章節 138: <138> Gaining the Upper Hand
Chapter 138: Gaining the Upper Hand
Ping!
"It's a hit! Akagi Middle School's leadoff batter, shortstop Ohno, smashes a line drive down the third base line!"
"A beautiful strike! He nailed Tokugawa's pitcher Kanda's fastball!"
"This puts a runner on second base with no outs! Can Akagi Middle School score first?"
The sudden hit electrified the crowd. Ohno, facing a count of one ball and one strike, capitalized on a mistake pitch and sent it soaring past the infield.
"Second batter, right fielder, Aoki-kun!"
"Second batter, right fielder, Aoki-kun!"
"Here comes Akagi's second batter, Aoki-kun, stepping into the batter's box."
"Oh! Aoki's showing bunt! Are they going for a stable advance?"
"But Akagi is known for being unpredictable—what could they be planning?"
The commentator worked to heighten the stadium's tension.
"This guy is the last batter you want to face with runners on base!" Tokugawa's rookie catcher, Hori, thought nervously, eyeing Aoki's bunting stance.
"Let's see how they move first," Hori decided, signaling a pitch. Despite being a new catcher, Hori exuded confidence, which reassured Kanda.
The first pitch!
It's coming!
"Huh?" Hori frowned as the pitch was released.
During the ball's trajectory, Aoki pulled back his bunt stance, shifting into a position ready for a hit-and-run—but he didn't swing.
Pop!
"Ball!"
"A hit-and-run? Maybe he saw it was a ball and held back," the commentator guessed based on the visible action.
In Tokugawa's dugout, both Coach Kunimi and the battery were left scratching their heads. Akagi's strategy was completely unreadable.
"Is it really a hit-and-run?" they wondered, forced to make surface-level judgments.
It was clear that with a runner on second and no outs, Akagi would do everything possible to score first.
After the first pitch, Ohno began taking a bigger lead off second.
"The runner's getting restless! Should we try another ball to test them? No, that won't work! Akagi's batters are too skilled at identifying bad pitches—they won't swing at something so obvious!" Hori hesitated, unsure how to proceed.
Meanwhile, Sendo began signaling from the dugout.
The commentator noticed this too.
"Tokugawa's battery hasn't decided on the next pitch yet, but Akagi's Sendo is already signaling to the field!
The players on the field remain motionless—what is Akagi planning?"
At the middle school level, most teams rely on simple, straightforward tactics. But under Sendo's leadership, Akagi played with an unusual level of finesse, making their strategy intriguing to watch.
However, the simplicity and inexperience of middle school players often led to confusion, as they struggled to interpret Sendo's signals.
"It feels like they're about to do something… but what? And what should we do?" This was the shared sentiment among Tokugawa's players.
Suddenly, a chorus of screams erupted from the stands.
"Wow, so cool!"
Sendo's last signal—a finger-gun pose turned into a V under his chin—had sent the female fans into a frenzy. His perfect proportions, height, and good looks were enough to make them swoon.
Finally, Tokugawa's battery seemed to settle on a strategy. Kanda prepared to pitch, while Aoki maintained his bunting stance.
"Steal!" the second baseman shouted just as Kanda was about to release the ball.
"There it is! A hit-and-run!" Hori spotted Aoki picking up his bat again but didn't panic.
The pitch wasn't one that would easily fall prey to a hit-and-run.
However, Aoki didn't swing.
Pop!
The ball curved sharply, a slider moving from the strike zone to the ball zone. Hori quickly stood and threw to second base—but it was a fake steal!
Ohno, who had already turned back toward second, made it back easily, and Hori's throw couldn't be retracted.
"Safe!"
"Horii-kun's throw was on target, but Akagi had clearly planned for this! The runner returns to second base effortlessly! But now it's two balls, no strikes!"
The commentator's excitement grew, reflecting the shift in momentum toward Akagi.
"What's their goal here? Just to confuse us? Damn it!" Hori was starting to understand the frustration his predecessors had felt when facing Akagi.
"This isn't good. Even if it's unintentional, their strategy has exposed Hori's weakness in throwing accuracy," Coach Kunimi noted.
Although he couldn't decipher Sendo's full strategy, the results were clear: Hori's throws were inconsistent, and his mechanics were slightly off, making him vulnerable to Akagi's base-stealing prowess.
Sendo's true intent was precisely this—to gather intel on the catcher. In a game where both steals and hit-and-run plays were crucial, understanding the battery's strengths and weaknesses was essential.
For Sendo, accuracy was key. Middle school players were simple-minded, and one pitch was enough to uncover crucial information.
Sendo knew that with Sawamura unable to perform at full power, Akagi's defense wouldn't be able to completely shut down Tokugawa's reinforced lineup. That meant Akagi's offense had to step up and score runs.
"Focus on the batter! Infielders, stay alert for steals!" Kunimi shouted, trying to keep his players on edge.
"Two balls already. They'll definitely aim for a strike now, but that slider is still a tricky pitch to deal with," Aoki thought, strategizing his response.
In this tense atmosphere, the third pitch was delivered.
Pop!
"Strike!"
As Aoki predicted, Tokugawa relied on a slider to earn a strike, baiting the batter into swinging while attempting to counter the stealing runner.
"They're not stealing? What are they thinking?" Hori muttered in frustration. The anticipated steal didn't happen, leaving Tokugawa's catcher in a dilemma.
They couldn't throw too many breaking balls.
The reversal in the final inning during the summer tournament had been due to excessive breaking pitches early on, leading to a loss of control and consecutive hits off straight fastballs.
Breaking balls relied heavily on finger control and precision, which became difficult to maintain as fatigue set in.
Not everyone was a phenomenon like Sendo, whose exceptional touch allowed him to control pitches with pinpoint accuracy from the start.
His sensitivity was so acute he could feel the weight of a single hair on his finger, enabling him to adjust his force with extraordinary precision.
But not all talents came without drawbacks. Sendo's heightened touch sensitivity meant he felt sharp sensations intensely—like the edge of a knife grazing his skin—or perceived warm water as scalding and slightly cool temperatures as freezing.
For most players, finger fatigue from repeated pitching often led to a loss of control, or even numbness.
In the summer, Akagi's offense wasn't strong, yet they still scored several runs. If the current Akagi lineup faced a similar loss of control in breaking pitches, it could devastate Tokugawa's defense.
Thus, Tokugawa's battery had to carefully manage pitch counts and limit breaking balls to ensure their fingers remained sharp until the end of the game.
Meanwhile, Aoki adjusted his stance, returning to a normal batting position.
"Let's make it tricky. If he doesn't swing, we'll gain a strike. Even if he swings, this pitch is hard to hit well," Hori thought. With the count narrowing their options, Tokugawa's battery decided to stay aggressive.
As Kanda prepared to pitch, Ohno, leading off second base by several meters, tensed his muscles, ready to dash to third or retreat as needed.
"Ku!" Kanda completed his step.
"Steal!"
Ohno bolted toward third base. With Kanda mid-pitch, he couldn't use a pickoff move to stop him.
But Akagi's offensive strategy didn't stop there.
"The wolf is here!" Aoki prepared to swing, tightening his grip on the bat—an action only Hori noticed.
"You can't hit this pitch!" Hori thought confidently. The fastball was an uncommon low inside pitch, aimed at the batter's back corner of the strike zone.
"Don't wait for the ball to arrive—swing while it's still in front of you!" Aoki mentally repeated Sendo's instructions. Although he had already developed muscle memory for this technique, reciting the cues gave him extra confidence.
Inspired by the pitch's angle, Aoki improvised, mimicking Sendo's scooping technique.
He didn't aim for power but instead focused on precision, using the metal bat and soft baseball's characteristics to direct the ball exactly where he wanted it.
Ping!
The ball soared into the gap between first and second base.
Akagi's third-base coach, Oyama, assessed the ball's trajectory and deemed it uncatchable.
He signaled Ohno, now rounding third, to head for home without hesitation.
"First base!" Hori shouted, opting to throw to first instead of home. Although neither throw could stop the runner from scoring, attempting a play at home carried the risk of allowing Aoki to steal second.
"The ball lands! Akagi's second batter pushes a grounder between first and second base!
But it's too late!"
"A brilliant hit-and-run strategy—Ohno scores from second, and Aoki safely reaches first base!
Akagi takes the lead!"
The commentator's enthusiasm reached a fever pitch as the Akagi supporters erupted in wild cheers.
Tokugawa's Autumn Tournament streak of flawless defense had finally been broken—for the first time, they conceded a run.
And it wasn't just a single run.
Akagi's relentless offense in the first inning, featuring two consecutive hits and a perfectly executed hit-and-run, had cleanly and decisively earned them the score.
Ohno returned to the dugout and high-fived Kondou with vigor. Akagi's offense showed no signs of slowing down—they were determined to ease the burden on their ace, anticipating the inevitable runs Tokugawa's lineup would eventually score.
"Third batter, second baseman, Kondou-kun!"
"Third batter, second baseman, Kondou-kun!"
"Next up is Akagi Middle School's premier batter!
How will Tokugawa Middle School navigate this crisis? Or will Akagi's offense continue to dominate?"
The face-off between Tokugawa's ace and Akagi's cleanup hitter was expected to be a fateful clash.
But due to Akagi's unique circumstances, their actual cleanup hitter was ineffective, leaving Kondou, batting third, to assume the mantle as the team's top batter.
Unlike most teams, Akagi didn't shy away from bunting at any spot in the lineup.
This forced opposing batteries to consider a broader range of strategies, inadvertently giving Akagi's batters more opportunities to make contact.
With no outs and runners on base, Akagi's lineup, renowned for their aggressive baserunning, was poised to strike again.
Kondou, however, showed no signs of pulling off any tricks. He stepped into the batter's box and immediately assumed a standard batting stance, rejecting the notion of shortening his grip or making any concessions to his approach.
"Lead! Lead! Lead! Lead!"
Even without tricks, Akagi's baserunners weren't about to let up. Except for the heavier Takada and the untrained Sawamura, the rest of Akagi's players consistently took aggressive leads to apply pressure.
Of course, Sawamura had never actually made it to base.
...
"It all comes down to this!" Kanda thought, steeling himself for the play.
He lifted his leg, stepped forward, swung his arm, and released the ball.
At the moment the pitch left his hand—
"Steal!"
"They're going for it again?" Hori gritted his teeth, throwing the ball as hard as he could toward second base.
Pop!
"Strike!"
Smack!
"Safe!"
Aoki slid into second base with ease.
The throw was not only slow but also wildly inaccurate, forcing the second baseman to move off the bag to catch it.
"This isn't looking good! Even if we manage to send the runners back, we must avoid giving up any more hits!" Coach Kunimi started issuing instructions.
He had realized that Akagi's players, once on base, treated Tokugawa's catcher as a free ticket to third.
With no outs, it was inevitable that Akagi would continue to pile on runs before Tokugawa could record two outs.
Aoki, having just stolen second, began taking an aggressive lead off the base again.
"The last pitch was an outside ball he didn't swing at. So this time…"
"Steal!"
Hearing the call, Hori clenched his jaw. He knew there was no stopping the runner, but he wasn't about to give up.
Pop!
"Ball!"
Smack!
"Safe!"
Even though he knew it was futile, Hori still made the throw. Giving his best effort was instinctive, but that didn't mean he wasn't frustrated.
"Damn it!" Hori muttered. But he tried to focus on the positives.
"The first pitch was a low outside strike.
The second pitch was a low outside ball.
This setup will make it harder for the batter to judge the inside corner!"
As Hori calculated his next move, Aoki and Kondou exchanged glances. They both knew what was coming.
"The third pitch is on its way!"
"Steal!"
This time, the pitch was a high inside fastball at chest level. But the result of the pitch hardly mattered now.
"Stealing home? No, wait… is this…
a forced run?"
Multiple scenarios flashed through Hori's mind in an instant. But as he scanned the positions of his teammates, he realized—
Every single guess he'd made was wrong.
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