The pitching speed exceeded 150 km/h.
Perhaps it was because the players from the Seidou High School Baseball Team had seen so much, they had a certain immunity to pitchers with exceptionally fastballs.
For most players, a pitching speed of 140 km/h was considered to be standard for a fastball pitcher.
If a pitcher threw at 145 km/h, they could easily take down many opponents purely based on speed.
However, Seidou High's players had seen so many pitchers with speeds ranging between 140 and 150 km/h that they weren't overly surprised.
To be considered worthy of Seidou High's attention, a pitcher had to at least possess that level of speed.
In other words, if an opponent couldn't even manage that kind of speed, they had no right to draw Seidou High's focus.
That was also why it often felt like the Seidou High players didn't seem as strong as they actually were.
Was it because their strength was lacking?
To be honest, anyone who could become a regular starting player for Seidou High's baseball team was, at the very least, one of the best in high school baseball—someone who would stand out in any setting.
There were no weaklings among them, and weak players could never climb to such positions.
The reason they appeared less formidable was purely because of their opponents.
Throughout their dominance, Seidou High's team had faced so many formidable opponents that, by comparison, their own strength didn't seem as outstanding.
After all, many of their opponents were truly elite, talents who came along once in a decade.
Although many pitchers could throw fastballs exceeding 140 km/h, and quite a few threw at over 145 km/h, very few could reach speeds of 150 km/h.
Typical examples included Seidou High's own pitcher, Sawamura Eijun, who was known as the fastest pitcher in the country, and the Ace pitcher of Komadai High School, Hongou Masamune.
Even the former Ace pitcher of the Inashiro Industrial High School baseball team, Narumiya Mei, who had almost driven Seidou High to a corner during a past match, was capable of exceeding 150 km/h.
These were all pitchers with speeds exceeding 150 km/h, and any one of them was a formidable opponent that Seidou High could never take lightly.
Just that level of speed was enough to make any team wary.
But this wasn't the most terrifying thing, nor was it the reason Seidou High's players were silent.
On their previous two trips to Koshien, they had faced opponents like this. Even if they appeared daunting, in the end, it was always Seidou High that came out victorious.
This was an experience Seidou High's team had, and it gave them the confidence to keep the final victory in their hands.
But now, the most important issue wasn't the 151 km/h pitch speed.
It was the current state of the game.
Since the scoreboard didn't show the pitcher's pitch count, the Seidou High players still didn't know how many pitches Hoshitaru had thrown so far.
But considering that the opponent was Seijitsu High, even if Kanetsu-Norin High was strong, it was unlikely they could have reached this point with just a few dozen pitches and struck out so many players.
Up until now, Hoshitaru had already struck out 11 batters.
This statistic was extremely impressive. If the game hadn't been nearing its end, it was possible they could have broken the record set by Seidou's Ace, Sawamura Eijun.
Even though there hadn't been any hits so far, the number of pitches thrown by Kanetsu-Norin High's pitcher had to be high.
By the end of the eighth or ninth inning, he should have been exhausted.
Despite this, he was still able to throw a 151 km/h fastball.
That pitcher, Hoshitaru, was exceptional.
What was vision? What was experience?
The way the Seidou High players were reacting now was exactly that.
They could see so much more than just the surface, understanding the deeper details at a glance.
In the entire high school, almost no team's players had the experience that Seidou High's players did.
Because of this, just by glancing at the score and the current state of the game, the Seidou High players could immediately deduce the strength of Kanetsu-Norin High.
In the following match, the situation on the field reflected this.
Seijitsu, who had been trailing, didn't just fail to make a comeback in the ninth inning, but they ended up conceding two more points, making the score 4:0!
For a top-tier team like Seijitsu, to be so utterly dominated was already embarrassing enough.
What made it worse was that their opponent was a little-known, unheralded team.
Kanetsu-Norin High had managed 17 hits in total throughout the game.
Had they not squandered so many opportunities during their offensive play, their lead would have been even greater than just four points.
~~~
In the second round of Koshien, the opponent of the Seidou High School baseball team is Jouyou High School, who were quite lucky to draw a bye in the previous round.
This game has garnered a lot of attention.
It can't be helped. Whenever it's a game involving the Great Demon King, his fan clubs act like they're going crazy to watch. The number of people attending the match is often much higher than that of other games.
However, to be honest, while the crowd is large, the expectations aren't very high.
The strength of Seidou High School's baseball team was already fully displayed in the previous game.
Yesterday, some had already predicted the outcome of this game.
This game was expected to be another rout, with Seidou High School's baseball team using their overwhelming power to utterly demolish the opponent.
But in reality, when the game actually began, Seidou High School's baseball team didn't have an easy time.
In this game, the team didn't send out their full starting lineup.
Instead, they used a rotation system.
This was different from the strategy discussed by the team's Coach, Kataoka, with the team the previous night.
According to Kataoka's plan, they would start every game with their full-strength lineup, gain an absolute advantage, and only then would they consider substitutions. The idea was to show everyone that the mighty Seidou High School baseball team was invincible.
The team was confident they could do this.
To be honest, all the opponents in this year's Koshien tournament were either not strong enough to face Seidou directly, or they were old opponents who were very familiar with the team.
When facing such teams, whether it was Kataoka or other members of the Seidou High School baseball team, they were full of confidence.
They were confident they could take on any challenge and bring down any team that dared to challenge them.
So why did they change their strategy?
There was, of course, a reason.
An unexpected event made Kataoka feel they might have underestimated some of their Koshien opponents.
Among them, there might be a team that could actually pose a real threat to Seidou.
That team was Kanetsu-Norin.
To be honest, Seidou High School's baseball team had known during the group draw that one of their opponents was Kanetsu-Norin, and they had even looked up historical data on them.
They knew the last time this team participated in Koshien was 32 years ago.
This year, when they won their regional championship, it caused quite a stir. A team on the brink of disbandment managed to pull off a miraculous victory.
Undoubtedly, it was a fascinating story.
If there had been more time, Seidou's players might have been interested in learning more about them.
However, considering that Kanetsu-Norin's first-round opponent was Seijitsu High School, the Seidou players quickly dismissed this idea.
It seemed predictable that Kanetsu-Norin would be eliminated by such a tough opponent in the first round.
With time being so tight, there was no need for Seidou's players to study a team that would likely be knocked out.
However, they ended up being proven wrong.
One of the nation's top teams, Seijitsu High School, was outclassed by Kanetsu-Norin.
Throughout the entire game, Seijitsu didn't even get a single hit.
What was even more shocking was that Kanetsu-Norin managed to get 17 hits off the powerful Seijitsu High School.
Although Seijitsu wasn't particularly known for their pitchers, they were still a national powerhouse.
Even if their pitching staff wasn't top-notch, they should still have had pitchers of the caliber of Kawakami or Tamba.
With pitchers of that level, combined with the strong defense of a powerhouse team like Seijitsu, their defensive strength was nothing to underestimate.
To put it simply, their defense was not inferior to Seidou's when Kawakami was on the mound.
If Seidou High School's baseball team were in Seijitsu's shoes, could they get that many hits?
Even if they were to admit it reluctantly, they would struggle to claim that kind of performance.
Truthfully, they weren't sure they could pull that off.
Of course, that didn't mean Seidou's baseball team had weak offensive power.
It was simply a matter of style.
Despite 17 hits, Kanetsu-Norin only scored 4 runs.
For Seidou High School's baseball team, this scoring efficiency was unimaginable.
If they had 17 hits in a game, with their ability to capitalize on scoring opportunities, they'd likely score at least 10 or 11 runs.
And that's just the minimum; honestly, they could have scored more.
That's simply Seidou's style.
Kanetsu-Norin left a deep impression on Seidou's players. After the match, they couldn't stop thinking about the scene where Kanetsu-Norin celebrated their victory.
The entire Koshien stadium erupted. At that moment, there wasn't a single person cheering for Seijitsu.
Seijitsu, a powerhouse with its own brass band and cheerleaders, along with a large fanbase, had fans who were impressive in their own right.
But at that moment, no one could hear any cheers for Seijitsu.
Not even a word of consolation.
Everyone was chanting for Kanetsu-Norin and applauding the players on the field.
The pitcher from Kanetsu-Norin, Hoshitaru, was lifted high by his teammates and thrown into the air.
This was an uncommon celebration at Koshien.
But at that moment, everyone felt it was perfectly natural.
Hoshitaru opened his arms as if trying to embrace the entire sky.
That scene was deeply engraved in the minds of Seidou's players.
It stayed with them for a long time.
Key players who could determine the outcome and adjust the mood on the field hadn't even been sent into the game yet.
After two innings, although Seidou had three hits, they hadn't scored a single run.
The defensive pressure wasn't high; they allowed one hit but stopped the next batter.
After two innings, the score was 0:0.
If there was any advantage for the so-called king, Seidou High School, it was that they had two more hits than their opponent.
With those two extra hits, Seidou finally got their turn to bat in the 3rd inning, with their first batter up.
The first batter was Nishiyama, a first-year player.
He wasn't a pitcher; he was playing as an outfielder, with another player pitching.
In Seidou's dugout, the players were getting anxious, eager to replace Nishiyama and get in the game themselves.
They couldn't understand why their teammates, who had waited so long for a chance to play, were performing so unusually.
If they performed even half as well as usual, the game wouldn't be so tense.
Coach Kataoka stood with his arms crossed, looking at the situation on the field as though he hadn't noticed anything.
His thoughts seemed to be somewhere far away.
The players who are on the bench, like Sawamura and Miyuki, looked helplessly at Kataoka, who seemed lost in thought.
If the game kept going like this, Seidou High School's reputation would be completely ruined.
Should they ask to go in?
This thought quickly disappeared before it could even form, as the teammates knew better.
Although they didn't know why, it was obvious Kataoka wasn't in a good mood.
It was clear that if someone were to provoke him, things wouldn't end well for them.
The desire for survival was strong in Seidou's players. They decided to wait and see.
Waiting didn't mean doing nothing, though.
Although they couldn't wipe out their opponent, they could still 'guide' the younger players on the field.
"Idiot, wait for the right moment to swing!"
"You guys are playing way below your usual level against these rookies."
"Put your back into it!"
The Seidou players were cursing from the dugout.
They were motivating their teammates in their own way.
This even caught the attention of the commentators.
"Our main players from the King team seem restless. I wonder what kind of arrangement Coach Kataoka made for them to be sitting on the bench. But they certainly don't look like they're staying still."
As the commentators spoke, the camera zoomed in on Seidou's dugout.
The players, who had been scowling a moment ago, quickly put on a different face as the camera approached.
"Good job!"
"You kid, you're the best!"
"We believe in you!!!"
Hearing these words, the commentators and audience nodded in approval.
No wonder they were called the King team, Seidou High School! Not only were the players strong, but they were also of high moral character.
They were united, and even when faced with difficulties, they remained calm and composed.
What was especially praiseworthy was how the main players acted.
Being put on the bench could be demoralizing, especially when it was part of the team's overall strategy. It would be hard for players to stay motivated and cheer for others.
But Seidou's players were different.
After being substituted, they still cheerfully encouraged their teammates on the field.
Their attitude was truly admirable.
This was the king team. They were indeed different!
As the camera and microphone moved away, the players in the dugout kept smiling, but their words had already changed to a different tone.
"Idiot, if you can't hit, then let me take over!"
"Stop taking up space without contributing…"
…