Bottom of the eighth inning, Seidou High's turn to bat.
In this offensive round, Coach Kataoka exercised his right to make substitutions.
He switched in two batters.
Takatsu and Yuuki! Takatsu replaced Kanemaru, while Yuuki replaced Asou.
To win, Coach Kataoka had brought out all his cards.
Unfortunately, the results weren't ideal.
The two batters who replaced the others didn't even manage to make contact with the ball, let alone get a hit.
Both were struck Out.
As the game neared its final moments, Allen seemed like an invincible existence.
Standing on the pitcher's mound, no matter who the opponent was, he wiped them all out.
This was Allen, the first player of the younger generation from America, known as the Son of Baseball.
For Sawamura, this outcome wasn't a surprise at all.
Before his injury, Allen had already been very close to legendary status.
It was just that his career hadn't fully bloomed, so that legendary title hadn't been confirmed yet.
But Allen's performance, compared to previous legendary players, was not lacking at all.
Allen was also Sawamura's target.
The player he had to surpass!
Though the Seidou team's players weren't weak either.
They were famous not just in Tokyo, but throughout the entire country.
However, compared to Allen, the gap was still obvious.
In simple terms, they were not even in the same league.
After the eighth inning, the score remained tied at 1:1.
If before the game, anyone had told the Dream Team's players or supporters that the final score would be this close, they would never have believed it.
Previously, Seidou's baseball team had played against other American powerhouses.
And in those games, Seidou had won.
But the advantage was not significant!
Overall, the feeling was that they were at least two levels below the Dream Team.
In truth, just not being utterly dominated by the Dream Team was a victory.
How could they possibly have played to a draw?
But for anyone who watched this game, this outcome was no surprise.
Though Seidou High's baseball team's overall strength was still lacking compared to the Dream Team, under the lead of their battery, Seidou displayed a strength that was by no means inferior.
Both teams had, to some extent, fought to a standstill.
The score was tied.
The difference in hits wasn't large.
The Manhattan Academy had four effective hits.
Seidou had two.
This, to some extent, showed the difference between the two teams.
If the fans at the scene were to evaluate this game, I'm sure 99% of them would use two words to describe it.
"So Exciting!!!"
Apart from those two words, they couldn't think of anything more fitting to describe this game.
The Major League scouts in the stands were also thoroughly impressed.
Each of them was as if they had found treasure.
They greedily watched Sawamura, constantly pulling out their phones to search for information and data on him.
Even though they already had this information.
They felt that their understanding of the data was incorrect and had to reassess it.
Only then could they make an accurate judgment!
Through the direct confrontation between Eijun Sawamura and Allen Ward, everyone was now very clear.
The strength of the player before them was definitely on par with Allen's.
Even if there was a slight gap, both of them were absolutely on the same level.
This not only overturned their previous evaluation of Sawamura.
But also meant that evaluations of other star players from Japan would need to be adjusted as well.
Take, for example, Mei Narumiya, who could match Eijun Sawamura on the field.
Doesn't that evaluation need to change?
Originally, they had rated Mei Narumiya in the third tier of talented players.
Eijun Sawamura was in the second tier.
Now that Eijun Sawamura has advanced to the first tier, does that mean Narumiya Mei at least belongs to the second tier?
Not only this one case, but there were many similar situations.
This signified that many judgments would need to be revised.
This was a big project.
But none of these scouts cared.
Why would they care about the number of geniuses?
In the end, all geniuses would flow to the Major Leagues.
If they could discover these players earlier, they would surely lead to an even greater era.
Of course, the most important part for them was that this was a rare, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for themselves.
Just imagine, if they could unearth a genius player.
The fame and generous rewards they would receive.
Would surely make anyone's heart race...
Thanks to these scouts, many excellent Japanese players made their way to the Major Leagues.
There were twice as many compared to those who got there before Sawamura's regression.
Making an already lively era even more brilliant.
But that's a story for later. Let's not get ahead of ourselves.
Let's go back to the game.
With Allen securing three Outs, the game entered its final stage.
That is the ninth inning.
In a practice game, even if it's a tie, there are no extra innings.
In other words, this was the final inning of today's game.
Who would win? It had become very unclear.
Top of the ninth, the first batter for America was Ramirez Ramirez.
He was one of America's three musketeers, but so far, he hadn't made any contributions.
The Seidou baseball team players took their positions.
Sawamura Eijun stepped onto the pitcher's mound.
Before he took the mound, Miyuki had specifically come to talk to him.
Even though Miyuki didn't say a word, Sawamura knew exactly what was on his mind.
It was nothing more than asking whether they would need to use the Level 4 Vanishing ball in the final moments.
The reporters at the scene were already red-eyed with excitement. They could sense that this game was bound to make huge news.
It might be slightly better for America.
Apart from a few baseball professionals, it would be hard for others to remember the performance of Seidou High.
If Seidou High won in the end, their fame would be a little bigger.
But if it ended here, it wouldn't be long before people would forget about Seidou High, leaving them in the corner.
However, in Japan, the situation would be completely different.
There, the Seidou High players would be greeted like heroes returning from an Epic War.
To be able to tie with the legendary Dream Team!
What kind of glory was that?
With the high level of attention, once Sawamura Eijun's Level 4 breaking ball was used, the consequences were unimaginable.
"What was the Boss's order?" Sawamura Eijun asked.
"Let us decide for ourselves!" Miyuki replied.
A mysterious smile appeared on Sawamura's face.
If he didn't use the Level 4 breaking ball, could he still defeat Bill and the others?
No matter how he calculated it, Sawamura Eijun didn't think the final answer would be certain.
In fact, he had lost in the second and third rounds. He had consecutively allowed Bill and the others to get on base!
"Then let's do it!"
He couldn't let these guys get too cocky. It was time for them to know what a true breaking ball looked like.
The game between the Seidou Baseball Team and the Dream Team was heated, with both teams playing intensely.
Over 60,000 pairs of eyes in the stands were focused, never taking their gaze off the action on the field.
At this moment, they couldn't even afford to blink.
They feared that if they blinked for just a moment, they'd miss the thrilling parts of the game.
If it were an ordinary match, perhaps that wouldn't matter as much, but today was different. If they missed the exciting moments of this match, they would feel regret for the rest of their lives.
It has to be said, that this game was incredibly thrilling!
Even though most of the crowd were natural supporters of the Dream Team, they couldn't help but give a thumbs up for Seidou's performance.
It was truly impressive!
Previously, they had always believed that the Dream Team represented the pinnacle of baseball in the world. No other team, no matter how powerful, could possibly be a match for the New York team.
In the top of the 9th inning, it was finally time for their core lineup to take the stage.
At the same time, Sawamura had already thrown a significant number of pitches, and his stamina was beginning to wane…
All of this pointed to one thing:
Now was the best opportunity to strike and defeat Sawamura.
Every player in the Dream Team was a seasoned veteran, let alone their cleanups!
Throughout the entire game, they had been suppressed by Sawamura.
Now, with an opportunity, they naturally wanted to take revenge.
As professional baseball players, they couldn't afford to miss such a chance.
Whenever the opportunity arose to eliminate the opponent, the players of the Dream Team would never hold back.
The first to step up to the plate was Jack Ramirez, one of the three musketeers of the Dream Team.
Among the three musketeers, Ramirez had undoubtedly been the least effective.
The other two had already gotten hits, and not just one each.
But Ramirez, up until now, had made no contribution to his team.
Sawamura and Miyuki were both slightly careless with this opponent.
Although they had previously used the Cutter Kai against Ramirez (only once), they had planned to bait him with a Cutter Kai.
The strategy was to eliminate Ramirez first.
After getting one Out, they would adjust their tactics based on the situation.
Unless absolutely necessary, Sawamura didn't intend to reveal his Level 4 breaking ball.
But unexpectedly, things went awry from the start.
Sawamura threw his proud breaking ball, the Cutter Kai.
However, the moment it left his hand, it was immediately countered.
PAAK!
Ramirez's swing was decisive and ruthless as if he had already anticipated this pitch.
The baseball was hit and fell into the gap in the defense.
Ramirez sprinted to first base.
The situation became no Outs, runner on first.
Sawamura and Miyuki, strictly speaking, weren't careless.
They just didn't fully prepare for a showdown with Ramirez, subconsciously lowering his threat level.
They didn't expect to be hit so hard immediately.
On the mound, Sawamura and the catcher, Miyuki, exchanged a glance.
'Ouch!'
For these two seasoned baseball players, they had just made a huge blunder!
They never imagined they would make such a rookie mistake—underestimating the strength of an opponent.
'Especially an opponent who had top-tier dynamic vision!'
'Sigh, what a mess!'
This was a wake-up call for Sawamura and Miyuki, reminding them never to underestimate any opponent.
Otherwise, they would be the ones to suffer.
They had to stay alert, always guarding against the cunning predators.
Even if those predators hadn't bitten before, it didn't mean they wouldn't now.
Ramirez had just delivered a lesson to Sawamura and Miyuki with his actions.
In the stands, the supporters of the Dream Team were elated, as if they had just taken a hit of powerful excitement.
They all stared at Sawamura on the mound with eager eyes.
This inning was their best chance to score, and now, Ramirez had reached first base.
It seemed like luck had not abandoned them, and Victory had finally smiled upon them.
The Dream Team legend from New York would continue.
"Third batter, shortstop, B. Ortiz!"
Now stepping into the Batter's Box was Ortiz, the shortstop of the Dream Team.
Although he didn't have the dynamic vision, being placed in the important third spot already indicated his unquestionable strength.
With a runner on base, facing the third, fourth, and fifth batters of the Dream Team, this was a huge challenge for any pitcher.
And Sawamura was no exception.
But because he knew these players well, Sawamura's judgment was clearer than anyone else's.
The threat from this lineup was undoubtedly on par with Major League batters.
When facing them, Sawamura had to be 120% focused. A single mistake could be disastrous.
At the beginning of this match, Sawamura had no intention of using his Level 4 breaking ball.
Was it necessary to reveal his trump card before the summer tournament began?
But now looks like he has to use it.
The Vanishing Ball!
…