Diamond Ace: Another Story of Sawamura

·

"But... I think the source of his character is also based on facts. He is very strong... both in terms of pitching completion and psychological aspects."

Kanamaru's affirmation of Eijun probably started during the Red and White Tournament.

Being a pitcher, he played as a catcher, which seemed unbelievable to everyone at that time, but his appearance did change the situation of the game.

When he was on the pitcher's mound pitching, he directly changed the mentality of the freshmen with his performance, and after the game he analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of everyone with incredible accuracy.

The game between Komashiro High School and Kuroshikan that followed completely refreshed his worldview on baseball.

After only three games, no one had any objection to his promotion to the first team.

"That guy doesn't have much competitive desire as a pitcher, but he is always ready to play at any time. Once he steps on the pitcher's mound, he becomes a completely different person. So, Chris, don't worry too much about him."

"Besides, I think it is precisely because of his respect for Senior Chris that he is most afraid of disappointing you. Otherwise, he would have gone wandering around the world long ago and would not be as obedient as he is now!"

"..." After listening to Kanamaru's advice, Chris was also a little surprised, "So all the first-years agree with Eijun so much? That's great! I was worried that this kid's personality would easily offend people."

"...Not entirely..."

"Chris-senpai! Kanemaru! Can we continue to throw?"

While the audience and reporters were wondering where the much-anticipated super fast pitcher was, catcher Miyuki was also looking for the guy who had disappeared.

Then, I finally found this guy sleeping on the bench in the indoor practice field. "This guy... is actually slacking off here openly... Even I can't laugh anymore..."

"Get up!" Shiji Yuki was so angry that he yelled, "You've finished running, right?"

"I'm done running..." Jyoutani, awakened by the roar, sat up. Although he had a rest, he seemed to be more tired.

"Hurry back to the bullpen for pitching practice!"

"But it's very hot today, let me rest for a while..."

"Of course it's still hot and humid! It's summer already!"

Miyuki led Fūya out of the room, worried that he would still be like this during the competition, and kept nagging, "You didn't finish your meal yesterday, did you? You'll get tired if you don't eat well!"

"This summer is hotter than in previous years! You'd better be prepared!" Having said that, Miyuki remembered this and turned to look at Fūtani who was walking unsteadily.

'Oh... by the way... Furuya just came to Tokyo from Hokkaido this year. This is his first time experiencing the scorching heat in Tokyo. Could it be that his body can't adapt to the hot temperature! '

In order to check Furuya's condition, Miyuki asked him to try a few pitches in the bullpen. The result was the same as before: he threw the ball with all his strength, and the ball was still very powerful...

"Okay! That's all for today! Go take a rest after you finish your body exercises."

"Chris-senpai..." Without even giving Furuya a chance to fight for his life, Miyuki kicked Furuya out of the bullpen. He needed to report the matter to the supervisor.

"..." Nodding to Chris to indicate that it was okay, Eijun also walked out of the bullpen and did body exercises with Fūya, "It's very hot, Fūya, did you drink enough water?"

"Ah..." I forgot...

While Qingdao was preparing for the match with Mingchuan, Mingchuan was also preparing for the match with Qingdao, but their preparations were more thorough.

The ball at a speed of 160 kilometers per hour rushed out of the pitching machine violently and hit the blocking net before it stopped. They also knew that they would be killed if hit by such a ball, but they still rushed to stand in the batter's box.

Fujio Mine and Yamato, who came to Mingchuan from Qingdao for an interview, saw this scene. "Is the batting practice with the pitching machine set to the fastest speed to deal with Furuya?"

On the other side is Yang Shunchen, who believes that "only by practicing shooting in actual combat can you hone your ball-handling skills." He practices shooting nearly 200 times every day and mercilessly mocks his teammates' striking abilities.

'At first glance, this team looks like Yang Sun-shin's personal team, but the other players seem to be enjoying baseball practice.'

Looking at this team, Feng Fuji thought that Qingdao couldn't relax. 'Once this kind of team shows its momentum, it will be very difficult to deal with. Even a strong team like Qingdao may be defeated by them...'

·

Due to the continued high temperature and considering the game tomorrow, Kataoka ended the day's training early.

Not satisfied with today's training volume, many people continued to practice more in the evening, including Rong Chun who was watching the fun on the sidelines.

He looked at his brother Kominato who had been practicing hitting in front of the block for an hour and still didn't stop, and then looked at Furutani on the pitcher's mound who clearly said he was just going to check his condition but kept increasing the number of pitches.

"..." Rongjun chose to continue studying hard. After all, the catcher who caught the ball was not Chris-senpai.

"..." Looking at Rongchun who was reading a book nearby, Chris smiled helplessly. He just changed the place where he was reading and didn't need to follow him out...

"Furuya, it's time to rest! You have to get up very early tomorrow..." After taking the last ball, Miyuki issued an ultimatum.

"I'm not satisfied with my pitching yet. Please practice with me again."

Seeing that Furuya had finished pitching, Chris walked over to Eijun and said, "Eijun, do you want to practice your pitching for a bit?"

"Yeah!" Rongchun stood up with a surprised look on his face, "Senior Chris, do you want to help me with the ambush?"

"Practice with Miyuki. You two haven't been cooperating well lately, have you?"

"No, I don't feel like pitching right now." Surprise turned into disappointment, and Rongjun responded by sitting down again and continuing to read.

Chris couldn't help but twitch his lips at Rong Junhao's rejection without hesitation, and squatted down with bent knees, "Tomorrow's game is Yuki's squatting catcher, and you may also play in the game..."

And considering Fūya's unstable state, the chances of Eijun playing are very high. "Isn't it your standard to be ready to play at any time?"

"..." Looking at Chris squatting in front of him, Rongjun turned his eyes away and analyzed softly: "...This is for the team. What's more, Miyuki is so much weaker than Chris. If he can't even catch my ball, he can't even compete..."

"Yeah... So Eijun needs to train Miyuki's catching skills well."

I didn't expect that he would find so many excuses just to throw the ball to Yuki. Chris was helpless, 'How much does this kid dislike Yuki!'

"Miyuki, help Eijun check his condition!"

"Ah...Okay!" Sawamura was willing to pitch, which was a development that Miyuki had not expected.

Although Eijun was very reluctant to stand opposite Miyuki, this did not stop him from starting to mock that face that seemed to be so complacent.

"So, the reason why you couldn't catch the ball I threw with all my strength is because you're too weak. I hope you won't be disappointed again this time."

"It's because you totally refuse to get close to me..." Yuki muttered humbly.

The two of them had so few opportunities to cooperate that it was almost like they were both starting players in the same team. It seemed that Miyuki only received the ball from Eijun once during training camp...

"Is this really the amount of time a starting pitcher and catcher should have to work together?" Thinking of this, Miyuki really wanted to beat himself to death.

"Ze..." Miyuki wanted to ask about the arrangement of pitches and types of balls, but when he saw Sawamura standing on the pitcher's mound, he prepared to catch the ball, "Throw a few balls first to warm up your shoulders!"

As soon as he stepped onto the pitcher's mound, Eijun's entire aura changed completely. Now there was nothing in front of him that he liked or disliked, only the catcher's glove.

Hearing the sound coming from his gloves, Miyuki felt like he was getting goosebumps. This was a completely different sound from the sound of Fūya catching the ball.

A good catcher can make the ball sound more powerful when he catches it, and some great pitchers can do that themselves.

Fūya and Eijun are obviously the latter.

The difference is that Furuya can make the sound purely by strength, while Eijun relies more on technique to make the pitching make the sound, which makes people feel the quality of each ball more intuitively.

After throwing more than a dozen balls, Eijun moved his shoulders to make sure there was nothing wrong, and said, "Miyayuki-senpai, you should be ready too."

"bring it on..."

Although Eijun asked this, he had already thrown the ball quickly. He suddenly threw a fast ball and Miyuki almost couldn't react. Fortunately, he caught it, otherwise he would have been disliked again.

Similar to last time, Eijun started with straight balls, increasing in difficulty with each ball, and Miyuki did not have any particular requirements for the ball path.

What he needs to pay attention to is the ball that will suddenly disappear, 'An improved version of Carter's ball! This time, I must catch that ball!'

Yuki's patience finally paid off with the ball he was waiting for. It looked like a straight ball, but suddenly it turned a corner in front of the batter's zone. Yuki quickly caught up with it and successfully put the ball into his glove.

"Well...if I still can't catch it, I won't deserve the title of main catcher." Compared to Miyuki's excitement when he caught the ball, Eijun was quite calm.

"Haha..." Chris also found the reactions of these two people funny.

Although he could catch most of the balls thrown to him, he would still miss one or two balls. The difficulty of catching the ball did not discourage Yuki, but instead made him more and more serious.

Regardless of the speed, trajectory or pitching posture, they are all exactly the same, and there is no noticeable difference at all.

Eijun held the ball in his glove and turned it a few times before deciding on the grip for the next ball. "Miyuki-senpai looks constipated... I'll be merciful and tell you the trajectory of the next ball! Bottom left corner..."

"..." After hearing what Eijun said, he threw the ball over. When Miyuki moved to the lower left corner, he quickly moved in the opposite direction, but the ball had already run away.

"Oh... From Miyuki-senpai's perspective it should be the lower right corner, but this time it's really the lower left corner." Eijun predicted the ball path again and then threw it.

'This damn boy makes me so angry...'

·