Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

Chapter 1531: Chapter 38: Invisibility Magic!



"NOT OVER YET!!!"

"BAAAAACK HOOOOOOOOOOME!!!!!!!"

The hit from Raichi was truly astonishing!

So much so that everyone's attention was fixed on that ball. When they saw the Cuban outfielder reach the falling spot of the baseball in time and catch it securely, a sense of disappointment swept through everyone's hearts.

What a shame.

From their perspective, just moments ago, many of them thought that Raichi would easily secure a home run.

But the seemingly certain home run was caught so simply.

It seemed the Cuban players weren't as hopeless as they had imagined.

They still had considerable strength, and by this point, even the supporters of Japan had begun to realize that the Cuban team wasn't as easy to deal with as they had initially thought.

Just as people were immersed in these thoughts, the Cuban Coach in the dugout couldn't sit still and stood up, loudly calling for a throwback.

People then noticed that someone had already started rushing toward home plate from third base.

This was to be expected.

The ball had already reached the back of the field, and even though it had been caught, Carlos had to start running from third base.

But so what? With his terrifying speed, this was nothing. Returning to home plate in one go would be easy.

Although Carlos was sure to make it safely to home plate, the Cuban outfielder still hadn't given up. He passed the ball back.

Before baseball could return, Carlos had already crossed home plate.

"SAFE!!!"

He helped Japan team score their 4th point, making the score 4:0.

Cuba's situation was already very critical, and now it had become even worse. Unless something unexpected happened, they had almost no chance of turning the game around. Even if there was an unexpected turn, it would be nearly impossible to recover those 4 points in one go.

Not to mention, standing in their way was the legendary "Demon King" Sawamura.

Theoretically, the Cuban players no longer had any hope.

Today's match was over for them, completely over!

Those in the stands had the same feeling, thinking that the Cuban team's efforts had likely reached their endpoint.

They had played very well, although not very gracefully, but their performance was impressive.

Perhaps their behavior was a bit shameless, perhaps they were a bit reckless, especially pitcher Katro, who no one really liked. Anyone with a bit of sportsmanship would find him unpleasant. But one could not deny their strength.

So far, the Cuban team's performance had been solid.

The reason they were in this situation, with a score of 4:0, almost at the bottom of a deep abyss, with little chance of turning things around, was not because of weakness, but because their opponents were simply too strong!

Moreover, they weren't satisfied with just that.

Although the score was already 4:0, and they seemed to have the game locked down, Sawamura wasn't willing to let this opponent off so easily.

Without hesitation, he made his move and charged toward third base. Sawamura thought he was being discreet, but clearly, his actions did not escape Cuba's watchful eyes.

Instead of throwing the ball back to home plate like they were ordered, the Cuban team sent it directly to third base.

This meant that from the start, they had abandoned stopping Carlos and aimed to get Sawamura out.

'Nice try!'

How experienced was Sawamura?

As soon as he saw the Cuban players move, he knew they were targeting him.

And as they were targeting him, their methods were dirty.

The third baseman, who had already caught the ball, turned his mitt at Sawamura.

But as an old veteran, he wouldn't fall for such a move.

Seeing the mitt coming toward him, Sawamura quickly crouched.

The sudden movement caused the Cuban third baseman to freeze for a moment. He had to retract his fist and press his mitt down.

It was too late to hit Sawamura now, so he could only settle for using the mitt to tag him out.

But it wasn't so easy.

Seeing the mitt come down, Sawamura didn't panic. Instead, he smiled slightly, quickly sprang up, and dodged the mitt, then dashed forward.

By the time the third baseman turned around to try and tag Sawamura, it was too late.

Tap!

Sawamura's foot landed heavily on third base.

"SAFE!!"

Two Out, with runners on second and third.

Japan team's offense was far from over. It felt like it was just beginning.

The Cuban players were feeling very helpless at this point.

They weren't just helpless; many of them had expressions of confusion.

To counter Japan and to deal with the so-called "Demon King," they had used all their tricks.

They had even resorted to many unsportsmanlike methods. In the Cuban players' original mindset, they should have already eliminated their opponents, no matter the methods used, as long as they worked.

But why, despite using all their methods, did their opponents remain unscathed and keep scoring?

4:0!

Only the third inning, the score gap had already widened so much.

If Japan team's pitchers had given them some openings, the Cuban players might have had a chance to make a comeback.

But as things stood, they couldn't figure out how to handle Sawamura's pitches.

To this point, they still hadn't figured out how Sawamura's pitching worked.

Why had the baseball appeared so suddenly? Why did the ball look so fast from the batter's perspective?

They couldn't understand it at all.

In such a situation, how were they supposed to compete with Japan players?

Katro had used some methods, and they had done their job too.

If those methods had worked, the Cuban players might have felt a bit guilty, but in the pursuit of victory, that guilt would have been insignificant.

People always say that friendship comes first, and competition second.

But who would really take such words seriously?

Especially in an international match, no one would care about that.

The next batter was Hoshida.

At this point, Japan team should have been able to easily score another point.

But unfortunately, the Coach wasn't present, and the team lacked absolute authority. Otherwise, they would definitely have scored.

But as luck would have it, the Coach wasn't there.

So some tactical plays didn't work. Hoshida cleanly hit the ball high.

Unfortunately, although the ball went high, it didn't fly far, falling slowly in the outfielder's range.

Three Outs, offense and defense exchange.

Next was the bottom of the inning, where Cuba's lower-order batters made a desperate charge at Sawamura.

Once they were in the Batter's Box, they stopped worrying about getting a hit and just went all-out trying to make contact with the ball.

Perhaps, in their eyes, as long as they could hit the ball, even if they didn't get a hit or make any achievements, that would be an acceptable result.

At least it would prove that Sawamura's pitches weren't as impossible to hit as they had heard.

Sawamura quickly noticed what the Cuban players were planning.

'Good idea, those guys.'

They were thinking in their own way, but Sawamura wasn't going to let them have it their way.

Miyuki also caught on and signaled Sawamura.

'The opponent was clearly prepared, so why don't we give them a little surprise in return?'

Seeing Miyuki's suggestion, Sawamura nodded with a smile.

Sometimes, when he and Miyuki worked together, they didn't need to say much. They just knew what the other was thinking, like now.

Sawamura raised his leg high and then slammed it down hard. As his body's center of gravity shifted, the baseball in his hand shot out with a whistle.

During the pitch, Sawamura shifted his right leg slightly, deceiving the batter's sight.

Without seeing the release point, the batter could only see the ball after it had already flown out, and the speed of the ball seemed incredibly fast.

This was the first time the lower-order Cuban batters saw such a pitch, and they were nervous. They had heard of it before, but now they had to face it, and it was a challenge.

They had been confident before, thinking they could just go all out.

But now, it seemed they had underestimated the situation.

The previous star players had struggled, but now, for the Cuban lower-order batters, facing Sawamura's pitches was no longer just about speed.

They couldn't even see the ball, the ball seemed to disappear right before their eyes.


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