<80> Experience and Practice

Chapter 80: Experience and Practice

"Strike! Batter out!"

"Huh?" Sawamura, who was struggling to get at Sendo for a bit of revenge, froze at the sound and looked over to see the sixth batter, Oyama, struck out at the plate.

Oyama gritted his teeth, frustration written all over his face.

"That pitcher has a pretty nasty personality—she's probably venting. But getting rough with control like that? Still, no one's managing to hit anything!" With everyone holding him back, Sawamura was left watching from the side as if nothing had happened.

Of course, Sawamura's talk of her "rough" control was just his own opinion; to his teammates, that fastball was even tougher to hit.

Once Sawamura calmed down, everyone let him go. He no longer seemed in the mood to brawl with Sendo and instead sat beside him on the bench.

"So, what do you think we should do?"

"What else can we do? This is a battle of raw strength, straight fastballs down the middle. The only thing we can do is focus on distinguishing balls from strikes and try to drag it out, even if it's just with foul balls. She's still just a girl; her stamina can't compare to ours. And right now, we're the ones in the lead!"

"But it's only by one run! And we're up against the national runners-up!" Sawamura muttered.

"What's wrong? Don't you have confidence in yourself?" Sendo teased, a hint of a taunt in his voice, knowing Sawamura couldn't resist that kind of bait.

"What did you say? Just watch closely; I'll show you what I'm made of!" Sure enough, Sawamura fired up, pointing at himself.

"Oh! I'm looking forward to it!" Sendo replied nonchalantly.

"Hmph!" Sawamura huffed and turned his head, unable to figure out what Sendo was really thinking.

"Don't rush it! We've still got a lot of game left!" Sendo said with a slight smile as he watched Sawamura's expression.

At that, Sawamura looked back at Sendo, seeing an unusually serious expression on his face.

"Since I ended up in this game by chance, I'll be the one to take her down! And when I'm up next, I doubt she'll throw me any good pitches, so I'll just wear her down with fouls!" Sendo's eyes narrowed, his distinct almond-shaped eyes and pitch-black pupils looking like a deep, dark abyss, and his confident tone made him seem dangerous and domineering.

"Hmph! Fine, I'll believe in you this once. Let's see how you'll take her down!" Sawamura glanced at Sendo's profile, swallowing back what he'd originally intended to say.

Feeling a bit flustered, he forced himself to act unimpressed, though it was clearly a reaction to Sendo's intensity.

"Strike!"

"Strike two!"

"Strike three! Batter out! Change sides!"

Their fierce ace struck out the remaining batters in quick succession.

"Alright! Scoring can wait; let's focus on defense for this inning!"

"Yeah!!!"

"Don't rush! Quirk balls loves batters who swing like crazy but miss the ball's sweet spot! Wait until the ball is right in front of you, aim for their defense!"

"They're just middle schoolers; even if their pitcher and catcher are stable, their infield and outfield defense won't be flawless! Keep pressing them, keep putting pressure on their defense! We'll slowly take the runs back!"

"Yes!!!"

...

"It's just the lower lineup! Don't overthink it!"

...

Crack!

"Strike! Batter out!"

Pink!

"Out!"

Ping!

"Second baseman!"

Smack!

"Out!"

The top of the third inning ended with a strikeout, a pop fly in the infield, and a ground ball, bringing the round to a close.

But now, the game had settled into a tense, monotonous pitching duel.

In the bottom of the third, Ozawa struck out the eighth, ninth, and first batters in succession.

Then, in the top of the fourth inning, Sakura Girls University finally scored their first hit when their second batter broke through Akagi's infield defense and made it safely to first base.

After all, the infielders' coverage is vast, and it's challenging to predict exactly where Sawamura's pitches will go.

This requires quick reactions and solid experience, which are difficult for Akagi's rookies to match fully.

For the next few years, this lack of experience will likely remain a significant hurdle, with occasional issues in judgment or slower natural reflexes leading to base hits.

"Don't stray too far from the base! Not too close either—bait the catcher a bit and observe him throws," Coach Mitani instructed.

"Coach Nakani said he's flawless! That arm strength is insane, so let's see where your limits lie," Coach Mitani thought as he watched Sendo.

The runner, following instructions, took a modest lead of about 4 meters. Normally, she could go up to 5 meters, but she'd been startled by Sendo's explosive base-running speed earlier.

At this distance, a typical catcher would likely throw a few pick-offs to disrupt the runner's rhythm.

"At such a close lead, she won't make it if she tries to steal. Honestly, I'd welcome the attempt."

But Sendo's mindset differed from that of most players and coaches.

He wouldn't waste time on a low-reward action like a pick-off unless the runner's speed was alarming.

He wouldn't interrupt his own rhythm just to throw a pick-off.

Typically, most players and coaches favor frequent pick-off throws, using the catcher's arm to deter the runner.

But with Sendo's extreme confidence and strong calculation skills, he had his own strategy.

He knew exactly where he could tag out a runner and where he couldn't.

For those ambiguous zones, Sendo was confident that, barring a hit, no one could steal a base on him.

So Sendo adopted a hands-off approach, letting the runner lead freely.

If she crossed his mental threshold, he'd take action, but otherwise, he allowed her movements without interference.

His confidence stemmed from his extensive understanding of the runner's speed and precise mental calculations, as if he'd drawn invisible boundaries on the field, prepared to respond accordingly at each stage.

"Strike!"

"Wait! You're not even going to throw a pick-off at that distance? Going straight for the pitch? How confident can you get? This borders on arrogance!" thought the batter, who had anticipated a pick-off but ended up losing a strike count against Sendo's approach.

She didn't know much about Sendo, so she assumed he was overly confident.

"Is this the privilege of coaching yourself? Doing whatever you want?" she muttered in surprise.

Strictly speaking, the batter's own experience misled her.

With the runner's current distance, most would attempt at least one pick-off throw.

However, for Sendo, who trusted in his own calculations, reasoning, and practice, such assumptions didn't apply.

"So you think I can't steal at this distance? Really confident, aren't you? Fine, then!" The runner thought from a different angle, stepping out another two steps, now over 4.5 meters from the base.

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