Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

"Who are those foreigners?"

Outside the field, a mix of foreign-looking group of young men had appeared at some point.

Each of them was tall and strong, exuding an impressive presence.

"That should be the representatives from the American team…"

Miyuki furrowed his brows and guessed.

Usually, he's very observant, keeping an eye on everything happening around him, yet he hasn't noticed the arrival of this group of people at all.

This clearly showed just how tense the game against Tokyo University had been.

Everyone had been fully focused on the match, with no time to pay attention to anything else.

Although they didn't know much about their opponents, it was easy to guess their identity given their foreign appearance.

"The most important thing is, when exactly did they arrive?"

Even Sawamura Eijun hadn't noticed when this group of people had shown up.

He frowned as he asked the question.

It wasn't just the players; even the coaches didn't have the energy to focus on anything other than the game.

The assistant coach from Inashiro Industrial, asked by Sawamura, struggled to answer.

"The organizers... didn't they say they'd be arriving on a noon flight? They should be resting at the hotel right now…"

Coach Kunitomo cracked his neck, making a creaking sound.

His eyes revealed a cold glint.

"If they're here, it means they never went to the hotel to rest."

They came straight here from the airport.

Through their conversation, everyone was shocked to realize that none of them knew exactly when the foreign team had arrived.

During the recent game, they had been so focused that they hadn't even noticed the foreign team's arrival.

The game's situation had been changing rapidly, and they had been completely absorbed in watching the dynamics of the field, exhausting all their energy.

They didn't have the mental bandwidth to pay attention to anything else.

Of course, not everyone had been completely focused. Some had caught glimpses of the newcomers.

"They came in from the seventh inning!"

When they received this answer, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

That meant they hadn't seen the pitching of Narumiya and Sawamura.

This was very beneficial for the Tokyo team.

"Come at me with all you've got, I'll deal with it."

Narumiya crossed his arms and looked at the American Team.

He had heard that these players were from a base in North America, mostly excellent players from the Los Angeles area.

They were about on the same level as the Tokyo team, with a similar composition.

It was a good, evenly matched opponent!

He hoped tomorrow's match would be a good one.

Narumiya had an unusual level of confidence in his athletic abilities, something most people couldn't understand.

For example, if he were to play basketball, he believed he was already aiming for the NBA.

If it were soccer, he'd be looking at the top five European leagues.

If it were table tennis, he'd be competing professionally in China.

Whatever he did, his target was always the highest peak in the world.

Now, playing baseball, his dream was to reach the Major Leagues.

Before that, however, having a good match against these American players was meaningful to him.

On the All-Tokyo team's side, they believed that the American players hadn't gathered much intel on them.

At least, they assumed the foreigners didn't have any valuable information.

But the American team saw things differently.

They started watching from the seventh inning and observed some interesting things during the game.

For example, a black player noticed something about the Tokyo team's catcher.

From the seventh inning onward, the pitchers were under heavy attack. (They were unaware of the earlier relief pitching and thought Umemiya had pitched all the way into the seventh inning.)

The team was about to break down, but the catcher stepped up and helped them through the crisis.

The series of actions the catcher took during the crisis caught the attention of the short black player.

"Our team's catcher is different. The Tokyo catcher looks like a pretty good partner."

The first player to grab their attention was Miyuki.

Of course, they were mostly focused on another team at the time.

That would be the combined team of the Tokyo University and professional players.

Miyuki, Fumei, and Harada left a deep impression on the American players.

At their level, it was hard to say that they weren't from the same era.

They all had professional baseball aspirations, and the age difference between them and the American players was only about two or three years.

If they were to compete in the minor leagues or even the major leagues in the future, they might be rivals.

By the eighth inning, their attention was drawn to the other black player, Carlos. (Carlos is half Brazilian btw)

His speed left a deep impression on the American players.

"This one is really fast!"

"Once on base, he could be really dangerous!"

Next, Sawamura Eijun's home run made them notice the Tokyo team's cleanup hitter and his immense power.

"He doesn't look that muscular, but he has this kind of strength?"

"His swing doesn't look like much."

Sawamura's impact on the American players was quite significant.

They whispered among themselves, discussing him.

As a Coach, the middle-aged American Coach saw something that the others didn't.

Sawamura's swing didn't look impressive at all; it wasn't strong or forceful. If you only looked at his swing, it would be hard to associate him with strength.

But despite that unremarkable swing, he almost always hit the ball out of the park…

'That is truly unsettling.'

'It isn't remarkable at all—it is simplicity at its finest.'

'He had elevated his swing to a whole new level.'

'It was as though he had practiced millions of times, many times more than others.'

'And through this endless repetition that he had reached this level of mastery.'

"In terms of hitting, this player might not be the most talented, but he is definitely the most hardworking."

The American Coach gave Sawamura that assessment.

If Sawamura had heard this, he would have been shocked and probably asked:

"Dude, are you a regressor too?"

Meanwhile,

The guests from America only caused a temporary impact on the All-Tokyo team's players.

Now, they don't have time to pay attention to those guys; instead, they are each saying their goodbyes to their senior teammates.

As mentioned before, Harada was the former captain of the Inashiro Industrial High School baseball team, and Yuuki was the former Captain of the Seidou High School baseball team.

But don't think that in the lineup of Tokyo University, only these two players have connections to the All-Tokyo team.

Although Tokyo University recruits nationwide, the majority of students still come from Tokyo. Especially for the specially recruited baseball players, more than half are from Tokyo high schools.

As a traditional powerhouse in the university league, the recruits they attract are generally from the top teams of various high schools.

And right in front of them, every player on the All-Tokyo team is an elite from a strong school.

This creates an interesting phenomenon where the seniors at Tokyo University can practically find their juniors in the All-Tokyo team.

Before the match, since the two sides were opponents and the game was about to begin, they couldn't chat too much.

But now that the match is over, there are no more concerns, and everyone is chatting happily.

The only regret is that the seniors from Tokyo University didn't fully show their authority in this match.

Although Tokyo University played strongly in this match, scoring a lot and holding their own against the monsters of the All-Tokyo team, the real standout players were the professional baseball players.

In this match, the regular players from Tokyo University were reduced to mere supporting roles.

So when talking about it, their faces inevitably lacked shine.

"You guys did great! Looks like the team is in good hands."

A graduate from Teito High School said with emotion, patting Nagata's shoulder.

This made Inui extremely embarrassed.

Why bring up such sad things when they had finally met to catch up?

He could only comfort his senior.

"I think it was more because of my teammates, I think I still have a long way to go. You Senpais were truly far ahead of us."

Although the players from Tokyo University didn't stand out in this match, they were a solid foundation.

Without them, the professional players alone wouldn't have made much of an impact.

Although the Tokyo University player knew that his junior was just comforting him, hearing these words was still pleasant.

"Keep it up!"

"Work hard, you're born in the same era as those monsters. If you don't have the spirit of fighting to the end, it'll be hard to stand out."

Most of the seniors gave such advice to their juniors.

They gave this advice because some of the players from the recent game had left a deep impression on them.

Inashiro, Seidou!!!

Although the Tokyo area is full of strong players, there are so many teams with potential that they can't even count them on both hands.

But the teams that truly stand above the rest are just these two.

Even though they hadn't seen the full strength of these two teams, they could infer it from the leadership. Just by looking at their leaders, it was clear what level these teams were at.

No wonder the seniors from Tokyo University were feeling sorry for their juniors' futures.

Harada was also advising his younger teammates.

Firstly, they must be wary of Seidou High School, treating them as their number one enemy, the one they must defeat.

Secondly, they mustn't become arrogant or complacent and mustn't underestimate their opponents.

If the players from Inashiro Industrial High School only focus on Seidou High School right now, they might stumble in the summer.

This is absolutely not allowed!

The players of the Inashiro Industrial High School baseball team nodded vigorously, their heads bobbing like chicks pecking rice.

They naturally had no reason to ignore Harada's advice.

Moreover, many of the players on the Inashiro Industrial High School team had quite a bit of experience.

They also understood the problems their team was facing.

"Don't worry, Masa-san! Since we were able to beat Seidou High School once, we can definitely do it again. This summer, at the Jingu stadium, we will defeat Seidou!"

Although the group draw for the tournament hadn't started yet, as the champions and runners-up of the Spring Koshien, the organizers would be crazy to place these two teams in the same group.

At worst, they would meet in the semifinals, but the most likely scenario was that they would meet only in the finals.

So, Narumiya's statement actually wasn't a problem.

On the other side, two players from Seidou High School's baseball team were also catching up with their seniors.

They discussed a lot about professional baseball and heard some news about Tetsuya's career in the pros.

Overall, after joining professional baseball, Tetsuya's path has been very smooth.

He's a classic case of slow and steady wins the race, with natural talent combined with hard work to build solid skills.

In summary, his foundation is very solid.

Such players are highly sought after in professional baseball.

Players who rely entirely on talent may dominate in high school, but once they enter the professional leagues, such players are quickly weeded out.

What truly makes it is a player who has both talent and the willingness to work hard. At that level, talent is merely the threshold.

How far a player can go depends on how much effort they're willing to put in.

In this regard, Seidou High School graduates are rarely disappointing.

Just like Tetsuya, after joining the professional team, he was one of the hardest-working players.

With the solid foundation built in high school, his skills exploded after entering professional baseball.

He gradually became one of the main players in the team.

In his first year with the team, apart from pitchers, it was difficult for players in other positions to stand out.

Tetsuya's success was already very impressive.

Among his peers, he's the only one to achieve such a feat.

Others are mostly just rotation players, while Tetsuya became a key player within a few months.

Sawamura and Miyuki were naturally happy for their senior.

After chatting for a while, Tetsuya suddenly asked,

"What are your plans after graduation?"

…