Diamond Ace: Another Story of Sawamura

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"whee..."

Not wanting to lose at this little game, Eijun followed the Kominato brothers and 'ran into' the two brothers outside the cafeteria at just the right moment.

Therefore, he "found Haruichi" before Fūya in the cafeteria and won this little game.

The loser of the game must fulfill the winner's wish, any wish.

"..." Furuya looked at the smiling Eijun with an arrogant attitude as if he was the winner, but he was just a little short of "I'll admit defeat..."

"Hehe..." Eijun made a small victory gesture, then motioned for Furuya to come over, "My wish is very simple, and it must be something that Furuya can easily achieve..."

Seeing Eijun's mysterious look, Jōgō leaned over to listen.

Then, Eijun's tiny voice came into his ears, and it penetrated into Furuya's ears along with his breathing, "My wish is that you help me eat all the natto this year!"

"..." It was rare for Jōgōu to show a strange expression. He gave Rongchun a puzzled look to confirm, "That's it?"

"Don't tell anyone!" Eijun's serious expression was enough to answer Fūya's doubts, that's it.

Although he has long been able to eat natto without any expression, no matter how many years have passed, he still cannot accept the sticky texture and taste of natto.

Under the expressionless face when eating natto, there is a churning esophagus and stomach, and a reflexive consciousness of wanting to vomit at any time...

"?" Haruichi, who was sitting opposite, looked at the two people who had been acting sneaky from just now in a strange way. He wanted to ask what was wrong, but he saw Rongchun suddenly froze with a look of surprise.

Haruichi noticed that the others were more shocked than Rongchun. He turned his head and looked back strangely. For a moment, he was as shocked as the others. What did Sparta experience? "Increase..."

"After dinner, do a simple warm-up and set off on time at 7 o'clock."

At this time, Director Kataoka and Rei Takashima, who were discussing today's game, walked in. The first thing Kataoka saw was the bus, and he stopped talking abruptly, "Bus..."

The scene fell into an awkward silence for a while, and Zengzi's expression gradually changed during this awkward silence, and she even felt like crying.

"... Masuko..." After a moment of silence, Kataoka asked seriously, "What do you want to say?"

"puff..."

“Hahahahahaha~! That’s too much! Supervisor!”

"By the way, what happened to your head? Masuko... did you change your appearance?"

"I forgot to put the shaving accessories I usually use..." Under the unscrupulous teasing of his teammates, Zengzi blushed and explained what happened.

“Ahahahaha…” The one who laughed the most exaggeratedly was Kuramochi from the same dormitory, “Masuko-senpai…it suits you very well! I feel like my courage has doubled!”

Yukichi standing by was holding his stomach and laughing till tears came out.

"That's great, I finally have a companion." Ryosuke, who was sitting in front of Tamba, turned around and looked at Tamba, smiling happily for him.

"..." Tanbo was suddenly speechless, and felt in his heart that there was no need to be happy for him.

"Hahaha..." Eijun held up his face and admired Masuko-senpai's bald head. 'Come to think of it, it seems something like this has happened before...'

Masuko was enduring an experience that she shouldn't have had to endure. When she turned around, she saw her supervisor and Takashima laughing secretly, which made her feel even more resentful.

"Ahem..." Seeing Zengzi's complaining expression, Kataoka coughed and became a little serious, controlling his smile.

"Since it has already happened, there is nothing we can do about it, but remember not to make such small mistakes during the game!"

"Hahahahaha!!!"

After a fun breakfast, everyone got ready and boarded the bus at seven o'clock, heading to their game venue today, Meiji Jingu Baseball Stadium.

Today, the top four teams from West Tokyo will compete here to set the stage for the finals.

The conference posted the notice in the most conspicuous place at the entrance to inform the supporters of each school who arrived early about the order and time of today's matches.

The first game is at 10:00 am, the match between Qingdao High School and Sensen Academy.

The second game is at 12:50 pm, the match between Inagaki Industry and Sakurazawa High School.

"Ah! Here we come!"

"Qingdao!"

As soon as Qingdao's bus drove into the parking area outside the stadium, it was quickly discovered by people who came to support the team.

After the bus stopped, the supporters watched as the contestants from the first team got off the bus one after another, and they shouted for their favorite contestants.

"Azhe!"

"Chris!"

"Sawamura!"

"Jiangu!"

The loud cheers were a reflection of the highest expectations for that player, while the surroundings of the other team that had just arrived seemed too quiet.

“What a warm welcome...”

In this team, the most eye-catching one is the Xianquan Ace who stands out from the crowd.

In response to his teammates' sighs, Maki simply raised his chin and glanced at the Qingdao team from a high position.

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In the first game of the semi-finals, the starting players were the aces of both teams, Tamba and Maki.

As Danbo made his first start this summer, he naturally wanted to give his best performance and was in high spirits from the start.

At the beginning of the game, pitchers from both sides threw good pitches, and the batters who were not yet accustomed to the pitchers' pitches could not hit the pitches well either.

"..." Rongjun raised his eyes to look at Tanba-senpai who was still in high spirits on the pitcher's mound, but quickly looked away and continued reading.

"..." Chris, who had no chance to play today and only needed to help the pitchers warm up and adjust their condition, turned around and glanced at Rongjun.

It was clearly an important semi-final, but Rongjun seemed to be indifferent to the outcome of the game. As soon as he entered the rest area, he sat in the back, chewing candy and reading a book, as if he was oblivious to what was happening outside.

"He probably feels calm and confident that he won't lose this match... That's why he does other things so recklessly..." Chris consoled himself, but it's not a good idea to make Furuya behave like this...

"Kawakami, it's almost time to warm up."

"Yes!"

When Rongchun was immersed in studying, the game had entered the bottom of the third inning. After one out, the Xianquan batters, who had taken a turn, began to launch their attacks one after another.

By seizing Tamba's straight ball and hitting it hard, the situation immediately turned to Xianquan's side. With the momentum, they not only scored the first point, but also sent two batters to base.

"Two are out! Two are out!"

"Kill them!"

The cheers from the audience and the support from the players on the field made Tamba feel the enthusiasm from the stadium. Even though there were runners on first and second base, he did not show any hesitation.

"It seems that the opposing team is targeting Danbo's slightly sweeter straight ball." Looking at this situation, Chris also guessed the opponent's strategy.

"The way to fight is to never shoot at the ball that is relatively far away!" Chris thought of this and glanced at the supervisor in the rest area who did not change his expression. It was very meaningful to let Danbo start in this game.

It is of course good that Danbo is not affected. If he can maintain this state and continue to pitch and produce good results, this game will be completely as hoped and allow Danbo to recover.

"Why did you stop at second base? Why didn't you aim at third base?" Faced with the assistant coach's helpless expression, coach Ukai touched his chin and complained about his own players.

"But never mind, we've got the initiative now." This result still satisfied coach Ukai, "Listen carefully, the opponent's pitcher is starting to show signs of fatigue. Now is our chance, don't let up on your hitting!"

"Yes!"

The development was completely within expectations. Director Ukai's eyes were all on Director Kataoka in the rest area opposite. "He's still too young..."

Just because of his performance in the previous game, Tamba was suddenly allowed to return to the starting lineup. This was the most direct manifestation of Coach Kataoka's trust in the players.

To be honest, coach Ukai feels that Tamba was still able to throw such an easy-to-hit pitch in the semi-finals, and other pitchers might be better than him.

At this point, Danbo also knew that his performance was not perfect, and this performance was not enough for him to stand out from the crowd, and he easily relaxed in pitching.

Realizing that the opposing team was aiming at Tamba's straight ball, Miyuki naturally would not do as the opponent wished. After throwing two changeups, he still threw a changeup for the third ball.

"Strikeout!"

As the referee announced the verdict, the hand that Coach Ukai was touching his chin tightened unconsciously, pinching his face so much that it was deformed. "The ball matching has changed! It was indeed the players' own tactical approach. No wonder he trusted those players so much..."

"Maki, come here..." As the players were getting ready to go on the field, coach Ukai waved back the tall pitcher, "Listen carefully, the opponent hasn't caught the timing of your pitch yet. Didn't they all hit ground balls in the first round?"

"If you pitch according to the standard, you can easily get outs." According to the pitcher's condition, appropriate encouragement is also a test of the supervisor's qualifications, "You must have confidence to pitch!"

"Hmm..." Maki nodded without changing his expression, and it was impossible to tell whether he was listening or not.

"It doesn't matter. You are in great shape today. Go ahead with your head held high!"

Unlike Coach Kataoka, Coach Ukai is not the kind of person who trusts the players 100%.

In his opinion, it is natural that players have good and bad times. "However, Maki's performance today was really good. This is the first time I have seen him pitch so vigorously..."

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"How is the opponent's pitching? Can we catch it?" Before going on the field to attack, Kataoka gathered the players for a small meeting, and also wanted to take this opportunity to see the players' condition.

"Thanks to yesterday's practice, I have some impression of it in my mind."

“The curveball’s trajectory was a little different, but that was expected.”

"Aiming for a curveball?"

"..." Seeing the players' calm reactions, Kataoka raised his lips in satisfaction, "The hits should be low and heavy, and those who are on base should actively aim for the next base."

"No matter what kind of giant it is, if he loses his balance, he will fall to the ground!"

"Oooo!"

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