One Out, runners on first and third.
As a top-tier team, whether it's the players from the Seidou High School baseball team or the Osaka Kiryu High School baseball team, they have all rehearsed this kind of situation countless times before today's game.
Each one of them is extremely familiar with it.
Although the player on third base, Sawamura, constantly puts pressure on the new pitcher from Osaka Kiryu High School, he adopts a stealing stance, looking like he's ready to rush as long as there's a simple exchange with Miyuki.
But is it really that simple?
Perhaps not!
Even though Sawamura shows great enthusiasm, the harsh reality keeps reminding him.
What he's attempting is very risky.
The moment this situation arose, the players from Osaka Kiryu High School immediately reacted.
When they saw Sawamura leaving the base, the rookie pitcher, Morishita, without hesitation, threw a pick-off attempt.
Although no matter how hard Morishita tried, he couldn't possibly get Sawamura Out with just a pick-off attempt, he still decisively made the throw!
And as soon as the opponent made this move, Sawamura had no choice but to stop his advance.
It was inevitable!
He couldn't possibly attempt a direct steal of the base.
Not only because of his start speed, which is slow, like a turtle's crawl, but even if it were a faster runner like Kuramochi or Lee-Hyun, they wouldn't have such an ability either.
The only thing Sawamura could do was immediately return to third base to avoid being picked off.
With his rich experience, it wouldn't be easy for the opponent to achieve this.
As for the Osaka Kiryu High School team, especially their Ace pitcher Morishita, they didn't have such an expectation.
They didn't expect to tag Out Sawamura directly at the base.
After all, he's the nationally ranked number one ace. If it were that easy, he'd have been caught out countless times already.
They just needed to limit Sawamura's movements.
The other infielders on Osaka Kiryu's team had all moved in close for a more aggressive defense.
Even the third baseman was closer to the baseline.
In theory, in such a scenario, the players from Osaka Kiryu should find it difficult to outwit Sawamura.
But somehow, they managed to do it!
The shortstop, positioned behind third base, had also moved forward.
He was covering the position of the third baseman.
Thus, first base, the pitcher's mound, and third base formed a line.
Osaka Kiryu's players gathered in force along this line.
Out of the nine players on the field, six were concentrated here.
Their intentions were clear.
The players from Osaka Kiryu High School had made up their minds: they would not allow the Seidou High School team to take the lead through forceful plays.
"Such determination!"
In the Seidou High School team's dugout, Coach Ochiai rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
He could tell just from the response of the Osaka Kiryu players in a crisis that their team had undergone very rigorous training.
To be frank, their strength is extraordinary.
The reason Osaka Kiryu High School was being suppressed by Seidou High School in the game, even trailing by one point, wasn't because their team wasn't strong enough.
On the contrary, their strength is quite formidable!
It's just that their luck hasn't been great, and they happened to face an opponent even stronger than them.
Their response shows how efficient and capable they are.
When playing against a team like this, even Seidou's players have to be fully alert.
"Sawamura!"
"It's all on you!"
The next confrontation will be extremely tough.
Unlike Ochiai, who places all his hopes on the star player, Sawamura, the team supervisor, Kataoka, is more rational at this moment.
He believes in his players.
This includes Sawamura, but is not limited to him.
Kataoka trusts the other players as well.
For example, right now, standing in the Batter's Box is Shiratsu.
The opposing team has locked down the infield so tightly that hitting a weak ground ball wouldn't help much.
It's better to just hit the ball to the outfield.
Without hesitation, Kataoka signals Shiratsu to go for a long hit.
'There's no need to worry about the defense; just hit the ball to the outfield.'
Even if the ball gets caught in the outfield, Sawamura still has a chance to get back to home plate.
For the Seidou team, the most important thing now isn't to get bogged down with these guys, but to score as quickly as possible.
Just one run!
If they score one more, Seidou will have a two-point lead.
At present, the pitcher on the mound is still Sawamura.
For high school players at this stage, Sawamura brings an extraordinary pressure.
With a two-point advantage and the opponent being the ace Sawamura, the probability of Osaka Kiryu collapsing is high.
Looking at it this way, scoring first is the most profitable strategy.
Other issues can be addressed after the points are on the board.
PANG!!
Shiratsu, truly the most versatile player on the king-level Seidou High School team, didn't disappoint.
He actually sent that small baseball flying to the outfield!
The Osaka Kiryu players were stunned!
What did they just see?
Shiratsu, who didn't have much presence, actually hit the ball all the way to the outfield.
In the stands.
Fujio, a senior reporter from Baseball Kingdom magazine, stood up excitedly when he saw this.
"Marvelous!"
At this moment, he didn't know what else to say other than this word.
It was truly Marvelous!
Although he already knew that Supervisor Kataoka had fully upgraded his tactics, and Seidou High School had improved significantly, he still didn't expect them to seize the moment so perfectly.
Although the score difference was still small, even if Seidou scored one more run, it wasn't that much.
But two points versus one point make a huge difference, especially when the opponent is the ace Sawamura.
On the Koshien stands, tens of thousands of fans watched in disbelief as the small baseball soared.
They watched as it flew all the way to the outfield.
Because all of the Osaka Kiryu High School baseball team's players were so aggressive with their infield positioning, their outfield appeared to be wide open...
Clearly, they never expected this situation to occur.
When this situation actually happened, they were caught off guard.
As they watched the ball about to land, someone was running across the field like a ghost!
It was the original Ace of the Osaka Kiryu High School baseball team, now filling in as an outfielder.
Surprisingly, not only could he pitch well, but he was also an exceptional fielder.
He ran about ten meters, just in time to catch the ball in his mitt before it hit the ground.
"OUT!!"
This Out was without a doubt.
"GO!"
The base coach, Ono, signaled Sawamura to advance.
Although the ball was unexpectedly caught, that didn't mean Seidou High School lost their opportunity to score.
On the contrary, Seidou still had a chance.
The fielder caught the ball about 60 meters from home plate.
At this distance, Sawamura could definitely make it to base.
The chances of him getting on base were very high.
In this situation, how could Sawamura hesitate?
He sprinted towards home plate!
Though it was unfortunate that Shiratsu was caught Out, this didn't stop Sawamura from making his move.
Even for Shiratsu's sake, Sawamura couldn't let his efforts go in vain.
Scoring was a must!
Sawamura sprinted towards home plate, preparing for a daring steal.
His speed was frighteningly fast.
He was quick, but the baseball flying behind him was even faster.
In the blink of an eye, the baseball had crossed the 60-meter distance and landed in the catcher's Mitt!
Though the throw was slightly off, it was impressive for such a long distance.
Not to mention, the catcher, Hakumatsu, was now very close to the sprinting Sawamura.
"Nice throw!"
After catching the ball, Hakumatsu didn't return to home plate but instead ran toward Sawamura.
He wasn't running fast, as he was prepared for Sawamura to suddenly change direction.
This time, they were determined to force Sawamura into a mistake.
Hakumatsu was excited.
Just the thought of being the one to take Sawamura down and tag him out made him thrilled.
As Sawamura came running, he seemed to realize there was no way out, so he slowed down.
Hakumatsu sighed in relief, stepped forward, and was ready to tag Sawamura with his Mitt.
Just as Hakumatsu's Mitt was about to make contact with Sawamura, the latter suddenly took a quick step to the side, dodging the Mitt and successfully avoiding the tag.
'Oh No!'
Hakumatsu's heart screamed.
But by then, it was already too late.
After dodging the tag, Sawamura sprinted a few steps and firmly stepped on home plate.
He helped Seidou High School score their second point.
The score was now 2:0!
When this result was confirmed, everyone was dumbfounded.
What had they just witnessed?
In the process of running the bases, Sawamura had intentionally slowed down, waited for the catcher to close in, then dodged the Mitt and sprinted home.
How does Sawamura's mind work?
How could he think of such a cunning move?
…