Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

Crazy!

The fans at the scene initially thought the Japanese team had the victory in the bag.

But now, it seemed like things were not going as expected. The game had taken an unexpected turn, as Cuba's ace pitcher, Katro, suddenly displayed a very strange presence.

In the Japanese team's rest area.

The previously lively atmosphere had disappeared, and everyone's faces had become oddly heavy and serious.

All the teammates looked at each other.

Before the game, they had set up all sorts of scenarios.

But what was happening right now was something no one had ever anticipated.

Their performance was too strange.

"STRIKE!!"

"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!"

When Hoshida was struck out, the atmosphere at the scene underwent a significant change.

The players were discussing the changes in Katro and his pitches in detail.

They had experience and were quite well-versed, so it wasn't hard for them to analyze the intricacies of Katro's pitching.

Everyone had made contact with his pitching!

This meant his pitching wasn't untouchable.

As long as they focused, they could hit the ball.

But even though they were confident they hit the ball, the baseball didn't behave as they intended.

Why was that?

"Not enough power! You could forcibly send it out with power!!"

The first constructive comment came from none other than Raichi, someone they had never expected to speak up.

Everyone looked at each other for a long time before realizing what was going on.

Raichi was participating in the discussion and gave his thoughts and suggestions.

The teammates were ashamed to lower their heads.

Was Raichi wrong?

Of course not.

Hadn't Raichi used brute force to send the ball flying before?

The ball he hit wasn't even perfectly executed.

He couldn't even hit the sweet spot of the bat.

But he relied on overwhelming power to send the baseball flying.

He hit a clean home run!

Theoretically, if everyone could also use the same strength as Raichi, they too would have a chance to send the ball out!

But the question was, could they?

The answer was shameful.

Although they didn't want to admit it, they probably didn't have that ability.

They couldn't, they couldn't do it.

That kind of power wasn't even something the overpowered Sawamura Eijun had, let alone anyone else.

Luckily, they weren't being stubborn.

Compared to Raichi's brute strength, they didn't even need to entertain the idea.

Upon careful thought, they had no reason to do so.

They were human, not beasts.

They'd better consider what humans should do.

"The ball moves slightly. When swinging, it must be a clean and sharp hit. If you can detect the movement, great. If not, use swing speed to forcibly drive the ball out…"

They began discussing how to approach the offense.

In the end, their conclusion was the same as Raichi's.

It was all about brute force.

Only they didn't have Raichi's terrifying power.

They didn't expect to hit a home run from the start. Their simple goal was just to hit the ball and make sure the speed exceeded the opponent's defense speed.

That was enough!

As long as they could get a base hit!

From there, they could rely on steady, positional play to advance step by step.

The Japanese players were still confident, even if the opponent's pitcher was acting a bit strangely.

They were confident.

No matter what tricks the Cuban pitcher pulled, they would prove through action that the grandmaster would always be the grandmaster.

Almost everyone believed this in their hearts.

Of course, before the offense began, the Japanese team's players first had to defend.

This time, on the pitcher's mound stood the "Last Boss" Sawamura Eijun.

Though they had taken a 3-0 lead in the top of the inning, the Japanese players were not satisfied.

Especially their pitcher-catcher duo, Sawamura and Miyuki.

Score 3-0, Japan had an overwhelming advantage, but before the top of the inning ended…

Cuba's ace pitcher Katro had shown a very strange presence.

He cleanly struck out Hoshida.

During this strikeout, the opponent displayed a tough mindset, precise control, and chilling strategic ability.

In short, this guy was strong!

It wouldn't be so easy for Japan to defeat the opponent and win the game.

If they weren't careful, they might even lose.

This realization was so fresh for the Japanese players.

They had never thought that Cuba would pose such a big threat to them.

Some of the teammates' mentality was already starting to shift.

Miyuki noticed this and realized he had to act.

It was now a matter of life and death.

If he didn't speak up, the situation might become uncontrollable.

And that was something they absolutely didn't want to see!

Realizing this, before taking the mound, Miyuki gave Sawamura a look.

"The opponent's momentum is growing, at this moment..."

"Of course we'll hit him hard!!!"

Sawamura clearly agreed with Miyuki's thoughts.

He, too, believed they couldn't let the Cuban players gain momentum.

Katro's performance was like a small flame.

You must never underestimate it.

Because once a small flame meets the right wind, it could turn into a catastrophe.

And Japan might suffer a huge loss in that disaster.

So, even though it was a tiny flame, they had to extinguish it thoroughly.

Cuba's first batter stepped up to the plate.

The young man looked sharp, with impressive strength.

An expert can tell right away.

From the batter's stance, Sawamura and Miyuki could already make a good guess.

How strong was the opponent? What were his abilities?

They could roughly judge.

It was like this guy exuded a very strong aura.

But of course…

Miyuki and Sawamura wouldn't make judgments just based on aura.

Before the official match, they had already studied the Cuban players' data.

They knew this player's swing speed was fast, and his base hit success rate was high.

Placing him in the first position wasn't because they thought he couldn't handle a more important spot.

It was mainly because his qualities suited the first spot perfectly.

High base hit success rate, fast running speed.

The most important was his technique on bases.

He had contributed greatly to Cuba's previous runs.

This was a guy with a real threat.

Sawamura and Miyuki were reviewing the opponent's data.

Meanwhile, Cuba's first batter wasn't idle. In his mind, he was also recalling Sawamura Eijun's data.

Of course, Sawamura was one of the key targets Cuba had studied.

But after all the research, they found most of the descriptions about Sawamura were unreliable.

If it was true, as the Japanese internet media claimed, that Sawamura's strength had reached a peerless level, even comparable to the "Son of Baseball" Allen, then Cuba's players sadly realized they might have no chance to score against him.

So they naturally thought that the Japanese media had exaggerated the facts!

Sawamura Eijun might have great strength, but it probably wasn't to the terrifying extent of Allen, the "Son of Baseball." As for the practice game where Sawamura's team faced Allen's American Dream Team, it seemed impressive, but in reality, it didn't prove anything.

It could all be just luck, and everything is just the noise around it.

That was the state of the young players.

Today, their power was up, and they felt good. No matter what, the city was developing quickly.

When Sawamura led his team against the Dream Team, maybe it was just that they were in great form.

Various speculations arose, and now even Cuba's players couldn't guess what Sawamura's real strength was.

'In any case, let's see what the Last Boss's pitching is really like.'

The batter in the box was fully prepared.

On the pitcher's mound, Sawamura looked a little nonchalant as he took his stride and threw the baseball with great force.

As he pitched, the Cuban first batter's eyes suddenly lit up.

'What an impressive sight!'

While Sawamura was pitching, the batter only saw his mitt. He couldn't see the pitcher's arm at all.

The Cuban players knew this.

But they had never seen it firsthand.

Rumors online had claimed that the release point was completely invisible.

Not just on Japanese websites, but on American sites as well.

You couldn't see the release point at all!

By the time the batter saw the little baseball, it was already coming towards him.

Although Cuba's first batter had prepared, he was completely stunned when he saw the pitch.

'Eh?...Fa-Fast!!'

The speed was enough to leave anyone stunned.

…