Diamond No Ace: The Strongest Hitter

Chapter 177: Intra-Team Practice Match (1)

"I didn't expect we'd get to observe the first-years' skills this quickly."

"For Seidou, this is really rare!"

"It shows that there's a serious issue with the pitching lineup!"

"But I'm curious, how did Sendo get into the First String? Something must've happened, right?"

On the sidelines, reporters buzzed with speculation, becoming onlookers as former players (OBs) worried about the team's situation.

"Is everyone ready?"

"Yes!"

"All first-years will have a chance to play, so make sure you're warmed up properly!"

"Yes!"

After the coach's instructions, today's practice match officially began. Judging by his attire, it was clear the coach would be acting as the umpire.

Hearing the phrase "all first-years," Sawamura confirmed he wasn't dreaming.

"I'll give it my all! Who would miss such an opportunity? Hahaha! Watch closely, Sunglasses Uncle!" His excitement overflowed, bringing tears and shouts, though he got a bit carried away.

From Sendo's perspective, the coach visibly reacted to the nickname "Sunglasses Uncle," his entire body trembling.

Sendo suspected that if the coach weren't in his position, he might have gone over to punch him.

It had taken Sendo quite a while to earn the coach's approval subtly, after all.

"Congratulations! I heard you can join the training now. What kind of trick did you pull?" That familiar voice—Miyuki, the persistent "clingy teammate," had arrived right on cue.

"Always so punctual, huh, this jerk!" Sendo inwardly cursed upon hearing his voice.

"Shut up!" Sawamura interrupted decisively, much to Sendo's relief.

"Isn't your bench spot over there? Why are you here, you latecomer?"

"The starting players are resting today. After all, we still have to prepare for the Kanto Tournament!"

"Tch! I was hoping to face you and show off the Twin Stars of Akagi!"

"Haha! You're a hundred years too early for that!"

"Hey, don't make up names like that!" Sendo interjected with a retort, the three of them falling into a rare harmony.

This left Sawamura feeling like he had done something extraordinary by bringing them together.

"Hey, you're here! Isashiki-senpai was furious this morning that you skipped training. You're definitely getting scolded when you see him," Miyuki teased when he finally noticed Sendo.

"Shut up!" Sendo felt oddly satisfied with this response.

"He skipped training too!" Miyuki pointed at Sendo, addressing Sawamura.

"What? Nobody told me about this!" Sawamura said, turning to Sendo.

"You didn't ask! And do I look like I'm here to play? Seriously, such an idiot!"

"Who are you calling an idiot?"

"I didn't say anything!"

"Ugh..." For once, Sawamura managed to keep up, albeit too quickly, leaving him momentarily stunned.

Miyuki, meanwhile, looked at Sendo with a newfound expression, as though discovering a treasure trove of entertainment.

Slam!

Sendo facepalmed.

"Every single one of you is a hassle!"

"So, when are you pitching?" Miyuki ignored Sendo's exasperation and turned to Sawamura.

"Probably at the end. It's that Sunglasses Uncle, after all!"

"Hahaha!" Miyuki laughed heartily at Sawamura's boldness.

As someone who had frequently heard Sendo use that nickname, Miyuki was amused that Sawamura had the same fearless attitude.

"Fine, I'll help you warm up specially!"

"I don't need your help. Since Sendo's not playing either—"

"I refuse! Absolutely not!" Sendo cut him off with a double denial before he could finish.

"Haha, so just deal with it!" Miyuki chuckled, finding their bickering amusing.

"By the way, didn't you play catcher in middle school? Why did you stop in high school? I remember during introductions, you said you'd never be a pitcher or catcher again?"

Pop!

"Strike!"

The game had already started as they chatted.

"Can you two focus on warming up and stop bothering me? I want to watch the game!" Sendo snapped, clearly annoyed. If he engaged Miyuki, there would be no end to it.

"Tell me, and I'll stop bothering you!" Miyuki said, still tossing with Sawamura but clearly intrigued.

"Catcher, huh?" Sendo glanced at him.

"Yes, yes!"

"Ugh, disgusting!" Sendo grimaced at Miyuki's playful eagerness.

"As for catchers, it's stuffy in the gear, hot, prone to injury, squatting is exhausting, and the whole position is uncomfortable. How is that a good role?"

"Wow, you really hold a grudge against the position!" Miyuki was taken aback by Sendo's rant.

"Sendo! I never thought... you endured so much for me—"

"I didn't do it for you!" Sendo interrupted Sawamura's cheesy response and promptly ignored them.

Pop!

"Strike!"

On the field, Tanba was showcasing his superb curveball.

"What's wrong, rookie? Sitting on the ground won't help you swing!" Miyauchi pressured the first-year batter.

"You talk big, Miyauchi-senpai, but weren't you the one trembling yesterday?" Sendo muttered quietly.

"Yesterday?" Miyuki's ears perked up, intrigued by the keyword, but Sendo, speaking to himself, had no intention of explaining.

This only made Miyuki more curious.

"You sneaky little brat, training with someone else behind my back!" was the thought running through Miyuki's mind.

The first-year batter was left questioning his life choices after facing Tanba's curveball, which seemed to veer toward him only to swerve into the strike zone at the last moment.

"That curveball is terrifying! Luckily, I'm not batting right-handed. The first time I saw it yesterday, I was scared out of my wits!" Sendo muttered again.

Miyuki, now brimming with curiosity, was like a cat itching to uncover the mystery.

"Tanba's got great momentum!"

"Not being the ace seems to have reignited his fighting spirit!"

"If he can maintain consistency with that sharp vertical curveball, his full recovery isn't far off!"

"His physical abilities were always exceptional."

The OBs, watching from the sidelines, seemed relieved by Tanba's performance.

"Tanba-senpai's expression while pitching is so intimidating, like a mob boss. I guess it's fitting for the Sunglasses Uncle's protégé!"

"Mob boss? Protégé?" Miyuki found Sendo's mutterings increasingly entertaining, momentarily forgetting about teasing Sawamura.

"Strike!"

"Batter out!"

"Yosh! Yeah!!!"

"The usually quiet Tanba actually shouted!"

"Three consecutive strikeouts, and the bat didn't even touch the ball!"

"That's definitely a magic pitch! A magic pitch!"

Sendo was already strategizing how to hit that pitch.

The so-called decisive pitch was one that the batter knew was coming but still couldn't hit.

A pitch dubbed "magic" was the pinnacle of such decisive pitches.

Narumiya Mei's change-up could somewhat be considered a magic pitch, but it wasn't as exaggerated as Tanba's curveball.

As Miyuki had mentioned in his "past life," if Tanba could maintain his composure, he would have already been a true ace.

Just this single breaking ball was enough to qualify as any batter's nightmare.

For left-handed batters, it was at least manageable, albeit difficult due to its wide movement.

But for right-handed batters, the psychological pressure was immense when facing such a pitch.

Coach Kataoka, watching Tanba's performance, lowered his head slightly.

His expression was a mix of deep emotion and frustration at wasted potential.

If Tanba had shown this level of dominance in official games, there wouldn't have been a need for this practice match with the first-years in the first place.

"Hey! That guy's sleeping!" a shout came from the first-year bench.

"Seriously? At a time like this?"

"Wow? What a king!" Sendo was surprised that Furuya had such moments in his storyline.

"You're the last person qualified to say that!" Miyuki silently retorted in his mind.

The second- and third-years quickly secured outs with ease.

Sendo recalled that in the anime, the first-years gave up seven or eight runs, right?

Although it was a particularly comedic segment that he'd rewatched many times in his previous life, he couldn't remember the exact number.

The first-year players, seeing the batters getting ready with intense focus, realized that the upperclassmen were taking this match extremely seriously.

However, instead of igniting their fighting spirit, it filled them with frustration.

They began thinking, "There's no way we can win," and adopted a "just see how far we can go" mentality.

With such thoughts, they were destined for an even more crushing defeat.

"Don't they seem a bit immature?" Miyuki asked Sawamura, his gaze drifting toward Sendo.

"Huh?"

"To first-years who just joined the team, the pitches from the third-years are an unknown challenge. The speed of their pitches isn't even in the same league."

"But for the third-years, this is an opportunity to prove themselves!

"Whether they laugh or cry, this is their final tournament. If they don't earn a jersey number, it's all over. Even against first-years, they won't hold back. This is the resolve of the third-years!"

Miyuki's words, coupled with the third-years' fierce determination, startled the first-years and deeply impacted Sawamura.

"In competitive sports, only the strong survive. The weak can only fade away." Sendo unexpectedly joined the conversation between Miyuki and Sawamura.

"Haha! You've had your fair share of struggles too. If you can't overpower the resolve of these upperclassmen, you'll never become an ace."

"Just like this guy!" Miyuki added, pointing at Sendo.

"Huh?"

"When this guy first joined the First String, no one was convinced. But because of the coach's authority, they kept quiet. However, his performance completely won over the upperclassmen. Do you know what they call him? 'Bakemono' (monster). And four months later, he was already being considered a cleanup candidate.

"If the third-years retire, no one will question him being the cleanup hitter. Even the seniors acknowledge him."

Miyuki mercilessly poured cold water on Sawamura's enthusiasm, thoroughly provoking him.

Had Sendo not known Sawamura's personality, he might have stepped in.

Miyuki's words were quite ruthless, but knowing Sawamura could handle it, Sendo decided to let it play out.

As expected, Miyuki's provocation fueled Sawamura's fighting spirit, making Miyuki even more intrigued by him.

Meanwhile, Sendo's attention was focused on Furuya, who was now lying on the bench with a towel covering... his crotch, sound asleep.

Even the other first-years couldn't help but comment, "He's sleeping so soundly!"

Sendo couldn't resist capturing the moment.

It would be a great memory, not a piece of blackmail.

What Furuya himself would think in the future, though, was another story.

By the end of the first inning, the first-years had given up 12 runs.

The entire field was silent.

This was the price of not fighting with all their might, of harboring fear in their hearts.

"Huh? Isn't that guy in our class? What's his name again? Never spoke to him, so who knows…" Sendo finally noticed that the pitcher looked familiar—it was a classmate of his.

He didn't hear the bench mention "Matsukata's ace" or anything like that, so he didn't realize the man who had just given up 12 runs in one inning was Tojou Hideaki.

A pitcher who had led his middle school team to the national semifinals was now utterly crushed, leaving the first-year bench demoralized.

Sawamura, however, abandoned Miyuki and went to encourage his teammates.

"Hey! What's with those faces? The game's just started! There's still a chance to turn it around with eight innings left! Get your spirits up and fight hard! Hahaha!"

Sendo could hear Sawamura's loud voice from afar. Though the speech was inspiring, his tone made it completely unconvincing.

"Strike!"

"Batter out!"

"Whoa!!! Six consecutive strikeouts!"

"Amazing! It's like he's determined not to let anyone touch the ball!"

The ongoing match interrupted the arguments on the bench.

Not wanting to stay with Miyuki any longer, Sendo grabbed his seat and slipped away.

"Hahaha! Suffer, suffer! If you can't endure this, you'll never make it to the First String!" came Miyuki's devilish whisper from behind.

Though, it was more of a loud proclamation than a whisper.

"If you're scared before the match even starts, you won't be able to show your true ability. I joined this school to see how far I could go!" Sendo heard Sawamura's most convincing statement as he passed by the first-year bench.

Whether or not the others could take his words to heart remained uncertain.

Sawamura wasn't like Sendo, who had already proven himself. He was still just a trainee.

So his pretty words might come across as empty to others.

"He's right! Are you thinking, 'The seniors are so serious, we can't win, so let's just try our best'?!" Sendo stepped into the role he often played in middle school—where Sawamura handled morale, and he dealt with logic.

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