| Seidou High vs. Sousei High | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Result | |
| Score | 1-7 |
| Winner | Seidou High |
| Match | |
| Manga | Act II, Chapter 204-216 |
| Anime | n/a |
| Tournament | |
| Tournament | West Tokyo Tournament |
The Seidou High vs. Sousei High match is on the quaterfinals held during the 90th National High School Baseball Championship qualifiers on July 23 at the Meiji Jingu Baseball Stadium. It's Seidou's fourth game of the summer tournament.
Starting Members[]
- 1st – Kuramochi Yōichi
- 2nd – Kominato Haruichi
- 3rd - Shirasu Kenjirō
- 4th – Miyuki Kazuya
- 5th – Maezono Kenta
- 6th - Furuya Satoru
- 7th – Tōjō Hideaki
- 8th – Yūki Masashi
- 9th – Kanemaru Shinji
- 1st – Kikunaga
- 2nd – Gotou
- 3rd – Nanatsuki
- 4th – Nara
- 5th - Nagira
- 6th - Nakazawa
- 7th - Kanda
- 8th - Kodou
- 9th - Hoshi
Score[]
| Inning | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sousei High | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Seidou High | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | x | 7 |
Summary of the Game[]
Top of the 1st inning, Seidou is on defense first. Miyuki notices the lead off batter Kikunaga stands as far back as he can. To find out if they are watching out for breaking balls Miyuki orders a fastball first. Kikunaga suddenly wents after the first pitch and takes it deep to center field, surprising Miyuki. 2nd batter Gotou too is not overwhelmed by Furuya's fastball. Miyuki now wants to find out if they only target the fastballs or something else too. He asks for a vertical slider. 3rd batter Nanatsuki swings at it, surprising Miyuki (again). It seems they try to make contact even with a breaking ball from the first pitch, but don't budge an inch when the ball is high, leaving Miyuki clueless about what they really are targeting.
Nanatsuki works for a walk and then Nara comes up and hits a pitch to the inside corner into right field and gets on base. Sousei now has runners on 1st and 2nd. The 5th batter is up at bat and at this point Miyuki seems rather distressed because he can't figure out what exactly Sousei is targeting. While he contemplates about which pitch to call for, Sawamura calls out from the dugout to hype up Furuya and the fielders, giving them a moral boost. Miyuki then stops second guessing himself and decides to go with Furuya's fastballs as he believes they are his best weapon. Furuya throws a powerful fastball (155kmh) and manages to strike out the 5th batter.
Bottom of the 1st, Seidou's offensive turn. Kuramochi makes contact with Nagira's pitch and although it seems like a well hit ball that could have made it over the infield, Nara seems to have read that, thus was already positioned further back to grab that ball and so Kuramochi isn't able to reach the 2nd base. Haruichi follows up with a well hit ball but again the ball went straight to Nara and Haruichi too gets lined out.
A skip to the bottom of the 2nd inning. 1 out with Miyuki on 2nd, gives Seidou an opportunity to score. Sousei's battery however takes out both Furuya and Toujou in succession and closes out the inning. Toujou comments about Nagira's good control and that his fastballs pack more power than he would've thought.
Top of the 3rd, Miyuki knows that Sousei's line up is targeting something but he still hasn't figured out what it is. Gotou watches 2 fastballs in a row, but then swings on Fururya's Splitter and misses. Miyuki doesn't get this logic at all. With that said, Seidou's battery manages to close out the inning without losing any run. The game is still at 0-0. Chris is seen pondering about the batter making contact with a low inside pitch.
Bottom of the 3rd, Masashi is up to bat. Like usual, he puts up an impressive swing but all he hits is air, missing the ball spectacularly. Sousei's battery tries to finish Masashi off with a straight fastball but Masashi puts his bat on the ball and hits an impressive home run. Despite this, when Kanemaru comes up, Nagira strikes him out with two-seam pitches, and Kuramochi and Haruichi are quickly put out thanks to Sousei's fielders, killing their momentum. Chris comments he would have preferred if they crumbled after Masashi's home run.
The 4th inning goes on with no runs for either team, skip to the top of the 5th. Sousei connects a hit to right field after two strikes, leaving Miyuki to wonder what exactly they're up to and what pitches they're aiming for exactly. As it turns out, their strategy relies on each batter aiming for the pitch they feel more comfortable with and swinging aggressively. The ball is sent to second base where Haruichi catches it for the third out. It seems the match has been reduced to a pitchers' duel, while Nagira is determined to shut everyone in the stands who doesn't believe Sousei can win.
Bottom of the 5th, Furuya is on second base with one out. Masashi is up to bat. Nagira sends out a fastball despite having gotten it hit by a home run last time, but this time Masashi connects a foul. Chris points out Nagira began mixing pitches since the last inning. Masashi connects a foul. As it turns out, Nagira's fastballs have an additional effect from bending the wrist, making them harder to hit. Masashi strikes out, and Kanemaru steps up, waiting for a fastball so he can connect a homerun and send Furuya home for two runs. However, the ball heads straight for Nagira who catches it for the third out.
Top of the 6th, Nanatsuki gets a hit between right and center field and and reaches second base. Nara steps up with Nagira in wait. From the bullpen, Okumura realizes that each batter is aiming for different pitches, while Miyuki is worried that the fourth batter is coming up. Nara recalls his previous defeat against Inashiro last year, and how nobody expected anything from him or Sousei at all, which fuels his resolve to prove them wrong. Furuya gets a strike with a splitter, but the next pitch is a ball, putting the count 2-1. Furuya sends another splitter, but Nara makes contact and sends the ball to third, where Kanemaru is unable to catch it. Kuramochi manages to get it, but Nara's legs are much faster and he gets to first safely, and now Sousei has runners on first and third bases with no outs. Nagira now steps up to the batting box. Seidou's outfielders move in closer and prepare for a close play. Furuya sends out a splitter that results in a ball, and a second that results in a strike. Two more splitters put the count 3-1, and Nagira, realizing they won't throw a fastball, decides to swing, making contact. The ball slips past Furuya and bounces off Haruichi's glove right back at Kuramochi. Sousei scores one run but Seidou succeeds in getting a double play and no runners, leaving the game tied. Furuya then strikes out Nakazawa with consecutive fastballs for the third out.
Bottom of the 6th, Kuramochi gets a hit over firstbase, but cannot advance to second. Haruichi steps up to bat, and right on the first pitch Kuramochi makes a run for second. Haruichi hits the ball right in the opening between first and second base, allowing Kuramochi to advance to third. With runners on first on third, Sousei comes in closer in order to defend home to prevent any runs. Shiratsu steps up to bat and despite Sousei's defense, manages to deliver a hit to second where Nara catches it. He's called to send it back home, but Kuramochi gets safe and Seidou takes the lead once more with a hit-and-run. Miyuki steps up to bat next, and Nagira sends out a two-seam that results in ball. Nagira realizes that pitching out course won't do and they'll have to do in course. Miyuki hits a foul for the next. Following his coach's advice, Nagira ultimately walks Miyuki, and Maezono steps up to bat with the bases loaded, prompting the rest of the infield to close in even further. The first pitch is a two-seam that results in a foul, then a fastball to the outside, leaving Maezono cornered. A low two-seam results a a ball, putting the count 1-2. Sousei's battery decides to use the same height and course for a fastball. Maezono hits a double sending Haruichi and Shiratsu back home, leaving Miyuki on third. Furuya steps up to bat, sending a fly ball to the centerfield, but Miyuki scores another run. Kanemaru steps up and hits between second and third. Nara catches it and sends the ball to first for the second out. Sousei's infield return ot their original position and call for pitchings for contact. Masashi steps up to bat and hits a grounder straight to Nara's hands, who sends it to first for the third out.
Top of the 7th, Furuya strikes out all batters in quick succession. Skip to the bottom part, Seidou has runners on first and third with two outs and Miyuki steps up to the batting box.and hits to the centerfield, scoring one more run for Seidou. Skip to the top part of the 8th, Kikunaga got a hit and managed to get to second, Furuya strikes out Nara with his fastballs. His pitching count by the bottom part of the 8th is at 113, with his fastballs averaging 145 km/h. On the bottom part of the 8th, Sousei makes a move after a four ball walk with one out, sending Nagira to the centerfield while the second pitcher, Tokoro, takes the mound. Seidou reacts by sending Yui as a pinch hitter. Yui hits with a full swing through the gap between right and center, sending Toujou back home. Skip to the top of the 9th, Kawakami takes the mound for Seidou and reinforces the outfield defense with Asou on left field. With two outs, Gotou steps up to bat and after a strike out, the game ends with Seidou's victory after eight and a half innings.
References[]