Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

"This guy must be cheating, right?!"

"His velocity isn't that fast, is it?"

"Around 92 mph, fast but not super fast."

"And he can take down the cleanup like that, it is kind of cool."

The audience in the stands kept whispering to each other.

At this moment, their opinions about the Seidou High School baseball team, especially about Sawamura Eijun, had changed quite a bit.

At the start of the game, most of them thought the Seidou High School baseball team was just a bunch of clowns.

Once the game starts, they will be completely powerless.

But now, they had subconsciously started placing both teams on the same level.

Especially for the media, they were more excited than anyone else.

Their instincts were much sharper than those of the surrounding fans.

Since the Dream Team was established, they had been crushing their opponents effortlessly. To put it bluntly, they had never faced such a challenge when playing against players of the same age.

If a Dream Team was formed in Japan, the reporters wouldn't be as excited as they are now.

After all, the world is full of surprises, and Japan's baseball system was completely different from America's.

But the real situation wasn't like that. Although the Seidou High School players were good, it was clear that they weren't on the same level as the Dream Team's talented players.

In fact, the gap between them was quite large.

But even so, in the first few innings, both teams were going toe to toe!

Every journalist who had been invited to the interview knew what was happening. Not a single one was blind.

They all understood.

Clearly, there was one player who, with his own strength, had bridged the gap between the two teams.

And that player was Eijun Sawamura.

For many American reporters, it was probably the first time they had heard of this name. But that didn't stop them from growing interested.

A player who could lead his team to compete with the Dream Team on his own.

Anyone could easily imagine how much attention someone like that would receive.

On the other side, the Japanese reporters also felt a sense of relief.

They had been genuinely worried that the Seidou High School team might be completely overwhelmed by the Dream Team's power in this live broadcast.

But now it seemed that their concerns had been completely unnecessary.

The Seidou High School baseball team was performing very well.

Especially Sawamura Eijun, the leader and star player of the team.

No wonder he was called the 'Great Demon King'.

Facing off head-on with the world's number one, Allen, he didn't seem to be at a disadvantage...

After three innings of back-and-forth, neither side had gained an advantage.

Among them, Sawamura Eijun's performance was the most impressive.

He had managed to fool the Dream Team's lineup with a Cut ball for three entire innings.

Even Miyuki, by then, started feeling a bit embarrassed.

If a level-three breaking ball could deceive a whole round, the famous Dream Team didn't seem all that impressive after all.

To this, Sawamura sneered.

"Don't daydream. It was fine at the beginning, but trying this later? It won't be that simple."

In the first three innings, both teams' Aces had shown their crushing strength.

Other than Sawamura's single hit in the first inning,

Neither side had recorded another hit.

There wasn't even a hint of which team might score a hit.

Sawamura, Allen!!

At this point, the game seemed like a duel between these two pitchers.

In such a situation, naturally, the less famous player would benefit more.

In Japan, the name "Great Demon King" could rival "Son of Baseball" in fame.

But here, there was no doubt that the name "Son of Baseball" far surpassed that of the Great Demon King.

Half an hour ago, if you had asked the fans in the stands who Sawamura was,

More than 90% of them would have looked at you with blank expressions.

"Who is Sawamura?"

But now, if you asked,

The answer would be different.

"They mean the one who can go head-to-head with Allen?"

Once you watch a game played by Sawamura, you'll never forget him.

That's the allure of Sawamura.

The game continued.

In the top of the fourth inning, the Dream Team went on the offensive!

The first batter to step up to the plate was Andy, their lead-off hitter.

Andy had already reached base once.

With three innings of exchanges, the Dream Team had gained some understanding of Sawamura's abilities.

Their evaluation of his skills was still very high. Frankly speaking, Sawamura was the most troublesome opponent they had faced in years.

There was no one else who even came close!

However, they also realized that Sawamura wasn't unbeatable.

First, the Dream Team's players were all highly skilled. They weren't incapable of hitting Sawamura's pitches.

As long as they picked the right pitch, they still had a chance to hit it!

So, what they needed to do was figure out how to choose the right pitches to deal with Sawamura.

For this reason, Coach Walter specifically instructed his players.

"Don't miss any Strikes! Our opponent is strong, and the opportunities are fleeting. The more we're up against, the more we can't afford to waste any chance."

They had already discovered that Sawamura had some particularly sharp breaking balls. Although he hadn't used them all up to this point, after analyzing their previous information,

They were sure that Sawamura couldn't rely entirely on those breaking balls.

First of all, Sawamura didn't have many high-level breaking balls.

Secondly, the more often you use such pitches, the more their usefulness decreases…

So, there must be some fastballs mixed in!

What they needed to do was wait for such pitches to come and then hit them hard.

"Don't disappoint me..."

Andy, standing in the Batter's Box, looked at Sawamura Eijun with interest.

Although he didn't have a 100% guarantee that he could hit the ball that Sawamura was about to throw, the Dream Team had already come up with a plan after facing off against him once.

'He's confident!'

Miyuki, who was always sharp, noticed the slight hint of intent in Andy's stance the moment it appeared.

It seemed like the New York team had already formulated their strategy.

'Do we need to change anything?'

Miyuki turned his gaze to the mound and communicated with Sawamura.

After all, Sawamura's pitching style wasn't just one-dimensional. Besides striking batters Out, he could also be a 'contact pitcher', intentionally throwing pitches for the batter to hit and relying on his fielders to get Outs.

If it were before, Miyuki wouldn't have asked Sawamura at all. For them, changing styles was a matter of course. But today, there had been some mistakes in the defense, almost costing the team a run.

Could they still fully trust their teammates behind them?

Even Miyuki wasn't willing to make any guarantees at this point. After all, their opponent was formidable, and a single misstep could be catastrophic.

'Of course, I trust them!'

Without a hint of hesitation, Sawamura gave his firm response. His gaze made Miyuki feel as if he wanted to dig a hole and hide in it.

Not trusting his teammates? Could Sawamura and Miyuki alone handle the entire Dream Team's lineup?

That was simply a joke!

Not only did the Seidou High School baseball team trust their teammates, but Sawamura had never treated his teammates as mere decorations, even when he was back in Akagi Middle School.

His reason for doing so wasn't just to protect their pride but because he genuinely needed their help.

Only a fool would see fielders as side characters.

With Sawamura's decision made, he and Miyuki quickly came to an unspoken understanding.

Quietly signaling to the teammates to prepare, Sawamura got into his pitching form and threw the ball.

Sawamura and Miyuki were both aware that after three innings of seeing Sawamura's pitches, the Dream Team would likely focus on two strategies: his fastball and his breaking balls.

As for Sawamura's original pitching state, they didn't have full knowledge of it.

If Sawamura switched to pitching with his unusual breaking balls…

That would definitely be enough to fool the Dream Team's batters, who hadn't seen that coming.

'Let's do it!'

'Let's do it!'

At this moment, Miyuki and Sawamura, the battery duo, were in perfect sync.

The two didn't need any signals to understand each other's intentions clearly.

For some inexplicable reason, Andy in the Batter's Box suddenly felt uneasy.

He had made up his mind, but for some reason, he felt that Sawamura's form seemed a little off.

Of course, this feeling lasted only for a split second.

Soon, the sensation disappeared.

Andy didn't think much of it and focused back on the pitch.

Sawamura, without hesitation, threw the baseball.

Whrroosh!

The baseball shot through the air like a streak of light, crossing the distance in an instant and appearing in front of the batter.

'Fast!'

That was Andy's first impression.

And this feeling made it clear to him that Sawamura had thrown a fastball, not a breaking ball.

Although Sawamura's fastballs and breaking balls didn't have a huge speed difference compared to most pitchers, the difference was still noticeable.

From the speed and momentum of the ball, it was definitely a fastball.

And it was a well-placed fastball.

Andy knew he couldn't let this one go by. Otherwise, it would be hard to see another fastball like this.

Despite his lingering doubts, he couldn't resist and swung his bat at the incoming ball.

He thought he was about to hit it out of the park.

However, at that very moment, an unexpected change occurred.

The baseball suddenly dropped just as it neared his hands.

By the time Andy realized what had happened and tried to adjust to the pitch's break, it was too late.

If he were using a metal bat, with its broader sweet spot, he could have tried to power through and hit the ball out.

But he was using a wooden bat.

If he didn't hit the ball squarely, there was no way it would end well.

Andy watched helplessly as he missed the ball.

Paak!

The ball ricocheted off the bat, as if following a preset path, and dropped into Sawamura's mitt effortlessly.

"OUT!"

In the New York Team's dugout, Coach Walter furrowed his brow in confusion. He couldn't understand why Andy couldn't hit a simple fastball.

When Andy left the Batter's Box, he immediately expressed his doubts.

Andy, feeling more wronged than anyone, felt like he was being unfairly blamed.

It was like getting a cold in the middle of the summer!

"Maybe you couldn't tell, and I didn't see it clearly either, but the ball moved as it neared my hands!"

When Andy explained everything that had happened, the entire Dream Team was left stunned.

That was when they remembered the information they had gathered earlier.

Sawamura wasn't just a fastball pitcher; even his fastballs had many variations.

He was, after all, a pitcher known for his Moving Balls.

"Occasionally, you come across such geniuses among pitchers who haven't had formal training," Coach Walter said, shaking his head with a sigh.

He had spent his days training birds, only to be caught by a little bird in the end.

He never expected that Sawamura could defeat them with nothing but his ordinary quirky pitches.

It really made them realize the saying: "There's always someone stronger."

"Absolutely the toughest opponent we've ever faced!"

After Jack entered the Batter's Box, Walter gave a serious warning to all the players.

"We can't afford to be careless. We must do everything we can to find an opportunity and make sure we hit the ball, and when you do sweep it away with your power!"

At this point, the Dream Team was resolved to get hits.

…

T/N: Everyone is taking out the big weapons!

As always, Thank you all for reading!!

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