Chapter 25: Not At the Same Level

In the fourth inning, except for Sawamura's home run, Seidou High School failed to score additional points.

Yoshiyama High School does not have a high-level attack power. But their defense is very good.

The pitcher cooperated with the defense behind him and pulled the team back from the edge of the cliff twice in a thrilling manner.

The fifth inning started, and Yoshiyama High School was the first to attack.

After losing points, Yoshiyama High School was completely bent on restoring the score. In the fifth-inning attack, they seemed especially crazy.

If it was just Tanpa Koichiro's pitching, Yoshiyama High School might have really got some runs back, with the momentum at that time.

After all, Yoshiyama High School is also the strongest team in their area!

Moreover, this is not bragging, but the real thing, they reached Koshien by coming on top of all other teams in their area!

Unfortunately, or fortunately, they ran into Chris.

Chris can read the batter's intents, especially when they are so eager to swing.

After knowing what kind of ball they are aiming for, with the skills of Chris and Tanpa Koichiro, solving the batters is a given thing.

Therefore, without any suspense, they scored one strikeout and two shutouts from three batters, ending the team's defense mission in just a few minutes.

In the second half of the fifth inning, it was Seidou High School's turn to attack again!

The attack in the fourth round just showed the tyrannical strength of Seidou High School.

The attack in the fifth inning showed the strong attacking power of the Seidou High School team as a whole.

"Hyaa-ha-haa!"

With a strange laugh, Kuramochi bunted the ball and stole the base with an infield grounder.

Kuramochi after going to base is completely different from Kuramochi on the strike zone.

He is like a fish in water.

After Kominato Ryosuke stood on the strike zone, the Ace of Yoshiyama was ready to make his first pitch.

Without needing anyone to tell him, Kuramochi saw the opportunity and started running to the second base.

"This..."

In the catcher's position, the catcher of Yoshiyama was ready to pass the ball and contain Kuramochi.

But when he raised his head, Kuramochi was now close to second base.

'Tsk, it's too late!'

This realization made the face of the catcher become ugly.

No Out, runner at second base.

"BALL!"

"BALL!"

Ping!

"FOUL!"

"BALL!!!"

After entangling with the battery for eight balls, Kominato Ryosuke chose the Four Ball and hit the base.

No Out, runners at first and second base.

"The third Batter, Center, Isashiki-kun."

Ping!

At the first ball, Isashiki swings with his weird form and gets a hit!

No Out, full base.

After Isashiki's hit, Kuramochi, who started early, actually had a chance to run straight back to home plate.

However, he gave up on his own!

'There are more opportunities next, there is no need to take risks…'

Right now, Seidou has absolutely no need to take this risk.

After all, the next two batters at Seidou High School were the most stable fourth batter Captain Yuuki Tetsuya, and the fifth batter Demon King Sawamura.

With the two of them next at-bat, Kuramochi thinks it's very easy to get back to home plate, so there's no need to take unnecessary risks.

On the other hand, Yoshiyama's Ace was obviously a bit stunned.

The Coach of Yoshiyama High School actually wanted to replace him right now.

One, two, three hits in a row, allowing Seidou's lineup to connect seamlessly, but how should he act?

In the current situation, he did not dare to change players easily. The Ace is unstable, and if the opponent gets a decent hit, they will lose points!

No Out, and the bases were full, it was equally bad to put on a backup pitcher to face the fourth or fifth batters of Seidou High School in such a situation.

In case, this will get Seidou more hits or even a full-base home run, how will Yoshiyama High School look like after this?

In this game, his goal from the beginning was not to win!

If the goal is to win the game, the Coach of Yoshiyama High School will replace players no matter what. Because it is clear to him that, his own Ace pitcher on the field obviously has no way to stop Seidou High School from scoring.

So, he will send the substitute pitcher to the field, no matter how small the hope he has for the pitcher to prevent Seidou High School from scoring.

However, for the Coach of Yoshiyama High School, the goal of this game is only to let the players play a good game, and he himself has given up the quest for victory. Therefore, he hesitated whether to send a substitute.

It's still the fifth inning!

Right now, in case the backup pitcher is also beaten and collapses. That Yoshiyama High School is really over!

The final score of this game is likely to become a painful memory in the hearts of the players that they will not face for the rest of their lives.

Yoshiyama High School is also a dominant team in its own area. It's just that it is not a battle zone. This can be seen in the number of teams, not to mention the school's and the number of students.

Across Tokyo, there are nearly 260 high schools. There are about 130 in West Tokyo alone.

In the area where Yoshiyama High School is located, the total number of high schools that add up is only in the early 40s. (There are more than 60 in Nagano.)

And that's not counting the economic difference between the two regions, the difference in the difference of attention, and the difference in population density.

The summer competition is based on an administrative region as a sub-competition area. That is, in places like Tokyo, there are so many schools that they are divided into two divisions. But even after being divided into two divisions, West Tokyo is still the most competitive battle zone in the country. Teams from West Tokyo, even after arriving at Koshien, are very competitive in that they are always in the top four.

The area where Yoshiyama High School is located is not strong overall, even if Yoshiyama High School is already the top team in their area. But the strength is on the level of the top 16 in West Tokyo.

A team of this level will play against Seidou High School!

It is not difficult to understand that the Coach of Yoshiyama High School would have other plans than winning.

After all, his students also came to participate in Koshien with dreams.

Even if they were in Koshien, they could only play one or two games. The Coach of Yoshiyama High School all hope that Koshien will leave them with the best memories in life, not pain.

'So the Ace can't be replaced!'

After hesitation for a moment, the Coach of Yoshiyama High School strengthened his thoughts and did not replace his school's Ace from the field when no one was Out of the game.

Of course, this is just his own personal plan. It is impossible for him to tell the players that openly.

So what can he tell the players?

"We have to believe in the Ace, he can definitely hold on."

The Coach of Yoshiyama High School gave his Ace a trusting look.

…