Coach Kunimoto glanced at Kiriyama Ren. He hadn't expected the catcher to glare at him just now, seemingly very displeased with the recent call.
He didn't show fear even when Coach Kunimoto looked at him sternly. Through his mask, it was clear he believed that pitch should have been a strike.
He was very firm.
That pitch was, of course, a strike. But calling it a ball wasn't because Coach Kunimoto wanted to give the Selection Team a hard time, nor was it to ensure the Special Recruit Team won. It was purely due to Kiriyama Ren's actions just now.
Before Coach Kunimoto could call it a strike, Kiriyama Ren had already stood up and shouted "Strike!" on his own. Such behavior could easily make the Chief Umpire think the ball was influencing his judgment. In an official game, against a Chief Umpire with strong principles, the strike zone would be called even more strictly in the following innings. Coach Kunimoto's intention was to tell Kiriyama Ren not to be too impatient.
However, he was quite surprised that Kiriyama Ren could meet his gaze without flinching, instead openly displaying his emotions. This raised Kiriyama Ren's rating in Coach Kunimoto's mind by another level.
While Coach Kunimoto was scoring him in his mind, Kiriyama Ren had already walked onto the pitcher's mound.
He didn't know Coach Kunimoto's true intentions, but as a catcher, he had to go and comfort the pitcher first.
"It looks like the outside corner will be called more strictly. For the next batter, I'll start mixing in Changeups. As for that runner, you can leave him to me. Don't let it shake you."
"Mhm." Hirano didn't know what to say, just kept nodding.
After returning to Home plate and squatting down, Kiriyama Ren still signaled for a Fastball high on the outside corner. Hirano nodded again, and the ball flew from his fingertips. At the same time, Carlos took off. Hirano's timid expression couldn't have escaped Carlos's notice, so there was no way Hirano would bother to pick him off. If not now, when would be the time to steal a base!
Carlos's dark complexion, under the sun, moved at high speed like a cheetah galloping across the African savanna. Shirakawa, in the batter's box, also swung his bat. If he connected, it could be a hit-and-run or an advance hit. If he missed, it could still interfere with the catcher's throw.
The unfortunate thing was that they spent every day at their own batting center, and while they hadn't paid a single cent, they hadn't given nothing in return.
Before catching the ball, Kiriyama Ren's left foot had already stepped forward. Shirakawa's bat barely grazed the ball. After Kiriyama Ren caught the ball with his glove, he immediately stood up, took the ball out of his glove in a very short time, took a step forward, and quickly threw it towards the shortstop position.
At shortstop was Fukui, one of the few who hadn't competed for a position earlier, wearing glasses like a bookworm. He was eventually moved from second base to shortstop because the team had no shortstop. He saved time arguing, and Kiriyama Ren also had extra time to discuss defensive alignments with him, specifically telling him to pay attention to his throw.
In just over two seconds, the ball flew from Home plate to second base. The second baseman hadn't even reacted, showing no intention of moving, just staring blankly as a black figure flew past him. Fukui had already stepped forward and lowered his glove. After catching the ball, he swept it directly, tagging Carlos out before he reached the base.
"Out!" The second base umpire's call seemed redundant; anyone who noticed the commotion at second base could see that Carlos was still a long way from sliding into the base.
Carlos walked back to the dugout with a relaxed attitude: "It looks like we've been outsmarted. It seems we'll be in danger until the sixth batter."
The Special Recruit Team's pre-game strategy was to give their special recruits more batting opportunities, batting in the early positions. But now, it seemed their weaknesses had all been exposed to Kiriyama Ren's side. The good thing, however, was that only a few of them were calm, and they weren't a unified team.
"Strike! Strikeout!"
This time, Coach Kunimoto could no longer turn a strike into a ball. Shirakawa had already swung his bat, fooled by Hirano's Slider. After hitting a foul ball on the previous pitch, he was retired in three pitches.
Hirano, having secured the first out of the game, finally looked better. Seeing Kiriyama Ren stand up at the catcher's position and give him a thumbs-up, he smiled knowingly.
Shirakawa hit the ball best in the number six spot of the nine-panel grid. As long as the Changeup could be thrown there, he would definitely swing. If the ball changed, it would definitely be a swing and a miss. Kiriyama Ren quickly recalled the batting characteristics of the next batter, Yabe.
"This batter is particularly good at fouling off pitches and has an excellent eye for the ball. We can appropriately throw the ball to a more hittable location to make him hit a ground ball for an out."
Let's start with a Slider for the first pitch.
According to Hirano, he only specialized in one type of pitch, the Slider. He had to make good use of this pitch, otherwise, with his not-so-fast Fastball, he would quickly be overwhelmed.
Smack.
"Ball!"
Yabe chose not to swing, his eye for the ball was very precise.
After catching a few pitches, Kiriyama Ren also roughly understood the characteristics of Hirano's Slider—most of the pitches were not in the strike zone, but they were extremely tempting, changing very late, causing batters to either swing and miss or hit poorly.
He squatted a step further inside.
Smack!
"Strike!"
This time, another Slider came in, entering the strike zone. Yabe still chose not to swing. This pitch was not easy to hit; swinging at knee height would only allow him to hit with his arms tucked in, making it impossible to hit well.
Once he got used to the Changeup, a Fastball would be thrown to the same location.
"Strike!"
Yabe, holding his raised bat, looked in disbelief at the white ball entering the glove, regretting why he didn't swing. If he had hit that pitch, it would have definitely been a perfect hit.
"It feels like he's toying with our first three batters," Carlos, watching from the side, said with a laugh, as if it had nothing to do with him.
Shirakawa whispered: "Let's just consider it the money we paid to the batting center."
"I'm a little excited for the day we partner up," Narumiya Mei said with a triumphant smile. It was hard to imagine this catcher was someone he just picked up from a random batting center.
Harada, beside him, was a little displeased: "Before that, I was your catcher, right?"
"Because when I'm paired with Harada-senpai, there's no need to anticipate anything, of course, the opponents are easily dealt with, *pow pow pow*!" Narumiya Mei said with a confident smile.
"Out!"
While they were chatting again, Yabe couldn't resist swinging at the next, even more deceptive Fastball. He hit it directly to the shortstop, who, after catching the ball, threw it to Ichirui to get him out.
It was originally thought that this half-inning might be spent in a long offensive by the Special Recruit Team, but the Selection Team unexpectedly gave them a three-up, three-down, which gave the other players who felt uninvolved a fantasy.
One must have dreams; what if they win?