Chương 774: Chapter 68: Emperor Hongou
The match between Seidou High School and the monstrous Komadai Fujimaki High School has begun.
Seidou was the first to attack.
Leading off is still Kuramochi.
With prior experience against Hongou, Coach Kataoka knows that conquering him quickly is unrealistic.
Thus, he gives the players a clear directive.
The focus is on pitch count.
"How well we can distinguish between strikes and balls will be the key to today's victory."
Naturally, the players need to remember this.
Kuramochi steps into the Batter's Box, determined.
His eyes are locked on Hongou, waiting for the pitch.
Roaar!
The pitch, powerful and explosive, suddenly appears at his hands.
Kuramochi doesn't swing.
The ball lands in a tricky spot—one they ordered to let go.
If it's a Strike, then swing; if it's a Ball, then leave it.
Before the count closes in, they'll never swing at such a pitch.
This is Seidou High School's first tactic.
Boom!
The sound of the baseball hitting the mitt is jarring.
Kuramochi remains unfazed.
Once players commit to a plan and focus on it, their potential is astonishing.
"BALL!"
The umpire calls it.
In the catcher's position, Renji retrieves the ball and throws it back to Hongou.
'He remained still at a pitch in the corner.'
'Have they truly given up on such pitches without being pressured?' Renji thinks, then decisively signals Hongou again.
Boom!
"STRIKE!"
A similar pitch, but this time it's a Strike.
Kuramochi stands motionless.
'Indeed, they've given up.' Renji nods to himself.
Then he glances thoughtfully at the next Seidou batter.
'Is it just Kuramochi who's abandoning corner pitches, or is this the plan for all of Seidou's batters?'
He'll need to verify this as other players come up to bat.
For now, his task is to deal with Kuramochi first.
'Next pitch—inside corner!'
Roaar!
This one comes in slightly slower, diving into the inner corner.
Kuramochi isn't an easy target. He senses Hongou's trick through the change in momentum.
'The pitch has slowed down!'
'This means the pitcher is concentrating more on control.'
'The ball should be in the strike zone.'
'Now's the time!'
With determination, Kuramochi readies himself and swings decisively at the inside pitch.
Ping!
He makes contact, but the ball rolls foul.
"FOUL!"
'Damn!'
Kuramochi's expression darkens.
The last pitch wasn't a full-power throw from Hongou. Even so, the terrifying force still misdirected his bat.
What should've been a fair hit ended up Foul.
The count stands at two Strike and one Ball, and Kuramochi is feeling the pressure.
In this situation, he must swing as long as he's unsure the next pitch will be a Ball.
Roaar!
'It is here!'
'Right in the strike zone.'
Chased by two strikes, Kuramochi has no choice but to swing.
Years of training help him keep up with Hongou's speed.
He sees the bat about to connect with the ball.
But then, the white ball suddenly drops.
'A Forkball!'
Caught off guard, Kuramochi can only watch as the ball falls away from his bat.
Boom!
"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!"
From the very beginning, Hongou displays an unparalleled pitching performance, cleanly taking down Kuramochi.
Next up, Kominato steps into the Batter's Box, but he has no luck either.
Facing him, Renji signals two corner pitches to Hongou.
Both pitches are Strikes, yet Kominato doesn't swing at a single one.
At this moment, Renji realizes the tactics Seidou High School is employing.
'They're intentionally giving up all corner pitches, targeting only mistakes and swinging under pressure.'
The purpose of this strategy is simple.
'They aim to wear down Masamune's pitch count.'
Their opponent has pitchers besides Hongou. However, he's the only one truly capable of matching Seidou High School.
This has clearly been recognized by the Seidou players.
That's why they've set these tactics, intending to exhaust Hongou with excessive pitches.
'Simple and easy!'
Renji can't help but admit, that this strategy is brilliant.
'But for a strategy to succeed, it must be executed well.'
Since losing to Sawamura and Narumiya, Hongou has raised his standards.
'Control, Winning Shot, Stamina…'
He strives to excel in every area.
Now, he will not lose to anyone.
Seidou feels the same.
It's time to showcase their strength.
Renji crouches down, signaling Hongou.
On the mound, Hongou nods and gets ready to pitch.
Roaar!
The white ball darts to the inner corner.
With two strikes against him, Kominato has no choice.
He swings decisively at the pitch.
The bat and the ball miss each other entirely.
Boom!
'A high inside…'
"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!"
After Kuramochi is Struck Out, Kominato follows suit, also Struck Out.
With two quick Strikeouts, Hongou appears to be a true monster.
'He's terrifying today.'
The players of Seidou High School exchange glances.
They knew about Hongou's fearsome pitching beforehand.
Media reports aside, even watching game footage shows their opponent's strength.
Even those who have faced him before can see how different he is now.
His power now can evoke a sense of despair.
At this moment, they can't imagine Hongou being defeated.
To put it simply, they feel overwhelmed.
Just then, Sawamura Eijun steps into the Batter's Box.
Although Coach Kataoka has ordered him not to pitch in this game, his finger injury doesn't hinder his batting much.
It's for this reason that Coach Kataoka has agreed to let Sawamura play as a fielder.
'Haruichi couldn't touch the ball.'
Standing in the Batter's Box, Sawamura felt his blood surging through him.
Hongou Masamune's genuine growth far exceeded his expectations.
Although he always knew that Hongou Masamune was a true monster, he still didn't expect him to develop so much in just six months.
Kuramochi was struck out, which didn't surprise Sawamura much.
Although Kuramochi's batting skills have improved a lot during this time, he still hasn't reached his peak.
Especially compared to the top players in the country, the gap is not trivial.
When Kuramochi decided against bunting, striking out became one of the most likely outcomes.
'But Haruichi is different.'
His sense of the ball ranks among the best in the entire Seidou High School baseball team.
'How could Haruichi, with such a keen sense of the ball, swing late? In the end, he didn't even make contact.'
'This made no sense at all.'
With this question lingering, Sawamura stood in the Batter's Box.
The pitcher-catcher duo from Komadai Fujimaki High School observed him closely.
He too was watching Hongou.
He tried to discern some patterns in Hongou's pitching.
Roaar!
Without making Sawamura wait long, the white ball flew by.
'So fast!'
The speed displayed on the electronic board was 152 km/h, but from the Batter's Box, the ball seemed even more terrifying.
'No wonder this guy thrived in the Major Leagues in his previous life. His style was indeed well-suited for survival in the big leagues.'
Combined with a razor-sharp forkball and slider, along with high-level control, even the current Hongou, when dragged into professional baseball, stands out as a good pitcher.
'The level of the local players is far above that of ordinary high school students.'
Not only does Sawamura think so, but Fujio Mine from Baseball Kingdom Magazine, shares the same view.
"STRIKE!"
"BALL!!!"
Against Sawamura, Hongou's pitching momentum was incredibly strong.
He continuously used tricky corner pitches.
With his terrifying speed, the ball kept flying to the corners.
In this situation, it was tough for Sawamura to make solid contact.
Soon, he was down two Strikes.
Two Strikes, two Balls.
On the fifth pitch, Hongou threw a ball right down the middle.
When he saw this pitch, no one was more surprised than Renji.
His glasses nearly fell off the bridge of his nose.
'This one will get hit!!'
No one understands Sawamura's strength better than his opponents.
When pitching well against Sawamura, it becomes extremely dangerous.
'A sweet ball?'
At this moment, Sawamura had no time to consider Renji's feelings.
He watched the flying baseball, a glimmer of determination in his eyes.
'At this position, it should be a Forkball.'
Even though Hongou's breaking balls aren't easy to hit, Sawamura felt confident about this one.
He held his bat upright, almost in a golf stance, and swung with all of his power.
Ping!
The ball didn't sink; Sawamura guessed wrong. It was a fastball.
The moment the bat made contact with the ball, his palms nearly went numb.
He could barely keep a grip on the bat.
After being hit, the ball weakly rolled in front of the pitcher.
Snap!
Hongou picked up the ball effortlessly.
Then he threw it to first base.
Snap!
"OUT!!"
Three Outs, offense and defense exchange.
…
SUY NGHĨ CỦA NGƯỜI SÁNG TẠO 
Cold_Colt
Cold_Colt T/N: Feel free to leave a Comment guys!
And Powerstones are much much welcomed!
Tình trạng nguồn điện hàng tuần
-- Xếp hạng
Quyền lực 
-- Đá
Quyền lực