But,

in such a dire situation, all cheers were inaudible.

"I'm willing to sacrifice my arm at Koshien if it means we can win! Just let us win!" Uchida prayed silently.

Fingers resting on the side of the ball, he lifted his leg.

At the moment his foot hit the ground, his arms pulled back to form a horizontal line, like a drawn bow.

When he threw the ball, his middle finger flicked downwards on the side!

Goda concentrated on a single hit.

The ball flew over the catcher's head, seeming like a purposely bad pitch.

No, that's not right!

If one ignored the movement before and after, the ball seemed to spin in place.

It was a curveball!

It would turn into the strike zone at the very last moment in an arc!

"Uchida's curveballs tend to drop a bit at the end," the coach's words flashed through his mind, and without thinking, he swung the bat.

"Bang!"

"It's a foul! The ball is rolling out!"

The moment the commentator shouted, Goda had already thrown his bat aside and was dashing towards first base.

Teeth clenched, neck veins bulging.

"Hino!"

"Go for it!"

Shouts from the team's dugout were behind him, and Goda, the first baseman, was ahead.

Fixating on the opposing first baseman, Goda sprinted faster over first base.

The first baseman was still waiting for the ball... and he made it! He was on base!!

"Keep running!"

Hino heard a loud shout.

"Keep going——!"

Without time to think or to consider if it was Goda's fielding mistake or an irregular bounce,

he trusted his teammates!

"Ah——" With a loud roar, Hino dashed towards second base.

"Come on!!!" Everyone in the stands yelled.

Just then, Goda's left fielder finally caught the irregularly bouncing ball.

Twisting his body, lifting his arm, he threw with all his might, almost reflexively, to Kunii Shuichi.

"Maki!"

It was Yoshikawa's voice guarding second base.

Without thinking, without looking, based on memory and experience, and three years of silent understanding, he threw toward second base!

Goda's second baseman, Yoshikawa, with one foot on the base, forgot everything and stretched his body, extending his gloved left hand.

"Catch it!"

Sansong's leadoff hitter Hino saw the ball come into view.

Teeth gritted, facial muscles trembling.

Second base right ahead! Dive for it!

"Smack!" The ball landed in Yoshikawa's mitt.

At Yoshikawa's feet, Hino, who carried the dreams of Sansong High School's summer Koshien, touched the base with his fingertips.

Hino's body, unable to control its momentum, swung around the base like being swept away by floodwaters.

But the base was like a lifesaving post, no matter how much his body was thrown, his hand clung to it tightly.

The stadium fell silent.

Hino didn't even stand up; he just lay there, hand still on the base.

Silence.

The umpire spread his arms wide and shouted:

"Safe!"

It was as if a bomb had detonated, and the entire Shengong Stadium erupted with a "boom."

"Sansong! Sansong!" the crowd chanted.

All the students from Sansong stood up excitedly.

"Hino!"

"Sansong!"

The cheers were no longer unified; everyone was venting their emotions.

"Amazing! Incredible! This is not giving up, this is youth, this is Koshien!" the commentator cried out with excitement.

"Ninth inning, the last one, the final opportunity, Sansong's leadoff hitter Hino has successfully reached second base!"

"There's a high chance to score! Come on, Sansong!"

Uchida on the Pitcher Mound looked towards Sansong's leadoff on second base.

This guy named Hino got up from the ground, braced himself on his knees, panting heavily, his eyes focused on third base like a wolf.

"Final year! I will not lose! I won't let myself lose!" Uchida caught the ball thrown from second base, turned around, and looked home.

There, Sansong's second hitter was holding the bat, looking back with the same determination.

"Can't lose! Can't lose!"

The sun seemed to draw closer, intense sunlight pouring down directly.

Everything in front of him began to blur.

"Uchida!"

"Uchida!"

Goda's team members quickly gathered around.

"What's wrong? Uchida suddenly collapsed!" the commentator said anxiously.

"Heatstroke? We've got news that Uchida has heatstroke!"

"Oh no, what will Goda do now? In the crucial final inning! The dream of Koshien! A year's efforts!"

Uchida was taken back to the dugout and had ice packs applied.

Everyone in the dugout was worried, not just for Uchida's health but for the game ahead.

"Aihara, you're up," the coach said gravely.

"Coach, I..." the relief pitcher surnamed Aihara hesitated.

"Don't you have confidence?" the coach shouted.

"..." It wasn't just Aihara; everyone was anxious.

This team had many hitters, but only one great pitcher—Uchida.

He had worked hard at Goda for three years, and everyone had full confidence in him.

But the relief pitcher...

The coach surveyed everyone: "We're still leading. Even if they overtake us, so what? Can't we take back the lead in the second half? Get spirited! Go out there and play your game!"

"Yes!" everyone roared in response.

"Hirata!"

"Here!" the catcher replied loudly.

"Lead the cheer!"

"Yes!"

The original eight starters, along with Aihara replacing Uchida, huddled together, arms around shoulders.

Camera lenses focused on them, thirty thousand spectators watching.

"Who doesn't have weekends off?" Hirata bellowed.

"We do!" the eight teammates responded, standing and shouting back.

"What time does training start in the morning?"

"Six o'clock!"

"When do we go back?"

"Until we can't swing the bat!"

"How long do we persist?"

"Since joining! Right up to today!"

"Who carries Goda's honor?"

"We do!"

"What should we do?"

"Win!"

"Win!" Aihara shouted again.

"Win!" The baseball team and everyone from Goda chanted together.

The camera panned to the other side, to Sansong High School.

The baseball players' hands were stacked together.

"The greater the adversity!" the captain roared.

"The more we don't give up!" the players echoed fiercely.

"Ahhhh!" Sansong High School's entire team shouted as one, pressing their hands down hard.

Putting on helmets, fastening gloves, picking up bats, both teams headed back to the field.

The game continued.

ps: Thanks to "Alliance Hierarch" for becoming the 58th patron of this book.

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