"It went through!"
"Seido High School Baseball Team has taken the lead by one run."
The Commentator certainly had reason to be happy.
After all, this run was too important!
It was already the end of the game, and one run could potentially decide the outcome of this match.
"As expected of Chris-san!"
Miyuki's worried expression disappeared, replaced by relief.
He had worried unnecessarily about Chris.
What did eight months of absence matter?
Truly skilled people remained skilled.
A long-lost smile appeared on Chris's face.
He had longed for a game like this countless times during the past eight months.
Now, his dream had finally come true, and he could truly return to the field.
Chris's father had once privately asked him if he wanted to go to North America and directly join a minor league team there.
Chris's father was also a baseball player and had some connections and contacts in his hometown of North America.
Chris refused.
"My dear son, even if you stay on the team in your current situation, you'll only be a substitute."
Before his father could finish speaking, Chris interrupted him directly.
"I don't want to give up halfway!"
"This is your own life; as your father, I can only wish you well!"
It wasn't that Chris hadn't been lost or hadn't had doubts in his heart.
When he lay alone in bed, he had also thought about his decision.
Was it right to choose to stay on the team?
Until this moment, Chris could answer with a clear conscience.
"It's right! Even if I can't become the team's main catcher, I don't regret today's choice."
Two outs, a runner on Second Base.
The fans in the stands celebrated excitedly.
Although the game hadn't ended yet, their enthusiasm was already permeating the entire stadium.
How could the Shonan Gakuen players not be affected by such an environment?
Plus, with Furuya Satoru's astonishing performance just now, Shonan Gakuen could basically say goodbye to winning today's game.
It was at this moment that Masuko, who stepped up to the batter's box after Chris, beautifully blasted the ball out of the field.
"Ping!"
The white ball soared into the sky and landed in the stands in center field.
The already excited Seido High School Baseball Team supporters never expected such a surprise waiting for them, and they all jumped up excitedly.
"Seido! Seido!!"
They shouted the Seido High School Baseball Team's name in unison, as if they would continue shouting until the game ended.
This two-run Homerun had a completely different meaning for the Seido High School Baseball Team.
The score on the field instantly became 10:7, with Seido leading their opponent by a full three runs.
This way, in the next inning, even if they somehow got lucky and hit Furuya Satoru's pitching, getting a chance to score and actually scoring, it would probably be useless.
After all, in the current situation, one or two runs wouldn't solve the problem.
For Shonan Gakuen to turn the tide, they would have to get many consecutive hits, but this was clearly impossible for them to do.
It was important to remember that their hitters hadn't even touched a single pitch before.
How could they possibly get so many consecutive hits now?
The game continued.
Aoki, dizzy, threw a pitch, and the ball was hit.
Kurokawa leaped up and forcefully blocked the ball.
"Thwack!"
"Out!"
Shonan Gakuen finally got the third out of this inning, allowing them to end it.
But when they returned to the dugout, not a single player had a smile on their face.
As star players, they had a clear judgment of the game's situation and direction.
In the current circumstances, Shonan Gakuen's probability of a comeback was minuscule; they were basically destined to lose.
If the Seido High School Baseball Team had crushed them with incredibly powerful strength from the start, the Shonan players wouldn't have been so sad.
But they had persevered this far, they had tried so hard, and yet the result was still this.
How could they accept it?
But what good was being unwilling?
The cruel reality was laid out before them, forcing them to accept it whether they liked it or not.
"Only three runs, the game isn't over yet…"
Coach Mikura said exasperatedly.
All his previous plans had fallen through, both in this baseball game and at his school…
Normally, Mikura's encouragement worked well.
But this time, hardly anyone could hear his words.
Who could blame them when the opponent they were about to face was someone they still hadn't figured out how to deal with?
"Boom!"
In the top of the ninth inning, when Furuya Satoru threw his first pitch, everyone knew in their hearts.
It was over!
Facing such a pitch, the Shonan Gakuen players simply couldn't come up with any good way to deal with it.
Mikura stayed in the dugout, watching the confrontation on the field in despair.
"Don't swing at high pitches that are clearly balls!"
Mikura was indeed a nationally renowned Coach; he quickly discovered a weakness in Furuya Satoru.
But no matter how he shouted from the dugout, the hitters on the field couldn't hear him at all.
All the hitters stared blankly at Furuya Satoru's pitching, and when the ball flew over, they swung their bats.
"Strike!"
"Strike!!"
"Strike!!!"
"Strikeout!"
"Strikeout!"
Furuya Satoru got two consecutive strikeouts, leaving only one more out before they won the game.
The hitter in the batter's box kept looking back at Kurokawa, who was preparing to hit.
Kurokawa was Shonan Gakuen's last hope.
No matter what, the Shonan Gakuen players hoped to put the hitting into Kurokawa's hands.
But facing Furuya Satoru's pitching, they couldn't even touch it, let alone hit it cleanly.
"Strike!"
"Strikeout!"
The final outcome for the hitter was no different from his teammates before him.
He was directly struck out.
With this strikeout, the first round of the Kanto Tournament finally came to an end.
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