Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

'What was going on?'

Carlos's mind screamed in confusion.

He couldn't figure out what was happening.

He suppressed the urge to swing and pulled his bat back.

As a result, he was now two Strikes behind.

He found himself in a difficult situation.

In the past, Carlos was always the one chasing others,

But now, things seemed to have turned upside down.

He wasn't even sure if he could get past this moment.

"I didn't expect this guy's level to be so high!"

This wasn't just Carlos's surprise. Most of Japan's players didn't expect this either. They had no idea that the hidden American pitcher would turn out to be someone who had already stepped onto the field.

When he first appeared, his strength seemed to be around 60 or 70 percent.

To the Japanese players, he appeared difficult to deal with, but not unbeatable.

Especially since they were all stars now, their confidence was sky-high.

The Japanese players were very confident that they could defeat him.

But now, it seemed their thinking was a bit too naïve.

The American players didn't look as easy to deal with as they thought.

As the final pitch approached,

Carlos, who hadn't swung twice, could no longer stay silent.

This time, he had to swing his bat.

Carlos' eyes became serious and focused.

'Here it came…'

He had to hit it.

Roaarrr!!

With a roar, the small baseball flew toward him.

If the previous pitches were unbelievably slow,

This one was a completely different story.

Some spectators even commented that the previous ball seemed to freeze the entire world during its throw.

Though that didn't bring Carlos any luck,

It was still a clear indication.

After two ridiculously slow change-ups, here came a sharp, clean fastball.

What a pure fastball!

It was a joy to watch, and the small baseball flew toward him in the blink of an eye, landing firmly in the catcher's mitt.

Everything returned to calm.

On the surface, it looked like everything was back to normal, but underneath, there were hidden currents of tension.

During the final pitch, facing the sudden fastball,

With a pitch speed of 145 km/h,

And a gap of 100 km/h between the previous and the current pitch speed,

Carlos was helpless.

He could only watch as the small baseball flew past him and into the catcher's Mitt.

Everything was over.

"STRIKE!"

"STRIKE!!"

"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!"

"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!!"

"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!!!"

Three Outs, offense and defense exchanged.

Without any suspense, the Japanese players were defeated one by one.

Against such a slow ball, if they had hit it, the American team's players might have caught it or even made an out in some other way.

It had hit the Japanese players hard.

Even without Allen, when such a player came out of nowhere and completely dominated Japan's team, it was an incredible shock.

But this was the reality of the bottom of the first inning.

The huge 100-kilometer speed difference knocked even the veterans off balance.

Let alone the rookies.

For rookies, this was a hellish experience.

At the top of the second inning, America's team went to bat.

Because of that unremarkable little guy, his powerful pitching had given America's players a huge boost in momentum.

Now they were eager to get a hit.

But in just one pitch, their enthusiasm was crushed.

Roaarr!!!

The baseball cut through the air with a loud roar, slamming into Renji's Mitt.

"Look!"

"What is that?"

"150 km/h!!!"

"Eh? Did he use that pitch?"

"No, he looked completely relaxed!!"

"Really!"

"Did he finally breakthrough?!"

"Finaly!"

"About time!"

"Sawamura!"

"Sawamura!"

"Demon King!!"

On the field of the World Youth Baseball Championship final, the starting pitcher, Sawamura, threw a pitch with a speed of 150 km/h.

The reaction of the American players to this was relatively calm.

They were not familiar with Sawamura's past history or achievements; they only knew that he had faced off against the Son of Baseball, Allen, in a pitching duel.

And in that duel, Sawamura didn't fall behind.

There's even a claim that in that showdown, Sawamura had the upper hand.

Although the two teams at the time were evenly matched, the strength difference between the Seidou High School baseball team and the American Dream Team was still very clear.

This clear difference refers to positions other than the ace pitcher.

Once the ace pitcher was added, the two sides were able to fight evenly.

From the perspective of compensation, Sawamura's contribution to Seidou's team in terms of compensating for gaps was likely more significant than Allen's contribution to the American Dream Team.

In other words, Sawamura's strength could be considered superior to Allen's, and that's not an unreasonable claim.

Facing these seemingly professional analyses, American players typically scoffed.

A player's performance is highly dependent on their personal state, the weather at the time, and the cooperation with their teammates.

It's possible that Allen didn't play at his best on that day, while Sawamura from Seidou High School could have played perfectly, or even performed beyond his usual level.

Because of this huge disparity, the situation seemed to suggest that Sawamura's strength might even exceed Allen's.

But that was merely an illusion.

Almost all American players firmly believed one thing: the strength of the Son of Baseball, Allen, far exceeded that of any other player.

This "other player" naturally included Sawamura.

The match between Seidou High School and America's Dream Team just happened to come at a good time.

This was how they were able to catch them off guard.

If the two teams were to face each other again, these American players firmly believed that the victory would undoubtedly go to their side.

They were convinced of this, and they had no doubts.

But even though they believed Allen's strength was superior to Sawamura's, it didn't mean they underestimated Sawamura's abilities.

They knew that even if Allen's condition wasn't ideal that day, to perform better than Allen in a single game would still require significant strength.

From this perspective, Sawamura's strength was unquestionable.

He was an excellent pitcher, probably one of the best in the world.

With this preconceived notion, when Sawamura threw a pitch at 150 km/h, American players found it acceptable.

If he couldn't even throw with this level of strength, how could he possibly withstand the offense of the American Dream Team?

After all, the Dream Team was not only strong in pitching; their offense was world-class.

At their age, they were undoubtedly the best.

The fact that Sawamura could control their lineup, limiting them to just two or three runs, clearly demonstrated his exceptional ability as a pitcher.

The American players were not particularly surprised.

But the players from Japan, the spectators in the stands, and Sawamura's diehard fans who had traveled from Taiwan were all incredibly excited.

Fans from Taiwan rarely got to see pitches of such speed before.

But now, it seemed as if there were suddenly several pitchers who could throw that fast, and every time one of them appeared, the fans were excited.

Sawamura's diehard fans were even more ecstatic.

Although they knew that one day, their "Demon King" would surpass the 150 km/h mark, ever since Sawamura had thrown the 148 km/h pitch regularly, they had been eagerly anticipating this day.

But after half a year had passed, Sawamura's pitching speed had not yet broken through that limit.

It felt as if he had been shackled and cursed.

Naturally, this made Sawamura's diehard fans feel uneasy.

Although Sawamura's pitching speed was already very fast, they still felt a sense of dissatisfaction.

As the number one Demon King in the country, and perhaps the world's strongest pitcher, if his normal pitching speed didn't exceed 150 km/h, it would feel like a huge regret.

But now, they no longer had to worry about any weakness in their Demon King.

Even his weakest point, his pitching speed, had now been elevated to one of the best in the world.

…