Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

A leader often determines the temperament of a team.

Under the leadership of Yuuki and the other seniors in the third year, the atmosphere of the entire team at Seidou High School was very much like a disciplined army. Wherever they went, the scent of iron and blood was inescapable.

After several years of not making it to Koshien, every player on the team possessed a spirit of no retreat. Coupled with Yuuki's leadership and his distinct aura, Seidou High School at that time seemed like a well-trained army.

It was easy to understand.

Later, when Miyuki took the reins, the situation changed significantly. They were no longer the team that had to rise again to conquer the world.

Instead, they became the Kings who had already established their thrones.

With the shift in identity, the team's temperament also changed.

Of course, the different personalities of the leaders were also an important reason for the change in the team's character.

Under the leadership of Miyuki Kazuya, this team seemed more like a legitimate and powerful Champion.

No matter who the opponents were, they would crush them all.

This forged another kind of atmosphere for Seidou High School.

A hard-edged army!

A king's army!

Though the style was different, it still exuded a high-class, imposing vibe.

However, the current temperament of Seidou is hard to describe.

Under the leadership of Kuramochi and Maezono, the current Seidou High School baseball team resembled more of a gang than an actual sports team.

They stared at their opponents with high spirits as if they were about to tear them apart.

Kizaki High School had never seen such a Seidou before.

Despite leading 3:1, when faced with Seidou, whose players looked like they were ready to strike at any moment, Kizaki High School felt their hairs stand on end.

"The opponents are taking this seriously!"

Kizaki High School's Coach furrowed his brows as he spoke.

Without Sawamura and Miyuki, the two core players, Kizaki High School's Coach initially thought they would win this game easily.

But he never expected it.

Even without their key players, the Seidou baseball team still displayed incredible resilience and strength.

If it weren't for the three runs Kizaki had grabbed in the beginning, when they caught Furuya off guard and he hadn't yet adapted to the field atmosphere, the situation might be different now.

Even so, just defending against Seidou's offense had already drained all their energy.

They couldn't even think about mounting a new offense.

Not to mention, with Furuya now in top form, he seemed like an invincible monster.

They were finding it impossible to deal with him.

Even the strategy of wearing down the opponent's pitch count had already been used by Kizaki High School, but it hadn't lasted long.

From their perspective, pitchers with explosive power often had stamina issues.

What surprised them was that despite Furuya using all his strength on every pitch, he showed no signs of tiring.

"STRIKE!"

"STRIKE!!"

"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!"

"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!!"

"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!!!"

He looked completely at ease.

This was a huge blow to Kizaki High School's players and coach, who looked stunned.

They could see no hope for scoring.

To win, they needed to maintain their slim two-run lead. Despite giving up some hits, they hadn't allowed many runs.

As the game neared its end, they had only conceded one Run.

With just a few more outs, they were on the verge of victory, taking the win from the mighty Seidou.

Though it might feel a bit hollow, given that Seidou's lineup wasn't at full strength, even if Kizaki High School won, it would still be seen as a great honor.

After all, which teams across the country could say they've beaten the current Seidou?

If Kizaki High School won, it would create quite a stir...

"Hold on! Hold on until the end!!!"

Kizaki High School players entered the final stretch with this resolve.

And then, just as victory was within reach, Seidou's players began to show their true power.

This time, their style was completely different from their previous imposing, crushing ways. Now, Seidou High School's baseball team resembled a group of idle tough guys.

In a movie scene, they would be wearing black coats, and black leather shoes, with sunglasses.

And suddenly without speaking, weapons of all kinds will appear everywhere.

Though they didn't seem as formal as before, their intimidating presence was no less effective.

In fact, their uniqueness might make it even more powerful.

"Get them!"

After one Out, it was Kuramochi, the first batter, who stepped up to the plate.

It was he who earlier declared they would defeat their opponents with ease.

As the initiator and the team's vice-captain, Kuramochi felt it was his duty to see this declaration through.

He raised his bat high, replaying the pitcher's throws in his mind.

Kizaki High School's pitcher didn't usually throw very difficult balls.

'He wasn't an unbreakable opponent!'

What made him tricky was the winning shot.

Until now, none of Seidou's players had been able to hit those pitches well.

That was the reason they hadn't figured out how to tackle Kizaki High School's pitcher yet.

Kuramochi had faced that kind of pitch twice before.

And both times, he had been struck out.

Now, he wanted to hit that pitch!

To be honest, Kuramochi wasn't completely confident.

It wasn't that he had no chance at all, but after two observations, Kuramochi thought he had at least a 40% chance of hitting that pitch.

If it were in the middle of the game, he would definitely go for it, but with the game nearing its end, it seemed a bit risky.

No, he quickly dismissed the idea of just trying to overpower the pitch.

The other pitches were still coming, and he needed to focus on those instead.

Once he made up his mind, Kuramochi raised his bat again and patiently waited for the next pitch.

Whoosh!

The first pitch was that same tricky, decisive pitch.

Facing the sharp ball, Kuramochi wisely let it pass.

"STRIKE!"

After a Strike, Kuramochi's eyes suddenly lit up.

According to the usual pitching patterns, it was unlikely the pitcher would throw the same pitch twice in a row.

That meant the next pitch would be the one he'd aim for.

He didn't even have to choose it himself. The pitcher had delivered exactly what he needed.

Kuramochi felt like saying "thank you" to his opponent.

Whoosh!

The next ball flew in fast, and without hesitation, Kuramochi swung at it.

Whoosh!

His bat swung so quickly that it seemed like the baseball would be sent flying.

But just as he was about to hit it, the ball suddenly dropped.

'A Forkball?!'

Seeing this, Kuramochi's eyes widened.

They had faced each other many times before, and Kuramochi never knew Kizaki High School's pitcher could throw a Forkball!

"Y-you?"

Kuramochi was dumbfounded.

He never expected them to still have such a pitch up their sleeve.

Facing the mighty Seidou, how could they dare?

"You're surprised, huh, kid?"

From the dugout, Kizaki High School's Coach smiled with a hint of satisfaction.

He thoroughly enjoyed seeing Kuramochi's stunned expression.

And he knew that after seeing this pitch, Seidou's players would definitely be shocked too.

They probably didn't expect Kizaki to still have such a weapon in their arsenal.

But the world was full of surprises. As a prestigious school, Kizaki High School also had its own secrets.

If they were facing a local opponent, they might not have done this.

But against Seidou? No such concerns.

If they ever met Seidou at Koshien, defeating them would be a great achievement.

But for now, even just winning today would be enough.

With the loss of the powerful Sawamura and Miyuki, Seidou was still on par with them.

It was clear to Kizaki High School that they didn't have the means to compete with Seidou.

Winning today would be their greatest achievement.

The Coach of Kizaki High School had been pragmatic, but he had still underestimated Seidou's strength.

Kuramochi, standing at the plate, had eyes full of focus as if staring at his nemesis.

Two strikes down, but he looked anything but defeated.

In fact, his eyes were full of determination.

"Tricked me, huh!"

The anger in Kuramochi's heart boiled over, and he glared fiercely at his opponent.

In the final stages of the game, the ace pitcher from Kizaki High suddenly brought out his trump card—his new winning shot.

Forkball!

Originally, he already had a pitch that the players of the Seidou High baseball team had been unable to crack.

Now, he had brought out a brand-new weapon!

The atmosphere on Seidou's side immediately grew tense.

It seemed as though there was no hope left for this game.

They were completely cornered, with no possibility of winning, and thoroughly outwitted by their opponents.

In the rest area,

Coach Kataoka, wearing sunglasses, was hard to read, and it was difficult for others to tell his expression.

Even though his exact facial expression couldn't be seen, one could still sense Kataoka's anger from the icy aura surrounding him.

If there had been a significant gap in strength between the two teams, and if his players had given their all, even if they were behind in the score, Coach Kataoka wouldn't have been this angry.

But the current situation was different. The Seidou High players hadn't played to their full potential and had been outmaneuvered by the opposition to this extent.

"Training... still not thorough enough!"

Coach Kataoka said coldly.

But Coach Ochiai had a different opinion.

"In this game, the players have been severely targeted. It's not entirely their fault that things turned out this way."

"Besides, even after losing the core players and leaders of the team, they were still able to perform like this. The players have worked hard! Especially Furuya, aside from the first inning, his performance has been almost perfect."

If you disregard the first inning, Furuya had indeed shown the prowess of an Ace pitcher in this game.

His experience in the Koshien, especially the match against the Giant's Komadai Fujimaki, had transformed him into one of the top pitchers in the country.

"But the most critical problem still hasn't been overcome."

Coach Kataoka was strict.

Furuya had always struggled with instability at the start of the game, and in today's match, he displayed this flaw to the fullest.

He had given up three runs right from the start.

This had placed the team in a highly passive position.

Had that not happened, the Seidou players wouldn't have been so eager to attack, failing to crack their opponent's pitcher.

In baseball, rushing an attack is ineffective.

Sometimes it can even make things worse.

The more they rushed, the harder it was to think calmly, and it could throw off their offensive rhythm…

This had been the case with Seidou's players.

They were so focused on pitching and hitting that they had completely forgotten about teamwork.

Ultimately, the team needed a leader on the field.

Otherwise, even if Coach Kataoka gave out a signal, the players would misunderstand or fail to execute it properly.

They might even get outplayed by the opponent, simply because they were too obedient.

To put it simply, Coaching Seidou's team was like running in water.

When Miyuki was around, sometimes Coach Kataoka didn't even need to give a signal, and the team would naturally start to move.

That feeling was incredibly smooth, and effortless.

But now, he didn't feel that way at all.

On the contrary, it felt like every step they took drained all their energy.

Coach Kataoka was determined that after this game, he would work hard to train his players.

Meanwhile, Kuramochi was in the Batter's Box and had an inexplicable feeling of unease.

He sensed that something bad was about to happen, but he couldn't quite put it into words.

It wasn't that Kuramochi's sharpness had suddenly dulled.

It was more than his entire focus was on the opponent, leaving him no time to think about anything else.

The sudden appearance of the change-up pitch caused alarm bells to go off in Haruichi's mind.

'If I were the opponent right now, what would I do?'

The new pitch wasn't meant to be the finishing blow; instead, it was used to pressure him.

Kuramochi could sense that Kizaki High's battery duo had to have something up their sleeves.

He was sure that this new breaking ball was part of some strategy they had planned for him.

He couldn't completely figure out their thinking, though. After all, he wasn't as sharp as Miyuki or as experienced as Sawamura.

But in situations like this, the best thing to do was to try to put himself in the opponent's shoes.

It was a basic mental trick—something everyone could do, but that didn't mean it wasn't effective.

This mental trick was widespread because it had proven results.

It was like playing chess; figuring out your opponent's intentions was a crucial skill.

Right now, Kuramochi had to put himself in his opponent's shoes to figure out what their next move would be, so he could gather some clues.

'Since they've already revealed their trump card, their goal must be to intimidate me. They've already pressured me, so they expect me to go for a bunt!'

At this point, Kuramochi's mind was incredibly sharp.

Many things he hadn't fully understood before were starting to become clear.

Kuramochi didn't realize just how important this duel was for him.

Though he had made significant progress recently, it seemed like he had reached a new level, but the truth was a bit more complex.

Though Kuramochi had indeed improved, he hadn't completely leveled up as a player.

What had improved was his raw ability.

But now, the situation was completely different. On the surface, this at-bat wasn't going to lead to any dramatic growth for Kuramochi in the short term.

But it would give him a glimpse of another level—one far beyond his expectations.

A level only the top-tier players could access.

Through a fortunate coincidence, Kuramochi had made it to that threshold.

Understanding Kizaki's strategy, Kuramochi moved forward without hesitation.

He swung his bat decisively.

Ping!

When Kuramochi made contact, the players from Kizaki High were completely stunned.

How could this be?

They had planned everything and set a trap for Kuramochi.

But he didn't fall into it.

They were completely confused.

What seemed like a certain out became a complete mystery.

The ball flew toward third base.

Had the third baseman been ready from the beginning, it was likely that this ball would have been caught.

But now!

Kizaki's third baseman had started running forward as the pitcher threw.

By the time Kuramochi hit the ball, it was too late for the third baseman to recover.

All he could do was watch as the ball landed behind him and flew out.

"Hyaa-ha-haa!"

Kuramochi himself was still a little baffled.

Though he had gotten a hit, he clearly didn't understand what had just happened.

…