This article is about the match in Act II. You may be looking for the match in Act I.
| Seidou High vs. Inashiro Industrial (II) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Result | |
| Score | 2-1 |
| Winner | Seidou |
| Match | |
| Manga | Act II, Chapter 264 - 304 |
| Anime | n/a |
| Tournament | |
| Tournament | West Tokyo Tournament |
The Seidou High vs. Inashiro Industrial match is the finals match of the West Tokyo Tournament for the 90th National High School Baseball Championship qualifiers held on July 28 at the Meiji Jingu Baseball Stadium.
Starting Members[]
- 1st – Kuramochi Yōichi
- 2nd – Kominato Haruichi
- 3rd - Shirasu Kenjirō
- 4th – Miyuki Kazuya
- 5th – Maezono Kenta
- 6th - Furuya Satoru
- 7th – Tōjō Hideaki
- 8th – Kanemaru Shinji
- 9th – Asou Takeru
- 1st – Kamiya Carlos Toshiki
- 2nd – Shirakawa Katsuyuki
- 3rd – Saotome Shinichirou
- 4th – Yamaoka Riku
- 5th - Narumiya Mei
- 6th - Tadano Itsuki
- 7th - Yabe Kōji
- 8th - Jinguuji Tsukasa
- 9th - Ezaki Suguru
Score[]
| Inning | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seidou High | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Inashiro Industrial | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Summary of the Game[]
First inning: Inajitsu got to defend first and has the advantage of playing offense in the bottom inning like the previous Final. Mei starts the game for Inajitsu and Kuramochi wasted no time getting on base with an opposite field hit that got through Inajitsu's infield defenders. Haruichi advanced Kuramochi to 2nd on a grounder to 3rd. Shirasu sac bunt moved Kuramochi into 3rd and scoring position but with 2 outs, Seidou has a slim chance of opening the score with Miyuki up to bat. Mei uses his new Cutter against Miyuki and the batter makes hard contact with it albeit right into the glove of the pitcher for 3 out. In the bottom of the inning, Furuya starts the game for Seidou against lead-off Carlos. Carlos laid off a few pitches and targeted a fastball for a long hit to CF to jump straight to 2nd base with a Double. Shirakawa sac bunt allowed Carlos to get to 3rd and Seidou has to face a runner in scoring position in the first inning of the game. Saotome lands a long hit to CF and Toujou stellar defense prevented Carlos from trying to steal home. Yamaoka then grounded out on a Splitter to end the inning.
Second inning: Mei retire Zono and strikes out Furuya for 2 outs and Seidou players recognizing the fact that not only Mei's pitch velocity has improved since last time, his spin rate have also improved, which is something they could not see with just the numbers shown on the speed gun. In the bottom of the inning, Mei gets on base with a walk and advanced to 2nd thanks to Tadano's bunt. Yabe struck out for 2 outs but Furuya failed to get Jinguji out as the batter hung tough in the box and worked another walk. Runners on 1st and 2nd with 2 outs and Ezaki popped out softly to 2nd baseman Haruichi.
Third inning - Fifth inning: Both Mei and Furuya started to get into a groove as they increased their strikeout counts throughout the relatively uneventful 3rd and 4th inning. On the top of the 5th, Furuya gets on base with a long hit to OF. Toujou then advanced Furuya to 2nd with Kanemaru up to bat. Kanemaru connects a long hit to OF but Carlos rushed to ball to grab it for 2 out and prevented Seidou from creating a rally. With 2 outs, runner still on 2nd, Mei struck out Asou to end the inning. In the bottom of the 5th, the heat and the pressure of having to go all out since the beginning of the game begins to catch up to Furuya. Jinguji once again worked a walk to get on base. Although Furuya retired Ezaki on a failed bunting attempt to advance the running, Inajitsu lineup rounded back to the top of the order with only 1 out. Carlos saw through the breaking pitches and targeted a fastball to connect on a hit and run play for a Single that also advanced Jinguji to 3rd. Shirasu's quick defensive throw prevented Carlos from gunning for a Double but Inajitsu now has runners on the corners with 1 out and the best opportunity to score yet. Shirakawa is up to bat and Inajitsu decided to go for a squeeze play. Seidou's battery missed outside the zone in anticipation of the bunt but Shirakawa stretched way out of the box with just one hand on the bat to get to the ball to put it into play. Jinguji immediately scored from 3rd and Seidou had to settle for retiring Shirakawa at 1st base. Furuya seems more tired as his command fades out and he walks Saotome for his 5th walk of the game. With 2 outs, runner on 1st and 2nd, Yamaoka is up to bat with the opportunity to extend Inajitsu's lead. Miyuki calls for a timeout to calm Furuya down while Yamaoka is determined to hit a big HR for Inajitsu. Yamaoka jumps on the first pitch fastball and although he did not make as clean contact as he would have liked, he still sends the ball deep to LF's fence. However, Asou kept chasing it down and was able to make the catch barely at the edge of the wall, slamming head first into it during the process and yet he managed to hang onto the ball on a miraculous play to retire Yamaoka and end the inning. Asou's super defensive play got Seidou out of trouble but he was carried off the field on a stretcher and Seidou has to contemplate on switching him out.
Sixth Inning: Kataoka gives his team a pep talk and encourage them to go out and display their hard work and the kind of tenacious offense that they showed against Ichidaisan in the SF, believing that it should rewards them. Kuramochi leads off for Seidou and he shows his tenacity in the box, working the count to 2-2 and forcing Mei to use his Changeup. However, surprising Inajitsu battery, Kuramochi was able to make contact with the changeup to stay alive in the box with a foul. He works the count to full and Mei ended up missing high to walk Mochi on base. Mei greets Haruichi with a changeup and the later swings and misses. Mochi is looking to stay aggressive on the base path for a steal and on the next pitch, he took off to 2nd. Seeing Mochi having a good lead and start, Haruichi let the pitch go to avoid a potential grounder that could lead to a double play while Mochi successfully steals 2nd. He then persists in the box and once again, Mei is forced to use his best pitch, the Changeup, to get the out. Haruichi hits it to shallow RF to advance Mochi to 3rd base but he was retired on 1st base. With 1 out and runner on 3rd, Seidou has their cleanups up to bat and a good opportunity to score. Shirasu shows his determination and crowds the plate to put pressure on Mei and Mei throws a wild pitch that hits Shirasu on the shoulder for a walk on dead ball on the very first pitch of the at bat. Shirasu let out a loud cry of frustration which surprised both Seidou and Inajitsu as they did not think that Shirasu would ever say a bad word. Mei got flustered a bit over the situation but managed to get his head back in the game for a fateful showdown against Miyuki. He opted for a low Cutter for the first pitch which Miyuki let go off for a ball and then got a Foul on a powerful outside fastball. Mei confirms his suspicion that Miyuki was probably looking for a fastball to hit here. The next pitch bounces to the dirt and although Itsuki was able to pick it up to prevent Mochi from trying to steal home, Shirasu was able to get to 2nd. Both Mei and Miyuki understand that Mei's winning shot is the pitch he will have to throw in this situation. Mei does just that and throw the changeup and Miyuki was onto it, he brought his bat down low to scoop up the changeup with 1 hand on the bat. Inajitsu's left fielder played too far back to get to it and the ball fell inbetween the 2nd baseman and the left fielder. Mochi scored from 3rd to tie the game while Shirasu advanced to 3rd himself. Miyuki successfully tied the game on an RBI off of Mei's changeup, fulfilling the promise he made to the pitchers before the Tournament that he will hit Mei's winning shot. Zono is up to bat next and he is determined to get Seidou the go ahead run no matter what kind of tricks he'll have to try and he opted for a squeeze bunt. Zono makes makes the bunt and send the pitch rolling down the left field line with Shirasu rushing in upon contact. Mei tried his best to get the ball home but Shirasu managed to score while Zono himself got on 1st base safely. Coach Kunitomo sends out Captain Fukui for a time out in to get Inajitsu players on the field time to collect themselves and regain their focus to get one out at a time. Furuya is up to bat for Seidou but Mei switches his gears and strikes him out out on a changeup. Mei then retires Toujou by inducing a weak ground out to 2nd base and gets out of the jam. In the bottom of the inning, Kataoka tells Sawamura to get ready as Furuya pitch count has approached 100 pitches already so if his pitching starts to unravel even a little, he will send Sawamura in to replace him. Furuya faces Mei to start off the inning and Mei is determined to return the favor with his bat; however, he popped out to LF with another deep hit. Furuya then strikes out Itsuki and Yabe to close out a clean inning for Seidou in the bottom of the 6th.
Seventh inning: Mei regained his composure and he quickly retired Kanemaru on a grounder. Seidou sends in Yui for their pinch hitter and the rookie immediately realizes how fast Mei's pitches look in the box and just how well Seidou's upperclassman had to play to earn 2 run against this pitcher. Mei struck out Yui and Mochi grounded out to end a clean inning for Mei. In the bottom of the 7th, Seidou dugout makes their moves by sending Sawamura to the mound to relief and moving Furuya to LF. Facing 8th batter, Jinguji, Sawamura seems to be quite stiff as he misses 2 ball to start things off. Sawamura said he forgot to do the deep breaths as he usually would so he took a quick timeout to do so and then immediately retired Jinguji on the next pitch. He jammed Ezaki on the very next pitch with a Cutter for 2 out to face Carlos with no runner on. Carlos wants to remind Sawamura of what happened in their previous matchup in last summer. Mixing fast and slow with his moving fastballs and changeups, Carlos would struggle to make good contact with Sawamura's pitches and he fouls off a couple of pitches. Carlos connects on a pitch, sending it deep to CF but Toujou was able to chase it down to retire him for a 1-2-3 inning.
Eight inning: Haruichi is up to bat and Mei took his pitching up a notch by reaching 151 kph on his fastball and struck him out on a Curveball, a pitch he has not used up until this point. Shirasu hangs tenaciously in the box but Mei also strikes him out on a good low breaking ball at full count. Miyuki is then up to bat to face Mei for the 3rd time and similar to their previous matchups, it is another tough battle between the two. Miyuki got to full count but Mei pitches a powerful inside fastball that Miyuki popped out to CF. The speed gun shows the pitch reaching 153 kph, Mei's fastest pitch for the Tournament. In the bottom of the 8th, Shirakawa leads off for Inajitsu. Facing Sawamura he thinks Sawamura pitches have not reached Mei level yet as he squeeze a lot of pitches out of Sawamura but the Cutter jammed him and he grounded out softly to 1st base despite a desperate attempt of sliding head first to base. Saotome is up to bat and he's looking only for a fastball to hit, he gets a fastball inside and despite being somewhat jammed by the pitch, he managed the pulled it through Zono at 1st base for a hit. Sawamura then faces off against Yamaoka for the first time with 1 out and runner on 1st. Yamaoka focuses on getting a pitch to pull to the left field stand. Sawamura throws a Splitter Kai and it escapes the swing path of the batter, inducing a soft ground ball to Kanemaru for a 5-4-3 Double Play to end the inning. Sawamura goes into the dugout to change his shirt and unexpectedly drops the bottle passed to him by Okumura, prompting the later to worry about Sawamura's condition as he recognize just how much of a stiffling pressure his senpai is facing out there on the mound.
Ninth inning: With Seidou leading 2-1 by a thin margin of 1 run, Mei wants to make a statement and grab back the momentum for his team. Zono hits Mei's Cutter for a hard grounder through the infield defenders to get on base. Furuya feints a bunt but swings for it to the 3rd base side, the hit bounced off of Yabe's mitt but he managed to get Furuya out at 1st while Zono advanced to 2nd. Mei manages retire Toujou on a Cutter for 2 out. Seidou sends in a pinch hitter for Kanemaru, replacing him with Masashi Yuuki. However, unfazed by the pressure brough by the rookie slugger, Mei improves his Cutter on the spot to make it breaks more and strikes him out to end the inning as he is determined to not let the game end without a fight. In the bottom of the 9th, Seidou is 3 outs away from closing out the game. Mei leads things off for Inajitsu and he's feeling completely locked in and that Inajitsu is not going to lose this match. Sawamura greets Mei with a Cutter that he swings and misses on. Miyuki asks for No. 9 next but the pitch flattened out and Mei makes a loud contact for a deep center field hit that barely stayed inside the ball park by hitting the ledge of the wall and bounced back in play. Mei got to 2nd on a double but he was livid that his seemingly perfect hit did not go over the fence. Itsuki is up to bat next and Seidou's battery recognizes that he tends to be a very tough batter to get out whenever Mei gets on base. Itsuki is determined to show his "love" for Mei by getting him home and he connects on a Cutter, the pitch jammed him and he popped it over infield for a soft fly ball but Seidou's outfielders were playing deep back so Toujou could not get to it in time and the ball landed only a step away from Toujou's reach. Itsuki got on 1st with a hit but Mei is held at 3rd with Toujou relay. Inajitsu has runners on the corners and no out, with the best opportunity to tie the game or walk it off. The stadium realizes the possibility of Inajitsu to pull off another walk off come back and they got louder and louder with cheers for Inajitsu, willing them to pull off another come back like they did against Seidou previously. The pressure started mounting more and more on Seidou and Sawamura. Kataoka sends Kawakami to the mound to relay the message that they're willing to accept a tie game and that the coach believes they can still win even in the extras but the team and most importantly Sawamura can calm down to focus on getting one out at a time. Sawamura refocuses to face Yabe who like all batters before him makes the pitcher works for it and on a strikeout count, Sawamura throws a Changeup but Yabe, like Miyuki against Mei earlier, went down to scoop up the pitch with just one hand to send to shallow left field. Furuya gets in position to catch the fly ball while Mei is confident he can scores from 3rd base on a tag up easily with Furuya's throw from left field. He starts running the moment Furuya catches the ball but Furuya throws a canonball from left field for a strike to Miyuki to tag Mei out at home for the 2nd out of the inning. With 2 outs on 1 play, Seidou grappled back the momentum and Sawamura is inspired with Furuya and Miyuki's plays, realizing that there is a whole next level, a whole new world out there beyond this Tournament and beyond high school baseball and he's determined to make it there. Sawamura strikes out Jinguji on 4 pitches to close out the inning and the game, punching their ticket into the Summer Koshien main draws, avenging their loss against Inajitsu in the previous year.