Top of the fourth inning.
Ushijima Wakatoshi continued his domination.
First batter —
three straight cutters to the outside corner.
Strikeout.
Second batter —
inside low fastball.
outside low fastball.
cutter.
Strike three.
Third batter —
two-seam away.
four-seam up.
149 km/h four-seam just off the zone.
The batter chased.
Swing and miss.
Strikeout.
Ten pitches.
Three outs.
Clean.
Efficient.
Merciless.
By the end of the fourth inning—
Ushijima already had ten strikeouts.
The crowd couldn't stay quiet.
"Those unstable 150 km/h four-seams are terrifying."
"Yeah, when it looks like it's coming at your face, you can't just watch it."
"No matter how good the breaking ball is, the fastball is still king."
"Everyone else uses Fastball + Slider + Changeup…"
"But Ushijima's using Fastball + Two-seam + Cutter. That's weird."
"I've never even seen him throw a curve or changeup."
"He only throws hard stuff."
"A pure power pitcher…"
Scoreboard:
Kiryu — 0 0 0 0
Seido — 2 1 0 0
Kiryu hadn't scored.
But they hadn't collapsed either.
They were still dangerous.
Still waiting for one mistake.
Before the fifth inning began—
Ushijima quietly said,
"…It's about time."
Miyuki understood instantly.
"The sinker, huh?"
"To be honest," Ushijima added calmly,
"I thought we'd need it earlier."
"I didn't expect the four-seams alone to pressure them this much."
A small, relieved smile appeared on his face.
"But Kiryu isn't that easy to suppress forever."
"Let's finish this properly."
Top of the fifth.
Taichi Hiromi stepped up again.
Second at-bat.
Last time — strikeout.
This time, his eyes burned with determination.
I'll hit him no matter what.
Kiryu's coach clenched his fists in the dugout.
We need a run this inning. Anything.
Behind the plate, Miyuki gave the sign.
Glove low.
Inside.
Ushijima covered his grip with his glove.
Index and middle fingers deep on the seam.
Sinker.
Pitch one—
The ball shot forward.
Straight.
Fast.
Slightly slower than before.
Taichi's eyes lit up.
"Inside fastball… slower too… this is it!"
He swung hard.
CLANG!
Contact—
But the sound felt wrong.
Dead.
Heavy.
"…What?"
The ball dove sharply at the last second—
Straight into the dirt.
A weak grounder rolled toward third.
"Sink—?!"
Masuko was already there.
Field.
Throw.
"Out!"
One pitch.
Ground out.
Taichi froze near the foul line.
"…Sinker…"
So that was it.
They had been hiding this the entire time.
In the waiting area, the next batter swallowed.
"Captain… what pitch was that?"
"Not two-seam," Taichi said quietly.
"…Sinker."
"What?! He had that too?!"
"He never used it before!"
The pressure on Kiryu's side instantly doubled.
Just when they thought they understood him—
He revealed another weapon.
It felt hopeless.
Kuramochi grinned.
"Haha… he finally pulled it out."
"Nice pitch," Kominato said.
"Beautiful movement," Yuki added proudly.
Masuko pumped his fist silently.
That ball had come straight to him like a gift.
Kiryu's coach's face twitched.
"They were still holding back…?"
One pitch.
One out.
Their cleanup hitter erased like nothing.
This first-year…
…was a monster.
Next batter.
Still shaken.
Ushijima didn't hesitate.
Another pitch.
Slightly slower.
"Four-seam? Two-seam?"
That tiny moment of doubt—
was fatal.
Swing.
The ball dipped hard again.
Under the bat.
Thwack.
Miyuki caught it cleanly.
"Strike!"
The batter stared at the mound in disbelief.
That wasn't luck.
It wasn't guesswork.
Ushijima wasn't just throwing.
He was hunting.