~back on the field~
furuya back on the mound to pitch
"pitch to contact,furuya!"
"we've got your back furuya"
"remember this, furuya! there are two hungry wolves in the bullpen!"sawamura shouted from the bullpen but furuya ignored him furuya remembered what shihara said to him
'furuya somehow seeing that intense resolution in your eyes, i feel like you already know the word responsibility from the no# on your back, your starting to pitch like i expected you to be ,a true ace that everyone awknowledges but don't push yourself too hard look around you when you're in the mound we have a fielder's that defending like their life depends on it, you have a battery mate that will be with you until the end. you're starting to get passed my expectations believe in yourself and to what you can do, play for the team and put your faith on them because no matter what happen they will be the one to help you until the end.'
suddenly furuya's heart started to race and his eyes shows more intense resolution her words couldn't removed in his heart and mind her blue eyes staring at him while saying those words.
'furuya didn't ask to keep pitching he said it like no one else could do the job. furuya is standing on the mound today with a different mindset. he's playing like a true ace. i think shihara's words reached him, well she's also good at persuading' miyuki thought while looking at furuya.
"it's top of the sixth with two outs and runners on first and third. seiko is looking to strike back their next batter is their cleanup,Nagata!."
nagata hits and the third-base runner scores! seiko takes a run, the next batter hit the ball but kuramochi quickly get the ball and throw to 1st base retiring seiko's side.
seido's up to bat and asou is the next batter but got out by the fielder.
"ogawa hasn't given any runs since the second inning either seido goes down three for three again!"
"seiko's Nishijima and Ogawa hit back-to-back doubles, now they're two runs behind!"
"furuya's fastballs are getting hit so easily!, maybe he reached his limit."manager ota told the coach the seido players in the field looked shocked when they saw furuya look around facing them while placing his fist on his chest.
Furuya remembered the words she said those words give him the courage to continue playing with the team.
'did he just look at us... to calm himself down?' kuramochi thought while looking at furuya
'furuya...you...you're way past your limit.'miyuki thought while looking at furuya
"seiko can hit furuya's pitch with ease don't try to take them out by force pitch to the corners. i want to see the pitching you showed against Oya." coach kataoka said to sawamura
'i think nori wil be better with that kind of line up, but sawamura will learn in this game' shihara thought while looking at the field. seiko pops up to left field for their second out.
"furuya is pitching tenaciously even after conceding a run.can he pull through? seiko's two runs behind at the top of seventh with two outs and a runner on second. their next batter is their leadoff man, Shinichiro Masu!."
"we've got your back"
"focus on the batter!"
"two outs" the fielders called to furuya
'the coach gave furuya one condition to keep playing he must not selfishly walk a batter his fastballs are getting hit, and he's given up some runs he's pitching way past his limit even so...even so, he's still..' miyuki thought while readying his mitt.
furuya throw his next pitch, seiko's batter hit the furuya's pitch but furuya tried to stopped the hit that caused his mitt to fall with the ball, furuya moved to get the ball and quickly to it to 1st base that awed the audience and the players.
"what a play a strong hit to center field, and he literally stopped it with his body!. Seiko's inning ends after getting one run, yet again we head into the bottom of the seventh with Seido leading 3-5"
'Damn! he's playing out of his mind'
'the fighting instincts he's kept inside...turned out to be quite extraordinary.'
"great job pitching, take a break" the coach said to furuya
"that hit close to your wrist didn't it? let's get it checked"miyuki asked but furuya didn't respond
"the whole team recognized your unyielding spirit you can leave the rest to them"
"yeah furuya you've done well, good job like i told you you still have reliable team mates that's why you can leave the rest to them. we have to checked your wrist" shihara said giving furuya a closed eye smile with the good job sign
'he's presence on the team increases every game. this is what it means to pitch like an ace' miyuki thought while placing his hand with his mitt on furuya's back.
Seido's now in offense and kominato's up to bat kominato pops it up directly land on fielders mitt with 2 out and no runner on base miyuki's up to bat but miyuki got walked by 4 balls
"wow! another base on balls for the clean up." maezono's up to bat and hit the ball to third
"A calm throw to first and that's the third out!." retiring seido's offense a At the top of the eighth, Sawamura is sent to the mound after some struggles sawamura faces Seiko's clean-up, nagata with the runner on base and nagata's up to bat.
he cleanly hit sawamura's pitched straight to the fence that shocked everyone nagata hits a two-run home run off of Sawamura tying the game at 5-5.
Despite everything happened this, Sawamura appears unfazed. the next batter hit his pitch to third but then Kanemaru makes a mistake, fumbles the ball and thus leading the batter safe to first.
"im okey kanemaru" sawamura said with the okey sign sawamura's hands are trembling but still able to pitch.
the runner on first trying to get a big lead thingking that sawamura isn't paying attention to him but before Sawamura pitch he unexpectedly made a pick-off throw to first, outing the runner that shocked the runner and the fielders since they're not expecting sawamura to do that. after getting the third out seido's now up to bat.
"i'll make up for my mistakes with my bat!"sawamura shouted while holding the helmet while coach kataoka asked miyuki what sawamura's condition
"yes, the home run pitch was a little high but i was surprised by his attitude afterward. his last pitch...in terms of speed and movement, it was one of his best pitches." miyuki replied
"he now has a strong mentality, it's actually a learning experience to sawamura too. im glad he didn't crumble well after what he'd been through from the past it make him stronger"shihara said while looking at sawamura whose listening to tojo what and where the pitcher is throwing.
"they throw to the inside a lot."
"bring it on"
"batting for Seido in the bottom of the eight is their sixth batter and pitcher Sawamura-kun."
when sawamura's up to bat he bunted shocking seido's catcher and pitcher but ogawa quickly get the ball and throw to 1st base before sawamura getting another out. tojo the next batter hit the ball but get out.
"Seiko's working the field relly well!."
"Replacing the eight batter, kanemaru-kun, will be higasa-kun.batting eight, higasa-kun."
higasa hit the ball but got out. retiring seido's offense at the top of the ninth, with a runner on first the next batter bunts the first pitch but Sawamura dives for the ball, successfully catching it in the air for the out.
"Sawamura catches it in the air! Seiko's bunt fails!"
"you okay?" miyuki asked while walking to sawamura
"Nice! one out!" the next batter shirota hit the ball but higasa quickly thow it to 1st base getting another out the runner advances with two outs now the next batter seiko's leadoff batter masu hit the ball between third and shortstop but aso quickly get the ball
"Asou back home"
"you let him past third? Don't underestimate me" Asou throw the ball with full power the ball reached miyuki's mitt before the runner but he isn't stopping that confused them when he suddenly tackled miyuki that shocked everyone.
"that's a reckless play"shihara quickly stand looking at miyuki worriedly
'there's no way he doesn't get hurt, miyuki will feel later the after effect of that tackled, i have to knock some sense to that pitcher'shihara thought while still staring at miyuki but miyuki suddenly raised his hand showing the ball inside his mitt.
"Out"
"that was a rather violent play from Ogawa, but miyuki stopped him with his body! Seiko falls just short of scoring! the game's tied at 5-5 and we go into the bottom of the ninth for seido".
"are you okay?" coach kataoka asked to miyuki
"are you hurt anywhere?" manager ota asked too
"everywhere"miyuki replied before the pitcher get back to their dugout the umpire talked to him about what he did seido's now in offense but couldn't score again extending the game.
During the top of the tenth, Kawakami is sent to the mound replacing Sawamura.
"it's the top of the tenth with 2 outs and no runners for seiko their cleanup, Nagata is at bat who is responsible for tying the game. On the mound, Seido has put out their third pitcher, kawakami. Let's watch his first pitch." nori throw his 1st pitch
"Strike! he misses a slider to the outside!"
"Nice pitch nori"
"Good pitch"
"Second pitch"nori throw his next pitch
"and this one's a ball"
nagata get's consecutive foul, it's a full count now miyuki suddenly call for slider to the inside that shocked nori but still do it out of determination to get better for the team.
"Strike batter out" nagata's still confused that he couldn't swing his bat
"Nagata couldn't react he goes down looking a good switch from sawamura to kawakami seiko went down three for three in the top of the tenth!"
'We didn't need to use the sinker in such a tense situation so i made him throw the slider he has a lot of confidence in. It was the perfect slider in terms of control and break. I got a pitch that far exceeded what i asked for there's no better experience as a catcher.'miyuki thought
while thinking about nori, sawamura and furuya's best pitches. seido's now in offense.
"would you like some amino acids? Nice, cold amino acids! "sawamura asked miyuki while holding a cup of amino acids
"how thoughtful"miyuki replied while turning around
"chug it down! it's about time you played like a cleanup."
"By the way, have you cooled down?"
"Not yet"
"Do it"
"You're sweating a lot" furuya commented
"Am i? Sawamura, get me a towel."miyuki ordered
"yes sir"
"well, i'm getting a little restless i feel bad for our pitchers that we haven't scored."
kominato's up to bat he hit the next pitch but the third baseman quickly throw the ball to 1st base before kominato, miyuki's now up to bat
"the next batter's the catcher and cleanup, miyuki whi hit an RBI in the 1st inning Ogawa wind up for his 1st pitch"
"A ball to the outside!, second pitch"
"strike, low and away into the corner!, the count is 1-1"
"third pitch "
"ball, A screwball to the foot and no swing! the count is 2-1!" next pitch
"to the inside he's pitching to the edges, but they're balls."
"Nice job! you have good eyes but remember this,miyuki-senpai if you don't swing, you won't hit lets go for the next pitch."sawamura shouted from the dugout
'he's now starting to feel the result of that accident, i have to buy some treatments to help him later since later and tomorrow will be a hell for him' shihara thought while observing miyuki.
Miyuki hit the ball straight to the fence that shocked everyone
"it's gone, that's the game!, in the bottom of the tenth, the captain and the cleanup puts an end to the game with his swing! the end was so sudden seiko looks a little confused Ogawa pitched so well this game, but one pitch ends the game."
"they're back in the final once more! "
~after the game while leaving the dugout.~
"Hurry up!"
"Don't forget that bag"
"Sawamura, shoes!"
"got it" while leaving the dugout miyuki, kuramochi and maezono saw the yakushi players.
"Congratulations on making it to the final."
"ka ha ha ha ha we can play again, we can have a rematch from summer!"
"You don't think you'll lose?, you're playing Ichidai next, you know?" kuramochi asked annoyed
"We've won every game after the practice game too thirty-three consecutive wins! "
"th-thirty-three?" maezono shouted shocked
"Or was it thirty-four? thirty-two? oh,well. well win today"
"hey guys, why are you all still here we___what?" they all looked where the voice coming from
"oneesan"
sawamura called when they saw shihara approaching them when they heard
"hey wait i know you, you're the badass genius girl" sanada said looking at shihara while his eyes widened that confused the others even shihara.
"w-what?"
"i saw you the last time when you beatup some goons i actually want to help you that time but im amazed how you taken them down easily, i actually looked for you but i didn't know where to start but when i saw your picture in my classmates phone i didn't know that you're seido's manager."
"shihara-chan did you know him?" maezono asked while looking at shihara
"did you already meet him?"kuramochi also asked
"shihara oneesan what's this guy talking about?"
"i actually didn't know him and i think i didn't even meet him but what are you talking about your classmate's phone?"shihara said while still looking at sanada
"well since you said you didn't know me , im Sanada Shunpei from yakushi, actually when im walking around i accidentally saw your picture in my classmates phone i'm still confused since it looks familiar then i remember that i saw you when you beat up some guys i asked them why they have you're picture they said that they got it in internet they said the pictures captured from NAC, woahhh you're a genius and based on what you're wearing you're seido's baseball team manager too. do you have a line? can i add you ? or maybe email?" sanada explained that annoyed the seido players and stood infront of shihara.
"no you can't "
"you have to go through us before you can get to oneesan"
"yeah"
"oh!! you have some protective guys here, how about we made a deal if we win tomorrow you'll give me you're email or your line account."
"there's no way she'll accept that"
"Yeah were not allowing you___"
"hey why are you still here they're waiting on us "kanemaru asked that made them stopped arguing
"Ah sorry, kanemaru we're going now were just forgot something" shihara said started to walked away while pulling them to follow her since sawamura's still talking nonstop and doesn't want to leave.
"go with kanemaru i still have to talked to someone to knock some sense on the brain of that person" she said and leaving them confused.
~seiko's room~
"Damn it, im really frustrated" ogawa said while punching and kicking the wall
"tsune, help clean up"
"im so frustrated"
"how does it feel?"said by the voice behind them they looked around and saw the ichidai players.
"when it's your fault the team lost, does it make you want to die? from embarrassment?" the ichidai's ace said
"hey kosei"the other one interferred when they heared the door open and they saw a blonde girl wearing a pink jacket they looked confused when she approached ogawa.
"can i talked to you?"she asked to ogawa who still looked confused
"ehhh?"
"i actually want to beat you up but i'm not like that...dont make a play like that next time, it's dangerous and you might get disqualified i understand that you want to win with your team mates but winning like that will not be as satisfying as it should be, if you really want to win, then get better, train hard because the fruits of your hardwork will surely paid you off someday ,you still have more room to grow, just work on that.. if you train hard i can see that you'll get better and someday you can be a great pitcher that will lead you're team to a satisfying victory remember that!!!.." she said and leave , leaving them stunned and speechless.
"i-is she talking about the tackled?"
"p-probably"
~seido players~
as soon as they leave the dugout they decided to watch the next game since the next team who will win will be their opponent for the finals tomorrow.
"Game two of the semifinals between Yakushi high School and Ichidai third High has been delayed, and it will begin at 12:45 PM."
~Ichidai's Dugout~
"Kosei, why did you say that stuff?"
"their pitcher was super pissed,it's a good thing that girl came and talked to him before the coach come and have to pacified the situation."
"what did i say to piss him off ? i asked a genuine question out of curiousity because i've never lost like that." that shocked the two
'He's an airhead'
"who is that girl? i've never seen her before?"
"didn't you know she's the famous genius girl from seido she's dominating the NACompetition"
"wooahhh really? she's interesting"
~seido players~
the second semifinal game between Yakushi High School and Ichidai Third High. everyone's surprise when they saw amahisa's pitch, the sharp break of his slider.
"what was that break?, the catcher can't catch it."
"that's Amahisa's slider?"
amahisa went three for three in the first inning, Yakushi also is starting off strong, as well. in the top of the second Amahisa face todoroki head-on but todoroki hit a home run against Amahisa a line drive into the scoreboard. he allowed a run to todoroki but cleanly got the next three batters out. ichidai batters able to turn the game around. After yakushi announced a swap of positions they managed to stop Ichidai's offense. Yakushi sent their ace onto the mound in the bottom of the third. todoroki hit amahisa's pitch through infield in their third time face off the next batter sanada hit amahisa's fastball through left field raichi run bases after bases but got out before he reached the home plate.
"he dived for the plate, but he didn't quite make it, Yakushi couldn't score yet again."
"You got too greedy!" sawamura shouted from the stands
"know your limits!" kanemaru shouted
"what a waste"haruichi whispered while watching beside sawamura it's the bottom of the sixth and ichidai batters get a hit off sanada but couldn't score
when sanada throw a new pitch that ichidai players doesn't familiar with and get a double play.
It's now top of the eight inning and yakushi's hoping that amahisa's running out of his stamina but his pitches still sharp because it means he's not really going all out all the time. amahisa put a runner on base by hit and deadbull, now todoroki's up to bat everyone get shocked when ichidai battery decided to face todoroki head-on with a runner on first and second a small mistake can lose the game. todoroki can't make contact to amahisa's slider whose still breaking even better todoroki got strikeout by an inside low slider.
sanada the next batter hit amahisa's fastball that gained yakushi their winning run. Ichidai change pitchers since amahisa's already reached his limit but ichidai can't able to take back the score.
Yakushi beat Ichidai. 3 - 2