The Old Baseball Player System

Shun took the mound again to pitch the bottom of the third inning. Kasuga's offense started with their seventh batter in the box, and Shun intended to continue his streak of outs.

This inning, it seemed the batters had been instructed to take a more cautious approach against Shun, letting him pitch not only to observe his pitches but also to wear out his arm.

However, even with the batters swinging less, Shun didn't lose his momentum, pitching with everything he had into Daigo's glove. After all, he had visualized many ways Kasuga's batters might try to handle him, and waiting for pitches was certainly something he'd anticipated, as Kasuga wasn't the first team to adopt this strategy against him.

Shun faced the seventh batter with a mix of his vertical and horizontal sliders, and though he allowed two balls and one foul, he managed to strike out the batter in six pitches.

With one out, Kasuga's eighth batter stepped into the box, and in just three pitches, Shun wrapped up the duel. He placed his first two sliders in the zone, forcing the batter to swing at the third, making weak contact that resulted in an infield fly, caught by Kenta.

The ninth batter stepped into the box, attempting to spark some kind of reaction, but with two outs, he was at a disadvantage against Shun, especially being a left-handed hitter. Shun closed the duel in just four pitches, achieving a strikeout with a low horizontal slider within the strike zone.

---

In the stadium's stands, the disguised duo was watching the field closely.

"Looks like you were right, Suga, it really is a pitchers' duel..." - Kohei remarked, impressed.

"Tch! Of course, but the real pitchers' duel hasn't started yet." - Sugawara replied, staring intently at Shun as he returned to the dugout.

"Huh? What do you mean?" - Kohei asked, curious.

"The real duel will only happen when Kasuga's ace enters the game. As for Shoto, that depends on how long that blue-eyed idiot can keep the mound secure." - Sugawara answered honestly. Since he'd played in last year's Kanto tournament, he knew Kasuga's team well, and as for Shoto's team, well, he was probably one of the biggest experts on the subject, considering he came to all their games...

---

Meanwhile, in another part of the stands, two brothers were sitting and watching the game.

"Ohh, I didn't expect this. Your old team is really good! Especially that pitcher, his slider is amazing!" - The older brother, Kyosuke, said excitedly while eating a hot dog and watching the game.

"Hmph! Whatever..." - The younger brother, Ryosuke, huffed irritably. It was clear he didn't want to be there watching a game of the team he used to be a part of before being expelled.

---

Meanwhile, in the stands just above Shoto Junior High's dugout...

"What do you think, Toji?" - Satoshi looked at his friend and asked curiously.

"Shun will probably be replaced in the next few innings..." - Toji sighed as he responded honestly.

"Huh? What are you talking about? He's pitching so well!" - Kaori asked, confused. She couldn't understand how someone who hadn't allowed a single base could be close to being substituted. Hana and Mika also looked at Toji curiously, when it came to baseball knowledge, they couldn't compare to the green-eyed boy.

"Well, he is pitching well, but..." - Toji said with a bit of hesitation, but before he could finish his sentence, a voice interrupted him.

"But his repertoire is very limited. No matter how good his slider is, it's impossible to go deep into the game with just one breaking ball." - Satoshi spoke calmly, explaining, though he didn't expect that his logical analysis would irritate a little girl listening to the conversation.

"Shut up! You're just jealous because you're not as cool as my brother! Bro is definitely going to pitch the whole game!" - Little Yumi stood up, annoyed, pointing at Satoshi. The little girl was about to charge at the boy who "bad-mouthed" her brother when Aiko stopped her.

"Yumi! Watch your mouth! Apologize to Satoshi now!" - Aiko picked up the little girl and quickly scolded her.

"Hmph! I'll never apologize! He's the one who's wrong!" - Little Yumi crossed her arms and pouted, making everyone watching look at her in disbelief.

"You little-" - Aiko was about to seriously scold the girl for being rude, but before she could do anything, Satoshi spoke up.

"It's all right, Mrs. Takahashi! I'm sorry, Yumi!" - Satoshi said with a smile. He clearly didn't want to argue with a child, so he just apologized and waited to be forgiven. Little did he know that Yumi was quite unforgiving toward anyone who spoke ill of her Bro.

"Hmph! I don't like you!" - Little Yumi huffed before slipping out of her mother's arms. Knowing she'd probably get another scolding if she didn't do anything, she went straight to her father, climbed onto his lap, and hugged him tightly.

"Daddy, you think Bro is going to pitch the whole game too, right?" - Yumi asked, looking up with her big blue eyes, melting her father's heart.

"Hm." - Kenshin nodded as he put his hand on his daughter's head and gently stroked her hair. He couldn't say no to the little girl's face, though he had his doubts.

After all, Satoshi's analysis wasn't wrong. Unless something unexpected happened, it would be very difficult for Shun to pitch until the end of the game, especially considering this was the last round of the tournament. Logically, there was no reason to risk keeping a pitcher with only one pitch against the batting order two or three times, especially when two other excellent pitchers were available.

But, of course, baseball was never just about logic. Especially when it comes down to a single game, in just nine innings, an infinite number of possibilities can unfold.

---

Unaware of everything happening in the stands, Shun was seated on the dugout bench, drinking water and breathing calmly. He simply watched as his friend Kenta prepared to bat and start the fourth inning.

The noise from Kasuga's crowd was as loud as ever, audible to all the players in Shoto's dugout. And although no one had said anything, it was obvious that the constant pressure from the opposing crowd was beginning to affect Shoto's players, especially the younger and less experienced ones.