Chapter 248: The Terrifying Furuya!
When Tetsuya Yuuki hit the ball, it seemed like time stood still.
Everyone incredulously watched the ball that was hit.
They saw it bounce as it landed.
"It's through!!!"
With the commentator's high-pitched voice, people realized that the long-standing deadlock was finally broken.
Haruichi sprinted back to home plate, securing a crucial run for Seidou High School.
"Safe!"
The score on the field changed to 3:2.
Seidou High School took the lead by one run.
From the perspective of Inashiro Industrial High School, they were undoubtedly dealt a significant blow.
With this one-run deficit, the tactics they had adhered to suddenly seemed meaningless.
However, this was not the most brutal part!
What was even harder for the players of Inashiro Industrial High School, as well as their supporters in the stands, to accept was:
Isashiki Jun, who had been on first base, took this opportunity to sprint to third base.
Yuki, who had successfully hit the ball, also took advantage of this moment to dash to second base.
Two outs, runners on second and third.
Seidou High School's offense was clearly not over yet.
The next batter who stepped up also positioned himself to hit the ball.
"Fifth batter, number one, pitcher, Furuya!"
As Furuya stepped up, the venue immediately erupted in huge cheers.
It felt as if this young man had already hit the ball.
Some die-hard supporters of Inashiro Industrial High School, feeling the atmosphere, looked around incredulously.
Due to the differing perspectives.
Even if this freshman ace of Seidou High School performed exceptionally on the field...
They never truly believed that he could be compared to their beloved Narumiya Mei.
A fast pitching speed is certainly eye-catching.
This can also be said to be the most important natural talent for a pitcher.
However, a pitcher's strength cannot be solely judged by the speed of his pitches.
Besides pitching speed, other abilities are also crucial.
Furuya's talent is strong!
But he is just a freshman and his prior experience isn't extensive.
Even if he has grown rapidly since joining Seidou High School, it is impossible for him to catch up to Narumiya Mei in such a short time.
The gap between them is not something that can be easily explained in a sentence or two.
This is not just a polite statement; this is genuinely what the fans of Inashiro Industrial High School think.
To each their own.
For these fans, their favorite players are different.
They often have a perfect filter for the players they support.
From this point of view, the thoughts of this die-hard supporter of Inashiro Industrial High School can't be considered wrong.
He is just making the same mistake as everyone else.
But today, to be precise, at this very moment...
The die-hard supporter of Inashiro Industrial High School began to doubt his previous thoughts.
Furuya hadn't pitched yet.
Standing at the plate, he hadn't even had the chance to swing his bat.
In other words, he hadn't done anything yet.
But the supporter from Inashiro Industrial could distinctly feel something different about Furuya as soon as he stepped onto the field.
The atmosphere at the venue changed.
The die-hard supporters of Seidou High School, along with many neutral fans, were wildly cheering him on.
It felt as though this freshman ace was certain to perform remarkably on the field.
Why did everyone trust him so much?
This was a question that Inashiro fans couldn't understand no matter how hard they tried.
But one thing they knew for sure.
The reverence held for this freshman who had just stepped into the batter's box was terrifyingly high.
He didn't seem like a newbie at all!
"This level of popularity, even the big stars in professional leagues probably don't exceed this!"
Thinking this, the Inashiro supporter involuntarily focused his attention back on the game.
From the standpoint of their team, Inashiro Industrial High School, whether it be the players on the field or the die-hard supporters.
None of them believed that this freshman ace could do much in the batter's box.
Even though their own ace was nearly exhausted.
They didn't think that this freshman ace from Seidou High School could pose much of a threat.
But from another perspective.
What about the die-hard supporters of Seidou High School, or their players in the dugout?
What would they think?
Their thoughts would likely be completely different.
They must believe that Furuya, once he steps up, could easily hit the ball.
Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to erupt in such cheers, right?
"A freshman, only in the team for just over three months, and he's already gained so many supporters?"
This Inashiro supporter was undoubtedly a rational thinker.
After the initial surprise, he quickly realized what this implied.
Even though Inashiro Industrial High School was currently trailing by one run.
There was a huge gap in perception between the two sides.
This meant that the outcome of their duel could potentially directly influence the direction of the game.
Whichever of them could gain an upper hand in the upcoming duel.
Perhaps their team could also be greatly affected by it.
"I can't wait to see this happen!!"
Despite being deeply shaken inside.
This Inashiro supporter was incredibly eager to witness the upcoming duel.
It seemed others at the venue felt the same way.
The score was 3:2, with Seidou High School leading by one run.
Even though Seidou was leading.
They were only ahead by one run.
Such a small margin wasn't an insurmountable gap for Inashiro Industrial High School.
They still had hope to catch up, and even surpass their opponent.
Of course, before that, they first needed to secure this out.
"Don't overthink it, let's secure this out first."
Harada, squatting at the catcher's position, was immensely frustrated.
No one, not even the captain of the Inashiro Industrial High School baseball team, was more impatient than him.
But Harada understood that he couldn't afford to be hasty.
If he panicked, the consequences would be dire.
So, no matter how difficult the situation, he had to support his juniors and pull through this inning.
"Throw it, your pitching is fine, don't doubt yourself..."
Although two third-year players from Seidou High School had successively hit the ball,
Harada still believed that it wasn't Narumiya Mei's fault.
Whether it was the unexpectedly tough Isashiki Jun or the unfathomably skilled Yuuki, they had both honed their swinging to an instinct.
At the start of the game, it was fine.
Narumiya Mei was full of energy and had plenty of tricks up his sleeve.
In that state, he could certainly suppress Yuuki and Isashiki Jun.
But as the game progressed, that approach no longer worked.
The opponents had completely adapted to Narumiya Mei's pitching, and even if Narumiya maintained his peak performance, by this point, they would have gotten used to it.
Once they adapted, coupled with their skill,
it was only natural for Narumiya's pitches to be hit towards the end of the game.
If they ended up being overtaken in the score, there wasn't much to say.
But those two third-year players were one thing.
They were among the best of the third-year students, so their performance wasn't surprising.
But the boy currently at the plate was a genuine rookie.
Though this newcomer had often left spectators in awe with his performances, even in today's game.
But no matter what, he was still a rookie, inherently flawed.
By now, the pressure on him must be considerable.
Resolve him!!
That was what Harada was thinking.
The captain of the Inashiro Industrial High School baseball team understood that if they couldn't manage this, the consequences would be unimaginable...
They must stop him, no matter what, they couldn't afford to give up more points.
On the pitcher's mound, Narumiya Mei took a deep breath.
With the help of their coach, this ace pitcher of Inashiro Industrial High School had gradually regained a bit of stamina.
But due to the continuous confrontations, this ace, who had barely regained some energy, felt it draining away again.
Seidou High School!
They had faced this opponent several times before.
They knew each other thoroughly.
Yet even so, the difficulty of this opponent kept surpassing Narumiya's expectations, time and again.
"Damn it, put up a fight, even if it's just to take this guy down!!"
Narumiya kept psyching himself up internally.
His eyes were firmly fixed on Furuya.
Then they saw the ace of Inashiro Industrial pull himself together with all his might.
Seeing Narumiya's demeanor, two players in the Seidou High School dugout incredulously widened their eyes.
Were they the first to sense the intention of Inashiro Industrial's ace?
"How could this be??"
Despite seeing it with their own eyes, they still couldn't believe it.
The ace of Inashiro Industrial High School wasn't planning to use a breaking ball.
Instead, he was going to settle it with Furuya using a fastball!
How could he dare?
Not to mention Furuya's proficiency at hitting fastballs, even if he wasn't, using a fastball at this time was extremely risky.
As everyone knows, fastballs are the easiest to target.
"He probably no longer has the stamina to use breaking balls to set up the opponent. So he's taking a gamble..."
Chris was the first to realize Narumiya's intention.
"It's probably not that simple, this might be a trap..."
Compared to Chris, Miyuki had a deeper understanding of Narumiya Mei.
At this time, he was even more incisive in pointing out the issues.
Originally, both of them were startled by Narumiya Mei's approach.
But when they figured it out, both were surprised to find they might have been overly worried.
On the surface, Narumiya Mei's approach seemed aggressive.
But they were neither his coach nor his friend, and there was no reason to act according to his wishes.
"As long as Furuya doesn't swing, this guy is just sealing his own fate!"
The match was intense, and not only their team's ace was facing severe stamina issues.
The ace of Inashiro Industrial High School was in the same boat.
He also had significant stamina problems, carrying such a huge burden while using such an aggressive pitching style.
With Chris and Miyuki's wisdom, they could easily predict the outcome.
Narumiya Mei was likely being too clever by half.
"Just don't swing!"
As this thought emerged in their minds, the young man standing at the plate glared fiercely.
Seeing the white baseball coming towards him, he tightly gripped the bat and swung at the ball.
"Boom!!"
The moment Furuya swung, both Miyuki and Chris, simultaneously, opened their mouths in disbelief.
They were puzzled.
Why?
With their understanding of Furuya, they couldn't believe their ace hadn't seen through it.
But if it's said that Furuya really had seen through it,
why would he swing?
Knowing that a trap had been set, why would he jump right into it?
This is trouble...
Just as this thought emerged in their minds, the pitcher-batter duel was already underway.
The white baseball whistled through the air, and as it approached the strike zone, it suddenly dropped.
A splitter?
Everyone watching was immensely shocked.
They never expected that the ace of Inashiro Industrial High School would decisively use a breaking ball when his stamina was nearly depleted.
It's over!!
This sudden change-up, without even needing to see, they seemed to guess the outcome.
However, just as everyone was forming this thought, an unbelievable scene occurred.
"Ping!"
Furuya's bat dropped.
The ball that he shouldn't have been able to hit was incredibly knocked away.
The white baseball soared sky-high, eventually landing deep in the outfield.
"My goodness!!!"
As the baseball bounced upon landing, the venue erupted in exclamations.
Not to mention the players and supporters of Inashiro Industrial High School, even the die-hard supporters of Seidou High School were stunned at that moment.
Furuya, could he really be this terrifying?
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