Shun watched the first batter from Aoba Junior High walking toward the right batter's box.
"Hehe, let's see what you guys are made of!" - Shun smiled excitedly as he saw the determined look on the batter's face. He felt the blood in his body heat up as the adrenaline surged through him.
Without hesitation, Shun lifted his right leg as he drove his whole body forward. He stepped down firmly, twisting his arm like a whip.
"Just focus on the glove and let the pitch move on its own!" - Shun repeated the old man's words in his head as he did exactly that. He aimed for Daigo's glove and let the pitch fly.
"Right down the middle!" - The batter thought as he saw the ball heading straight down the middle of the zone. Without hesitation, he followed his coach's game plan and decided to swing without overthinking.
WOOSH
PAH
"Strike!" - The umpire announced.
"Huh?" - The batter looked confused. He was sure he would hit that ball right down the middle, but just before it reached the plate, it started sliding toward his feet, completely missing his bat, causing him to swing at nothing.
"Hehe." - Shun smiled, satisfied to see his horizontal slider doing the job. This was exactly what he needed, to start the duel ahead in the count.
The first Aoba batter was surprised by Shun's slider and looked at his coach for instructions. His coach quickly signaled for him to wait and observe, and the batter nodded.
Shun paid no attention to any of this, already lifting his leg and driving his body forward.
PAH
"Strike!" - The umpire called.
"Damn!" - The batter muttered, impressed by the absurd movement of the pitch. The ball seemed like it was heading straight for the center of the zone, but just before reaching home plate, it broke inside, toward the corner of the strike zone.
"Ohh, lucky!" - Shun couldn't help but smile, seeing that the pitch had painted the corner of the strike zone. Thanks to that, the batter was now trapped with a count of 0-2.
Shun looked at Daigo behind the plate and saw him signaling for a different pitch.
"Hehe, not bad, Daigo!" - Shun couldn't help but praise his catcher. It seemed like the boy wasn't messing around either. Shun quickly lifted his leg and stepped down firmly, twisting his arm like a whip as he delivered the pitch Daigo had called for.
WOOSH
PAH
"Strike!"
The batter couldn't hold back his swing when he saw a pitch on the same trajectory as the last one. But this time, it wasn't a hanging slider, it was a horizontal slider breaking down toward his feet.
With the batter trapped, Shun had no trouble finishing things off with the next pitch.
WOOSH
PAH Find your next read on m_v l|e-novelhall.net
"Strikeout!" - The umpire called as the second batter swung and missed, unable to make contact with Shun's horizontal slider.
Shun smiled, satisfied as he watched the second batter walk back to the dugout. He had struck out the first two batters with just six pitches. But now, he had to face Aoba's cleanup hitters.
Shun looked at the third batter, remembering the game he had watched. This batter didn't have incredible power, but he was very good at hitting the ball into the defensive gaps.
The third batter stepped into the box and quickly glanced at his coach. After receiving a signal and nodding, he focused intently on Shun.
Shun smiled, feeling the third batter's determination to knock him off the mound by force, but Shun didn't seem to mind that at all.
Shun quickly lifted his leg and stepped down firmly, twisting his arm like a whip as he delivered his horizontal slider toward home plate.
"Huh?" - Shun was surprised. As soon as the ball left his hand, he saw the third batter grip his bat with both hands and get into a bunting position.
DING
PAH
"Ohh! Thanks!" - Shun smiled as he caught the ball in his glove. Unfortunately for Aoba's third batter, it wasn't that easy to bunt against Shun's slider, so he ended up popping the ball up right into Shun's glove.
"Out! 3 outs, changeover!" - The umpire announced the end of the top half of the inning, sending Shoto's players back to their dugout, full of excitement.