Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

After finishing that statement, Sawamura's mission was complete.

Coach Kataoka and coach Ochiai put a lot of thought into placing the two newcomers in such crucial positions for today's game!

Their high school journey had been remarkably smooth. Originally star players, they now found themselves at Seidou, the strongest in the high school.

That alone was impressive!

Not only that, but they also took it a step further by being promoted to the main roster during the spring tournament.

For all first-year players, the ideal start is to be promoted to the first team before summer.

By the Fall of their freshman year, they aim to become key rotation players.

By the Fall of their second year, they hope to be core team members.

This is the most reliable path for talented high school players to enter the professional leagues.

It's fair to say that those who progress step by step are likely to become outstanding players. Just like the Senpai class before them, as long as they remained the main players until the end, they had already become stars.

Take a look back at Yuuki and Nishiyama!

The path they are currently walking is much smoother compared to those of Senpais at Seidou.

They didn't have to wait until summer; they were promoted to the first team in spring, and their positions there became increasingly stable…

Coach Kataoka and Coach Ochiai felt both relieved and a bit worried.

Their journey had been too smooth. Was it possible that they might underestimate high school baseball because of it? From a mentality perspective, that wasn't impossible. In contrast, players like Sawamura were rare in their ability to adjust their mindset independently.

After some hesitation, the two decided to let them experience the harsh reality of high school baseball.

That's why they chose Sankou High School!

Only this opponent was substantial enough to help these two young players recognize the difference in strength.

Of course, their confidence in this decision was also based on considering potential mishaps.

After all, they had made many sacrifices along the way. With sacrifices come losses.

They first completely gave up on scoring after the fourth batter…

Yet even so, they were still confident they could defeat Sankou.

It might not be entirely accurate to say that; the most accurate statement would be that they believed Sawamura had the ability to shut down Sankou's batting lineup.

In fact, they would only dare to play this way with Sawamura on the mound.

Otherwise, things could easily go south.

As the team's Ace, Sawamura understood this more clearly than anyone. He was even aware of Coach Kataoka and coach Ochiai's good intentions.

He pointed out the issues with the two underclassmen directly. Whether they truly listened to his advice was up to them.

As a Senpai at Seidou, helping the underclassmen was part of their mission.

Sawamura felt deeply about this, whether from before his regression or now.

He had also been guided by Chris-senpai, the Tetsu-san, and Ryo-san…

Now, he wanted to share his experiences with the underclassmen, hoping they would understand.

Of course, how much the underclassmen could comprehend from Sawamura's words was beyond his control.

Some things are just like that. As long as he acts with a clear conscience, there's no need to force more.

Just as Sawamura was mentoring his Kohais, the game on the field changed again.

The first to step into the Batter's Box, Kuramochi Youichi, had performed excellently before. He created Seidou's first scoring opportunity.

But this time, he was fighting for his life.

Amahisa Kousei had completely unlocked his vertical Slider and was combining it with his regular Slider.

His pitching power suddenly surged to a new level.

Not only was there horizontal movement, but vertical movement as well.

The entire strike zone had widened considerably.

Kuramochi was fighting hard to survive back, with the count of two Strike and one Ball.

He had Fouled three balls and let a Ball go. And now facing the fifth pitch.

Whrroosh!

After struggling through four pitches, Amahisa Kousei threw a razor-sharp vertical Slider at Kuramochi.

Kuramochi was getting ready to swing suddenly changed his grip to a bunt.

In the middle of a fierce duel, Kuramochi suddenly ran away.

'Wha..!'

'This fuc…!'

Takami and Amahisa were surprised, but there was nothing they the ball was already in the air.

Ping!

The ball was knocked nicely between the first base and the mound, even Kuramochi was a bit startled by how good it turned out.

But he won't let this good opportunity go to waste.

Throwing the bat to the side and turning on the engines in his calves to the max gear, Kuramochi bolted to the first base with everything he could!

Hoshida the first baseman was running to the ball but he was a bit lagging compared to the soaring Kuramochi, while Amahisa was running to the First base to cover!

"Ma-san!" Amahisa alerted Hoshida that he was ready, and Hoshida didn't disappoint as the moment he caught the ball he sent it to Amahisa's mitt with a sharp, fast, and precise well simply perfect toss.

Kuramochi was already a few steps away from the base and slid to the bag!

Snap!

Both the ball and Kuramochi arrived almost at the same time, and they were waiting for the umpire to announce the result.

"…SAFE!!!" after a few moments the umpire announced.

The supporters of Seidou, who had been riding high, couldn't help their feelings seeing such a close action.

The crowd's energy is closely tied to the player's performance on the field.

In this current situation, it was genuinely challenging to keep it low.

"AWESOME!!"

"NICE RUNNING!"

"KURAMOCHI!"

"SEIDOU!"

"CHEETAH!!"

"KURAMOCHI!!"

In the Seidou dugout, everyone was excited too as this was a great chance!

"FINALLY! IT WAS ABOUT TIME!"

"GOOD LEGS YOU WEASEL!"

"NICE CHEETAH!"

But Kuramochi himself didn't say anything, he just looked at Amahisa while standing up slowly with an evil gloating smirk.

'We got you now, bit*h!'

Amahisa looked back at him with a very annoyed look.

Amahisa Kousei was like an unyielding little bug before. Based on Seidou's previous attack rhythm, another pitcher would have been overwhelmed by now.

But what about this guy?

Not only did he show no signs of being defeated, but he also grew fiercer.

This left the Seidou baseball team feeling helpless for a moment.

But now with Kuramochi on base, Seidou's barrage should start.

"Amahisa Kousei! This guy is undoubtedly one of the top pitchers in the country!"

"At the beginning of the game, it was easy to make contact. Now, it's become increasingly hard to hit his decisive pitches."

"It's strange, this guy's pitching looks even stronger than it did at the start!"

"Luckily Kuramochi got on base, so we can make something out of it now!"

"Of course it is! This is the fourth round of the lineup!"

The members of the Seidou baseball club discussed the game objectively, even with their team holding an absolute advantage.

Miyuki was already warming up his hands and didn't engage in the discussions.

With Kuramochi on base, he will get his turn.

Sawamura picked up the bat too.

It was time for the second batter, Kominato Haruichi, to step up to the plate.

As the team's third batter, Sawamura naturally moved to the on-deck circle.

When he reached the on-deck position, Sawamura didn't sit still like he usually would; instead, he swung the bat repeatedly.

On the pitcher's mound, Amahisa Kousei noticed Sawamura's unusual demeanor.

'Don't worry, Maou-kun! I'll treat you well after I deal with this guy in front of me."

He muttered under his breath, then shifted his focus to Kominato Haruichi.

Even with what happened previously, Amahisa thinks it was due to luck, not because of his pitching.

And he was confident in dealing with the batter in front of him.

In their previous matchups, Kominato Haruichi hadn't shown much besides a tactical bunt.

It seemed like defeating him wouldn't take much effort.

But Amahisa Kousei didn't dare to let his guard down; his eyes glimmered with focus and seriousness.

At this point, Kousei was cautious about every player from Seidou.

He had learned his lesson from his earlier misstep.

Now, he couldn't afford to be careless.

When pitching, Amahisa seemed to be using all his strength.

But the moment he started pitching, Kuramochi started running!

"Steal!" the second baseman alerted his teammates, and hearing this Amahisa didn't care.

He still continued to focus on the batter in front of him.

Haruichi gritted his teeth, gathering his energy while watching Amahisa on the mound.

In today's first game, he was very dissatisfied with his performance. So he secretly vowed to hit the ball.

'Furuya-kun! Eijun-kun!!!'

Once, they were a trio promoted to the first team before summer.

Two had already moved ahead, lighting the way like beacons.

Of course, Haruichi didn't want to be the one left behind.

In the past few months, he had been improving his swing speed, aiming to catch up with even the sharpest pitches.

Now was the time to showcase the results of his hard work.

'It's now!'

As he watched Amahisa's pitch come towards him, Haruichi's eyes lit up.

From previous observations, Kousei had used regular Sliders more frequently than he did fastballs and vertical Sliders combined.

This meant that if he locked onto the regular Slider, he would have over a 50% chance of hitting the ball!

Of course, merely making contact isn't enough.

The key was to block the opponent's pitch.

'He favored inside pitches!'

This was Haruichi's discovery!

And only he could take advantage of it.

Seeing the ball approaching, Haruichi confidently took his stance and hit it cleanly.

Paak!

The ball struck and flew towards a spot about three meters from the first baseman.

'Great!'

This hit landed between the first and second baseman, creating a small gap.

But no matter how small the gap, it was still a gap!

As long as that ball could get through, it would be a good hit!

The ball passed by Hoshida, and hit the mitt of the Miyamori, the second baseman.

He leaped sideways, trying to catch the mall into his mitt.

But he couldn't catch the ball firmly, and the ball fell next to him.

Miyamori quickly caught the ball again and threw it back to first base.

But Haruichi already reached the first base.

"SAFE!"

Meanwhile, Kuramochi who started early was already closing to the third base.

Hoshida who caught the ball was throwing it to the third base.

Unfortunately for him, he too was late.

Snap!

"SAFE!!"

"WOAAAAH!!!"

"SEIDOU IS EXPLODING!!!"

"KOMINATO!!!"

"DEVIL-KUN!"

"AMAZING!!"

"NOW IT IS YOUR TURN!!!"

"HIT A HOME RUN!!"

"SAWAMURAAAA!!!"

The stands were going crazy!

Initially, the supporters of Seidou that something big was going to happen.

They are now seeing it happen.

It is no Outs, and runners at first and third bases.

And the next batter, Sawamura stepped into the box.

With the score of 0:5 in the seventh inning, Sankou High School's future couldn't look any dimmer.

…

T/N: Alright, that is it for now!

Thank you all for reading!!

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