Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

"Isn't it just an ordinary hit? Why is everyone so excited?"

The players of Seidou, who were acting wild in the dugout, left the players from the Texas Riverwood team puzzled.

It's normal to feel excited after getting a hit.

But isn't the level of excitement here a bit exaggerated?

Not to mention, the two teams aren't even on the same level. For the players from Seidou High School to get a hit, isn't it expected?

The players from the Riverwood team genuinely didn't understand.

In the dugout of Seidou High School.

The expressions on the players' faces were almost all incredibly excited.

"Did you see that? Even Lee-Hyun got a hit?"

"Look at the Coach's face! His nose is almost crooked from anger."

The teammates excitedly discussed.

Coach Kataoka turned around, and the two players who had been discussing immediately froze, as if they had been turned to stone by Medusa's gaze.

'Serves you right!'

Sawamura couldn't help but laugh as he watched the misfortune of Asou and Higasa.

"To think that Lee-Hyun, that kid, got a hit. I feel like this Riverwood team is even weaker than that ABC high school."

"Shut up! Don't you know how hard did this kid train?"

Kuramochi said proudly.

Kuramochi had every reason to be happy since his Deshi performed exceptionally well.

But the way the players of Seidou High School were acting like this, they couldn't be blamed.

In the current Seidou High School baseball team, the strongest player, without a doubt, was Ace Sawamura Eijun. In terms of overall strength, not just in Seidou but in the whole high school, Sawamura was also among the top players in his age group.

As for who had the weakest overall strength in the first string? It was probably Lee-Hyun, who had only started learning baseball for three or four months.

In fact, aside from his speed, Lee-Hyun didn't even reach an average level in other aspects, let alone his overall ability.

Now, even Lee-Hyun had gotten a hit.

How could Seidou possibly lose against such opponents?

Though it's still uncertain how much this game would help Seidou in the long run, the players all agreed that the game was fun.

After all, what's not enjoyable about a game you're winning?

The match proceeded as the teammates had anticipated.

The second batter, Kijima, chose to engage in a battle with the opponent.

For the players of Seidou, the first round of confrontation with the opponent was more about gathering information. Whether they got a hit wasn't the main focus.

Kijima did just that.

He wanted to see how good the opponent was by getting into a few more pitches.

After two pitches, Kijima realized that the opponent's strength was pretty solid. Even for him, getting a steady hit wasn't going to be easy.

With that thought, Kijima looked over at first base, where Lee-Hyun was preparing to steal a base.

'Lee-Hyun had put a lot of pressure on the pitcher, even though he hadn't actually stolen a base yet. His stealing stance still distracted the pitcher.'

Kijima knew that Kuramochi had been secretly guiding Lee-Hyun. It was basically an open secret in the team.

But he never thought that, after only a few months, Lee-Hyun would be showing such progress.

He had even just gotten a hit!

'Though there was some luck involved, the fact that Lee-Hyun could make contact with the ball showed his improvement.'

Impressed, Kijima was willing to cooperate with Lee-Hyun.

So, he secretly gave Lee-Hyun a signal.

Lee-Hyun, who had initially been bluffing, immediately understood.

Though he hadn't had practice in this aspect before, his Shisho had put a lot of effort into teaching him.

Lee-Hyun understood well that once a player gets on base, stealing a base isn't the only way to create pressure on the opponent.

Normally, he would be about two meters away from the base, but this time he subtly increased the distance to about three meters.

The catcher of Riverwood wasn't lazy either.

He quickly noticed the change and mentally prepared for the strategy Seidou might employ.

'Here it comes!'

He subtly gave a signal to his pitcher, suggesting that Lee-Hyun might actually be preparing to steal the base, not just bluffing.

'Throw it to the outside corner!'

At this moment, a ball outside the strike zone could be a good strategy.

If Seidou used a steal, the catcher could try to catch Lee-Hyun with a pickoff move.

The catcher was confident in his arm strength.

The pitcher obeyed the signal and threw an outside pitch.

Kijima's eyes flashed.

'It worked!'

Just as he had thought, the pitcher threw an outside pitch.

Despite his physical disadvantage, Kijima had stayed in the first string, so he certainly had his strengths.

Once he determined the direction the ball was coming from, he could hit it wherever he wanted.

Paak!

The baseball made contact and flew into the gap in the defense.

Lee-Hyun quickly rounded second base and reached third.

Kijima also made it to first base.

No Outs, with runners on first and third.

The Seidou dugout erupted with amazed exclamations.

While people had thought Lee-Hyun's hit was just luck, after this hit-and-run play, no one felt that way anymore.

They had to face the fact that their opponent had truly improved.

Lee-Hyun had really gotten better!

It now looked like he was no longer just a secret weapon.

In the dugout.

"Man, he is really talented!"

Sawamura spoke up in surprise.

Sawamura always knew that Han Lee-Hyun was talented. After all, he was one of the most famous runners in the MLB before his regression.

He was a bit of an all-rounder at that time, but his speed was just from another planet.

Although he had known about Lee-Hyun's talent, he had never expected such rapid improvement.

Some people, it seems, are just naturally gifted in certain things.

Whether or not Lee-Hyun truly loved baseball, Sawamura didn't know. But his talent was undeniable.

"Your Kohai is really something," Miyuki said to Kuramochi.

However, Kuramochi wasn't in the mood to listen to the praise.

He stared at Lee-Hyun on the field, dumbfounded.

It seemed that Kuramochi hadn't expected Lee-Hyun to perform this well!

Next up was the third batter for Seidou, Okumura.

Okumura had been excellent in Seidou's practice matches.

This time, he didn't disappoint either.

He took the incoming pitch and swung the bat without hesitation.

Ping!

The ball flew and landed in the gap in the defense.

Lee-Hyun quickly made it home.

He deliberately slowed down his pace, so while most of the opponents and reporters felt that Lee-Hyun was fast, they didn't think much of it.

After all, there were many fast players in Seidou these days.

In their view, there were certainly players faster than Lee-Hyun.

Not just Lee-Hyun, but Kijima also made it home.

Seidou scored two runs in one go.

While Kijima played an important role in connecting the plays, it was Okumura and Lee-Hyun who were the stars of this scoring.

Okumura scored two Runs.

Lee-Hyun's performance also earned him a lot of admiration.

"The current first-year players were really something."

The second- and third-year players from Seidou truly felt the pressure.

Coach Kataoka and coach Ochiai exchanged a glance, both showing a bit of surprise.

On the other side, the Riverwood team.

All the players and their Coach were nearly in tears.

Back then, ABC High School could hold them off for three innings without giving up a run.

Surely, they were better than ABC High School, so why couldn't they even hold off the first inning?

...

Well, That's it for now!

As always, thank you guys for reading!

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