After Hiroki stepped into the batter's box, he just calmly raised the bat.

But Tetsu Nishino and Kazuya Nishino on the pitcher's mound both looked serious.

According to the traditional batting order in high school baseball, the three-, four-, and five-bats are generally the players with the best hitting ability on the team.

Especially the fourth bat, which is often played by the player with the strongest hitting ability in the team.

Hiroki, a third-year high school student, is the director, captain, and captain of the Hakusan High School baseball club. The three names actually mean the same position, but they are used differently in different situations.

As the team's core four-bat hitter, Hiroki does not rely on his captaincy.

Being a captain does not bring any bonuses.

In the high school baseball world, status on the field is determined by strength. Because batting strength is the only criterion for arranging batting, many captains who are not strong enough can only sit on the bench.

Tetsu Nishino learned about the strength of the center line in the first game. When facing the third bat Arimori Shion, Tetsu Nishino's pressure to match the ball increased sharply, and it took a lot of balls to win.

"call"

Nishino Kazuya quietly adjusted his breathing rhythm.

Unlike Tetsu Nishino, Kazuya Nishino is even more nervous because he is more aware of Hiroki-senpai's strength and his real striking performance.

So far in college career, 17 home runs!

The first batter we faced in the second half of the second inning was the opponent's strong bat, which was quite challenging.

"paly ball!"

First goal.

Tetsu Nishino decided to slightly adjust his pitch and add a curveball to confuse the batter, and he secretly played a secret signal.

Pitcher Kazuya Nishino understands.

"call out!"

After the baseball was released.

It hit the ground hard!

"despair!"

The rebounded baseball instantly hit the protective gear on Nishino Tetsu's chest and bounced to Nishino Tetsu's left side.

Tetsu Nishino stood up quickly and quickly walked over to pick up the baseball.

"Bad ball!"

In fact, even without the referee's decision, Tetsu Nishino knew that this ball was definitely a bad ball.

A complete miss.

As soon as the batter Hiroki saw the ball, he judged that it was definitely not in the strike zone and easily let the ball pass.

"call"

Kazuya Nishino really felt the invisible pressure given to him by Hiroki-senpai, and his pitching movements were somewhat deformed under the tension.

What's going on with Kazuya? Tetsu Nishino frowned. He noticed that Kazuya Nishino's control of the ball suddenly became unstable.

After all, Kazuya Nishino is only a first-year pitcher. It is normal for his mood to fluctuate greatly under pressure and his ball control to become unstable. So Tetsu Nishino didn't think much about it.

Although the curveball was not thrown well at all, Tetsu Nishino believed that the ball would affect Hiroki's judgment and distract him from the changeup.

Second ball.

Let's go with a straight ball from an inside angle. Tetsu Nishino thought of grabbing a good number of balls first.

Tetsu Nishino leaned his body toward the batter and positioned his catcher's mitt.

"call out"

When the baseball hits home plate.

Slightly offset to the center of the ball path.

Sudden!

Hiroki's timely swing!

"Qiang!"

The hit baseball flew through the air, bypassed the infield line, and landed in front of the left fielder.

Wait until the left fielder catches the bounced baseball and returns it.

Hiroki has already reached first base.

An outfield hit.

"Ah... I was beaten out by senior..." Nishino Kazuya curled his lips in annoyance.

With just a slight miss, Hiroki saw the right moment and struck out.

After two consecutive balls failed to land where he wanted, Tetsu Nishino wanted to call a timeout and go to the mound to check the pitcher's condition.

Kazuya Nishino shook his head and indicated that his condition was not a big problem and he did not need the catcher to go to the mound frequently.

Nishino Tetsu had no choice but to give up.

No one is out and there is someone on first base.

And the senior team's offense continues.

"Five bats, left fielder, Ito-kun."

Ito Nao walked up to the batter's box and exchanged signals with Hiroki on first base.

On the first pitch, faced with a high straight ball from the outside corner, Ito did not hit the ball.

Second ball.

Low straight ball.

"Qiang!"

Ito Nao decisively hit the bat, and Hiroki on first base also started.

"Steal a base!"

Hit and run!

However, something surprising happened.

The powerful infield ball hit by Nao Ito hit the ground and bounced right into Kazuya Nishino on the pitcher's mound.

The pitcher faces the ball.

Kazuya Nishino reached out and caught the baseball and stopped it.

"Second base!"

Before Tetsu Nishino finished speaking, Kazuya Nishino had already reflexively passed the ball to shortstop Naohiko Tamura who had moved to second base.

Before Hiroki could slide, Tamura Naohiko lightly stepped on the base bag and passed the ball to first base with a flick of his hand.

"Crack!"

The baseball fell into the glove of first baseman Shogo Konda.

"Out!", the second base umpire ruled.

"Out!", the first base umpire ruled.

Double kill!

In an instant, the situation changed from nobody out and one on base to two out. The situation changed so quickly that many people did not react.

Just now, Tetsu Nishino was thinking hard about how to deal with the batter, but in the end, a pitcher got two outs with the ball in front of him.

Ito Nao took off his batting helmet depressedly. He really didn't hit the ball well just now. The rebound ball hit hard fell into the pitcher's hand, and no one was lucky.

Moreover, the speed with which he hit the ball gave the first-year team's defense enough time to pass the ball. In addition, Hiroki was not a fast runner.

So the two of them with four and five bats were simply caught in a double play and were eliminated together.

The morale of the first-year team was high. When the sluggers of the senior team launched an offensive, they relied on defense to intercept the attack of the seniors.

"Nice fielding!"

"Is this okay?!"

"Okay, okay!"

"Two out!"

Now the players in the first-year team are relatively easy to be satisfied. As long as the team's defensive performance is slightly better, teammates will laugh and encourage each other from the bottom of their hearts.

After two outs, Tetsu Nishino's ball distribution became more leisurely.

Facing the senior team's third batter, Komada Ryusei, who serves as the sixth batter.

Tetsu Nishino chased him with two straight balls.
To be continued...