Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 261 - 130: The Genius Boy from Iwate

"But Shoufei, I feel this might not be a bad thing for us - after all, for most of the audience, their memory of Hanamaki East still lingers on the older generation like Kikuchi."

"Let’s strive to perform even better in this game - let all of Japan reintroduce the new generation of Hanamaki East players!"

"And if we win this game, we’ll face off against Waseda Jitsugyo - don’t you want to personally experience what the level of the Senbatsu champions is, Shoufei?"

As a naturally thick-skinned and passionate fool, Takahashi Shoufei was easily intrigued by Ohtani Shohei’s words - just the thought of standing in the crowded Koshien Stadium, competing against the best teams and players in Japan, filled his mind with excitement.

"Yes, Shohei, you’re right - that’s why we need to win today’s game! Come on! We can definitely win!"

At three thirty in the afternoon, the air raid alarm signaling the start of a new game rang again, and both teams were ready:

Third base side, University of Yamanashi, batting first.

First base side, Hanamaki East High School, batting second.

Just as the first inning began, Hanamaki East faced a challenge from their opponents: Suda Kishiraku, the Yamanashi Academy’s supervisor, arranged a zigzag batting order:

Muuto Taiki, the lead batter, is a right-handed hitter, followed by Suzuki Takamasa, a left-handed hitter - the subsequent batters were also arranged in a "right-left-right-left" sequence.

This batting order would pose a challenge for the opposing pitcher, who must continuously face batters attacking from different directions, causing them to struggle to adapt, a way of indirectly weakening pitching strength.

Clearly, this setup had an impact - Kohara Daiki, the starting pitcher for Hanamaki East in their first Koshien match, filling in for ace Ohtani whose muscle injuries hadn’t fully healed, was already facing immense pressure, and the opposing team’s targeted strategy quickly led to pitching problems early on.

In the top of the first inning, after walking Muuto Taiki on four balls, Kohara Daiki continued to pitch consecutive hit-by-pitches to the next two batters, rapidly loading the bases for Yamanashi Academy. They chose the most reliable approach, hitting two consecutive fly sacrifice hits to help their team score first with two runs.

Coming to Hanamaki East’s half inning, as their batters stepped into the batter’s box one by one, the crowd laughed out loud - while Yamanashi Academy’s zigzag lineup was a common strategy adaptable to various conditions, Hanamaki East’s Sasaki You showed even more "craziness" in their lineup targeted at Yamanashi Academy’s right-handed pitcher Yuasa Motohiro:

Among the nine starters, the first six batters were all left-handed - this arrangement was clearly intended to take a shot at the opposing pitcher, using the continuous firepower of the lineup to compensate for weaker pitching.

Bottom of the first inning, Hanamaki East also got the results they wanted:

First batter Ohta Tomoyasu, single;

Second batter Osawa Eikyou, hit-by-pitch walk;

Third batter Ohtani Shohei, four-ball walk;

Despite the fourth and fifth batters striking out consecutively, the sixth batter Takahashi Shoufei and seventh batter Matsuhashi Asake held their ground, hitting consecutive base hits to tie the score.

At the end of the first round, the score was tied at 2:2.

On Yamanashi Academy’s side, after losing points in the first inning, they soon regained their defensive mindset and rhythm, shutting down Hanamaki East’s lineup in the second and third innings, preventing the opponents from scoring additional runs;

Meanwhile, Kohara Daiki from Hanamaki East couldn’t stabilize the situation: over two innings, he had given up 3 runs - as the team’s starting pitcher, this performance was undoubtedly subpar.

"Coach Sasaki, please let me pitch - my injury has actually mostly healed, there’s really nothing wrong, see for yourself!"

In Hanamaki East’s player area, Ohtani Shohei stood in front of his coach, jumping around, trying to prove that his muscle injury had completely healed.

It was a desperate measure - while defending, standing in right field, Ohtani Shohei felt helpless: right field is a position with relatively low defensive pressure, and often he could only watch the ball being hit by the opponents without being able to assist the team.

Although he never doubted his teammates’ abilities, the widening score gap was a fact that couldn’t be ignored - Ohtani Shohei wanted to win this match badly!

Not only did Guanglai want to face him, Ohtani Shohei himself wanted to duel with Guanglai once more - after all, compared to the match less than two years ago, Guanglai had become a super talent that commanded attention all over Japan; and challenging strong opponents was something Ohtani Shohei always aspired to do.

If he wants to face Guanglai at Koshien, Yamanashi Academy is the opponent Hanamaki East must defeat.

"Coach! Let me pitch!" Standing firmly in front of Sasaki You, Ohtani Shohei declared aloud, his face steadfast in determination.

After a period of deep thought, Sasaki You ultimately nodded: "Warm up, Shohei!" - as the coach who discovered this local Iwate Prefecture genius, Sasaki You understood his gifted student’s personality very well:

Aside from extraordinary talent, Ohtani Shohei’s inner drive and competitiveness set him apart from ordinary talents - in Sasaki You’s view, in terms of talent alone, Ohtani Shohei is on par with Waseda Jitsugyo’s Lin Guanglai, a super genius; what he lacks compared to Guanglai is merely an opportunity to showcase his talents.

Now, the opportunity has arrived.

Top of the fourth inning, Hanamaki East High School substituting players.

Number 10, pitcher, Kohara Daiki, off;

Number 18, right fielder, Takahashi Chiya, on.

Formerly stationed in right field, Ohtani Shohei, for the first time in his life, stood on the Koshien pitcher’s mound.

Watching the Yamanashi Academy batter in the batter’s box, feeling the unique solidity of Koshien’s sacred soil beneath his feet, Ohtani Shohei nodded towards his catcher Sasaki Takashi and began pitching.

His pitching motion was learned during childhood by mimicking his favorite professional baseball player: Pedro Martínez, nicknamed "God’s Right Hand", a three-time Cy Young Award winner, regarded as one of the most dominant pitchers in Major League history.

This pitching motion, for over ten years, he had repeated thousands of times, nothing different even on the Koshien pitcher’s mound.

His arm swung with the body’s forward motion, releasing the white ball from his hand with rapid speed, creating shadows in the air, heading straight for the catcher’s glove.

"Bang." Sasaki Takashi caught the ball, the intense collision between the baseball and the glove created a loud blast echoing through the air.

"Boom——!!!" At that moment, Koshien Stadium erupted.

On the scoreboard towering above the outfield, the speed of the pitch was imprinted deeply in everyone’s mind:

"151km/h."

"Click——"

Seeing the match end, the television screen showed the ecstatic expressions of the victorious Hanamaki East players, Izumi Minoru turned off the TV, looked at his team members seated below, and gravely said:

"Did you see? This is the opponent we’ll face in the second round - I’m sure Guanglai has already told you many times, Hanamaki East’s number 1 pitcher is definitely a tough opponent."

"In the upcoming second-round match against Hanamaki East, I hope no one on the team will become complacent thinking the opponent’s overall strength is average." 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"On the Koshien stage, miracles are never lacking! Even those historically elite schools have experienced defeat against weaker teams in the Summer League."

"I believe the team’s goal this year is clear - in over ninety years, only 6 schools have achieved consecutive championships, and such opportunities may not come again for our team."

"Therefore, seize this opportunity, I want every member of the team to treat every game as if it’s the last game of your high school career - until the sound of victory rings out, don’t underestimate any opponent!"