Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

In this vast world, there may still be buried geniuses.

But evidently, Sawamura is not one of them.

'He became famous early.'

In the distant Japan, he was already a household name.

American players rarely hear of Sawamura due to the distance,

But MLB scouts and coaches are different.

They always consider the world their market.

No matter where talented players emerge, they collect information and even bring them under their wing.

Sawamura has been on Coach Abel's radar for half a year now.

Considering the commotion Sawamura caused in Japan, it's impossible that it didn't catch the attention of MLB scouts.

MLB has always paid close attention to the Koshien Tournament.

Sawamura has participated twice, leading his team to the top both times.

With such a record, how could MLB scouts not take notice of him?

Once they noticed, and after collecting some information on Sawamura, how could they not be impressed?

Sawamura's talent is already extraordinary. Anyone who sees him would be envious.

'He's a player who can help a team win the championship.'

'Even though he's still young and may need more development before joining the Majors…'

'What's the harm?'

A baseball professional career can last for 10 to 20 years.

Even if it takes a few more years to train him, it's a guaranteed win for the team as long as the player is worth training.

Just his talent alone makes him incredibly attractive. Not to mention the commercial value Sawamura holds.

Even as just a high school student, Sawamura's commercial value has already reached an astonishing level.

According to the professional evaluations of scouts…

Even now, Sawamura's commercial value surpasses a lot of the players in the Major League.

This is truly an incredible thing.

In other words, once Sawamura Eijun is brought on board, the team is very likely to not only avoid spending money but could even make a profit.

On the surface, it seems like bringing in such a player might not be economical.

After all, it's easy to guess that Sawamura's market value must be high.

But it's absolutely a good deal!

It might appear as though the team is taking a huge loss, but once they actually bring Sawamura in, it's likely that this isn't the case at all.

Such an economically sound deal naturally fell into the hands of the general Coach.

Abel will never forget how shocked he was when he first saw Sawamura's information.

He could hardly believe the achievements this player had made.

Though Abel is from The U.S., he's no stranger to Japanese baseball, especially the Koshien Tournament.

He's very familiar with the abilities of Koshien players.

By referencing this, it was easy for him to assess Sawamura's skill level.

'To think that a 17-year-old player could possess such all-rounded skills.'

It was truly hard to imagine.

So, when he heard that the Seidou High School baseball team was about to play an exhibition game against the Texas team, Abel didn't wait for anyone's invitation. He drove there himself, eager to see whether the legendary Sawamura was truly as amazing as everyone said.

The result of the game told him the answer.

Sawamura Eijun was not only deserving of his reputation, but he was even better than Abel had imagined.

On the field, Sawamura was facing his final opponent in this inning.

This opponent was slightly stronger than the previous one, at least not completely giving up on batting.

However, it was clear he also had little confidence.

If it weren't for having already thrown six different types of breaking balls, Sawamura might have also wanted to give up by this point.

Throwing such complex breaking balls seemed entirely pointless since have already lost their spirit.

But since he had already thrown six types, there was no reason to waste his previous efforts.

Whoosh!

Seeing the baseball coming, the already nervous batter swung his bat.

At this point, he had only one simple wish—to make contact with the ball.

To fulfill the coach's earlier instructions in the dugout.

But this was clearly not an easy task.

He kept waiting for the ball to arrive, and the baseball only slowly followed.

'A CHANGE-UP?!?!?!'

Snap!

"STRIKE!"

Sawamura had previously thought that the Texas players didn't understand his thoughtful intentions.

In reality, how could a player who represents an entire region be a complete fool?

They, of course, realized Sawamura's intent and knew that he had thrown several types of breaking balls.

Otherwise, how could the Texas batters be so desperate?

By the end, they had no idea what kind of pitch to aim for, and that's why they were in despair.

Despite their despair, they never gave up observing Sawamura's pitches.

The Texas team players knew that Sawamura's breaking balls not only had horizontal breaks but also vertical breaks.

This made it difficult for them to find a way to hit him.

And now, that sense of helplessness had reached a new level.

Sawamura didn't just throw normal breaking balls; he threw timing-changing ones.

In other words, the ball came in at varying speeds.

'How could we possibly deal with that?'

Only after one pitch, the eighth batter for the Texas team also gave up resistance.

'Just let it be,' he thought, 'There's no way we're hitting this.'

At this point, his only hope was to make contact with the ball and not let Sawamura Strike him Out.

Three up, three down would certainly be embarrassing.

But at this stage, it wasn't an unacceptable result.

It was far better than being struck out three times in a row.

The goal was to disrupt the opponent's defensive rhythm and get them into their own pace.

If they could steadily get through the final three innings and secure the victory, that would be the Texas team's final hope.

But Sawamura Eijun and the Seidou baseball team weren't willing to let it end that way.

This was their first game in The U.S., and they certainly didn't want to give up a comeback win.

A strong start and a weak start—these are completely different beginnings.

Sawamura and the Seidou baseball team didn't want to accept the latter.

And he, as the team's Ace, carrying the team's hopes and dreams on his shoulders would never let them down.

He swore on this the moment he took that number, he would never let his teammates down.

No matter the place, no matter the circumstances, he will do it!

He will always lead his team forward!

"STRIKE!"

Two consecutive Strikes and the batter missed both.

In utter despair, the American batter made a small swing on the final pitch.

He no longer hoped to blast the ball out of the park with sheer force.

His only thought now was to make contact with the ball.

Although it was a bit embarrassing, making contact with the ball wasn't supposed to be a difficult task.

At least for the eighth batter of the Texas team, he didn't think it was that hard.

After adjusting his swing to a smaller motion, he believed he could now track the ball's trajectory.

Watching the baseball, which was about to break.

The batter adjusted his posture and swing angle, trying to make contact with the ball.

But just as the ball was approaching,

'Eh?'

The ball suddenly disappeared.

'Where did it go?'

After switching to a smaller swing, the batter had been confident he could make contact.

But now, all he saw was despair.

He discovered something incredible—the baseball had disappeared.

He couldn't find it!

SNAP!

Behind him, the sound of the ball hitting the Mitt echoed.

"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!!!"

The batter stood there, stunned.

On the pitcher's mound, Eijun raised his hand high, as if trying to grab the sky itself.

Then, he clenched his fist tightly and swung it into the air.

"YOSHAAAAA!!!!"

"YEAAAAAHHH!!!!"

"Nice Pitching!!"

"Nothing less from you!"

"Nice Ace Pitching!"

"SAWAMURA!!!!"

In a complete display of power, Sawamura had struck out three batters with nine different breaking balls.

Forget about the nine types of breaking balls —just the fact that the Texas team's batters went down three up, three down, with three consecutive Strikeouts…

Sawamura Eijun's performance was enough to leave everyone who didn't know him dumbfounded.

…