Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

As Takatsu swung the bat in his hand, images of countless days and nights spent swinging the bat under the bridge flashed through his mind.

The King Seidou.

These days, whenever Seidou is mentioned everyone starts singing praises. It's truly impressive!

But for anyone who looks closer, they will know this it wasn't the same group of players that dominated Koshien year after year.

From the previous summer to the recently concluded Spring Koshien, Seidou has changed two generations of players.

During the summer of Koshien last year, the main force of Seidou High School's baseball team was made up of third-year players from the previous batch. The other players could only serve in supporting roles, including Sawamura, the Ace pitcher, whose job at the time was only to support the defense.

At that time, Seidou High School focused on batting.

Even though the pitching and defense, led by the 'Great Demon King' Sawamura, were impressive, the hallmark of Seidou High School was still its mighty and unstoppable batting power.

However, by the spring of this year, things had changed drastically. The lineup of Seidou High School could only be considered good, still far from truly excellent.

At that point, the defense, led by Sawamura, suddenly rose to the occasion.

Seidou High School became the strongest defensive team in high school.

With this solid foundation, along with a good offense, Seidou High School claimed the championship once again in the spring competition.

Such a performance made the media exclaim in awe.

The era of Seidou High School has arrived!

This was not just a statement from one or two people, but from every media outlet covering baseball in high school, all expressing the same sentiment and stating the undeniable fact.

Seidou High School became the goal and the standard.

The first-string players became top stars across high school, and even the substitutes had many fans.

But no one knew that, within Seidou High School, there was another group of people working quietly behind the scenes.

They were under the dark bridge, where the light could not shine.

Silently swinging their bats, they were spending their youth in obscurity.

At that time, they couldn't see any future. They kept persevering in the sea of confusion, continuing to push forward with some made-up hopes.

They hoped for the day when Coach Kataoka and the coaching staff would notice them.

To notice their efforts and promote them to the first-string team.

Now, as a representative from this side of Seidou, Takatsu felt it was very necessary to prove himself to those friends who didn't get the chance.

'We can do it!'

'We can represent Seidou in the big fields.'

'We are the true foundation of Seidou's strength.'

Takatsu's real strength may not be greater than that of Kanemaru, Toujou, or the others.

They were all-star players from the same period, and those two were promoted to the first string earlier than Takatsu.

Even if their current strength and skills are better than Takatsu's, he is not far behind.

But there is one thing that sets Takatsu apart from the two: his fighting spirit!

Takatsu's fighting spirit is at least twice as strong as theirs.

His ambition has completely become part of his bones.

In this situation, he would never let any opportunity for performance slip by.

It seemed that Takatsu now clearly understood one truth:

With his current status, if he wants to stay in the first-string team, he must perform better than the original first-string players to succeed.

Otherwise, if everyone's performance is the same, why would Seidou High School's coaching staff choose him instead of the original first-string players?

Wouldn't that be unnecessary?

After all, the original first-string players, when playing alongside other first-string players, are definitely much better than these newly promoted players.

There is no reason for the coaching staff to choose new players over those who have already proven themselves in regional and Koshien competitions.

So, if Takatsu wants to stay, he must become even stronger.

Stronger than the current first-string players.

Only then can he stay!

'Smash it out!!'

This firm belief allowed Takatsu to demonstrate extraordinary power.

The small ball was smashed far!

PANG!!

The bat didn't hit the center of the ball, but Takatsu's swing was so fast.

Even though he missed the sweet spot, the ball flew forward. The speed at which it flew was so fast that the Tobuyasu High School fielders had no time to react.

They could only watch the ball soar past them.

"SAFE!!"

Using this opportunity, Shiratsu swiftly crossed third base and returned to home plate, helping Seidou High School score another point.

Takatsu also raced to second base with that clean hit.

The situation now was one Out with a runner on second base.

The score was now 9:1, an unprecedented lead!

By the bottom of the sixth inning, Seidou had scored six Runs.

Tobuyasu High School, who had been evenly matched with them before, was now completely defeated.

On the pitcher's mound, Senzo!

An unprecedented look of humiliation appeared on his face.

Since he could remember, he had always been the star and the strong side.

He had never been this defeated before.

He was completely outmatched!

The Seidou High School players opposite him brought back very bad memories in his mind.

It reminded him of the final against the Kanagawa champions.

In that game, Senzo witnessed what it meant that there are always people better than you.

Originally, he thought that such a concentration of monsters only existed in Kanagawa.

But now, he realized there was another team in high school who were not any less than them.

The King Seidou.

'Am I too weak, or has the world changed too fast?'

A deep sense of helplessness filled Senzo's heart.

No!!!!!!

A huge voice in his heart continued to echo in his mind.

It was a line from Coach Anzai in Slam Dunk.

It was also his favorite line.

"Until the very end, never lose hope. It's when you give up that the match is over."

The game wasn't over yet. How could he cowardly give up?

Whoosh!

He raised his head again and threw the baseball in his hand.

Ping!

Toujou was caught off guard.

He had originally intended to follow Coach Kataoka's orders and forcefully hit the ball in the outfield.

But when it actually came time to hit, he realized he couldn't do it.

The pitch was much wilder than he had expected. Just managing to make contact with the ball consumed all of his efforts.

He couldn't even hit the ball properly!

Ping!

The ball bounced high into the air and landed right above the pitcher's mound.

Senzo on the mound, unhurried, raised his mitt and calmly caught the ball as it fell into his mitt.

Snap!

"OUT!!"

The opponent, who was on the verge of breaking down, suddenly revived.

This was not a good sign for the Seidou's baseball team.

"This is infuriating!"

In the Seidou High School dugout, the teammates were all talking at once.

Sawamura frowned slightly.

Was it just bad luck for Seidou High School this year?

This kind of situation has been happening more and more lately.

Some teams, despite having major issues, would suddenly play like they were on drugs when facing Seidou High School.

They became full of energy!

They would perform at 90% of their ability, but it often felt like they were giving 100% or even 120%.

It was a frustrating situation.

At present, the players on Seidou High School's baseball team were managing to keep up, but if this continued into the Summer Tournament or Koshien, it would be difficult for the current main team to make it all the way to the end.

In that case, they would have to rely on their backup players.

Sawamura shifted his focus to the dugout.

Before the Summer Tournament, the strength of Seidou High School's substitutes would largely determine how far they could go.

This was something Coach Kataoka had clearly considered as well.

So, in the sixth inning, after Seidou High School's offense ended without scoring, Coach Kataoka decisively made a substitution.

Everyone except Takatsu, who had just come on, was taken off the field.

The battery combo was changed to Nishiyama and Ono.

If the previous lineup had been the full main force, now the team was practically all substitutes.

"How are we going to defeat the opponent? The players who just went up have already shown you how to do it.

I don't require anything else in the next few innings. Same style, same rhythm, you'll do it too. What we need now are players who can step into the game after the main starters are replaced. If you don't have that ability, I won't keep you on the first team."

Coach Kataoka was clearly aware of the crisis. Even his tone was more severe than before.

Of course, he had the confidence to do so.

Right now, Seidou's baseball team was lacking in nothing in the players' area.

There were plenty of talented rising stars waiting for their chance at every position.

As soon as anyone dropped the ball, Coach Kataoka could immediately call up a substitute.

If no suitable player was available, he could even look to the second team.

After all, there were many excellent players training on the second team as well.

The players who had just come onto the field were well aware of this.

Especially the new players.

Each of them had an intense, focused look in their eyes.

But even so, not everyone got the chance to play.

For example, the other catcher, Yui Kaoru.

With only three innings left in the game, it was unlikely he would get a chance to play.

But Coach Kataoka did not neglect him.

In a few months, when Ono and Miyuki retired, Yui Kaoru would be the most likely to become the main catcher for Seidou.

In this situation, Coach Kataoka certainly wouldn't neglect Yui Kaoru.

"Don't be discouraged, I'll arrange for you to play in the next match."

Yui nodded gratefully.

He didn't have as much ambition as Okumura.

For example, he had never thought of pulling Miyuki down from the main catcher position before Miyuki retired.

Being on the same team, he knew just how strong Miyuki was.

Miyuki is considered the best catcher in high school baseball today.

His skills were genuine.

Yui never thought that, in just a few months, he could surpass Miyuki.

He had never thought that way.

Watching Miyuki play on the field, Yui had learned a great deal.

Now, Yui's task was to figure out how to seamlessly take over Miyuki's role when he left the team.

Not only did he need to familiarize himself with Seidou High School's offensive and defensive systems, but he also had to find ways to catch the pitches of Sawamura and Furuya.

If he couldn't catch their pitches, everything else would be meaningless.

So, Yui had a lot of work ahead of him.

It would be great if he could get on the field to gain experience.

But if not, he would continue preparing actively.

It was because of this positive attitude that he was able to become the National team captain.

…