Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

Seidou High School has won again!

Not only are the American fans wondering what to make of this, but the members of the Seidou High School baseball team are feeling just as mixed.

Previously, they had thought that the teams they faced were all second-tier squads with amateurish skills, which is why those teams hadn't shown much fighting spirit and lost easily.

But the San Francisco Golden Gate team is different. The difference in their level is obvious.

While they may not be the absolute best in America, they are at least among the top tier—comparable to the top 16 teams in Koshien.

Teams that make it to the Koshien's top 16, apart from the occasional dark horse, are all national-level powerhouses not to be underestimated.

Yet even teams of this caliber from America are still no match for Seidou High School's baseball team.

And this game didn't even have much suspense in it.

To put it bluntly, the gap between the two teams was still very obvious.

After all, Seidou High School's Ace, Sawamura Eijun, had been sitting on the bench, not even budging from his seat.

The difference in strength between Seidou High School with Sawamura on the field and Seidou High School without him is significant.

Even with the power difference, Seidou High School still easily defeated their opponent.

"We're already this strong!"

At this moment, the members of the Seidou High School baseball team finally realized that thanks to their hard work over the past years, their strength had already surpassed their former selves.

It's no exaggeration to say that now, Seidou is so strong that even without their Ace, Sawamura, they are still formidable.

With this realization, the mood in the team lightened, and the upcoming match against the high-ranked Los Angeles Wind Youth Academy team didn't seem as intimidating.

Moreover, Seidou High School wasn't as unfamiliar with Los Angeles as they were with other American teams. The video of the exchange match between Los Angeles and All-Tokyo had spread widely on the internet.

Especially the Change-ups used by Narumiya and Sawamura in that game, which had become legendary.

The players of Seidou High School had analyzed that match carefully and were very confident about facing Los Angeles.

Knowing their own strengths and being well-prepared made them even more confident that victory was almost assured.

With the upcoming game against America's Dream Team, it seemed Seidou High School would maintain their perfect record.

Despite the hype surrounding the Dream Team, Seidou High School's players weren't afraid.

It wasn't just the players who were thinking this way. Both Coach Kataoka and coach Ochiai shared similar thoughts.

They weren't particularly familiar with the baseball scene in America, but based on the exchange matches they had played, the American teams didn't seem all that scary.

If you think about it, if the match were between teams of similar levels in Japan, the result would likely be similar.

After all, Seidou High School was the King of Japan, and though they might not necessarily dominate the summer tournament all the way to the finals, in terms of strength, Seidou High School's baseball team was the best among their peers in Japan.

No matter who they faced in the world, they would never be afraid.

With this in mind, Coach Kataoka and Coach Ochiai started putting more thought into their plans for future games.

Originally, they had planned to send Sawamura to pitch against Los Angeles, even if he wasn't the starter, he would be the first to come in after the starter was done.

Only in this way could they ensure victory.

But after the win against San Francisco, both Coaches couldn't help feeling a little more confident.

Though not as much as the players, they too had become somewhat overconfident.

"There were a few promising players who performed well earlier. Maybe we should let them play in this match and see how they do," Coach Ochiai suggested.

After several matches, the 20-man roster was almost finalized.

Evaluating all 20 players seemed like a huge task, but it wasn't as difficult as it seemed. Evaluating players wasn't just about picking names and looking at stats—it required watching game footage and analyzing each player's value to the team.

The final 20-man roster wasn't too difficult to settle on. There were already more than 10 players who didn't require much consideration.

The real challenge was deciding on the line-up.

After hearing Coach Ochiai's suggestion, Coach Kataoka nodded in agreement.

After making up his mind, the two of them immediately called all the players together for a meeting.

In this meeting, Coach Kataoka firmly expressed his views and announced the starting roster for the game.

This result wasn't particularly surprising to the players.

Due to time constraints, after the America exchange games, Seidou High School was essentially going to finalize their core 20 players and the starting roster.

In simple terms, it was about assigning jersey numbers.

For regional competitions like the Tokyo district, also known as the national tournament qualifiers, a team is allowed to register only 20 players.

Currently, Seidou's first-string baseball team has 26 players.

This meant that six players would be leaving the first-string team before the Summer Tournament began.

Who those six players would be would be announced after the American Exchange games concluded.

Tomorrow was the game against the American Dream Team.

In that game, there would be no substitutes on the field; only the team's main players, or at the very least, the rotational main players, would be on the field.

In other words, the outcome of that game would determine Seidou's main roster.

Put simply, the top nine players.

As for the remaining numbers, they will be finalized in today's game.

In the lobby of the hotel, all the players from Seidou's first-string team were seated on the floor.

Each of them focused their gaze intently on Coach Kataoka, waiting for him to announce the roster.

In the previous games, everyone performed well, with almost every player showing outstanding skills.

Of course, a few players stood out significantly, and it was almost certain that they would remain on the first-string team.

As for the upperclassmen, there was no need to say much. Freshmen like Okumura and Masashi had already almost secured their places on the team.

None of the Seidou players disagreed with this.

Despite being first-year students, both Okumura and Masashi had demonstrated exceptionally strong abilities in previous matches.

Their brilliance even outshone many of the third-year seniors present.

Seidou's baseball team was a place where strength was paramount.

With the skills these players displayed, Coach Kataoka could never have ignored them.

Thus, their positions on the first-string team were essentially guaranteed.

Apart from them, there were a few other outstanding players from the second-year class, and there was no doubt that they would stay on the first-string team.

Sawamura, despite playing only one game, didn't stand out as much as other seniors in terms of overall performance.

However, no one doubted his position.

After all, Sawamura was the undisputed Ace of Seidou's baseball team.

While others may not have been as noticeable as Sawamura, they were still key players on the team.

Take Kominato Haruichi, for example.

Although Coach Kataoka had given other new players opportunities in these practice matches, Kominato didn't get much playtime.

However, no one believed he would lose his position as a main player.

Players who performed well and whose positions were solidified… these players had nothing to worry about.

However, the majority of players didn't reach that level. Even if they had standout moments, they were still on equal footing with each other.

In times like these, Coach Kataoka placed more importance on who he favored and gave more chances.

This was where things became crucial.

To put it bluntly, the players who Coach Kataoka particularly valued had the best chance of staying on the first-string team.

It wasn't surprising for the players to fix their eyes on Coach Kataoka, knowing that their survival in the team depended on this moment.

Coach Kataoka lifted his head and glanced around at his students.

In his gaze, there was a sense of satisfaction.

Before announcing the roster, Coach Kataoka bowed slightly to the players present.

"You've won all six of your games! I'm truly happy for you and proud of you. In these games, everyone performed excellently. So, I hope that in the upcoming games, you can continue to give your best. The 20 players who will remain on the final roster will be the ones who performed the best."

Coach Kataoka didn't shy away from this matter. He openly addressed it in front of all the players.

Once Coach Kataoka made this matter public, the eyes of all the baseball team members changed.

They sensed that the time had come!

No matter what they had thought before, the roster that Coach Kataoka announced now would be the result.

Whoever got to play in this game would have a chance to stay on the first-string team.

"First, shortstop, Kuramochi Youichi!"

Coach Kataoka wasted no time and directly announced the first name on the roster.

When he said the first name, Takatsu, sitting below, clenched his fist tightly.

Takatsu hadn't expected to replace Kuramochi as the team's leadoff shortstop.

He thought that with his ability, even becoming a substitute for the first-string team was acceptable.

But Coach Kataoka directly assigned the main position to Kuramochi without giving him a glance.

This indirectly signified that his chances of staying on the first-string team were slim.

It's important to note that although Takatsu performed decently in previous practice games, his performance wasn't outstanding.

In other words, his position wasn't secure.

In this final exchange match, Coach Kataoka didn't give him the chance to prove himself.

This said a lot.

"Second, second baseman, Kominato Haruichi!"

Coach Kataoka didn't pay attention to what his students were thinking at that moment.

He continued to announce the next names on the roster.

"Yes!"

After several practice games where he played the role of an observer, Kominato Haruichi was excited when he heard that he would finally get a chance to play. He immediately stood up.

Coach Kataoka nodded at him, then proceeded to announce the next names.

"Third, outfielder, Shiratsu Kenjiro."

During the game, Shiratsu's performance wasn't particularly eye-catching. Especially when compared to Furuya, his presence seemed much less notable.

But when you reviewed his overall performance, you'd see that his total performance ranked among the best on Seidou's baseball team.

After some deliberation between Coach Kataoka and coach Ochiai, they finally decided to elevate Shiratsu's batting position.

At this point, everyone began to realize that something was off.

It didn't seem like this was just a final test, but more like selecting candidates for the main team.

The first three players announced were all essential roles that didn't need to worry about their position.

Even Takatsu slowly relaxed his tightly clenched fist.

'It seemed I hadn't completely lost my chance yet.'

Sitting at the back of the room, Sawamura idly rested his head in his hands.

'From the looks of it, it seemed unlikely that I would need to play in today's match.'

'However, the team of Los Angeles and the team of San Francisco, which is caught in internal problems, were very different.'

'Underestimating this opponent might lead to Seidou's baseball team failing unexpectedly.'

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