The first batter of Akiha High School had never felt this desperate before.
Earlier, when facing Furuya Satoru, they couldn't hit the ball—but they could at least accept that much.
After all, who could blame them when the guy was throwing over 150 km/h?
That level of speed alone was enough to make anyone despair.
But now, Seido had switched to another first-year rookie whose pitch speed wasn't even reaching 140 km/h.
Logically speaking, those pitches should have been well within their range.
Yet somehow…
They still couldn't touch the ball.
And the pitches he was throwing were nothing more than Fastballs.
"How is this possible?"
"This shouldn't be happening!"
Akiha's first batter clenched his teeth so hard it felt as though they were about to crack.
He refused to accept reality.
And he had no intention of compromising with it.
Holding his bat high, he glared at Sawamura Eijun as if he wanted to devour him whole.
Next time—
As long as the ball came near him—
No matter what happened afterward, he would swing with every ounce of strength in his body.
"I refuse to believe I can't do anything against him!"
At this moment, the batter from Akiha seemed to have made up his mind completely.
Behind the plate, crouched in the catcher's position, Chris's eyes flashed with understanding.
He calmly set his mitt outside the Strike zone.
On the mound, Sawamura froze briefly when he saw the target.
He was the kind of pitcher who loved direct confrontations, relying on overwhelming force to defeat his opponents.
In Sawamura Eijun's baseball dictionary, the concept of "tricking" batters simply didn't exist.
He always settled things head-on with his pitches.
Because of that, both Chris and Miyuki usually called games that matched Sawamura's personality and style.
But now, things were different.
The opponents were different.
And it was finally time for Sawamura Eijun to grow.
"I believe in you. You can definitely do it."
As Sawamura's mentor, nobody understood him better than Chris.
Sawamura Eijun possessed a level of determination that many third-year players didn't even have.
Seeing the trust in Chris's eyes, Sawamura felt his body tremble slightly, as if adrenaline had surged through his veins.
I can do this.
I will definitely strike him out.
Throwing a pitch outside the Strike zone while forcing the batter to swing was no easy task.
Not easy at all.
Especially against a team like Akiha High School, whose players were balanced in every aspect.
Their batters had exceptional judgment.
It wasn't enough to simply throw a random ball outside.
The pitch had to look like it would enter the Strike zone.
Only then would the batter commit to swinging.
Having made up his mind, Sawamura lifted his leg high and stepped forward.
His glove hand extended outward like a wall.
Then, the baseball hidden behind it whipped forward violently.
Swoosh!
The moment the ball flew toward him, Akiha's first batter tightened his grip on the bat.
There was no way he could just stand there and let the pitch pass again.
As the ball approached, he swung without hesitation.
"We won't keep losing to you first-year brats forever!"
His determination was admirable.
Unfortunately—
His bat cut through nothing but air.
Pop!
The baseball slammed cleanly into Chris's mitt.
"Strike!"
"Strikeout!!"
One out. Bases empty.
Only now did Akiha's first batter realize the shocking truth—
Sawamura Eijun had deliberately thrown the pitch outside the Strike zone.
At that moment, the reason he couldn't hit the ball became painfully obvious.
The pitch hadn't even traveled through the path of his swing.
Naturally, he couldn't make contact.
But the real issue was this—
While batting, he had been completely unable to tell that the pitch was a ball.
"His pitching form didn't change… his eyes didn't change either. Did he really do it just through arm movement alone?"
After returning to the dugout, the batter immediately reported everything to the coach.
As expected, Akiha's bald-headed coach's expression became incredibly grim.
"The release point is completely hidden. It must be related to the flexibility of his arms."
"His arm swings like a whip, which allows the release motion to stay concealed behind his shoulder."
"And because his arm is so flexible, even if he changes the release point at the last second, it's impossible to detect through his pitching form."
The coach stared at Sawamura on the mound in disbelief.
At this moment, Akiha's second batter had already stepped into the box.
Earlier, when he first walked up to bat, his spirit had been soaring.
Everyone on the team had seen it.
But after watching just a single pitch from Sawamura—
His entire demeanor changed completely.
He looked like a frostbitten eggplant.
"How is this possible?"
"The release point is invisible…"
"And you can't even tell whether it's a strike or a ball from his pitching form."
"This rookie pitcher named Sawamura Eijun might actually be more troublesome than Furuya Satoru."
Just dealing with Sawamura's Fastball was already difficult enough.
What made Akiha's players and coach even more uneasy was Seido's terrifying depth.
Whether it was Furuya Satoru earlier…
Or Sawamura Eijun now…
Neither of them was Seido's Ace.
They were merely substitute pitchers.
Yet Akiha couldn't even overcome these substitutes.
If Zhou Hao truly stepped onto the mound…
They might completely collapse.
Hakuba Academy really had been an exception.
Akiha clearly wasn't that fortunate.
At this rate, today's match would become a complete disaster for them.
Naturally, Akiha's players were unwilling to accept such a result.
But judging from the current situation…
They had no choice.
Seido had left them with no path forward at all.
Just as those thoughts filled everyone's minds—
Sawamura moved again on the mound.
Swoosh!
Using his glove like a wall, he swept away every obstacle before him.
Then his body stretched to its limit—
And his arm lashed forward like a whip.
The rest came naturally.
At the most perfect moment possible, he released the baseball from his fingertips.
Swoosh!
The pitching motion looked ordinary.
Yet once the ball left his hand, it carried astonishing force.
Akiha's second batter had originally been determined to crush the pitch no matter what.
But after seeing Sawamura's throw—
His thoughts instantly changed.
Could he really hit a ball like this so easily?
With hesitation filling his heart, his movements inevitably slowed by half a beat.
When Sawamura threw the second pitch, the batter didn't swing and instead chose to watch it carefully.
As a result, Sawamura quickly gained two strikes, his momentum surging like a rainbow.
At this point, the coach of Akiha High School was so furious his nose practically twisted crooked.
He simply couldn't understand why his team's batters were acting as though they had been possessed.
They looked perfectly fine while sitting in the dugout.
But the moment they stepped into the batter's box, it was as if they became completely different people.
It was almost like they had been utterly intimidated by the opponent's pitching.
"That guy's velocity isn't even 140 km/h! Among high school pitchers, that's definitely not fast. So why?!"
Because he wasn't personally standing in the batter's box…
Even after listening to the descriptions from the players who returned to the dugout, Akiha's coach still found it difficult to imagine.
How could a pitcher with such "ordinary" velocity make his team's core batters look as though they had encountered their natural predator?
None of them even dared to swing properly.
"Idiots! No matter how fancy it looks, it's still just a Fastball under 140 km/h. You can definitely hit it!"
As if responding to his coach's roar, Akiha's second batter finally swung when Sawamura Eijun threw his third pitch.
Unfortunately—
The result was exactly the same as the first batter's.
Another ball.
And naturally, his bat hit nothing but empty air.
All he could do was helplessly watch as the baseball buried itself into the catcher's mitt.
Pop!
"Strike!"
"Strikeout!!"
Two outs, no runners on base.
Now even the audience in the stands could tell that something was wrong.
"Another two strikeouts?"
"That previous guy was understandable because his velocity was insane. But what's going on with this pitcher?"
"They can't even touch a ball this slow?"
"How did a team like this even make it to the Kanto Tournament semifinals?"
Many fans present had watched Seido's earlier game against Hakuba.
Compared to Hakuba Academy, Akiha looked far weaker.
If even Hakuba hadn't made it to the semifinals, then what exactly had Akiha relied on to reach this stage?
It would've been one thing if they were losing to Seido's Ace.
After all, Zhou Hao was recognized as the best player in the country. Losing to him wasn't shameful at all.
Everyone had already accepted that fact.
But right now, they weren't being crushed by Zhou Hao.
They were being completely suppressed by two first-year rookies from Seido.
The feeling was difficult to put into words.
More than anything—
It was disappointing.
Even Akiha's own supporters and players couldn't stop themselves from doubting reality.
Why could none of their batters do anything against Sawamura?
This clearly wasn't normal.
At this moment, Akiha's third batter stepped into the box.
As one of the team's core sluggers, he carried the responsibility of breaking the deadlock.
Bat raised high, his gaze sharp as lightning.
Meanwhile, Sawamura on the mound looked completely fired up.
Two consecutive strikeouts.
Even though Sawamura himself only focused on getting batters out and never deliberately chased strikeouts…
Successfully striking out opponents still excited him immensely.
After all, Furuya Satoru—another first-year rookie just like him—collected strikeouts as casually as eating or drinking water.
Watching that naturally stirred some thoughts in Sawamura's heart.
If everyone became accustomed to an Ace like Zhou Hao…
Then what would happen after Senior Zhou Hao graduated?
Because his own style was different from Zhou Hao's, would he never become Seido's Ace?
But now—
He had successfully shut down the opponents.
And he had even earned two consecutive strikeouts.
That success gave Sawamura Eijun tremendous confidence.
Maybe getting strikeouts wasn't as difficult as he had imagined.
And perhaps…
As a pitcher, he didn't need to stubbornly insist on doing things his old way anymore.
As long as he could get the batter out, what did it matter what kind of pitch he used?
If it worked, then it was the best pitch.
The moment a person's mindset opens up, their entire aura changes.
And Sawamura right now was the perfect example.
After breaking through mentally, his entire presence seemed to burst with vitality.
Even the baseballs he pitched appeared more alive than before.
Swoosh!
The baseball sliced through the air.
Akiha's third batter, who had initially planned to attack aggressively, was visibly stunned the moment he saw the pitch.
"So fast!"
Because Sawamura's release point was completely hidden, his pitches appeared nearly 10 km/h faster from the batter's perspective.
Anyone seeing that kind of pitch for the first time would be shaken.
The third batter forcibly held himself back and prepared to wait for the next pitch instead.
The next one—
No matter what—
He would swing without hesitation.
In his mind, he could already picture himself blasting the ball away.
Swoosh!
But when Sawamura's second pitch arrived…
He couldn't swing at all.
This pitch no longer looked like a Fastball.
Instead, it resembled a Breaking Ball.
"Damn it! That brat changed his pitching pattern!"
Although surprised, Akiha's third batter still felt this was reasonable.
Surely Seido's rookie pitcher had realized how dangerous his opponents were.
That was why he changed strategies midway.
Annoying as it was, the kid was clearly smart.
Two strikes.
The batter was cornered.
Back in Akiha's dugout, the bald coach was already furious enough to explode.
Why hasn't he swung yet?!
Standing in the batter's box, the third batter curled his lips impatiently.
Their coach wasn't the one facing those pitches.
Naturally, he couldn't understand the pressure.
Still…
Based on Sawamura's pattern, the next pitch should be a ball.
Once the pitch entered the Strike zone, it still wouldn't be too late to swing.
Just as the third batter thought that—
Sawamura moved.
An ordinary-looking pitching motion…
Yet he somehow threw it with the overwhelming aura of a decisive final blow.
Swoosh!
The pitch tore directly into the inside corner of the Strike zone.
The third batter of Akiha High School, who had been absolutely convinced the ball wouldn't be a strike, could only stare blankly as it flew past him.
He didn't even have time to react.
Pop!
"Strike!!"
"Strikeout looking!!"
Three outs. Side retired.
Akiha High School's top three batters went down three up, three down—
Without a single one managing to touch the ball.
And when that result appeared—
Forget Akiha's players and supporters…
Even Seido's own players and fans were completely dumbfounded.
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Guys suggest a fanfiction hehe