"Curve! Crap!", thought Carlos in the batter's box. He was struck out by Tanba.
"AHHHH TANBA-SAN!"
"AS EXPECTED OF SEIDO'S ACE"
"GOOD START TANBA"
"KEEP IT UP"
Cheered the audience.
Tanba blushed on the mound hearing the audience's exaggerated cheering.
Shirakawa came to bat next.
Miyuki called for a fastball to the outside.
Tanba nodded and pitched as perfectly as he could.
Shirakawa fouled off Tanba's pitches twice.
Tanba finished him off with a curve which was a strike.
Hideaki came to bat next and was struck out.
In the Audience.
"WOOOOO", yelled Chiaki.
Reiji and his father looked at each other and sighed seeing Chiaki's actions.
"What! Seido is doing well. So, we should support them wholeheartedly", said Chiaki seeing their expressions.
Reiji and his father nodded relentlessly.
"Come on join me!", said Chiaki forcefully telling them to cheer for seido.
"Seido…", said Reiji and his father meekly.
"ugh", groaned Chiaki.
Hearing the frustration of his wife, Reiji started cheering loudly.
Reiji's father chuckled seeing his reaction, but he joined him since he was glared at by Chiaki.
Back in the Field.
In the next inning, Kadota was currently at bat unfortunately he was struck out by Narumiya.
Shirasu came to bat next, he hit Narumiya's pitch past the 1st baseman.
"SAFE!", said the umpire.
Shirasu safely made It to the base.
"YOSHA, Silent Killer Senpai", yelled Sawamura from the dugout.
Kuramochi came to bat next.
"Damn it", said Kuramochi as he was struck out.
Ryosuke came to bat next. He was ordered to bunt by the coach. He aimed for a bunt.
He successfully bunted making Shirasu reach the 2nd base while he went back to the dugout.
Yuki came to bat next but unfortunately, he was struck out by Narumiya. He didn't even have the time to process how he was struck out on each pitch.
"3 OUTS, CHANGE", said the umpire.
[SCORE:
Seido- 2-0-0-
Ianshiro- 0-0-0-]
"Harada, cleanup hitter, and catcher is starting Inashiro's batting", said the announcement.
Tanba pitched and Harada swung and missed.
"STRIKE1", said the umpire.
"FORK. The first pitch…not bad. Koichiro", Harada thought.
Narumiya came to bat next.
Tanba gave this at bat his most attention since it was Mei.
Tanba threw a curve on the 1st pitch.
Narumiya hit the ball making it go straight to the center.
Catching the ball, Jun raised his arm in a victor pose.
"OUT", said the umpire.
Mei stomped back to the dugout.
Riku came to bat next but was struck out.
"3 OUTS, CHANGE", said the umpire.
"No runs again in this inning".
"TANBA-SAN".
"He's on fire today".
Discussed the audience.
In Seido's Dugout.
Rei was sitting on the bench observing the match with his arms crossed. He noticed that Tanba was sweating heavily. Tanba needed to cool down.
So far for the 3 innings, Tanba had been pitching in a good rhythm.
"If anything happens to Tanba during the match and the coach hesitates I'll have to talk to him", Rei sighed remembering the scene from ACT 2 where Kataoka didn't take Furuya off the mound which was they lost the game.
Rei didn't want that to happen in any of their games because they only had 1 chance.
Back in the field.
[SCORE:
Seido- 2-0-0-
Ianshiro- 0-0-0-]
The Next Inning.
Miyuki came to bat but was struck out by Mei. He jogged back to the dugout smiling wryly.
"pupu, I told you, someday you will regret it, Kazuya", thought Mei chuckling as he got ready to pitch for the 2nd batter.
Masuko came next to bat and was struck out.
Jun came to bat next. He hit the pitch, but it was caught by Tsubasa.
"STRIKE OUT! BATTER OUT!", said the umpire.
In Seido's Dugout.
"That's early", commented Rei causing Jun and Masuko to glare at him.
The atmosphere on the bench wasn't that good. Even though they had a 2-run lead.
But then again, they have to be cautious in this match and it would be great to get more runs.
Back in the Field.
Carlos got ready to bat as it was his turn.
"Ball", said the umpire as Tanba pitched the 1st pitch.
"He's sweating…", thought Miyuki looking at the soaked shirt Tanba was wearing.
Miyuki signaled for a fastball so Tanba could get it together.
Tanba pitched a fastball.
"BALL 2", said the umpire causing Tanba to stiffen up a bit.
In the end, Carlos was walked.
In Seido's Dugout.
"Why's he sweating so much", asked Kataoka.
"He's probably getting affected by today's heat and low stamina", said Chris.
Kataoka nodded and said, "Let's wait for the next inning and see how he does. If he doesn't allow any runs, he can continue pitching but if he does then we're going to switch him".
Chris nodded understanding.
Rei, overhearing the conversation, smiled, "Well, my turn may arrive sooner than I thought".
Back in the field.
Shirakawa came to bat next.
Tanba pitched 2 balls and 2 strikes but successfully finished him off with a forkball.
Hideaki came to bat next and was struck out.
Harada came to bat next.
"One more out!", thought Tanba as he was getting ready to pitch feeling determined.
Tanba pitched a curve to the inside corner.
Before he even knew it Harada sent the ball flying towards the back screen.
The whole stadium was silent as Harada walked the bases.
In Inashiro's Dugout.
Mei was smiling foolishly, and his expression improved further seeing the devastated looks on the players in Seido's dugout.
In Seido's Dugout.
"Pitcher Change to Rei", said Kataoka.
Chris nodded and before he was going to tell Rei about it. Rei suddenly popped from behind him ready with his gear.
Rei nodded toward Kataoka and stepped on the field.
"Time to turn things in our favor", he thought.
[Score:
Seido-2-0-0-0
Inashiro-0-0-0-1]
