They were being pressured.
Miyuki, the catcher, couldn't help but smile wryly.
The first two Balls had already become a heavy burden.
In this situation, it would be even harder for Furuya to pitch freely...
In the Yura Sougou team's dugout, Coach Sakaki smiled brightly. The members of Seidou High School's baseball team couldn't feel much hostility from his smile.
What they sensed more was concern and testing for his juniors.
It was as if what he was doing right now wasn't about defeating Seidou but rather testing the player, Furuya.
Although the questions he posed were slightly more difficult.
"The more desperate the situation, the more the pitcher has to hesitate. When faced with three Balls, can the pitcher still throw freely? This is the key to winning or losing this game," Coach Sakaki murmured.
Though Furuya was regarded as a Monster, despite being just Seidou's substitute pitcher.
If Furuya were to be evaluated individually, his ranking wouldn't be low!
He was among the best pitchers in the country, and when counted on one's fingers, he could even make the list.
If it weren't for the presence of Sawamura Eijun in Seidou's team, it would be hard to imagine any other team keeping someone like Furuya as a substitute pitcher.
Furuya was strong, and once he was in good form, there weren't many pitchers in the country who could compete with him.
But this didn't mean that Furuya had no weaknesses.
On the contrary, Furuya had some glaring weaknesses.
One of the most obvious ones was his lack of skills in areas beyond pitching.
His defense techniques and mentality hadn't reached the same level as his pitching.
'Once someone got on base or pressured him, Furuya often didn't perform as well.'
Boom!
"BALL FOUR!!!!"
Things developed just as Coach Sakaki had predicted.
After being pressured, Furuya completely lost his composure.
He ended up throwing a wild pitch!
Hakurai saw the ball flying towards him and quickly backed away.
If he hadn't reacted fast, that ball might have hit him.
Considering the 150 km/h speed of the pitch, Hakurai almost got scared out of his wits.
But after all, it was just a high school club activity. It wasn't as if it were a life or death matter!
"WALK TO BASE!!"
Hakurai was successfully Walked to first base.
Now, it was the turn of the second batter, Kazou, from the Yura Sougou team.
As soon as Kazou stepped into the batter's box, Hakurai, who was already on first base, immediately began preparing to steal second.
Furuya, who was about to pitch, couldn't help but be distracted by the runner's actions.
The runner was so far off the base that it was impossible not to notice.
Furuya's eyes locked onto the runner, and he threw a pickoff throw.
Even though he didn't make a pitching motion, Furuya's pickoff throw was fast.
However, it had no effect on Hakurai, who had been prepared. As soon as Furuya attempted the pickoff, Hakurai easily returned to first base.
"SAFE!!"
In the Seidou dugout, Sawamura turned to Ota, the Team's President, and asked curiously, "Is this typical for Coach Sakaki?"
It didn't quite seem like the style of a prestigious Coach to use a strategy that disrupts the pitcher's focus so early in the game.
Normally, such a tactic would only be used by teams that weren't sure of their opponent's strength.
It wasn't that this approach was wrong, but generally speaking, only teams lacking confidence in their own abilities would start with such tactics.
Trying to attack the opponent's defense with reckless moves in the hopes that they would create an opportunity.
Of course, this approach had its risks.
Had it been Sawamura on the mound, Hakurai would have already been out!
He was too far off the base.
It was just that Furuya's pickoff wasn't fluid enough and had too many preparatory motions, which allowed Hakurai to get back to the base in time.
Had it been Sawamura or even Kawakami, a single pickoff would have ended the play.
But if it were Furuya on the mound, would the opponent still have the courage to try that?
'Don't worry about the runner, focus on the batter! Leave the runner to me!'
As his partner, Miyuki certainly couldn't stand by and watch Furuya being played.
So he proactively helped!
But even so, Furuya couldn't completely ignore the runner.
The pitcher and catcher had to work together to control the runner, but just the catcher alone couldn't do it.
The pitcher needed to ensure the runner didn't get too far from the base.
Otherwise, even if Miyuki's throw was 10 km/h faster, it wouldn't matter.
Because of the distraction from the runner, Furuya's next pitch was inevitably affected.
His velocity was visibly slower, and the pitch was slightly too over the plate.
Roaar!
For Kazou, this was like a gift from the heavens.
He wasn't going to let this opportunity pass!
PING!
After carefully calculating the timing and angle, Kazou swung his bat decisively.
The baseball flew high into the air after being hit and dropped into a gap in the defense.
Kazou sprinted to first base.
Hakurai, who had been on first, made it to third base.
"SAFE!"
There were no Outs, and runners were on first and third.
This sudden turn of events caught Seidou High's baseball team off guard.
Especially with Furuya's performance, everyone was starting to get worried.
If he kept pitching like this, did Seidou still have a chance?
Truth be told, none of Seidou's players were very confident at the moment.
The impatient fans in the stands had already started murmuring about substitutions.
In the quarter-finals, the remaining teams were all elite.
Even Seidou High's baseball team couldn't afford to be careless.
But Coach Kataoka didn't seem to be considering substitutions.
He had a cold expression, and no one could read anything from his sunglasses.
Still, his lack of decision about substitutions clearly meant that he still believed in Furuya and was hoping for him to perform.
Ping!
Next up to bat was the third batter, Jugo, who was highly accurate with his hits.
Despite Furuya's fast pitch, Jugo managed to track its trajectory.
The baseball was hit and flew to the right side, past the first baseman.
Maezono tried to block it but still couldn't stop the ball.
Jugo's face lit up with joy, but just then, a figure suddenly appeared in front of the ball.
That figure jumped up and managed to catch the ball with his mitt.
Haruichi then quickly picked up the ball and threw it to first base.
Snap!
Maezono reacted quickly and was already at first base in time.
"OUT!"
There was no question about it. Jugo was Out.
The interesting thing was, while Seidou's players were dealing with Jugo, another figure had snuck up to home plate.
He stepped heavily on home plate.
Seidou had lost a point!
The score on the field was now 1:0, with Seidou trailing the opponent by one run.
With one Out and a runner on second base, the situation had improved slightly for Seidou.
But the next batter wasn't an easy one to deal with.
The fourth batter, Senda!
…
T/N: Well, That's it for now!
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