Diamond No Ace: The Strongest Hitter

Chapter 111: Beating Tokugawa into Oblivion

The momentum and luck during the game turned the tide, giving an originally weaker team the ability to compete against a stronger one.

The all-in nine-man infield, heart-pounding bases-loaded strategies, an adrenaline-filled double play at the edge of defeat, and then a timely hit from an unassuming lower-order batter—like a bucket of cold water disrupting the rhythm—followed by an exhilarating comeback.

That timely hit, seemingly small, shifted the course of the game.

Without Akagi's careful adjustments, consecutive hits could have widened the score gap significantly.

Baseball is a terrifying sport in this sense—momentum can dictate a game's outcome, sometimes making victory or defeat feel inevitable.

In such situations, only a pitcher's sudden brilliance can break the batter's momentum, as pauses in play rarely unsettle batters staying locked in at the plate.

In just half an inning, the game displayed twists and turns, making it as thrilling as a classic showdown at Koshien.

...

"The pitcher starts his windup! Here comes the pitch!"

"Ball!"

"Inside fastball! Ball!"

"Here comes the second pitch!"

"Strike!"

"A borderline strike on the outside corner! But Ohno barely reacted," the commentator said with a hint of confusion.

"Try to bait him into swinging at the same pitch again!" Takase signaled from the dugout.

"Will you swing at this one, Sen-chan?"

What the commentators didn't know was that every time Ohno received a signal, he would glance at the bench for a hidden sign from Sendo.

"Fake a swing at the outside pitch and pull back halfway? Got it!"

"The pitch is decided! Third pitch!"

"Ball!"

"A borderline outside slider, but the batter read it and pulled back the bat! Maintaining composure in the final inning, impressive!"

"Damn! This is turning against us. We need a strike count before finishing them off with a slider!"

"Sen-chan!!!" Ohno looked toward the bench again.

After catching the signal, Ohno nodded slightly.

"The pitcher winds up! Fourth pitch!"

"Is it an inside fastball?"

Ping

"It's hit!!!"

"The inside fastball gets through!"

"The runner starts fast, and the ball goes past the infield! The center fielder moves up quickly!"

"The batter speeds past first base! Will he make it? … Safe!!!"

"In the final inning, top of the seventh, Akagi Junior High finally gets their first hit!"

"Yes!!!" Ohno, now at second base, pumped his fist and roared.

No matter their personality, breaking through after being suppressed for so long is exhilarating, and for an outgoing player like Ohno, it's hard to hold back.

"Woohoo!!!" the bench cheered in response.

"How childish. Middle-school syndrome? I've got goosebumps," Sendo thought, but his clenched left fist revealed his happiness for his teammate.

"In the final inning, Akagi finally got a hit! That wasn't easy! They almost collapsed after conceding that run last inning," the commentator remarked, quickly turning back to the unfolding situation.

"Now there's a tying run on base. This is the perfect chance to even the score!"

"Next up, the second batter, right fielder Aoki!"

Baseball is fascinating this way. You never know when an opportunity might arise, and even the smallest player must be ready to carry the burden of victory or defeat with a single play.

"The second batter is more of a contact hitter—not much power but excellent with bunts and fly balls. We need to guard against a bunt. If possible, eliminate the tying run!" the catcher signaled.

It was sound advice but based on conventional play.

"Freedom to adapt?" Aoki noticed Sendo's subtle signal and smiled.

Different batters require different strategies. For someone like Aoki, a smart player, minimal instructions suffice—just a heads-up for key pitches, leaving the rest to his judgment.

Aoki assumed a bunt stance!

"If he's going for the bunt, let's see it!"

"Ball!" Aoki pulled back, completely fooling the defense with a purposefully missed bunt.

"Damn it! Are they messing with us? What now? Keep pitching wide? No, let's overpower them. If they want to bunt, let them!"

As the next pitch was decided, Sendo gave Aoki another signal.

And then—

"Steal!"

"It's coming! Inside pitch!" Aoki pulled back from his bunt stance and swung!

Ping!

"What? Another inside pitch? And a hit-and-run!"

"The hit-and-run is perfectly executed by Akagi Junior High! The runner steals, the batter swings!"

"The ball lands in the infield but is a clean single, leaving runners on first and third with no outs!"

"Can middle schoolers truly execute such a seamless hit-and-run?"

"The base running clearly shows extensive training—this isn't some improvised tactic."

"And now, Akagi Junior High's heart of the lineup is coming up!"

Although it was hard to see how this heart of the lineup was any stronger than the top of the order, even the cleanup hitter, Kondou, was underperforming today.

From an outsider's perspective, batters one through seven—apart from Sawamura—all seemed about the same.

Meanwhile, Sawamura, along with eighth batter Shin and ninth batter Wakana, were viewed as merely filling the lineup.

While Sawamura's bunting was quite decent, few knew about it.

This summer, Akagi hadn't had many opportunities to use tactics like straight steals in important games.

Last fall, when no one paid attention to them, their proficiency with small-ball strategies went unnoticed.

Only a handful of people in the Nagano area, particularly those associated with Tokumei Academy, were aware of their expertise.

Now, after a year of rigorous training, these tactics were being showcased to the public for the first time, and with such a high level of execution that it left spectators stunned.

"Third batter, center fielder, Omura!"

"Third batter, center fielder, Omura!"

Back-to-back hits had rattled Tokugawa, but the broadcast reminded them there was no time to recover—they had to face the next batter immediately.

"Should we call a timeout? But we have no clue what they'll do next, and who would've thought they'd hidden these tactics so well? That baserunning and hit-and-run coordination clearly took more than just a few days to master! Damn it!" Takase hesitated.

But the moment he saw Kanda's resolute expression, he abandoned the idea of a timeout.

"That's right, all we need to do is shut down the batter. The runner's already at third base; it's not like he's going to steal home," the catcher said, regaining his composure.

"Guard against a squeeze play to force a run. As the underdog, they might use any tactic!" Coach Kunimi instructed from the dugout.

"Another devilish hit-and-run! While we could pull it off too, this was just a straightforward steal combined with a decoy bunt to confuse us," Sendo mused, silently criticizing the commentators.

He didn't bother to explain, knowing outsiders wouldn't notice the details.

At that moment, Omura caught a signal from Sendo and widened his eyes.

"Is it coming on the first pitch?"

"Inside pitch!!!"

Ping!

"Another inside pitch?" Kanda was shocked.

"The first pitch is hit!!! Another inside pitch! The ball once again gets through the infield! The runner at third scores—it's a tie!!!"

"The runner on first advances to third, and the batter naturally reaches second base!"

"The brilliant defensive play from the previous inning to maintain a one-run lead has now been completely undone in an instant, putting Tokugawa Junior High in a critical situation!!!"

"Yes!!!" The momentum had shifted completely. The team that was nearly collapsing just moments ago had tied the game and regained its morale.

"Timeout! Please!" Takase quickly called for a timeout.

...

"What's going on? Suddenly?" Takase asked as he approached the mound, hearing Kanda murmur softly.

"Maybe they're targeting inside pitches? And they're not even swinging at outside pitches," Kanda replied, recalling how Ohno had completely ignored an outside ball earlier, not even bothering to observe its trajectory.

It made sense—they might have decided to let go of anything outside.

Of course, they had no idea it was due to the signals. This sequence of psychological maneuvers made them believe it was merely a calculated targeting of inside pitches.

"Is that really it?" Takase's eyes betrayed a sense of desperation. Akagi's earlier scoring hadn't been as solid as it was now, showing just how much this change had impacted him.

"It has to be. There's no way they're hitting these normally. But their condition today is exceptional. Given their swings, they shouldn't be able to hit that far, let alone two doubles!"

This conclusion, based on the available information and Sendo's deliberate psychological cues, seemed the most plausible.

Even if they were targeting pitches, such precise hitting was unusual.

Unbeknownst to Tokugawa, however, the biggest factor was that Akagi already knew what was coming.

But that thought never crossed their minds.

"In any case, We won't throw any inside pitches into the strike zone. Focus on low, outside pitches. That's our best option now!" the catcher decided, acknowledging the risk if their ace's outside pitches entered the zone too high, making them easy targets.

"Got it!"

"There are still no outs! The infield needs to be careful—support him with everything you've got!" Takase said as he returned to his position.

...

"Cleanup hitter, second baseman, Kondou!"

"Cleanup hitter, second baseman, Kondou!"

"Go, Kondou! Show your fighting spirit!" Sawamura shouted encouragingly.

"Stick to outside pitches, but mix in others to disrupt their rhythm," the catcher strategized.

"Ball!"

The first pitch was an inside ball.

"Ball!"

The second was an outside ball.

"Strike!"

The third was a slider breaking downward inside.

"For the fourth pitch, throw an outside strike, then finish him with a slider!"

"Double steal! ×2!" The runners on second and third simultaneously attempted to steal!

Ping!

Kondou responded with a decisive swing!

"Wait, what? That wasn't the decisive pitch!" Takase felt like his reality was crumbling.

"Right field!!!" But he didn't waste time, shouting instructions.

"A long drive to right field—the farthest hit of the day!!! But the right fielder dives!!!

Caught!!!

Both Akagi runners retreat to their bases.

One out, runners on second and third!!!

"What a miraculous save by the right fielder! "

"If that ball had landed, there's no doubt two runs would've scored, putting them at an instant two-run deficit!"

"Baseball truly is terrifying!"

"That was close! Any closer and we'd have been done for. Losing two runs at this point would've crushed our morale," Takase admitted.

The potential consequences of the ball landing were unimaginable.

After all, just a month ago, they'd lost to this same team.

While there were mitigating factors, including back-to-back games and pitch tracking, that loss still weighed on their minds—especially for middle schoolers.

"And up next is that idiot! With him, it'll be two outs!" Takase thought, recalling Sawamura's erratic swings in the previous two at-bats.

He assumed Sawamura, notorious for his flamboyant personality, was only batting fifth to boost his confidence, given his lack of bunting during the last game.

"Fifth batter! Pitcher, Sawamura!"

"Fifth batter! Pitcher, Sawamura!"

"Just throw with full power! This guy can't hit it. Save some energy, and our infield defense will handle it."

That strategy, which didn't even bother guarding against a bunt, backfired badly.

Even if they had known in advance, they wouldn't have been able to stop Sawamura's perfectly executed squeeze play.

"Double steal! ×2!" The runners on second and third took off again.

Whoosh!

"A squeeze play?! This guy can bunt?"

Clink!

"And what a perfect bunt!" Takase was completely caught off guard as the ball rolled neatly down the first-base line.

"Squeeze play successful!!!

"The runner from third scores! Akagi takes the lead!!!"

"Top of the seventh inning, Akagi Junior High scores two runs to turn the game around!!!"

"The runner on second advances to third, and although the fifth batter is out, there are now two outs with a runner on third. Most importantly, Akagi is in the lead!!!"

"How do we stop them? This relentless attack!" Takase had completely lost his composure, shaken even more than Kanda.

If his mindset continued to crumble, the game would essentially be over.

This wasn't even a matter of skill anymore.

The fact that he forgot to direct an infield throw to first base, leaving the decision entirely to the infielders, showed just how rattled he was.

"What now?" Takase muttered.

"What's going on? Who would've thought Akagi Junior High had hidden their abilities so deeply? Small-ball tactics, coordinated attacks—bunting, hit-and-runs, aggressive baserunning, and applying constant pressure on the defense."

"These are not skills that can be developed overnight! This means they've been preparing this 'feast' for us for a long time, haven't they?"

"Are these players really just middle schoolers?"

It wasn't just the catcher, Takase, who was shaken.

Even their coach, Kunimi, was equally unnerved.

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