Diamond No Ace: The Strongest Hitter

Chapter 199: A Tense Start to the Match

"This pitch is crucial! As expected, this guy can be relied on!" Miyuki thought to himself as Sendo stepped up and secured a critical out.

But why wasn't he more excited? It's because Miyuki secretly wanted Furuya to get hit hard, so he could understand the importance of control. In Miyuki's mind, Sendo's contribution had somewhat diminished in significance.

Ping!

Kiryuu's batter followed up with another powerful hit.

Pop!

This time, it was Ryousuke who stepped up.

What should have been a base hit in front of the center fielder was caught mid-dive by Ryo-san's glove as the ball hit the ground and bounced up.

"Ryo-san!"

The ironclad second-and-shortstop duo were already in position.

Ryousuke didn't even get up but instead performed a glove toss. The ball shot toward Kuramochi, who leaped up, caught it mid-air, and used the momentum to fire it to first base for the out.

"Wait, what? Are you serious? A base hit to center field just got stopped?"

"And if it wasn't already two outs, they might've turned a double play!"

"How did he even catch that ball?"

The string of spectacular defensive plays had the crowd buzzing with excitement.

"Did he just fly through the air? So, Kuramochi-senpai isn't just a fighting game fanatic, huh?" Sawamura, as usual, was walking a fine line with his remarks.

"That second-and-shortstop duo is just incredible!"

"And Sendo's earlier catch was amazing too! That speed!"

The consecutive defensive highlights were nothing short of a visual feast.

"This team's middle infield is unbelievably solid—it's like an iron wall. They cover the vast majority of the infield: the second baseman, the shortstop, and even the center fielder in the outfield."

"Even after all the fatigue from training camp, they're still pulling off this kind of defense! What a lineup of enviable fielders, Kataoka-san!" Kiryuu's Matsumoto-coach couldn't help but admire Seidou's defensive prowess.

"It's just moving a little, and I'm already so exhausted. My body feels so heavy!" Sendo, dragging his feet back to the dugout while the others jogged, wasn't slacking—he was conserving energy for batting.

After all, it wouldn't be easy to recover from falling behind by five runs so early.

When Ryousuke playfully nudged Kuramochi earlier, it lightened the mood for Sendo's heavy body, if only slightly.

As Sendo reached the dugout and saw Furuya's intense focus, he immediately knew that scheming glasses-wearer Miyuki had said something to rile him up.

"Haha! Already too tired to run? It's only the first inning!" Miyuki teased when Sendo returned.

"Easy for you to say," Sendo thought.

Miyuki hadn't undergone as intense training, though catcher drills were monotonous and made squatting a painful ordeal. While Miyuki didn't feel as heavy, his legs must have been sore.

After his teasing, Miyuki turned his attention back to Furuya and began chuckling to himself.

"What's so funny during a game? Focus on helping him pitch, like Chris-senpai used to!" Sawamura grumbled, clearly irritated.

"Weren't you just calling for him to be subbed out?" Miyuki retorted.

"Oh! That's true!"

Amused but too tired to laugh, Sendo silently sat down in the dugout and started eating a banana.

Meanwhile, the team's ace and star rookie were engaged in their usual banter in the front row.

"By the way, is that guy really a high school student? He didn't fake his age, right?" Sendo, recovering his strength with a banana, pointed to Kiryuu's ace warming up and asked Miyuki.

"Probably! Hahaha!" Miyuki joked, poking fun at their opponent's star pitcher.

...

At the bottom of the inning, Kuramochi swung at the first pitch, but unaware of the pitch's heavy weight, he ended up grounding out. Despite his impressive speed, he couldn't reach base.

Even so, the crowd gasped in excitement. This was the burden of being the leadoff batter—having no prior information on the pitcher meant sacrificing his at-bat to gather intel.

Just as in the original playbook, Ryo-san worked the opposing pitcher, drawing a walk to get on base.

Armed with Kuramochi's insights, Sendo realized the opposing pitcher was trying to dominate with fastballs in the first rotation through the lineup.

The four batters before him had followed the script perfectly. Using a well-timed bunt, Ryousuke advanced to second base.

Then—

"The stage is set!"

"Knock it out of the park!"

"Go, Tetsu!" Even without a stadium announcer or a band playing, the third-year seniors became the perfect background cheerleaders.

"Hey, Sendo! That guy's pitches are really heavy! Don't try for a high fly ball—focus on hitting line drives for base hits instead," Jun-san advised from the dugout as Sendo prepared.

"What kind of pitch is this? To suppress Fox-senpai's power swing like that… it can't be underestimated." Sendo decided to heed Jun-san's advice.

Almost as if demonstrating, Yuuki swung at the first pitch, sending a powerful line drive straight into the left-field wall.

"It's here! A timely hit off the left-field fence!"

"As expected of Yuuki-senpai! So reliable!"

"Pfft!" The opposing coach's stunned expression was priceless.

Even the exhausted Sendo couldn't help but turn his head to stifle a chuckle.

"That guy really is dependable," he muttered, dragging his bat as he stepped up to the plate.

"Sendo! Keep the momentum going!"

"Crush him, Sendo!" The background cheer transitioned into full-on encouragement for him.

This training camp was proof—his seniors were watching over him and helping him grow.

"Oh? The first-year center fielder? Let's see what makes you special," Coach Matsumoto remarked, watching Sendo take his position in the batter's box.

"A lefty pitcher and lefty batter? Is this kid a natural southpaw?"

...

"Hah, my body feels so heavy! It's only the first inning… seriously!"

"Alright, let's see what your heavy pitches are all about!"

Whoosh!

"A hittable pitch? But—"

Ping!

"Foul!"

"So heavy! It's good I fouled that off. If that's the case, I'll take a page from Ryo-san's book!" With that decision, Sendo set his strategy.

Ball!

"Ball!"

Ping!

"Foul!"

Sendo activated his "foul-ball mastery," swinging at every pitch that wasn't far off the mark and targeting the lower half of the ball.

None of his hits traveled forward—they all went backward.

"How many foul balls is that? Isn't this the same as Ryousuke? Sendo knows how to use this tactic?"

Even the veteran players in the stands started murmuring, while those on the bench watched in awe—it was the first time they'd seen Sendo employ this technique.

"Ryo-san! Isn't he copying you?" Kuramochi teased.

"It's different! That guy's targeting exactly half the ball, making every pitch fly backward. I can't hit foul balls that consistently in one direction. And he's doing it effortlessly—it's efficient and doesn't require much energy."

"Turns out, there's a method to this madness!" Ryousuke, ever the tactician, seemed to unlock a new understanding of foul-ball strategy.

Kuramochi, however, shivered. Pitchers facing Ryousuke in the future were in for a nightmare.

"Does this technique have some kind of massaging effect? I feel strangely relaxed!" Sendo took a deep breath, adjusted his stance, and prepared to go all out.

By fouling off balls even against breaking pitches, Sendo had frustrated the opposing ace to no end.

After all, the same man who had just scored earlier was proving to be just as annoying now.

"I see... another one like that pesky number two batter?" the opposing pitcher muttered.

"What's this strange sense of discomfort?" Matsumoto, Kiryuu's coach, couldn't shake off the feeling that something was off about Sendo's batting. Yet, he couldn't pinpoint the source.

"Stay calm. As long as you control your pitches well, you can definitely get him out! Let's decide it with an inside pitch!" he instructed the pitcher confidently.

Sendo noticed a change in the pitcher's expression and knew the critical moment had arrived.

"Here it comes! Here it comes!" He braced himself as the pitcher prepared to throw.

Whoosh!

"An inside pitch? No, this is…"

"Yes! He swung!" The catcher barely had time to smile before seeing a flash of yellow light.

Ping!

"Ah!" The Kiryuu bench collectively gasped in shock.

"That's it! Now I understand why it felt off!" Matsumoto's eyes lit up as the ball soared through the air.

Smack!

"It's in!!!"

"Yes! A two-run home run!!!" Sawamura was the first to shout in excitement.

"Whew! Lucky me. I didn't expect a slider at that moment," Sendo muttered to himself as he exhaled deeply, beginning his slow trot around the bases.

...

Yes, this shameless player deliberately walked back to home plate, dragging out even the joy of a home run to squeeze out every bit of rest time.

He paid no attention to the celebrations happening in the dugout.

"Ah, I see! The weak, effortless fouls earlier came from a player with an incredibly strong arm—a center fielder no less. His explosive power makes it hard to believe he could ever have a weak throw. That's why it felt off." Matsumoto nodded, finally understanding.

"And to think that slider turned into a line drive home run… what terrifying power."

Back in the dugout, Kuramochi wasted no time throwing an arm around Sendo. "Come on, show a little excitement when you hit a home run!"

"Beautiful hit!" The sheer force of Yuuki's enthusiasm seemed to overwhelm the entire dugout.

"Whoa!" Even Masuko jumped in surprise at the energy radiating from Yuuki.

"Alright, rest up! Here, have a banana!" Ryousuke handed him one with a grin.

"Thank you very much," Sendo said politely, accepting the banana.

"This isn't the Ryo-san I know," Sendo thought, suppressing a snarky comment.

"Want more bananas?" Sawamura suddenly appeared with a massive bunch.

"Do you think I'm a monkey?" Sendo placed both hands on Sawamura's face, squishing it into various shapes.

"Sorry!" Sawamura managed to squeak out an apology in a distorted voice.

While bananas were great for quick energy, eating an entire bunch—at least ten—was overkill.

"Need water?" Haruichi handed him a cup of sports drink, earning a grateful nod from Sendo.

...

Ping!

"Ah!!!" Another exclamation came from the field as Masuko hit an infield pop fly—albeit an unusually high one.

"He's still not great with breaking balls, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Masuko-senpai put too much force into that!" Miyuki quipped, exchanging comments with Chris and Rei, while silently thinking the same.

The back-to-back hits from Yuuki and Sendo had evidently rattled Masuko, making him overexert himself against a breaking ball.

...

"Five to three after the first inning? Could turn into a slugfest," one of the OBs remarked, glancing at the scoreboard.

"By the way, Sendo's improvement is unbelievable!"

"Right? During the Kanto Tournament, he wouldn't even swing at breaking balls like that."

"Rather than just improvement, it feels like he's evolved in such a short time."

"Agreed. At first, I thought Sendo just had a knack for adapting to high school baseball. But now, it's clear—he's undergone a metamorphosis like any other first-year phenom. What a monster!"

...

As the game entered the second inning, Furuya stepped out of the dugout, his face full of determination.

Smack!

Sendo gave him a firm pat on the backside.

"You're too tense! Throwing harder doesn't make you faster—you need to find your rhythm!"

"Rhythm?"

"Honestly! Don't meddle with such reasonable advice!" Miyuki muttered to himself, shifting his target for sarcastic remarks to Sendo.

While Sendo had done what he could to advise him, the rest would depend on Furuya figuring it out on the mound.

Unfortunately, Furuya's struggles continued. Whether he was overthinking Sendo's words or simply trying too hard, he kept overexerting himself, resulting in numerous walks.

Watching from the field, Sendo's eye twitched at the sight of Furuya's wild pitches.

Despite Miyuki's earlier instructions to the defense not to comfort Furuya, this strategy clearly wasn't working. Glancing toward left field, Sendo noticed Kuramochi grinding his teeth in frustration.

"Poor kid. I just hope he survives whatever comes next," Sendo thought, silently praying for Furuya.

...

The middle infield duo once again saved the day, turning a smooth double play. Though not flashy, their execution was seamless and oddly satisfying to watch.

With the final out of the inning, Sendo let out a small sigh of relief.

Watching a teammate implode on the mound was exhausting. Compared to that, his own physical fatigue seemed insignificant.

...

Despite giving up four runs in the second inning, Miyuki's plan seemed to account for such outcomes given Furuya's condition. However, the bottom of the inning didn't go as hoped.

Miyuki, batting seventh, was followed by Haruichi and Furuya, but all three went down in order.

By the end of two innings, the score was nine to three.

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