Chapter 300: The Magic Pitch That Enters the Strike Zone
"Strike!"
"Safe!"
"Stolen base! The runner on first, Yuuki, puts pressure on Inashiro Industrial at second, making his presence felt!!!"
The moment Sendo swung at that ball—which was a ball—Yuuki seized the chance created by Narumiya Mei's pitching motion that completely ignored the runner, and decisively stole second.
"No!!!"
Manager Ota clutched his head and screamed.
"What is Sendo doing?! Wouldn't it have been perfect if he just didn't swing like before? If he hadn't swung, we'd have gotten a free base! Coach! We can't let Sendo do whatever he wants anymore! As expected, you should personally guide—"
Seeing Kataoka's unmoving expression, Ota swallowed the rest of his words.
Kataoka kept recalling the earlier exchange between Yuuki and Sendo.
"With what kind of feeling are you standing in the batter's box right now? What kind of scenery are you seeing? Sendo… I kind of want to know."
Kataoka thought gently to himself.
"Even knowing the magnitude of that pitch's break, he still swung…Is he truly enjoying the game? If the ball comes, he swings—that's the fun of being a batter."
Having reached that conclusion, Kataoka decided to fully trust his player.
"Let him hit like that," Kataoka said without turning around.
The third-years on the bench—including Chris-senpai—smiled. They understood too.
"Coach!" Ota still couldn't help speaking up.
"That guy is completely immersed in the joy of baseball right now. In other words, his condition couldn't possibly be better. If he can't hit in this state, then no amount of instructions will matter—we'll just have to accept it. Besides, Yuuki is already in scoring position. Inashiro Industrial won't intentionally walk Sendou now, not if they want to protect their ace's confidence and future. This is the decisive moment."
As players, everyone has times when they're in great form.
Even without the coach's explanation, the seniors could more or less understand.
Those words were meant for Ota—but also as a reminder to Kataoka himself and the team:
This summer… Seidou had placed everything on Sendo.
Coach Kunimoto was just as tense. But as Kataoka said, this confrontation was unavoidable.
If they kept issuing walks, Narumiya Mei's confidence would take a fatal hit—and they'd have to seriously consider changing pitchers.
And as the reigning kings, they couldn't be afraid when it was time to fight.
If you can't even trust your ace in a moment like this, then who can you trust?
Kunimoto was nervous because he too had realized why Sendo swung.
He didn't know what had happened in Seidou's dugout, but from the third-base side—and with Sendo batting left-handed—he could see the batter's face clearly.
On Sendo's face, Kunimoto saw a smile.
A smile of genuine enjoyment.
From all the footage Kunimoto had studied before the game, this was the first time he had ever seen Sendo look like this.
Sendo's eyes were locked solely on Narumiya Mei.
Combined with that smile, it wasn't hard to reach the same conclusion as Kataoka.
A genius like Sendo—someone with incredible physical gifts but not yet fully refined technique—was impossible to measure when he entered a state like this.
Both sides' fighting spirits had reached their peak.
The impact on the loser would be unimaginable.
Most people in the stadium began holding their breath unconsciously.
Aside from the cheering sections of both teams, an eerie quiet settled in.
Everyone was savoring this peak showdown.
"Even if I don't know why he swung, the count is in our favor now.
Next pitch—outside! Further off the plate!
Let's see just how bad his strike–ball judgment really is.
We can't mess around anymore.
Use a stable delivery—don't let the runner advance to third!"
Narumiya Mei realized his mistake as well and nodded.
Leg up. Step. Arm whip.
"Whoosh!"
"Snap!"
"Ball!"
"He didn't move at all… He can tell pitches at this level? Then how about this?"
"The battery quickly settles on the sign! Third pitch!Slider! Once again off the plate! Ball! That makes it two balls and one strike!"
"This is strange… At this level, according to our data, he shouldn't be able to tell balls and strikes so cleanly," Harada thought, staring at Sendo—who had barely started his swing before pulling it back and resetting.
Of course, Harada couldn't know the truth:
Sendo's vision and perception, boosted by his condition and focus, had reached a terrifying level.
"Is his sensitivity sharpened because he's in such good form?"
Harada didn't know the exact reason, but he knew one thing—
He had to be even more careful.
"Hm?"
Harada noticed Narumiya Mei slightly hunching forward, his left hand hanging loosely at his side.
Fighting spirit was quietly overflowing from his eyes.
"We're not losing to you either.
Come on—let's do this again!"
"Whoosh!"
"Snap!"
"Again?"
"Huh?"
"Pop!"
"Strike!"
Sendo froze for just a moment, causing him not to swing.
And because he didn't swing, everyone in the stadium could clearly see it—
That absurd breaking pitch… had entered the strike zone.
"Yosh!"
Narumiya Mei shouted, exhilarated.
He'd had a feeling—in this condition, I can do anything.
But to actually throw that pitch—one he usually couldn't even control—into the strike zone in a finals showdown?!
"Oh!!!"
"Yosh!!!"
"Nice ball, Mei!!!"
"That's the form! Go!"
"N-no problem! You can hit it—believe in yourself!"
Jun-san shouted encouragement, even though he was clearly shaken.
"Go, Sendo!"
"You're strong!"
"Sendo!!!"
Yet Sendo stood there as if he hadn't heard a thing, his gaze fixed on only one person.
Seeing this, Seidou's bench actually relaxed—they'd been afraid that pitch might rattle him.
"This is… a true magic pitch. If that can enter the strike zone, no one can hit it,"
Harada thought, remembering the terrifying drop when he caught it—so low it nearly scraped the ground.
And that pitch had just entered the zone… in a championship showdown?
By fully exploiting the three-dimensional nature of the strike zone, its nightmare-like movement filled Harada with confidence.
"Even you were shaken, huh? Your swing just now was clearly hesitant,"
Harada thought, seeing a trace of surprise on Sendo's face and assuming he'd been scared just like himself.
Sendo tightened his grip on the bat.
That only confirmed Harada's belief.
"With this changeup, our pitch-calling gets much easier. While he's shaken, let's finish him quickly!"
"Sendo!"
"Hang in there!"
"Whoosh!"
"Fifth pitch! Inside—high lure!" Harada thought as Narumiya stepped.
"Whoosh!"
"Boom!"
"Clang!"
"Whoosh!"
"Snap!"
"Foul!"
The baseball struck the sand behind first baseman Yamaoka in an instant at tremendous speed, kicking up a huge cloud of dust.
Just how fast was it?
Yamaoka would tell you—he didn't even manage to turn his head in time to see the ball.
He swallowed hard, a chill running down his spine. That ball terrified him. If it had hit his body, he would've been carried off the field—and it wouldn't have been pretty.
"That swing—an unbelievable shot!!! The defense didn't even have time to react. If that ball had stayed fair, it would've been a clutch RBI hit without question!
With Sendo's speed, even a triple wouldn't have been out of the question!"
"What a swing! I couldn't even see the bat's trajectory!
So fast!!!"
Harada glanced at Narumiya Mei, who looked like he was in full god-mode, and then at the defensive lineup, which had stiffened up instead.
With no other choice, he called the team's final defensive timeout—this one was for the fielders, so even the outfielders were called in.
"What's with you guys? You're all stiff as rocks! Learn something from Carlos-sama!"
Tsundere Mei snapped at them without holding back.
Painfully, none of them could refute that. Otherwise, Harada wouldn't have needed to call a defensive timeout in the first place.
"It's fine. We still have our turn to bat in the bottom half! Just hold them here—leave us a chance for our final attack!"
Yoshizawa said.
"Yeah!"
Still, with Narumiya in this kind of condition, no one dared say something like 'even if we give up a run, it's fine.'
They simply couldn't imagine Narumiya's pitches getting hit in this state.
"…It's still not enough."
"Oh?"
Hearing Narumiya mutter to himself, everyone turned to look at him.
"The heat—it's not enough! The mound at Koshien is even hotter than this!"
The Inashiro players stared at their ace in shock.
This wasn't Narumiya belittling the opponent—this was him expressing his obsession with Koshien.
"More… more!"
"I've been thinking about going to Koshien and washing away that humiliation! You might think a guy who gave up eight runs is talking nonsense. But I just know it—we're not going to lose. I don't feel like we'll lose here at all! I'll shut them down! I won't allow even a single run!"
After hearing that, the players were left with nothing but shock.
"Heh. Feeling uneasy now? Your ace suddenly saying something like that?"
Narumiya laughed like a child.
"I'm strong. I've never felt this strongly how powerful I am. No one can beat me—I'm godlike! Right here, right now, I'm going to win this perfectly! This showdown!"
Behind that bravado was Narumiya's true feeling.
Just as Sendo's eyes held only Narumiya, Narumiya was no different.
If anything, Narumiya's desire to win was even stronger.
For the first time in his life, he had been dominated this badly by a batter.
How could he not want revenge?
And with a single selfish declaration from their ace, Inashiro's defense lost all hesitation.
"Bring it on!"
"We'll absolutely hold them!"
"Honestly…"
"Whether it's bravado or overconfidence—doesn't matter! [We just know we won't lose!] Our ace said it himself!"
"Our ace!!! Then we're the same—we just know we won't lose!!! ×N"
Inashiro Industrial went from being shaken by that terrifying batted ball to brimming with confidence, all because of one willful speech from their ace.
"Now more than ever, we can't rush to settle this. We need to draw him out properly. Will he swing at this pitch? At least now we have a clearer idea of his swing range. Let's make good use of our advantage in the count."
Harada adjusted his pitch-calling once again.
He realized that this game had pushed his game-calling and leadership to a whole new level.
Harada had figured it out—there was no 'hesitation' at all. That guy had swung at the high lure pitch smiling.
"Whish!"
Clang!
"Whish!"
Clang!
"Whish!"
Clang!
…
Using diagonal corners and a mix of breaking pitches, Harada spread the ball across every corner of the strike zone and its edges.
The duel between him and Sendo stretched into double-digit pitches. The count still stood at two balls, two strikes.
Harada didn't give Sendo a single pitch he could truly crush, yet every one was fouled off with perfect accuracy.
Still, not a single changeup was thrown.
With Koshien on the line, Harada remained extremely cautious. He believed the timing wasn't right to use that pitch—the one that could potentially keep Sendou hitless for the entire game.
A changeup relies on speed differential. You can't show it too often—especially not to a batter like Sendou.
"Whish!"
"Fastball? …No—forkball!!! Care—!"
Isashiki, like a worried father, called out instinctively.
Clang!
"Ah!"
"Foul!"
"So close!"
"That one flew far too! This duel has now reached thirteen pitches!!! This is a battle of wills! Pitcher and batter—opposing forces since the birth of baseball itself! This time… who will be the one smiling at the end?!!"
The commentator accidentally hit the mark—because at that exact moment, Harada was preparing for the final showdown.
"This is it.
After throwing this many pitches, he should be used to the timing of every pitch type by now.
Except for one."
"Ever since that high lure pitch, they haven't used the changeup at all. After all these fast breaking balls and high-velocity fastballs, Sendo's timing for the changeup must be completely blurred by now!"
Chris-senpai had noticed it too.
"A changeup whose timing is vague… and whose appearance is uncertain…"
At that point, Seidou's entire bench swallowed hard.
"I don't know if deciding it here is right or wrong. But the situation doesn't allow us to hesitate anymore."
At last, Harada flashed the sign Narumiya Mei had been waiting for.
-------------------
If you want to read 20 chapters advanced.
Visit my patreon: patreon.com/Shu_21