Chapter 75: Keystone

"Why are you so happy you idiots!"

In the rest area of Komadai Fujimaki High School, Coach Nitta was fuming.

He glared at his players and angrily said, "Are you satisfied with a score of 2-0 after five innings? Their Ace pitcher hasn't even stepped on the mound, and this is how you bring him down? It's embarrassing!"

It was clear that he was genuinely furious.

Even though it was unclear why, Seidou High School's Ace pitcher, Sawamura Eijun, had remained in the outfield.

Even with Furuya's previous throwing errors and the team's crisis, he had not stepped up to the pitcher's mound.

'In today's game, it seemed Sawamura would not pitch.'

This result was even harder for Coach Nitta to swallow.

With Sawamura on the mound versus him not being there, Seidou High School was an entirely different team.

Their overall strength had decreased by a lot.

Yet, despite this, after five innings, the score was still 2-0.

Realizing that Sawamura wouldn't take the mound, Komadai Fujimaki's players launched a frenzied offensive.

However, they didn't score any points.

The score remained 2-0, and their multiple attacks were ineffective.

On the contrary, Seidou High School's perfect defense only increased, and their momentum soared.

Instead of feeling despair after falling behind 2-0, they grew even sharper.

Especially in defense.

Even when Furuya made a pitching error, his teammates flawlessly compensated for his shortcomings.

'Really persistent!'

Renji adjusted his mask and looked at Seidou High School's rest area with emotion.

Though Seidou's players were resting, their eyes were sharp.

Even without Sawamura on the mound, they exhibited extraordinary fighting spirit under Miyuki Kazuya's leadership.

Known as the kings of high school baseball, they even shouted their slogan before the game.

They probably knew the outcome beforehand and were mentally prepared.

"Interesting."

'Could it be that these guys planned to rely on Furuya to face Komadai Fujimaki while Sawamura was out?'

Renji was startled by his own conjecture.

Komadai, Seidou, Inashiro...

These top-tier schools were terrifying not only because of their strength but also because they had particularly stable Super-Ace pitchers.

Take the simplest example.

Like Hongou Masamune, who was currently on the mound for Komadai.

So far in the game, he had allowed only one effective hit.

He had hardly given Seidou any chances to attack.

In contrast, though Furuya hadn't allowed many runs—just two—he had given up quite a few hits.

The gap in strength was still obvious.

Under these circumstances, it would be very difficult for Seidou High School to defeat Komadai.

As long as they didn't make too many mistakes themselves.

'The victory will be ours; you can rest assured.'

In the top of the sixth inning, Seidou High School launched an attack.

Masamune continued his monstrous pitching, relying on fastballs over 150 km/h to rack up two Strikeouts.

"Terrible!"

The ninth batter Kanemaru—who was just struck out—couldn't help but begin to doubt himself.

'With pitch speeds exceeding 150 km/h, how could he throw accurately to the inside and outside corners?'

Facing such terrifyingly sharp pitches, he couldn't calmly make contact.

Just keeping up with the pitch speed drained a lot of his focus, let alone hitting the ball out.

His only hope was to anticipate the pitch's location.

This strategy, suggested by Coach Kataoka, was what all Seidou batters were trying to do.

But so far, they had managed only one hit.

Many had struck out, and even those who barely made contact found it hard to hit well.

"What a monster!"

The media had hyped Masamune as a monster on the Koshien stage.

His reputation was indeed well-deserved.

At this point, Kanemaru could vaguely sense the despair that other teams felt when facing Seidou High.

In a direct confrontation at the plate, Sawamura's presence was definitely higher than Hongou's.

They had no way to overcome Masamune, thinking about Sawamura is a far dream.

"It seems even luck isn't on our side," Kuramochi said.

Before facing Komadai, Sawamura had injured his finger.

What could be done about that?

After Kanemaru struck out, it was Kuramochi's turn.

His eyes were filled with eagerness and determination.

Clearly, he had also made up his mind to hit Hongou Masamune's pitches.

Ping!

The moment the bat connected with the small ball, Kuramochi gritted his teeth and forcefully swung.

During his time at Seidou, he hadn't been slacking off; he had developed solid skills.

Even if hitting wasn't his forte, he could barely keep up with Hongou's speed.

Seeing the ball get hit, Kuramochi's expression brightened, and he sprinted to first base.

With his speed, he didn't need a perfect hit; as long as it wasn't too bad, he could reach first base.

He was fast, and Komadai Fujimaki's response was quick as well.

As Kuramochi approached first base, Yanagi, the third baseman, stepped forward, picked up the ball, and threw it to first just in time.

Snap!

"OUT!"

Three Outs and the offense switched.

Seidou High School's attack was halted once again.

In the stands, Fujio, a senior reporter from Baseball Kingdom Magazine, remarked with great emotion, "The players of Komadai Fujimaki High School have been thoroughly trained under Coach Nitta."

To the audience, such quick reactions seemed logical. They didn't know how difficult it was to achieve that.

It required completely shutting down conscious thought and learning to let the body lead over the brain under extreme exhaustion.

'In a place like Hokkaido, where snow covers the ground year-round, it was incredible to see a team honed to this level.'

The reason for the game's outcome wasn't that Seidou High School was weak or that Furuya was underperforming.

The real reason was that their opponents were just too good!

Komadai Fujimaki High School!

This was a team capable of shaking the King Seidou High School.

"It would be great if Sawamura-kun could play!" Owada Akiko said, looking frustrated.

She had extraordinary confidence in Sawamura. It seemed that with him on the mound, Seidou High School would surely win.

Fujio, beside her, shook his head.

In this situation, even if Sawamura could pitch, it probably wouldn't make much difference.

The score gap was too great.

Two runs!

And Seidou High School had only three more chances to attack.

In the first half of the sixth inning, after Seidou High School's offense ended, a thick layer of dark clouds seemed to hang over their rest area.

Their prospect looked grim.

This wasn't just them scaring themselves; it was the reality of the situation.

There were still three and a half innings left in the game, but they had only three innings left to attack.

In a three-inning game, defeating Komadai Fujimaki was essential.

They needed at least three runs to have any hope of winning.

How could that be possible?

Every time they thought about the kind of pitching they had seen, the players of Seidou High felt a chill.

They truly weren't sure if they could hit those kinds of pitches.

"Let's focus on defense for now!"

The team was facing a huge crisis, but Coach Kataoka showed no signs of worry. His commands became straightforward and blunt; he wanted the players to concentrate on the task at hand without overthinking.

'He's showing what it means to be a Coach!'

In such a major crisis, the more the players overthought, the more they would strain and be distracted. It was better to let them simply follow orders, making it easier for them to unleash their potential.

Most other teams operated this way. When conditions allowed, Coach Kataoka usually preferred to let the players think for themselves about how to solve their crises.

But today was different; he directly guided the players, telling them exactly what to do.

This indicated that Coach Kataoka was aware of the dangers of today's game.

Ochiai stroked his chin and murmured quietly.

"There are still opportunities!"

Seidou High had only managed one hit so far, and the ferocity of Komadai Fujimaki's pitching was evident.

On the surface, their chances seemed slim. But that single hit provided Seidou High with a rare opportunity.

Now, it was up to the players to seize it.

Ochiai glanced thoughtfully at Seidou High School's lineup.

Kominato, Sawamura, Miyuki, Shiratsu.

There were still chances available.

It all depended on whether they could grasp them.

Of course, Before they could seize the opportunity to counterattack, they needed to accomplish one thing first: stop the offensive momentum of Komadai Fujimaki High School.

In the second half of the sixth inning, it was Komadai Fujimaki's core lineup's turn to bat.

After Furuya secured one Out, the ball was hit.

Ping!

The batter was the third player, Taniguchi.

His recent performance had been incredible, consistently getting hits off the nation's top pitchers.

Previously against Nanami, now against Furuya.

'This guy is surprisingly tough!'

From the catcher's position, Miyuki frowned secretly.

Honestly, before the lineup turned to Komadai's fourth batter, Yanagi, and fifth batter, Renji, Miyuki didn't want anyone on base.

But the real world is cruel; it's not that you don't want things to happen; they often do.

'Things rarely go as planned!'

That saying fits perfectly in baseball.

After frowning secretly, Miyuki still focused his energy on dealing with Yanagi.

Ping!

At that moment, Furuya made a mistake in his pitching.

The ball was hit by Yanagi and soared forward.

Luckily, Furuya's pitch was heavy, so the ball didn't travel too far.

Otherwise, Seidou High's situation would have been even more passive.

Even now, the situation was already quite precarious.

One Out, with runners on first and second.

Now, it was time for another player to watch closely—Enjou Renji.

While his batting average and on-base percentage at Komadai Fujimaki weren't the highest, he often came through in critical moments with timely hits.

His style felt quite similar to Seidou's Miyuki.

"I'm not as cunning as he is!" Miyuki certainly disagreed with that assessment during the review of the opponent.

But the other members of the Seidou High baseball team ignored him and completely agreed.

To them, the two styles were indeed very similar.

Even though their styles were alike, it didn't mean they saw eye to eye. Especially as direct opponents, each concealed their true intentions.

'Furuya's pitching errors were increasing.'

'This indicated that his stamina was wearing thin.'

Despite the game being only six innings in, the pressure of Komadai Fujimaki was much greater.

In this context, it was only natural that Furuya's stamina was depleting quickly.

In the face of such a crisis, Miyuki remained calm.

He subtly signaled to Furuya, asking him to pitch to where his mitt was placed.

Unfortunately, as his stamina waned, Furuya's control began to falter.

The ball even drifted directly into the strike zone.

Here came an opportunity!

Renji didn't seem to think this pitch was a trap; instead, he swung boldly and hit the ball.

Ping!

The ball drew a ten-meter arc and then fell.

"Good!"

"Run!"

Once this kind of ball hits the ground, it poses a threat of nuclear weapon level.

If the ball were to get to the outfield, Seidou would be doomed.

At least one run would score, or even two if the runner on first was quick.

Just then, a figure suddenly dashed in from the second base fielder position.

He was incredibly fast and, at a thrilling angle, caught the rebounding ball in his mitt.

Snap!

Because he rushed too fast, he fell down.

It looked like a perfect save was about to slip away.

At that moment, another person appeared from across.

Haruichi didn't even think, and he passed the ball without hesitation.

The throw came after he fell, and while not perfectly placed, the person receiving it didn't mind.

He bent down in an abnormal pose, snatched the ball in midair with his fingers like a thieve, and stepped on the second base bag.

"OUT!"

But it wasn't over yet.

After stepping on second base, he swiftly sent the ball to first base.

Snap!

"OUT!"

Double play!!

What was initially thought to be a certain run was skillfully thwarted by Seidou.

On the field, Kuramochi extended his hand to the fallen Haruichi.

Kominato Haruichi wore a happy smile, placing his hand firmly on Kuramochi Yoichi's.

…