Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

"Get out there!"

The fifth inning had presented such a great opportunity, but Seidou High School's baseball team failed to score.

This was undoubtedly a heavy blow. Baseball games often work like this—at any moment, the game could change.

Although Seidou High School was still leading by a solid four points, their opponent had just pulled off an impressive defensive play, causing their momentum to soar.

While it wasn't enough to completely overshadow Seidou, it had undeniably made an impact.

Initially, Seidou had held the upper hand, but since that brilliant defensive play, the momentum between the two sides had evened out. Even if not entirely equal, Seidou's advantage was no longer as pronounced.

A good performance boosts a player's confidence.

That was exactly what happened to the players from Yura Sougou. Their spirits were now soaring, thanks to their earlier stellar play.

The spectators had initially thought Yura Sougou had given up on the match, trailing by four points with little visible fighting spirit.

It seemed there was no hope for a comeback.

But now, everything was different. That remarkable defensive display had revitalized Yura Sougou, and their players were brimming with newfound energy.

Even though the audience still doubted Yura Sougou could make a comeback, they had to admit they can fight.

"Do you know your responsibility right now?"

Before taking the field for defense, Kataoka stopped the battery to talk.

"To get every batter Out."

Unexpectedly, Furuya's answer was even more precise than the textbook response.

"Alright, go!"

With that, Kataoka decided there was no need for further discussion.

Furuya was right. For their team, the most important task now was to cleanly and efficiently secure outs.

As the team's pitcher, standing on the mound came with responsibilities.

Now, thanks to Yura Sougou's stellar defense, their players were fired up with ambition.

At the same time, Seidou's players had also felt pressure.

This is the current situation—a rise on one side and a fall on the other.

As the pitcher on the mound, wearing Seidou's uniform, it was Furuya's duty to suppress the opposing team's momentum.

He couldn't give them any chance to regain hope.

This was the Ace's responsibility!

If Furuya could accomplish that, there was no doubt he would have taken another step forward in his development.

Originally, Kataoka had planned to explain the situation to Furuya, teaching him how to control the game.

But seeing his attitude, it was clear he wouldn't listen.

Fortunately, the essence of the game remained the same. Even if he didn't fully grasp the theory, he knew what needed to be done.

Knowing what to do was enough!

Kataoka had high expectations for Furuya.

If he could accomplish this, they would already be very satisfied.

The game resumed, and sure enough, Yura Sougou's players stirred up more trouble.

Their ninth batter came up, trembling all over, assuming a bunt stance.

If he had a choice, he wouldn't have done it.

Furuya's pitching velocity was terrifying!

Even standing in a normal batting stance made him tremble, let alone trying to bunt.

However, their coach Sakaki was giving him an encouraging look from the dugout.

He had no choice but to follow through.

"No Outs! No runners on base! Why are they bunting now?"

A puzzled voice came from the stands.

Someone nearby quickly answered:

"Normally, no team would do that. But since Yura Sougou is doing it, you can see just how much pressure the pitcher is putting on them!"

If they had even a sliver of confidence in hitting Furuya's pitch, they wouldn't resort to this.

It was precisely because they had no confidence at all that they resorted to this strategy to disrupt Furuya's rhythm.

Behind the plate, Miyuki found Yura Sougou's approach rather admirable.

They had clearly studied Seidou thoroughly, down to understanding even the backup pitcher, Furuya.

If this had been six months ago, such a tactic would have left Furuya scratching his head in confusion.

But now, he was a different player.

Seidou had made progress, and it wasn't just Sawamura, the famous Demon King. Everyone on the team had improved.

Some had progressed more visibly than others, but they had all grown.

Furuya was no exception.

'Now is the time to show the results of your hard work!'

Seeing Miyuki's signal, Furuya gave a slight nod and delivered the pitch.

ROOOOAAR!

His pitch always had a way of inspiring envy.

Blazing speed, coupled with excellent characteristics.

The batter, still trembling, braced himself and tried to make contact.

In reality, he was simply forcing himself to try. He had no real hope of success.

Ping!

Surprisingly, he made contact, but the ball bounced straight back toward Furuya.

Seidou's rigorous daily practice finally bore fruit.

Furuya swiftly fielded the ball and threw it to first baseman Maezono.

Snap!

"OUT!"

With no suspense, the ninth batter was Out.

Returning to the dugout, the batter collapsed onto the bench.

Recalling Furuya's blistering fast pitch, he felt like he wanted to die.

Why had he listened to the Coach's nonsense?

'How could anyone possibly hit that kind of pitch?'

Seidou smoothly secured the first Out, though Yura Sougou achieved their goal—they successfully disrupted Furuya's strikeout rhythm.

They prevented him from collecting a clean Strikeout.

Coach Sakaki was relatively satisfied with this result.

He had hoped to push further, maybe even land a hit.

But unfortunately, that was just wishful thinking.

Although Furuya's rhythm was disturbed, his pitching power showed no sign of weakening. On the contrary, it seemed to grow even stronger.

Ping!

The first batter managed to make contact, but the ball bounced toward first base.

Maezono easily handled it.

Having previously made an error on the full base, Maezono was more determined than anyone to perform well.

Luck was on his side this time, as the ball came right to him, and he handled it perfectly.

Two Outs, no runners on base.

"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!!!"

Furuya secured the final Out in brutal fashion.

A clean strikeout, further asserting his dominance.

Three Outs—offense and defense switched.

In Yura Sougou's dugout, Higashiyama was still excitedly chatting with his teammates.

Before he could finish his bragging, the inning was over.

"So fast!"

Higashiyama grumbled in dissatisfaction.

But his words triggered a realization in Coach Sakaki.

Although they had managed to break Furuya's Strikeout rhythm, they hadn't completely disrupted his overall tempo.

Furuya's pace remained quick, and he maintained control over the game.

Unknowingly, Yura Sougou had fallen into Seidou's rhythm.

Realizing this, Coach Sakaki felt no joy.

Even though Higashiyama had smoothly retired Seidou's lower-order batters in the bottom half of the sixth inning, Sakaki's face showed no sign of relief.

He understood the game was heading in an unpredictable direction.

And Yura Sougou's players were still oblivious.

In contrast, Seidou's players had adapted seamlessly to the sudden quickened pace.

Coach Sakaki couldn't help but think of Sawamura Eijun.

Seidou was naturally suited to this tempo because their team had someone who thrived on it.

Unknowingly, the game had reached the seventh inning.

The score remained 2:6.

Yura Sougou was trailing the Seidou High School Baseball Team by exactly four runs.

However, none of the spectators who had watched this game felt that Yura Sougou's performance was lacking.

On the contrary, the vast majority of the audience believed that Yura Sougou had performed exceptionally well.

Their level of excellence had far surpassed everyone's expectations.

After all, their opponent was no ordinary team; it was King Seidou.

Looking across the entire nation, there weren't many teams that could hold up like this against Seidou over six innings.

Moreover, Seidou High School had fielded its full main lineup without holding back at all.

Okay, perhaps that was a bit of an exaggeration, but everyone on the field was undeniably part of their main squad.

The only difference was that their Ace, Sawamura Eijun, hadn't played at the start. Even when he got on the field later, he hadn't taken the pitcher's position.

Aside from that, King Seidou was giving it their all.

Under such circumstances, the fact that Yura Sougou had managed to hold their ground and go toe-to-toe with Seidou High School was simply unbelievable!

The players from Yura Sougou were incredibly capable and remarkable.

Even though they were still four runs behind, many fans at the scene felt the same way.

They believed that Yura Sougou's players were truly impressive—so impressive that it seemed almost unreasonable!

This sentiment reached its peak in the seventh inning.

It was now Yura Sougou's turn for their third, fourth, and fifth batters.

If Yura Sougou had any chance of changing the score in this game, it was now.

If they went three up, three down this time, even if the game reached the ninth inning, Yura Sougou would struggle to find another good scoring opportunity.

With only two effective hits so far, their lineup wouldn't cycle back to the third batter in the ninth inning.

The spectators were well aware of this, so they watched with particular intensity.

They believed that this showdown between Furuya Satoru and Yura Sougou's core lineup would surely be thrilling.

It was bound to be full of twists and turns, keeping them on the edge of their seats.

Some had even taken out popcorn, ready to enjoy a spectacular battle.

But reality played a cruel joke on everyone.

Nothing…

Absolutely nothing happened!

The exciting showdown that the audience anticipated never materialized.

What they saw was a completely Berserk Super-Monster.

The third batter was the first to step into the Batter's Box.

When he got on the field, he was ambitious. He wanted to hit Furuya's pitch out.

Given the state of the game, it was hard to believe that he didn't want to hit Furuya's pitch, knock Seidou High School down, and stomp on them.

Even the third batter himself wouldn't believe that.

He had that desire, and he was ready to send Furuya's pitch flying.

In his mind, Furuya had thrown quite a lot of pitches by now. No matter how fast his pitch was, he was still human.

After pitching so much, his speed and power had to have declined somewhat.

With that in mind, the batter thought he had a chance to hit Furuya's pitch.

ROOOAAAR!!!

But with just one pitch, the batter was dumbfounded.

He wondered if his eyes were deceiving him.

'Why did it seem like Furuya's speed hadn't decreased but had gotten even faster?'

Before, he could at least barely keep up. Now, he couldn't even catch the tail of the pitch.

'Fast!'

'Too fast!'

That was the batter's impression when he saw Furuya's pitch.

"STRIKE!"

"STRIKE!!"

"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!"

Needless to say, he was struck out.

A strikeout by three pitches!

He didn't even swing at the first two, and when he did swing at the third, he missed completely.

Next, Furuya faced Senda.

This was the showdown the audience had eagerly awaited.

Senda's earlier performance had left a deep impression on the fans.

This was their third face-off in this game.

Naturally, the audience hoped Senda would work some more magic.

But unfortunately, that was merely wishful thinking…

In this round, not only did Senda fail to show his usual dominance, but his nervousness prevented him from performing at his normal level.

"FOUL!"

"STRIKE!!"

"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!!"

He only made contact with the first pitch. The remaining two were complete misses.

One Foul ball, two Strikes.

He was struck out without any suspense.

Fans were baffled by Senda's anticlimactic performance.

They had no idea what had happened to lead to this outcome.

However, Seidou's catcher, Miyuki, wasn't surprised in the least.

Actually, there was nothing surprising about it…

The third batter's perception wasn't wrong—Furuya's velocity hadn't dropped; it had increased.

Ironically, even when Furuya had regained his form and pitched with full effort earlier, his shoulder wasn't entirely relaxed.

While he had seemed fierce, his velocity hadn't actually reached its peak.

It was simply that his performance was so impressive that everyone assumed he was already at his peak.

But he wasn't.

Instead, as his body grew tired, his shoulder finally relaxed.

With a relaxed shoulder, he could swing his arm smoothly and release the ball effortlessly.

With just a bit of effort, his pitches became even faster.

That was why Furuya's speed kept increasing.

It wasn't the batter's imagination; his velocity truly had gone up.

As for Senda's strikeout, it was due to both Furuya's increased speed and Senda's own mental lapse.

Key moments made everyone nervous, not just Seidou's players.

Senda's mental fortitude wasn't flawless.

When he realized this was their last batting chance, Senda got nervous.

And when people get nervous, they make mistakes.

So, for his last two swings, Senda misjudged.

He thought Miyuki would call for a breaking ball, but Miyuki did the opposite and signaled for a Fastball.

As a result, Senda couldn't adjust his timing.

He swung and missed twice, striking out.

Two Outs, no one on base.

Yura Sougou was backed into a corner again.

Coach Sakaki was as stubborn as ever. Even in this desperate situation, he refused to give up.

He signaled the fifth batter to bunt and disrupt Furuya's Strikeout rhythm.

He had noticed that Furuya was beginning to tire.

Furuya's stamina had been depleted to a certain extent. There might still be opportunities in the remaining two innings.

Ping!

The bunt sent the ball bouncing far away.

Furuya's pitches weren't just fast—they were heavy.

Bunting against them wasn't easy.

Yura Sougou's fifth batter didn't handle it well.

He was quickly and cleanly retired.

Three Outs, offense and defense exchange.

In this round, Furuya struck out Yura Sougou's third and fourth batters consecutively.

His performance was ferocious, giving the opponent no breathing room.

But when Furuya returned to the dugout, Coach Kataoka didn't praise him.

Instead, he pulled him off the mound.

"The last two innings are yours, Kawakami…"

Kataoka handed the remainder of the game to Kawakami.

If even Coach Sakaki noticed Furuya's condition, there was no way Kataoka hadn't.

Furuya's performance had been dazzling, with 13 strikeouts over seven innings.

Though it wasn't a record, it was an exceptional feat worthy of media attention.

However, his stamina was drained.

That was why his shoulder relaxed and his speed increased.

It was a lucky break but not sustainable.

Pulling him out was the right decision.

"You did great! The shaky starts are still an issue; that's your next task to overcome," Coach Ochiai said, comforting Furuya.

Furuya only heard the part about doing great, and his face brightened.

The bottom of the seventh. Seidou's attack began.

Their lineup started from the top, the first batter Kuramochi Youichi!

…

T/N: This Game will be completed tomorrow!

As always, Thank you all for reading!!

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