Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

Sawamura's diehard fans were simply thrilled.

They were ecstatic, just like countless fans watching from their televisions.

However, they were not the group most shocked by this achievement.

The players from Japan's team, sitting in the stands, were the most astounded, gazing in disbelief at Sawamura on the pitcher's mound.

"How was that possible?"

"How could that guy throw such a fast pitch easily?"

Many of them had been Sawamura's opponents in the past and were very familiar with his strengths and characteristics.

Sawamura, who was naturally flexible, relied on his innate physical gifts to develop his colorful breaking balls.

It was exactly because of this talent that other teams found it difficult to devise any solutions when facing Sawamura.

Of course, everything comes at a price.

Sawamura's seemingly invincible ability also came with a significant cost.

In order to maintain his body's flexibility, the naturally flexible Sawamura dared not overdevelop his muscles.

Once his body became too muscular, those bulging muscles would become the nemesis of his flexible physique.

Under such a physical burden, it would be difficult for him to throw the ball with the same lightness.

To maintain his pitching characteristics, Sawamura had to sacrifice some power.

This is also why Sawamura found it difficult to hit home runs purely with brute strength.

In order to hit a home run, Sawamura even had to adjust his approach.

He had to use his body and the inertia of his movement to forcibly increase his hitting power.

Then, relying on that added force and acceleration, he could drive the ball out of the park.

This may sound simple, but doing it requires a very precise judgment.

Many experts and Coaches, after watching Sawamura's hitting method, shook their heads in disbelief.

It was a genius method!

And it only belonged to geniuses.

It was nearly impossible for ordinary people to do what Sawamura did.

The variables in movement are far more difficult than standard hitting.

The same goes for pitching.

Sawamura's development in other aspects of his game was like that of a rocket, rapidly improving, yet his pitching speed, something he was already capable of hitting 130 km/h in middle school, seemed to have hit a deadlock and was hard to improve.

Even more strictly speaking, Sawamura's pitching speed hadn't increased much.

On the surface, it had progressed from 120 km/h to 140 km/h.

Over the span of four years, from the first year of middle school to the second year of high school, his pitching speed had increased by more than 20 km/h!

When looking at this number, it seemed impressive, but considering that Sawamura was still in his growing years, it wasn't that shocking.

As he aged, even without rigorous training, his speed naturally increased. Over the four years of growth, the increase of just over 20 km/h wasn't all that surprising.

In fact, it was part of his normal development.

Beyond normal development, his pitching speed had, in strict terms, not improved much.

This wasn't to say Sawamura was weak in this area.

Rather, it was because he had already developed his body to its limit early on.

As he grew older, his development also hit its peak.

This was the reason for the current situation.

But after a lot of effort, Sawamura's pitching speed finally broke through the 150 km/h limit.

The players in Japan's bullpen were almost dumbfounded.

Most of them had been Sawamura's opponents.

Before Sawamura's speed breakthrough, when they faced him, they felt that his strength was so formidable it was like facing a monster.

They couldn't find any weaknesses in him.

He was perfect and invincible!

This was the truest description of Sawamura, the Demon King.

But the players present were all-star players, and the difference between them and ordinary players was still very obvious.

For most baseball players, Sawamura had become an unreachable existence.

But for these players, they could still see a glimpse of Sawamura's back.

Even though they couldn't defeat him, they still had the chance to compete.

But now, less than a month after their last encounter with Sawamura, it looked like the once invincible Demon King had evolved again.

A terrifying evolution that left everyone in awe!

In the past, they had known that Sawamura's strength was formidable, and his progress had been frightening.

But being too close to him had made them numb to it.

Now that they were outside of high school, their perspective had changed completely.

Looking back at Sawamura's pitching, it felt terrifying.

They had once faced such a terrifying player, and no wonder they lost so badly.

Sawamura's strength was already beyond what players in this age group could match.

Even when considering professional baseball, he could get a place among the best.

His former opponents had grown to this level.

No wonder so many players were filled with mixed feelings.

On the pitcher's mound, Sawamura couldn't show the same fiery emotions as the fans.

But he had his own thoughts and perspectives.

He never imagined that he would reach such a point.

Base velocity 150 km/h!

Before his regression, Sawamura never even dreamed of such a perfect outcome.

Back then, he would have been satisfied with a pitching speed of around 145 km/h.

If he could reach that speed, Sawamura believed he would undergo a complete transformation.

He wouldn't be much worse than the likes of Hongou or Allen.

Now that his speed had truly grown, Sawamura realized that his shortcomings weren't just about speed.

To become an excellent pitcher, it wasn't enough to only have speed, but also to possess various other qualities.

Before his regression, once his speed reached its limit, he found it difficult to improve further and had to make up for it in other areas.

Now, with his wealth of experience, he could come up with strategies to defeat opponents easily.

However, Sawamura wasn't willing to just rely on these methods.

After his speed surpassed 150 km/h, Sawamura felt his energy boiling.

His emotions surged wildly. In this state, trying to suppress his excitement wasn't a good choice.

Realizing this, Sawamura decided to release his excitement entirely and, with his previous rhythm, threw the ball once again.

ROAAAARRR!!!

The baseball instantly covered the distance of several meters and appeared right in front of the batter.

The fourth batter from America, watching the baseball closing in, blinked.

Unable to see Sawamura's release point, the pitch seemed incredibly fast to the batter.

It felt like there was a 10-20 km/h error in the speed.

From the batter's perspective, it was hard to discern.

Not that he didn't feel it, but the speed was just too fast.

The ball flew by with no time for reaction.

This was exactly why the American fourth batter was worried.

He felt a sense of fear in his heart.

It was terrifying!

The guy on the pitcher's mound was like a monster; his pitch accelerated on its own.

How could this be?

Even with some mental preparation, when he saw that pitch, he was stunned.

How could it be this fast?

Boom!

"STRIKE!!"

Sawamura, as if he had just gotten a new toy, didn't even bother with his breaking balls anymore, throwing only fastballs to decide the game.

Now that his speed had surpassed 150 km/h, combined with his precision to place the ball in all corners of the strike zone, the American players stood no chance.

They could only watch the baseball fly past them, over and over again, helpless.

Starting with the fourth batter, the next three batters all succumbed to Sawamura's pitching speed.

Only one batter managed to make contact with the ball, hitting it foul.

But it didn't matter. Sawamura still struck out the side with nine pitches.

This time, unlike the first inning, he didn't rely on any odd pitches, using only fastballs.

He crushed his opponents with just fastballs, not giving them any time to react or counter.

The top of the second inning ended like this.

It felt as if a samurai had unsheathed his sword and cut through all previous troubles in one strike.

Sawamura was that samurai, and the baseball in his hand was his sword.

…

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

Thank you all for reading!

Have a good day!

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