Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

"SAFE!"

With the cooperation of Kuramochi and Haruichi, they helped Seidou score a Run.

It was also the only Run Seidou High School had scored since the second inning.

In fact, aside from the three Runs Seidou scored in the first inning, they had scored zero Runs from the second inning until just now.

This is most clearly reflected on the scoreboard.

Other than the one Run Tobuyasu had scored earlier, in the other innings, they were all shut out by Furuya.

Of course, Tobuyasu didn't show any mercy to Seidou.

Besides the three Runs in the first inning, Seidou also swallowed Outs in the following four innings.

It was as if they were deliberately humiliating Seidou High School in the face.

Fortunately, with the cooperation of Kuramochi and Kominato, Seidou High School scored a point to break the deadlock.

And this Run was just the beginning.

Next, it would be Seidou's cleanup's turn.

No Outs, runner on first base!

"Third batter, outfielder, Sawamura."

Seeing Sawamura stand in the Batter's Box, with a hint of a confident smile, as the fervent cheers from his 'cheering squad', made Senzo Shiki angry.

Since his birth, because of his looks and talents, he had become the center of the world around him.

During the game, even if his team wasn't as good as his opponent, and they were at a disadvantage on the field.

Everyone around him seemed to support him.

Unconsciously, Senzo had come to see himself as the protagonist of his life.

He had never encountered such a moment before.

In a duel on the field, the people who should have been cheering for him were actually cheering for the opponent.

It was simply incomprehensible.

Senzo's eyes gradually changed.

From Sawamura, he felt an unprecedented threat.

Even though he had anticipated this threat before the game.

He also believed he had mentally prepared enough.

But when he actually faced it, he still found it hard to accept.

He would end it all himself.

Raising his leg high, Senzo threw the ball in his hand.

He stood at 188 cm tall, with long arms.

The ball thrown from his hand seemed to fall from the highest point of the field.

Whoosh!

The falling meteor arrived at Sawamura in the blink of an eye.

Facing this sharp pitch, Sawamura remained unfazed.

He watched silently as the ball flew in.

He watched the ball rapidly drop as it approached the strike zone, bounce off the ground, and fall into the catcher's Mitt.

Snap!

"BALL!!"

Throughout this process, there was no change in Sawamura's expression.

Calm, like a still pond.

He fixed his confident gaze on the pitcher's mound. To be exact, on the pitcher on the mound.

Senzo seemed stunned as if he had been caught off guard.

A large part of the reason his pitches were sharp was because batters couldn't distinguish whether he was throwing a fastball or a breaking ball.

If they couldn't figure out the course of the ball's drop, it was naturally difficult to hit the ball.

But judging by Sawamura's expression, he seemed to be able to tell the difference.

'Can he really distinguish between a fastball and a breaking ball?'

For Senzo, this was going to make things much trickier.

If he wanted to get rid of Sawamura, he had to think of other ways.

But Senzo still had great confidence.

Even if Sawamura could tell the difference between breaking balls and fastballs, he was still confident he could handle Sawamura.

After all, he had successfully dealt with Sawamura once before.

When the second pitch came, Senzo changed his pitching form and switched to a submarine form.

Whoosh!

The ball thrown with the submarine form was very different from a normal pitch.

With this pitch, the ball traveled from bottom to top. This was quite tricky for batters who were used to balls flying from top to bottom.

If you can't get used to it quickly, don't even talk about hitting the ball.

That would be impossible.

Sawamura furrowed his brow.

It was hard to aim for others, and it was the same for him. But he was confident he could hit the ball!

It's just that it would be hard to get a super long hit or a home run like before.

'Never mind…'

Sawamura, who initially thought of solving the battle himself, suddenly had a change of heart.

He didn't need to shine in every moment. The most important thing right now was to link up the lineup.

He trusted the batters behind him, and he was willing to trust his teammates.

This feeling came out of nowhere.

When Sawamura tried to explain it himself, he couldn't pinpoint why.

It just felt that way all of a sudden.

Behind him, there were strong teammates to support.

Ping!

Having figured everything out, Sawamura swung his bat at the incoming baseball without hesitation.

'Now?'

His actions startled the pitcher on the mound, Senzo.

Previously, Senzo had carefully studied Sawamura's habits. He knew exactly what kind of pitches Sawamura liked and when he typically swung the bat.

As for the pitch Senzo had just thrown, it was definitely not the type of pitch Sawamura would usually swing at.

Even if Sawamura could make contact with it, he wouldn't be able to hit it very far.

So what was the purpose of his action?

Senzo was completely puzzled.

But Sawamura acted decisively.

In order to ensure he could hit the ball smoothly, Sawamura deliberately lowered his body's center of gravity more and didn't coil himself up like a rope.

This is to stabilize his center of gravity and would help him hit the ball more accurately, but it would lessen the power in his swing.

'Nevertheless, it is enough.'

Ping!

After the ball was struck, it dropped between the two fielders.

Kominato Haruichi had already been prepared and started running as soon as Sawamura made contact. He didn't stop at second base and immediately slid into third.

At the same time, Sawamura, with his beautiful hit, reached first base safely.

The situation now was no Outs, runners on first and third base.

This scene left everyone from Tobuyasu High School completely dumbfounded.

They never imagined that the Maou Sawamura would take it easy like this.

It wasn't that Sawamura's hit was unremarkable. It was just that no one expected him to not care about his star status at all.

He played it safe and hit a single, creating an excellent scoring opportunity for the batter to come.

Not to mention that the next batter in line for Seidou was the unbeatable-with-runners-on-base Miyuki Kazuya.

When Miyuki Kazuya stepped into the Batter's Box, he was practically glowing with excitement, and a stupid mug was on his face.

He was very happy.

He hadn't expected Sawamura to leave such a great opportunity for him.

He has never been this happy walking to the Box in a while.

No Outs, runners on first and third.

'There was no better scoring opportunity than this!'

With such a big advantage, what kind of pitch could the opponent throw?

Miyuki's mind was as clear as day.

He was confident he could hit the ball.

Unfortunately, Tobuyasu's players didn't give him the chance.

Having been tricked by Sawamura, Senzo didn't get angry. He didn't lose his temper and tried to confront Miyuki directly.

Instead, he chose to do something that was incredibly surprising to Seidou's players.

"BALL!"

"BALL!!"

"BALL!!!"

"BALL!!!!"

"Walk To Base!"

'NOOOOO!!!!'

Miyuki Kazuya-kun's hope for scoring big was squashed as he was given the free next base ticket.

he walked to the base, glaring daggers at the pitcher.

The Seidou baseball team members exchanged looks in confusion.

In the end, everyone was stunned.

The situation now was no Outs, bases loaded.

"Damn!"

"Was this some kind of joke?"

Today, Seidou had specifically adjusted their batting order, with Furuya in the fifth spot.

Furuya's swing could be a bit of a wild shot, but that wasn't the main issue.

The real issue was that he wasn't particularly skilled against pitchers like Senzo.

In this situation, the Seidou players had a hard time being hopeful.

The hard-earned opportunity to score was now wasted.

The players were all downcast.

Although a few were still desperate, shouting their support for Furuya, everyone knew deep down that the chances of Furuya getting a hit were slim.

Despite Senzo giving up three hits earlier.

Considering his performance up to that point, it was clear that he was a very capable pitcher.

And at this moment, Senzo showed no signs of breaking down.

It indicated that the opponent was still very calm.

Thus, the chances of Furuya getting a hit from Senzo were even lower.

Ping!

"FOUL!"

Snap!

"STRIKE!!"

The situation seemed to unfold just as everyone expected.

Furuya wasn't really considering observation, and it didn't suit his character to do so.

So when the ball came, he swung without hesitation.

The first swing wasn't so bad; although he didn't make fair contact, he managed to hit the ball foul.

And his swing was powerful and well-positioned.

Just when the Seidou team had just started to feel some hope…

On the next pitch, everyone immediately fell from heaven into hell.

Furuya swung again, but this time he didn't make contact with the ball at all.

Facing a curveball that fell sharply after coming from the high point, he couldn't make contact with it.

At this moment, even an idiot could guess what Tobuyasu High School's battery duo would do.

No need to think about pitch sequencing anymore; since Furuya couldn't even hit the ball, why not just throw the same pitch again?

Whoosh!

The final pitch was again a sharp curveball.

Facing the same kind of pitch, Furuya gritted his teeth and swung the bat without hesitation.

PAAANNGG!!!

A miracle happened at that moment.

The ball was hit and soared far into the air.

A GRAND SLAM, with the bases loaded!!!!

In a moment no one had expected, the score, which had been in a stalemate, underwent a dramatic change.

...