Chapter 49: Super Brain VS Super Talent

"One Out!"

After Masuko caught the ball and solved Out Hirahara, Sawamura suddenly stretched out his index finger and shouted to the surroundings.

"One Out!"

"Pitch to contact!"

"I will catch it!"

The fielders of Seidou quickly understood what Sawamura meant and cheered back.

In the stands.

A professional baseball scout couldn't help muttering: "It's amazing!"

"Miki-san?"

Next to the scout, a female assistant asked with concern.

"What's wrong?"

Miki regained his senses and turned to look at his female assistant.

"Who did you mean by that?" The female assistant asked suspiciously.

"I meant pitcher on the field."

"Eh? But He obviously didn't do anything big?"

"No, he did. He was controlling the tempo of the game."

After taking the first Out, Sawamura's pace seemed to be accelerated, and his pitching became smoother and smoother. And maybe it is because of the fast pace, Sawamura's ball control is not as tricky as before. Hits started to appear.

The batters of Seihou High School are all elites and the best of the best in high schools. How could they miss such a good opportunity?

Ping!

Ping!!

The white balls were knocked forward again and again.

It's just that the luck of the Seihou batters was not particularly good, and the ball they hit did not land in the gap of the Seidou defense.

A ball fell next to the second baseman, was caught by Kominato Ryosuke, and sent to first base.

The other ball hit the high fly above the shortstop and was directly picked up by Kuramochi.

"OUT!"

"OUT!!"

It looked like the batters had finally found a rhythm for the hitting, not being fooled by Sawamura's pitching.

Seihou High School's lineup is very strong.

Just, objectively speaking. This time Sawamura scored three Outs with just four balls.

So far, after pitching for two innings, the number of pitches has remained at 14 balls.

In the second half of the inning game, Seidou High School attacked.

Akutsu, who had maintained a Nice Pitching rhythm before, suddenly realized that the batter from Seidou High School was no longer rashly swinging.

Like their sixth batter, who didn't swing at the first two Strikes.

It wasn't until the third ball that he reluctantly hit an outside corner Breaking ball, which was caught by the first baseman from Seihou High School.

"OUT!"

One Out, no one hits base.

There was a scorn in Akutsu's eyes.

Seidou's response was not bad, so soon the count increased.

'But, aren't you underestimating me too?'

When it was the turn for the seventh batter, Chris also wanted to observe the first two balls and get more information and information. Unexpectedly, the opponent directly threw a Straight ball without the speed and power of the ball just like against Sawamura.

snap!

"STRIKE!"

On the strike zone, Chris's expression became a little complicated.

Akutsu's response was a bit beyond his expectations. Just by seeing Masuko's swing, he knew that Seidou had changed their strategy. (When returning to the rest area before, Chris discussed with Kataoka. Coach Kataoka decided to change his tactics and focus on consuming Akutsu's pitches.)

He glanced back at Kataoka.

Kataoka's face was also complicated, and then Chris saw Kataoka shaking his head at himself.

'Be flexible, since the opponent has seen through Seidou's strategy and continues to abide by the old tactics, only Seidou will suffer.'

Chris nodded and then resumed his stance of waiting for the ball.

"They react really fast!"

On the pitcher's mound, Akutsu was also interested.

Just watching his own ball, Chris knew his plan. It was the first time Akutsu had met such an opponent, and he immediately became interested.

For Akutsu, the most painful thing about playing baseball is playing against a bunch of guys who have nothing but muscles in their minds. Even if he wins against his opponent, he has no sense of accomplishment at all.

Originally, he thought that Seidou, one of the top giants in the country, would inevitably have those kinds of guys.

But after the match started, he found out that it was not the case at all. Every Batter at Seidou High School is very interesting.

This succeeded in piquing Akutsu's interest.

"Come on then!"

In his brain, the information about Chris instantly emerged.

'The first Catcher in Kanto in the middle school era, his striking strength is extraordinary. The batting is solid, and almost all the balls in the strike zone can be hit. If you want to Strikeout him, the success rate is around 11.2%. The best way to deal with him is with the fishing balls…

The first ball should be a Ball in the outer corner!

The probability of the opponent swinging is 23.45%, the probability of observation is 71.52%, and the probability of bunt is 5.03%.'

Whoosh!

The white ball whizzed.

Chris, who changed his batting stance, watched helplessly as the ball flew into the catcher's Mitt.

SNAP!

"STRIKE!"

The baseball slid into the strike zone from the Ball position.

On the strike zone, Chris' face was a little ugly.

Although there is no winning shot, but Akutsu's corner Breaking ball is really powerful.

In the blink of an eye, he was chased by two Strikes.

On the next Pitch, even if it was a Ball that was slightly off the strike zone, he could only swing the bat.

Whoosh!

Without allowing Chris to think, the white ball flew over again.

Chris's eyes never left the flying baseball.

'Here it comes!'

The bat in his hand was raised high and then swung out fiercely.

Ping!

The white ball was hit, then bounced to the ground and was caught by Seihou's shortstop and sent to first base.

"OUT!"

On the strike zone, Chris' face was a little ugly.

'It's a Curveball!'

'Horizontal break, vertical break, and depth break.'

'Akutsu has tempered himself well. These breaks are combined with his 140 ball speed and precise ball control…'

"Although his fame is not comparable to that of the Demon King Sawamura and Tokyo Prince Narumiya, in terms of strength, he is definitely one of the top pitchers in the country."

This is what Chris said about Akutsu.

Two Outs, no one on base.

Next, it was the turn of the eighth batter, Shiratsu Kenjiro.

"STRIKE!"

Ping!

"FOUL!"

"BALL!"

"STRIKE BATTER OUT!!!"

Although Shiratsu was struck Out, he was the only one who completed the Kataoka supervision task.

He managed to get Akutsu to throw more than three Pitches.

Seihou High School dugout.

"Forcing Akutsu to pitch in double digits in an inning, these batters of Seidou are really good."

Seihou's Coach, Nishidera Yuu said with a smile.

Although he praised Seidou, the expression on his face was not very serious. It seems that Seidou's strategy is not too concerned.

There are ten balls in one inning, and one hundred balls in nine innings.

Although Akutsu's stamina is not outstanding, it is no problem to insist on more than 100 balls.

If Seidou High School wanted to use this method to bring down Akutsu, they would be too naive!

The game continues.

…

T/N: In the original book, Seihou played against Inashiro. Although Seihou's pitcher did not show his face in that game, his performance was not inferior to Narumiya's. Akutsu is an Original Character, but it is not without basis.