The Old Baseball Player System

"A perfect inning. This is crazy, that's the second perfect inning of the game, first Shun, and now Imai... the pitching in this game is definitely beyond middle school level!" - Toji spoke, impressed after seeing Imai's perfect inning. He could hardly believe he was witnessing a game with such high-level pitching in a middle school tournament, after all, he hadn't even seen a game this competitive in the senior league.

"It's a shame that one of these two teams won't make it to the Kanto tournament..." - Satoshi said with a regretful tone. As a pitcher, the boy loved watching pitching battles, and in this game, with Shun dominating for six innings, Takumi holding Shoto's lineup twice, and now Imai pitching beyond his limits, any baseball fan would wish this game would never end.

"It really is a shame, but... The momentum is clearly in Kasuga's favor now. I wonder who Shoto is going to choose to put on the mound next..." - Akira muttered thoughtfully as he looked at Shoto's dugout. Given the current atmosphere in the stadium, it would be hard for any pitcher to take the mound at the bottom of the seventh, but for a pitcher entering the game now, facing Kasuga's top order under such pressure from the start would be no easy task.

---

Meanwhile, the Kasuga players returned to their dugout...

"Good job, Imai!" - Kasuga's coach praised the boy. Although he tried to maintain his composure, it was hard for the man to hide his emotions after seeing Imai's perfect inning. After all, it wasn't just a perfect inning, it came at the best possible moment.

"They're going to switch pitchers this inning. We don't know yet which of their second-year pitchers will come in, but you all know the stats of both! The momentum is on our side, no matter who steps on that mound, he will surely give in to the pressure! So take this opportunity and go score some runs for us!" - Kasuga's coach looked at all his players and spoke loudly as he motivated them.

During this game, he couldn't deny that he had been nervous, but thanks to Imai's pitching, he believed his players had everything they needed to defeat Shoto and advance to the Kanto tournament.

"Yes, Coach!" - All the Kasuga players shouted determinedly after hearing their coach's words. At that moment, there wasn't a single person in the dugout who didn't believe in their victory.

---

Meanwhile, in the Shoto Junior High dugout...

The Shoto players were silent as a heavy atmosphere took over the dugout. At that moment, everyone could feel the difficult situation they were in, the loud noise from Kasuga's crowd continued to bother their ears, while the lack of confidence began to show on the faces of some players after seeing Imai's incredible performance that inning.

Coach Yamada looked at his silent players, but at that moment, even he didn't know how to motivate them. In his mind, he understood that they weren't losing, but feeling the atmosphere surrounding the entire stadium made it hard not to believe otherwise.

At that moment, doubts began to creep into Coach Yamada's mind. He had already said that Shun would pitch this inning, but given the current situation of the game, if Shun gave up even one run, it was almost certain that Shoto wouldn't be able to recover.

Coach Yamada then looked at his players in search of an answer. He looked at Sora and then at Jiro, but it was clear from the boys' faces that they were feeling the weight of the moment's pressure. Unsure of what to do, he instinctively looked at the spot on the bench where Shun was sitting, but he didn't see the boy there.

Shun was standing, he had just grabbed his glove and started walking toward the dugout steps in silence. He passed by all his teammates, noticing the doubt, fear, and lack of confidence on their faces. He then walked past Coach Yamada as he climbed the dugout steps, but before stepping onto the first step, he stopped and looked back.

"Hahaha, what the heck happened to you guys? You look like you've seen a ghost or something!" - Shun laughed cheerfully as he teased his teammates. He noticed the surprise on their faces after seeing him make a joke at a moment like this, but before any of them could respond, Shun continued.

"It's just baseball, guys! We do this every day!" - Shun smiled as he spoke with confidence. Without waiting for his teammates' reactions, Shun turned toward the field and climbed the dugout steps. As he stepped onto the field, he began a light jog toward the mound.

"Pft! This guy..." - Ren chuckled as he started walking toward the dugout steps.

"Just baseball, huh?" - Kenta also said with a smile as he walked alongside the young samurai. The two then climbed the dugout steps with a smile as they followed Shun, at that moment, neither of them hesitated.

The three third-year friends were determined to give it their all in the last chance they had to make it to the Kanto tournament. They didn't care about Imai's incredible performance, the loud cheers from Kasuga's crowd, or the pressure, after all, as Shun said, at the end of the day, this was just baseball.

Seeing their seniors smiling in such a situation, the hesitation disappeared from the faces of Shoto's players, and one by one, they all followed Shun onto the field for the bottom of the seventh inning.

Daigo went first, running toward home plate. Jiro and Sora followed right after, running to their positions in the outfield. After them, Tomo, Hisashi, and Takeya also climbed the dugout steps, running to their respective positions.

[DING]

The moment Shun stepped onto the mound, he could feel the entire stadium's attention focused on him. He could feel the surprised looks from the stands, hear the cheers of Kasuga's crowd, and sense the intense heat filling the stadium... But at that moment, Shun's only concern was with the system notification that sounded in his mind.

[The requirements for activating the legendary skill "Clutch Player" have been met. The legendary skill "Clutch Player" has been activated!]

[Clutch Player (SS+)

Improves the user's performance in clutch situations.

Requirements for activation: The user's team must be tied or losing. The game must be in the seventh inning or later.

Performance boost: 3 grades to all of the user's stats.]

Shun smiled as he heard the system notifications and felt an unusual strength fill his body. The boy then looked toward Kasuga's dugout with a clear challenge in his eyes, he was ready!