Diamond Ace: Another Story of Sawamura

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"Director Kataoka, you only announced the pitcher, but didn't announce who the catcher will be... Have you not decided who will play yet?"

"Ah..." Kataoka responded.

"..." Upon hearing this, Takashima Rei pushed up his glasses.

Among the nine fielders, the catcher is the only one who can understand the batter, runners, and defensive formations.

The catcher is the pitcher's best partner. He is responsible for directing the pitching and choosing the pitching path, catching and blocking the ball thrown by the pitcher, and sharing the pitcher's attention to look after the runners on the bases, preventing the runners from moving forward. When necessary, he must also act as the pitcher's counselor to assist the pitcher in completing the pitch.

At the same time, the catcher is also the commander-in-chief of the defense, responsible for adjusting the deployment of various defensive positions. Therefore, he is often called the brain of the defense and is known as the "coach on the field."

As the thinking body and decision-making center of the entire team...

If a good pitcher is hard to come by in ten years, then a good catcher can be said to be hard to come by in a hundred years. It is truly a once-in-a-century opportunity.

Qingdao has two rare once-in-a-century talents. I can only say...

"What a happy trouble..."

The most important things are defense, the ability to distribute the ball and direct the team, which Chris and Miyuki undoubtedly possess.

Chris relies on meticulous data to deal with batters, while Miyuki cleverly predicts batters' psychology and makes strong pitching decisions.

Although both are charming, Chris is more stable.

And since he started catching the ball for Sawamura, Chris has also begun to predict the batter's psychology and make bold pitches.

Therefore, in the previous preliminaries, Chris and Miyuki took turns to play, giving both of them a chance to perform.

If there are any questions that require your attention...

This year is already the last summer of my junior year. Being able to get good results in Koshien will make my future easy and I will have better opportunities in professional baseball.

Although there is still one year left in the second grade, considering the formation of the new team, now is the best opportunity for the first and second graders to accumulate experience.

And considering the trust between the pitcher and the catcher...

Chris is totally fine. The main thing is that there is still one year of luck left. If he can't build trust with the pitchers...

"That useless thing can't even coax a few pitchers!"

At this moment, Takashima Rei, whose mental activity was particularly active, raised his hand.

If Yukichi dared to come in front of her with a heartless smile now, she would definitely slap him in the face.

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"Kawakami...do you have anything to say?"

When studying Xibang's batting line, Kawakami kept a serious expression, as if he was listening very seriously, but he didn't say anything...

So, when preparing to do targeted pitching exercises, Chris took the initiative to offer to help Kawakami with warm-up exercises.

"..." Kawakami did not respond to Senior Chris after hearing this, but fell into deep thought.

"Because it's rare to see you thinking about a problem so seriously, if you have any ideas, you can speak them out." Chris whispered, waiting for Kawakami's reaction.

After a moment of silence, Kawakami raised his eyes and looked at Chris seriously, "I want to lift the ban on the sinker."

"!" So this is what he was thinking. Chris was surprised and a little delighted.

Since the three-ball dead ball in the first inning of last autumn game, Kawakami has sealed the sinker himself...

Chris didn't know whether Kawakami's mental trauma had healed, but following his gaze, Chris seemed to understand again.

"I've been left far behind..." Kawakami's eyes at this moment revealed an unprecedented desire.

"I don't have the changes like Sawamura, the high-speed ball like Furuya, or the winning ball like Tamba-senpai..."

Whether it was the preliminaries or the finals, Sawamura desperately getting one out after another...

Even in his first match at Koshien, Furuya was already famous all over the country...

Or maybe it's Senior Tamba who was ordered to take on the responsibility of being the ace in a time of crisis and fight for the team...

Their postures deeply shocked Kawakami.

"I'm very anxious... but I'm even more unwilling to accept it!"

"You're a pitcher after all..." Chris smiled, "I see! Then I'll accompany you! Until you can pitch a ball that convinces you!"

"Yes! Thank you, Chris-senpai!"

"Kawakami-senpai made such a loud noise..." Fūya, who was helping Eijun warm up, looked at Kawakami-senpai and asked in confusion, "Is it because he can pitch?"

"Do you think everyone is like you..." Eijun helplessly blocked Fūya's hint that he wanted to pitch, "Maybe I can go and play with Chris-senpai's permission!"

"Do you think everyone is like you..." Miyuki, who was standing next to him, looked at Rongchun in shock, "By the way, don't you always leave whenever you want?"

"Well, you used to ask Chris for permission before going out, but now he assumes that you have already said it." It was rare for him to reach a consensus with Miyuki on something, and Danbo was also shocked.

“Hehe…” Rong Chun could only respond with a laugh.

"Miyuki..." Chris came over to them while they were complaining to each other, "Help Eijun and Tamba check the ball first. I want to check the ball with Kawakami first."

"it is good!"

"If possible, please catch Kawakami's ball later!"

"it is good..."

“Chris-senpai and Kawakami-senpai seem to be doing some secret special training…” Anyone with a discerning eye could see that, and Eijun was a little curious, “Maybe some secret weapon will appear later!”

"Secret training..." After hearing this, Furuya looked at Senior Chris and Senior Kawakami curiously, "It seems very impressive!"

"Of course!" Rongchun nodded very seriously, "Okay! Let's do some secret training later!"

"Hmm!" Jōgō's eyes suddenly sparkled.

"That won't work!" Miyuki agreed speechlessly.

"Secret training..." Tanba, who was standing by, tilted his ear and started to think about it.

The three junior students are all growing up, so how can I not do something? "Okay, I will also do secret special training."

"Ha! What are you going to do, Tamba-senpai?" Miyuki looked at Tamba-senpai in shock, "Just two idiots, just agree with me."

"..." Haruichi, who had come to practice swinging the bat, chose to quietly stay away from them...

"Miyuki Kazuya! Who are you calling an idiot?!"

"Huh? Did I mention any names?"

"You two stop bickering in the practice field..." When Eijun jumped up and prepared to have a big fight with Miyuki, Ryosuke got in between the two of them and stabbed each of them.

"I'm sorry..." Eijun covered his head, recognized the situation and ran to Furuya and Tamba.

Only Yuki is left to face the devil's smile alone...

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"..." While confirming the ball's path with Senior Chris, Kawakami couldn't ignore the commotion on the other side, "Something seems to have happened over there..."

"..." Chris looked at the pitchers and catchers who had been completely subdued by Ryosuke and smiled helplessly, "Don't be affected by them, find your feel first!"

"Yes!"

"For the first pitch, it doesn't matter if you can't throw it into the strike zone, just swing your arms thoroughly!"

"Snapped!"

"Very good! Come again!"

Although the first few balls did not enter the strike zone, the ball path was still good. If I practice a few more balls, I will enter the strike zone.

Kawakami got the hang of it surprisingly quickly. Chris guessed that he must have practiced before, but he must have been scared when he thought about those three hits...

"Next, throw low to the inside corner."

"Snapped!"

"It's okay, one more goal!"

While the outside corner position can throw well to the glove position, the inside corner position will run to the middle.

“Kawakami…” Seeing Kawakami’s anxious look, Chris raised his mask and walked in front of him, “Take a break!”

"Hmm..." Kawakami nodded a little dejectedly, then sat aside with a frown.

"..." Chris smiled helplessly again. This kid is just too thoughtful. "Do you still remember the match with Xianquan?"

"Hmm..." Kawakami nodded hesitantly.

"In the bottom of the sixth inning, with two outs and runners on first and third base, Xianquan only needs a hit to tie the score, and it's Maki's turn to bat..."

"After two strikes and a ball, the slider near the right batter's chest..."

"Hmm..." Kawakami knew that ball. Although he had practiced it afterwards, he had never used it in actual combat, so he didn't know what would happen.

"That was the best pitch you've ever thrown..."

"..." Kawakami was stunned for a moment, then smiled a little happily and a little shyly, "At that time... I just wanted to respond to everyone desperately..."

"Ah..." Chris knew that because he wanted to respond to his teammates so much, he threw the ball in a way that was beyond expectations and norms.

"That's when I believed that ball could become your symbol."

"..." This was the first time Kawakami had heard these words, "So after that, Chris-senpai and Miyuki asked me to practice that pitch..."

"Kawakami..." Chris said, looking at Kawakami very seriously, "You are already an indispensable part of Qingdao!"

"!"

"This number may be the most important proof for you pitchers..." Chris patted Kawakami's number on his back with one hand.

"But for us, all four of you pitchers, no matter who you are, are standing on the pitcher's mound for the team's victory. You are all the trump cards representing Seidou!"

"So, throw the ball with more confidence!"

"Did you hear me? Use your best ball to kill all the opponent's batters!" Isashiki stood in front of Kawakami with a menacing look.

"Well, you are all the trump cards of Qingdao!" Although these words were meant to motivate Kawakami, Yuki was also successfully motivated.

"Woah! Your pitching is also very difficult to hit!" Masuko gave Kawakami a thumbs up to show her approval.

"Hmm... So this is what you've been worrying about today..." Ryosuke smiled.

"Chris is right!" Tamba also agreed with Chris and looked at Kawakami with conviction.

"Hee-ha! You've already been the ace of the second grade!"

"Chris-senpai is so handsome! Ah... Kawakami-senpai is also handsome!"

"Um..."

"Be more confident!"

"That's right!"

"..." Kawakami stared blankly at his teammates surrounding him, and then couldn't help blushing, "Yes!"

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