Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

The first batter from Cuba stood in the Batter's Box.

He felt his hands trembling.

Not just his hands—his arms, his thighs, and even his entire body were shaking.

Earlier, they had watched videos of Sawamura's pitches more than once.

Cuban players were still confident in their own abilities. They believed that Japan would definitely field their strongest lineup.

Since it was their strongest lineup, even though other positions were harder to predict, the pitcher's identity was certain.

The Great Demon King, Sawamura.

Although the pitcher from the game against Italy had also seemed exceptionally talented, the Cuban players were clear in their hearts that his strength was likely not on par with Sawamura's.

After all, not everyone could face the Son of Baseball, Allen, head-on.

So, the one they would face was certainly no one but Sawamura.

The Cuban players were confident in this.

In fact, Coach Takeda had not exceeded their expectations.

In today's game, he directly fielded his ace pitcher.

Sawamura!

For Cuba, this was the perfect choice.

After all, when they were studying Japan, they didn't have time to analyze every pitcher.

They had to focus on something.

What they focused on was Sawamura.

At least 70% of their efforts were dedicated to studying him.

After watching Sawamura's pitches and analyzing the data, the Cuban players came to a few conclusions.

Sawamura's pitching speed was fast, and his control was excellent.

These were things that they could clearly see from the videos they had watched.

The pitch speed was around 145-148 km/h. (90-92 mph)

Unless he was using a breaking ball or tactical pitches.

Under normal circumstances, Sawamura's pitching speed was consistent within this range, and he controlled it very well.

His accuracy was also excellent, and he was able to place the ball precisely in the nine-grid of the strike zone.

But these two aspects were not Sawamura's most distinctive features.

The reason Sawamura could dominate American batters and go toe-to-toe with the Son of Baseball, Allen, of the Dream Team, was due to something else entirely.

His unpredictable, almost magical breaking balls!

Batters in the Batter's Box had no idea how those pitches would break.

He might not even play with it, but if he decided to use it, very few people could hit Sawamura's pitches.

This was the key reason he could influence the outcome of a game.

From the intelligence they had gathered, it wasn't difficult to summarize Sawamura's characteristics.

It seemed that Sawamura was an extremely versatile pitcher, someone who didn't have any weaknesses in his role as a pitcher. He could do it all.

A player so well-rounded was not easy to overcome.

They had to be fully prepared and use surprise tactics to score.

Considering Sawamura's characteristics, the Cuban players had come up with several strategies to face him before the official game.

Would these strategies work? They didn't know.

After all, they hadn't tried them out in real life; only through actual combat would they know whether these tactics would be effective.

Cuba's first batter entered the game with this mindset, ready to face Sawamura.

Now, they were trailing 3-0.

The Cuban first batter had no intention of going easy.

There was no such thing as going easy!

Holding back their strength was out of the question.

With Cuba already 3 points behind, they were on the edge of a breakdown.

At this point, they could collapse at any moment. How could they hold back their strength?

The only thing keeping them in the game, keeping them from giving up, was the belief that they could catch up in the score.

Before this, they didn't have time to consider anything else.

And heaven wouldn't give them time to think about anything else either.

So from the start, Cuba's first batter had his eyes locked, ready to hit Sawamura's ball to the outfield.

But after witnessing the first pitch of the Great Demon King, Sawamura, Cuba's first batter's mind went blank.

Although he had heard many rumors before, some of which sounded quite unbelievable.

It was said that Sawamura's pitches were like magic.

Even though the pitch didn't seem particularly fast when viewed from the side, especially for top-tier players, that pitch speed was certainly not considered fast.

But when you were standing in the Batter's Box, you'd realize just how fast the ball really was!

How fast exactly? They couldn't even describe it.

'But it was fast—really fast.'

Earlier, Cuba's first batter had a vague impression of this but didn't pay much attention to it.

It was something they had heard from a American player during their intelligence gathering.

When the Cuban players heard this, they didn't take it seriously, and some even mocked the player for being scared.

Perhaps the person wasn't scared after all.

But one thing most Cuban players believed was true.

These American players were probably just making excuses.

Originally, no one believed it, and they even thought it was a joke.

Cuba's first batter also thought the same way at first. It sounded like something out of a novel. How could something like that really happen?

But reality proved it—this really happened.

Just now, Cuba's first batter watched Sawamura's first pitch, and as he saw the ball, he was behind by a Strike immediately.

So fast!

That was the Cuban first batter's most intuitive feeling. He didn't even have time to think about anything else.

His eyes couldn't keep up!

He watched the pitcher's motion.

During Sawamura's windup, it didn't seem special.

But once he threw the ball with full force, the scene immediately changed.

It gave the batter no reaction time, and the baseball had already passed him in the blink of an eye.

By the time he could react, the baseball had already landed in Miyuki's Mitt.

What happened next was almost exactly what the Japanese players had anticipated.

Sawamura consecutively threw fastballs.

"STRIKE!!"

"STRIKE BATTER OUT!!!"

"STRIKE BATTER OUT!!!!"

"STRIKE BATTER OUT!!!!!"

The result was as expected; their top three batters all struck out without any suspense.

"Is it just me, or does this really feel satisfying?" in Japan's dugout, some had said, looking at Sawamura.

"I got your feeling, it is kinda refreshing to see him be someone else's problem." Another one nodded in approval.

Other players agreed too. Back in Japan, everyone other than Seidou was having a headache dealing with Sawamura.

Now, seeing him go wild on your opponents, while you enjoy the benefits, is nice.

"Nice Pitching, You Monster!"

"Keep Going Like This!"

"Damn! Make Them Feel Out Pain!!"

On the pitcher's mound, Sawamura raised his arm high and waved it toward the sky.

The fans in the stands immediately seemed to have some nerve triggered, and they began shouting.

"Sawamura!"

"Sawamura!!!"

The cheer spread across the entire stadium, shaking the whole place. Not only Japan's players, but even many fans from the Taiwan region joined in the chant.

It wasn't that they were supporting Japan's team; Sawamura's performance was just too outstanding.

The terrifying influence deeply affected them.

At that moment, if they didn't wave their arms, they would feel uneasy.

After three outs and a change of sides, in Cuba's dugout,

The Coach's brows were furrowed into a knot. The three batters who had just gone down weren't necessarily the best three in their team, but they were all among the top five. They could be considered the source of Cuba's confidence. But these top-tier players were completely no match for Sawamura in their confrontation.

It was a failure!

He could only gather these players together and ask, "How was the pitching?"

Before asking, the Coach had already assumed that the answer he would get would be very different from what he actually received.

After hearing the answers from the players, the Cuban Coach even felt a bit regretful. He felt he shouldn't have asked. It was almost self-inflicted embarrassment, and nothing else could describe the feeling of disappointment he felt.

One of the players expressed his thoughts: "I couldn't hit it!"

Then the Cuban first batter also shared his opinion.

"I couldn't even see the release point. His pitch speed was already fast, about 147 km/h, but standing in the Batter's Box, the pitch speed felt much faster, maybe even close to 160 km/h, because I couldn't see the release point. I felt it was already 160!!"

160 km/h terrifying fastballs! No wonder these guys looked so helpless.

When the Cuban Coach learned this, his heart immediately sank. It wasn't just him, other Cuban players showed the same expression.

This thought had deeply rooted itself in the hearts of all the players, and that was no good.

After the Cuban players took the field, they would certainly have different thoughts. They would naturally think it's normal not to hit the ball... After all, that was nearly 160 km/h, who could hit that?

Perhaps, if you looked around players of their age, those who could hit that kind of pitch were few and far between.

The American Dream Team is powerful, right?

But when facing Sawamura, they didn't perform much better. They only scored one point!

Not being able to score wasn't a huge embarrassment.

Once the players had this thought in mind, their mood would definitely become more lax.

Once they had these thoughts, how could they challenge Sawamura again?

How could they face off against Sawamura? How could they face Japan? It would be very difficult!

Cuba's crisis was something Japan was completely unaware of, as Sawamura successfully made three Outs and returned to the dugout.

All of his teammates rushed to congratulate him with high-fives.

In the first inning, they scored three points, and in the bottom of the first inning, Sawamura shut down the opponent again.

Such a smooth start had almost shattered all of Cuba's confidence.

They were already in a position of victory!

They thought they had already won and felt justified in celebrating a little.

Of course, the game was not over, and they couldn't completely relax.

The next showdown was still crucial. Once the players were ready, the second inning's offense began. The second inning brought Japan's lower-order batters. This time, the lower-order batters were a completely different story. The three batters who took the field were all-star-level players.

Cuba's team was in a precarious situation, and even though Japan was sending lower-order batters, they could still easily dominate.

At the very least, these three players were very confident.

The seventh batter, the outfielder, Narumiya Mei.

In this game, Narumiya Mei also took the field as a substitute outfielder.

There was no choice. Excellent outfielders were just too scarce.

At most, there were only two, Mima and Carlos.

The other outfielders weren't bad, but they weren't particularly strong either.

In comparison, having Narumiya Mei take the field was much more intimidating. When he stood on the pitcher's mound, he was an undeniable tough character. Whether in defense or batting, his performance was that of an excellent outfielder.

There was no reason to leave him in the dugout. Once Narumiya stood in the Batter's Box, he showed his ambition.

His eyes were so sharp that it seemed like he could see through the pitcher.

The Cuban players seemed a bit deflated. This made Narumiya quite displeased. He preferred strong head-to-head matchups. If the opponent revealed a cowardly stance, what was the point?

...

T/N: Well, That's it for now.

Thank you all for reading!

Have a good day!

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