<130> Offense and Defense in the Second Inning

Chapter 130: Offense and Defense in the Second Inning

Without any celebration or visible emotion, Sendo casually tossed the bat aside after confirming his home run and began jogging the bases slowly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

In truth, Sendo was slightly surprised.

The home run had a bit of luck to it—if it had been hit less than a meter further out, it would have been a foul ball.

"The king favored by the gods of baseball! Sendo-kun, you continue to amaze me! Even the so-called baseball geniuses from America seem like ordinary players compared to you!" Coach Takei couldn't help but express his admiration.

It wasn't an exaggeration. Even legendary figures touted by Major League Baseball didn't display such dominance purely through raw talent while being essentially an outsider to the sport.

Smack!

The sound of Sendo stepping on home plate echoed clearly for all the players on the field.

Everyone was stunned, even Akagi's previously cheering players fell silent, watching their cleanup hitter return to the dugout. Then, all at once, they rushed him.

"Nice home run, you bastard!"

...

After the celebration, Sendo suddenly had a mischievous idea.

"Over to you, Eijun!" He addressed Sawamura with an unusually serious tone, as if entrusting him with the fate of the world.

"Hah, leave it to me! I'll hit one too—a home run!" Sawamura's eyes turned into dramatic upside-down Vs, and he exhaled two streams of imaginary "steam" from his nose like a caricature of a macho man.

Those who didn't know Sawamura's true abilities might have thought he'd been tasked with an earth-shattering mission.

Meanwhile, those nearby were holding back laughter, afraid Sawamura might notice.

As Sawamura walked to the plate with his bat, his teammates behind him quietly chuckled at his back.

"Come on, don't tease him so much!" even Fumino couldn't help but remark. If not for her suppressed laughter, Sendo might have believed her.

"What are you talking about? He's our fifth batter, after all!" one of the players joked.

"Really..." Fumino sighed, lamenting her misfortune in having Sendo as her childhood friend.

"Ha!" Sawamura swung with such force that he spun himself in a complete circle and ended up sitting on the ground.

"Strike! Batter out!"

"Darn it! I'll hit it next time for sure!" Sawamura declared fiercely from the batter's box, his tone more endearing than intimidating.

"Don't worry about it; it's just one out. Let's keep up the offense!" As he returned to the dugout, he cheerfully reassured his team with a goofy grin.

"This guy...he really acts like nothing happened!" Sendo muttered in disbelief.

Even Sawamura's staunch supporters had slightly stiff expressions as they nodded in agreement.

Still, Sawamura wasn't wrong. Following him were reliable batters like Omura and Oyama, who were as dependable as the first and second batters.

"Don't let Eijun's antics throw you off! Let's keep the pressure on!" Sendo said to the following batters, suppressing his own laughter as he recalled Sawamura's earlier display.

"Don't worry, Sen-chan! Ei-chan's been like this forever!" Omura responded with a grin.

Although Sawamura's strikeout dampened the opposing team's spirits slightly, the momentum gained from the earlier home run hadn't entirely disappeared.

Sawamura's inability to handle even simple tactical plays meant he wasn't sent up to attempt a bunt to maintain pressure on the defense. But if their opponents crumbled at this point, it would be a waste—it was just a practice game, after all.

Such practice games were rare opportunities to go all out without holding back, especially against teams from other districts.

After losing in the fall tournament, organizing practice games like this was difficult unless they had long holidays to make travel feasible.

Recognizing the challenge of Akagi's lineup, Seiwa's Sakura called for a timeout after Sawamura's strikeout. Despite earning an out, the subsequent batters were still a tough challenge, and a break was necessary to reset.

"Honestly, we probably didn't even need the timeout," Fujiwara muttered.

"Maybe, but the opponent's offense is intense. A timeout is a good way to catch our breath," Sakura replied nonchalantly, not minding whether Fujiwara's remark was sincere.

Fujiwara fell silent, reflecting on Sakura's words.

In truth, the timeout was crucial. Sendo's home run left a lingering impact—a shadow of doubt and pressure.

"My curveball... he completely figured it out," Fujiwara admitted quietly, looking visibly shaken.

"Yeah, that guy is something else." Sakura glanced at Sendo, who was lost in his own world, and reluctantly acknowledged his opponent's strength. This wasn't the time for bravado.

"Seriously, that guy's a bakemono (monster)!" Fujiwara exclaimed again.

"Agreed. That's why we can't let him have another decisive at-bat no matter what," Sakura responded firmly.

"Got it. I understand!" Fujiwara took a deep breath, his earlier tension and fear seemingly released through their conversation.

"Not bad, right? This timeout was well-timed. What's done is done—let's focus on pitching cautiously moving forward. With that bakemono in their lineup, giving up a run or two is inevitable. But don't let it get to you. Our offense will recover! Got it?"

"Understood, senpai! I'm good now!"

"That's what I like to hear!" Sakura patted Fujiwara's chest with his glove and turned back to the field, while the infielders returned to their positions.

"Thanks for waiting!" Fujiwara said to the umpire, signaling the end of the timeout.

After confirming the batter was ready, the umpire announced the resumption of play.

"Slider and curveball, huh? Typical for a first-year pitcher to rely on new breaking balls. But for a first-year to have two in his arsenal is impressive! Now that Sendo has exposed their hand, I can't let myself get taken down so easily," Omura thought as he stepped into the batter's box.

First pitch!

Whoosh!

Ping!

"Foul!"

An outside pitch, fouled off.

Second pitch!

Pop!

"Ball!"

Another outside curveball, but it missed the strike zone slightly. Fujiwara's control over the curveball wasn't consistent yet, so throwing it outside the strike zone was the safest option.

Third pitch!

Ping!

"Foul!"

A high inside fastball this time, putting Omura in a two-strike count.

"Where will the final pitch go? Outside? Inside?" Omura wondered, trying to anticipate the next pitch.

From the first base coach's box, Aoki discreetly signaled a hint.

"I see. Stay calm and be cautious!"

Fourth pitch!

"Outside? Wait..."

Pop!

"Ball!"

The pitch was outside again, missing the zone!

"Hu!" Omura noticed at the last moment that the pitch's trajectory was off and quickly abandoned his swing.

"Damn! Losing control at a time like this?" Sakura sighed, frustrated.

The final pitch was an outside curveball.

Sakura, seeing that Fujiwara's pitch trajectory had been decent so far, wanted to take the opportunity to throw a few more to rack up outs while leaving a strong impression on the batters.

However, the curveball on the third pitch broke early, making it clear this pitch couldn't be their primary weapon anymore.

"Alright then!" Sakura adjusted his mindset and signaled a new pitch.

Fujiwara saw the signal and smirked slightly, preparing to pitch.

Unfortunately for Omura, he didn't have Sendo's inhuman dynamic vision and couldn't see Fujiwara's subtle expression from nearly 20 meters away.

"If that's the case, I'll beat you with sheer power!" Both pitcher and catcher shared the same thought as the fifth pitch was delivered.

"Inside pitch!" Omura reacted immediately, swinging his bat.

Pop!

"Strike!"

"Vertical slider!" Omura gritted his teeth after whiffing the swing.

"Batter out!"

The battery had perfectly executed an inside-outside attack strategy.

Being the first time through the lineup, their pitching adhered to the cross-angle principle, making it natural for the decisive pitch to force a miss.

Unless the batter's skill level was vastly superior, it was tough to hit.

With two outs, Seiwa's morale soared.

While Oyama was prepared for the slider, he was late on a fastball and ended up hitting an infield popup.

Three outs, inning over!

Although they had given up a run, the game remained evenly balanced.

"Sen-chan! Get your gear on!" Ohno, who stayed on the bench, called out to Sendo, who seemed to be dozing off.

"Huh? Oh, what happened?"

"No hits!"

"Alright then, the game is still long," Sendo replied lazily.

Coach Takei, observing all of Sendo's behavior, no longer had the regretful or pitying look he'd shown earlier. As Sendo said, the game had only just begun.

Bottom of the Second Inning

Seiwa's cleanup hitter stepped into the batter's box.

"What a pain! Starting from the last inning, every single one of them has been fighting just to make contact," Sendo thought irritably as he watched the opposing cleanup hitter.

Although Sawamura wasn't fatigued, the extended at-bats meant more pitches, forcing Sendo to squat behind the plate for longer.

While he didn't feel any physical discomfort yet, the psychological strain of staying crouched was making him restless.

Restless or not, Sendo continued to call pitches meticulously.

First pitch!

"Here it comes! Straight down the middle!"

Ping!

"Foul!"

"That was close! Almost got me on the first pitch," the cleanup hitter thought with a jolt. Despite standing as close as possible to the plate and swinging before the ball broke, they barely managed to foul it off.

The main issue was the speed of the pitches—it was simply too fast for them.

Coach Takei, seeing his cleanup hitter struggle, signaled him to step back in the batter's box.

Compared to making contact before the pitch broke, swinging late would yield a better chance, even if it wasn't a solid hit.

With metal bats and softballs, even a mishit could travel far.

Following the coach's instruction, the batter stepped back slightly and choked up on the bat.

"This makes it obvious, doesn't it? They've abandoned power for contact, just trying to get on base without aiming for the sweet spot. Clever choice," Coach Takei praised his batter silently.

"Interesting. If that's how you want to play, then let's settle this head-on!"

Pop!

"Strike!"

Ping!

"Foul!"

"Foul!"

At this point, Sendo gave Sawamura a new signal, different from the all-out pitches called previously in this at-bat.

"So, they're barely keeping up with Eijun's pitches. Even without making changes, they'll probably wear out soon. But damn, this just means I have to squat here longer!" Sendo grumbled internally as Sawamura nodded at the signal.

Fifth pitch!

Whoosh!

Ping!

"Slow pitch!" The sudden appearance of a low-effort slow pitch, previously used during practice with Takeda, completely disrupted the batter's timing.

"Kukuku!" Second baseman Kondou quickly reacted and scooped up the weak grounder.

Pop!

"Out!"

"Ah, I forgot they had that in their arsenal. But after struggling against those full-power pitches, there's no way to handle this one!" Coach Takei said with a wry smile.

The mix of two pitch speeds caused the fourth, fifth, and sixth batters to all fall victim.

Even if they managed to catch up to the slow pitch, the return to full-speed pitches would make the fastballs seem even faster, leading to more swings and misses.

Originally a compromise to accommodate Shin's catching ability, the slow pitch proved devastating at this level of middle school softball, acting like an effective breaking ball.

"Yosh! Yosh! Yosh!" Sawamura was ecstatic, celebrating the scoreless inning.

"Nice pitching, Ei-chan!"

"Great job out there!"

On the way back to the bench, teammates encouraged Sawamura, who was overjoyed.

Even Wakana and Fumino praised him, making Sawamura so happy he almost howled in excitement.

However, just as he took a deep breath to shout, Sendo kicked him in the butt with his cleats, shutting him up.

...

"Sendo! What are you doing?! Those are cleats!"

"You're too loud," Sendo replied flatly.

The bench erupted into laughter as the two bickered noisily.

...

"Don't get cocky! It's just one run. Forget the score—we don't have any real advantage yet," Sendo sternly reminded Sawamura after the laughter died down.

This kind of unwavering attitude needed to be instilled gradually.

Otherwise, Sawamura's tendency to get flustered could become a problem.

Helping him develop a calm mindset would make it easier for him to stay composed in the future.

And Sendo was right.

The opposing team's morale hadn't wavered at all, making the one-run lead essentially meaningless.

This is the daunting nature of baseball.

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