"8-0!!!!" one teammate shrieked in disbelief.
"Home Run!!!" another exclaimed in utter amazement.
Even Takumi was speechless.
There's nothing like a home run in baseball: one swing and the ball's outta here.
Especially a bases-loaded shot.
It takes skill, and a little luck.
"I wonder if I'll ever do that?" he muttered, envious.
Miyuki Kazuya, standing next to him, laughed.
"With your size? Nah. I'm more likely to do it," he teased playfully.
And he had a point.
Takumi's spiral ball is impressive, but he's still one of the weakest on the team.
Not everyone on the first string can knock it out of the park, let alone him.
Miyuki, even on the bench, has the power and skill to pull it off.
"I will," Takumi vowed determinedly.
Before, he wouldn't have even dreamed of it.
Sports aren't always fair.
He used to think hard work could beat anything.
Then you see the real deal, and you know there's a difference.
That gap used to seem impossible to cross, but not anymore.
With his "cheat code," anything was possible.
All he needed was experience.
At the end of the sixth, Seidō had added two more runs.
The score was 10-0. A blowout that showed just how dominant they were.
Bottom of the seventh, Hachiya Oji was up.
Their lineup had looped back to the leadoff hitter.
Despite the score, they weren't giving up.
Even though they were losing, they were still fired up.
"We gotta get a hit off this rookie!" one player urged fiercely.
"A run would be even better," another added hopefully.
They've got nothing to lose, so they're going all out.
The score didn't matter; they were fighting to the end.
"Can't slack off now, though. Other teams are watching!" one of them reminded earnestly.
Seidō's not even the point anymore.
It's about what those other teams think.
That's what really matters.
Kataoka gave Takumi a serious warning before he took the field.
He'd wanted him to keep a low profile, but his pitching was too good to hide.
So, new plan.
If he couldn't be subtle, he'd go all-out.
'Nailed it!' Takumi grinned to himself.
Back on the mound, staring down Hachiya Oji's leadoff guy, Takumi didn't hold back and threw the Spiral ball.
'Bring it on,' the batter thought, bracing himself.
Boom!
With a roar, the pitch hurtled towards the plate.
The leadoff hitter, watching the ball approach, was frozen in disbelief.
The speed... the power...
Before he could even blink, the ball had already zipped past.
Snap!
"Strike!"
The sound of the ball hitting the mitt snapped him back to reality.
He finally understood why his teammates couldn't hit it.
Even if you could track the ball, that spin made it impossible to catch up.
And there was something else about that pitch.
"Is this what a top team's pitcher is like?" he whispered, awestruck.
That head-on confrontation made the gap between the teams clear.
It was so big, they couldn't even see Seidō's shadow.
Boom!
Before the leadoff hitter could even catch his breath, Takumi's next pitch was a blur.
Even faster, the spin tighter than ever.
He knew what was coming, but it didn't matter.
He swung anyway, a desperate, flailing mess.
The ball was past him before his bat even cleared his shoulder.
Snap!
"Strike!"
"Strike two!"
"Strike three! You're out!"
Back in the dugout, the leadoff hitter was almost relieved.
He'd seen enough.
That was the difference between them and Seidō.
"That spiral... I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself," he remarked in amazement.
"And the kid doesn't even look that buff!" another player added, scratching his head.
After a quick team huddle, Hachiya Oji had to face facts: Takumi was just on another level. Nothing they could do.
While they were busy being bummed out, Takumi just kept mowing 'em down.
And with one last strike, the game was done.
"Strike!"
"Strike three!"
"Three outs! Game over!"
"And that's it! Seidō takes down Hachiya Oji, 10-0, in seven innings! They move on in the West Tokyo Summer Tournament!"
As the announcer's voice echoed, Seidō's fans went wild, jumping and screaming.
"We did it!" one fan roared, pumping a fist.
"Top Sixteen, here we come!" another cried out, grinning ear to ear.
For Seidō, making it to the Top Sixteen was normal.
But winning in seven innings with a 10-0 score? That was something else.
Their fans knew this was their best shot in years.
This year, they were gonna snag that Koshien ticket and leave their rivals in the dust.
The scouts from Ichidaisan and Inashiro were already rushing out.