Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

"STRIKE!"

"STRIKE!!"

"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!"

Kawaki, standing in the Batter's Box, felt at loss.

Before stepping up to bat, he had planned to hit the ball with all his might to avenge his teammates.

Unfortunately, he had ambition but not the strength to match it.

Facing the sharp breaking ball suddenly thrown by Sawamura, he had absolutely no countermeasure.

Soon, Sawamura recorded the second Out.

Two Outs, no runners on base.

"STRIKE!"

"STRIKE!!"

"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!"

Facing the sixth batter, It was almost the exact same routine again: three pitches, clean strikeout.

The current Sawamura seemed to have completely let go of any restraint.

The sharper his pitching became, the more impossible it was to track. The horror of the Maou was on full display.

Nine pitches, three Strikeouts.

Three Outs, offense and defense exchange.

In the bottom half of the inning, Shonan High School's defense held up well. For a while, it even felt like they were evenly matched with Seidou High School.

For the die-hard supporters of the Seidou baseball team, this was a blatant provocation. They wanted to teach the other side a lesson, but when the opponent showed equal strength, they couldn't make a convincing complaint.

Now, the Maou had officially shown his power.

"What are these extras waiting for? They might as well surrender!"

"Do you think you can compete with Seidou? You're still far from that level."

"I have to praise your courage, but unfortunately, baseball isn't a game you can play with courage alone."

The fan of Seidou had sharp tongues. Even the teammates in the stand felt a bit embarrassed hearing these remarks.

But, it was hard to deny, that it was quite satisfying.

Playing against Shonan was truly a test for the Seidou High School baseball players.

It had been a long time since they had played such a close game.

In the bottom half of the second inning, it was Seidou High School's turn to bat.

In the Shonan High School dugout.

Matt took out his monocular again and began observing every move on the field through the lens.

Honestly, his actions were similar to those of the crazy people in the mental hospital who call themselves Jack Sparrow.

If they hadn't known about his eccentricity, they might have sent him straight to the psychiatric ward ASAP.

How far was the seating area from the field? Was it really so hard to see clearly with the naked eye?

It was just a joke.

Seidou High School's offense wasn't going smoothly either.

With no one on base, Miyuki reverted to his previous style.

He swung at a tricky pitch!

The ball he hit flew straight to the shortstop, and Kojima caught it directly in his mitt.

One Out, no runners on base.

"As the Fourth Batter of the team, how long has it been since you got back on track? How come your old problems returned again?"

"Work these glasses of yours harder and don't make us look embarrassing!"

"You are the Captain of the team! Get it together dude!"

Sawamura, Kuramochi, and Maezono looked at Miyuki with great disappointment.

Recently, as long as you weren't blind, it wasn't hard to see Miyuki's progress.

Although ten professional baseball teams had already contacted him and his path to professional baseball was quite smooth, his batting success rate would directly affect his signing bonus and salary.

Where did all of his progress suddenly go?

In high school, every percentage point increase in Miyuki's batting average would lead to much better treatment.

Even if he had no other goals for the team, even if he was only a momentary slump, he shouldn't be this careless.

"Okay! Okay!"

A hint of warmth flashed in Miyuki's eyes.

He wasn't someone who didn't understand the situation. Of course, he knew they had good intentions.

But sometimes, he couldn't control himself.

When there were no runners on base, he just couldn't get excited. What could he do?

Although he had improved a lot since he became Captain in his third year, it still popped up occasionally. Especially when the opponent wasn't particularly strong, this situation became even more likely.

It was so frustrating!

The next two batters, Furuya and Shiratsu, also failed to perform and were directly shut Out.

Furuya hit a high fly ball, the kind that really stood out. The ball soared toward the sky with an unstoppable force.

It almost felt like the ball would launch toward the space.

The power of the hit was quite strong, and after flying high into the air, it took a long time to come back down.

But unfortunately, this spectacular ball didn't fly very far and landed directly into the pitcher's mitt.

Two Outs, no runners on base.

Shiratsu seemed to have had the same realization as Sawamura. Eliminating the opponent in a short period of time wasn't as easy as it seemed.

At this point, they could only continue to entangle and gather more information.

With that plan in mind, it wasn't hard to guess what Shiratsu would do.

He ended up fouling off six pitches, accidentally hitting one forward, and was struck out.

Strangely enough, Seidou High School had deliberately gathered information on their opponents before the game, but they didn't get much useful data.

They came up with a set of strategies, but when the real game began, it didn't work.

They could only continue searching during the game.

Despite their efforts, they never found any glaring weaknesses.

To the batters of Seidou High School, although Shonan High's strength was impressive, it shouldn't have been enough to make them feel helpless.

Yet, during the game, they felt powerless. Now, not only was scoring a point difficult, but even getting a single hit was proving to be a challenge.

"It's a bit tricky!"

In the dugout, Miyuki muttered.

Sawamura shook his head and said confidently:

"It's just a pitcher's duel. Don't worry, I won't lose to them."

Sawamura's tone was calm, with no impassioned fervor.

But what he said carried great weight.

The players of Seidou High School never doubted their Ace's ability.

Now that Sawamura had made such a promise, they believed their Ace would deliver.

The rest was up to them.

In the top of the third inning, it was Shonan's turn to bat.

The Shonan High batters stepped up with determined stances.

Unfortunately, it was all for nothing. Sawamura Eijun still got them three up, three down.

Because they were so pumped, Sawamura and Miyuki decided they needed to strike hard. They threw everything they had, using sharp fastballs mixed with Splitters and Change-up.

At the end of three innings, the score was still 0:0.

Although there were no runs by the end of the third inning, no one could deny that this was an exciting game.

Even without any runs, that wouldn't change.

The fourth inning was about to begin, and once again, Shonan High was up to bat.

Before Kojima and the others stepped up, Coach Matt suddenly gathered all his players.

He was about to hold a meeting!

Those familiar with his personality were all very excited.

They knew exactly what the meeting meant.

In other words, the time has come.

"The opportunity has come!!!"

Matt's handsome Hafu face radiated confidence.

Although the players of Shonan College didn't like their Coach's eccentric personality, they had to admit that this guy certainly had his own set of skills.

The reason Shonan High had achieved such success was, of course, due to the many talented players they had. But Matt's role in this success was absolutely indispensable.

Scientific training, intelligence gathering, data analysis, and game management...

There was nothing this guy didn't excel at.

Most importantly, Matt had never let them down before.

"What's the plan?"

In response to the players' questions, Matt remained calm.

"Let me first clarify something: The Seidou High School team we're facing today is definitely the strongest opponent we've ever faced. I'm being completely honest here. If I could, I'd want to Coach them instead."

When someone is disliked, there's usually a reason behind it.

Matt's words made all the players of Shonan High want to tie him and beat him up.

At their gaze Matt raised his hand in an insincere gesture, weakly waving it.

"Just kidding, just kidding!"

After laughing it off, he didn't care about the unhappy expressions around him and continued speaking with a smile.

"Ace Sawamura really trusts the teammates behind him. No wonder he's so confident—who wouldn't be, with such a solid defense backing them up when pitching?"

At this point, Matt suddenly revealed a mischievous smile.

"Now, what do you think? If Sawamura found out that those teammates behind him weren't as reliable as he thought, would that make things interesting?"

As he spoke, the devilish side of Matt emerged.

'This guy really isn't a good person!'

The players of Shonan High once again confirmed this belief.

But to defeat the king of Seidou, they would need this evil person's power.

Top of the Fourth Inning, Shonan High Attacks.

So far, neither team has managed to get a hit.

Thus, both teams start from the first batter in the fourth inning.

Shonan High's first batter is their shortstop, Kojima.

Facing this opponent, even though Sawamura and Miyuki couldn't be 100% confident, they were still very sure of their chances.

"Stick to the same rhythm?"

Before pitching, Miyuki communicated with Sawamura.

According to their previous rhythm, if the first three innings were dominated by sharp breaking balls, the middle innings would typically use moving balls and fastballs to adjust the pace.

This rhythm, in theory, was perfect. The reason it was 'theoretical' was that, like any rhythm, if it's overused, it becomes easy to predict and counter.

Shonan High had already made Miyuki cautious.

Sawamura nodded.

He trusted that even if the ball was hit, his teammates behind him in defense would help him stop it.

His previous habits were easy to read and target.

But even so, Sawamura and Miyuki stuck with their usual rhythm.

They had their reasons for doing this.

What kind of enemy is the most terrifying? It's not one that is stronger, but one that is completely unpredictable.

By sticking to the same routine, Sawamura and Miyuki could anticipate how their opponent would adjust. With that, they could respond accordingly and even had multiple counter-strategies prepared to perfect their tactic.

"Good!"

Miyuki nodded.

The two were in sync, feeling as if their energy could never be exhausted.

As the Seidou High team's lineup continued to strengthen and their overall strength grew, it had been a long time since Sawamura and Miyuki faced such an interesting challenge.

WHRROOSH!

Sawamura took his stance and pitched.

No matter when you looked at it, Sawamura's pitching action was as smooth as ever.

Kojima, standing in the Batter's Box, couldn't help but bitterly smile.

Having studied Seidou High's information beforehand, he knew exactly what Sawamura Eijun and Miyuki were planning next.

'A Moving ball!'

'Or perhaps one of those even more eccentric moving balls...'

'Nothing special—just using these two types of pitches to make him miss the sweet spot. Then, they would rely on Seidou's impenetrable defense to get the Outs.'

The whole process was simple and brutal.

But the most frustrating thing was that even though he had seen through everything, he was still helpless.

Before, countless powerhouse teams, and countless incredible batters, had faced Sawamura's Moving balls.

Of course, there were occasional hits, but the majority of the time, they were retired.

To be honest, standing in the Batter's Box, Kojima had absolutely no chance.

But As the offensive engine for the team, his performance would likely directly affect Shonan's performance in this round.

He couldn't afford to back down!

Fear and stubbornness gnawed at Kojima's soul.

So much so that he couldn't even swing at the first pitch Sawamura threw.

He waited until the ball flew past his eyes and into the catcher's mitt.

That's when Kojima suddenly came to his senses.

"STRIKE!"

But by then, it seemed to be too late. Without realizing it, his count had fallen behind.

The advantage on the field was steadily being seized by his opponent, Sawamura!

Kojima could only watch helplessly as it all unfolded before him.

'It's over!'

Although Kojima's posture was still upright and there was no sign of defeat in his appearance, deep down, his heart had already sunk to the lowest point.

Before stepping up to bat, the Coach had promised to give him a direction based on the situation. But up until now, that sign had never come.

"Kojima-senpai, go for it!"

Suddenly, a cheer rang out from the dugout!

It was a simple cheer, a common support slogan that anyone would hear without suspecting anything unusual.

But Kojima's expression subtly changed.

The one who shouted was also a second-year like him, both the same age and in the same grade.

Calling him 'Senpai' was, of course, incorrect.

This was the secret signal Matt, the Coach of Shonan High, had set up in advance.

By embedding the decisive signal for victory or defeat into the most common cheer, it would be the hardest to detect or recognize.

Kojima didn't even turn his head because he knew that the words he just heard were merely the key to unlocking the code. The next step was the real key!

"Go! Go!!!"

'Now!'

Almost simultaneously, Sawamura on the mound threw the pitch.

In the game, Sawamura's pitching rhythm was extremely fast. This served two purposes: one was to prevent the batter from having time to react, and the other was to deny the opponent the opportunity to receive a signal mid-pitching.

People call Sawamura the 'Demon King' and this nickname is no joke.

It's precisely because he perfects these small details that Sawamura is able to maintain such good form.

He doesn't have the talent to crush everything with velocity like Furuya. If he wants to be perfect, he has to put in more effort.

'So fast!'

Kojima had just received the signal instructions when Sawamura's pitch flew in.

Fortunately, Kojima was already prepared. Seeing the baseball coming, he immediately switched from a long swing to a bunt.

'A bunt?'

The Seidou High players were shocked when they saw this.

Using a bunt against Sawamura is no simple feat.

The speed required from the batter is extremely high.

Although Kojima wasn't slow, he wasn't fast enough to make it easy. The risk of using a bunt was very high.

Ping!

The ball was struck and rolled toward the third base side.

On the mound, Sawamura frowned.

Maybe it was just a coincidence, but he felt something was off.

"Kanemaru!"

From the catcher's position, Miyuki lifted his mask and shouted loudly.

Kanemaru had already begun to move earlier!

Seeing the opponent suddenly adopt a bunt stance, his body subconsciously started running forward.

It was truly just an unconscious, reflexive response from his body.

Kanemaru's fielding skills were highly praised at Seidou. While his batting wasn't as exceptional, his defensive skills made him a strong contender for the starting third baseman position.

But for some reason, when Kanemaru took those few steps forward, his body froze for a brief moment.

This was the reason Miyuki shouted.

The freeze wasn't very obvious; it looked more like Kanemaru was making a judgment.

Where would the ball land? How should he react?

But by the time he made his decision, he had already delayed just a bit.

Snap!

Kanemaru scooped up the ball and threw it to first base.

Just as Maezono caught the ball in his mitt, Kojima had already reached first base.

It was a tiny difference, but the result was astounding.

"SAFE!!"

No Outs, a runner on first base.

The players of Seidou's baseball team stood frozen in a collective stupor.

They didn't understand why. How could things have changed so suddenly?

Meanwhile, in the Shonan High dugout:

Matt, holding long-range binoculars, had a content smile on his face.

The corners of his mouth curled up, and he muttered to himself.

"See? Your teammates aren't that reliable. What will you do now, Sawamura?"

…