Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

Tokyo, Hachioji Stadium.

The game between the All-Tokyo team and the Los Angeles team Wind Youth Academy had reached the top of the 7th inning when something extremely unusual happened on the field.

At that moment, the entire stadium, including fans, players, coaches, and reporters, was a few thousand people.

In all the previous games, no matter what kind of situation arose, it was completely impossible to make all the people in the stadium go quiet.

However, at that very moment, this seemingly impossible event happened.

All eyes in the stadium, thousands of them, were wide open, staring in disbelief at the man on the pitcher's mound.

It took two or three full seconds before the umpire came back to his senses.

"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!!"

As soon as he announced the result, the previously silent scene was shattered.

The spectators finally came back to life.

"Oh My God!!"

"What Was That Just Now?!"

One fan exclaimed, his mouth wide open in surprise, a few droplets of the drink he drinking was hanging at the corner of his mouth.

Looking at his attire, he didn't appear to be a messy person, but at that moment, he couldn't care less about his image. His gaze was filled with awe.

"AMAZING!!"

"SO COOL!!!"

"No wonder he's my Demon King!"

One of the members of the Demon King's Guard proudly said.

Since the organizers hadn't sent out a formal announcement, most of the people in the stadium weren't there to see Sawamura specifically. Instead, the audience consisted mostly of reporters from the newspapers and local fans.

The true hardcore fans of Sawamura Eijun were few.

But it felt like everything had changed.

Regardless of what people were doing before or who they had supported, at that moment, only one figure filled their hearts.

That was Sawamura Eijun.

No one else seemed to matter anymore...

"SAWAMURA!"

"SAWAMURA...!!"

At first, only a few members of the Demon King's Guard were shouting, but soon, thousands upon thousands of people joined in.

Sawamura had once again become the center of attention.

The talented players of the Tokyo team had almost all witnessed Sawamura's rise from the big zero.

In just one game, he had won the hearts of the thousands of fans present.

"No wonder that even as a high school player, he had so many fans."

If one were to put themselves in their shoes, even the other talented players on the Tokyo team had to admit that no one could overshadow the brilliance of Sawamura on the mound.

In the Tokyo team's dugout,

Narumiya's face looked particularly dark.

Although Eijun hadn't perfectly replicated his Change-up Strikeout, the pitch Sawamura had invented himself still made Narumiya uneasy.

"That little shit, is he trying to show off?"

"Damn, bastard!"

Three Outs, offense and defense.

As soon as Sawamura returned to the dugout, Narumiya rushed over angrily.

"You little bastard, why are you copying my special move?"

"Mei-san don't say such a thing! This move is MY special move developed after hours of dedication and hard work, and any similarity between it and others is just an imagination."

"That Is Exactly What A Fake Product Disclaimer Will Look Like!!"

"Wahaha!"

Sawamura dodged the arm that wanted to grasp him while laughing and teasing Narumiya.

The pitch just now had been a bit risky for Sawamura.

The last change-up he threw was stunning, but its actual effect was far from Narumiya's third change-up.

Because this pitch is still under development, and maybe it won't be ready by the summer.

The success of that pitch had a lot to do with the batter's current state.

Otherwise, once the batter figured out the trick, it would have just been another Change-up.

Even so, he and Miyuki had performed the act perfectly.

Judging from the response just now, it was clear they had succeeded.

The players of the Tokyo team all looked on with admiration.

When they went back, they'd probably analyze that pitch to death, hoping they could hit it next time.

Sawamura exchanged glances with Miyuki.

On the surface, it seemed like they were blaming each other, but deep in their eyes, there was a glint of pride.

'Let them work it out.'

When the real game came, Sawamura wasn't planning to rely on change-ups to beat the opponents.

He believed that by then, his new pitching system would be perfected, and his Level Four Vanishing ball would be fully developed.

That would be the time for Sawamura to truly make his mark.

As for now, this was just a small trick in his process of growth.

A small trick that, in their eyes, was just meant to create a false impression.

What they didn't expect was that this very trick would completely shatter the morale of the American players.

It's over!

By now, almost all of the American players had faced Sawamura.

They came to the conclusion that they were unwilling to accept.

It seemed impossible to hit Sawamura's pitches, no matter how hard they tried.

If the game went on for a full nine innings, the American players might still have had some hope of challenging him.

But with only one last chance left, the top American batters would probably never even get to face him again.

In such a situation, and with not much information in their hands, hitting Sawamura's pitches was an impossible task.

The American Coach's eyes are wide open.

He stared in disbelief at Sawamura, who was joking with Narumiya in the bullpen.

The previous two pitchers sent by the Tokyo team were impressive, but there were still comparable players in their age group who had performed at a similar level.

At least, the American Coach had seen such players back in America.

But a player like Sawamura, at this age, the American Coach had never seen before.

And not only had he never seen him, he had never even heard of such a player.

It was simply unbelievable.

He never expected that Japan, in this era, could still hide such a baseball talent.

It was simply... simply...

The American Coach couldn't even find the right words to describe his feelings.

However, there was one thing he knew for sure: In today's game, they were probably beyond saving.

At least losing to such a player wasn't disgraceful.

"Hold on, let's play a good game! We still have one more game to play, so don't get too attached to this game."

"Show the scouts what you got and take a closer look at what Japan has to offer!"

In the end, he could only encourage his proud disciples.

At this point, to puff out his chest and say they would catch up with the score was unreasonable.

The American Coach just hoped this game would end soon.

He didn't want any more ups and downs in the middle of the game.

If not, the result might just get worse.

At this point, both the American Coach and the players had little more to hope for.

Their only expectation was that the game would end soon and without any more setbacks.

To hold the score, that was all they could ask for.

To be honest, that wasn't much of an ask.

But unfortunately, the Tokyo team's players were thinking about offense.

Although they had already completely overwhelmed the American player, Weede, they had yet to get a single hit off the current pitcher, Conrad.

This was, of course, unacceptable to the Tokyo players.

Despite the outstanding performance by Sawamura Eijun, which gave the other players of the Tokyo representative team a huge shock, it made them realize that if they have the ambition to make it to Koshien, the mountain they must overcome lies right in front of them.

But that's a story for later. For today's match, this realization holds no special significance.

The players were not eager to dwell on such matters now. They were more focused on securing a win in today's match.

In today's game, the Tokyo representative team already had the upper hand. If there were any regrets, it was that they hadn't yet managed to score a hit or a run off the long-haired young pitcher in front of them.

This felt extremely awkward.

It was as if the moment Conrad took the mound, the Tokyo representative team's offense had come to a halt.

Even the incredibly talented Sawamura couldn't come up with a good solution against this opponent.

The Tokyo representative team's offense felt as if it had been extinguished.

It must be said that human imagination is boundless.

Although the Tokyo team was leading 6-0 against the American Los Angeles representative team, it seemed almost like bullying the opponent.

However, upon reflection,

"It is good that this pitcher hadn't started from the very beginning."

"Yeah, the result of the game might not be as it is now."

"At least we were lucky with this."

"But, I kind of want to get a hit at this pitcher."

"You too?"

"I think that's everyone here!"

The players of the Tokyo representative team didn't want to finish this game with such regret.

To avoid this, they had to conquer this opponent right now.

Especially after Sawamura's incredible performance, the Tokyo team's confidence was even stronger.

The opponent had lost their morale, and their condition was certainly affected.

This was a prime opportunity to strike.

If it weren't for this great opportunity, it would have been difficult to score hits and runs off Conrad.

The sidearm pitches he threw from his angle were hard to hit without enough adjustment.

Even making contact with them was difficult, let alone hitting them out of the park—an extremely challenging task.

With this motivation, the Tokyo representative team launched a fierce offensive in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Even though it was the lower batting line of the Tokyo team leading the charge for the attack, all players selected for this team were monsters famous throughout the Tokyo region.

Even the lower batters were no easy opponents.

If they were playing for their own teams now, they would undoubtedly be the top hitters.

Without exaggeration, this Tokyo team was composed of the cleanup hitters from the best teams in Tokyo.

None of them were weak, and their collective offensive power was truly formidable.

This lineup caused a great deal of trouble for the American representative team.

"STRIKE!"

"FOUL!!"

"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!"

"OUT!!"

"OUT!!!"

Fortunately, Conrad remained strong, keeping his level of play intact.

With the help of his teammates, he was able to weather the crisis unscathed.

Three Outs, offense and defense exchanged.

…

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