Diamond No Ace: The Strongest Hitter

Chapter 134: A Chaotic Practice Match

"That guy has enough talent, I guarantee it!"

Hearing Sendo's assurance, Sano smiled faintly, finally setting his worries aside. Of course, such conversations were never shared with anyone else.

Shortly after Sendo left, Sano, sticking to their earlier discussion, finalized the arrangements for the practice match against Tokumei.

As he hung up the phone, Sano glanced at the staffroom door and found himself deep in thought.

"Sendo, lately you've been showing up for practice more and more. Thinking back to last year, you couldn't even be bothered to glance at the field while they trained."

"You can do it. Lead this team to Nationals, Sendo!"

The empty staffroom echoed softly with Sano's words.

"One! Two! Three! Four!"

From the field, the voices of Akagi's players resounded in response, full of vigor.

...

On the day of the practice match against Tokumei the bracket for the autumn tournament was announced.

Sano's luck finally peaked—Akagi's first few rounds were against relatively unknown schools with no formidable opponents.

The team was in high spirits, feeling that their luck was finally turning around.

When the day of the practice match arrived, Sendo delivered an unexpected pregame speech.

"Today, like always, enjoy the game. No bunting allowed! Play to your heart's content and have fun!"

"Have fun?"

Everyone was momentarily taken aback, some even a little bewildered.

This past year, they had been grinding endlessly, pushing themselves to their limits because they were too weak to compete otherwise.

In their relentless pursuit of victory, they had forgotten that baseball itself was meant to be an enjoyable sport.

Sendo wanted them to relax during this practice match and rediscover the joy of playing.

"Only the strong have the privilege to enjoy the game. So, enjoy it! The moment the bat connects with the ball is the best feeling, isn't it?"

"Right now, we are strong!"

"We are strong!" someone echoed, borrowing a line from Slam Dunk.

"Let's go!"

"Yeah!"

...

"Wow, their energy is off the charts," remarked someone from Tokumei, hearing the spirited shouts from Akagi's players.

"True! Last year, they were terrible. In fact, they were just a bunch of beginners last summer."

"Their growth is scary," another added, shaking their head in disbelief.

Both teams had no intention of revealing too many tactics, but neither planned to hold back during the match.

Since the tournament bracket showed they wouldn't face each other unless they both reached the finals—a highly unlikely scenario—they could afford to play freely.

"Sendo-kun, what kind of magic did you use to transform this team?"

"Just like they said, they're strong now. No one would dare underestimate them anymore."

"With your strong lineup, let's use this match to sharpen our ace and pitching staff. Otherwise, next summer might get rough!" Coach Yashiro from Tokumei mused internally, impressed by Akagi's progress.

...

The game began with Tokumei batting first and Akagi fielding.

"Enjoy the game, huh? Speaking of which… heh!"

"I'll let them hit it. Defense, I'm counting on you!" Sawamura muttered to himself, suddenly calling out a phrase he wouldn't use until high school.

"Let's do this!"

"Eijun, enjoy the game!"

"Enjoy it, huh? Interesting," muttered Tokumei's leadoff hitter, his spirits lifted by Sawamura's infectious enthusiasm.

"Bring it on, Akagi!" he shouted, signaling the start of the match.

...

After numerous recent practice matches, Shin had fully adjusted to his role as a catcher and his coordination with Sawamura was back on point.

"First pitch!"

Pop!

"Strike!"

"Inside pitch!"

"His control has improved since last year, and his velocity isn't bad either. Was that last pitch over 120 km/h?" one of Tokumei's batters muttered, assessing Sawamura's performance.

Ping!

"Foul ball!"

Ping!

Pop!

"Out!"

The batter popped out with an infield fly.

The second batter hit a ground ball to the infield, resulting in a second out.

The third batter, however, managed an infield single, extending the inning.

The fourth batter continued the offensive, proving that while Sawamura's pitching was difficult to adjust to, it wasn't impossible to hit.

However, the fifth batter was swiftly taken care of, leaving Tokumei to waste a golden scoring opportunity in the first inning.

Still, Tokumei's batters didn't seem too worried—it wasn't impossible to score off Sawamura, after all.

Now, it was Akagi's turn to bat.

With bunting prohibited and Sendo's instructions to enjoy the game, the players were determined to face their opponents head-on at the plate.

Akagi, known for their previously dull games, seemed to have found a new spark of energy.

They looked like carefree kids playing baseball purely for the joy of it. The players from Tokumei noticed their relaxed expressions—there wasn't a shred of nervousness on their faces.

And yet, strangely, that relaxation didn't make Akagi seem weaker.

Their strength was soon proven.

Ping!

"It's through! Beautiful! A double!"

Ohno's first at-bat resulted in a perfect double.

Next:

Ping!

Pop!

"Fly ball to the outfield!"

"Out!"

"Go!"

"Even though I can't bunt, I wanted to try a sacrifice fly," Aoki murmured to himself as he advanced the runner to third.

"Safe!"

Internally, Aoki sighed, I wanted to hit a clean outfield single… Damn it!

With one out and a runner on third, the next batter stepped up.

Ping!

"Yes! Beautiful hit! A timely RBI single!"

Ohno leisurely ran home to score, while Kondou advanced to second base.

"What's going on with this team?" Coach Yashiro from Tokumei, who had been smiling moments ago, now looked like someone had grabbed him by the throat.

Though he had heard about Akagi's improved lineup, seeing it in action during the first inning was still shocking.

Their previous practice games had shown overwhelming scores, but those were against weak teams, and Akagi had ended those games early. Those results didn't fully reveal the strength of their batting lineup.

Combining this with last year's underwhelming performance, Yashiro assumed their improvement wouldn't be too drastic.

Reality, however, hit him hard.

Ping!

"Strikeout!"

Tokumei managed to strike out the next batter, briefly easing Yashiro's worries.

But then:

Ping!

"Another hit!"

Omura's clean single erased any relief Yashiro felt, setting up runners on first and third with two outs.

By now, Yashiro understood—the lineup, apart from Sawamura, had undergone a transformation. Everyone else had grown immensely stronger, almost as if they had evolved overnight.

Then Oyama stepped up and hit another single, bringing the score to 2-0 with runners on first and second.

Just when Yashiro and even Sendo thought the inning might be winding down, it happened:

Ping!

Pop!

"It's in! A three-run home run!"

While the opposing pitcher wavered, Takada capitalized and delivered a crushing blow.

"Yes! That makes it 5-0!"

"Finally, Takada managed to hit the ball!"

"Now it's three consecutive hits!"

Ping!

"Ah?"

The pitcher was on the verge of collapse—this was already the seventh hit of the inning.

Pop!

"Out!"

Unfortunately, the next ball was poorly placed and was caught by the outfielder, ending the inning.

The pitcher finally breathed a sigh of relief.

In total, Akagi managed five hits in the inning, leaving Tokumei scrambling for answers.

"Three outs! Switch sides!"

"It's fine!"

"What a shame!"

The team gathered to comfort Shin.

"Shin, let Eijun pitch more inside balls. If the score gap becomes too large, have him throw straight down the middle," Sendo whispered as he casually draped his arm over Shin's shoulders.

"Huh?"

"Let's work on fielding practice. Also, I don't want this game to end early again. Let's play all seven innings and let everyone enjoy the game! Besides, Eijun's been getting a little too full of himself lately."

"You're just settling a personal grudge, aren't you?" Shin thought but wisely kept it to himself. He had no intention of dying today.

"Fine, but if we lose, it's not my fault!" Shin replied.

"Don't worry. Winning or losing doesn't matter today. The goal is for everyone to have fun, practice defense, and knock Eijun down a peg," Sendo explained calmly.

The plan made sense. With a five-run lead, there was room to shift the focus to training and a more relaxed, exhibition-style game.

As long as Tokumei didn't rally and force an early conclusion, the rest didn't matter.

And so,

Ping!

Pop!

"Out!"

Although the match leaned more towards an exhibition game, Akagi's upgraded defense ensured that poorly hit balls wouldn't easily turn into base hits.

Even so, Tokumei continued to make solid contact, and the score began to climb.

In the second inning, after some unknown words of motivation from Coach Yashiro, Tokumei's pitcher seemed to regain some fighting spirit.

However, against the red-hot momentum of Akagi, it still wasn't enough.

The score kept alternating as both teams traded runs, and by the third inning, Tokumei switched pitchers.

At that point, practicing their pitching rotation became valuable experience, as their ace clearly couldn't hold out any longer.

The new pitcher had strong mental composure, and with Akagi's lower batting order up, Tokumei managed to slightly slow Akagi's momentum.

The score remained within three runs, but once Akagi's top order returned, they tore apart the new pitcher as well.

Although Tokumei kept scoring, the gap widened to four runs before stabilizing.

The sound of bats connecting with balls echoed across the field, and Sawamura's resilience shone through.

Always determined to appear strong in front of his teammates, he remained unwavering despite giving up runs.

By the bottom of the sixth inning, Akagi's batting lineup fully erupted.

A streak of seven consecutive hits, starting with Ojno, extended the lead to seven runs.

Under immense pressure, Tokumei's batting lineup finally collapsed. In the top of the seventh inning, they failed to score, and the game ended there.

Because Akagi was leading, they didn't need to bat in the final inning, giving Tokumei a small reprieve.

The final score: 15–8.

It was a spectacular batting showdown, though unfortunately with no audience to witness it. Had there been spectators, it would have been an incredibly entertaining game.

Through this match, Coach Yashiro fully recognized the evolution of Akagi's batting lineup. They were on par with—or even stronger than—last year's Tokugawa lineup.

Although Tokugawa retained several key players from last year and their strength hadn't diminished much, their team chemistry remained uncertain.

In contrast, Akagi hadn't changed a single player since last year. Their unmatched cohesion was a terrifying advantage.

Both sides played with full enthusiasm, though Tokumei's pitching rotation suffered the most.

Sawamura, despite being utterly exhausted, showed no signs of discouragement.

After all, he hadn't been able to pitch at full strength.

Besides, with Sendo now on the team as his dedicated catcher or "tool," as Sendo jokingly put it, Sawamura feared no one.

"Today was truly an amazing game. We had a great time! Let's cheer for each other moving forward."

"This fall—or next summer—we'll see you again! Be sure to watch our match against Tokugawa, and next summer, take them down, Sendo-kun!"

At the post-game handshake, Coach Yashiro shared these words with Sendo.

Tokumei Academy was set to face Tokugawa in the third round of the autumn tournament, and Yashiro knew it would be nearly impossible for his team to defeat them and advance to Nationals.

However, in Akagi, he saw hope—a chance to break Tokugawa's monopoly on Nationals appearances.

He didn't mind acting as a vanguard, helping Akagi gather information on Tokugawa.

"Thank you very much, Coach Yashiro!" Sendo and Coach Sano bowed deeply to express their gratitude.

"Thank you!" The rest of the Akagi players followed suit, bowing as well.

"There's no need for that. Take care on your way back!"

"Goodbye!" With that, the Akagi team boarded their bus.

This thrilling and exceptional game remained a secret.

With Coach Yashiro's willingness to help, there was no chance of information leaking.

As for Sendo, ever the schemer, his plans to take down Tokugawa next summer were securely hidden away.

Although it was still autumn, Akagi's players already felt the Nationals calling to them.

"We'll make it to Nationals next summer, no matter what!"

It was as if the sky echoed their collective thoughts.

...

"Next up, it's time to prepare for the autumn tournament, Coach Sano!"

The day before their first game in the tournament, Sendo discussed his plans with Coach Sano in private.

"So, you've had this all planned out? You haven't told anyone, have you? Next summer is going to be very interesting.

With such little time to react, Tokugawa is bound to be caught off guard. And this autumn, we can gather all the information we need on them!"

Coach Sano's face flushed slightly with excitement as he imagined the possibilities.

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