25 Shigeno Shin's Enlightenment

"Phew."

"Swish"

"Snap"

"Strike, batter out, three outs, change!!!"

"Tough offensive and defensive battle, under the solid defense of Seidou High School, Saigo High School did not find a second chance to break through and the runners stopped at the third-base bag, and in the top of the fifth inning, Saigo High School just got one run back from Seidou High School, and the excellent pitching of ace Inoue kept the team's loss to a minimum."

"Good pitching, Inoue-Senpai."

"Nice pitch, ace-sama, just keep that rhythm coming."

"The domination of the game is still in our hands, there's no need to rush, you guys,"

"Let's keep scoring, let's decide the game-winner straight away!!!"

After accidentally getting the number of outs from the runner on second base who tried to steal home, Seidou High School followed up by solidifying its defense. There is naturally a benefit of being cautious, and there will not be the slightest risky move in pitching, as long as the opponent does not guess the path of the ball, predict the type of ball, meticulous pitching, the batter can't catch the slightest loophole, and the two sides can only clash in hard power.

And in this case.

Saigo High School's batter's lineup was still a little short of strength against Inoue-senpai's pitching.

After gaining insight into the target aimed by Saigo High School's batting line.

Chris-senpai adjusted the rhythm of ball distribution in time.

Once again, the Saigo High School batter's lineup was in a daze.

Except for the third batter of Saigo High School knocked out a long line drive to left field, allowing the runner to advance the base to third base.

The next four Saigo batters were pinned down by Inoue-senpai and Chris-senpai properly took a high fly ball to third base to get the third out, ending Saigo High School's offense in the inning and stopping it at one run.

"Still a little bit short of the mark, Saigo High School...."

"In the East Tokyo area may be considered a strong team, but in the whole Tokyo area, but only a medium team, just attack, strong is strong, but lack of a little consideration, no, should simply say reckless behavior."

"Yeah, if that third base runner hadn't been touched earlier, that hit by the third batter would have scored another run for Saigo High School, and overall, there was still a little less stability."

"Last year's fall tournament, wasn't it because of this that Inashiro Industrial was given a violent beating."

"It's a pity, if we could have gotten two runs and kept the difference back to within three runs, Saigo High School would have had a lot of potential."

"The pitching position of Seidou High School...."

"It's kind of the biggest problem in the past few years...."

In the top of the fifth inning, Saigo High School scored a run on an unexpectedly strong attack but missed a good opportunity to keep attacking because of its risky move.

The absolute difference in the strength of the ace.

The problem is that the absolute difference in the strength of the ace has made Seidou High School less competitive than other colleges in the same district in the competition for the right to play in this year's Summer League.

The members of the scouting teams of other colleges are in the stands.

While silently observing the Seidou High School game, they were also casually recording the data that should be recorded, to be fully prepared for the upcoming summer competition.

Not to mention the third-base side, Coach Nishikado's somewhat disturbed mood.

On the first base side, on the dugout of Seidou High School, Inoue-senpai who had just returned to the bench was greeted by the sight of Coach Kataoka that seemed to be without the slightest warmth, causing Inoue-senpai's body to shake a few times, and the slight dropping of his head caused Coach Kataoka to sigh secretly inwardly.

This student of his own, is there a mistake? No mistake, a mistake? No mistake.

Strictly speaking, the run just scored was more of a correct tactical choice of Saigo High School at the critical moment, and it is not appropriate to put all the blame on the pitcher for the loss of the run.

A cautious pitching style.

It should be commendable merit in itself.

However, in the case of our ace, it has become the biggest constraint that limits him, and this is something that can only be changed and broken by the pitcher himself, and no one else can intervene much.

For Inoue Koji.

The emotions inside Coach Kataoka's heart were undoubtedly complex.

"Tanba, you will start the next inning."

Coach Kataoka looks lightly swept a glance at Inoue-senpai after, and did not have any words, but fixed his eyes on Tanba-senpai, who had just returned from the bullpen, and said in a deep voice.

"Yes, Coach!!!"

Tanba-senpai also immediately responded in a loud voice.

At the same time, within Shigeno's line of sight, he could see Inoue-senpai's slightly darkened gaze and those shoulders that twitched slightly.

There are many pitchers.

The pitcher's mound, however, has only one.

Ace's back number, likewise only one.

No one stops in their tracks to wait for others, even as teammates, If you want to stand on the field together, if you want to compete for the supreme glory, then, between each other, you have to move forward, there is no way to exist, who is pulling who forward.

Players who can't keep up with the pace are eventually left behind.

This is not heartless, but the reality of sports!

At this moment, Shigeno had a more enlightened experience of the world he was living in!

The so-called principle of strength comes first!

"Bottom of the fifth inning, Seidou High School's attack....."

After the Saigo High School counterattack in the top of the fifth inning.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Saigo High School had picked up its morale a little bit, holding back Seidou High School's attack in this inning, and did not allow Seidou High School to take control of the game by extending the score difference in this inning.

This made the audience think for a moment that Saigo High School was going to stabilize the situation.

Unfortunately, that scenario was just one inning off.

Top of the sixth inning.

Before taking the mound, Coach Kataoka made a decisive pitcher change, allowing second-year Tanba Kouichirou to replace third-year ace Inoue Koji, another choice that took the crowd by surprise, replacing the ace when it was clear that Inoue hadn't been bounced and didn't have many balls, a relatively rare scenario in baseball.

The crowd did not guess the meaning of Coach Kataoka's pitcher change.

But it can be seen that after Tanba-senpai came on the field, the rhythm of the game of Seidou High School is changed, The second-year Tanba-senpai, in terms of mentality, is certainly the one who is more prone to blow up, and once the game falls to a disadvantage, the state will decline and cannot stabilize the situation.

However, if you are playing in a downwind battle.

Tanba-senpai's fierceness is comparable to that of the ace pitcher of any powerful team.