Imai returned to the mound at the top of the seventh inning, and the first batter that Kasuga's ace would face was the sixth batter of Shoto Junior High, the young pitcher, playing in right field today, Sora Okamoto.
The Kasuga crowd continued making loud noise, even though the game was tied. With their ace, Imai, on the mound, they didn't feel they were going to lose.
Sora stepped determinedly into the batter's box, but it was clear that the boy could feel the pressure of the moment. Sora then looked at the mound, and when he saw the aura around Kasuga's ace, Imai, he couldn't help but tremble slightly.
Along with the noise of the crowd and with reliable defenders behind him, Imai exuded absolute confidence as he faced Sora. Imai then looked at his catcher's glove and nodded, beginning his pitch.
Sora watched closely as Imai pitched, and as soon as the ball left the hand of Kasuga's ace, he noticed the insane speed of the ball coming towards him. Unable to identify the pitch properly, Sora felt the need to swing.
WOOSH
PAH
"Strike!" - The umpire announced as Sora swung his bat in the air, failing to make contact with Imai's high fastball.
---
Meanwhile, in the Shoto Junior High dugout...
"140 km/h..." - Daigo said in shock as he looked at the stadium's speed radar. That pitch by Kasuga hadn't just been his fastest of the game, but it was the fastest pitch he'd ever thrown in his life.
"Damn! It looks like he's getting better with each inning." - Jiro said, a bit intimidated. The speed of Imai's pitch was simply impressive, especially considering that his fastest pitches usually reached around 136 or 137 km/h.
"It looks like they're determined to make it to the Kanto tournament too..." - Kenta muttered thoughtfully as he watched Imai on the mound. He couldn't deny that he was impressed with Kasuga's ace's pitch, especially with Imai's ability to pitch beyond his maximum in an important game like this.
But at that moment, all Kenta could think about was how he would hit those pitches and score a run for his team. After all, it was the captain's job to lead his team to victory, and no matter how well Shun pitched, Shoto Junior High would only win this game if they could score a run against Imai.
"Yeah..." - The young samurai Ren agreed, nodding as he watched Imai intently. At that moment, Ren was thinking the same thing as Kenta, no matter what, he needed to score a run for his team!
"Ka- Su- Ga! Ka- Su- Ga! Ka- Su- Ga!"
"Ka- Su- Ga! Ka- Su- Ga! Ka- Su- Ga!"
The chants from Kasuga's crowd continued to dominate the stadium after the first out of the inning, and they didn't lower their volume for the rest of the inning.
After Sora, the seventh batter for Shoto, Tomo, stepped into the batter's box. And like Sora, Tomo couldn't do anything against Imai's insane four-seam fastball.
WOOSH
PAH
"Strikeout!" - After just three pitches, all fastballs close to 140 km/h, the umpire called Tomo out, marking the second out of the inning.
"Ka- Su- Ga! Ka- Su- Ga! Ka- Su- Ga!"
"Ka- Su- Ga! Ka- Su- Ga! Ka- Su- Ga!"
With two outs and nobody on base, the eighth batter for Shoto, Hisashi, stepped into the batter's box. Unfortunately for Hisashi, the pressure he was facing at that moment, with Kasuga's crowd chanting, was simply overwhelming.
WOOSH
PAH
"Strikeout! 3 outs, changeover!" - The umpire announced the end of the top of the seventh inning as Hisashi also struck out on just three high four-seam fastballs in the zone.
"Yeeeahhh!" - Imai roared after striking out the three Shoto batters in succession.
"Yeeaaahhhh!!" - Kasuga's players and fans also cheered, excited by their ace's incredible performance.
At that moment, even though the game was tied, Imai brought all the momentum of the game to Kasuga's side. And to help even more, the top of Kasuga's batting order was up next.