Diamond No Ace: The Strongest Hitter

Chapter 103: Summer Schedule and Pre-Match Preparations

"Looking at you, it seems like you don't have a girlfriend yet, do you? Could it be... you're still a virgin?" Ozawa teased, deliberately licking her lips.

"Miss Ozawa! I'm still underage! Isn't it normal not to have a girlfriend or be a virgin at my age? And besides..." Sendo's gaze swept over Ozawa from top to bottom.

"What are you looking at?" Ozawa asked, visibly uncomfortable under Sendo's scrutinizing gaze.

By any standard, Ozawa was undeniably a beauty, though one akin to a thorny rose. Moreover, Sendo had once crushed her in a previous match, so he had to tread carefully around her.

"Miss Ozawa, you're almost flawless as a beauty—"

"Except for my personality?" Ozawa interrupted.

"Exactly! But you're likely still a... maiden, right?" Sendo said, carefully phrasing his words. (In Japanese, the word for 'maiden' and 'virgin' sounds the same, making the implication clear.)

After all, most baseball players are too busy to date, especially someone as hardworking and headstrong as you, Miss Ozawa," Sendo continued, smirking slightly.

With each word Sendo uttered, Ozawa's fury grew more intense, until her anger was practically tangible behind her.

"I don't need a boyfriend!" she snapped, resisting the urge to pummel the cheeky Sendo, then turned and left in frustration.

Ozawa was someone who bore grudges but also respected strength.

Her playful teasing and provocative remarks were part of her complex personality.

At first, she was genuinely pleased when Sendo praised her beauty—particularly as a single college student.

She did have a soft spot for younger, charming boys like Sendo, with his handsome looks, tall stature, and exceptional baseball talent.

But her admiration for him as a player had nothing to do with romantic interest.

However, Ozawa had underestimated Sendo's sly and sharp tongue.

One moment she was flattered, and the next, she was seething with anger.

"Women are so fickle! Was it really worth getting so worked up over a joke?" Sendo muttered to himself.

Little did Sendo know that his careless remarks had just made his team's match far more challenging.

In the past six months, Ozawa had significantly improved her stamina.

The last time they faced each other, Sendo had broken her mentally and physically, leading to her exhaustion and unbalanced mindset.

Pressure and emotional distress can accelerate stamina loss, and Ozawa had experienced both.

"This time, we're fully prepared! Last time, we were caught completely off guard," Coach Mitani said with a sigh, watching from Akagi's bench and reflecting on how quickly time had flown.

Given the significant gap in strength, Akagi was granted the privilege of choosing their role.

Sendo opted for the second offense—not because it was advantageous, but because it allowed them to play an extra half-inning.

Of course, that was assuming the game wasn't called off early due to a mercy rule.

The opening innings proceeded smoothly.

Having not faced Sawamura's pitches for six months, Sakura Girls's batters initially struggled to adapt. This time, however, Sawamura wasn't throwing at full strength, so his control was slightly better.

The first batter fought through four pitches but ultimately failed to connect.

The second batter, however, managed to hit a clean grounder past the infield and reached first base.

Sakura Girls's team came prepared, using wider bats and standing closer to the plate to counter Sawamura's pitches.

While it was difficult to hit a long ball due to Sawamura's low pitch placement, their strategy proved effective.

Thus began Sakura Girls's relentless offensive onslaught.

This game would not be a repeat of the previous stalemate.

As the innings progressed, the score gap widened.

Thankfully, Sakura Girls didn't hit any home runs or exceptionally long drives, but Ozawa channeled all her anger and frustration—especially at Sendo—onto Akagi's team.

Although Akagi's batting had improved, and they managed several hits by abandoning all breaking pitches, they struggled to string them together into scoring opportunities.

Unlike the previous match, where Akagi was completely overwhelmed, they managed to secure eight hits this time.

However, without Sendo's presence, they might have faced a no-hitter from Ozawa.

The game ended after seven innings with a score of 8-0.

This was largely due to Coach Mitani's deliberate decision to hold back.

Apart from the first inning, when Sakura Girls were still adjusting, Akagi was thoroughly dominated, with Sawamura allowing countless hits.

Although they knew their opponents had gone easy on them, Akagi couldn't capitalize on the opportunity.

Any budding confidence was immediately extinguished, but Sendo's encouragement helped them regain a healthy balance between confidence and humility—a key goal of their final two practice matches.

After the game, Ozawa approached Sendo once more.

"Hey, kid!"

"Miss Ozawa! What's up?"

"Good luck this summer."

"Got it!"

"You know, you'd actually be a good guy... if only someone could shut your mouth!" Ozawa said, leaning closer to examine Sendo's face.

"You too, Miss Ozawa! You're definitely an enchanting beauty!" Sendo retorted, flashing a sly smile.

Those words hit Ozawa hard, leaving her momentarily stunned. "I still haven't forgotten the humiliation from last year," she whispered into his ear, her breath brushing against his skin.

Even Sendo, despite his mental age, shivered instinctively, his heart racing.

"You're getting nervous? What a little pervert!"

"This is just a normal reaction!" Sendo stammered.

"How amusing," Ozawa smirked before lightly exhaling on his neck and, to his shock, kissed it.

"Give me your LINE," she said casually. And just like that, they exchanged contact information.

Why didn't Sendo say anything in response?

Because as a lifelong single guy—innocent and straightforward—his brain had short-circuited the moment Ozawa leaned in close.

By the time Akagi's bus had driven off, Sendo finally regained his senses, realizing he had been completely outplayed.

Meanwhile, Ozawa, her face flushed, was equally flustered.

Though inexperienced in romance, she couldn't understand why she had acted so impulsively.

Just to clarify, Ozawa didn't fall for Sendo.

Fortunately, no one witnessed the kiss on Sendo's neck. From the team's perspective, it only looked like Ozawa whispered something to him.

Even so, Sendo was thoroughly teased by his teammates, though these kids only had a shallow understanding of what they were mocking.

When Sendo admitted that he had been stunned and clueless during the incident, the room erupted in laughter.

Since no one else had noticed anything unusual, Sendo was happy to play the ostrich and pretend nothing happened.

This situation also proved a point: a massive defeat against a much stronger opponent doesn't necessarily damage morale.

None of these players planned to pursue baseball as a career. As for Sawamura, who had the potential?

He probably didn't even fully grasp what "professional baseball" meant.

With that, all of Akagi's practice matches leading up to summer were completed.

Overall, the team had decent results and gained valuable experience—essential nutrients for their growth as a team.

After the game, the first thing that happened was Sendo getting reported.

Fumino scolded him harshly, her words dripping with sarcasm.

She practically had "I'm not happy" written on her face.

Since the incident had been dismissed as "just whispering," Sendo endured the reprimand with a confused expression, never understanding why Fumino was angry.

After this little interlude, Akagi Junior High went all-in on preparations for the summer tournament.

Before long, the official brackets for the preliminary rounds were distributed to each school.

Akagi's first opponent?

It was hard to say if they were lucky or unlucky: their first match was against Kirinishi!

"A strong opponent right out of the gate!" Sendo said, studying the bracket. "And their cheer squad and female managers completely overshadow their players in numbers. It's such an overwhelming advantage! Honestly, I'm jealous!"

Sawamura, standing nearby, looked at him with a baffled expression.

Wakana, on the other hand, wanted to strangle him.

Despite having a perfect beauty (well, except for her less-than-stellar bust) right next to him, he was envious of another team.

"So, are they strong or not?" Sawamura finally asked, crouching on the bench.

"Hmm… first-round knockout," Sendo said after some thought.

Sawamura nearly fell off the bench. "You mean, they're just pushovers?!"

"Well, yes, but their abundance of girls is like a debuff aura for the opposing team. It's a major mental attack! Plus, it boosts their own team's morale. They're practically a top-tier threat!" Sendo said with a straight face.

"Seriously? What should we do then?" Sawamura, gullible as ever, began to panic.

In his eyes, Sendo had always been calm and collected, even against strong opponents like Sakura Girls or Tokugawa.

"Calm down!" Sendo hadn't expected Sawamura to believe him so easily.

"What should we do to beat them?" Another voice joined in—it wasn't Sawamura.

"Uh… seriously?" Sendo realized there wasn't just one gullible person.

"Idiot! Aki-kun was joking!" Wakana finally chimed in.

"You tricked me again!" Sawamura growled, grabbing Sendo by the collar.

"Let go! Let go and listen to me!" Sendo managed to free himself from the agitated Sawamura.

"Think about it! How would you feel if you saw their cheering section full of girls?"

"Nothing much. Why do you ask?" Sawamura replied, his expression instantly calm.

But then…

"You idiot! What does that have to do with the game?!" Sawamura erupted again, grabbing Sendo by the shirt.

"Let me go! Let me finish!" Sendo pleaded.

"Eijun, don't you think it's something to envy?"

"Not at all!"

... Sendo felt like the conversation was going nowhere. Sawamura might actually be an even denser straight arrow than him.

"Alright, fine. But those girls might motivate Kirinishi's players to perform beyond their limits!" Sendo said, resuming his act.

"Hmph, I'm not falling for your nonsense again!"

"Believe what you want," Sendo replied, relieved to drop the subject. He was running out of ideas, and distracting Sawamura had served its purpose.

"In all seriousness, Kirinishi's batting lineup isn't much of a threat. Their pitcher has a decent curveball but lacks control and speed. As long as we don't fall for the curveball, we'll be fine," Sendo finally offered a proper analysis.

"Still, there's no room for complacency in training. We'll also have Sano record our second-round opponent's game."

With that, the discussion about Kirinishi ended quickly since there wasn't much to say.

"This time, our early bracket looks manageable with no major threats. The real challenge will come in the Round of 16 against Tokugawa. If all goes well, we might make it further than ever this summer."

"Alright, let's give it our all!" Sawamura shouted, rallying his teammates.

"Yeah!!!"

"What's our goal?!"

"To make it to Nationals!!!"

"Alright, everyone, focus on your individual assignments!"

"My goal is to lose 5 grams!" Takada declared confidently.

"It's 5 kilograms! Don't mess with the numbers!" Sendo shot back immediately.

After the brief strategy meeting, the team returned to the field for practice.

As the summer tournament approached, training ramped up to its peak. Almost all basic drills were doubled in intensity. Despite the grueling workload, no one complained.

...

"Shin, head to the bullpen with Eijun!" Sendo instructed after bunting drills, baserunning exercises, and explosive strength training. He took the rest of the team for fielding practice.

With the tournament looming, Shin and Sawamura's synergy would determine how far Akagi could go.

As a result, Shins batting practice was almost entirely replaced with targeted, independent training.

"Let's begin!"

"Yeah!!!"

At 3:30 PM, Sendo personally supervised their drills, which lasted until 5 PM.

"Get up! If you want to sleep, go home and sleep all you want! One more pitch!" Sendo shouted.

"Stop slacking! Is this all you've got? What if we face extra innings? Will you just give up?"

As the tournament neared, Sendo abandoned his usual cheeky demeanor, pushing his team to their limits.

Within an hour, the players began missing routine plays, but Sendo refused to relent.

He continually urged them to keep going, determined to sharpen their mental and physical resilience.

Although Sendo planned to quit baseball after middle school to pursue his own happiness, he gave his absolute best, showing no mercy in training.

The others understood that Sendo was serious about leading them to Nationals.

Even as their bodies grew unresponsive, they didn't complain.

Instead, they willed themselves to keep moving, with Wakana being the only exception, having been pulled out early to rest.

Finally, at 5 PM, Sendo called for a break.

In an instant, everyone collapsed onto the ground.

"No self-training tonight. After tomorrow's batting practice, we'll continue with fielding drills. Of course, today's missed batting will be made up tomorrow!" Sendo declared.

"Yes!!!" Despite their exhaustion, their voices remained strong.

...

In these final days of preparation, Akagi pushed through what felt like a hellish regimen. Every day was a cycle of bunting, baserunning, fielding, and batting.

Although monotonous and grueling, the players persevered, knowing it was all to close the gap with Tokugawa and make a deeper run in the summer tournament.

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