The baseball flew into the outfield, bounced once, and rolled further away.
What made it worse was that the players from City University Third High had moved their defense forward earlier, thinking Zhou Hao wasn't much of a batter.
That ant that once the ball went past them, there was no one left to stop it.
It was wide open.
The baseball bounced happily across the field, while the players from City Third High desperately chased after it.
"Woohoo!"
Kuramochi, seeing this, jumped up in excitent.
With both feet like they were on fire wheels, he dashed past third base and headed straight for ho.
"Safe!"
With that, Seidou High School's baseball team successfully scored a run.
The scoreboard now read 1:2.
And it wasn't over yet—Zhou Hao was still running.
Thanks to City Third High's defensive blunder, Zhou Hao had plenty of ti. After dropping the bat, he sprinted from first to second, then from second to third.
But just as Zhou Hao was thinking of pushing for ho…
The white baseball, after a quick relay, had already landed in the catcher's glove.
"Pop!"
Two outs, one man on third base.
A sigh of regret echoed from Seidou's dugout.
"So close! Just one more step!"
"Zhou-san is too slow. If it were soone else, he could've definitely made it ho."
"Just one run away!"
Missing the chance to tie the score, of course the players felt regret.
In the front of the dugout, Rei Takashima pushed her glasses up her nose and said, "Well done."
She also felt regretful that they hadn't managed to tie the ga.
But regrets were aningless in this mont. Baseball was never perfect—regret was part of the norm.
What mattered was: had they achieved their objective?
Judging from the results so far, Rei Takashima had already achieved half her goal.
That one run had proven sothing important: their opponent wasn't unbeatable. For the players of Seidou's second-string team, this was a massive boost to their morale.
Even if they ended up losing, it wouldn't crush them.
As for the other half of Takashima's objective? She wondered—would this affect Manaka?
"A first-year nobody just hit one clean past you—what are you thinking now?"
Not just Takashima—even the players of City Third High knew the answer.
Unconsciously, their eyes turned to Manaka.
"It's just one run. No big deal. I never expected to go scoreless against Seidou anyway."
After the initial frustration, Manaka quickly lifted his head.
He confidently raised one finger toward the sky. "Let's get the next out."
Manaka's calm and composed deanor instantly lifted his teammates' spirits.
A ntally stable and always-upbeat pitcher brought a kind of belief to a team that was hard to explain.
Zhou Hao, standing on third base, had witnessed everything.
To him, Manaka looked like he was glowing.
"So that's what an ace pitcher looks like?"
No one could answer Zhou Hao's question.
But in his heart, sothing unknown was quietly starting to take root.
The ga continued—Seidou's offensive side wasn't over.
Rei Takashima specifically sent up the team's best hitter.
Although this left the defense in a bit of chaos, Takashima didn't care anymore. At this mont, the most important thing was to break Manaka's montum.
If they succeeded, they might still have a chance.
If not, the result wouldn't change anyway.
Takashima bet it all on this one mont.
"Crack!"
Seidou's best pinch hitter managed to make contact after fouling off two pitches.
But as soon as the ball was hit, sighs ca from Seidou's dugout.
"We got baited!"
Manaka had clearly set a trap, tempting the batter into a swing.
The ball flew straight into the first baseman's glove.
"Pop!"
Out!!
Three outs—switch sides.
The 4th inning ended, with the score at 1:2.
Aside from the beginning of the ga, this was the closest the two teams had co in score.
But in the 5th inning, the gap widened to 1:3.
By the end of the 9th, the final score was 1:6.
City Third High had even subbed in two stronger hitters. Their offense was solid.
But overall, Seidou's second team had held strong.
When second-string teams played before, the scores would usually be sowhere between 4–5 to 7–8.
The gap was never too large.
Giving up six runs today ant Seidou's defense was still quite impressive.
Even with a scrambled lineup, the players had done their best to minimize the damage.
In the end, the reason they lost was simple—Manaka.
His strength was clearly beyond the second-string level, and not just by a little.
Seidou's players couldn't gain any advantage against him.
"Your team played great—we were really impressed," said City Third High's coach, grinning like a flower in full bloom.
It had been a long ti since they had such a refreshing, dominant win over their longti rivals, Seidou.
"You were really well-prepared," Rei Takashima replied, aningfully.
If it hadn't been for Manaka, today's outco might've been very different.
But there are no "what ifs" in this world.
Especially this sumr—Manaka would undoubtedly return to City Third High's first-string team.
With the condition he showed today, once he was back with the main squad, Seidou would likely face a lot of trouble.
"City Third High has Manaka, and the most hyped pitcher this year went to Inashiro…"
Takashima felt a bit bitter.
These two schools weren't lacking in good pitchers to begin with.
Among the three baseball giants in West Tokyo, the one most lacking an ace pitcher was Seidou—that was sothing everyone acknowledged.
So why was it that they couldn't recruit any promising pitcher talents?
"Next year, I must find a future ace…"
After the ga ended, the players from both teams didn't forget to show respect.
"Thank you for the match!"
"Thank you very much!!"
City Third High's players finished their bows and began leaving, while Seidou's players politely saw them off.
Just then, at the very back of the departing team, Manaka suddenly turned around.
"What's your na?"
Hearing this, Kuramochi pointed at himself.
"?"
"Not you. I ant him."
Everyone followed Manaka's pointing finger—toward Zhou Hao.
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