Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

The moment Nishiyama struck the ball, the ABC pitcher nearly cried.

'This wasn't supposed to happen!'

In the previous round, he had been able to control these batters.

How was it that now, he couldn't contain them at all?

One by one, they seemed like they had activated some cheat code, effortlessly sending the ball flying.

This time was no different.

Nishiyama easily sent the ball into the gap in the defense.

The hit was in a less common position, and the ABC players didn't have time to reach the ball's landing point.

The runners made their way home.

Not just Takatsu on third base, even Yui on first base made it home.

Despite his short stature, Yui was incredibly fast.

He ranked highly for speed among the freshmen, and even in the entire Seidou team, he was in the top ten.

This time, Yui proved his worth with his speed.

"SAFE!"

"SAFE!!!"

Nishiyama's timely hit brought in two runs!

He also smoothly made his way to second base.

The score was now 2-0.

After four scoreless innings, Seidou High had finally started scoring.

The ABC Coach finally realized!

Earlier, when they faced off in the first round, he thought something felt off.

Now it made sense—these guys hadn't been trying to score initially; they were gathering information.

Now, with enough data, they were ready to start capitalizing.

This approach was completely different from the American style.

But it had to be admitted—Seidou's strategy was solid.

It was even impressive!

"They can't keep going like this!" The ABC High coach stood up, ready to make adjustments.

Before this match, the Coach of the ABC High School had never imagined that they would be this pressured by the substitute lineup of Seidou High School.

Prior to the match between Seidou High School and the Texas Lone-Star Academy team, the ABC High School Coach had already gotten a copy of the match video and studied it thoroughly.

After studying it, the conclusion was clear: if Seidou High School had fielded their main lineup, ABC High School would not even be qualified to compete with them.

You have to understand that the Texas Lone-Star Academy team gathered all the top players from the Texas region to form their team. Some of them had even given up on school to focus entirely on baseball.

Their goal was not at all related to regular high school players. Their goal was to change their lives through baseball, to enter the Major Leagues.

To put it bluntly, they were semi-professionals.

Meanwhile, ABC High School's team was at best an amateur group of players just having fun together. Even if they managed to achieve something, there wouldn't be much loss if they didn't.

How could amateurs possibly compare to professionals?

But if Seidou High School's Coach had let his guard down and used a substitute lineup, the Coach from ABC High School even thought they might have a chance to win.

However, reality punched him hard in the face.

Seidou had indeed sent out substitutes, and there wasn't a single main player on the field.

Yet, despite facing this group of substitutes, ABC High School was still being forced back.

Especially under the leadership of the opponent's substitute pitcher, ABC High School's players were falling apart.

This couldn't go on any longer!

The ABC High School Coach immediately took the field and made timely adjustments for his players.

He still hoped his players could rally and at least hold out in this game.

Even if they ultimately lost, he hoped they wouldn't lose by too big of a margin.

Being defeated by Seidou High School and being defeated by a large margin were two entirely different concepts.

If they were defeated by Seidou High School's substitutes by a large margin…

The consequences were something the Coach of ABC High School couldn't even bear to think about.

He knew he would be drowned in criticism online.

With this thought in mind, the ABC Coach immediately went to the field and made adjustments for his players.

He didn't expect these adjustments to turn the tide and help them defeat Seidou High School's baseball team.

As long as they could maintain the current situation, he would be satisfied.

However, he still underestimated the ambition of Seidou High School's substitute players.

These guys had been holding in their frustration for a long time.

Anyone whose own Coach had underestimated them would likely be in a foul mood.

The players from Seidou's baseball team were no exception.

They were determined to perform well and give their Coach a piece of their minds.

There was no way they would let this go.

Moreover, the majority of the players on the field were either substitutes or backup main players in Seidou's baseball team.

This meant their positions in the team were not secure.

Given this situation, their resolve to change their fate was even more urgent.

No matter what, they had to change their destiny!

Under these circumstances, there was no way they would go easy on their opponents.

"Fourth Batter, outfielder, Yuuki."

At this moment, it was Yuuki's turn to step up to the plate.

In the previous match, his home run had earned him the admiration of all the Seidou baseball players.

They were eager to see what kind of impact Yuuki could have on the team.

It wasn't just the players who were looking forward to this; the coaches of Seidou High School were also eagerly anticipating his performance.

After all, they had a special fondness for the name Yuuki.

It couldn't be helped.

After all, the older Yuuki had been the previous Captain of Seidou High School's baseball team.

Because of this connection, the coaches naturally felt closer to Yuuki.

Furthermore, Yuuki was an outstanding player, filling a significant gap in the current team.

This made the coaches like him even more.

Now, Yuuki was being sent to bat as the fourth batter for the second time.

Although this wasn't yet the main lineup for Seidou High School, and it didn't mean Yuuki was some extraordinary player, it was still a signal.

It told everyone that Yuuki had essentially secured his place on the team.

When the jerseys with numbers were handed out, he would likely have one of them.

As the fourth batter, Yuuki didn't let the team down.

Paak!

He clearly hit the ball into the outfield, achieving a powerful long hit!

Although the ABC High School Coach had just adjusted the defensive lineup, they were powerless against Yuuki's powerful swing.

Nishiyama, who had been positioned at second base, took the opportunity to dash back home.

This helped the team score their third point of the game.

The score on the field was now 3:0.

Even in the fast-paced game of baseball, this was a hard-to-reverse score.

Seidou High School now looked certain to win.

Not only did they have the advantage in terms of score, but they were also completely dominating the flow of the game.

In this game, Furuya played the role of a trailblazer.

His pitching not only successfully suppressed ABC High School's offense but also led Seidou High School's offense.

He showed the qualities of an ace pitcher.

But that wasn't all!

After hitting the timely hit, Yuuki made it to second base.

Then, Furuya took his turn to bat.

PAAK!

Not only was Furuya's pitching impressive, but his swinging was also dazzling.

Everyone's attention was drawn to him, eager to see what kind of performance he would deliver on the field.

Furuya's swing was straightforward and powerful.

Whoosh!

The ball he hit screamed through the air and flew far away.

At that moment, everyone's eyes followed the trajectory of the baseball as it soared through the air.

Finally, they saw the ball sail past the outfield fence, and everyone sighed in relief.

"It's gone!!"

The man on the pitcher's mound, who had stunned all the spectators, had just hit the first home run of the game.

This also expanded Seidou High School's lead to five points.

The score was now 5:0.

At this point, the players from ABC High School looked utterly stunned.

They were all in shock.

Before the match, they weren't unaware of Seidou High School's strength.

Just the fact that they had defeated the Texas team yesterday was enough to make every team in Texas nervous.

But they never expected that Seidou High School's baseball team would be this powerful.

Not only could they not compete with Seidou's main players, but even when facing their substitutes, they were no match.

"OOOOHHHHH!!!"

"NICE BATTING!"

"GOOD CANNON!!"

"FURUYA-SAN!!!"

On the Seidou High School bench, the players were cheering excitedly.

They seemed to already see the victory in sight.

Sawamura, sitting calmly on the bench, appeared quite composed.

To him, this scene was nothing out of the ordinary.

In America, the real elite players were all gathered in teams like the Los Angeles Wind Youth Academy team or the Texas Lone-Star Academy team, which were semi-professional teams.

This training model was somewhat like a more advanced version of Japanese youth baseball, where professionals trained professional talents.

That was why the Coach from ABC High School remarked that Lone-Star was professional and they were amateur.

However, Japan was different.

At the same age level, in theory, all high school players had an equal standing.

But in reality, there were still significant differences.

For example, Seidou High School was a powerhouse, and they were essentially a semi-professional team too.

Many of their players were aiming to turn professional in baseball.

To put it bluntly, even Seidou's substitutes were semi-professional players too.

In fact, many of them were aiming for professional baseball.

Whether they made it or not was another matter, but at least they had the ambition and aspirations.

They could be considered as professional reserves.

As for schools like ABC High School? They were just playing school sports for fitness and recreation.

How much actual combat power could a team like that have?

Could they compete with a semi-professional team?

It was laughable!

…

T/N: Well, That's it for now!

As always, Thank you all for reading guys!

Have a good day!

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