Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

As Miyuki had predicted, the players from Seidou High School were gradually being dealt with one by one.

This was unavoidable, as their opponent's strength was simply overwhelming.

Three Outs, offense and defense exchanged.

The game entered the fifth inning.

Sawamura stood tall on the mound.

The Wind Youth Academy team's players began to present the gifts they had prepared for Sawamura.

These players had indeed put a lot of thought into it, coming up with various tactics to deal with Sawamura.

They even thought of ways to counter his unusual pitching form.

These guys were already known for their quick swing speeds, and once they got a read on Sawamura's pitches, it wouldn't be impossible for them to hit his ball.

But just hitting Sawamura's pitch wasn't enough to get a base hit.

Realizing that the opponent might make contact with his pitches, Sawamura immediately adjusted his pitching rhythm.

He started to throw a large number of Moving balls and Breaking balls.

Facing these pitches, which transformed in mid-air once they got close to the batter, even though the Los Angeles team had prepared, it was still difficult to hit them.

They were just too tricky!

For the American Los Angeles players, every pitch Sawamura threw was a breaking ball.

Although Sawamura's fastball wasn't outrageously fast, combined with his unusual pitching form, his pitches were still incredibly fast, even with breaking balls.

Despite the Los Angeles team being packed with strong hitters, they still had no good solutions for dealing with his pitches.

The Wind Youth Academy team was used to facing pitchers who mainly threw fastballs.

They encountered fastballs about 70-80% of the time.

Even if their opponent threw a few breaking balls, it was usually just one or two types.

One or two pitches were not difficult to study! And even without studying them thoroughly, the impact wasn't that significant.

Because their opponent would always throw fastballs.

But Sawamura was different!

Such a pitcher, despite the Los Angeles players having faced him before, they had never encountered anything like this.

The last time they met Sawamura, he had been more restrained.

Though he threw many breaking balls, there were still occasional fastballs.

But now Sawamura was completely different!

Every pitch he threw was a breaking ball—there wasn't a single fastball in sight.

How were they supposed to deal with this?

They had never seen such an opponent.

Even if they decided to focus on just one or two types of breaking balls and swing accordingly, it was still unrealistic.

From the information they had gathered, they knew Sawamura had more than one type of breaking ball.

So trying to focus on just one pitch and swing at it was simply impractical.

After all, this guy had thrown nine different types of breaking balls with the same form!!!

Just recalling this made the American Los Angeles players shudder.

The King of Demons continued his invincible journey.

Meanwhile, the Seidou High School baseball team still hadn't managed to score against the Los Angeles Wind Youth Academy team.

The score on the field remained 4-3, unchanged.

This continued through to the sixth inning.

In this inning, the two stars would clash once again.

In the top of the sixth inning, Sawamura's first opponent was Johannesburg.

This was the same player who had previously defeated Furuya with a combination of schemes and strength.

In the outfield, Furuya's expression was complex.

Coach Kataoka's earlier words kept echoing in his ears.

"Pay attention to how Sawamura plays the game!"

It was really simple—just those few words.

The match between Sawamura and Johannesburg also attracted a lot of attention.

Although Johannesburg had some defensive flaws and had never become a main player for the Wind Youth team, his batting strength was unquestionable.

In fact, before even playing against the Seidou High School baseball team, Johannesburg's reputation was already quite large.

Especially his hitting, which was famous throughout America.

He was also the only player on the Los Angeles team who had managed to hit a single against the New York team.

Though it was just a simple single to first base, no one else on the Wind Youth Academy team had been able to achieve that.

This is Johannesburg.

In the future, he would be a very famous hitter.

On the pitcher's mound, Sawamura carefully observed his opponent.

Among players of the same age group, there weren't many who could truly make Sawamura feel danger.

To be a bit arrogant, Sawamura could count them on his fingers.

And Johannesburg was one of them.

When facing Burg, Sawamura could feel a tingling sensation in his arm.

Sawamura was very familiar with this feeling. It only appeared when the opponent posed a certain level of threat, and it was a physical reaction that showed how dangerous the opponent was.

'This was an opponent worth going all out against.'

Facing such a challenger, Sawamura felt no fear at all.

On the contrary, all that burned in his eyes was excitement.

A balanced contest like this was the greatest enjoyment for Sawamura.

While winning by defeating weak opponents also brought a sense of pleasure, that pleasure was insignificant compared to the thrill of competing with an equally matched opponent.

For Eijun now, he longed to battle strong opponents like Burg.

Especially in this game, even if they lost, it wouldn't drag the team down.

This was something Sawamura liked very much.

In fact, if the opponent were weak, Sawamura would feel very disappointed.

If that were the case, there would be no meaning in traveling all the way from the island country to America.

'Burg.'

This was their third matchup in a short period of time.

In their previous matchup, they had each won one, resulting in a tie.

This time...

"I'm not planning on holding back!"

Sawamura's eyes narrowed dangerously.

After seeing the signal from Miyuki, Sawamura nodded slightly and immediately set his stance and threw the pitch.

Whrroosh!

The baseball shot through the air like a laser, flying into the strike zone in the blink of an eye.

Facing this pitch, Burg, who had been very aggressive before, chose not to swing.

Instead, he let the pitch pass by lightly.

SNAP!

"STRIKE!"

This outcome was somewhat unexpected.

Not only were the Seidou team members stunned, but even Sawamura, standing on the mound, was a bit confused.

What was the Wind Youth team up to?

'Let's just go for it, we already have one Strike on them. Let's keep the momentum going!'

Miyuki, the catcher, wasn't slow to react either. He also understood that Burg must have some sort of plan.

But for now, they couldn't afford to worry too much...

Rather than sitting there cluelessly guessing their opponent's intentions, they might as well make their move and see how Burg would respond.

Then, they would figure out how to counter it.

In short, they weren't sure what was coming, but they decided to act first!

If the pitcher was anyone other than Sawamura, Miyuki wouldn't have made such a bold move.

After all, if things went wrong, the consequences could be catastrophic.

But since Sawamura was on the mound, Miyuki naturally had less to worry about.

Even if Sawamura didn't reveal his hidden cards, Miyuki believed that, even if Burg got a hit, they would still be able to get through the rest of the lineup without letting the opponent score.

He had that confidence.

And this confidence was transmitted to Sawamura as well.

'Bring it!'

Since Miyuki had complete trust in him, Eijun naturally wasn't going to let him down.

With a sharp movement, he set his stance and threw the baseball with all his might.

Whrroosh!

This pitch seemed even faster than the first one, and as it neared the edge of the strike zone, it suddenly dropped.

It was Sawamura's Forkball with a large break.

The ball's movement was extreme.

If Burg had chosen to swing at this moment, he would have been in for a big loss.

Fortunately, he didn't swing, instead letting the pitch pass lightly.

"BALL!"

The ball's movement was so erratic that it completely missed the strike zone.

The count was now one Strike, one Ball.

On the mound, Sawamura nodded slightly toward Miyuki.

It seemed like they were exchanging some sort of signal.

At first, Miyuki, who was behind the plate, wasn't entirely sure what Sawamura meant.

But soon he figured it out. So, to cooperate with Sawamura, he subtly shifted his position and intentionally made a sound with his feet, scraping against the ground.

Burg instinctively glanced toward Miyuki out of the corner of his eye.

It was a reflexive action, like when you hear someone talking behind you and instinctively looking over your shoulder.

He might not even have realized he did it, but his gaze had drifted away.

'Perfect!'

Sawamura's eyes widened.

For him, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and he wasn't going to let it slip by.

He quickly set his stance and threw the baseball with all his might.

At the same time, Burg figured out what was going on.

He quickly turned his head and saw a pitch coming straight down the middle.

Even though he was in a bit of a rush, Burg couldn't let such an easy pitch go by without swinging.

So, he swung his bat, hoping to hit the ball.

Paak!

The bat made contact with the ball, sending it flying high into the air.

Burg clenched his fist, excited. In his mind, even though he had responded quickly, the ball was probably going to fly out to the outfield.

But unexpectedly, the ball that had bounced so high...

Seemed to be caught by an invisible net right above the pitcher's mound.

Its speed slowed down, and the ball began to drop.

On the mound, Sawamura maintained a calm, almost emotionless expression.

He murmured quietly to himself:

"And The Swallow Returning To The Nest!"

Snap!

Sawamura didn't even lift his eyelids, just extended his mitt and caught the ball effortlessly.

It was deliberate. He had done it on purpose.

Even the American Los Angeles players, no matter how dense they were, could clearly see that the pitch had been intentional.

"OUT!"

…