The Old Baseball Player System

Kohei threw a few warm-up pitches to Sugawara while Shun waited on the side. It didn't take long before Kohei signaled to the umpire that he was ready, and Shun positioned himself in the batter's box.

At the beginning of the fourth inning, with one out, Hokuto's ace, Kohei Sasaki, was facing the top of Shoto Junior High's batting order. Without a hint of fear or hesitation in his eyes, Kohei smiled as he brought his glove to his chest and lifted his leg.

He then stepped forcefully with his right foot, using his arm like a whip to hurl the ball towards home plate.

"Good!" - Sugawara smiled when he saw the pitch leave Kohei's hand. He watched the ball spin wildly as it approached the top of the zone with incredible speed. But in an instant, Sugawara's confident smile vanished when he saw Shun swing the bat in front of him.

WOOSH

DONG

Shun hit the ball hard without any hesitation.

POFT

The ball landed in fair territory before continuing its path to deep left field, allowing Shun to comfortably reach second base.

"I was right!" - Shun smiled with satisfaction as he looked toward the mound. In this game, he had been paying attention to every move of his opponent, and after carefully observing, he discovered a flaw. Read now on m_vl_em_p_yr

The flaw wasn't in Kohei, much less in his insane fastball. In fact, the flaw was with the young white-haired player who was now looking at him with a horrible expression. Maybe because Sugawara was too arrogant, or perhaps it was some kind of unconscious habit, but every time a new pitcher entered the game, he called for a fastball to the top of the zone as the first pitch.

Thanks to this, Shun was able to hit confidently, but unfortunately, this was the only flaw he had discovered so far. So, his teammates would have to rely solely on their abilities for the next hits.

The young samurai, Ren, stepped into the batter's box determined, but as soon as he looked toward the mound, he felt a terrifying aura emanating from the brown-haired boy.

Kohei was clearly irritated, he took great pride in his fastball, yet Shun hit it without difficulty. Kohei glared at Ren with fire in his eyes as he began his wind-up.

Ren gripped his bat tightly as he watched the ball leave Kohei's hand like a laser. Seeing that the pitch was in the zone, the young samurai didn't hesitate before attempting to swing.

WOOSH

DING

Ren felt the ball make poor contact with his bat, but knowing that the hit was fair, the young samurai began to run with all his might toward first base.

Hokuto's second baseman ran toward the ball to make the play. The ball was a bit short, so he had to run a little to get to it, letting it bounce once before fielding it.

As soon as the second baseman grabbed the ball, he turned toward first base, but he was surprised to see Ren rapidly approaching the base. He quickly threw to first to secure the out.

PAH

The moment the ball reached the first baseman's glove, the young samurai also stepped on the base. Both players anxiously looked at the first base umpire, unsure if the runner was safe or not.

"Safe!" - After a few moments, the umpire spread his arms and shouted.

"Yeeeahhh!" - Ren roared with excitement. He had run hard to beat out that ground ball. He then looked happily at Shun, who had advanced to third base, and raised his fist in the air.

Shun raised his fist in response as he watched Kenta step into the batter's box. Meanwhile, Kohei seemed irritated on the mound, clearly not satisfied with being hit again.

"These bastards!" - Sugawara grumbled behind home plate. The white-haired boy looked at his pitcher angrily and made a different signal with his hands.

Kohei nodded and threw the pitch Sugawara called for.

WOOSH

DING

Kenta was caught off guard by the curveball and ended up making poor contact with the ball. Fortunately, Ren had already dashed to second base, avoiding the double play.

PAH

"Out!"

Sugawara watched the ball get thrown to first base, eliminating Kenta, but he didn't seem pleased at all. The reason for his dissatisfaction was a tall, blue-eyed boy who had just stepped on home plate, increasing the score to seven to zero.

Clap

Shun and Kenta high-fived before returning to the dugout. But first, they patted Daigo on the back as he was up next to bat, encouraging him.

WOOSH

PAH

"StrikeOut! 3 outs, changeover!"

Unfortunately, the encouragement wasn't enough to help the young Daigo hit the irritated Kohei. Hokuto's team returned to the dugout a bit shaken, unable to believe these guys had just scored a run off Kohei.

"Everyone, come here!" - Sugawara called the whole team over before continuing:

"From now on, we're going to do this against that bastard on the mound..." - The white-haired maniac began to explain his plan with his characteristic grin.

Meanwhile, Shun was climbing the mound, feeling excited. He knew that facing Hokuto's top of the order for the second time wouldn't be easy, but for some reason, he was thrilled by the challenge.

The first batter, Toru, stepped into the batter's box determined. He had no idea what Sugawara was thinking, but even though he didn't understand the plan of the white-haired maniac, that maniac was never wrong.

He then gripped his bat tightly while watching Shun throw his first pitch.

PAH

"Ball!"

Toru didn't move as the slider that seemed like it would land in the middle of the zone broke away from it. Shun was a little surprised that Toru didn't react but quickly threw again.

PAH

"Strike!"

Again, no reaction. This time, the slider stayed in the zone. Another pitch came.

PAH

"Strike!"

Toru once again did nothing.

PAH

"Ball!"

Toru kept watching as the count moved to 2 balls and 2 strikes. Shun threw again.

Ren hesitated slightly when he saw the pitch that seemed to be in the zone, but after remembering the orders from his maniac captain, he held back his swing.

PAH

"StrikeOut!"

"Tch!" - Toru gritted his teeth in frustration as he returned to the dugout. He was struck out without even attempting to swing, and the worst part was that he had no idea why.