Everyone couldn't help but follow the ball as it flew into the air with terrible speed.
"Damn it." Kouichi cursed, kicking the dirt in frustration.
'How could I offer up a meatball to the best batter on the team…' he admonished himself, falling into a depressed state.
The two Seigakuin batters waltzed around the bases as the ball finally decided to fall into the stands.
One of the assistant coaches spoke up to Coach Yoshida, "Kouichi has already pitched 120 balls. Should we replace him?"
Coach Yoshida didn't answer right away, watching on as the boys body language told him all he needed to know. Just as he was about to make the substitution, he saw Daichi and Ken both head up to the mound and talk to him.
Despite being teenagers, both Ken and Daichi seemed to be more mature than the others for some reason. Ken seemed as if he was already an adult with his rational thinking and mannerisms, while Daichi felt steady as a rock. It was as if he had already weathered terrible storms and withstood the tests of time.
Seeing Kouichi perk up a little after being talked to, the Coach shook his head. "We can't abandon our Ace. We're only at the bottom of the 6th innings."
"B-But Seigakuin has just taken the lead. If we lose anymore runs we might lose." He rebutted, his face filling with worry.
The number 5 batter stepped up to the plate next, his face filled with a smile. He'd just been told that the pitcher was on his last legs, filling him with confidence.
"Come on Kouichi! You've got this."
"Strike him out!"
"Let's go! One out at a time."
The Seiko squad called out words of encouragement one by one, causing a smile to tug on the corner of Coach Yoshida's lips. He turned to the assistant coach and pointed to the team on the field.
"Not even our players are giving up on the Ace. How do you expect me to replace him now?"
"Ah…" The assistant coach couldn't respond. Perhaps he had been too hasty to request a substitution at this time when even the players had faith in him.
Kouichi's eyes flashed with determination, the voices of his peers filling him with strength. He adjusted his cap and faced down the mound towards Daichi's outstretched glove.
"I just need to follow his lead… Just like always." He murmured.
WHOOSH
"Strike."
"Whoa that one had some heat on it." Naoki commented, glancing at the scoreboard. His gaze was focused on the bottom left corner which had the word "speed" written with two blank displays.
The other two people with him were also staring at the same thing as if they were waiting for something to happen.
"85mile per hour? That's almost 140km/h!" Naoki called out in shock, almost not believing his eyes.
Yet when he looked again, he could still see the red numbers which clearly read 85.
"How many pitches has that boy pitched so far?" Naoki asked one of his colleagues.
One of the men flipped a few pages in his notebook and responded a moment later, "That should be his 123rd pitch this game."
"Let's put him on our shortlist. It would be good if we can get him to join along with Daichi as they've already got some chemistry." Naoki said, making a few more notes in his notebook.
"Nice pitch!" Ken was the first to call out. He was insanely impressed by the speed at which the last pitch had gone.
"Strike"
"Out!"
"Out"
"Out"
With his renewed determination, Kouichi seemed to have risen to a level in which he had never reached before. Spurned on by Daichi and his other teammates, his pitches were like literal fireballs as they burst their way into the catchers glove.
Coach Yoshida turned to the assistant coach and let out a smile. "Just remember, we're here to guide the players in the right direction. As long as someone still has fighting spirit and is capable, we should do our best to support them."
"Yes Coach." The assistant coach nodded, feeling as if he had learned a valuable lesson. This was also the finals of the Kanto Tournament, substituting the Ace at such a juncture would also likely have an effect on the teams morale.
"Nice work Kouichi. Don't worry about the score, we'll get the runs back for you." Ken placed his hand on Kouichi's shoulder on the way back to the dugout and said a few words.
"Mmm. I'm counting on you guys." He said, heading over to the bench and regaining his stamina. Since it was summer, players burned through their stamina quickly. This was especially true for the pitcher who was the one doing the most work.
Kouichi took a few swigs of water and calmed down his breathing. His gaze was on Keisuke who was preparing to go onto the field and lead off the innings for Seiko.
Keisuke was all fired up, swinging his bat around like a lunatic and warming up. Once the signal was given, he calmed down significantly and stepped up to the batters box.
In truth, he was upset with his performance thus far in the final game of summer. His first two attempts were a grounder back to the pitcher and a strike out, something unfitting of the lead-off hitter for Seiko.
He stared at the pitcher with determination, nothing else in his mind except for hitting the ball and getting onto base.
DONG
The moment he struck the ball, Keisuke kicked off the ground and bolted towards 1st base. The ball flew towards the outfield in the space between the center and right outfielders.
Since he had been running as fast as possible, Keisuke decided to fly past second base and sprint towards third, much to the surprise of everyone on the field.
"THIRD!"
The second baseman called out towards the center outfielder, calling for him to throw it as soon as possible.
Keisuke locked eyes with the third base coach and could see the panic in his eyes as he made the signal to slide.
"ARGH!"
He threw himself forwards and slid along the ground on his stomach as fast as he possibly could, placing his hand on the base a fraction of a second before being tagged on the helmet by a glove.
"Safe!"