Zhou Hao never expected that, upon returning to the dugout, he would receive such a welcome.
Just moments ago on the field, his mind and body were fully immersed in the game, with no room to think about anything else.
Only after he stepped off the mound and was surrounded like a star by his teammates in the dugout did Zhou Hao suddenly realize what he had just done.
He had faced the top three batters of one of Chiba Prefecture's Final Four teams—the core of their lineup—and taken them down in order!
That kind of performance was absolutely MVP-level.
It's just that baseball didn't really use that kind of term.
Zhou Hao had just been feeling a bit of regret for not being able to test the power of his spiral pitch on Matsuyama High's fifth batter.
But now it seemed that didn't matter.
Compared to his performance just now, that would've been a mere side note.
"We still have three innings and we're only down by three runs. We can do this!"
Seidou High's baseball team had never lacked fighting spirit.
Previously, due to their weak pitcher, even if they wanted to talk big, the words wouldn't come out.
But now, the situation was clearly different.
Judging by the state of the game, it wasn't impossible for them to turn things around.
"Matsuyama's ace has already thrown a lot of pitches. He must be tired by now. Once we see an opening, we go all in!"
A pitch like the spiral ball, no matter how good Midorima's physical condition was, couldn't be sustained forever.
Everyone believed they would find their chance against him.
The next Seidou batter stepped up, full of confidence.
His determination to send the ball flying was written all over his face.
"Partner, looks like I owe you an apology."
Miyuki Kazuya walked up to Zhou Hao and proactively extended his hand.
When Zhou Hao had just gone on the mound, not to mention others—even Miyuki himself, as his catcher, didn't have high hopes.
A pitcher who had dominated in middle school, once stepping into high school—especially at a powerhouse like Seidou—usually saw their performance take a huge hit.
There were exceptions, but they were rare.
What Zhou Hao's exact background was, Miyuki didn't know.
But one thing he was sure of: up to that point, Zhou Hao had never pitched in an official high school game.
As a backup catcher for the first-string team, Miyuki paid close attention to all the pitchers.
So he could say for sure: he had never seen Zhou Hao pitch in the bullpen, let alone in a game.
A pitcher with no high school game experience—or even practice—what could he possibly do on the mound?
Turns out, he had been dead wrong.
His preconceived notions had been a mountain blocking his view.
Miyuki hadn't even realized that the partner he was working with today was this talented.
Even if Zhou Hao only had his spiral pitch, his ability ranked among the top.
"This summer might be a little soon, but by fall, Zhou Hao could definitely challenge Danba-senpai for the ace position."
Miyuki felt a surge of hot blood in his chest.
Come fall, not only would he be fighting Chris-senpai for the starting catcher role, but this partner of his—who was in the same grade—would also be fighting to become the team's ace.
Maybe, they were the golden battery of the future.
He had rejected Narumiya Mei and chosen to join Seidou High.
To say he had no regrets at all would be a lie.
But in this moment, Miyuki felt no regret whatsoever.
Seidou's future ace might even surpass Narumiya Mei.
Zhou Hao reached out and shook Miyuki's hand.
"That's not your fault—I didn't expect it either."
Zhou Hao was being honest, but everyone thought he was just being modest.
After all, based on what had just happened, who could believe this was Zhou Hao's first time pitching in a high school game?
The game continued, but Seidou's offense didn't go smoothly.
They were fully convinced that Midorima had already reached the end of his rope.
Surely, he couldn't last much longer.
All they needed to do was crush the exhausted fat pitcher—and then take down Matsuyama's backup pitcher.
But to everyone's disappointment, Midorima didn't collapse.
Though his condition clearly wasn't great—sweat was dripping in big beads from his head—the balls he pitched still had explosive power.
Seidou's batters gritted their teeth and swung hard, but could only barely make contact.
Ping!
The white baseball was hit but bounced straight off the ground.
Matsuyama's infielders clearly trained hard.
The third baseman charged over and fielded the ball immediately, then smoothly threw it to first.
Snap!
"Out!!"
One out, no runners on base.
Matsuyama's coach finally showed a small smile.
"Even though you pulled a hidden ace on us, in the end, we're still going to win this game."
The score on the board was 2:5.
Only a little more than two innings remained...
Matsuyama High still held a commanding lead.
"As long as we don't allow any more runs, victory is ours."
"Midorima, use all the fat you've stored up during practice!"
Fat players typically have less stamina—but the energy stored in their bodies is immense.
Midorima, right now, was already beyond the point of exhaustion.
He was so tired he could no longer even feel tired.
And yet, the balls he threw hadn't lost an ounce of their power.
Not only the first batter—Seidou's second and third batters also went up and came back down empty-handed.
Those third-year Seidou seniors fought hard.
Their performance today was even stronger than their usual capability.
But even so, they couldn't get a hit off Midorima.
It was unfortunate, but that's the nature of baseball.
Effort doesn't always equal results.
Just like many players at Seidou who practiced relentlessly for three years, but still couldn't make it to the first or even second string.
If it weren't for the awakening system, Zhou Hao would've likely faced the same fate.
Three outs. Inning over.
The game entered the top of the 8th. The score was still 2:5.
Earlier, Matsuyama's players had fallen into despair.
If even their core batters couldn't hit, how could the others have hope?
But now, seeing their teammate Midorima perform so admirably—
Even those batters began to wonder:
Could we… also have a breakthrough?
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