Diamond No Ace: Life As Sawamura Eijun

Chapter 234: The Beginning of Counterattack

Bottom of the Third Inning, Ikuei High School's Offense, Starting with the Ninth Batter.

Ikuei High School maintained their aggressive approach from the first round, continuing their attack on Tanba.

Despite the ninth batter being seemingly easier to deal with, he proved particularly stubborn, forcing Tanba to exert considerable effort to finally get the out.

With the batting order resetting to the top, Ikuei's leadoff batter came up to the plate.

Perhaps drawing from his experience in the first at-bat, he perfectly timed a curveball on the second pitch and sent it flying.

Fortunately for Seidou, the angle of contact wasn't ideal, and the batter couldn't fully transmit his power into the hit.

The ball didn't travel very far, dropping just in front of right field.

The batter reached first base.

"Whoosh!"

To the surprise of the crowd, Ikuei's second batter showed bunt on the very first pitch, just as Tanba threw an inside fastball.

"Ohhh?!"

The crowd let out a low gasp, shocked at Ikuei's sudden decision to pull off another surprise play.

But this time, the attempt fell directly into the watchful eyes of Seidou's catcher, Miyuki.

"Pop!"

Miyuki had Tanba deliberately pitch outside.

"Whoosh!"

Miyuki caught the ball cleanly and, with a quick transfer, fired it to second base.

"Pop!"

"Out…"

Kuramochi, waiting at second base, secured the ball, flashed a mischievous grin, and looked at Ikuei's leadoff batter, who was a step too late. In a low voice, he said:

"You're out."

"OOOOH! A lightning-fast throw from home plate!"

"This catcher's arm strength is truly frightening."

"I have a stat here—since last year, this catcher's caught stealing percentage has been an impressive 80%. He's a genuine top-tier catcher."

"Ikuei High School must be rattled now."

The failed bunt attempt and the caught runner dampened Ikuei's momentum.

In no time at all, under Miyuki's pitch calling, Tanba struck out Ikuei's second batter for another out.

"Whoosh!"

"Pop!"

"Strikeout! Batter out! Three outs! Change of sides!"

Three innings down, one full batting order rotation complete.

Seidou High School had slowly regained control of the game's rhythm.

Miyuki's move to read Ikuei's strategy in the bottom of the third inning felt like a splash of cold water on Ikuei's momentum.

At that moment, the flow of the game began to shift.

In the dugout, Coach Natsume's expression remained unchanged.

This was well within his expectations.

The truth was, the two teams did have a difference in skill.

From Coach Natsume's perspective, this Seidou team was even stronger than the one they had faced in the spring from Ichidaisan High.

Particularly in terms of pitching, this was evident.

Even Ichidaisan High had managed to suppress Ikuei for most of the game after conceding runs in the first inning before ultimately losing.

Given Seidou's resurgence, this was an anticipated outcome for Coach Natsume.

Furthermore, the game had progressed to a point where, as long as they could hold on for one more inning…

"Whoosh!"

"Ping!!!"

A powerful swing shattered the tense atmosphere.

The deafening crack of the bat meeting the ball echoed across the stadium.

The ball traced a dazzling arc across the sky, its trajectory mesmerizing like a shooting star.

The white sphere raced through the air, streaking over the infield with unstoppable momentum before crashing violently into the center field fence.

"Bang!"

"Ohhh!!! A walk for the second batter, followed by consecutive hits from the third and fourth batters! Seidou High School finally breaks through Ikuei's defense in the top of the fourth inning. The score is tied, and the game is back to square one! There's still no outs, with runners on second and third!"

"Ha! Beautiful hit, Captain!"

"Well done, Isashiki-senpai!"

"Keep it up, Masuko-senpai!"

"One more hit! Let's go!"

On the mound, Sato wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead, letting out a quiet sigh.

Shaking his head in resignation, he thought to himself:

"Have they figured out my forkball completely?"

He knew it was impossible to dominate Seidou's cleanup hitter, but being crushed so cleanly still left a mark.

His gaze drifted toward Yuuki standing on second base, a silent acknowledgment of the monstrous batter he had just faced.

"Batting fifth, third baseman, Masuko-kun."

The momentum had completely shifted to Seidou High School.

Now it was Seidou's time to strike like thunder.

But Ikuei wasn't out of options yet.

A quick substitution was announced:

"Player change for Ikuei High School. First baseman Kimura will replace Sato as the pitcher. Sato will move to first base. The pitcher is now Kimura."

"They're changing pitchers already?"

"Well, it's a bit quick, but Seidou really forced their hand."

"No outs, runners on second and third. With their ace pitcher coming in, let's see how Ikuei handles this situation."

"Looks like they're making their move," said Chris softly from the Seidou bench.

Coach Kataoka, his expression stoic, narrowed his eyes slightly. "Such a decisive switch… it means Ikuei doesn't intend to drag this out. They're cutting the knot quickly, huh?"

"Swing with all your power," Kataoka instructed Masuko. "We're in the driver's seat now. No need to hold back."

Masuko nodded firmly.

A left-handed pitcher, just like Sawamura, with a fastball reaching 146 km/h but shaky control?

If he throws a mistake pitch right down the middle, I'll blast it out of here!

Gripping his bat tightly, Masuko locked eyes with the new pitcher on the mound.

"Sorry, Kimura-san. I couldn't hold on until the fifth inning," Sato said apologetically.

"Haha, you did well enough, Sato. Leave the rest to me. I am the ace, after all," Kimura patted Sato on the shoulder with a deep voice.

"Got it. I'm counting on you, Kimura-san," Sato replied, handing the ball over before jogging to first base.

The imposing figure of Kimura—thickset and almost thuggish in appearance—stood on the mound, an image hardly befitting a high schooler.

In the Seidou dugout, Eijun, polishing his bat, eyed Kimura with a smirk.

"What's with that build? He doesn't even look like a high schooler. Is this guy a delinquent or what?"

Still, his gaze sharpened with intrigue as he watched Kimura prepare.

"Alright then. Runners on second and third, let's see what kind of pitches you've got up your sleeve."

Eijun's eyes glinted with excitement, eager to witness the next move in this tense battle.

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