Todoroki Raichi had been struck out, and the Yakushi players stood there with their mouths agape. They had never expected Seido's second-year pitcher to have a hidden Changeup.
"No! Not a Changeup!" Sanada Shunpei's gaze sharpened as he stared at Kawakami on the field. "It's a Slow Sinker!"
"A Slow Sinker?"
"That kind of pitch is rare nowadays, isn't it?"
"Unexpected."
Listening to his teammates' conversation, Todoroki Raizo snorted. His precious son, a boy who could make a lot of money in the future, had been struck out by two different pitchers in this game. It was truly infuriating.
Fortunately, he had hit a home run earlier. Otherwise, Todoroki Raichi's batting performance in this game would not have looked good at all.
"Seido's pitching staff is truly luxurious." Todoroki Raizo was genuinely envious. Yakushi only had one truly reliable pitcher, Sanada Shunpei, and he had physical issues, making it impossible for him to pitch a complete game.
In the Seido dugout, Kawakami walked back with an undisguised smile on his face.
"Not bad, that Slow Sinker," Kanzaki Ryou said, looking up at him.
"Hehe." Kawakami scratched his head in embarrassment. "If it weren't for Kanzaki-san's suggestion, I wouldn't have practiced the Slow Sinker."
Kanzaki Ryou smiled. "It has nothing to do with me. This is all the result of your own hard work."
At that moment, a large hand landed on Kawakami's shoulder.
"That pitch was very good. Keep up the hard work."
"Yes, Coach!"
Receiving the coach's affirmation, Kawakami felt greatly encouraged and became even more confident about pitching the next two innings.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Seido began their offense with a long hit from Masuko Toru. Then Shirasu lived up to expectations, steadily sending the ball to the side and breaking through the opponent's infield defense. No outs, runners on First and Second.
"Is he done?"
Looking at Sanada Shunpei on the mound, his chest heaving heavily and large beads of sweat running down his face, Kanzaki Ryou made a guess. He knew Sanada Shunpei had been injured before, and although he wasn't sure whether he had fully recovered, his stamina must have been greatly affected. From the second inning until now, Sanada Shunpei was probably close to his limit.
"This is a good scoring opportunity. We have to seize it," Miyuki said.
Unable to play in this game, Miyuki felt itchy all over, wishing he could step in as a pinch hitter himself.
On the field, after Sakai Ichiro swung and missed once, he connected with the second pitch. The baseball flew toward Third Base. Just as everyone thought it would become another hit, Todoroki Raichi appeared again and caught the ball cleanly and quickly.
"Good!!" the Yakushi players shouted excitedly. This would force Masuko Toru out, and a throw to Second Base might even turn it into a double play.
However, Todoroki Raichi's next action made them all fall silent.
After fielding the ball, Todoroki Raichi let out a loud laugh and threw it. The white ball flew high, sailing directly over Second Base.
A wild throw!
"Idiot!"
"What are you doing?"
"Todoroki Raichi!!"
The players off the field collectively broke down. Todoroki Raizo even buried his face between his legs. It was too embarrassing. This wasn't his son!
That unexpected wild throw allowed Shirasu to advance all the way to Third Base, while Sakai Ichiro stayed at First for safety.
One out, runners on First and Third.
It could be said that Yakushi's current dire situation had been caused entirely by Todoroki Raichi's wild throw. Otherwise, they should have had a chance to turn a double play.
"This idiot!"
Sanada Shunpei was also helpless. His stamina was already nearing rock bottom, and Todoroki Raichi was still creating more trouble for him.
Sigh~
With a helpless shake of his head, Sanada Shunpei gathered himself and took a deep breath to adjust his condition. As a senior, this was exactly when he needed to be a reliable support for his juniors.
The next batter was Kuramochi Yoichi.
"Haha, it's my turn again." Kuramochi's face was full of excitement. Sanada Shunpei's condition was declining now, which made this a perfect chance to attack. As Seido's leadoff batter, he naturally would not let this opportunity slip by. Not only did he want to get on base, he wanted to bring Shirazu home as well.
This was Seido's chance to score, and Sanada Shunpei knew it. Because of that, every pitch he threw now was with all his might, each one delivered with everything he had in an effort to make it his best. But even so, as his condition worsened, his velocity, power, and control all began to waver.
Finally, on the fifth pitch, Sanada Shunpei left an outside pitch too much over the plate. Kuramochi Yoichi slapped it to the right side. The ball was not especially fast, and although it got through the infield defense, Yakushi's fielders had been positioned forward overall, specifically to guard against Kuramochi Yoichi's bunt.
Taking advantage of the opening, Shirazu successfully returned home and scored, while Kuramochi Yoichi was put out at first. Fortunately, Sakai Ichiro advanced to Second Base. Otherwise, if Yakushi had turned a double play, the inning would have ended and the run would not have counted.
Score: 9–3!
If Seido could score one more run in this inning, the game would end early in the seventh.
Thinking of this, the Yakushi players' palms became sweaty and their hearts pounded harder.
On the pitcher's mound, Sanada Shunpei also felt the pressure increasing. At this point, getting outs as quickly as possible was the ideal outcome, but unfortunately, the next batter was that especially troublesome guy. His own condition was declining, while the opponent's ability to judge and foul off pitches was extremely strong.
Soon, Sanada Shunpei threw everything he had into his battle against Kominato Ryosuke. Again and again, the white ball was fouled away. Sanada Shunpei felt as though more than half of his remaining stamina was being drained by this one batter alone.
Finally, on the ninth pitch, Sanada Shunpei looked as if all the air had gone out of him. He threw a pitch that was both slow and high.
Kominato Ryosuke's eyes lit up at once.
Bang!
The baseball flew into the outfield and dropped in.
Walk-off hit!
Game over!!
At that moment, the entire stadium fell silent.
Yakushi, the team that had defeated Ichidai Third High, had actually been ended early by Seido and under circumstances where the opponent had clearly held back.
After all, the ace had only pitched for three innings. If that wasn't going easy on them, what was?
"Whether it's the pitching staff or the batting lineup, Yakushi is still a long way off," reporter Fujio said from the stands, deeply moved. He recalled that just two years ago, Seido High School had been the weakest among the three powerhouse schools, yet now it had already far surpassed Ichidai Third High.
He wondered what kind of sparks would fly if Inashiro faced Seido now.
"Didn't you say Yakushi was quite strong, the biggest dark horse of this tournament?" Miss Akiko turned her head and asked in confusion.
Fujio calmly took a sip of tea from his thermos before continuing, "No matter how strong they are, there's still a limit. The reason a dark horse is called a dark horse is because they used to be weak and then suddenly became strong."
"Why would they suddenly become strong? For example, maybe they recruited a formidable pitcher, a powerful batter, or a capable coach."
"In a short period of time, that can indeed improve a team's overall strength significantly. But the biggest problem for a formerly weak team is still its lack of depth. When they face a strong team, they may be able to win once by taking advantage of the opponent's complacency and a bit of luck, but that only works a single time."
"Once you truly defeat a strong team, you'll appear on the radar of all the other strong teams. And then they'll study you from head to toe."