Diamond No Ace: The Strongest Hitter

Chapter 209: Sawamura Selling Out Sendo

"Pay close attention to Akikawa's pitcher!

He has something you two lack!"

"The Taiwanese exchange student, You Shunshin, a second-year student!"

"He's not Japanese?"

"He originally came to Japan to learn the language.

But after being exposed to Japanese baseball, he was deeply captivated."

"Despite starting his training much later than others, his hunger to absorb and learn Japanese baseball surpasses anyone else's."

"He possesses an aura that's difficult for anyone to approach and has developed precise control through relentless day-and-night practice."

"He's been given the title… 'The Precision Machine!'"

"'The Precision Machine?'"

"A foreign player!"

"Chris-senpai, how did you gather so much information about You Shunshin?"

"From the newspapers!"

"…!"

"Hey, Sendo! You got it wrong! Chris-senpai said

'Yousunchin'!" Sawamura suddenly corrected Sendo's "pronunciation issue."

"Shut up! I'm saying it right!"

"Really?"

"I'm fluent!"

"Really?"

"Enough with the shock reactions! Focus on the game!"

Throughout the match, You Shunshin's pitching left a profound impression on Seidou's two aces.

"3-0! They've held onto their lead!"

"When they scored early, the atmosphere among the fielders completely changed," summarized Yuuki.

"Ah, those precise pitches on the inside and outside corners, combined with low trajectory throws—only five hits were allowed. That shows just how much trust the team has in their pitcher," Jun-san commented with admiration.

"Trust?" Sawamura's ears perked up.

"But I feel like I've seen pitching like this somewhere before...!" Despite the excitement, You Shunshin's pitching seemed oddly familiar.

"The game is in three days, on Wednesday! This opponent won't be as inexperienced as the previous ones!"

After the game ended, Seidou's team returned to their routine without giving Sawamura much time to dwell on his thoughts.

That evening, Chris provided an even more detailed analysis of You Shunshin's pitching: he rarely used breaking balls but occasionally threw forkballs and curveballs to rack up strikes. His fastball speed hovered around the low 130 km/h range.

In short, he was a high-precision control pitcher who relied on well-placed fastballs in the four corners, with only a one-to-two-pitch error margin.

By cleverly utilizing diagonal angles, he made it difficult for batters to swing.

Seeing such theoretical, impeccable control play out in real life was impressive, especially when combined with occasional breaking balls. Seidou's batters found it challenging.

Given such precise control, there was little hope of encountering easy pitches.

As Sawamura put it, "It's a battle of pure strength versus strength."

Fortunately, You Shunshin's fastball wasn't particularly speedy, or things would have been truly troublesome.

Coach Kataoka decided to employ speed tactics and bunting to pressure the opposing team mentally.

He instructed batters to swing aggressively at every pitch, rather than timidly holding back.

With the strategy set, the rest was up to the players to decide how to train.

As preparation for major tournaments shifted, defensive practice decreased, allowing more time for self-directed training.

"What's wrong, Eijun?" Haruichi curiously asked when Sawamura remained lost in thought after practice was dismissed.

As Seidou's cherished team mascot, Sawamura's pondering naturally drew everyone's attention.

"It's just... You Shunshin's pitching feels oddly familiar." However, Sawamura's poor memory left him unable to recall anything specific.

That sense of familiarity kept pounding at his brain.

"If you think it's familiar, it probably wasn't from high school. Did you face a similar pitcher during middle school?" Haruichi tried to offer suggestions.

"Forget it and go to bed early!" Sendo, hoping to distract Sawamura, encouraged him to drop the matter.

Of course, Sendo knew exactly why You Shunshin's pitching felt so familiar.

"Forget it. I'm heading back—so sleepy!"

Sawamura seemed to make one final effort to remember, but sensing something ominous, Sendo decisively escaped like an ostrich.

"We didn't face such a pitcher, but it does feel familiar somehow... Ah!!!"

Just as Sendo had one foot out of the cafeteria, Sawamura slammed the table and yelled loudly, startling the upperclassmen.

"Sendo! That guy You Shunshin—his pitching is exactly the same as when you were our batting practice pitcher back in middle school!" Sawamura shouted, pointing dramatically at Sendo, who was about to exit.

Without looking back, Sendo swiftly fled the scene!

"Oh? What's this? Tell us more!" Jun-san, now in full gossip mode, resembled the time Kuramochi spilled details about Sawamura's "girlfriend."

"Yahaha! You guys had such fun times in middle school? I'm interested too!"

Kuramochi, who had intended to leave, returned and plopped down backward onto a chair, ready to listen to a story.

"Ugh!"

"Tell us the details!" Yuuki also joined in the gossip frenzy.

"He was your catcher in middle school, right? How did he become a batting pitcher?" Miyuki's eyes sparkled like he'd just discovered a new world.

"What's going on, everyone?" Sawamura, oblivious to the shift in atmosphere, was still just excited to recall past events.

"We're curious about Sendo's past!"

"Oh, Chris-senpai! What do you want to know?"

Since Chris had spoken up, Sawamura naturally became cooperative.

"Tell us about this batting pitcher thing—and how it's similar to You Shunshin's pitching."

"That's all?"

"Cut the nonsense! Get on with it!" Kuramochi was already impatient.

The first-string seniors were more gossip-prone than anyone.

"It was during middle school—exactly when, I don't quite remember. But it was when Sendo acted as our coach rather than a player," Sawamura began reminiscing.

"Back then, our Akagi Junior High baseball team was full of amateurs!" Sawamura made a face as if disowning his former teammates.

"You have no right to say that! Stick to the point!"

"Oh, right! Our team was weak, and no one wanted to practice against us.To help us improve our batting, Sendo became our batting practice pitcher.

But he had one condition: everyone got only one at-bat against him. Naturally, Sendo held back."

"So? His pitching was similar to You Shunshin's? How similar?"

"At first, not very similar.

But as our batting skills improved, Sendo started pitching in a style nearly identical to You Shunshin's to suppress us."

"As for how similar? The fastballs were practically indistinguishable—focused on the four corners, mixing good and bad pitches, and about the same speed. The only difference was that Sendo pitched left-handed and didn't use breaking balls!" Sawamura gazed upward, trying hard to recall every detail.

"Seriously? It's that similar?" Kuramochi whispered.

"That level of control is no joke, man!" Jun-san added.

Boom!

Yuuki remained silent, but everyone knew what he meant.

"Ha! We just happen to need a batting practice pitcher! Since that guy barely uses up any stamina adjusting, it's totally possible to have him spare a day for practice!" Miyuki grinned mischievously.

Boom!

"Hey, Captain! Tone it down!"

"It might not fully prepare us, but it could help us shorten the time needed to adapt to You Shunshin's pitches during the actual game," Chris chimed in.

This was practically a death sentence for Sendo!

"By the way, Sawamura!" Miyuki suddenly spoke as if something had just come to mind.

"Hmm?"

"You said Sendo acted as your batting pitcher to help improve your hitting, right? If I remember correctly, Akagi Junior High played small-ball tactics, right?"

"Plus, Rei-chan said your team was well-trained… except for you!"

"What do you mean by 'except for me'? What are you even trying to say?" Sawamura was visibly annoyed.

"I'm just wondering, who taught you those techniques?"

Noticing the curious looks on everyone's faces, Sawamura reluctantly explained, "Our hitting techniques were based on suggestions from Sendo tailored to each of us, and we practiced accordingly. The rest of the stuff was taught by that old man!"

"Old man?"

"Yeah." Sawamura answered weakly.

"That old man's also in Tokyo. He's the coach of a youth baseball team!"

"I see!" Miyuki finally understood why Akagi was such a well-trained team. The techniques they used clearly weren't something Sendo would naturally know.

"That old man was amazing! He won tons of championships, including 13 or maybe even 15 consecutive Kanto tournaments!"

"Thirteen?" Miyuki, who had just let out a breath of relief, tensed up again.

"Chris?" Jun-san seemed to realize something and turned to Chris for confirmation.

"Ah! No doubt about it! In Tokyo, there's only one youth baseball team that could achieve so many consecutive Kanto wins—Wildcat Little League, led by Coach Nakani!"

"Huh? Chris-senpai, you know about that old man too?"

"Of course! He's the absolute king of the Kanto region! Any player who spent time in youth baseball as a kid would know him," Kuramochi said, putting Sawamura in a headlock.

"Really? That guy who's always following Sendo around is that famous?" Sawamura's unique thought process struck again.

"What's going on here?" The gossip flames among the team were burning fiercely.

"Sendo transferred to Nagano before fourth grade, but before that, he spent a month with the Wildcats. He was even said to be that old man's disciple!"

"Disciple…?!" The seniors, who knew the significance of this word, were shocked. Nakani had trained countless outstanding players, but no one had ever heard of him taking on a disciple.

Back in middle school, they had suffered plenty at the hands of players from Wildcat. Even those who never made it to the Wildcats' main lineup in three years were incredibly strong, practically inhuman.

"I see! That explains a lot!" Miyuki muttered cryptically.

At that moment, he recalled where the sense of familiarity when hearing Sendo's name came from.

Back in middle school, his youth baseball team had been crushed by those Wildcat kids.

The image of Coach Nakani passionately praising Sendo echoed in Miyuki's mind.

It was as if he had regained lost memories—memories of Sendo Akira!

"Sendo Akira! A product of Wildcat Little League. The only fourth grader to make the first string in their 20-year history, serving as both ace and cleanup hitter! And this guy achieved all that after starting as a complete novice—within just two weeks!" Miyuki spoke slowly, recounting Sendo's glorious youth.

"That's incredible…" Chris, who had also been crushed by Wildcat during his elementary days, couldn't help but agree.

That game had almost shattered his dream of baseball.

Even in middle school, Wildcat could still hold their ground against his team—it was absurdly strong.

The teachers, including Rei-chan, had never revealed the connection between Sendo and Coach Nakani because there was no need to bring up past events.

The seniors only found out about it today.

"Alright then, it's decided. If not tomorrow, then the day after—we'll bring Sendo here as our batting pitcher."

"Heh, having the former ace of Wildcat Little League pitch for us would be sweet revenge for all those times we got crushed."

"And he's no ordinary ace, either."

Oh, and nobody says a word to Sendo about this, got it?" Jun-san's smile was terrifying.

"Ugh!"

Boom!

"Haha! Agreed! What are you plotting, Miyuki?"

"Nothing," Miyuki said, though he refrained from mentioning Coach Nakani's evaluation of Sendo's pitching.

To think that such a highly rated pitcher was right beside him! Although Sendo hated pitching, preferring to focus on hitting, Miyuki was now scheming how he might catch one of Sendo's full-power pitches.

"Ugh!" Miyuki's smile turned sinister without him realizing it.

Meanwhile, Sawamura remained completely clueless about how thoroughly he had just sold out his best friend.

The next day was Media Day.

The pre-arranged reporters flocked in with pens and notepads in hand.

Of course, the two reporters most frequently seen in the original story were also present.

However, while they were allowed in to observe, they weren't permitted to conduct interviews, so they simply watched without disturbing the players' practice.

That day, the seniors were unusually fired up at bat, filled with energy.

Jun-san even hit several home runs, albeit against pitches matching You Shunshin's speed.

Seeing this, Sendo raised an eyebrow. None of this mattered much to him.

What worried him was how much Sawamura had revealed the night before.

The fact that the seniors were acting like nothing had happened only made Sendo feel even more uneasy.

What he didn't know was that the idiot had already spilled everything to the seniors, exposing all his secrets.

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