Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

The first and second batters performed exceptionally well and now were on the first and third bases.

This incident had a significant impact on the players of the Sankou baseball team.

The once optimistic atmosphere in the rest area had gradually soured.

The opposite was exactly on the dugout of Seidou.

But while they are delighted, they are keeping their cool as if everything is under control.

The most flabbergasted were the two freshmen. Having faced Amahisa Kousei before, they had a clearer understanding of his pitching.

From an observer's perspective, the difference was striking.

But to see their Senpai salvaging two hits like that from such a pitcher was incredible.

"A game is very long for a pitcher; no one can give their all against every opponent. Even Sawamura has to use his Moving pitch to adjust his rhythm and conserve energy. So it's inevitable that the pitching quality will drop..."

Coach Ochiai stroked his chin thoughtfully.

It felt as if he was deliberately addressing the two newcomers!

"Our lineup was pressing him relentlessly from the first inning, and it is already the fourth round. So without saying cracks will start to appear in his armor."

Watching Amahisa in this state, Coach Ochiai felt as if he were observing a cornered beast.

Even though he knew such an amazing state before, he couldn't be sustained for long.

What rises must eventually fall!

But during the time a trapped beast goes wild, its intimidation factor far exceeds the ordinary.

Amahisa had entered this kind of mode.

Looking up at the game record, it was now the seventh inning, and the gap between the two teams was a full five points.

The opponent was Sankou San High School, a top-tier school in the country. While this score cannot be deemed small, it is certainly not overwhelming enough.

At least Ochiai was not satisfied.

With how much opportunity they had before, the game should be secured by now.

At least the attacking was now connecting, they should have a chance to end it now.

If they could score two more points, it would mean an early end to the game, which would hold significant meaning for Seidou.

'If we demonstrate such power, some elite schools would hesitate to face us head-on.'

At least during the Kanto tournament, Seidou could preserve their strength effectively.

Even in the Summer games, such strength could intimidate opponents with weaker resolve.

One should never underestimate this advantage; it's like rolling a snowball. It doesn't matter how small the snowball is at first—the largest one at the end is the winner.

And the snowball is simply the accumulation of small advantages.

Coach Ochiai gazed eagerly at the Batter's Box.

If the batter were anyone else, he wouldn't even be this confident. But with Sawamura at-bat, it was a different story—he was undoubtedly a player capable of creating miracles.

Coach Ochiai had always harbored high expectations for him.

'Especially with Miyuki behind him!'

'While the opponent was undoubtedly fierce, they could easily break him with this favorable situation...'

The two freshmen who heard him were particularly affected.

At first, they hadn't fully grasped Sawamura's words, but after witnessing the two recent duels, they clearly recognized the vast gap between themselves and the top high school players.

Of course, this awareness wasn't enough for them to accurately gauge their own abilities.

Coach Kataoka, arms crossed and wearing sunglasses, showed no visible expression.

Yet, he already had a plan for the freshmen forming in his mind long ago.

After the official matches, he would get the mentality right during the orientation game.

Though those two players had been promoted to the first team, they could still participate in the orientation game—after all, they were both first-year players, right?

Of course, this would require a suitable excuse.

'If they could proactively volunteer, that would be ideal.'

Coach Kataoka was also plotting his own strategy.

But now is not the time for this, as now they had a rival to squash.

Meanwhile, Sawamura in the Batter's Box was free from such complex thoughts.

His current focus was simple: to hit Amahisa's pitch and bring Kuramochi home.

Every pitcher exhibits different strengths at different times, under varying mental states and environments!

Now, Amahisa, despite his many slumps, was pitching better than he ever had before!

Even with his teammates getting hits before, he knew it was because of good chances and overall skills, not just pure batting power.

Sawamura could clearly feel this, filling him with anticipation!

He aimed to help Seidou dominate Koshien in both Summer and Spring.

Sawamura's thirst for achievement was not as intense as before.

With Senpais like Chris and Tetsu-san...

Sawamura had repaid the kindness of those Senpais from his past with tangible actions. As for fighting alongside his teammates, he had immense confidence.

Right now, the only thing he longed for was to compete against more elite players.

In fact, if not for his student status, he would be eager to challenge professional baseball.

'Maybe, I should accept Nakagawa-san's offer…'

Challenging the NPB was certainly an attractive idea.

Sawamura had full confidence in his current abilities.

In Fujio's words, Sawamura's skills now far exceeded the high school level.

In other words, only a few elite players could give him the fight he wanted.

With Amahisa now in a cornered state, it was the perfect scenario for Sawamura.

He couldn't wait to compete against a high-level opponent.

In the past year, he has grown too quickly in all aspects.

As a result, he finds it harder and harder to encounter evenly matched-opponents. Especially after the graduation of those third-year Senpais, the only players left in high school are at most just a year older than him.

The physical dominance they once had over Sawamura has also diminished.

Overall, they are all peers—how much difference can there be?

On one hand, Sawamura is growing rapidly; on the other, the players who could threaten him are gradually retiring.

Now, Sawamura even feels a sense of loneliness as a top player.

This feeling is quite unpleasant!

Sawamura is very aware of this; baseball skills are like rowing upstream—if you don't progress, you regress.

If he stagnates due to weak opponents, the challenges he faces when entering professional baseball could be even greater.

He cannot allow that!

To prevent this situation from occurring, Sawamura has been putting in a lot of effort and coming up with various ideas.

He is not only working hard to improve his own skills but also trying to find worthy opponents.

That's why he was so excited to receive the invitation from the U.S.

He can't wait to experience the thrill of competing against top-level prodigy…

Originally, he thought that even if everything went smoothly, he would have to wait sometime for his dreams to come true.

He didn't expect to encounter the grown-up Amahisa so soon.

'That feeling is quite nice.'

Sawamura knows that as time goes on, the players of his age will continue to improve.

Now that they haven't faced each other for more than half a year, Sawamura feels like a child who has just discovered new fun.

He is eager to reunite with these old rivals.

He wonders how much these guys have grown in the past six months.

Especially that one friend who is surely watching from the stands right now.

'It has been almost a year, right? I hope you have grown stronger too, Raichi!'

Of course, before that, he must first deal with the opponent in front of him.

Standing in the Batter's Box, Sawamura is in an unusually good state.

The world around him has become increasingly clear; every move of his opponents hasn't escaped his eyes.

Even his eyesight at this moment has improved significantly compared to before.

Sawamura can even see the drop-dead serious expression on Amahisa Kousei's face.

He rarely saw that expression on Amahisa's face, even before his regression.

Although they are not as close as they were before–something Sawamura is thankful for– but he rarely saw him like this.

It's evident that the young man is still quite unconvinced. In their previous encounters, overall, he has completely lost to Sawamura.

In fact, if he hadn't continuously lost to Sawamura, he wouldn't have given up so many runs.

Currently, it is no Out runner at first and third, the score is 5-0, with Seidou leading by five runs.

Even if not all of those five runs were earned by Sawamura, at least three or four of them are directly related to him.

On the pitcher's mound, Amahisa's gaze is sharp and focused.

He isn't intimidated by his situation or the previous losses to Sawamura at all.

On the contrary, he feels like a vicious wolf, ready to devour Sawamura at any moment.

'Even in this situation, you are still unwilling to give up on the duel against the opposing team's core player?'

As his partner, Takami isn't as steadfast in his emotions as Amahisa Kousei.

To be honest, even without intentionally Walking Sawamura, he wants to challenge him on the edge of the strike zone.

After all, with such a significant score difference, if the gap widens again at this point…

Sankou will be done for.

If Seidou were to end the game early like this, Sankou would lose all their prestige…

Though it sounds defeatist, it isn't wise to confront Sawamura and Miyuki directly right now.

They could instead gamble with the batters at the edge of the strike zone, and even if they manage to get a hit at most they would lose a run but they could get an Out or two, getting them out of this predicament.

Thinking this way, Takami turned to look at his team's dugout.

The Ace is too stubborn; even if he wants to change the Ace's mind, he must consult the team's Coach first.

In Sankou's dugout, Coach Tahara understands his student's intentions. He carefully examines the scoreboard.

In the end, he firmly shakes his head at Takami.

"No need for that!"

Even prestigious schools have their dignity; losing gracefully should not come at the cost of losing the confidence to compete with the opponent.

That is not a good phenomenon.

Coach Tahara knows that at this point, it is already too late, but he still hopes the players of Sankou can showcase their skills on the field.

Though the players of Sankou claim not to give up, they all know deep down that they likely have no opportunity left.

The only one unconvinced by this conclusion is Amahisa on the mound; he believes the team still has a chance.

As long as he can resolve Sawamura fairly, Seidou's morale will undoubtedly suffer a severe blow.

Simply relying on sheer power to tackle Seidou is no longer realistic.

Sankou's only chance lies in striking hard at Seidou's morale, forcing them to expose weaknesses.

Only when Seidou shows flaws will Sankou have a chance.

'There's no reason to avoid it; let's confront them directly here!'

Like a determined stormtrooper, Amahisa Kousei no longer seems like an ordinary baseball player; he resembles a warrior standing on a battlefield.

His overflowing fighting spirit is something Sawamura can clearly perceive even from the Batter's Box.

'Wow, he's quite motivated.'

In this highly concentrated State, Sawamura remains relaxed.

Seeing the opponent perform excellently naturally piques his interest.

However, regarding victory, he has never doubted it.

'We Will Win!'

'This Duel, This Match, Our Team Can Win This!!'

Amahisa, unaware of Sawamura's thoughts, ignoring the desperate situation and the runners, channels all his strength into the two fingers that grip the ball as he prepares to pitch.

In this moment, he exerts all his power.

He throws his signature Slider!

Originally, he intended to throw a vertical Slider, but the image of Sawamura hitting the ball sends shivers through his body.

'No, I can't do that.'

The moment Sawamura connected with the ball is deeply engraved in his mind, preventing him from throwing the vertical Slider.

The pitch is a standard Slider!

Though standard, it depends on whose hand it's in.

Amahisa's Slider is certainly sharp enough to rival Sawamura's Level Two pitching.

"Die!"

Amahisa has already envisioned Sawamura being solved Out in his mind.

He imagines Sawamura's shocked and disbelieving expression…

In the Batter's Box, Sawamura doesn't seem so helpless.

In his current view, Amahisa's pitch isn't fast at all; the odd feeling is like a movie reel playing in slow motion.

Sawamura can clearly see every movement of the baseball.

'Now.'

Sawamura swings his bat with complete confidence.

He has perfectly timed his swing and aimed his bat, vigorously striking the ball.

PIIING!!

The bat makes precise contact with the ball, and a strange expression appears on Sawamura's face.

He stares incredulously at Amahisa on the mound, as if he can't believe the opponent was able to throw such a pitch.

Although surprised, Sawamura doesn't hesitate. He immediately channels all his strength into his swinging arm, sending the ball flying with sheer force.

The ball traces an ungraceful arc, wobbling and dropping into the outfield gap.

Sawamura lets go of his bat and sprints toward the first base!

He didn't quite hit the ball perfectly.

The speed and angle of the ball's flight were sharper and faster than Sawamura had anticipated.

As a result, the timing he calculated had a slight error.

A minor mistake can lead to major consequences; what should have been a guaranteed home run almost turned into a ground ball.

Ultimately, it was only thanks to Sawamura's extensive experience and raw swinging power that he managed to make contact.

"Hyaa-ha-haa!!"

Like a predator waiting, Kuramochi accelerates towards the home plate!

Haruichi too started running from the first base!

"SAFE!!!"

With no suspense, Kuramochi returns home, adding one more run to Seidou!

Haruichi reached all the way from the first base to the third base!

Sawamura reached the second base too!

The situation now is no Outs, runners at the third and second.

And the score now is 0:6, one run away from getting a called game.

Seeing Sawamura successfully hit that ball and Kuramochi return home, the entire dugout of Sankou fell silent.

…