Chapter 253: End of the Offensive
"Damn it!"
"Not good!"
Miyuki and Chris shouted at the same time.
That pitch sequence was too perfect.
"Yes! His timing's completely off now!"
Harada grinned as he saw Sendo's awkward-looking swing.
From his perspective, the batter had been completely outpaced by Narumiya's fastball.
Sendo's right foot stepped back—
"Boom!"
"Ping!"
The bat connected at chest level.
With sheer explosive strength, Sendo forced his swing through—catching up to the ball and smashing it upward!
The ball shot off from just above Narumiya's right shoulder, screaming toward the outfield!
For a brief instant, Narumiya's pupils widened to the limit.
That proud, confident glare he'd worn—shattered completely by that single swing.
As the ball met the bat, both Isashiki and Sendo took off running—two outs already on the board.
If it got caught, the inning was over; there was no need to hold back for a tag-up.
"Left field! Center!" Harada barked, calling out to Carlos and Tsubasa.
Carlos dashed back at incredible speed—they'd already been playing deep, but even so, the ball was descending in just a few seconds.
The outfield was vast… yet time was merciless.
At first base, Yamaoka suddenly felt a gust of wind brush past his back.
"Go through! Damn it, just go through!!" Jun roared as he sprinted the bases, shouting louder and more desperately than when he'd hit his own lucky single.
"Change-up, then slider… the batter shouldn't have had any timing left! So why—why the hell did he hit that?!"
Behind the plate, Harada was speechless.
He wasn't the only one— Miyuki, Chris, and even Coach Kataoka froze in disbelief.
On Inashiro's side, Coach Kunimoto's jaw dropped as well.
Then came a wave of sound like thunder—tens of thousands cheering, most of them there for one reason: to see Sendo swing the bat.
All eyes locked on the white ball streaking through the air—and on the blur of a runner tearing across the diamond like a storm.
Harada didn't have time to stay shocked.
What he saw next stunned him even more.
"Wait—what's that speed?! There's nothing like that in the scouting report! Throw it home, now!!"
He realized that if they didn't act fast, with that monster's running speed, Sendo might not only reach third—he might go all the way home.
An inside-the-park home run—
something Harada had never witnessed in his life,
and he wasn't about to let it happen now.
His shout snapped Narumiya out of his daze.
The ace turned sharply, eyes darting between Sendo and Carlos.
But at this point, there was nothing he could do—
all he could do was watch as his defense battled the oncoming storm.
If they caught it, the inning was over.
If not… it'd be at least one run—maybe two.
"Pop!"
The ball dropped—just in front of Carlos's glove!
He knew he wouldn't make it even before it fell.
The ball bounced hard off the turf, ricocheted off the bottom of the fence, and rolled behind him!
"Hell yeah!!" Jun shouted as he rounded third,
charging home at full speed.
"Runner from first scores! Sendo's already reached second!"
Carlos finally chased the ball down—but by the time he turned and threw, Sendo was already storming past third base!
"He's not slowing down—he's going for home!
But Carlos has launched the throw!
Can it reach in time?!
It's over a hundred meters—even at 150 km/h, that's over two seconds in the air!"
"Ohhh!!!"
Manager Ota clutched his chest as if he might collapse, his face contorting between awe and panic.
Jun slid into home—and before he'd even made it back to the dugout, Captain Yuuki rushed over and high-fived him.
That was their second run!
And on the field—
"Whoosh!"
Sendo leapt, diving headfirst toward the plate!
The ball arrived at almost the same instant—
"Pop!" Harada snatched it.
"Thud!" Sendo crashed into the dirt, a cloud of dust erupting over home plate!
The crowd fell silent.
From their distance, they couldn't tell what had happened.
As the dust slowly cleared— Sendo's outstretched hand was touching home plate.
Harada's glove hung limply against his back.
For a split second, Sendo, braced on one arm like a push-up, lifted his head and grinned.
Harada's face twisted in frustration.
"SAFE!!!"
Even the umpire's voice trembled with emotion.
Before the game, he'd told both captains, "Give us a match worthy of the finals."
He hadn't expected that wish to be granted in the very first inning.
"Ahhhhhhh!!!"
"OOOOHHHH!!!"
The stadium erupted!
Even Coach Kataoka clenched his fist in excitement.
Chris, normally composed, was waving his clipboard in the air.
Manager Ota, who moments ago looked ready for a heart attack, was now cheering with both arms raised like a little kid.
"SAFE!!! INSIDE-THE-PARK HOME RUN!!! Narumiya Mei—scoreless through the entire tournament—
has just been hit for three runs in a single inning!"
The roar of nearly forty thousand fans drowned out even the announcer's voice.
Sendk lifted his hand from home plate, clenched it into a fist, and slammed it down again with a grin—
the same gesture he'd used after that autumn tournament home run where he'd barely hidden the pain.
A full 110-meter sprint without oxygen—it was brutal,
but right now, pure adrenaline drowned out the exhaustion.
Even Sendo, who usually stayed calm after home runs, couldn't contain his joy this time.
He'd hit plenty before—but nothing like this.
From the dugout, his teammates came charging over—Jun and Yuuki tackled him in a double bear hug,
ignoring the dirt, the sweat, and everything else.
Even Yuuki dropped his calm demeanor, laughing freely.
Before the game, everyone had worried—how many runs could they really score off Narumiya?
When their cleanup man struck out, morale had taken a hit.
But thanks to their second pillar, the fire had reignited—and now, it was burning out of control.
"Nice run, you bastard!!" Jun yelled, ruffling Sendo's hair with both hands.
"Nice run!" Yuuki echoed simply.
Since Jun often spoke for him anyway, Yuuki figured that counted as his own line.
"His top speed shouldn't be that fast! That's not what our data says!"
Harada muttered, still stunned.
But his composure held—he wasn't broken, just shaken.
From behind him, a familiar voice spoke quietly:
"You've never seen my top speed before, Harada-san."
Harada turned.
"That's because," Sendo continued with a smirk,
"none of my previous opponents were worth running full throttle for."
"I see… got it! Time!"
Realizing what was really going on, Harada immediately called for a timeout and jogged to the mound.
Because right now, the ace on the mound still hadn't fully processed what just happened.
"Damn it, I've never seen you run that fast either!" Jun barked, grabbing Sendo by the head again.
"Don't tell me you've been slacking off in practice!"
"Make it detailed," Yuuki added calmly.
"Please… have mercy!" Sendo groaned, half-laughing, half-dying from the rough affection.
"Still not behaving, huh? Take this!"
With that, Jun wrapped his arm around Sendo's neck, applying his signature chokehold.
The upperclassmen who had just rushed over to celebrate heard Jun's loud voice and instantly understood what was happening.
They stood aside, happily spectating the chaos.
....
"Unbelievable! Who would've thought Seidou would score three runs off Narumiya in the very first inning?!"
Owada in the press booth exclaimed in shock.
Because today's stadium was packed, they had to sit in the media section.
"Yeah… I never expected the ace who hadn't given up a single run this entire tournament to get crushed right at the start. And Seidou's batting lineup… I didn't think it was this terrifying. Sure, Narumiya wasn't fully in rhythm yet. But if Harada can't calm him down, this could turn into a disaster. That inside-the-park home run was a huge blow. From a pitch-calling standpoint, Harada wasn't wrong at all. Narumiya's fastball had great speed. At most, you could say the pitch drifted slightly outside… And even that got crushed like that…
I can only imagine what that does to Narumiya mentally."
Mine's voice trembled slightly as he spoke, clearly stirred.
"Incredible…I already thought getting one run here would be huge…But a shot like that?"
"With this, we seriously have no idea what's going to happen anymore!"
The third-years of Sakurazawa murmured among themselves in awe.
"That kid's only a freshman, right? And he'll still be here after autumn… Even if this Seidou team graduates, the new roster will still be championship-level. And with Sawamura and Furuya developing, the pitching staff's weakness will disappear. Once this year's freshmen grow up…Next summer, it might be the beginning of Seidou's era in West Tokyo."
This was spoken by a mustached middle-aged spectator invited to watch the game.
If Jun heard him, he would probably want to punch him—they were already winning today and he's talking about "next year" curses?!
....
"Sendo!"
"Sendo!"
"Sendo!"
"Sendo!"
After a brief celebration, nearly twenty thousand Seidou and neutral fans chanted his name in unison.
So loud that the cheers from Maezono's squad couldn't even be heard.
Down below, a certain shameless fanboy grabbed his Aibo camera, turned it on, and shouted along with the crowd, basically screaming:
"If you cheer for Sendo too, we're friends!"
Near him, Ichiro and his family were frozen, stunned by the scene.
From a lukewarm start, to cheers for Isashiki, to wild applause when Sendo stepped up…and now a unified roar echoing like it might split the sky—they were witnessing something they never imagined possible.
"So this is how passionate baseball can be…?"
Even Ichiro—hardcore soccer fan—felt shaken.
Sure, big football stadiums hold more people,
but how many moments in a match erupt like this?
One swing… and the stadium exploded.
He was truly shocked. (A common reaction for those new to baseball.)
Because of the chaos, Inashiro's timeout ran long.
Only when the noise finally settled did the discussion resume.
....
"I know already, you don't have to say it."
Before Harada could speak, Narumiya held up a hand.
"He hit that clean. I've got nothing to say about it. But I haven't changed my mind—I'm still going to make him cry."
Fire ignited in Narumiya's eyes.
"Calm down. Don't pitch emotionally. Next up is Masuko—focus on your fastball placement."
"Quit nagging! And back up a bit! You're too close!"
Seeing Narumiya's tsundere face, everyone around him let out a tiny sigh of relief.
"I get it now." Carlos grinned.
"Our coach is going to tell us not to hit to center field at all."
As someone who also relied on speed, Carlos understood better than anyone—that monster's reaction time and speed meant his fielding range was insane.
And that throw he saw the other day—straight to home plate, unbelievably fast and accurate—
he'd known right then:
That guy has a freakish arm.
"Why are you making that face, Mei?" Carlos asked,
looking at Narumiya, who was pouting with narrowed eyes.
"It's nothing!" Narumiya snapped, turning away.
"In any case, that hit proved they're nothing like our previous opponents." Shirakawa said.
"Hold them down here, then hit them back."
Harada nodded once he confirmed their ace's head was stable enough.
"Pitch carefully, got it?"
"I KNOW! I KNOW! I said don't stand so close! Get back already!"
Even as he insisted he was fine, Narumiya's eyes drifted again to that No. 8 batter of Seidou.
"Really gonna be okay?" Carlos whispered.
"Yeah. Next time, I'll shut him down.
I'll take it all back."
Narumiya replied calmly.
With that, Inashiro's players headed back to their positions.
....
Back in the dugout, Sendo returned.
"Good work."
Clap clap clap clap!!
Sawamura and the other freshmen applauded wildly.
"Welcome back!"
"Here you go!"
Sawamura and Kominato somehow produced cups of water from nowhere.
Furuya held up… a bundle of bananas.
Like a zookeeper feeding an animal.
....
Meanwhile—rewind slightly.
Masuko stepped into the box.
Whoosh!
Pop! — Ball.
First pitch, low and outside.
Pop! — Strike!
Second pitch, outside forkball, swinging strike.
"Third pitch!"
"Uggaah!"
Ping!
"Inside slider!"
Shirakawa scooped the ball cleanly and fired to first.
Pop!
"OUT!"
"Three outs—change sides!"
"Nice pitching, Mei!"
"Nice pitch!"
Narumiya returned to the dugout, expression subdued, teammates cheering him anyway.
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