Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

The batter of Shonan High School stole the base with a bunt.

At first, this incident didn't attract much attention from Seidou High School.

When Sawamura started pitching with his Moving ball as the core, it was only natural that he was hit by the opponent.

On the contrary, if the opponent couldn't hit, it would be even more troublesome for them!

On this basis, there was still a chance of an unexpected occurrence. First of all, Sawamura could not completely control the movement of his Moving ball. While the Moving ball had a high chance of becoming tricky pitches, it could also occasionally be easy-to-hit ones.

To minimize the chances of the opponent getting hits, Sawamura needed to make it easy for the opponent to swing at the ball with his control when he threw the Moving ball.

Only then could an ordinary Moving ball have its maximum effect.

Sawamura relied on this point to dominate many of the top batters in the country.

Of course, there's no such thing as absolute perfection in this world, and Sawamura's pitching was no exception.

His Moving ball also had some insurmountable weaknesses.

For example, it wasn't effective against bunts!

It was originally a ball designed to be hit by the opponent, so it couldn't be expected to be particularly powerful or tricky.

Not being strong or tricky, when faced with bunts, it naturally became a disadvantage.

When a batter bunts, as long as they adjusts the angle at which their bat makes contact with the ball, they can easily direct the ball to the desired location.

Of course, this requires a certain amount of skill.

Kojima, who was extremely fast, was quite skilled at bunting. He accurately placed the ball toward the third base side and managed to surprise the defense, successfully reaching base.

"Bad start!"

Just as they switched to focusing on the Moving ball, the opponent targeted them this way.

From the perspective of the Seidou baseball team, this was definitely a bad start.

However, it wasn't too concerning!

For the players of the Seidou baseball team, especially the duo of Sawamura and Miyuki, this kind of situation had been simulated countless times in their minds.

They could calmly devise a plan to deal with the remaining batters.

They could even design a double play!

No Outs, runner on first base.

Faced with this minor crisis, the Seidou baseball team responded calmly. They steadily changed their rhythm, ready to use new strategies to deal with the opponent.

At this point, the batters of Shonan High School had their second batter up.

As the batter stepped up to the plate, Sawamura's sharp gaze first glanced at the runner.

Kojima seemed frozen like he had been paused in place, not daring to move.

He had a very bad premonition—if he tried to steal a base and hold the pitcher back...

The man on the mound would definitely ruthlessly take him out.

'The pressure is too much!'

Kojima breathed nervously.

Before he reached base, he already felt tremendous pressure from Sawamura.

That terrifying pressure felt almost tangible, continuously weighing on his mind, making it difficult to perform at his best.

Kojima thought he'd feel better once he reached base.

After all, he was a speedster, and being on base would allow him to better utilize his strengths.

However, once he actually reached base, he realized he was wrong.

The terrifying aspect of the Demon King wasn't just his pitching, but his incredible control over base runners.

From his position as the catcher, Miyuki couldn't help but smile subtly.

He knew exactly what the opponent was thinking—but they were being naive!

'Because Sawamura's pitching and batting were so dazzling, people tended to overlook his defensive abilities, which were also top-tier.'

Trying to break through his defense with base runners was clearly a misguided attempt.

'Very good!'

Miyuki nodded at Sawamura and took his stance, ready to receive the ball.

This was the tacit understanding they had cultivated over time.

Before the pitch, Sawamura was responsible for holding the runners.

Once Sawamura started pitching, the responsibility of containing the runners shifted to Miyuki.

Once the handoff was completed, the two would execute their plan mercilessly.

Sawamura adjusted his stance and pitched the ball.

The second batter of Shonan High School seemed to freeze as if intimidated by Sawamura.

He stood there, unable to swing.

To be honest, it wasn't that he didn't want to swing, but he simply couldn't.

When Sawamura threw his Moving ball, his goal was to make the batter hit it. So, the batter could easily make contact with the ball.

But once someone reached base, Sawamura couldn't maintain his previous rhythm.

As mentioned before, the Moving ball didn't have any advantages against bunts; in fact, it was full of weaknesses.

When no one was on base, Sawamura could throw the Moving ball without worrying about the opponent using a bunt.

But once someone reached base, things changed.

He couldn't maintain the same rhythm, otherwise, what if the opponent used a bunt to score a point?

So whenever someone reached base, Sawamura would switch to aiming for a strikeout.

In other words, he would rely on his breaking balls.

The sheer number of the breaking balls is enough to dazzle and overwhelm the batter.

Sawamura used this rhythm to control all his opponents.

Faced with the extremely sharp Cutter, the second batter of Shonan High School was unable to swing.

"STRIKE!"

After securing a Strike, Sawamura didn't hesitate for a moment and immediately threw the second pitch.

In addition to his sharp-breaking balls, this was another weapon in Sawamura's arsenal.

His smooth rhythm would create an overwhelming pressure on the batter.

Also, because the time between pitches is short, it leaves the opponent with little time to think.

This would increase the effectiveness of Sawamura's pitches.

Up until now, neither Sawamura nor Miyuki had noticed any unusual movement from Shonan High School.

They had encountered similar situations many times before and had successfully dealt with them each time.

Although there was some coincidence in the current situation, in a game, anything could happen.

So, they didn't think too much of it.

However, their attitude soon underwent a significant change.

Just as Sawamura was preparing to throw the second pitch, aiming for two Strikes before delivering the final blow to the opponent, something unexpected happened on the field.

The batter, who had clearly been completely suppressed by Sawamura, made a desperate attempt.

He used all his strength to aim for an inside pitch and swung the bat.

Ping!

The ball was hit, then flew foul.

"FOUL!"

To the onlookers, this seemed like a very normal occurrence.

But to the players of Seidou, it was a warning bell.

This was a clear sign that the batter was targeting the pitch!

From the catcher's position, Miyuki subtly furrowed his brows.

Just how sharp is Sawamura's breaking ball?

No one understands this better than his partner, Miyuki.

While the Shonan High School batter was strong, it wasn't easy to make precise contact with Sawamura's breaking balls.

Yet, that pitch wasn't just contacted, it had a high probability of landing in fair territory.

This was highly unusual and needed to be taken seriously.

Miyuki carefully observed the opponent in front of him.

'Given his abilities, in order to hit Sawamura's Cutter, he would have to be certain that Sawamura was going to throw an inside breaking ball.'

'But how could he know that Sawamura would throw an inside pitch?'

Was it just a coincidence?

Miyuki thought to himself, somewhat puzzled.

'To be honest, this probability wasn't low.'

'When facing a pitcher like Sawamura, who had exceptional control, it was possible to anticipate whether the pitch would be inside or outside.'

Miyuki observed the batter's stance and reviewed the data in his mind.

Quickly, Miyuki gave the signal for an outside pitch.

'Even if the batter locked onto the outside pitch, the previous pitch, which had been so close, would undoubtedly have a significant impact on the batter.'

'The sudden outside pitch would definitely catch him off guard.'

On the pitcher's mound, Sawamura saw Miyuki's signal. Without hesitation, he took his stance and delivered the pitch.

This time, he used the back door Cutter!

It appeared as though the pitch was a ball that drifted outside the strike zone, but it would break horizontally near the edge of the strike zone.

After the horizontal break, the ball would drop into the strike zone.

Although Sawamura had been facing a pitching slump recently, he had been practicing his breaking balls. It was certain that new types of breaking balls had been developed.

This back door Cutter was one of the new breaking balls Sawamura had been working on.

It was tentatively ranked as Level 3.

Using this Level 3 breaking ball, he aimed to defeat the second batter of Shonan High School.

Normally, this shouldn't have been difficult.

However, to their surprise, it wasn't successful.

Ping!

The ball was hit, and it bounced away.

In the Seidou dugout, everyone had dark expressions on their faces. They sensed that things weren't going well.

"FOUL!"

The first foul ball had allowed Sawamura to push the batter to two strikes.

At that time, the spectators believed that Sawamura had a firm grip on the game.

So, their cheers were especially loud, almost as if they were worried that others wouldn't hear.

But now, they realized that the situation was very different from what they had imagined.

The all-powerful Maou Sawamura appeared to be in a tough battle.

How could this be?

No one wanted to believe it, but it was the truth.

Sawamura had been entangled like this.

"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!"

The struggle didn't last too long, and in the end, Sawamura struck out the batter with a Moving-up.

One Out, runner on first base.

Seidou High School had recorded the first out of the fourth inning.

They still seemed incredibly dominant.

However, this dominance didn't last long. After Shonan High School's third batter stepped up, the balance quickly shifted.

Ping!

The ball landed in fair territory for a base hit.

The situation was instantly rewritten to runners on first and third base.

Seidou High School found themselves facing an unprecedented major crisis.

…

T/N: Shonan are making their move.

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