Facing Narumiya Mei's swift pitches, the Select Team still had no answer, unable to even hit a fly ball.
After two innings, their best result was a single ground ball to the infield; the other five batters were all struck out.
"This quick game feels a bit boring, maybe I should take it easy," Narumiya Mei said with a mischievous smile, speaking flippantly, but in his heart, he was determined to pitch a perfect game, even if it was only three innings.
However, all eyes were currently on Kiriyama Ren.
His two spectacular innings of catching had already captured the hearts of the few spectators, and everyone wondered if he could pull off something new this inning.
Especially since this inning he would be facing Harada, who was most likely to be the starting catcher in the Spring Invitational Tournament.
Harada's growth was evident to the Inashiro fans; he was steady and reliable, and his powerful hitting made him a key player in the latter half of the autumn season.
Although he ultimately missed the chance to advance to the Spring Invitational Tournament, his development was enough to make people look forward to the main event of the summer.
"But if this kid really chooses our school, Harada might be completely overshadowed," some worried.
After he said this, others agreed: "While talent is very important in sports, when everyone has top-tier talent, being a year older still makes a big difference."
This statement acknowledged Kiriyama Ren, whom they had all recognized, but also contained a hint of regret.
Pop!
While they were pitching, Kiriyama Ren had already begun to face Harada head-on, first having Hirano throw an inside Fastball, which the Chief Umpire called a ball.
"If it were a formal game, I might choose to intentionally walk him, but this is a tryout, and doing that would be too petty," Kiriyama Ren thought to himself.
If he chose to intentionally walk him, the next few batters would be the Narumiya quintet, whom he was extremely familiar with.
Compared to this catcher, who made his back tingle just by standing in the batter's box, he preferred to face the more familiar five.
However, facing such an opponent at this moment was more challenging.
Pop!
"Ball!"
"Are you trying to walk me?" Harada turned his head and asked in a deep voice.
Kiriyama Ren expressionlessly threw the ball back to Hirano and softly replied, "Guess?"
Harada rolled his eyes and ignored him, gripping his bat, ready for the next pitch.
When relaxed, it was easier for him to mishit a good pitch, so after a brief exchange, both sides focused their minds.
Here it comes!
Harada's eyes narrowed, aiming for the low outside Fastball and directly scooping it out, hitting the ball well, sending it flying unrestrainedly towards the outfield sky.
It finally slammed hard on the ground, fortunately a foul ball.
Kiriyama Ren breathed a sigh of relief.
What incredible power! Even with his batting stance out of form, he still hit the ball so far.
If he adjusted his stance, wouldn't it be a sure home run?
He shifted his stance, moving his glove position back to the inside, signaling Hirano to directly attack the inside.
"If he hits a low outside pitch like that, then let's just attack the inside."
Kiriyama Ren currently had no idea how foolish his pitch calling was; continuing to have the pitcher attack the inside directly resulted in the ball not being lucky this time, but instead flying directly over Home plate and out of the field, a very solid solo home run.
He took off his helmet and watched the ball fly further and further until it hit the fence.
Kiriyama Ren's expression slightly froze; that hit was so solid, so solid that there was absolutely no excuse, it was entirely his pitch calling that allowed the opponent to hit it so well.
Just as he was about to walk up to Hirano and say it was his fault, Hirano extended his hand, stopping his approach.
His expression was not broken, and his eyes were still full of spirit, completely different from his state in the previous two innings.
From a distance, Kiriyama Ren heard him say, "No problem, that pitch was my fault, we just need to take care of the next pitcher."
Seeing Hirano's stubborn eyes, Kiriyama Ren had no choice but to give up on his plan to go back.
It seemed that his next pitch calling couldn't be half-hearted, or he would disappoint Hirano.
The next unlucky ones were Carlos, Shirakawa, and Yabe, who had been suppressed in the first inning.
The three of them produced two ground balls and one strikeout, unlike the struggle against Harada earlier.
The three were truly dealt with cleanly and efficiently, taking only ten pitches combined.
After this inning, Hirano's pitching duties were also over, and all that was left was a symbolic swing of the bat, as he couldn't possibly hit Narumiya Mei's pitch.
"It seems we'll have to go to the batting center less often now.
This freebie came at too high a cost." Carlos felt a bit embarrassed after being suppressed several times.
Shirakawa quietly agreed, "I agree too."
"The price of this free batting practice is making us underperform in front of so many people," Yabe also said, speechless.
Every pitch in the previous sequence was placed in their least favorable hitting zone.
Even with prior warning, if a warning alone was enough to hit well, that area wouldn't be their cold zone.
Sometimes, the more they tried to hit a pitch, the worse they hit it, which led to them being easily dealt with.
When did he notice their weaknesses?
This was the question for the three of them.
When they were practicing hitting, Kiriyama Ren was also engrossed in his own hitting, and he also had regular catcher practice, so they had no idea how he could have noticed.
Now, their only hope was that he would be accepted into Inashiro.
The people here were not just Inashiro supporters who came to watch their practice games; there were also members of other schools'強化部 who came to see if any hidden gems might appear.
Even if he became an opponent, they were confident they could easily deal with him, but having such a cunning and insidious person as a teammate was always more comfortable than having him as an opponent.
However, Miyuki Kazuya, that overly dark-bellied guy, was an exception; thinking of him made Shirakawa feel even worse than when Kiriyama Ren had toyed with him in his pitch calling.
"Isn't this great?" Narumiya Mei said indifferently, casually walking onto the pitcher's mound to prepare to end the game.
The score was 10-0 in favor of the special recruitment team, which wasn't a particularly good-looking result, but a win was still a win.
As for whether he would be noticed by Coach Kunimoto, that remained to be seen.
Narumiya Mei had no intention of taking it easy.
To become his teammate, one couldn't rely on him taking it easy; they had to demonstrate their own strength.
"Strikeout!"
"Strikeout!"
After easily dealing with two batters, Narumiya Mei watched Kiriyama Ren slowly walk into the batter's box, his eyes gradually becoming serious, and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth: "It's your turn!"