The game continued.
Aoba was on offense in the fourth inning.
So that's it. Play it safe and get one run?
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka glanced at Noda Yusei, who stepped up to the plate with a bat. Looking at the next three batters, he immediately understood the coach's strategy.
Noda Yusei, Katsuta Musashi, Takashi , and Otani Shota—Aoba's four best batters.
Especially Takashi , who had the most home runs in this year's Koshien.
He had hit three home runs in a single game before.
Placing those four together, no matter what happened, at least one run was almost guaranteed.
This could be tough...
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka felt a little troubled—he didn't have a good answer for any of those four.
He did know baseball, and he had talent, but like Takashi , he hadn't been playing long.
Without a strong work ethic, talent can only take you so far.
Ayanokoji shook off his thoughts, lifted his leg, and pitched.
Ball.
Noda Yusei judged the pitch as a ball and didn't swing.
Not easy to fool.
Ayanokoji caught the return throw from Katsuragi Kohei and pulled his cap lower.
Looks like I'll have to rely on defense.
Katsuragi Kohei gave a signal, suggesting a sharp corner ball to lure a swing, but—
Ayanokoji shook his head.
He took a deep breath, lifted his leg, and threw.
Beep! 152km/h.
Crack!
"He hit it!"
The commentator shouted.
The ball flew toward right field.
It stayed low and even bounced once on the way, preventing an immediate catch.
With Koenji Rokusuke out, Yamada Albert had to shift his position forward to cover the gap.
That meant he had to run farther and bend down to catch the ball.
For a big guy, bending down wasn't easy.
Noda Yusei ignored everything else and sprinted for first base.
"Yamada makes the catch, throws—will Noda make it?!"
Yamada Albert threw the ball as Noda Yusei slid headfirst toward first base.
"Aahhh!!!"
As Nagumo Miyabi caught the ball, Noda Yusei's foot hit first base.
"Safe!"
"He made it!"
"Ohhhhh!!!"
Cheers erupted from the Aoba stands.
"Damn it!"
Nagumo Miyabi grew increasingly frustrated.
Noda Yusei got up quickly, eyes locked on second base.
Next up: Katsuta Musashi. He took a bunting stance right away.
A bunt?
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka noted it. Just as he prepared to pitch, he saw from the corner of his eye—Noda Yusei had already crept off first, ready to steal.
As Ayanokoji readied to pitch, Noda had one foot off the base, leaning forward, ready to dash.
But in the next second, Ayanokoji spun around and threw fast to first base.
If Noda couldn't get back in time, he'd be out.
But Noda had experience—he dove back and returned just before Nagumo Miyabi caught the ball.
As Nagumo threw the ball back to Ayanokoji, Noda again stepped out wide, making it clear he was ready to steal—and distracting the pitcher.
They're targeting me.
Ayanokoji immediately understood—this was something Aoba's coach had planned in advance.
Just as the coach predicted.
From the bullpen, Takashi saw everything clearly.
He suddenly recalled Amatani Kensuke's briefing from last night:
"Advanced Nurturing's players are geniuses, but they don't understand tactics. They don't know how to apply pressure and use rigid pitching forms.
Their pitch speed is fast, but stealing bases against them isn't impossible."
"Don't fear risk. Be bold within caution."
A brilliant coach, a united team, and someone as strong as me—Advanced Nurturing, what do you have to beat us?
Takashi stood with arms crossed, smiling calmly at the players from Advanced Nurturing.
Can't let him keep distracting me.
Ayanokoji realized Noda was deliberately drawing his attention. He focused entirely on Katsuta Musashi.
As he pitched, Noda Yusei took off running toward second.
"Stolen base!"
Suzuki Ichiro shouted.
"My god, Noda's going for it on the first pitch!"
"This is a huge gamble!"
It was a strike, but Katsuta didn't swing, letting the ball fall into Katsuragi's glove.
"Sudo!"
Katsuragi shouted and threw to second base.
But just as he did, he remembered—Sudo Ken had been carried off. Second base was being covered by a backup player.
Damn it!
Katsuragi's blood went cold.
That throw was made for Sudo Ken's height, not the substitute.
Sudo Ken could catch it—not necessarily this guy.
After all, Sudo was a first-year who had made the varsity basketball team—his athletic ability was top-tier.
But a backup...
As Katsuragi watched in dread, the sub leapt up but was too slow.
The ball flew past him.
"It's over!!!"
Noda reached second and didn't stop—he bolted for third.
If the shortstop were Koenji Rokusuke, he would've stopped at second.
But Koenji was out.
Noda didn't believe the sub could match that kind of reaction time or athleticism.
The ball sailed past second. The shortstop froze, not expecting it, and reacted a moment too late.
By the time he threw it, Noda's foot was already on third base.
"Go, go, go!"
Aoba's students raised their arms in excitement.
After three frustrating innings, it was finally their turn to strike back.
Damn it… was this all part of your plan too?
Horikita Manabu, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, and Katsuragi Kohei were all staring toward the bullpen where Takashi stood.
They had assumed Takashi would try to get one run at a time—what they didn't expect was that he wasn't aiming for just one run at all.
From Koenji Rokusuke leaving the field, to Sudo Ken being provoked and ejected, to Noda Yusei charging for third base—it had all been part of his calculations.
This man had predicted everything.
It was never a gamble—it had been a trap laid out by Takashi from the very beginning.
A trap they willingly stepped into.
…
The ball returned to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. Noda Yusei took one step after another, ready to dash for home plate.
But Ayanokoji didn't even look at him—instead, he focused completely on Katsuta Musashi.
In this kind of situation, he had to be prepared to give up a run.
As Ayanokoji lifted his leg and swung his arm, Noda Yusei sprang forward like a predator pouncing on its prey.
The spinning white ball curved sharply toward the inside corner.
"Inside pitch!"
Katsuta Musashi swung his bat—crack!—the ball shot once more toward right field, another grounder with a low trajectory.
Yamada Albert bent down awkwardly to pick up the ball and saw that Katsuta had rounded first base and was charging for second.
All he had to do was throw it to the second baseman.
But he ran into the same problem Katsuragi Kohei had earlier.
The substitute second baseman couldn't catch the ball.
With two key players missing, the entire Advanced Nurturing team was starting to fall apart.
Katsuta reached second safely, and Noda Yusei touched home, easily scoring another run.
3:11.
This was the moment Aoba officially launched their counterattack.
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