Chapter 17: Sawamura Strikes Back!

With a runner on third base, it was his turn to step up to bat. Amahisa Kousei felt a thrill of excitement! 

If he could just get a hit, the score would quickly change to 3:1. 

And if luck was on his side, he might even hit a home run, bringing the score to 3:2, and closing the gap to just one point! 

It felt as if a mission had arrived, and Amahisa sensed he could hit the ball. It was a peculiar feeling, with no basis in fact. 

But Amahisa was more than willing to believe it! 

He raised the bat high and focused intently on Sawamura on the mound. 

It felt as if he could hit the incoming baseball at any moment. 

When Sawamura threw the first pitch, Amahisa instinctively wanted to swing. Yet, a gut feeling warned him that hitting the ball into play would be difficult. 

Without any solid reasoning, he trusted his intuition and let the first pitch go by.

"STRIKE!"

By the time the second pitch came, convention would dictate that he should swing to avoid falling behind in the count. 

Yet Amahisa still chose to trust his instincts, resolutely letting the second pitch pass as well. 

As he let the second pitch go, his confidence surged. 

On the Sankou team, Amahisa's pitching skills were undoubtedly top-notch, but his batting was not at the same level. 

In other words, under normal circumstances, he wouldn't pose much of a threat to Miyuki or Sawamura. 

But now, something quite abnormal was happening. 

Miyuki and Sawamura appeared strong and bold on the surface, but in reality, they were both very cautious with their pitches. 

Caution is the key to success. 

Only through caution could they achieve the results they had. They aimed to eliminate any unstable factors before they could take root, a principle held by Miyuki and Sawamura. 

Since Miyuki had absorbed Chris's experience, he would avoid taking risks unless the team truly needed it. 

So when Amahisa presented an unusual threat, Miyuki promptly signaled Sawamura to go for the killer move. 

Sawamura nodded slightly from the mound. 

Not only did he have a gut feeling himself, but even if he hadn't, he would trust his partner's judgment. 

He lifted his right foot high, bringing it down like a battle axe. As his center of gravity shifted, Sawamura's right mitt acted like a shield, covering the entire left side of his upper body. 

At the same time, the small ball held in his left hand shot out like a sharp arrow.

Whrroosh!

Because he was shielded by his chest and mitt, the batter in the strike zone couldn't see Sawamura's arm until the pitch was released. 

'It's coming!'

As if sensing the moment, Amahisa felt he had entered a mysterious state, his energy highly focused and his mind crystal clear. 

He was acutely aware of every movement, watching the flying baseball and swinging the bat without hesitation. 

While he had experienced this state during pitching many times before, it was his first time feeling it while batting. 

Although he had never experienced this before, Amahisa was confident he could hit the ball, just as he was sure that whenever he felt this way, he could handle his opponent smoothly. 

Whrroosh! 

The ball flew toward him, and Amahisa swung the bat with certainty. 

As he was about to make contact with the ball, the smile on his face had yet to fully form. 

Then, something miraculous happened. 

The ball in Amahisa's line of sight suddenly vanished. 

'Where did the ball go?'

He instinctively searched for it, but there was no trace of the ball. 

In that instant, all colors in front of Amahisa faded away, and his world turned black and white. 

Especially after he heard the sound of a baseball thudding into a mitt behind him. 

Amahisa felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar. 

His entire world became dark and cold. 

SNAP!

"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!" 

There was no doubt about it; he was struck out. 

At the same time, Seidou completed their defensive play for the inning. 

Returning to the dugout, Sawamura was very satisfied with his achievement. He had anticipated that Amahisa would be in good form. 

Both his pitching and hitting were displaying strength far beyond what had been shown previously. 

But so what? 

He was still going to win without mercy. 

Moreover, the suddenness of the strikeout made it unsurprising that Amahisa would be left reeling. 

A player's individual state is a magical thing. Even the psychologists in Major League Baseball and the most esteemed veteran coaches cannot keep a player consistently at their peak mentality. 

Though Amahisa had a tough mentality, such a blow should be enough to leave him despairing. 

Sawamura thought positively, but after returning to the dugout, he could no longer smile. 

Turning to look at the dugout of Sankou, he saw Amahisa smiling brightly. 

'This guy's resilience was greater than I had imagined.'

'Was he always like that?'

This had to do with the high school environment. After all, student life is different from professional baseball; it's less cutthroat. 

Many players are more focused on pursuing their own dreams and limits. 

Amahisa Kousei was certainly one of those. 

Otherwise, if they were in a professional team, Sawamura's strikeout would likely have shattered his state of mind. 

Looking up at the score on the field, after five innings, it still read 3:0. 

Since the first inning, Seidou had not scored again. 

Their initial lead had nearly evaporated. 

In contrast, due to Amahisa's brilliant pitching, the entire team's morale surged like grass growing in the wild. 

And It wasn't just Amahisa who wore a relaxed expression, all of them are.

They had failed to score despite a great opportunity. 

One would expect the players from Sankou to be quite frustrated. 

But they did not show such emotions; instead, they performed remarkably well. 

Understanding this from different perspectives yields different answers. Initially, they couldn't even get a hit off Sawamura. 

But now, hadn't they already gotten hits? 

Sankou was gradually beginning to see hope. 

'Their team is really solid!'

Sawamura looked at the opposing dugout, feeling the high spirits. He was acutely aware that this stalemate was detrimental to them. 

If the opponents grew too confident, even though Sawamura felt capable of suppressing them, chaos was unavoidable. 

Gripping the bat tightly, Sawamura's gaze sharpened. 

"We need to score a few more points!" 

The opponent's morale was rising, and the game was only halfway through. 

Sawamura certainly didn't want the match to continue like this, so he decided to take action. 

Now was a great opportunity for him to make his move. 

In the top half of the sixth inning, Seidou was up to bat. 

This time, it was Sawamura who stepped into the strike zone first. 

His eyes were sharp as if he were about to swallow the opponent whole. 

In the stands, the Demon King's Guard and the Brotherhood of Red Heart cheered madly for Sawamura! 

They kept shouting Demon King Sawamura's name, making it feel like a festival. 

While not all the seats were full, there were still a significant number of fans. There were nearly 60,000 people at Jingu Stadium!

So many people, more than half of whom were chanting Sawamura's name. 

The overwhelming momentum felt like an earthquake, hitting the players of Sankou hard. 

"How did we become the villains?" Hoshida muttered in discontent. 

"It feels like we're at odds with the whole world." 

Demon King Sawamura! 

Not only does he possess exceptional skills, but he also has unparalleled charisma. In high school today, Sawamura's appeal is second to none, even compared to star players in professional baseball. 

It was as if the fans were witnessing a living legend. 

They had no idea how far Sawamura would ultimately go. 

This was also their biggest question. 

There were many speculations floating around, some easy to believe, some not so much… 

But none of that mattered; they would witness Sawamura's growth with their own eyes. 

They believed that one day, Sawamura would use his incredible strength to bring great surprises to everyone. 

The surrounding cheers and roars had no effect on the two battling it out on the field. 

They could only see each other. 

Amahisa did not crumble under Sawamura's spirit; instead, he seemed to have undergone a transformation. 

His entire state had relaxed. 

The tension that had been in his body melted away, leaving him in a very natural state. 

A challenger's spark filled his eyes. 

Indomitable, rising against the odds. 

Whrroosh! 

He threw the ball without holding back, his entire body stretching out as the baseball underwent a long acceleration before being pitched. 

In the strike zone, Sawamura entered the State. 

It was as if he had flipped a switch, making everything in his world crystal clear. 

He keenly sensed Amahisa's current extraordinary talents. 

'His stance was low, and the rhythm of his pitch flowed more smoothly than before.'

'Most importantly, the grip!'

Initially, Sawamura had only guessed. 

But now, he was absolutely certain that Amahisa was throwing the vertical slider! 

'The grip, the arm motion—there was no mistaking it!' 

'It's coming!'

The ball was suddenly in front of Sawamura's eyes, and without hesitation, he swung the bat at the flying baseball. 

Now that he had discerned the pitch's trajectory, he certainly didn't mind taking the initiative to hit the ball. 

Ping! 

The ball screamed as it was struck, soaring high into the air. 

It pierced through more than a hundred meters of space before finally flying out of the field. 

Unfortunately, it veered out of bounds! 

"FOUL!!"

…

T/N: That's it for now!

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