Behind home plate, in the catcher’s area, Tsuchiya Ryota pondered for a while, then stood up from the ground. After calling a timeout, he walked to the pitcher’s mound.
With a runner on second base, he was about to face Konan’s two strong batters. The pressure on him as a catcher was extraordinary — in the previous two at-bats, Uchida Saint was still affected by the atmosphere of the game, and his performance was far below what he usually showed in practice. He had to calm him down for the game to continue.
"Saint, I will simplify the next pitches — take a deep breath first and don’t let the scene influence you. We still have a lot of time left!" Tsuchiya Ryota patted Uchida Saint’s shoulder to comfort him, seeing him still a bit tense.
"Anyway, just trust me, trust your teammates behind you — even if they hit, we will retrieve the ball!"
After the communication between Waseda Jitsugyo’s pitcher and catcher was completed, Konan’s number three batter, Iruku Shosuke, stepped into the batter’s box, ready to go.
Iruku Shosuke was a small-statured, nimble batter with skillful play. His own pitcher was not in the best control, so Tsuchiya Ryota increased the frequency of outside corner pitches in the mix, aiming to induce groundouts for outs.
Uchida Saint delivered a pitch, the baseball slipping from his fingertips, flying the ten-plus meters between the pitcher’s mound and the home plate.
Evidently, Uchida Saint’s feel for the ball still needed time to recover. This slider’s horizontal movement control was slightly off, sliding out of the strike zone by about a ball and a half’s distance.
However, Tsuchiya Ryota acted as if this ball didn’t exist, calling for the same outside corner pitches for the next two balls, determined to have his pitcher find his feel through more pitching.
Iruku Shosuke let one go and fouled the next one, nullifying the advantage of the previous ball, leaving the count at 1 ball and 2 strikes with the pitcher in an advantageous position.
"Hmm, good, Saint’s control is finally improving a bit — one more ball!" To avoid overthinking, Tsuchiya Ryota decided to go head-to-head with the batter on the next pitch.
For the fourth pitch, he chose a high inside fastball, veering away from the previously thrown low outside pitches. The Konan batter was likely prepared by now, so a high inside fastball could possibly yield unexpected results.
Furthermore, high inside pitches are inherently difficult for batters, so most people would choose to let them pass. As long as control is on point, it can result in a straight strikeout. Even if not landing in the strike zone, it would just be one more ball; it’s not a loss either way.
Tsuchiya Ryota thought it through thoroughly and signaled the pitch with his hand gestures. Uchida Saint on the mound understood immediately and executed the pitch.
Just as Tsuchiya Ryota was feeling smug about his pitch strategy, he saw Iruku Shosuke start his swing.
The moment the baseball entered the strike zone — "Clang!"
The silver-gray bat stretched across Tsuchiya Ryota’s view, severing the last link between his thick catcher’s mitt and the baseball as it struck fiercely.
Under the immense force of impact, the baseball’s trajectory changed in an instant. Even after bouncing on the ground once and losing significant force, it still sped vigorously toward the gap between first and second base.
Fukasawa Kouta at second base lunged towards the incoming ball’s direction, attempting to intercept it with his body — however, the baseball slipped just under him, piercing the outfield like a sharp sword.
Fortunately, Onoda Shunsuke in right field, having maintained his focus, fielded the rolling baseball into his glove before it inflicted more damage, then relayed it to second base.
Guoji Continent, previously at second base, had already returned to home plate to score. Now, they could only ensure that Iruku Shosuke on first base would not advance further, minimizing their losses.
An uproar of joy erupted from Konan’s cheering section — scoring in the first inning was an excellent start for the Senbatsu champions.
In such circumstances, Tsuchiya Ryota called for another timeout, stepping onto the pitcher’s mound again.
Removing his heavy catcher’s mask, Tsuchiya Ryota wiped the sweat off his forehead with his arm:
"Saint, your pitching was great, that was my mistake with the pitch strategy — don’t mind it, just continue pitching like that."
Uchida Saint nodded mechanically, like a robot: "Okay."
Tsuchiya Ryota sighed inwardly: "Sigh, Saint is still nervous, not relaxed at all."
In high school baseball, fluctuations in a pitcher’s mentality are common, so a catcher must also play the pitcher’s psychologist — but sometimes, tension is not something that can be dispelled by a mere word.
The next batter in the lineup for Konan High School was their cleanup hitter, Maezono Hideaki.
The current situation on the field was one out with a runner on first base. Though, theoretically, a bunt could advance the runner, Konan’s coach wasn’t foolish enough to sacrifice their star power hitter for such a low-gain strategy.
Thus, Maezono Hideaki, upon entering the batter’s box, displayed an aggressive batting stance, determined to hit a long ball.
Facing a batter with such technical characteristics, Tsuchiya Ryota dared not pitch too many outside balls like before — although outside pitches effectively suppress long hits, if a power hitter targets the pitch precisely, at the very least, it would result in a double.
If another long hit or home run lands in the first inning, the team’s morale would likely plummet instantly.
After some contemplation, Tsuchiya Ryota gritted his teeth, clearly determined: "Never mind, let’s attack his inside corner directly!"
With his right hand between his legs, Tsuchiya Ryota signaled to Uchida Saint on the mound: this pitch should be a low inside fastball.
As Uchida Saint lifted his front leg and brought his entire body down, the baseball flew from his hand — observing the ball’s trajectory, Tsuchiya Ryota felt something was off:
The ball’s path was not that troublesome spot for a batter, hugging the inner edge of the strike zone; rather, it deviated by about a ball and a half’s distance.
Maezono Hideaki naturally did not let this opportunity pass and pulled the ball forcefully — the baseball soared from home plate, flying straight toward the outfield.
Despite Kakiwara Yosuke who had retreated a considerable distance ahead, the ball still flew over his head, landing on the outfield grass.
"Maezono with a powerful hit!"
"A beautiful RBI hit, sending Iruku from first back to home and advancing himself to second!"
"Konan High School! As expected of the Kings of Spring, they’re proving their determination for a consecutive spring-summer victory with this fiery offense!"