Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

The American Coach turned his serious gaze toward one particular, short young player in his resting area.

This young player was quite unassuming.

Even in the Japanese team, his height would be considered among the shortest.

Let alone among the tall American players.

He looked even smaller, almost easy to overlook.

But the American Coach didn't intend to overlook him at all.

He stared seriously into the young man's eyes and said, "It's up to you now, Benjamin."

Many people knew of Sawamura's existence.

They knew he was a player who could be compared to the "Son of Baseball" Allen.

Just thinking about this player would make the American team's players shiver. They weren't afraid of the unseen Sawamura.

The main thing was that Allen's "Son of Baseball" title was so loud in America, making him a true genius compared to regular players.

A genius with no peers.

Ever since Allen started playing baseball and participating in official games, he had never been beaten, except for a few mistakes when practicing with his coach when he was young. In every official game, game he played representing New York, he had never lost.

Even when leading the American team to the World Series, he became the last champion and the MVP.

He was a bona fide life winner.

Looking at Allen's career, it was naturally extremely glorious.

But as the saying goes, "Success is built on the bodies of others."

Anyone who has made it this far surely stepped on countless bodies along the way.

Many players on the American team had faced Allen head-on.

And because they had faced Allen, they knew firsthand how terrifying Allen was.

Before hearing that Sawamura could rival Allen in pitching, they couldn't even imagine anyone being able to face Allen.

It seemed impossible.

In their minds, no one could possibly do that.

It was simply a joke.

But life is like this.

What seemed impossible to many American players happened for real.

In that game, Sawamura led the Seidou High School baseball team, fighting to the bitter end against the American Dream Team. In that process, the high school teammates couldn't match up to the elite players of the Dream Team.

But in that game, thanks to Sawamura's efforts, the two sides were evenly matched.

Anyone who saw that game knew clearly.

Because the Dream Team's Ace pitcher Allen was only contributing about 50%.

Other players were also very strong, making another 50% contribution.

Together, they formed the previous world champions.

On the other side, although Seidou High School's players had achieved legendary results in Japan, many of their players still lacked strength.

These players held back the Seidou High School team.

But there was no way around it. We can't blame them.

After all, this was all Seidou's foundation.

No matter how strong they were, they were just one school and couldn't recruit too many strong players.

Sawamura, who could rival Allen, was undoubtedly a terrifying presence in the minds of American players. He was an incredibly strong opponent! Facing this opponent, they of course had to be extremely cautious.

Being cautious wasn't enough; they had made many preparations and efforts...

Now, both sides finally had a chance to face each other.

But they didn't let the hype take control of their decision, they each held some cards and used some others.

Like the unremarkable young player stood on the pitcher's mound.

The Japanese team exchanged looks.

No one knew what kind of secret weapon the American player was hiding?

The American player who stepped up didn't seem threatening at all.

It was hard to imagine that this secret weapon could pose a deadly threat to the Japanese players.

Some people in the resting area were already shouting, claiming the American team was underestimating the Japanese and should fight back.

The first batter was Carlos.

Carlos fixed his gaze on his opponent, waiting for the pitch to come.

It didn't take long. The small baseball came flying toward him.

When the ball came, Carlos was stunned.

'How could it be so slow?'

Even if the opponent's physical qualities weren't impressive, the pitching speed shouldn't be this slow.

The velocity didn't even exceed 40 km/h! (25 mph)

Even if this were a change-up, it wouldn't make sense. A change-up needs a fastball to show its true effectiveness.

This was the first pitch, with no fastball accompaniment.

Anyone would wait for the ball to come within reach before swinging.

To throw a change-up as the first pitch was basically suicidal.

Could a player good enough to represent America be that foolish?

Carlos seriously doubted it.

Despite how tempting the pitch seemed, Carlos restrained himself and didn't swing...

The unremarkable player from America, a backup pitcher that Japan had not noticed before, threw his change-up as the first pitch.

Although this pitch wasn't a game-winning one in his previous throws, it was still one of the common pitches he used to interfere with his opponents.

It had a certain level of skill.

When analyzing the opponent's strength, Japan's team had once made the following deduction.

This unremarkable little guy had a 30% chance of being sent to the mound.

However, they originally thought that if he did get on the mound, it would only be in a rotation or relief role.

They didn't expect him to be sent out for the important starting position.

Compared to the other two fastball pitchers from America, his pitch speed was just too slow, almost like a turtle crawling.

The Japanese players found it hard to believe that in a situation where momentum was crucial, America's Coach would send such a pitcher onto the field.

Despite his skills not being weak, this style of pitching was difficult to provide the team with any strong momentum.

To put it bluntly, sending such a player out might bring some benefits, but it would certainly not give them any advantage.

Unexpectedly, America made a surprising choice, sending this secret weapon out right at the start.

When the Japanese players saw this, they didn't panic too much.

Although the opponent's move was a bit unexpected, Japan had already considered various situations before.

This situation was naturally within their expectations.

In fact, they could even say it played right into their hands.

This little guy seemed to have some hidden traps in his pitch.

Carlos couldn't quite figure out what was happening.

But instinctively, he felt that the pitcher's throw wasn't as simple as it seemed!

So for the first pitch, he didn't swing.

Facing a pitch that was his specialty, he didn't swing?

His eyes locked onto the opponent, waiting for the next pitch.

Meanwhile, in his mind,

The opponent's pitching replayed again and again like a movie.

On the surface, there seemed to be nothing special about the pitch, but Carlos had an instinctive feeling that things weren't as they appeared.

The pitcher's throw surely contained something he had yet to decipher.

Before Carlos could analyze more, the small baseball flew toward him again.

The baseball came at him incredibly fast, almost reaching Carlos in the blink of an eye.

When he saw the ball, he raised his bat high, ready to swing.

But just as he was about to swing, he suddenly felt that this ball, just like the previous one, didn't feel right.

The entire space in front of him seemed to be distorted.

'What was going on?'

Carlos's mind screamed in confusion.

….

T/N: Well, That's it for now.

Thank you all for reading!!

Have a good day people!

You also can check my Patre0n for extra Chapters.

patre0n /ColdColt