By the time it ended, it was at the ninth batter—
Just short of cycling the lineup again.
They must have been sweating bullets over at Issan, Rinichi thought.
Back on the mound, Rinichi once again retired three batters with three straight strikes, no suspense.
But this inning, Issan pulled their ace pitcher—
Likely because after giving up so many hits in just one inning, plus a home run to Rinichi, his mentality had completely collapsed.
The relief pitcher looked steadier than their ace, though it still wasn't easy going for him.
At least for Issan, the inning ended without Seidou scoring.
In the third inning, Seidou switched pitchers, bringing in Tanba, while Rinichi moved to left field.
In the bottom half, Miyuki led off with no runners on base, but his hit was caught.
This had almost become routine.
When he passed Rinichi on the way back, he caught a slightly disdainful look.
"Your hitting is pretty lousy."
Among the upperclassmen, he was the only one Rinichi didn't speak to with honorifics.
Then, right after him, Rinichi blasted another home run.
The cheers from the crowd grew even louder.
Miyuki's smile turned a little strained.
This guy… really is ridiculously strong—
By the end of the bottom of the ninth, Tanba and Kawakami had held the opponent to just two runs.
Seidou won by an overwhelming score.
Their performance was etched deeply into the spectators' minds.
For a moment, it was hard to tell whether Issan's pitchers were just weak or Seidou's batting lineup was too strong.
Especially that first-year ace—
Not only was his pitching incredible, but his batting was also top-tier…
He didn't seem like a first-year at all.
After this game, Seidou suddenly became one of the top championship contenders.
The next morning, when Rinichi opened the door, he saw his senpai all gathered around reading magazines and newspapers.
"What the heck, it's all Kamishiro and Miyuki…"
"Tetsu-senpai is in here too!"
"So many of the articles are about Kamishiro…"
Suddenly, their chatter stopped, and they all looked up at Rinichi in near unison.
In the second game, their opponent was a school called Seihou.
What the seniors hadn't expected was that Osaka Kiryu had lost to them—
Largely because Seihou had a heavy hitter, Shuzou Sano, with 67 home runs.
After the announcer introduced him, the audience's excitement rose even higher—
After all, Seidou's ace pitcher was Rinichi Kamishiro.
"…The absolute pillar of the first-years, no team has managed to score a single run off him this summer!"
When Rinichi's name was mentioned, the cheers were even louder than before.
Almost all the momentum was on Rinichi's side.
Even people on Seihou's side couldn't help but remark:
"That Kamishiro sure is popular…"
It wasn't just his pitching—
His batting was just as strong.
How could his momentum not be high?
And of course, spectators will always cheer for whoever is stronger.
In the top of the first, Seidou was on defense.
By the time Seihou realized it, the umpire was already calling:
"Strike! Batter out! Change!"
Their eyes went to the pitcher's mound—
Rinichi stood there with his head slightly lowered, cap brim tilted, a smirk tugging at his lips.
When he finally looked up at Seihou's bench, they were met with a mocking gaze.
Instantly, most of them felt their blood boil.
"He's just a first-year and already this cocky!"
Rinichi ignored their glares and turned to walk back to the dugout.
Miyuki felt a little helpless—Rinichi almost never taunted opponents—
It was clear he simply didn't consider them worth taking seriously.
What frustrated Rinichi was that in the first inning, their batting order got stuck at the fifth spot—
Meaning when Seidou's offense resumed next inning, Miyuki would lead off again.
Rinichi exhaled, picked up his glove, and returned to the mound.
This time, he was facing Seihou's powerhouse slugger—Shuzou Sano.
Their side started up his cheer song.
Seeing Sano stand in the batter's box with such confidence irritated Rinichi.
He lowered his cap brim slightly.
Hurry up and lose that confidence.
He tilted his head up just a bit, then with smooth, powerful motion, delivered the pitch—
So this was the first-year pitcher's high-spin fastball!
How strong must his grip be to pull that off?!
And it even looked faster than the actual velocity…
Second pitch—he saw the ball and instinctively tried to dodge.
A high-speed slider, jammed right inside!
His eyes flicked briefly to Miyuki behind the plate.
So the catcher's pitch-calling was just as aggressive—perfectly matching the pitcher's will…
He couldn't let this pitcher keep strutting around.
He tightened his grip on the bat.
As the ball came, Shuzou Sano instinctively swung—
But the ball never came.
It was a very low changeup.
"Strike! Batter out!"
Beneath the brim of his cap, his eyes were so calm they seemed cold. His thin lips parted slightly, the corner of his mouth curving just a bit deeper.
Three pitches, three strikes—Shuzou Sano was out.
Someone in the stands even screamed "Kamishiro!" in a voice that was almost tearing at the throat.
Up until the fifth inning, Rinichi had ended every Seihou batter with a three-pitch strikeout.
That so-called 67-homer slugger suddenly didn't seem so dazzling.
In the sixth inning, Seidou brought in Furuya.
Facing him wasn't any easier for Seihou—
Every batter felt the terror of his blistering velocity.
But soon, they also noticed that this pitcher's control was shaky—
If they could read the pitch, there was a good chance of drawing a walk.
By the eighth inning, Seidou made another pitching change.
What surprised Seihou was that they didn't swap out the ace in left field.
Instead, they brought in a pitcher named Kawakami.
The reason was obvious—
They still needed the ace's bat for scoring.
After all, one swing from him could mean a home run.
And yet, the fact that Seidou had two pitchers who could throw 150 km/h—
One left-handed and one right-handed—
Was enough to make a lot of teams grit their teeth.
Of course, the right-hander wasn't quite on par with their ace.
Still, it was hard not to compare them, given both could hit 150.
With Rinichi's dominance over the first five innings, Furuya only gave up a single run after taking over.
In the end, Seidou won 6–1.
Two straight victories.
Just two more wins to claim the championship.
The closer they got, the more tension and excitement built.
Still, nerves or not, no one made mistakes during the game.
In the semifinals, they once again won smoothly.
"Congratulations, Seidou! Advancing to the finals!"
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