Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

The practice match has ended.

Originally, the joint forces from other regions wanted to teach the Tokyo players a lesson.

However, in the end, it was them who learned the lesson.

Not only did they not expect this, but even Coach Takeda did not anticipate it.

The final score was 2:1.

In addition to Sawamura's home run, both Miyuki and Todoroki Raichi teamed up to score one more point.

Thus, the Tokyo Stars team managed to score two points.

On the other side, while the other teams' players worked hard to try to catch up with the score, they couldn't.

The overall explosion from Narumiya and the collaboration with Miyuki made it nearly impossible to break through the pair, even though the opposing team had some of the nation's best hitters.

To be honest, this wasn't even a fair match.

The sudden match was incredibly disadvantageous for the attacking side.

Theoretically, it was very hard for them to score in the first place.

Under these circumstances, the Tokyo Stars team still managed to score two points.

The other team also managed to score one point.

In total, there were three points scored throughout the game.

This was already impressive, showing that the hitters on the field were certainly no slouches.

After two more days of team training, Coach Takeda began announcing the 20-person roster.

With the announcement of the list, it also meant that the more than twenty players who weren't selected would be sent home.

The list was fair, with 10 players from the Tokyo Stars team and 10 from the other regions.

Starting with the Tokyo Stars team, many of the players were a given—they were always going to stay.

For example, Sawamura, the Famous Demon King.

As the most terrifying player, the number one among all players, if he couldn't make the cut, who else would have the right to stay?

Next up was his partner, Miyuki.

As the number one catcher in the nation, and Sawamura's trusted partner, he was obviously indispensable.

There were even predictions that these two would take the number 1 and 2 jersey numbers.

No matter how talented the other players were, these two positions, for now, could not be shaken.

Aside from these two, the remaining player selections were extremely competitive.

It was painful to see any of them go.

But honestly, it wasn't impossible to make a choice.

Putting all these players together, it's still quite clear who is the most outstanding.

For example, Narumiya from Inashiro Industrial High School's baseball team.

This is a player who can stand toe-to-toe with Sawamura in a match.

From the perspective of reinforcing the pitcher lineup, his presence was essential.

Not to mention, like Sawamura, he could also play outfield, making their arrangement more flexible.

This was definitely an added bonus, and Coach Takeda couldn't ignore it when choosing players.

Next was Todoroki Raichi from Yakushi High School.

Even though there were numerous strong hitters across the country, the strongest of them was probably still Todoroki Raichi.

The others just didn't quite measure up.

These four positions on the Tokyo Stars team were the most secure.

In addition to these four, there were also a few very distinctive players who were also recruited.

First were Carlos and Shirakawa from Inashiro Industrial High School's baseball team.

While short-term practice didn't allow for a full evaluation of a player's true potential, both players showcased extraordinary talent and strength in a short period.

First, Carlos.

His batting strength ranked among the top five players.

This alone made Coach Takeda admire him greatly.

Not to mention his leopard-like speed and vast fielding range.

He was like a diamond from Africa, drawing attention from Coach Takeda and everyone from the start.

It was only natural that he stayed.

Next was Shirakawa, who possessed terrifying batting skills.

Of course, just relying on that alone would've made it difficult for him to stay.

What really impressed Coach Takeda was his flawless defensive skills.

Previously, during defense practice, perhaps there was a bit of luck, but Shirakawa was the only one who didn't make any mistakes.

Every ball he should've caught, he caught.

What's more, many balls that were hit outside his defensive range were also stopped by him.

When Sawamura and Miyuki looked at each other, they couldn't help but recall the terror they once felt when facing Shirakawa.

This man was too terrifying!

He was like a wall, blocking everything.

Unless you could hit the ball over his head, getting it past him was nearly impossible.

Though it wasn't completely without hope, it was really slim, very, very slim.

The assistant coach also sighed in admiration.

"At first, looking at his build, I thought he might be the weakest among these players. I didn't expect his defensive skills to be this strong."

"This isn't just about technique!" Coach Takeda shook his head in disagreement.

Pure defensive skills alone couldn't make Shirakawa this effective.

Even though his speed was fast and his techniques were refined, simply relying on these, there was no way a player could stop the balls outside his defensive range.

Turning the impossible into possible definitely required another skill—prejudgment.

Before the ball was hit, before the position was even determined, he had already judged the direction and landing spot of the baseball.

Without this ability, Shirakawa wouldn't have been able to stop those balls.

Although his batting power was lacking, and he wasn't one of the top players in terms of overall strength, Shirakawa still earned a spot purely due to his amazing defensive skills.

Other than these players, there was also the catcher Inui from Teito High School, who made it into the final list of three catchers.

His inclusion was due not only to his excellent catching skills but also to an extremely important reason.

Then, there were Amahisa and Hoshida.

Both of these players were incredibly powerful, and if they were eliminated, it would have meant more players could have been cut.

Coach Takeda hesitated but ultimately decided to keep them.

One couldn't deny that the three major schools of West Tokyo were incredibly talented.

Out of the 20 spots, these three schools took up a total of 8.

Inashiro Industrial's three were Narumiya, Shirakawa, and Carlos.

The three from Teito High School included their ace, Amahisa, and the strongest hitter, Hoshida.

Apart from these, there were also Inui from Teito and Raichi from Yakushi.

The final three were not hard to guess.

They were the three from the mighty Seidou High School baseball team.

The Demon King Sawamura, the nation's number one catcher, Miyuki, and the last one, Kuramochi Youichi.

It was somewhat surprising that Kuramochi stayed.

After all, many players with comparable fame and strength were sent home, like Yamaoka Riku from Inashiro.

But Coach Takeda had his own reasons for choosing Kuramochi.

Because of his decision, the three from Seidou High School all stayed.

As for their fame, it was no surprise they stayed, being players from Seidou High School.

Seidou was the epitome of invincibility.

There were many talented players in Tokyo, and some of them were even on par with the ones who stayed.

But there was no way around it—first, there were limited spots, and second, there were positional needs.

So, many excellent players had no choice but to leave.

Those who stayed were the true elite.

The players from other regions were also in a similar situation.

Only the absolute elite were left after this selection process.

On the surface, it seemed like many players played the same position.

But in reality, that didn't matter.

Many excellent players could also play other positions besides their main one.

Take the three from Seidou High School, for example.

Sawamura wasn't just a pitcher—he could also play outfield and even second base.

Miyuki, apart from being a catcher, could also play first base effectively.

Kuramochi could play in every infield position, and he performed wonderfully in every position, though his best positions were shortstop and second base.

This flexibility, plus his speed and talent on base, made him a very easy pick for Takeda.

It wasn't just Seidou's players—other players were the same.

So even if many players were left in the same position, assembling them into a team wasn't an issue.

Other teams left behind players like Hongou and Renji from Komadai High School, who had an intimidating partnership.

Their reputation was second only to Sawamura and Miyuki, so it was only natural that they stayed.

There was also Akashi, whom Coach Takeda valued not only for his talents but also for his charismatic spirit.

Having such a star on the team would certainly be reassuring when facing world-class opponents.

Other strong players like Hanagata and Mima also made the cut.

These were top-tier players with strength that could make anyone nervous.

But even they weren't the most eye-catching.

This year's Koshien, besides Seidou, featured another team that stood out—Kanetsu-Norin High School, which had caused significant trouble for Seidou before.

Even after Koshien had ended, their presence still caused waves.

The Ace player from this team, Hoshitaru, was invited as well.

He became one of the team's substitute pitchers.

When Miyuki saw the pitching lineup, he was stunned.

'It was just too luxurious!'

In international competitions, he had no idea what kind of pitchers other countries would send out.

But there was one thing he was confident in.

In terms of pitching lineups, they would absolutely not lose.

Sawamura, Narumiya, Hoshitaru, Hongou, Amahisa, Akashi.

Look at this lineup—these six pitchers.

No matter how strong the pitchers from other countries were, they could never be stronger than these six.

If that were the case, then there would truly be nothing they could say.

As for catchers, there were three: Miyuki, Inui, and Renji.

After the training camp ended, the players who weren't selected left.

As for those who stayed, they were all given their jersey numbers.

As expected, Sawamura took the number one ace jersey.

There was no surprise there.

Although there were many excellent pitchers on the national team, with their own remarkable performances on the mound, when compared to Sawamura, the balance always tipped in his favor.

Even though they hadn't seen the Demon King pitch during the practice sessions, Coach Takeda and the assistant coach still didn't hesitate to assign him the ace number.

This is the so-called reputation and legacy.

Even though they hadn't seen him pitch, they still firmly believed that Sawamura was the most powerful pitcher.

After everything was prepared, the youth team from Japan boarded the plane to Taiwan.

The World Youth Baseball Championship was just 70 hours away.

On the plane, the team members were enthusiastically discussing their plans.

In their eyes, with all these excellent star players gathered, no matter who the opponents were, victory was inevitable.

They had been called together for one purpose only—to break records.

Sawamura had already won all the domestic awards available for students, and now it was time for a world-class title.

As for failure, they never even considered it.

The excitement among the teammates was palpable, and Sawamura could feel it too.

He honestly didn't know what to say.

...