Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

WHRROOSH!!

A ball shot through the air.

Standing in the Batter's Box, Kawai gritted his teeth and swung his bat to meet the ball.

Having already faced two strikes and under heavy pressure, he had no choice but to desperately swing his bat.

Hoping for a miracle.

But unfortunately, this was the real world, and miracles don't happen that easily.

In the end, although he managed to barely touch the ball, he didn't hit it cleanly, and it flew toward third base.

After his two earlier mistakes, Kanemaru finally displayed his excellent fielding skills this time.

He didn't let the ball get past him and effortlessly caught it.

Snap!

"OUT!!!"

At this point, Seidou High School had secured three Outs and successfully completed the inning.

Facing a huge crisis with one Out and players on first and third base, the great Ace, Sawamura Eijun, after being surrounded, resolved the situation with sheer courage, spirit, and skills.

In the past, when Sawamura pitched, it was rare for anyone to reach base, let alone make it to third.

So, in everyone's general impression, Sawamura was simply a sharp pitcher.

No one expected that, under such circumstances with players on base, and facing such a large crisis, his performance would be so composed.

"How strange, why do I feel like the more dangerous the situation, the better our big Ace performs?"

From the stands, Owada Akiko, a reporter from the Ball Kingdom magazine, cupped her hands together in front of her chest in an almost fangirl manner.

Totally enamored by Sawamura's brilliant skills.

"The impression you have of Sawamura is only from when he entered the prestigious Seidou High School. But before that, the Akagi Middle School baseball team, where Sawamura played, wasn't particularly strong. Though they had Sawamura, a powerful pitcher, there were plenty of situations where players reached base. If they couldn't defend well in such situations, the Akagi team wouldn't have had much hope of going far!"

Fujio confidently stated.

'Among current high school students, Sawamura could definitely be considered a master of handling crises.'

'Of course, no skill comes without effort.'

'Sawamura's current ability is entirely due to everything he went through during his middle school years. Because he was in a weaker team, he honed the ability to handle crises.'

'When he enters a professional team, this ability will surely continue to shine.'

In the Shonan High School dugout, Coach Matt Carter looked completely deflated, like a deflated ball.

He had been very confident about the offensive strategy he had just planned. But he never expected the outcome to turn out like this.

If they had no hope from the beginning, he wouldn't be so upset. But they were so close to succeeding, only to lose at the last moment.

"It is so frustrating."

'The only relief was that Seidou didn't fully see through our strategy.'

'We still had a chance to create an opportunity.'

With that thought, Coach Matt perked up, determined that they hadn't lost yet, and as long as they kept going, they still had hope.

Meanwhile, in Seidou High School's dugout, everyone was discussing the situation.

Although they had managed to get through this inning with Sawamura's powerful pitching and solid defense, the situation was far from over.

Up until now, many were still unclear about what exactly had gone wrong. They couldn't wait to ask what the problem was.

"Although they didn't figure out the exact pitch type, they definitely figured out the general direction of Sawamura's pitches!"

Miyuki delivered some bad news.

Everyone in Seidou High School turned pale at this information.

They weren't deaf or blind; they could clearly see and hear what was going on in the game.

So, they had already anticipated things might go badly.

But no one expected it to escalate to this extent.

Sawamura's pitching course had been figured out?

This had never happened before. It was no wonder that Sawamura's pitches were getting hit, creating such a dangerous situation with players on first and third base.

This problem had to be solved, or the opponent's offense would come back stronger.

Everyone fell silent, trying to come up with a solution.

In the end, no one could speak.

Miyuki and Sawamura, the two directly involved, had racked their brains and couldn't solve the issue, so expecting them to come up with an answer right away seemed unrealistic.

Coach Kataoka was silent.

Ochiai, who had been silently stroking his little beard, didn't say anything either.

Upon hearing this news, neither of these two had a good solution.

The recorder, Watanabe, raised his head as if about to speak, but he hesitated, his heart trembling as no one else spoke.

"If you have something to say, just say it!"

Coach Kataoka's eyes flashed as he turned to Watanabe.

Watanabe nodded without hesitation, and quickly expressed his thoughts.

"Actually, the opponent must have figured out Sawamura's pitch direction by focusing on three areas."

This statement immediately sparked everyone's interest.

"Which three areas?"

"The three areas we already know."

At his words, he got everyone's attention.

Everyone was focused, eagerly awaiting Watanabe's explanation.

After answering two questions, Watanabe's earlier nervousness faded, and now he spoke more calmly.

"When Sawamura is about to pitch, there are three people who know the direction of his pitch: one is Miyuki, who signals; the second is Sawamura himself, and the third is the fielders."

Miyuki, the catcher, and Sawamura, the pitcher—this didn't need further explanation; everyone understood.

They were a pitching-catching duo, after all. If they didn't know what pitch was coming, it would be a disaster.

If the opponent wanted to decipher Miyuki's signal, they would need to decode his signs.

Likewise, to read Sawamura's pitch, they would have to notice his subtle movements.

Either one of these could lead to the same result.

"But from what you said earlier, although they were able to generally guess the direction of the pitch, they still couldn't tell exactly what kind of pitch you would throw?"

Watanabe looked at Miyuki and Sawamura.

Both nodded.

"This doesn't make sense. If Shonan figured out the signal, they wouldn't just know the direction, they should also be able to identify the type of pitch. Similarly, if Sawamura made a subtle movement, they should only be able to predict one or a few types of pitches, not every pitch."

Watanabe's analysis made perfect sense.

It resonated with everyone.

They all nodded, eager to hear more.

Watanabe didn't disappoint them and quickly shared his thoughts.

"The remaining factor is the fielders! Though this might sound unbelievable, once you rule out the other two possibilities, this must be the truth."

The opponent must have used the fielders to deduce the general direction of Sawamura's pitch.

This was a very challenging hypothesis, but everyone had to admit it made sense.

Now, to clarify, Seidou High School's fielders, especially the infielders, work closely with Sawamura during pitching.

For example, if Sawamura intends to throw an outside pitch to a right-handed batter, he will signal to the first baseman and second baseman ahead of time, since the ball is most likely to go in that direction.

This prepares them mentally and allows them to react quickly.

"But we don't change our defensive positions. How could they possibly figure this out?"

Furuya furrowed his brow and asked.

This question was also acknowledged by others.

Miyuki and Sawamura also shared the same doubts.

Having faced the Ugumori High School team before, they certainly wouldn't overlook this kind of logic.

They had considered it before and thought it impossible.

While Miyuki and Sawamura would give subtle signs, the overall defensive formation wouldn't change.

With that in mind, how could Shonan's players possibly determine Sawamura's pitching direction?

"I was puzzled from the start about why Shonan's Coach brought a monocular."

Watanabe said slowly.

"I've been reading some articles about psychology in baseball recently, and it's said that in high-pressure situations, a person's expression can reveal their inner thoughts to some extent."

It was like a light bulb going off for everyone in Seidou High School.

A High-level Cold Reading!

But while some catchers can do some cold reading, that usually requires a vast knowledge of baseball and a good reading of the game situation.

And even if they are good, more testing through the game is required.

However, to be this accurate in this short amount of time…

"Could he really be that good? To reach the level you're talking about, they would need to be experts. If Shonan's Coach is really that type of person, why would he be here coaching?"

Watanabe shrugged his shoulders.

He had no idea what the opponent's thinking was.

Instead, it was Ochiai, who had been silently stroking his little beard, who now seemed to be approaching the truth.

"But to figure out where the ball is going, you don't need to be an expert. You just need to look at who is the most nervous."

Sawamura and Miyuki exchanged glances, both seeing astonishment in each other's eyes.

They weren't dumb, but they had been stuck in a mental rut. Now that someone had broken through it, they quickly understood what was happening.

After receiving Sawamura's signal, the fielder in charge of defense would naturally get nervous.

The other fielder, who wasn't involved in the defense, would be relatively relaxed and their attention would slacken...

Thinking about this, the two previous errors by Kanemaru made perfect sense.

Because those two balls should have been handled by Kanemaru.

"Hyaa-ha-haa! You really did a great job."

Kuramochi excitedly patted Watanabe's shoulder, unable to contain his excitement.

"Enough talk, it's our turn to attack!"

Having figured out the opponent's trick, the next defense would be much easier.

Of course, it would be best to score a few runs first.

With runs on the board, they would feel less nervous.

If they had the lead, Sawamura would also be able to pitch with more composure.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Seidou High School began their offense.

The first batter up in the Batter's Box was still the Cheetah, Kuramochi.

...

T/N: The crisis has been averted...or is it?

Well, That's it for now.

Thank you all for reading!!

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