Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

In the stands.

Without any instruments, the fans began to hum the marching songs themselves.

"Aim and hit!"

"It's all on you!!"

In such an atmosphere of singing, it was hard for the batter not to feel pumped with excitement.

Narumiya was no exception. At that moment, he truly felt the hot blood surging within him.

The baseball bat he held high in his hand was ready to swing at any moment.

In the rest area of Japan team.

The majority of the teammates had an extremely optimistic attitude toward Narumiya's hitting.

They could be this relaxed mainly because their mental pressure was low.

The score on the field was 3:0.

At this point, they were leading the opponents by a full three points.

And the great demon, Sawamura, since the time he became famous, had never allowed more than two points in any game.

They all recognized Sawamura's strength.

They didn't think that the Cuban players could, without having any previous interaction with Sawamura, figure out his rhythm in such a short amount of time.

And manage to hit his ball out!

At most, they might have gotten a hit or two by chance.

Getting more was simply impossible.

Japan team players didn't even think that the Cuban players could score any runs off Sawamura.

In this situation, their mindset was, of course, very relaxed.

They were happy to see Narumiya face off against the opponent. If he managed to get a hit or even score, that would be the best.

Even if he couldn't, it wouldn't matter to them.

It was just a longer game.

The result wouldn't change.

With this easy-going mentality, many people in the Japanese team's rest area were cheering for Narumiya.

The trio from Seidou High School's baseball team hid in the resting chairs.

Although they were privately friends with Narumiya, it was clear that this status wasn't fully acknowledged by everyone.

Or rather, compared to being friends, their impression of the opponent was stronger.

Seidou High School's baseball team and Inashiro Industrial were bitter rivals!

After being rivals for so long, even though they were now on the same team, watching the Inashiro Industrial players acting arrogantly on the field still didn't sit well with them.

And the problem, the conflict, was right here.

If the Inashiro Industrial players were performing poorly on the field, the Seidou High School players wouldn't be happy about it either.

Humans are strange creatures. Perhaps even they themselves don't know what they truly want.

"You guys think that guy can hit it out?"

Kuramochi asked curiously.

He was the 9th batter and hadn't stepped up to bat yet.

The reason he was placed in such a position wasn't because Coach Takeda thought Kuramochi had the worst hitting abilities among the players on the field.

It was mainly because his speed worked well with the first and second batters.

Carlos was also a speed-type player, and Sawamura, although not a speed-type player, was the best hitter on the team.

Maybe this lineup wasn't as balanced as a traditional team, but its surprise attack and fast attack capabilities were unmatched by any other team.

He hadn't gone up to bat yet, so he wasn't sure of how much strength Katro had.

On the other hand, Sawamura and Miyuki had already faced off.

One got a timely hit, while the other was caught out on a fly ball.

Compared to their skills, their performances weren't particularly remarkable.

They had more say in evaluating the opponent's abilities.

Kuramochi was also curious about their thoughts and wanted to hear their analysis of the opponent.

This was a tradition of the Seidou High School baseball team.

The players who stepped up to bat first not only aimed to hit the ball but also tried to assess the opponent's strength, aiding the next batter.

"It probably won't be that simple."

Miyuki said with a serious expression.

Although the Japanese team had already scored three points at the beginning and their momentum was high, Miyuki wasn't underestimating the opponent.

Compared to Japan team's current record, he trusted his own judgment.

From his perspective, the Cuban team's players weren't as weak as they thought.

Especially their pitcher, Katro.

Even though Katro had been hit with a home run by Raichi at the beginning of the game, underestimating him because of that would be a big mistake.

First of all, the man who hit the home run wasn't some easy character.

In previous tournaments in Japan, whether it was the Tokyo regional tournament or national-level competitions, even at Koshien, many strong pitchers had been hit with home runs by that guy.

Even Sawamura himself had been hit with a long hit by that man.

If they thought Katro's pitching ability was weak just because of the home run, they would be sorely mistaken!

After all, Katro wasn't mentally prepared at first.

He had no idea that he would encounter a monster like Raichi!

Moreover, there was something about Katro that made Miyuki feel uneasy.

This wasn't the first time he had such a feeling.

Earlier, after Katro had given up the home run and faced off with Hoshida, Miyuki had the same feeling.

When he faced Katro before, he already had a rough sense of the opponent's strength.

Although Katro's strength was decent, it didn't make Miyuki feel particularly cautious.

At that time, Miyuki judged that although Katro was strong, beating him wouldn't be difficult.

In simple terms, judging by the strength Katro had shown, there was no way he could hold up against Japan's team's dream lineup.

But after giving up the home run, his entire demeanor changed drastically.

To put it bluntly, by that point, he had already become a serious threat to the Japanese team.

This was just the beginning.

When he faced off with Hoshida afterward, it confirmed Miyuki's suspicions.

The result was even more ruthless and decisive than Miyuki had expected.

When Katro faced Hoshida, his skill level had already increased significantly.

'Mei would probably find it difficult to hit the ball out against him.'

Miyuki thought so.

Sawamura thought the same.

"This is the semifinals of the world stage. For the Cuban players, we are undoubtedly strangers. Even if they've researched us, it's likely just a few rare details that pose no real threat. In that sense, our situation is the same. How much do we really know about the Cuban team?"

Cuba!

If it weren't for the world stage, Japan's team players would never have thought they'd have any connection with this team.

They had absolutely no mental preparation for this.

As the three of them chatted, the confrontation on the field began.

From Narumiya's perspective, the Cuban team was already on the brink of collapse.

You could see the expressions on their faces, all tense and anxious.

Although their team hadn't collapsed yet, it was only a matter of time.

Perhaps just one more straw would break them completely.

What Narumiya had to do now was to become that final straw.

He raised his bat high and focused intently on the pitcher's delivery.

As soon as Katro made any movement, he would swing his bat without hesitation.

Narumiya was fully focused on the duel with Katro.

"STRIKE!"

"STRIKE!!"

"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!"

Despite Narumiya's ambition and determination to hit the ball out, it was clear from his swinging stance that he was giving it all he had.

But even with all that effort, the result was unsatisfactory.

In the end, he swung and missed three times, striking out.

The next batter, Shirakawa, didn't fare any better.

Although he barely made contact with the ball, it wasn't hit well and fell directly into the second baseman's mitt.

Snap!

"OUT!!"

Two Outs, no one on base.

With nervous feelings, Kuramochi stepped up to the Batter's Box.

During the previous inning, he had seen everyone hitting the ball so easily.

At that moment, Kuramochi had the feeling that he could do it too if he went up to bat.

But now that he was actually standing in the Batter's Box, facing the opponent head-on, his confidence wasn't so solid.

He even felt a little uneasy.

The two main stars of the Inashiro Industrial High School baseball team, Narumiya and Shirakawa, though Kuramochi wasn't fond of them, he had to admit one thing.

They were undeniably strong!

Not just in their fielding and defensive abilities.

Even when batting.

Narumiya's instincts and Shirakawa's technique were both impressive.

These two guys were strong in Kuramochi's mind, but even they didn't manage to gain any advantage in their confrontations and were cleanly taken Out.

Seeing this, Kuramochi certainly had some thoughts in his mind.

It was hard to say he wasn't nervous, standing in the Batter's Box.

He wasn't sure if he could hit the ball.

In fact, when the first pitch came, Kuramochi wasn't even sure if he should swing.

Fortunately, he didn't hesitate for too long because soon the pitcher threw the ball.

It was fast!

Perhaps it was because Kuramochi was distracted, but when he noticed, the ball was already right in front of him.

Kuramochi felt his entire body jump in sync.

Normally, in such an unprepared state, he shouldn't have swung at the ball.

But there was no way around it. The ball's location was perfect.

Kuramochi felt the ball was exactly where he wanted it.

'Here goes!'

Initially planning to take it slow, Kuramochi changed his mind in an instant.

He wasn't sure what the result would be, but no one would stop him from taking a swing at this perfect pitch.

He couldn't reject such an opportunity. He had to swing with everything he had.

At that moment, he stepped forward and swung.

Paak!

The ball was hit solidly and soared high into the air.

Watching the baseball fly, Kuramochi, who had been full of confidence, suddenly changed his expression.

He looked puzzled.

Why did this ball feel so different from what he had imagined?

He couldn't understand why.

It was so unbelievable!

From his initial feeling, he thought he would be able to hit it well and place it in a good position.

But it was like a game where you thought you'd pull off a comeback, only for the result to be a swift defeat.

No doubt about it.

Snap!

The baseball fell right into the pitcher's mitt.

Three Outs, offense and defense exchange.

Even though the batters in this inning were from the lower half of the order, there were no real "weak" batters on Japan team now.

Every one of them was a star.

When such star players couldn't score runs, it was already shocking.

Not to mention that they went three up, three down, without a single opportunity.

It felt like a cold bucket of water had been thrown on the heads of all Japan players.

...