Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

Although Miyuki Kazuya said that it doesn't matter which team wins in the end, for Seidou High School, the result is the same, the reality is not so simple.

In fact, Seidou High School's baseball team has a bias in today's game. However, this bias is something no one dares to speak of.

In any case, Seidou High School is the undisputed king, having dominated Koshien last summer and this spring. Even if the players don't say it out loud, they surely have this pride in their hearts.

We are the best in the country!

It is hard to get them to admit that they are inferior to others.

For example, Inajitsu High School.

The players from Seidou High School don't think their strength is any less than that of Inajitsu.

This doesn't mean they are underestimating themselves; it's just a reasonable analysis of knowing oneself and knowing the enemy.

If they truly played against Inajitsu in the finals, Seidou High might not necessarily win.

But if you think that Seidou High is more inclined to let Hakuryu High win, you are gravely mistaken.

In fact, at this point, Seidou High is more afraid of playing against Hakuryu High. Especially their battery — that is, Sawamura Eijun and Miyuki Kazuya.

If you want to delve deeper, it involves the condition of their Ace pitcher.

Don't be fooled by Sawamura's brave performance in previous games.

But if you pay a little attention, you will notice an interesting phenomenon: Sawamura Eijun, known as the 'Prince of Breaking Balls,' didn't use a lot of breaking balls in the previous game.

This is a very interesting phenomenon, and it's definitely worth studying.

After analyzing these phenomena, the opponents would undoubtedly come up with various interesting conclusions.

These conclusions are arbitrary, and there's a lot to say about them.

The real reason, however, is probably something only Sawamura and Miyuki would truly understand.

The reason is actually very simple: Sawamura has made too much progress!

In the past year, his ball speed has increased by a full 10 km/h.

This is simply unbelievable.

When Sawamura first entered the team, his ball speed was around 138 km/h. Now, it has exceeded 147 km/h.

Such tremendous progress has completely reshaped Sawamura Eijun.

When Sawamura first entered high school, he was excellent, but he was just an ordinary national-level pitcher.

A year later, he became one of the top pitchers in the country.

Some even say he is the number one high school pitcher.

When it comes to the development of his breaking balls, Sawamura's progress hasn't been as dramatic.

The two most important reasons for his achievements are:

One, he developed a new pitching form; and two, his ball speed increased by 10 kilometers. Especially in the past few months, his ball speed has passed 147 km/h.

This is a terrifying ball velocity that Sawamura never even mastered before his regression.

While his progress is admirable, the hidden risks are unavoidable.

His entire pitching rhythm and feel are now off.

He must find a new rhythm and feel to perfect his pitching ability.

With a year and a half left until graduation, Sawamura must fully control his pitching by then.

Only this way will he have the confidence to enter professional baseball.

However, this familiarity and control require a lengthy process — it cannot be accomplished overnight.

During this time, Sawamura must still face competition. He can't just delay the big games because he hasn't fully mastered his new speed, can he?

Human adaptability is very strong, and Sawamura is no different.

If he can't fully control his pitching, he'll just have to take it step by step.

Through his continuous efforts and collaboration with Miyuki, Sawamura's basic Straight balls and Moving balls are now almost at the level he wants.

He's recovered about 60% of his strength.

With his increased ball speed, Sawamura can rely on these two types of pitches to reach about 80% of his peak performance.

He has also developed several types of breaking balls and can barely control their locations.

His strength has increased a little more.

But that's still not enough.

There are some particularly sharp breaking balls that Sawamura still can't reliably throw into the strike zone.

When facing average opponents, this issue isn't very noticeable because he doesn't need to throw a lot of sharp breaking balls. Occasionally missing won't be a big deal.

However, if one day he has to throw more breaking balls, the problem becomes serious.

It's easy for the opponent to notice that the Maou's control is not as stable as it once was...

This is fatal.

With Miyuki and Sawamura together, they could come up with at least ten ways to deal with this kind of Sawamura.

Of course, just having a strategy doesn't necessarily mean you can defeat Sawamura since his pitching ability is still exceptional. Even other top pitchers in the country have their own problems, and no one has been completely defeated because of this.

But as long as there is a weakness, there's an opportunity. At least the opponent would have a chance to exploit it.

When they faced Inashiro, they were familiar with the opponent and added Inashiro's style into their strategy.

Sawamura and Miyuki still had some confidence in their response.

But Hakuryu is different.

Among all the top powerhouses in the country, Hakuryu has the most unique and distinct style.

Those familiar with the team's characteristics know that Hakuryu High School is a team focused on mobility.

The mobility of this team is the highest in the country. Once someone gets on base, the threat level of the entire Hakuryu team rises dramatically.

Of course,

What truly makes Sawamura and Miyuki more wary isn't just this.

After all, Sawamura and Miyuki are both strong fielders. Even if the opponent has good mobility, they can still handle it.

What really makes them more cautious is Hakuryu's tempo.

Because their players are faster on average, Hakuryu's players — whether in batting, stealing bases, or fielding —

Their time for attacks is completely different from other teams.

For some teams, it's absolutely impossible to steal a base, but Hakuryu will go ahead and steal it.

Someone might ask, so what?

Well, currently, it's not that Sawamura can't use breaking balls, but that he can't control them as precisely as he used to.

This will inevitably lead to a serious problem.

Sawamura will make many small mistakes when throwing breaking balls.

If his previous error rate was under 10%, now it's at least 30%.

If the opponent proceeds methodically, even with a higher error rate, Sawamura Eijun could still manage.

But now, with more small errors and the opponent taking hasty actions, this chain reaction could easily lead to unexpected outcomes.

In other words, Hakuryu's chances of scoring will dramatically increase.

Unless Sawamura can suppress Hakuryu High's batting lineup with just his fastballs and normal breaking balls, this situation will be unavoidable.

According to the calculations of Sawamura and Miyuki, to avoid being caught off guard by Hakuryu's surprise tactics, they need at least two more months to familiarize themselves further and sharpen more breaking balls.

At the very least, a Level 3 Cutter needs to be perfected, ensuring it can always land in the strike zone.

Otherwise, there's little confidence.

In comparison, Inajitsu High School seems much easier to handle.

Although this team is even stronger than Seidou High, Sawamura and Miyuki are familiar with them.

Not only do they know the team's tactics and characteristics, but they also know many of the players inside and out.

Even with the simplest pitches, the two can come up with strategies to deal with them.

While they may not necessarily defeat them 100%, it's at least worth trying.

Even if Sawamura can perform at his best, there's still no guarantee he can prevent Inajitsu's players from scoring.

For these reasons, the two would prefer to face Inajitsu in the final.

Based on their own opinions, they believe Hakuryu would also struggle to defeat Inajitsu.

The showdown between the Tokyo Prince and Hakuryu's mobility is about to unfold.

They had met in the Spring Koshien.

Even a fatigued Inajitsu High was able to defeat Hakuryu High.

Now, with a stronger Inajitsu, bolstered by powerful new players,

it seems unlikely they could lose.

The start of the official game confirmed this.

Narumiya Mei didn't disappoint his title of Tokyo King, opening with full force.

He quickly disposed of Hakuryu's leadoff batter, Kujou.

Hakuryu's efficient Coach, Sasaki, was watching closely with a stopwatch, his face darkening.

As previously mentioned, during the Spring Koshien, they faced Inajitsu High.

In that match, Narumiya had left a deep impression on Hakuryu's players.

Sasaki was no exception — he remembered Narumiya well.

In just two months, Sasaki had thought Narumiya might have grown slightly, but not by much.

However, when the actual game began, it was clear that Narumiya was a completely different pitcher than before.

On the mound now, Narumiya seemed like a giant standing tall at a hundred meters, with unstoppable power.

As for Kujou, despite looking frail, he was a capable player.

After all, he held crucial positions as both shortstop and leadoff batter.

These were very important roles, and his ability to secure them spoke volumes about his skill.

Yet, facing Narumiya's pitching, Kujou didn't even have a chance to fight back and was easily retired.

The result was chilling.

"The strength of this opponent… it might really be on par with Sawamura!"

Sasaki slammed his stopwatch shut.

It had been said that the 'Twin Kings of West Tokyo' were Narumiya, the Prince, and Sawamura, the Demon King.

This saying was very popular.

Except for Narumiya, who didn't fully accept it, others widely agreed with this comparison.

As for Narumiya, he didn't mind being compared to Sawamura.

Deep down, he greatly respected him. He was happy to be mentioned alongside Sawamura.

"But What About These Nicknames?!"

When comparing them, Narumiya always felt like he was a step behind Sawamura.

Sasaki had always thought this comparison was a bit exaggerated.

Having truly experienced Sawamura's power, he knew the Demon King's strength very well.

Even though he had faced Narumiya's pitching during the Koshien,

Sasaki still didn't think this pitcher could be compared to Sawamura.

But now, seeing Narumiya's performance on the mound, Sasaki was fully convinced.

'This guy truly had the pitching ability to stand side by side with Sawamura.'

Now, the game was even harder to play.

"STRIKE!"

"STRIKE!!"

"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!"

Before Sasaki could even react, their second batter was already Out.

Narumiya seemed to have been stirred by Sawamura's influence and was now focused entirely on venting his energy.

And now it was the turn of the third batter of Hakuryu, Mima Soichiro

Ping!

After a few tangled balls, Mima hit the ball forward.

The baseball flew high and was eventually caught out by Shirakawa.

In the first round of confrontation, Tokyo Prince Narumiya defeated Mima Soichiro.

Three Outs, offense and defense exchanged.

In the bottom of the first inning, it was Inajitsu's turn to attack.

Carlos, who batted first, took the lead in launching the offense.

Ping!

The ball the young man hit wasn't particularly good, but his speed was overwhelming!

In no time at all, he safely reached base.

After reaching base, he didn't stop there. Seizing the opportunity, he ran to the next base.

Hakuryu High School is famous nationwide for its agility, and stealing bases is their signature skill.

Now, Carlos was using the same routine to safely advance on Hakuryu's territory.

It has a huge risk.

If you do it poorly, it's embarrassing. But if you do it well, the damage to the opponent is doubled.

That's exactly the situation Carlos is in now.

He used skills far beyond ordinary players to execute a textbook steal right in front of Hakuryu High School's players.

"SAFE!"

The situation became no Outs with a runner on second base.

Shirakawa, batting second, lived up to expectations with a timely hit.

He helped Inajitsu High School take the lead.

The score became 1:0.

"As expected of Carlos. His strength is truly remarkable," Kuramochi couldn't help but admit.

After Carlos returned to home plate, Inajitsu High School continued their steady offense and sent Shirakawa home.

"Safe!"

The score became 2:0.

At the start of the first inning, Inajitsu High School had already taken a two-run lead.

They dominated the limelight.

It seemed that barring any major accidents, Inajitsu High School would likely win smoothly.

Or so everyone thought…

…

T/N: So here you go! The Game is completed!

The next game will be the finals! But we have to know who will be the opponent first. XD

Thank you all for reading and your support!

Have a nice day!

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