Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

The newly formed Tokyo team has gathered the elites from various teams, and it has clearly become a monstrous collection of talent.

But they are also a hastily made one, so they need a trial run before starting the event.

This way, everyone's performance would be immediately clear.

For this reason, the organizers and coach Kunitomo have put in a lot of effort.

They invited Tokyo University, the champion of the previous university league, to have a trial match.

Competing with such a high-level team would better test the players' abilities.

Moreover, in this match, everyone will be using wooden bats.

This way, it's even closer to the purpose of the exchange match.

In American games, everyone uses wooden bats.

This is a huge challenge for Tokyo players who are used to metal bats.

There's a big difference between metal bats and wooden bats.

For example, with a metal bat, even if you don't hit the sweet spot but just barely graze the ball, it will still fly quite far.

This is why home runs and long hits are more common with metal bats.

Wooden bats are different. If you only slightly graze the ball and don't have the power to send it flying, it's impossible to get a hit.

Such a ball will either be a pop-up or a grounder to the infield.

In short, it's quite a test.

Before the official match, having such a practice match is also a good warm-up for everyone.

For this reason, everyone is looking forward to this game.

Although the college players are two or three years older than the high school players, the newly formed Tokyo team isn't afraid of them.

The gap between middle school and high school players is like the difference between 14-15-year-olds and 17-18-year-olds.

That physical difference is almost impossible to make up for. Even if the heights are similar, their strength is on completely different levels.

It can be said that it's a completely different standard.

Although high school players also have a physical difference compared to college players, this gap is no longer unbridgeable.

Especially for those baseball players who matured early, their physical strength has already been honed to a very good level.

Even when competing against college players, they wouldn't necessarily be at a disadvantage.

In fact, during the draft, high school graduates and college graduates stood side by side, and they didn't necessarily fare worse.

At least, both could compete on the same athletic platform.

The current Tokyo team has brought together all the monsters from high school across Tokyo.

Are they really afraid of competing against college players?

And don't forget, Tokyo University was the national champion last summer.

But in the autumn tournament that followed, they were eliminated before even making it out of Tokyo.

The national champion was from the previous year, and it has little to do with this current team.

This team is really afraid of them?

It's simply a joke.

These players, who are aiming to join the professional leagues after graduation, now regard the upcoming college team as their living target.

"This sounds awesome!"

Narumiya was excitedly rubbing his hands.

It especially thrilled him to bully players older than himself.

"Kazuya, do you want to try catching my ball?"

Sawamura was practicing with Inui...

Up to now, Inui still couldn't perfectly catch Sawamura's Moving ball and its variations.

They had to keep practicing.

At least, they needed to catch the Moving and Straight balls perfectly before they could form a solid partnership to play in the game.

Otherwise, Sawamura's abilities would be significantly discounted.

Narumiya, who was free at the moment, wasn't someone who could sit still.

He directly approached Miyuki.

"Hey, don't pretend we're dead. We also need practice."

Umemiya, the pitcher with the plane-style haircut, immediately expressed dissatisfaction.

Yoh Shunshin, however, didn't mind.

Although his pitching was very strong, he didn't have high requirements for the catcher.

Miyuki quickly met all of his needs, and he believed that once they were on the field, they would be able to perform to the best of their abilities.

That was enough — further practice didn't really have much meaning.

"Eh? But you guy looked like you finished already..."

Narumiya said carelessly.

And Umemiya couldn't reply.

Yes, their practice with Miyuki was already finished.

Miyuki's abilities far exceeded their expectations.

With just a few balls of practice, he had already perfectly synced with their rhythm.

Continuing further wouldn't make much difference.

Once they finalized the signals, they could directly enter the match.

"Are you sure?"

Miyuki smiled and looked at Narumiya.

The two of them were the biggest competitors, and if Narumiya's intelligence was captured, it would definitely be a major threat to the Inashiro baseball team.

"It's fine, I don't mind. What are you worried about?"

Narumiya snorted.

Miyuki was happy with this attitude.

"Then let me see your Change-up!"

Hearing this, Narumiya's expression immediately changed.

"Oi! What's wrong with you Seidou guys? You all want to see my Change-up!"

He had seen shameless players, but Seidou's players are something else. Especially the tar-hearted guy in front of him.

It was already good enough to get him to catch, but now Miyuki wanted to push for more.

"Really, then how about Curveballs and Sliders? I don't mind the splitter either..."

Miyuki suggested endlessly.

Hearing these suggestions, Narumiya's face became more and more livid.

If he really followed Miyuki's suggestion and practiced these pitches in front of him, Kunitomo would definitely swallow him alive if he found out.

He couldn't be that reckless.

"Stop worrying about those breaking balls. You should know my fastball is really good. I've made a lot of progress recently!"

The two of them forming a battery was probably a long-standing wish of theirs or many others.

But now, each of them had their own responsibility and couldn't cooperate sincerely.

This partnership was nothing more than a whim, and it didn't play any real role.

Even so, both of them still showcased their exquisite skills and terrifying strength.

After forming the battery, whether pitching or catching, their combination was full of energy.

They quickly became the focus of the entire field.

This scene deeply stimulated one player on the B-field.

Tadano, holding onto the edge of the protective net, looked at the perfectly synced Miyuki and Narumiya with complex emotions in his eyes.

"Is this the battery that Mei-san has always longed for?"

'It was truly something extraordinary!'

As time passed, even during practice, the time flew by quickly.

Before long, half the day had passed. After eating, everyone finished their warm-ups.

They were ready to face their upcoming practice match opponent: Tokyo University students.

Before the players arrived, a piece of shocking news spread through the team.

Originally, the University hadn't been taken seriously, but now it had become more mysterious.

Thanks to the organizer's efforts, they found two graduates who had joined the professional league and became professional players.

Yet, they were invited back to play in the match as part of the University team.

With these two additions, the team's overall strength increased significantly.

Seven excellent university players, plus two professional players.

These players came from the same team and had no problems with coordination.

Such a team would have a huge impact.

The players who were originally at ease were now suddenly under pressure.

But that's not all...

Another explosive piece of news came through.

In addition to the graduates, some other players who had joined the professional league also enrolled in Tokyo University.

They would pursue their professional careers while also taking university courses.

On the surface, they had no connection with the college baseball team, and in fact, they were not allowed to join the university team.

This was very unfair to other teams.

However, this time, it was a clear exception.

Firstly, and importantly, this was not an official competition, just an exhibition match.

An entertainment-style match.

As such, both professional and university players were allowed to participate, with no restrictions.

Normally, professional players wouldn't participate.

This is usually against the rules of Japan's Baseball Federation, but this time, the organizers made a big effort and used their connections to bring two professional players, who had self-studied outside, into the University team.

This brought the total number of professional players in the team to four, all of whom could play in official matches.

There were also five elite players from the university baseball team.

With this composition, when compared to their newly formed Tokyo team, they seemed to have no advantage at all and even faced a large disadvantage.

The players' expressions became much heavier.

Sawamura, however, wasn't worried.

Forget about college players, let alone semi-professional teams.

Even if it were a professional team, they wouldn't necessarily lose.

There was no need to worry unnecessarily.

"Let them come, we'll face them head-on," he said.

But his calm attitude didn't last long.

Soon, it was shattered.

Because in that semi-professional team, there were two familiar faces.

One of them had a very close connection to the Seidou High School baseball team.

…

T/N: I think everyone can guess who those two are, right? XD