Chapter 668 - 668: Substitute

The game resumed.

Yoshizawa, who got on First Base with a hit by pitch, couldn't dodge Tanba's ball.

But with his strong will and unyielding spirit, he still received encouragement from all the fans present.

Some fans even stood up in the stands and started shouting Yoshizawa's name.

As emotional people, it was understandable that they couldn't help but be moved by such hardworking young high school students.

But they didn't know that their actions also affected another young man.

Tanba, who threw the hit by pitch, was already under immense psychological pressure. Just thinking about his mistake made him feel incredibly guilty.

Tanba was undoubtedly the happiest that Yoshizawa was alright. But along with his happiness, another worry accompanied Tanba.

The high-breaking curveball just now didn't curve as desired, but instead hit the batter directly.

After this happened, how could Tanba possibly throw that high-breaking curveball again?

And every time he glanced at the runner on First Base, Tanba's unease would intensify.

He even felt that he couldn't even make a pitch now.

The first to notice Tanba's abnormality wasn't Coach Kataoka in the dugout, nor was it Miyuki, who was currently working with Tanba.

It was Chris.

Chris first sensed that Tanba's condition seemed off.

He wanted to do something, but he didn't know where to intervene.

After all, Tanba hadn't thrown a single pitch since the hit by pitch, so it was hard to say what his exact condition was.

Chris's observation was just his personal suspicion and could not be taken as concrete evidence.

Although he didn't speak up for now, Chris had already made a decision in his heart: if there were any problems with Tanba's pitching next, he would immediately find Coach Kataoka and present his thoughts.

However, it was this momentary hesitation that led to an irreversible bitter outcome.

Tanba put too much attention on Yoshizawa and was slow to respond to Miyuki's high-breaking curveball.

Miyuki had to change his pitching strategy.

It seemed the high-breaking curveball just now also left a considerable psychological shadow on Tanba.

Asking him to throw it immediately was indeed too much for him.

Before changing the sign, Miyuki looked at Harada with great regret.

Although Harada Masatoshi was as famous as Yuuki, their team captain, Miyuki didn't consider him a difficult opponent.

Harada Masatoshi was tall and exceptionally strong, having played baseball for over ten years, and his fundamentals were incredibly solid.

If his abilities were compared individually to Captain Yuuki, while he might not necessarily surpass Captain Yuuki, he certainly wasn't far behind.

Simply looking at these aspects, Harada would basically be an unbeatable opponent.

Fortunately, this seemingly perfect opponent also had a weakness in his hitting process.

Previously, when Seido High School Baseball Team played against Inashiro Industrial High School Baseball Team, Miyuki Kazuya had successfully tricked Harada Masatoshi many times using this weakness.

When Harada played against other teams, his success rate for hits, and even the number of Homeruns he hit, were not few.

But every time he encountered Seido High School Baseball Team, this biggest offensive cannon of Inashiro Industrial High School Baseball often misfired more times than it displayed its power.

This time, it was the same.

If Tanba could throw a high-breaking curveball on the first pitch, it would create enough psychological pressure for Harada.

Then Miyuki Kazuya would have at least a seventy to eighty percent chance of successfully dealing with Harada. Miyuki also understood Narumiya Mei's personality and characteristics very well...

If they continued pitching in this manner, even if there were no outs and runners on First Base and Second Base, Miyuki Kazuya still had more than a fifty percent chance of overcoming this difficulty with Tanba.

To maintain the team's current lead.

But now, Koichiro Tanba, because of the recent hit by pitch, his entire high-breaking curveball was effectively sealed.

From an emotional standpoint, it's understandable that Tanba couldn't throw the high-breaking curveball right now, as he had just hit the batter directly with the ball.

He would need a few pitches to adapt before he could throw that kind of ball again.

Unfortunately, having missed this opportunity, they probably wouldn't be able to deal with Harada as they had just planned.

Miyuki, helpless, could only choose another pitch.

This time, he placed his glove on the outer edge.

He wanted to use an outside Fastball to help Tanba regain his rhythm first.

Once his rhythm returned, the high-breaking curveball should also come back.

Miyuki's thinking was good; he even considered Harada Masatoshi's hitting characteristics.

Facing this kind of Fastball, if he was prepared, it would be fine, but without prior preparation, Harada had a high probability of hitting the ball foul.

If Harada could indeed hit the ball foul, it would only benefit them, not harm them.

After all, that way, they could gain an advantage in the pitch count.

Miyuki thought everything through before giving the sign for Tanba to pitch.

Tanba seemed to hesitate, then decisively made his pitch.

He was decisive, and his opponent was equally decisive.

The reason Miyuki was able to easily trick Harada before was largely because Harada Masatoshi tended to overthink when swinging the bat.

Being responsible is not necessarily a bad thing.

But if responsibility is too heavy, so much so that it affects the batter's actions, then it is definitely not a good thing.

Harada had this problem; although it didn't affect his swinging posture, there was always a slight hesitation, one or two points, during the hitting process.

Miyuki Kazuya capitalized on this very point, which is why he was able to successfully trick Harada repeatedly before.

But this time, Harada was not tricked again.

He seized the opportunity and swung his bat directly.

"Ping!"

The hit baseball flew out with almost no resistance.

The baseball soared over Yuuki's head, into the outfield.

Behind him was an empty field; there was no one positioned there to defend.

As a result, this seemingly short hit turned into a super long hit.

One pitch!

In just one pitch, the entire game's momentum was completely rewritten.

Seido High School Baseball Team, which had held the advantage for most of the game, not only had their score tied but also saw their opponent take the lead.

The total score was 4:3, with Seido High School Baseball Team going from a one-run lead to a one-run deficit.

Not only that.

Harada Masatoshi himself also ran to Second Base for Seido High School Baseball Team.

Without Chris's reminder, Coach Kataoka himself stood up and signaled for a substitution.

"Seido High School Baseball Team, pitcher Koichiro Tanba will be replaced. Former outfielder Zhang Han will now pitch."

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