Chapter 246: The Difference Between Furuya and Sawamura

“I told you months ago.”

“Pitching isn’t just about throwing hard.”

“The more you rely on velocity to overpower hitters, the more obvious your weakness becomes.”

“All they have to do is sit on your fastball.”

“If it’s in the zone, they swing.”

“If it’s outside the zone, they watch it.”

“Your control isn’t consistent enough, and the harder you try to throw, the easier it is for you to lose command.”

“You should be a pitcher with tremendous dominance.”

“But instead, your own pitching exposes your greatest weakness.”

“You never think about the batter.”

“You don’t think about what pitch he wants.”

“You don’t think about where he likes the ball.”

“You don’t think about changing his timing or forcing weak contact.”

“The only thing on your mind is throwing harder than the last pitch.”

“You believe overpowering the hitter is the only way to win.”

Ushijima looked directly at Furuya.

“The problem is…”

“The more desperately you chase velocity, the more you’re telling the batter…”

“‘All I have is speed.'”

“‘If my fastball doesn’t work, I have nothing else.'”

“‘Even if my command falls apart, I’ll still throw harder because that’s the only weapon I have.'”

“There’s nothing wrong with throwing your hardest.”

“But believing that’s the only way to pitch…”

“That’s arrogance.”

The blunt words struck Furuya like a hammer.

Kanemaru quietly walked toward the batter’s box.

As the leadoff hitter this inning, it was his turn to bat.

“Have you ever looked at your pitching statistics?”

Furuya nodded silently.

“What about Sawamura’s?”

This time, he slowly shook his head.

“You’ve never compared them.”

Ushijima continued calmly.

“Based on your appearances…”

“You average more than one hundred pitches in five innings.”

“Sawamura averages only fifty to sixty.”

“You throw over one hundred pitches…”

“And still allow around four runs.”

“Sawamura throws almost half that…”

“And usually gives up only one or two.”

Hearing himself praised, Sawamura immediately puffed out his chest.

His face practically bloomed like a sunflower.

Kuramochi, standing behind him, resisted the urge to kick him.

“You and Sawamura are complete opposites.”

“You try to keep hitters from making contact.”

“So you challenge them with power.”

“Sawamura wants them to hit the ball.”

“But he makes sure they hit the pitches he wants them to hit.”

“He forces weak contact.”

“And then he trusts the defense behind him.”

“In practice games and official games combined…”

“There have been over fifty innings where you’ve needed more than twenty pitches to record three outs.”

“But Sawamura…”

“He’s had over twenty innings where he retired the side in five pitches or fewer.”

“Do you understand the difference now?”

“The gap between you and me is large.”

“But the gap between you and Sawamura…”

“…is just as significant.”

“As a batter…”

“I’d much rather face you than face Sawamura.”

The moment those words fell…

Sawamura looked ready to float into the sky.

Fortunately, Kuramochi grabbed the back of his jersey before he could start celebrating.

Furuya lowered his head even further.

He remained silent.

Watching him, Kawakami couldn’t help asking,

“Aren’t you worried you’ll discourage him?”

“If he gets discouraged, then he gets discouraged.”

“He’s only a first-year.”

“He still has two more years to grow.”

“If he realizes his shortcomings now…”

“He’ll mature that much sooner.”

“But if nobody ever points them out…”

“He’ll never improve.”

The game continued.

Coach Kataoka quietly watched Furuya, who had wrapped a towel over his head and fallen into deep thought.

He had always placed great expectations on Furuya.

Unfortunately…

Furuya relied almost entirely on raw power.

He rarely pitched with strategy.

Because of that, Kataoka fully supported Ushijima’s blunt lesson.

Furuya was still young.

If this setback discouraged him today, he still had plenty of time to recover.

But without experiencing failure…

He would never truly grow.

In the bottom of the fourth inning…

Kanemaru reached base.

Maezono followed with a hit that advanced him to third.

Then Asou, batting ninth, lined a clean single to drive Kanemaru home.

“What?”

“That’s the bottom of Seido’s lineup?”

“They can hit like this too?”

The spectators couldn’t hide their surprise.

Kanemaru smiled inwardly.

Of course.

We swing the bat a thousand times every single day.

We also face that monster’s pitching during practice.

Every one of us is getting stronger.

Seido isn’t carried by Ushijima alone.

We’re improving together.

If you underestimate the rest of us…

You’ll pay for it.

At the end of four innings…

Ugumori: 0 0 0 0 — 0

Seido: 2 0 3 2 — 7

The top of the fifth inning brought Ugumori’s heart of the order back to the plate.

Umemiya opened the inning with a clean single.

Unfortunately…

That was all they could manage.

The very next batter grounded into a double play engineered by Ushijima and Seido’s airtight defense.

Three batters.

Three outs.

The inning ended almost immediately.

In the bottom of the fifth…

Seido’s cleanup hitters came through once again.

Kominato singled.

Ushijima followed with a ringing double, putting runners on second and third.

Then Miyuki stepped into the batter’s box.

Crack!

He crushed Umemiya’s pitch.

The baseball sailed deep into the stands.

A three-run home run.

The scoreboard instantly became…

10–0.

Toujou, Kanemaru, and Maezono were retired afterward, but it no longer mattered.

The mercy rule was in effect.

The game was over.

After the game, both teams lined up for the customary handshake.

Umemiya walked over to Ushijima with a grin.

“I didn’t lose our head-on battle.”

“I got on base.”

“And you never even threw me a fastball.”

Ushijima smiled.

“If I’d challenged you with my fastball…”

“I’m afraid you would’ve turned it into a home run.”

“I know how good your bat is.”

“I’m not foolish enough to pitch straight at you.”

Umemiya laughed.

That answer sounded exactly like the ace he had expected.

Unlike pitchers who relied purely on velocity, Umemiya won with pitch sequencing and changes of speed.

In that regard…

He and Ushijima were surprisingly similar.

“Let’s settle it again next year.”

Umemiya extended his hand.

“If we get the chance.”

Ushijima accepted the handshake without hesitation.

With that…

Seido’s second-round match came to an end.

Although Ushijima didn’t hit a ball over the fence today, his performance was still outstanding.

Three extra-base hits.

Including one inside-the-park home run.

As the team packed up, Toujou remarked,

“Not a single one of Ushijima’s fastballs reached 150 km/h today.”

Kanemaru nodded.

“He’s saving his real strength.”

“Our next opponents will probably be Ichidai Sanko or Yakushi.”

“There’s no reason to reveal all of his cards this early.”