Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

'ME?'

'Walk Him?!'

'How could that be!'

Senzo's intent was clear—there was no way he'd let this batter getaway. 

"Go, Sawamura-kun!"

"You can do it!!!"

At some point, the girls who came to watch Senzo outside the field abandoned their loyalties and started cheering for Sawamura. 

Initially, there were just a few scattered voices. Later, dozens of girls shouted in unison, creating a powerful atmosphere. 

Given Sawamura's fame, such cheering wasn't unusual. However, the players from Seidou's baseball team and Tobuyasu looked visibly uncomfortable. 

The players from Tobuyasu, in particular, stared at Sawamura as though he were a sworn enemy. 

To them, whether it was their volleyball players or their cheerleaders, they were part of the school's treasured groups. 

Watching someone else encroach on their territory was infuriating. 

"Let him hit it!"

"We'll catch it!"

"One Out!"

"One Out..."

Although Senzo, the team's Ace pitcher, was on the mound, his popularity among teammates seemed rather average. No one was cheering him on. 

Instead, it was Sawamura who united the enemies in a collective, resentful determination. 

To them, they would rather see their treasured flowers on the side of the playboy Senzo than by the outsider, Sawamura. 

Sawamura could only chuckle at their reactions.

'Teenage kids.'

'Wait that makes me sound like an old man!'

'Damn it! Focus! Focus!'

Sawamura's mind returned to the game instead of wandering away.

But someone else did not do the same.

"Damn Maou!" muttered Senzo from the pitcher's mound. 

With his handsome features and exceptional skills, Senzo was used to being the center of attention. Wherever he went, he was surrounded by admirers.

And he enjoyed this a lot.

His teammates sometimes even jokingly called him 'walking hormones'.

This was the first time during a game that someone else had stolen his thunder—on his home field, no less. 

He decided to go against his Coach's order and let everyone know who is superior.

Raising his arm high, Senzo assumed his pitching form. 

His tall frame and long limbs made him look like a spire. 

The ball would descend from such a height at a steep angle, forcing Sawamura to aim for a single point rather than a broader zone. 

Whoosh!

The ball shot down like a meteor. 

In the Batter's Box, Sawamura raised his bat high, ready to strike. 

But just as he was about to swing, he stopped himself, letting the ball pass. 

Pop!

The ball hit the ground hard before bouncing into the catcher's mitt. 

"BALL!"

The umpire, slightly surprised, called it a Ball. 

From his perspective, the ball seemed on its way to enter the strike zone. 

But it had dropped straight to the ground. 

Sawamura showed no surprise at all. 

He had faced plenty of pitchers like Senzo before and after his regression. 

'Tall pitchers often focused on perfecting downward-breaking pitches to maximize their height advantage.'

'Senzo Shiki!'

'Despite his infuriating demeanor, there was no denying his exceptional talent.'

"His mastery of the curveball is remarkable," remarked Seidou's assistant coach from the dugout. 

With such a steep angle combined with the ball's downward trajectory, this was an extremely potent weapon. 

Thrown by Senzo, its power was even more pronounced. 

Even for someone like Sawamura, hitting such a pitch wouldn't be easy. 

"We must trust our players," said Coach Kataoka calmly. 

He had complete confidence in Sawamura Eijun. 

Time and again, Sawamura had proven himself, never falling short of expectations. 

From the perspective of a spectator, even they had thought that the pitch might have entered the strike zone. 

But Sawamura calmly let it go. 

It meant that Senzo's breaking ball hadn't escaped Sawamura's sharp eyes. 

On the mound, Senzo had come to the same realization. 

Now, when he looked at Sawamura, it was as if he were staring at a hedgehog bristling with spikes. 

There was no opening to exploit. 

Too strong! 

Sawamura's strength wasn't like the overwhelming brute force of Todoroki Raichi. 

It was an entirely different kind of feeling. 

The more you competed against him, the deeper you fell into a passive position. 

It felt like being entangled in ropes—the more you struggled, the tighter it became. 

At this time, the girls' voices in the stands were also frustratingly exasperating for him. 

He was playing for the team, for the school, against Seidou High School. Yet their own cheer squad was rooting for the opponent. 

"It's infuriating."

He couldn't tolerate such a thing. 

Initially, he had wanted to remain calm and think of a way to counter Sawamura. 

But now, that was out of the question. 

He had to face this head-on with strong, assertive pitches to resolve this showdown. 

"Let's try this!"

From his usual elevated pitching posture, Senzo suddenly changed his motion. 

He pulled his arm wide, swung it low under his waist, and pitched the ball upwards. 

'A submarine pitcher?'

Sawamura's eyes widened in astonishment at the sight. 

Although he had expected the opponent might have some tricks up his sleeve, he had never imagined that Senzo would alter his pitching form entirely. 

The ball flew from below, arcing steeply upward. 

This made Sawamura doubt that the pitch would even stay within the strike zone. 

He forcibly restrained his urge to swing and waited for the pitch to come closer. 

Snap!

As the ball neared the strike zone, what had seemed like an upward trajectory suddenly dropped sharply. 

It was as though the ball followed a pre-determined parabolic curve. 

The ball landed squarely in the catcher's mitt. 

"STRIKE!!"

In the Batter's Box, Sawamura's expression became quite interesting. 

'I had been tricked!'

The pitch was clearly a deliberate maneuver—Senzo would never have thrown such a ball by chance. 

'Dare to treat me like a child being played with?'

Sawamura was genuinely angry now. His gaze, once mixed with a variety of thoughts, was now completely focused. 

At this moment, there was only one goal in his mind—to hit the ball. 

No matter what tricks the opponent played, it didn't matter to him anymore. 

His only objective was to smash the ball that flew toward him. 

The opponent's pitch speed was only around the mid-130 km/h range, a velocity that allowed Sawamura to wait until the ball was nearly at hand before deciding to swing. 

If Senzo wanted to rely on clever tricks, Sawamura would use his overwhelming skill to crush those attempts entirely. 

He wouldn't give the opponent any room for gimmicks. 

'Bring it on!'

'Bring it!!!' 

As if summoned by his will, the ball truly came flying. 

This time, unlike the previous submarine pitch, Senzo returned to his usual throwing motion and delivered a normal pitch. 

The ball seemed to fall steeply from the mountaintop, forming an abrupt and steep slope. 

In the Batter's Box, Sawamura stood unwavering. 

He watched the ball approach, raised his bat high, and swung fiercely. 

During his previous ball, Sawamura originally wanted to swing normally. 

However, upon noticing the pitch's downward movement, he adjusted his swing. 

Just like striking a golf ball, he swung his bat vertically. 

Ping!

The ball collided with the bat and flew forward like a grounded dragon, skimming close to the field's surface. 

The ball maintained a height of only 20 or 30 centimeters above the ground, seemingly about to touch down at any moment. 

Yet it stubbornly kept flying forward. 

A Tobuyasu infielder dove in an attempt to stop the ball from passing. 

But just as he made his move, the ball zipped past him at high speed. 

Too fast! 

The ball's speed after being struck far exceeded expectations. 

In the blink of an eye, it had traversed more than half the field, landing 60 meters away. 

Pak!

The ball hit the ground, bounced, and then continued bouncing forward without losing momentum. 

It felt like skipping a stone on the water's surface, bouncing repeatedly until finally slowing in the deep outfield. 

In the Batter's Box, Sawamura released his bat and began jogging toward first base. 

The second-base runner Kuramochi, had hesitated at first, not daring to steal the base immediately upon seeing the ball. 

The hit had been too sudden, and it seemed like the ball could be intercepted at any moment. 

It wasn't until the ball landed, and everything seemed settled, that he realized the opportunity. 

With Kuramochi's speed, once he started moving, he was as agile as a Cheetah stalking its prey. 

In no time, he had passed third base. 

Predictably, the third-base coach signaled for him to proceed toward home plate. 

Though Kuramochi's actions were slightly delayed, Sawamura's incredible hit had more than made up for it. 

That low, hard-hit line drive had completely pierced through the defense. 

In such circumstances, Kuramochi naturally had to press on. 

He stepped firmly on third base and sprinted toward home plate without hesitation. 

…