them, who had been hit for two Homeruns in a row, yet still showed no sign of dejection.
Kominato Ryosuke, standing among a group of First string players, squinted his eyes, watching Sawamura continue to pitch actively, unaffected, even after giving up two Homeruns in a row.
Other players, even if inspired by Masuko, started using the largest bat and standing closer to home plate.
But facing the increasingly sharp quirk ball, they still found it very difficult to hit well.
This gave the Freshman Team fielders an opportunity.
Kanemaru, Kominato Haruichi, and Jinguuji successively put on spectacular defensive plays, and they managed to smoothly get through the crisis.
After Masuko, although there were two more hits, no runs were scored.
When the hitting order reached the second batter, Sawamura smoothly got through this crisis.
The Freshman Team's morale was greatly boosted as a result.
"We still have two innings left, let's catch up on the score!"
The passionate idiot was still full of vigor, and ambitious to boot.
At this moment, he actually still wanted to close an eight-point gap.
But unfortunately, Zhang Han would not give them that chance.
Zhang Han, pitching with full effort, quickly struck out three batters.
Zhang Han, who had unlocked his breaking ball, possessed a fastball approaching 150 kilometers per hour and two standard breaking balls.
With such ability, even against his old rivals Inashiro and Ichidaisan Third High School, he could probably display decent combat power.
Not to mention he was only facing little kids who had just joined the baseball team.
The Freshman Team, let alone scoring, found it incredibly difficult even to get a single hit or even just make contact with the ball at this point.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Senior Team was on offense.
Zhang Han, Chris, and Masuko again got hits one after another, and the batters behind them sent Masuko back to home plate.
Three runs!
The score between the two sides became 12:1.
Sawamura Eijun's quirk ball no longer appeared as miraculous as it did at the beginning of the game.
It seemed that if the game continued, the Senior Team would have no problem continuing to score off him.
But everyone who saw this scene did not think the Senior Team players performed that well.
Quite the opposite, they believed that Sawamura, who was continuously giving up runs, truly had a very promising future!
Except for a few key players from the First string: Zhang Han, Chris, and Masuko.
Everyone else could only get hits by luck.
And two of those hits were due to fielding errors by the fielders.
If it were a real First string, or even a second team defense, those two hits would have been definite outs.
This was a bit frightening!
************************************
Upto 50 Chapters In Advance At: P@treon/Vividreader123