Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

At first, when Coach Kataoka mentioned that they did not plan on having Sawamura pitch, most of the Seidou players were uncertain.

They had previously watched footage of the Los Angeles Wind Youth Academy team's games.

This was a team that could face the Tokyo representative team head-on on the field. Don't be fooled by their 5-0 loss to the Tokyo team in the end. There were many coincidences and objective reasons behind that result.

Looking at just the two teams' faceoff, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they were evenly matched.

Facing such a team, the Seidou High School players couldn't help but worry.

They were afraid they might not be able to stand up to their opponents.

What if they went up and got completely overwhelmed and lost?

However, when the actual match began, the situation on the field turned out to be nothing like they had imagined.

First, Kuramochi Youichi took the lead and helped the team secure the precious first point.

This gave the Seidou High School players some confidence.

It turned out that their opponents weren't as strong as they had thought, and they still had the strength to compete with them.

At the same time, Kominato Haruichi hit a single, putting pressure on the Los Angeles team's players.

This forced them to replace their starting pitcher in the first inning and bring in their Ace pitcher.

While this change might not seem like a big deal, its significance was almost as great as the first point they scored.

In other words, the Seidou team had been controlling the game from the start.

This allowed them to easily drag the opponents into their rhythm.

The contribution was just as important as the points scored.

After the Ace pitcher Conrad came in, he seemed to cast a dark cloud over the Seidou players.

This pitcher, who had previously been able to compete with Sawamura Eijun in the Tokyo Exchange match, certainly had the skills.

His presence almost halted the Seidou High School's offensive rhythm.

Luckily, there's always a counter to everything.

Just as Los Angeles had their Ace pitcher, Seidou High School had their own Ace.

When Sawamura took the plate, he swiftly hit a home run.

This pushed Seidou High School's lead to three runs.

This was essentially the deciding moment of the game.

After this clash, the positions of both teams completely flipped.

For Seidou High School, they didn't even need to score any more runs for the time being. As long as they maintained the current situation, it would already be a big victory.

But for the Los Angeles team, they had no choice but to fight tooth and nail against Seidou.

If they couldn't score a run or defeat the monstrous pitcher on the mound, they had no hope of winning.

"The most important thing now is to stabilize the situation. As long as we keep the pace steady, the victory will naturally tilt in our favor," said Miyuki, without hesitation. He quickly grasped the key to the game.

Before heading out to pitch, he specifically reminded Furuya Satoru, "I understand!"

Furuya gave an affirming reply.

He was no longer the rookie he once was. Though he had his own thoughts, he understood what a game was all about.

Seeing that Furuya understood the weight of the situation, Miyuki didn't say much more.

In the top of the second inning, the Los Angeles team went on the offensive.

The first batter to face the pitcher was Carlisle, the main catcher and the fourth batter for the Wind Youth Academy team.

He is Carlisle.

A star player who can rank among the best in America.

When facing such an opponent, you have to be extremely cautious.

From the moment Carlisle entered the Batter's Box, the catcher Miyuki didn't let up on observing him.

He closely watched every movement of Carlisle and anticipated his possible actions.

To be honest, having Furuya face off against such a powerful hitter wasn't the wisest choice. The best person to face him would have been Sawamura Eijun.

Even if Sawamura couldn't pitch, it would have been a good idea to bring in Kawakami.

Their skill sets are more effective against Carlisle.

On the other hand, Furuya's pitching style was exactly the type of style Carlisle excelled at.

Furuya's pitches were fast, aggressive, and powerful!

These were also characteristics that Carlisle possessed.

He had fast swing speeds, a good batting rhythm, and sufficient power.

In other words, Furuya was completely countered.

Trying to face off with such an opponent using pure strength alone to overpower them would likely prove to be very difficult.

'The most effective approach now was to use Furuya's breaking balls strategically.'

With this in mind, Miyuki had already made his decision.

He firmly signaled to Furuya.

'Carlisle's strength is formidable, and his offense was fierce.'

'Therefore, Furuya had to be extremely careful when pitching. A control mistake at this moment would be disastrous.'

Of course, it wasn't realistic to expect Furuya to control his pitches with absolute precision.

After all, if Furuya truly did that, he wouldn't be the pitcher he was known for.

That incredible pitching style of his would be lost.

This was certainly not something Miyuki wanted to see.

Thus, he demanded that Furuya remain relaxed while still ensuring control over his pitches.

It was an extremely high expectation!

For Furuya, who had only undergone a year or more of formal training, this demand seemed a little too strict.

But there was no choice.

If he wanted to overcome this opponent, he had to meet these expectations.

If Furuya harbored even a tiny bit of ambition, he had to meet these demands.

Only by doing so would Furuya truly earn the right to challenge Sawamura.

On the contrary, if Furuya couldn't meet these expectations,

Then he wouldn't have the qualification to challenge Sawamura.

The man who was the top contender for the best pitcher in the high school was hailed as the great demon king.

It wouldn't be easy to dethrone him.

To defeat an opponent like Sawamura, one must have the determination to risk everything.

'Can you do it?'

Miyuki focused his gaze on his partner.

He was hoping to find the answer in Furuya's performance in the upcoming moments.

On the pitcher's mound.

Furuya had no idea about what was on Miyuki's mind.

For him, the game was actually a simple matter.

It was about him pitching freely and with vigor on the mound.

With his unique style, he aimed to overpower all his opponents.

This was what Furuya aspired to; it was his mindset, and it was also how he acted.

And he acted with determination.

ROAAR!

With the roar of an artillery shell, the baseball shot out with a piercing speed.

Facing such a powerful pitch, Carlisle in the Batter's Box involuntarily became serious.

Though America was filled with pitchers of this kind, it was rare to find one with the speed of Furuya.

In fact, the only pitcher Carlisle had seen who could exceed Furuya's pitching speed was That Pitcher, and only three or four could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with him.

When facing an opponent like this, the key was not to shrink back.

As the opponent tightened their pressure, you had to resist without retreating.

Otherwise, even the slightest hint of timidity would make it hard to hit the ball. Even if you managed to make contact, hitting the ball well was impossible.

PAAK!

Without hesitation, Carlisle swung his bat.

The baseball made contact and soared into the air, landing behind the catcher.

Miyuki didn't have time to retrieve the ball.

His eyes widened as he stared at Carlisle in front of him.

To his surprise, this guy managed to hit Furuya's pitch in their first confrontation.

'This was truly troubling.'

Furuya's pride in his pitching speed was completely overshadowed by this man.

Carlisle let out a long sigh, then refocused his mind, his eyes glued to Furuya.

It seemed the opponent in front of him excited Carlisle greatly.

He was now ignoring the outcome of the game and was solely focused on enjoying the confrontation with Furuya.

The opponent's fighting spirit was growing stronger, which only left Miyuki scratching his head.

He truly didn't know how to deal with the opponent in front of him.

This really was a troublesome situation.

But no matter how troublesome it was, the matter still needed to be resolved.

At this moment, Miyuki signaled to Furuya to throw a ball outside the strike zone to lure Carlisle into swinging.

As long as Carlisle swung at the Ball, even if they couldn't solve him, they could at least gain an advantage with two strikes.

Once they had a lead in the count, they could finish off Carlisle with a breaking ball.

In his mind, Miyuki already visualized the way to solve Carlisle.

This pitching strategy was very well thought out.

Because of the knowledge he gained from Chris, Miyuki even developed a second plan.

Even if the ball was hit, the worst that could happen was it flying Foul. Even if the opponent didn't swing, a ball wouldn't be a big deal.

It wouldn't affect them much!

'Come on!'

With high spirits, Miyuki gave Furuya the signal.

He already saw the light of victory in his mind.

However, what Miyuki didn't expect was that the signal he gave was for a Ball.

The pitch that came was not outside but a perfect strike, right down the middle of the strike zone.

Furuya had made a control error.

Of course, this was a very serious mistake, one that could potentially determine the outcome of the game.

But there was nothing they could do; this kind of mistake had occurred.

This was another side effect of putting Furuya on the mound.

Though Furuya's pitching talent was incredibly powerful, sometimes his performance was even on par with Sawamura, he had a fatal flaw.

And that was control.

If the opponent couldn't hit Furuya's fast pitches, it would be fine. But once the opponent could connect with such a pitch, Furuya's control would become his fatal weakness.

While Furuya has worked a lot on his accuracy, a miss in control here and there could naturally happen.

Furuya was now in this awkward situation.

When he threw a pitch that was supposed to miss the strike zone, but it ended up right down the middle, his tragedy was about to begin.

Carlisle in the Batter's Box immediately transformed into a hunting tiger.

Seeing the ball right in the strike zone, he exploded.

Here it comes!!

Without any hesitation, he swung his bat fiercely at the pitch.

Furuya's fastball was so quick that the ball was in the strike zone for only a brief moment.

In that brief moment, the bat met the ball, sending the baseball flying into the air.

PAAAAAAKKKK!

The baseball soared into the sky.

This ball flew even farther than the one Sawamura hit earlier.

The ball went over the fence, beyond the spectator stands, and landed outside the field.

A home run!

The Los Angeles team had scored a point.

No Outs, no runners on base.

The Los Angeles team's offense had just begun, and it was far from over.

...