Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

One Out, runner on second base.

At this moment, it was Sawamura's turn to bat.

If the opponent were from Japan, most players would choose to intentionally Walk Sawamura in such a situation.

Although Sawamura's batting success rate with a runner on base might not be higher than that of Miyuki, facing a player like Sawamura, most players would not give him an opportunity to score directly.

Unless the pitcher was one of the nation's top talents or someone with a particularly strong personality, they would usually opt to intentionally Walk him.

Even the audience would not view such a choice as cowardly or shameful.

Fortunately, Sawamura's fame had not reached America yet, and American players didn't pay much attention to him.

Even though Sawamura had gotten a hit earlier, after a brief exchange, North American players had discovered his weakness.

That was, Sawamura's batting power was not as strong as he appeared to be.

Against such a player, brute force was enough to suppress him.

'The opponent is the fourth batter of the Tokyo team! If we can suppress him here, it would be a major blow to the Tokyo team,' Carlisle thought silently, then signaled to his teammate, Weede.

As for Weede's pitching abilities, he ranked around the best 20 American pitchers in his age group.

He was not one of the most outstanding pitchers.

But when it came to pitching strength, his abilities were certainly not inferior to those of the top players.

'Use your best strength to completely crush this opponent,' Carlisle's guidance was very firm.

Weede on the mound responded enthusiastically.

His eyes seemed to be spitting fire, reaching the critical edge of his limits.

WHRROOSH!

On this pitch, Weede used almost every cell in his body to generate power.

He squeezed all the potential within him and threw the ball with all his might.

The pitch wasn't particularly tricky, but Weede's arm movement was smooth, perfectly showcasing all his strength.

Facing the powerful pitch, Sawamura didn't back down.

Instead, he firmly swung his bat to meet the pitch.

PAAK!

The moment the bat hit the baseball, Sawamura felt the bat nearly fly out of his hands.

The recoil was so strong that Sawamura almost couldn't hold onto the bat.

Fortunately, his day-in-day-out training at Seidou High School had given Sawamura enough foundation. Despite the difficulty, he still managed to push the ball forward.

Of course, a hit like that was unlikely to be perfect.

The baseball flew along the third base line and ultimately landed out of bounds.

"FOUL!"

Upon seeing this result, Carlisle grew more confident.

As he had imagined, Sawamura was not a power hitter. His batting power wasn't as formidable as some might expect.

And this was extremely helpful for American players.

With careful strategy, it should be easy to subdue Sawamura.

'Continue!' Carlisle sent this signal to Weede.

In the Tokyo team's dugout, the players' expressions became heavier.

They realized that the opponent seemed far from collapsing.

Weede's performance was still going strong, and his pitching felt smooth.

If he kept going like this, defeating him wouldn't be easy for the Tokyo team.

"You're the fourth batter of the team! Show us some real fourth-batter performance!"

"What's going on here? This is too sloppy!"

"If you can't handle this, then we'll switch you out!"

In the dugout, Narumiya, with his hands on his hips, mocked Sawamura openly.

His taunts were so loud that even if Sawamura tried to pretend not to hear, he couldn't ignore them.

Such provocation couldn't go unanswered.

Looking at Weede again, Sawamura's expression changed.

A wooden bat, compared to a metal bat, required more precision in hitting.

But if the ball was struck right on the sweet spot of the bat, it could actually travel further than with a metal bat.

This required precise technique.

Sawamura's biggest weakness had always been this.

Because of his overly flexible body, once his movement range increased, it was difficult to ensure the bat would strike the ball perfectly.

In short, it was not easy for him to hit the sweet spot.

Before his regression, Sawamura rarely hit home runs when relying on his batting.

This was not solely because of a lack of power but also because of the natural limitations of his body.

Originally, Sawamura just wanted to seize an opportunity to hit the ball and send Miyuki home.

But now, he had changed his mind.

During this period, Narumiya's improvement had been significant.

Even Sawamura had to admit that Narumiya's baseball talent was truly remarkable.

But Sawamura had not been idle either.

Both his pitching and batting had improved.

'Now, it was time to show you my progress.'

After making up his mind, Sawamura stood ready to swing.

WHRROOSH!

The baseball zoomed toward him like a laser.

Sawamura remained calm.

He didn't enter the state, he just intensified his focus on his vision, seeing the ball coming toward him clearly.

At the same time, his coiled like a rope body was getting untied.

However, unlike what he was before, his swing wasn't shaky but felt extremely sharp.

This was the crown of the progress he had made during this time.

He couldn't change the natural limits of his body.

If he did, his pitching style would no longer be the same.

But that didn't mean Sawamura couldn't deal with such pitches anymore.

Others had bodies like swords, but Sawamura's body was like a whip.

Though he couldn't cut directly like a sword, with good technique, a whip could also cause tremendous damage.

At this moment, Sawamura's body, the bat in his hand, and the baseball about to fly toward him formed a perfect balance.

It was as if everything had been set in motion.

With precision, the bat struck the baseball, hitting it right on the sweet spot!

PAAAAAAKKKK!!!!

Whoooooooooosh!!

The ball flew out faster than it came, soaring through the air.

Sawamura, standing in the Batter's Box, was equally thrilled.

At last, he had done it!

He faces off against a power pitch while using a wooden bat.

And he won!

The major challenge that always haunted him was overcome.

Although it wasn't a complete victory yet, he had finally found the way forward.

The baseball kept flying.

To the wide-eyed American players, it flew out of the stadium and landed in the outfield stands.

…A home run!!

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