<79> A Completely Chaotic Team

Chapter 79: A Completely Chaotic Team

"Shoot...! Strikeout!" Sawamura gave himself commentary as he dramatically missed the swing again, even struggling to hold onto the bat.

Since Sawamura is a left-handed batter, his exaggerated swings add a bit of interference for the catcher.

Against an average catcher, Sawamura might be able to steal a fraction of a second, but a college-level catcher isn't likely to falter like Seiwa's Ishihara.

The catcher received the pitch, sidestepped, and dodged Sawamura's swing interference before throwing the ball in a single fluid motion.

Her movement was so smooth that one could hardly tell she lost any time by sidestepping.

However...

"Safe! Safe!" The umpire quickly called.

Against raw speed, the female catcher's strength and throw speed ultimately couldn't match the male players. Even the pitch speed from their pitcher was a bit lacking.

It took over three seconds from the moment Sendo took off to when the third baseman caught the ball.

But for Sendo, who had quietly edged a bit further out from the base and was now around 7 meters off, that time was too slow.

With a lead of 7 meters, meaning roughly just over 20 meters to third base, how long did Sendo need? No one knew!

But everyone could see it—Sendo reached base without even needing to slide. At that moment, everyone sensed the presence of natural talent and the inherent difference between men and women.

Every player on the Sakura Girls's team felt it at that moment—the deep, unavoidable sense of powerlessness against a genius that their usual strong-armed catcher, whom they thought could hold her own against guys, now faced.

Still, that feeling was fleeting; they were no longer kids and had fought in countless battles, not easily shaken by something like this. Strictly speaking, this setback wasn't all that big.

"Can't keep up, huh? That speed...just over 2 seconds for 20 meters? That's insanely fast! No wonder Coach Nakani's rating of his running speed was an S+." (Though, in baseball, the highest rating is usually A!)

"But if we handle the batters afterward, there's no problem. Besides, this next batter can't even time his swing properly." Coach Mitani muttered under his breath as he stood up to give instructions.

"Infield, prepare for a bunt defense. Be ready to give up one run if needed, but let them feel our spirit and determination! We'll handle the next batters one step at a time!"

Seeing the signal, the players on the field collectively nodded, regaining their fighting spirit, as the infielders moved forward.

"Now, it's your time to shine, our special attack captain, Eijun!"

Sendo took another huge lead, still at about 6 meters, while glancing at Wakana with a mischievous thought in his mind.

Wakana quickly stood up and gave Sawamura a signal, as Sendo on the field avoided signaling himself to prevent their already simple signs from being deciphered.

Although this was just a practice game, the idea of broadcasting signals openly was basically inviting the opponent to figure them out by watching their next moves, right?

Also, Sendo saw this as setting a standard for himself—being careful, to prevent any unnoticed mistakes in future games. Staying meticulous was the only way to avoid such errors.

"If they're likely to bunt, then there's only one option—a fastball!" The Sakura catcher and pitcher silently agreed on the signal, almost instinctively.

Their impression of Akagi lineup was that they had a good eye for balls and strikes, so there was no need to throw outside the zone—it would only increase the pitch count.

"What? You're asking me...to bunt?!"

Sawamura was speechless at the sign. Weren't they supposed to let him swing away?

"Steal home!" With such a reliable player laying down the bunt, and a runner so fast, stealing home from that far off third base was only natural.

Ping!

The ball started rolling slowly down the first base line!

"Perfect!" someone gasped in admiration.

"Haha! Our special forces captain, Eijun—the so-called 'God of Bunts'—can't be stopped just by bringing the infield in or throwing a powerful fastball!" Sendo mentally gave Sawamura a dramatic nickname as he dashed onward.

"First base!" The catcher, seeing the perfect bunt, decided to give up one run and secure an out first.

"Safe!"

Smack!

"Out!"

It turned out the catcher's decision was correct—even with Sendo attempting to steal home, he managed to cross the plate before the throw to first base.

"Yosha!!! First score!"

Akagi Junior High School's bench erupted in cheers. Up until now, Sakura Girls University's team hadn't allowed a single score in any of their previous games, and that built-up pressure had weighed on everyone.

"Amazing... they managed to score so easily against Sakura Girls University, the national runners-up," someone from the Tokumei Junior High School team murmured, sparking a flood of comments from the rest of the team.

"Didn't Sakura Girls University lose in the summer only because their ace Ozawa was injured? Before her injury, they had a perfect scoreless record!"

"Really? Is that true?"

"Then that means..."

"Yes! Exactly!"

"…"

"Incredible!"

After a brief silence, the group of students all exclaimed in unison!

Meanwhile, on the field, Sakura Girls University's team kept their composure, taking a short break to regroup.

...

"Haha! Sendo, were you trying to provoke their ace on purpose?" Sawamura nudged Sendo as the two heroes of the inning returned to the bench.

"What are you talking about?"

"Staying on second base to mess with the pitcher's mind—that was your plan, right?"

"Huh? That?"

"Oh! Nah, that's just her personality—she's naturally irritable!"

"So?"

"So what? Are you talking about staying on second? I just don't like sliding; it's really nothing more than that!" Sendo replied, heading into the dugout to high-five the team in celebration. His teammates, hearing his explanation, found themselves a bit speechless.

Sawamura was dumbfounded!

For a moment, a breeze seemed to blow through the Akagi bench as they watched Sendo, momentarily stunned.

"Sendo! You jerk!!!"

Sensing trouble, the Akagi team immediately held Sawamura back to prevent him from lunging at Sendo.

"Let me go!!!"

This scene left the opposing bench, as well as the Tokumei Junior High School spectators, utterly dumbfounded.

"What a completely chaotic team! I can't believe my first long hit after mastering the extended cut fastball and my first lost run both went to this group!" Ozawa muttered, covering her face, though her choice of words could be easily misunderstood.

"They may be chaotic, but that team... they're strong!" Coach Mitani thought as he observed Akagi's bench with a sense of anticipation.

"It's clear that with one additional player, their strength now far surpasses what it was when they played Seiwa! This promises to be an exciting game!

And with quirk balls... it's a real challenge for us, who are used to wooden bats!"

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