Diamond Ace: Another Story of Sawamura

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"Damba!"

Chris called out to Danbo and turned his attention back to dealing with the batter.

"Fifth bat catcher, Purple."

"..." Isolating himself from the cheers from the stadium, Zi looked at the catcher at home plate and stood in the batter's box.

'He won't swing at the first pitch...'

This hitter is a very cautious type, and will even keep watching the ball until he is pressed, but his batting average is quite high, and he is a typical skill-based hitter.

So for the first ball, Chris was quite bold and hit a normal straight ball with a low outside corner.

"Snapped!"

"nice shot!"

Sure enough, the hitter watched...

The second ball, a normal straight ball with a high outside corner...

"Snapped!"

"nice shot!"

"..."At this time, the stadium has fallen into a strange atmosphere...

"..." Yamatoda Akiko was so shocked that she couldn't close her mouth, "How arrogant... They even matched two balls that are so easy to hit..."

"Hmm..." Fujio Mine was also a little surprised. After all, he took the ball count so blatantly. "He calculated that the batter would not swing until he was chased..."

"But...what if the batter swings?"

Isn't this just seeking your own death?

Purple Army Sergeant, who had never played in an official game in his freshman year, became the team's main catcher in his sophomore year.

"In official matches with records, the record of swinging the bat on the first pitch in the first at-bat is almost zero, and the chance of swinging the bat on the second pitch is only 30%..."

So, Chris bets that he won't swing at the first two pitches.

"Two strikes are being chased, he will definitely swing at the next ball..." Chris carefully pitched the third pitch.

"It doesn't matter if the fork ball to the outside corner is a bad pitch!"

"Hmm..." Danbo nodded. The first two shots were too thrilling. It would be better to attack aggressively.

After getting ready to pitch, Tamba looked at Sano at second base, then quickly raised his leg and swung his arm out in the blink of an eye.

"Qiang!"

"The outside world!"

"..." Danbo looked at the ball in surprise that almost fell out of bounds, and his expression suddenly became serious.

'A straight ball into the batter's chest!' was followed immediately, and Chris immediately matched the fourth ball.

“……” Zi tightened the bat in his hand and turned his attention to the pitcher again.

He raised his glove, lifted his left leg and stepped forward, his outstretched body then retracted as he swung the bat, letting the baseball fly out of his hand.

"Snapped!"

"Bad ball!"

The baseball went from a difficult-to-swipe position into the glove behind him, making a crisp sound.

"..." Zi Chui glanced at the catcher indifferently, and before the duel continued, he turned his gaze back to the pitcher.

"What's wrong with this guy..." Danbo frowned uncomfortably. He has been staring at me since just now.

It was obviously their first time facing each other, but that batter... made him feel like he was facing two Chrises.

'Fifth pitch, a straight ball to the batter's knees!'

"call out!"

Take in all the pitcher's movements, including the batter's movements as the baseball is thrown from the pitcher's hand.

"Great!" Chris looked at the tricky pitch and waited for the ball to come to the home plate and enter his glove.

But contrary to expectations, a dark shadow blocked the path of the ball.

Chris' pupils shrank and his expression changed.

"Qiang!"

"Left field!"

Sano at second base rushed to third base the moment his bat blocked the ball's path, and Purple Army So at home base also rushed to first base.

The stadium suddenly started moving...

This was a hit that was not that deep, but it was a very clever one in front of the left fielder. The moment the ball was hit, Saka in the right field also reacted immediately and went to catch the ball.

"Landed!"

"But the defense is also very fast!"

But he failed to catch the ball before it hit the ground. However, Sakai managed to catch it before it bounced out and then quickly passed it to Masuko at third base.

"Snapped!"

The time when the ball entered the glove and the time when the runner stepped on the base seemed to coincide, but they had no choice but to investigate which side was faster because the runner on first base was also approaching the base.

"despair!"

"Snapped!"

The sound of the ball entering the glove and the sound of the runner stepping on the base overlapped again.

This time, everyone looked at the referee with anticipation.

After a moment, the referee made a firm decision.

"Safety on base!"

"Oh oh oh!"

"Sibang!"

"Zi! Nice fight!"

"Bottom of the second inning! Catcher Purple got another hit in left field, with nobody out and runners on first and third base. This is a great opportunity for Xibang to score!"

The next batter for Xibang was the sixth batter, left fielder Yamashita...

"Tamba, calm down!"

"Focus on the hitters!"

"Leave it to us later!"

"Hu..." In the limited adjustment time, he slowly adjusted his breathing.

"That's right, calm down." Chris waited patiently for Danbo to respond, while observing the batter's intention.

The batter's stance is centered and his grip on the bat is moderate, and it seems that his main goal is to get a hit.

'The first pitch is a curve ball from the inside corner, the angle must be tricky enough.'

"Huh..." Tamba nodded slightly and glanced at Sano who was at third base ready to charge at any time.

"If you throw it too sweet, you'll definitely be kicked out..."

Then Danbo suppressed his wandering thoughts and, more importantly, focused on the opponent in front of him.

"call out!"

"Snapped!"

"nice shot!"

At the first pitch, facing this sharp curve ball, the batter swung with all his strength, but because it was the first time he saw it, he was unable to catch the hitting point from the exaggerated arc.

"..." Yamashita adjusted himself and got back into batting position. 'Nohara hit the first ball. He's really lucky...'

At this time, Nohara, the first batter in the dugout, smiled proudly. This was the blessing of the baseball gods, and his luck with the ball had always been like this.

The second pitch, a straight ball from the inside high corner...

"Qiang!"

"Snapped!"

"The outside world!"

Although he got two strikes right away, the subsequent confrontation was still quite tense.

Except for the ball, all other balls were hit out of bounds no matter where they were thrown, and not a single ball was spared.

"nice shot!"

"Batters out!"

"It got tangled up in the sixth pitch, and the seventh pitch was a forked ball to the outside corner, and the batter swung and missed!"

"Tamba! Good shot!"

"keep going!"

"One out! One out!"

Here, the players of Seidou are all happy for Tamba. As long as they can deal with the next batter, the game will go smoothly.

Chris was also slightly relieved. Although he was very good at pestering, it seemed that Xibang still couldn't catch Danbo's ball path.

And the runners on the bases, although they looked like they were ready to run at any time, were actually very cautious.

"Huh..." Danbo on the pitcher's mound took a deep breath and looked at the seventh batter who was coming up next. 'Don't be impatient, I can do it.'

'The first ball, a straight ball with a low inside angle, the ball path must be sharp! '

"Snapped!"

"nice shot!"

On the first pitch, the batter watched it go.

"It's trickier than I thought..." Looking at the two main players at second and third base, the batter stepped on the dirt under his feet and prepared to hit again.

“……” Watching the batter’s every move, Chris gave the signal for the next ball after a moment.

"Tamba, take care of him!"

"Tamba-senpai!"

"A straight ball to the inside corner!" The batter's pupils instantly opened.

"Steal a base!"

"Damn it!" It was so fast, Danbo gritted his teeth and swung his arm out with all his strength.

"Qiang!"

The ball bounced hard to the ground after being hit by the bat.

"Snapped!"

It was a ground ball that landed in front of first base, and Yuki was the first to react and step forward to catch the ball.

"Pass home plate!"

"Snapped!"

At this moment, everyone was shocked, only the sharp light in Chris's eyes gradually faded away.

"Runner out!"

"Danbo, two outs!" Chris calmly stood up and passed the ball to Danbo, raising his hand, "One out left!"

The pitcher throws the ball from the mound, the batter hits the ball from the strike zone, the first baseman catches the ball and throws it back to home plate, and the catcher tags out the runner.

This extremely smooth series of changes is a process that many baseball players have experienced and seen many times, and it is just a fleeting moment.

"Three people are out! Attackers and defenders switch!"

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It was a very unfavorable situation for Qingdao, but they managed to get through it smoothly...

Although the game ended without losing any points, Chris was in a very bad mood at the moment.

Even when facing Inashi, I didn't have such a bad feeling.

This feeling of being seen through is really disturbing and uncomfortable.

"..." The hot wind gently lifted the ends of his hair. Rong Chun looked up at the cloudless sky and then lowered the brim of his hat.

"It's already twenty goals..."

"Twenty more pitches."

"No way!"

"Mmmmm..."

For some reason, it became Fūtani who was pitching the ball. Haruichi refused to help him catch the ball again, while looking at Eijun suggestively.

"Eh..." Looking at the catcher who was leaving the field, Zi sighed, "He is really amazing..."

That was the result that finally emerged after a large amount of data analysis and reasoning about the situation and the opponent's personality.

"……" Hearing Zi Youzhong's exclamation, Niwa was surprised and silently took two steps back.

Usually, he always looks like he is thinking about something...

'Now it's more like...'

"Yazhilang..."

“…What…” Niwa, who was still complaining in his heart, shuddered inexplicably when he was suddenly called out like that.

"Are you ready?" Zi turned around and looked at Niwa and asked lightly.

"I'm ready!" Niwa's expression suddenly became serious.

"..." Hearing Zi's question, the other players also became serious, "Sato! Why don't you warm up!"

"Furiya! Don't try to get away with it by pretending to be asleep!"

"What does it matter if I throw twenty more balls..."

"No! Koharu is here to help me catch the ball!"

"Those ten balls..."

"no!"

"Then Miyuki-senpai, help me catch the ball."

"Miyuki is warming up Kawakami-senpai!"

"Hey! Why is Kawakami a senior but I don't have one?"

"..." Looking at the noisy cowshed, Danbo was speechless. This was not the school cowshed...

But seeing them so relaxed, I felt a little relieved.

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