Diamond No Ace: Life As Sawamura Eijun

Chapter 395: The Ugumori Battle - The True King

"Pop!"

"Out! Three outs! Change of offense and defense!"

A showdown at home plate, a desperate sprint.

As Asou charged toward home, Ugumori High's defense displayed top-tier coordination between the infield and outfield. In a split second, they managed to tag him out successfully at home plate.

Along with the flyout by their ninth batter, Shirasu, Seidou High's offense in the bottom of the fourth inning was cut short at two runs. Tojo was left stranded on second base.

It was a shame they couldn't push across a third run, but considering they had conceded four runs in the top half of the inning, this offensive push had nearly erased their earlier momentum loss.

The score now stood at 4-2.

Seidou was still trailing by two runs, but with five innings left to play, they had every reason to believe victory was still within their grasp.

Third Base Side – Ugumori High Bench

As soon as the teams switched sides, Seiichi flopped back onto his seat without a care for appearances.

"Man, that was exhausting. They just kept getting more aggressive with every at-bat."

"They completely ignored low pitches," Kondou said with a hint of frustration.

"It feels like they've fully adjusted to Sei's pitching," commented the fifth batter, Inubushi Kouta, sighing.

"You have to admit, Seidou is as strong as expected," Takagi said, shaking his head in admiration.

Clap, clap, clap, clap!

"This is exactly what we predicted from the start, isn't it?" Matsubara clapped his hands together, smiling warmly. "The only thing we miscalculated was being forced to reveal Sei's power curveball so early in the first inning. Now that we're in the fourth, it's only natural that their lineup has started to pick up on his pitch patterns. From this point on, the real battle for victory begins. Sei, it's time to adjust your pitch selection. Let's rely on our defense to get outs."

He turned to Sei and spoke directly to him.

"Got it!" Umegami nodded.

"Remember this—attack, attack, and keep attacking. Even though we're leading, there's no denying that we're still the underdogs in this fight. Our only path to victory is to stay on the offensive. We need to break through their ace's pitching. If we can score even one more run, we'll shake him."

Though Matsubara's tone was gentle, his words carried unwavering conviction.

That firm, determined expression of his seemed to ignite courage and confidence within the Ugumori players.

"After all, we're the challengers here. If we fall into a defensive mindset, how can we possibly win? Let's go, everyone! Let's break through the king's defense once again!"

"Ohhhhhhh!!!"

First Base Side – Seidou High Bench

"Haha! That was awesome, Maezono!" Kuramochi laughed as he high-fived Maezono. "The timing and angle on that hit were perfect!"

"Sawamura told me to sit on a fastball and go for it. Besides, if Miyuki hadn't made that guy hesitate to throw his vertical slider earlier, I wouldn't have been able to connect so easily."

Maezono was surprisingly humble about his performance.

However, the glance he shot at Miyuki carried a subtle, complicated emotion.

"Looks like that issue still isn't completely resolved..."

The surrounding teammates, fully aware of the situation, all had the same thought.

Eijun, standing nearby, could only shake his head with a helpless sigh.

At the end of the day… they were all still just kids.

Miyuki still looked as calm as ever. Or rather, it would be more accurate to say that he had already untangled his own emotional knots.

As far as Eijun knew, the day after their conversation, Miyuki had gone to see Yuuki. He had learned this from Chris. On top of that, Kanemaru had mentioned that Miyuki had seemingly sought out Watanabe for another talk.

So, chances were that Miyuki was fine now.

Maezono, on the other hand, still seemed a little hung up on things. But that was something to be dealt with later. For now, the most important thing was the game unfolding before them.

Top of the Fifth Inning – Ugumori High's Offense

"Batting eighth, second baseman—Nishi-kun!"

There was no point in chasing the ace's decisive pitches. Whether it was that special cutter or the five-seam fastball, neither was something they could easily handle.

They had one goal—to capitalize on fastballs when he threw them for strikes.

No matter how many breaking balls a pitcher had, or how well they used them, everything was still built on the foundation of fastball command.

The biggest threat was that pitcher's accelerated fastball.

Here, it would all come down to luck.

Every batter had to stand at the very front of the batter's box and swing exactly as they had practiced.

As Nishi stepped into the batter's box, Matsubara's pre-game instructions ran through his mind.

Against an all-around pitcher like Sawamura Eijun, Matsubara had been well aware of their lineup's limitations.

The only batter who could truly challenge him head-on was Seiichi.

Everyone else was simply outmatched.

No matter how well-designed their strategies were, they were useless without the strength to execute them.

That was why Matsubara had opted for a high-risk, high-reward approach. The strategy was simple—do whatever it took to get runners on base before Seiichi's at-bat.

No matter the method.

"Fastball, fastball, fastball..."

Gripping his bat tightly, Nishi's expression was stern and focused as he locked eyes on the pitcher's mound.

Reflected in his sharp gaze was Eijun, standing tall and composed, exuding an air of cold confidence.

"!!"

Miyuki's expression didn't waver as he subtly signaled beneath his mitt.

Eijun gave a slight nod.

With a sharp step forward, his left arm whipped out.

"Whoosh!"

A streak of light shot toward home plate.

A fierce, cutting trajectory, blazing toward the strike zone.

Fastball!

Nishi's eyes lit up. A golden opportunity.

His instincts took over—the bat swung.

But—

A split second later, the ball still hadn't arrived.

Changeup!

Nishi clenched his teeth, frustration flashing across his face as he watched the ball slip neatly into Miyuki's mitt.

"Pop!"

"Strike!"

A changeup on the first pitch?!

Over in the dugout, Seiichi and Matsubara's faces tensed.

Second pitch.

"Whoosh!"

Another streak of light.

Fastball!

Nishi gritted his teeth and timed his swing for a fastball—

But—

"Whoosh!"

"Pop!"

This time, the result was completely different from the previous pitch.

Just as the ball neared home plate—it jolted violently.

It shot past the bat's reach in an instant.

The next second, it slammed into Miyuki's mitt.

Accelerated fastball!

"Strike!!"

He's really pitching this seriously… against a bottom-of-the-lineup batter like me?! Are you kidding me?!

Nishi's eyes widened in disbelief.

But his disbelief didn't matter.

What Eijun and Miyuki decided to do was beyond his control.

Third pitch.

"Whoosh!"

Another piercing streak of white light.

This time—

Nishi had completely lost his composure.

He no longer knew how to anticipate the pitch.

"Whoosh!"

The ball cut through the air—

An inside pitch, shifting upward with a subtle break.

"Boom!"

A sharp, resounding impact.

Five-seam fastball.

Eijun's signature weapon.

Three different pitches. Three different trajectories.

The Ace of Aces had shown his full arsenal.

It was like using a butcher's cleaver—to effortlessly slice through a mere chick.

"Strike three! Batter out!!"

A true King. A true Ace.

This was a pitch that declared an undeniable gap in strength.