Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

After weighing the pros and cons, the players of the Los Angeles Wind Youth Academy team resolutely concluded that the current moment was their best chance to score.

For this, they are ready to do anything.

They no longer chose to face Sawamura head-on.

Instead, they decided to use tactics to score.

This was not the area in which the Los Angeles team excelled, but they had to admit that the probability of scoring this way was higher.

The score was now 4-3, with them leading by one run. If they could score one more, their advantage would undoubtedly become more apparent.

With a two-run lead and Conrad, their Ace, the Los Angeles team still felt confident in winning.

On third base, Harris was restless.

Sawamura purposely glanced at him.

'No need to act tough, we all know this is not easy for you.'

However, this glance didn't affect Harris's actions; he had no intention of returning to third base.

Sawamura, being a left-handed pitcher, was facing away from third base during his pitching motion.

Therefore, compared to first base, where he could easily perform a pickoff, it was much more difficult for Sawamura to attempt a pickoff at third base.

Harris was confident that he could return to third base before Sawamura could make a pickoff throw.

This was an outright, bold move.

No need for any underhanded tactics—just using his advantage to exploit the opponent's weakness.

The Los Angeles team was highly skilled in this approach.

As for the Seidou High School baseball team, the players had no good countermeasure.

They could only helplessly watch.

If Sawamura couldn't control the runner, no one else on the team would be able to.

They could only watch as the American players flaunted their confidence.

Whoosh!

Without any warning, a small baseball shot toward third base.

Harris, positioned on third base, didn't even have time to react to the sudden white blur.

Snap!

The baseball was already nestled into Kanemaru's mitt.

How could this happen?

Harris was stunned.

"OUT!!"

Without any suspense, he was tagged out by Kanemaru, looking completely bewildered.

"Good Luck Next Time!" Kanemaru said in English with a wide shit-eating grin.

"YOSHAAA!!!"

"WAMURAAA!!"

"KANEEEE!!"

"NICE SAWAMURA!"

"TWO OUT!!"

"TAKE THEM DOWN LIKE THIS!!"

"SAWAMURA!!!"

Sawamura and Kanemaru were celebrating the high-speed play while the players were cheering.

The runner was standing in the middle like an idiot at the festival.

It wasn't just Harris who was confused; thousands of eyes on the scene, including most of the spectators, didn't see what had just happened.

Some audience members who caught the details were shocked, their eyes wide and mouths agape.

Even they themselves could hardly believe that Sawamura had used just a simple pickoff throw to get the runner at third out.

"Harris didn't respond because he had already assumed that Sawamura wouldn't attempt a pickoff this time!"

In the Seidou baseball team's dugout, Coach Ochiai stroked his small beard and muttered to himself.

Sawamura's strength wasn't just reflected in his pitching. He had also reached a peak level in other aspects.

Was Sawamura's pitching the strongest?

Even Coach Kataoka and Coach Ochiai couldn't guarantee that.

After all, the world was vast, and there might be someone unknown but incredibly powerful out there.

High school baseball is an elimination system, so it's almost inevitable that some talent is overlooked.

But when it came to overall pitching ability, there was no doubt:

Sawamura was the best in high school baseball today.

Coach Kataoka and Coach Ochiai even believed that this standard wasn't limited to high school baseball.

If we compare him with all pitchers across the nation, in terms of overall strength,

Sawamura would definitely rank among the top.

Take the pickoff throw just now as an example. Sawamura first used his gaze to confuse the opponent.

He gave Harris a very wrong impression, making him believe that Sawamura wouldn't be able to use a pickoff at this time.

Then, while Harris was off guard, Sawamura's arm moved like a snake, coiling around his body and completing a 90-degree turn.

With an extremely concealed angle, he threw to Kanemaru.

This made it easy to tag Out Harris.

Otherwise, with two Outs and a runner on third, the chances of the runner scoring would be very high.

Sawamura, with his superb technique, neutralized the opponent's attack effortlessly.

And the result was more than just one Out.

"Did you see the Los Angeles players?"

"They were all dumbfounded!"

"They would never have guessed it in a million years."

"Can't blame them, only Sawamura could pull off something like that!"

Two Outs, no one on base.

Under such circumstances, solving Conrad would be like taking candy from a baby for Sawamura.

"STRIKE!"

"STRIKE!!"

"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!!!"

In the blink of an eye, Sawamura struck him out.

Previously, it had been very difficult for Furuya to get an Out.

But with Sawamura on the mound, it was so effortless.

Three Outs, offense and defense exchange.

When the players returned to the dugout, Coach Kataoka specifically called Furuya aside.

No one knew exactly what Coach Kataoka said to him.

When Furuya returned to the bench, his entire demeanor had changed drastically.

The faint unruliness he had carried was suddenly reined in, and the way he looked at Sawamura became somewhat strange.

"What did the coach say to you?"

Sawamura, curious, asked.

However, Furuya didn't provide any answer.

What did Coach Kataoka say to him?

No one knew.

With Sawamura taking the mound, the game shifted to a pitcher's duel.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Wind Youth Academy team showed no signs of hesitation when facing Seidou's batting lineup.

They were attacking aggressively.

Up first was Miyuki, who had previously gotten a hit from Conrad.

Although he hadn't turned that hit into a run, his performance had caught the attention of the Los Angeles players.

Thus, Conrad put extra effort into his confrontation with Miyuki.

Paak!

After a two-ball battle, Miyuki hit the ball.

The small baseball landed perfectly just over the head of the second baseman.

The Los Angeles second baseman jumped lightly and caught it.

"OUT!"

One Out, no one on base.

Back in the dugout, Miyuki was met with a chorus of teasing from his teammates.

"After performing so well before, you can't even get on base when no one's on?"

"As the cleanup hitter, can't you show some awareness?"

Kuramochi was less polite, directly confronting Miyuki and roaring.

Miyuki, however, seemed unfazed by the tease.

"Don't get so worked up, I'm not the only one."

'What?!'

Sawamura's expression grew complicated.

What was Miyuki trying to say? It seemed like he hadn't wronged him, so why was Miyuki targeting him?

Previously, Sawamura had also been dealt with.

But hearing it from Miyuki's mouth, made it seem like Sawamura had been more embarrassed.

After all, no matter how you looked at it, Sawamura was still the team's cleanup hitter.

At least for this game, he was the fourth batter.

As the team's representative for batting, such a performance seemed a bit unconvincing.

He touched his nose, Sawamura silently gritting his teeth.

Next time, he couldn't allow such a disgraceful to happen again.

Miyuki saw the determination in Sawamura's eyes and secretly nodded.

'To take down Conrad, in the end, it would still require Sawamura's hitting.'

As for the other teammates of Seidou High School's baseball team,

Miyuki wasn't trying to diminish their spirits.

To be fair, for the other Seidou players to hit Conrad's pitches, it wasn't easy.

…

T/N: That's it for Today.

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