Chapter 12: The Ordinary ‘Magic Ball’

The strength training room of the baseball club of Seidou High School.

Several players of the first string are doing strength training.

At this time, the door was suddenly pushed open, and a third-year student walked in.

"That boy, he is on the mound!"

Hearing this, Masuko was doing push-ups and suddenly stopped. The weightlifting Sakai Ichirou also put down the weightlifting equipment. Kominato Ryosuke, Isashiki Jun, and the main force of the third grade stopped their movements one by one.

They gathered together very tacitly, like a samurai ready to go to battle. Elegance, with a trace of murderousness.

"let's go!"

Under the leadership of Yuuki Tetsuya, the core and main force of the Seidou First String began to rush to the baseball stadium.

Kuramochi stared blankly at these seniors, wondering what happened to them?

However, his intuition told him that it should be lively to watch.

"Hee hee, interesting."

Kuramochi was a typical person who would die if he didn't watch the fun. Realizing that there was a lot of fun to watch, he followed up without hesitation.

By the time they got to the field, Sawamura had just dealt with the first batter.

Now, Sawamura, who won the first out, has to face another third-year senior.

Yamazaki Kunio is a senior who is very strong in combat in the third grade.

For Sawamura, the Yamazaki were certainly impressive.

But after watching Sawamura's pitch just now, he couldn't help but wonder if is this really the Sawamura he saw a year and a half ago?

Yes! The current Sawamura has grown more than when he met before. The speed of the ball has increased by about five kilometers, and Sawamura's current ball speed should be 135 kilometers!

This is very strong in freshmen.

But it felt like Yamazaki thought that Sawamura should be stronger now.

In one and a half years, the ball speed soared from 130 to 135.

This growth is very reasonable. (The higher the ball speed base, the more difficult it is to improve.)

But Yamazaki just felt that something was not right there. From what they can remember, Sawamura seemed to have Change-ups and other strange straight balls.

…

Even for the current third year of Seidou High School, Sawamura is very strong.

How can the people who have successively defeated Yuuki Tetsuya, Kominato Ryosuke, and Takigawa Chris Yu not be strong? Not to mention, Sawamura also struck out the former captain, Azuma Kiyokuni, who was like a monster in their eyes.

Although Sawamura is two years younger than them, many of them have always regarded Sawamura as the strongest imaginary enemy. Especially after being defeating Inashiro's rookie Pitcher Narumiya Mei last year, they were even more jealous of Sawamura.

They have seen the horror of Narumiya Mei.

In middle school, Sawamura defeated Narumiya Mei.

How scary is Sawamura?

There is absolutely no one among Seidou's third-year players who is willing to underestimate Sawamura.

As a member of the third grade, Yamazaki always thought of Sawamura as a monster.

But now watching Sawamura's pitching, he couldn't help but doubt.

It seems that maybe Sawamura is not as strong as he thinks?

It's not that the current Sawamura doesn't look strong, and the current Sawamura's pitching is also very beautiful, but it seems that compared with his memory, it is not as strong as he remembers, which is despairing.

'Did we get stronger? Or is there something weird in your pitching?'

At this point, Yamazaki racked his brains and could not figure it out.

In the end, he reluctantly gave up the idea of ​​​​using his brain.

'No matter, now my task is to hit the ball!'

After making up his mind, Yamazaki stared at Sawamura on the pitcher's mound without blinking.

On the pitcher's mound, Sawamura waited for Kariba to give him a signal.

Although the game only lasted a little over two innings, it was not the first or second time that the young Catcher and Yamazaki had played against each other (the other side scored 18 points, and it was the fourth rotation they played). He has a deep understanding of Yamazaki.

'This Senpai is very strong!'

'He scored two hits and three RBIs before.'

'Two hits, all are outside corners, and he rarely swings against inside corners.'

This information flashed across Kariba's mind, and then he decisively gave Sawamura a signal for an inner corner Pitch.

On the mound.

Eijun nodded at the catcher and then threw an inside corner pitch.

Whoosh!

A small white ball that goes straight into the inner corner.

Strictly speaking, there is nothing wrong with Kariba's calling approach. However, he underestimated the shrewdness of Yamazaki. The senior also knew that he had hit the outside corner twice before, and this time the opponent would definitely target the inside corner to shut him Out.

So he aimed at the inner corner at the start.

'Coming!'

The ball flies to the inside corner.

Yamazaki clenched his teeth, aimed at the ball, and decisively swung the Bat.

Ping!

After the white ball was hit, it flew out.

High hit!

The moment he hit high, Yamazaki himself couldn't believe it, but fortunately, the strict training had already made him form a conditioned reflex. After hitting the ball, he flew to first base immediately.

On the pitcher's mound, Sawamura looked at the baseball that flew to the side of third base and shouted, "Third baseman!"

Kanemaru hardly moved, and the small white ball flew into his glove.

Snap!

"OUT!"

Two outs, no one on base.

Sawamura gave Kanemaru a thumbs up: "Good job!"

Kanemaru was also excited, but more shocked.

The ball flew into the glove as if it had been given an order!

"Fourth, first baseman, Maezono Kenta."

After three hits, it was Maezono's turn to attack, and he was the fourth Batter of the Second String.

"Please take care of me!"

After Maezono stepped onto the plate, it was like an Ashura, giving people a very strong sense of oppression.

On the pitcher's mound, there was a smile on the corner of Sawamura's mouth.

Unexpectedly, the first contact with Maezono was on the field.

"Alright, let me treat you well, Maezono-senpai."

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Three balls in a row, each one Maezono swings at, but he doesn't hit the ball with a single one.

"STRIKE!"

"STRIKE!!"

"STRIKE BATTER OUT!!!"

Maezono is not in the third grade, and he has never seen the horror of Sawamura before. This sudden attack made him a little confused.

Who can tell him what just happened?

In the position of the referee, a rare smile appeared on Kataoka's face.

The onlookers, Yuuki, and others, their faces sullen as if they were about to freeze.

"This ball is so weird!"

Isashiki Jun frowned and commented.

"Looking from the side, it's the most ordinary straight ball, but the Maezono misses the bat three times, and the catcher can catch the ball steadily? That stinky boy, can he do magic?"

"It's not magic, it's pitching!"

The Yuuki Tetsuya's gaze was more precise: "It's a matter of pitching. There is a mystery in that pitch that we haven't penetrated."

"Three outs, offense, and defense exchange."

Two strikeouts, one Shutout.

Sawamura played, and the senior team went up and down three times.

…

T/N: The Second Chapter.

One more on the way.