Seido had scored twice, both times after already securing two outs.
This time, Inashiro Industrial followed the same pattern, suddenly launching an offense after Seido had already taken two outs.
The sudden turnaround caught Seido High School's players completely off guard.
Without any warning, Inashiro scored two runs in quick succession.
The score on the field became 3–2, the gap shrinking to just one run.
At this moment, most of Seido's players were bewildered.
What had just happened?
On the mound, Hidezawa was in the worst state of all.
Just moments earlier, he had felt that his fastball was invincible. That confidence was exactly why he had shaken his head at Miyuki's signal.
Now, he suddenly realized that feeling might have been nothing more than an illusion.
In truth, he might not be that strong at all.
The reason he had achieved such results before was entirely because of Miyuki's guidance behind the plate.
The moment he became even slightly overconfident, he paid the price.
The pitcher fell into confusion.
In Inashiro Industrial's dugout, Coach Kunimoto stretched his neck, then stepped forward and began signaling to the batter on the field.
Seido High School was strong. That much was undeniable.
But at the same time, Seido's own problems were equally serious.
The reason Coach Kunimoto hadn't acted earlier, even when Inashiro's situation looked grim, was precisely because of this.
In the game against Ichidai Third High School, Seido had played at full power. Even without exceeding their limits, they had still given everything they had.
Such an intense match couldn't be fully recovered from in just one day.
Their bodies would be fatigued, even if their spirits were still high.
For a short time, adrenaline could mask the exhaustion and let them perform beyond their limits.
But once time passed, physical fatigue would inevitably surface.
And once that happened, it wouldn't be something players could easily overcome.
Originally, Coach Kunimoto believed this window would only appear halfway through the game.
Unexpectedly, it had arrived far earlier than expected.
Of course, with his personality and experience, there was no way he would ignore such an opportunity.
An opportunity, once seen, had to be seized.
A baseball game was like rolling a snowball. Only by making your own snowball bigger and bigger could you secure final victory.
So even though this turn of events surprised him, Coach Kunimoto acted decisively.
Generally speaking, he didn't give instructions as frequently as Coach Kataoka.
Coach Kunimoto believed that orders were most effective when delivered at the most critical moments. If he directed everything, players would grow overly reliant on the bench and lose their ability to think and judge for themselves.
That was absolutely unacceptable.
Coach Kataoka understood this principle as well and was striving to reach that level. He also wanted his players to play according to their own judgment. In fact, he had already nurtured some players capable of doing so.
But compared to Coach Kunimoto, his control was still lacking. Even though he knew he shouldn't give instructions so often, he simply couldn't help himself.
Without his guidance, the team's performance dropped noticeably. Caught between those two extremes, he could only feel helpless.
Coach Kunimoto finished signaling.
Harada, the fifth batter in the box, didn't fully understand the meaning of the signal, but he still nodded.
When the director didn't give instructions, Inashiro's players could act on their own judgment.
But once an order was given, it had to be carried out.
This was Inashiro's tradition. And also the reason for their strength.
On the mound, Hidezawa felt confused and guilty. Miyuki, behind the plate, hadn't noticed yet.
Although the home run just now was largely caused by Hidezawa's stubbornness, Miyuki had agreed to the pitch selection as well.
The real problem was that the pitch location had been off by a few centimeters, drifting too close to the heart of the strike zone.
Fujita seized that opening and blasted the ball out of the park.
Which powerhouse team's cleanup hitter wasn't a monster?
Even if Fujita's reputation couldn't match Azuma or Kameshima, he was still a top-tier batter in West Tokyo.
His batting ability clearly surpassed that of Captain Tanaka and even Hidezawa himself.
But when it came to pitching, Hidezawa still held the advantage.
No one wanted this outcome.
As long as Hidezawa could regain his previous state, Miyuki was confident they could still suppress Inashiro's lineup for the rest of the game.
So he didn't hesitate. He crouched down and signaled for the next pitch.
This time, Hidezawa didn't object. Instead, he took a deep breath and threw.
The moment Miyuki saw the pitch, regret flooded his heart.
How could he have been so careless? How could he make such a rookie mistake?
Hidezawa's mentality and condition had both collapsed.
The ball he threw no longer had its previous power. It looked ordinary, almost powerless, like a child's pitch.
It was over.
With a pitch like that, trying to deal with Inashiro's batters was nothing but wishful thinking.
Harada was no ordinary opponent. He was a fearsome hitter, often mentioned in the same breath as Yuuki and Omae.
Would he let such a pitch go?
The answer was obvious.
"Whizz!"
In Miyuki's horrified gaze, Harada swung with full force.
"Ping!"
The ball exploded off the bat, flying away at a speed far faster than the pitch itself.
Too fast.
From Miyuki's experience, even though the ball wasn't hit very high, its sheer velocity meant it would travel extremely far.
And at that angle, if it carried far enough, it was very likely to become a home run.
Was Inashiro about to tie the game?
Back-to-back home runs…
A flash of alarm crossed Miyuki's eyes.
In Inashiro's dugout, many people leapt to their feet the moment they saw the ball.
They were desperate for what came next.
Three quiet innings, then an explosion all at once.
What was so special about little Seido High School?
Did they really think no one in West Tokyo could deal with them?
Those thoughts had barely formed when the baseball had already flown more than ten meters, rising to nearly three meters high.
Just as everyone believed it would sail out of the park, a figure suddenly burst forward from the shortstop position.
The figure leaped into the air, arms stretching like a long-imbed ape. With astonishing height, just as the ball was about to pass, he snatched it firmly into his glove.
"Thwack!"
Time seemed to freeze.
The smiles on the faces of Inashiro Industrial's players remained, stiff and unmoving.
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