Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

At Tobuyasu High School's baseball field, the members of Seidou High School's baseball team were boarding their bus, ready to depart.

As they left, they received heartfelt blessings from the players of Tobuyasu High School.

In today's game, Seidou's players had thoroughly convinced their opponents of their strength. Tobuyasu's players didn't have the luxury of hoping they could defeat Seidou, but as they bid farewell, they made one earnest plea to Seidou's players: don't lose to anyone else.

Their mindset was exceedingly healthy—since Seidou had defeated them, they hoped Seidou would continue their winning streak.

"If you win the national championship, at least we can say we lost to the champions. That way, it won't be too embarrassing."

Their thinking was simple and positive.

By now, all the other players had already boarded the bus. Only Sawamura Eijun remained outside.

It wasn't that Sawamura didn't want to get on the bus, but rather that his hand was firmly held by Senzo, who showed no intention of letting go.

Contrary to his projected image, his grip strength was surprisingly strong.

Sawamura, known for his own considerable strength—he rarely lost in arm-wrestling matches—found himself completely outmatched.

He tried multiple times to pull his hand free but to no avail. Finally, he shrugged in resignation and gave up struggling.

"All right, just say what you need to say."

"You know about the powerhouse schools in Kanagawa, right?"

Sawamura did know.

Kanagawa was a fiercely competitive zone, second only to Tokyo. It was home to two national-level powerhouse schools and three or four other strong contenders.

A true battleground of giants.

While Tobuyasu High School was strong, their runner-up finish this season seemed more a product of good fortune. Otherwise, making it through so many powerhouses would have been no easy feat.

"We only became runners-up because those powerhouses were all defeated by another team."

This statement piqued Sawamura's curiosity.

He was always eager to face strong opponents. If Kanagawa had a truly formidable team, Sawamura would be highly interested.

"Oh? Which team?"

For once, Sawamura actively asked.

"Shonan High School!"

Sawamura raised an eyebrow in surprise.

The name was not unfamiliar—it left a strong impression on him.

In his previous life, Sawamura had never played against Shonan High School, but when he later joined the Major Leagues, he frequently heard stories about them.

The first time he heard their name, Sawamura was beginning to make his mark in the Majors. When he returned to Japan to visit Coach Kataoka at his alma mater, Seidou High School, he witnessed Shonan High School's dominance firsthand.

At that time, Seidou was playing a practice match against Shonan and lost 3-7.

"These Kohais can't be relied on!"

That was Sawamura's blunt evaluation at the time, hands on his hips.

What stuck with him, however, was a remark from Manager Ota:

"There's no helping it; after all, it's Shonan."

Sawamura realized that after he had left Japan, significant changes had occurred in high school baseball.

For a once-unknown school to defeat Seidou, seemed to have become an expected outcome.

'How could this be?'

Upon further questioning, Sawamura learned that Shonan High School had won three Koshien Championships in four years, surpassing even the mighty Inashiro Industrial and becoming the most dominant team of their era.

"When did this happen?"

Sawamura had asked at the time.

"Right after your class graduated."

Sawamura had thought he would never cross paths with Shonan High School, yet here they were, already making waves.

Now, Sawamura's interest was thoroughly piqued.

He remembered the miracles Shonan High School had achieved in his past life.

Back then, Shonan had been unstoppable, cutting through all opposition to rise as the nation's new champion.

Sawamura was eager to experience their strength firsthand.

"Don't worry, we won't lose!"

Sawamura looked intently into Senzo's eyes, his tone firm and confident.

"That's good to hear. Safe travels!"

Only then did Senzo release his grip, letting Sawamura leave.

Though losing to Seidou left him bitter, he took solace in the thought that the Shonan players wouldn't have it easy either.

As Sawamura climbed aboard the bus, the driver started the engine, and the vehicle began to move away.

Behind them, the players of Tobuyasu High School watched with complex emotions in their eyes.

A group of fangirls even cheered goodbyes at the bus.

Sawamura could only smile wryly and wave back good-heartedly.

They cheered for him today, he can't act coldly toward them.

"You're quite the star, huh?"

Kuramochi sidled over at some point, draping an arm around Sawamura's neck with an annoyed smirk.

Sawamura felt the strong urge to roll his eyes.

What had he done to deserve this?

"What did you say, sorry I can't understand the commoners' talk."

"Go to hell, bastard…!!"

Sawamura's merciless comeback thoroughly enraged Kuramochi.

Sawamura, however, couldn't care less.

No matter what he said, Kuramochi would inevitably blow up anyway.

In that case, why not enjoy saying his piece?

The two began wrestling on the bus.

Their teammates around them, loyal as ever, didn't intervene to stop the fight.

''Wait, this atmosphere was too quiet.''

Both of them, being highly alert, immediately sensed that something was off and froze in place.

They looked blankly at their teammates.

And that's when they noticed Coach Kataoka's icy gaze…

At some point, Coach Kataoka had approached them without them realizing it.

His sunglasses couldn't completely mask his sharp, piercing eyes.

Both Sawamura and Kuramochi instantly felt a chill run down their spines.

"You two seem to have plenty of energy. Practice your swings 300 times tonight."

Coach Kataoka's tone was calm and measured.

"But we have a practice game tomorrow!"

Kuramochi's expression changed immediately!

After the bumpy bus ride and the upcoming practice game, his energy was already nearly depleted. Practicing 300 full-effort swings tonight?

He wasn't even sure if he'd have the strength to play in tomorrow's game!

"Then make that 400."

Kuramochi tried to argue, but Sawamura quickly rushed forward and covered his mouth.

'Good grief, it was already 400 swings!'

Any more, and they'd be completely wiped out tonight.

While Sawamura didn't mind practicing running or pitching, swinging was another matter entirely. It looked like he could forget about playing in the second practice game tomorrow.

That evening, when Sawamura and Kuramochi returned to the hotel, they were both nearly on the verge of collapse.

Their energy had been completely drained after all the swings.

This was especially true for Sawamura.

Since he didn't always have time to practice batting, Sawamura resolved to make every swing as effective as possible.

In other words, every swing involved an intensive visualization exercise in his mind.

What was the game situation?

Who was the pitcher?

What kind of pitch was coming his way?

Only after working through all of this in his head did he swing his bat.

After 400 such imagined batting drills, Sawamura's physical stamina held up fairly well.

His endurance was already top-notch, second only to Narumiya Mei of Inashiro Industrial and Yoh Shunshin of Akikawa Academy in all of Tokyo, making him the third-best in the region.

But his brain was fried.

After so many visualization exercises, Sawamura's mind felt as if it might explode.

The moment he reached his room, he collapsed into bed and fell asleep immediately.

Even the next morning, when he woke up, his head was still foggy.

Kuramochi, who had looked even worse than Sawamura the previous night, seemed to have recovered much better after a night's rest.

After breakfast, Seidou High School's baseball team played their second practice game.

This game was quite different from the first.

Seidou fielded almost an entirely substitute lineup.

Their opponents this time were far weaker compared to Tobuyasu High School.

If Seidou's starting lineup had played, the game wouldn't have served any real practice purpose.

Today's pitcher was Kawakami, and the catcher was Yui Kaoru.

True to his word, Coach Kataoka gave Yui an opportunity, and Yui did not disappoint.

In this game, Yui performed exceptionally well.

Teaming up with Kawakami, they allowed only one run over seven innings.

Yui himself had three at-bats and recorded a base hit.

For a first-year student, this was an outstanding performance.

Even Coach Kataoka and his assistant coaches had no complaints.

One assistant coach was so excited and confidently told Coach Kataoka:

"We were worried about finding a catcher after Miyuki and Ono graduate. But now, it seems we have nothing to worry about."

This was extremely high praise, suggesting that Yui might seamlessly succeed Miyuki and Ono as Seidou's catcher.

To earn such a comment on Seidou's baseball team was a rare and exceptional achievement, showcasing Yui's potential.

The remaining two innings were handled by Nishiyama.

In these practice games, Coach Kataoka had refrained from letting Nishiyama start as the main pitcher.

Instead, Nishiyama was mostly used as a reliever.

Despite his impressive performances in games, Coach Kataoka felt uneasy about handing over the starting pitcher role to Nishiyama just yet.

So, he maximized Nishiyama's opportunities by bringing him in when the game's outcome was already decided.

Nishiyama, for his part, had no objections.

He was consistently enthusiastic and eager to show his abilities whenever given the chance.

In today's game, Nishiyama once again excelled.

He pitched two scoreless innings and also recorded a base hit during his at-bats.

The real stars of the game, however, were Yuuki and Takatsu.

Yes, Takatsu.

Takatsu appeared in the lineup again today.

Coach Kataoka clearly saw potential in him and aimed to give him as many opportunities as possible.

Today, Takatsu had four at-bats, recording two hits and driving scoring three runs.

His performance was as dazzling as ever.

Yuuki also had four at-bats, hitting a home run and an extra-base hit, driving in three runs.

The only blemish on his performance was a defensive error that allowed the opposing team to score one run.

Otherwise, Seidou's substitute lineup could have shut out their opponents completely.

The final score was 11–1, with Seidou High School winning their second practice game.

For Seidou's players, this was just another routine victory.

They had no idea that a legendary era was beginning from this very moment.

…

T/N: We will pass by the other practice matches like that and we won't delve deep.

As always, Thank you all for reading!!

See you Tomorrow! Until then, take care!

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