Chapter 21: Sawamura vs Furuya

Facing off against Furuya and Sawamura head-to-head, Kawashima felt a deep sense of pity for himself.

Even without stepping onto the pitcher's mound, just watching from the sidelines, he could keenly sense the immense gap between himself and those two.

This gap couldn't be bridged by mere speed or form.

Moreover, Furuya and Sawamura hadn't developed in a direction where they could be easily defeated. On the contrary, they had grown stronger and stronger.

It made him feel really helpless, he was planning on being the relief pitcher when Kawakami became the Ace, and take the Ace number in his third year.

But reality chose to sucker punch him in his face, with a swift and forceful right-handed blow, followed by a stunning and seemingly impossible left-handed strike.

Kawakami didn't even become a relief pitcher much less an Ace.

And he, Kawashima, can barely have the ambition of having a place in the pitching squad.

It is so depressing to the bones.

This was Kawashima's most genuine feeling right now.

And because of this feeling, he couldn't even bring out his own strength when pitching.

Furuya hit Kawashima's pitch beautifully, securing a long hit into the outfield.

"This guy is totally on fire!"

Pitching from a pitcher isn't like a pitching machine.

The balls from a pitching machine, even breaking balls, follow a predictable course. With enough practice, you can always find some the right path to hit.

But pitching from a pitcher is different. Firstly, you can't face the exact same pitches in the same courses repeatedly from the same pitcher as you can from a machine.

In this scenario, finding patterns isn't as straightforward, and humans aren't machines—no matter how many balls are thrown, they won't be exactly the same as the last. Even if a pitcher throws the same breaking ball twice in a row, they will inevitably differ.

That's the difference between humans and machines.

When Furuya faces pitches from a machine, no matter his performance, people won't be this surprised.

But with pitching from a pitcher and performances like home runs and long outfield hits, that's something special.

Kuramochi looked at Furuya's unstoppable performance, feeling it was all too surreal.

There are many factors involved here, such as holding back and the personal state of the players.

Especially the state of the players, whether pitching or hitting in baseball, no matter who you are, it all revolves around the feel and state in the end.

Hence, issues with the current state are more pronounced.

Yet, even with Furuya, his form is excellent now. The results he's achieving are truly jaw-dropping.

"Go for it, Sawamura!"

"Don't lose, Demon King."

While their peers were still in awe, the old alumni who supported Seidou High School couldn't contain themselves.

They say watching excitement isn't a bad thing, and right now, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that saying.

The crowd around eagerly watched the showdown on the field, cheering for Sawamura.

"The pressure is intense!"

Furuya's performance today was so impressive it put immense pressure on Sawamura.

Kaneda's pitches, due to their slow speed, didn't pose much of a challenge in terms of movement, whether for Furuya or Sawamura.

But Kawashima's were different. His pitch speed was close to 140 km/h, nearing Sawamura's own speed. It wasn't easy at all to consistently hit such pitches.

Despite Furuya exerting significant pressure on Sawamura, Sawamura didn't seem to mind much.

Standing in the batter's box, he appeared relaxed, holding his bat high and swaying it slightly. His position wasn't too forward or backward, not too left or right—just right.

This unusual demeanor immediately caught everyone's attention.

During regular training sessions, Sawamura consciously relaxed his mind to hone his instincts.

This sort of thing can only be achieved after reaching a certain level, akin to turning one's actions into instinct. During initial training, one must focus, or else make errors.

Put more bluntly, it means not thinking about anything and just doing it.

But now, Sawamura clearly had other plans.

His entire focus was on the pitcher-batter showdown, indicating he no longer viewed this matchup purely as a simple test but as a game.

A game against Furuya.

"For Sawamura to take this seriously, I have to give credit to Furuya; his progress is indeed impressive!"

Whoosh!

Watching the small white ball fly toward him, Sawamura calculated the timing and decisively swung his bat.

Ping!

After making contact with the white ball, it flew high and struck the outfield wall.

Also very clean, a long hit to the outfield.

"Beautiful!"

"Well done!!"

"Although the monster rookie Furuya is formidable, he still can't match Demon King."

Sawamura, who hit the long outfield hit, breathed a sigh of relief.

That hit wasn't easy at all. If Kawashima hadn't been off his game, it wouldn't have been possible.

"My turn!"

Kawakami muttered quietly, then walked up to the pitcher's mound.

Despite his soft-spoken manner, Kawakami's attitude was unusually resolute.

No player who left their hometown to play at Seidou High School could ever think of themselves as a substitute!

Kawakami Norifumi didn't appear particularly fond of competitiveness. However, since arriving at Seidou High School, he has been working hard to improve himself.

Hoping to become the team's Ace someday.

Later, with Sawamura Eijun's arrival, Kawakami Nori realized that becoming the team's Ace in high school would be challenging.

'But so what?'

'Give up on the path to becoming the Ace?'

'How could that be possible?'

No matter how slim the hope, he had to strive for it. Even if the chance of success was one in a billion, he would never give up.

These thoughts had already been in his mind when he initially chose to come to Seidou.

Training at a prestigious high school might lead to success or failure.

But wasn't the purpose of coming here to test one's limits?

"My limits are far from reached. I must continue forward!"

Thinking this, Kawakami Norifumi's gaze became even more determined.

As Kawakami stepped onto the pitcher's mound, Coach Kataoka suddenly spoke up.

"Maezono, you're on first base. Haruichi Kominato, second base. Higasa, third base. Kuramochi, shortstop. Ono, you're catching. In the outfield, Shiratsu, Asou, Toujou."

The once-empty stadium suddenly transformed into a battlefield.

...

T/N: That's it for now!

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