The runners on first and second broke immediately.
"Left field!" Miyuki Kazuya shouted.
The ball shot sharply toward left.
I can still make it! Seidou's left fielder, Ichirou, sprinted after it.
"Don't rush it! Make the catch cleanly!" Isashiki Jun yelled as he ran over to back him up in case anything went wrong.
Please get through…! the Akikawa bench prayed in unison.
Ichirou lunged forward, stretching out his glove for the ball just before it touched the ground.
But he was a step too late.
The ball clipped the edge of his glove, dropped to the grass, and rolled away behind him.
Ichirou had missed it.
"It dropped! Go, go, go!" Akikawa's dugout exploded in cheers.
"Damn it! Why gamble on that kind of play in the first inning?!" Isashiki cursed as he chased after the ball, unable to stop himself from yelling at his teammate.
By then, Ninomiya had already crossed home plate.
Akikawa scored first.
Hashimoto rounded third and charged for home as well.
"What?!" Isashiki finally reached the ball. Seeing the runner heading home, he shouted and fired the ball back toward the plate with all his strength.
Now it was a race between the runner and the throw.
Who would get there first?
In the end, the distance was just too much. The throw didn't make it all the way home. Miyuki had to step forward to cut it off, but by then Hashimoto had already crossed the plate.
Safe.
"Akikawa Academy takes a two-run lead!" the neutral crowd shouted excitedly.
Standing on third, You Shunshin raised his right hand high in triumph.
"Akikawa's ace, You Shunshin, has completely beaten Seidou's power pitcher with that hit!"
Akikawa had seized the momentum.
"Sixth batter, second baseman, Tsushima!"
Elsewhere in the stadium, the players from Ichidaisan—who were warming up for their own game—also heard the news.
"Akikawa scored first?" one of them said in disbelief.
"Yang drove in two runs."
"Seriously?"
"Off Furuya?"
"Yeah. Not Tanba—Furuya."
Hearing that, Manaka Kaname couldn't help worrying for his friend.
What are you doing, Kouichirou…?
"As a team, Akikawa Academy isn't that frightening," said Oomae Takahiro, Ichidaisan's captain and cleanup hitter.
"Hiro, did you go watch them play?" Manaka asked.
"But…" Oomae continued, "that batter's performance was absolutely the real deal. That guy Yang showed incredible focus in every swing. Those two runs might end up being the difference in the game."
Back on the field, Furuya Satoru was already breathing hard on the mound. He had thrown a lot of pitches in this inning.
Even so, he still gathered himself and delivered the next pitch.
"Strike!"
Snap!
"Batter out!"
Furuya finally brought the long top of the first to an end.
Now it was Seidou's turn to attack.
Seidou's supporters didn't hold back their encouragement.
"Nice job, Furuya!"
"Well done!"
"Keeping the damage to two runs is still manageable!"
You Shunshin, meanwhile, had revised his opinion of Furuya slightly.
I thought that hit would break him, he admitted inwardly. But this pitcher is tougher than I expected. And that catcher… daring to call for the same pitch that had just been hit, then using that power pitch to guide him back into rhythm… that was the real reason they kept the damage limited this inning.
The Akikawa players rushed out to welcome their hero as he returned to the dugout.
"Nice one, Shunshin!"
On Seidou's side, Coach Kataoka turned to Chris.
"How many pitches did Furuya throw?"
"Twenty-four," Takigawa Chris Yuu replied. "He burned through quite a few in that inning."
Tanba Kouichirou then walked over to the slightly dejected Furuya and handed him a towel.
"Shake it off. What matters most is how you respond after getting hit. Listen carefully—just picture using the same ball Miyuki would use to smack some sense into you. That should help you forget what just happened."
"I see," Furuya said seriously.
And somehow, he actually believed Tanba's nonsense.
Over in the stands, where Yakushi was watching—
"Not bad at all, that hit from Yang," Nakanishi Daiki commented.
"Yeah. Even on our team, he'd probably earn a spot somewhere in the batting order," Akaishi Osamu added.
"Now the question is how long Yang can hold down Seidou's lineup," Kitamura Kou said, watching You Shunshin on the mound with great interest. "With the rest of Akikawa's roster, it won't be easy for them to keep scoring against Seidou."
"Exactly," Akaishi agreed. "We've seen Seidou's lineup up close. Give them even the slightest opening, and they'll come at you in waves."
The two reporters from Baseball Kingdom were also discussing the game.
"Akikawa may have scored the first two runs, but can Yang really contain Seidou's powerful batting lineup?" Mine Fujio said.
"This game has been intense right from the opening inning," Owada Akiko said, watching with bated breath.
"The bottom of the first inning begins! Seidou High School comes to bat! Leading off, shortstop, Kuramochi Youichi!"
"Kuramochi, we're counting on you!"
"Let's get those runs back this inning!"
"Create something for us!"
Seidou's supporters shouted their encouragement.
Standing in the batter's box, Kuramochi recalled the strategy from the team meeting the night before.
If I want to use my speed, I have to get on base first. I have to be the spark for this offense.
"Play!"
Already set on the mound, You Shunshin—surrounded by an almost chilling calm—delivered the pitch without hesitation.
Kuramochi squared to bunt.
"Third baseman, watch the drag bunt!" someone from Akikawa shouted to Hashimoto.
Hashimoto charged in at once.
The moment Kuramochi realized his intention had been read and that bunting toward third would almost certainly get him thrown out, he adjusted at the last second and pushed the ball toward first instead.
Ping!
"Yah-ha!" Kuramochi exploded out of the box, legs pumping at top speed.
But what nobody expected was that You Shunshin had already anticipated it.
The instant he released the pitch, he broke forward off the mound.
He fielded the bunt cleanly and, without the slightest hesitation, threw to first.
Snap!
Kunimi secured the ball firmly while Kuramochi was still only halfway down the line.
"Out!"