Diamond Ace: Another Story of Sawamura

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The game quickly reached the top of the fourth inning, and Seidou's starting batter was Isashiki.

Although the ball path was expected, it was actually quite difficult to hit. Facing the first low ball from the outside corner, Isashiki swung generously and missed...

"Come on horseback!"

However, Isashiki's voice was still as loud as ever, and his roar alone was enough to scare the umpire and catcher closest to him.

Qingdao's batting line had a tough time, which made the audience look embarrassed, but some discerning people could see the reason behind it.

After all, with Maki's height, the ball he throws is relatively low.

Moreover, despite his height of 195cm, he pitches with a small step, which is even rarer than traditional Japanese pitchers, and his center of gravity is also high, which makes the thrown ball instantly higher, and the angle difference of the pitch becomes greater.

"Damn..." Another missed shot made Isafuki bite his teeth even harder, 'The weight moved smoothly, and the wrist swung powerfully...'

Isashiki is not the kind of hitter who would guess the ball. As long as the ball comes, "Just hit it!"

"Qiang!"

The unexpected sound of the hit startled both the pitcher and the catcher of Xianquan, but the ball was not hit well and flew to the third base, where it was caught and the player was out.

"Ahhh! What a shame!"

"Near third base!"

Unexpectedly, the curveball used to decide the outcome was actually caught. When the Xianquan player was shocked, Yuki stood in the batter's box to the cheering song.

The annoying waiting posture and imposing eyes made Yagi frown, "It's better not to fight with this person, just use a low ball to deal with him..."

The perfect curve ball, with an exaggerated drop and a difficult path, was accurately caught by the bat, and Yuki hit the ball out with the momentum of stepping on his foot and swinging the bat.

'Another curveball!' A premonition flashed through Yagi's mind, and then he quickly reminded the direction of the ball, "Three..."

Before the catcher reminded him, the third baseman had already reacted and ran back to catch the ball, but even after he reacted, he couldn't keep up with the speed of the ball.

The baseball hit the ground hard and went right past the third baseman's glove.

"Put it through!"

"Long hit route to left field!"

"Well done, Captain!"

Amid the cheers of the stadium, Yuki easily occupied second base. When he punched the dugout in celebration, he naturally received responses from his teammates and a satisfied nod from the coach.

Two consecutive curveballs were enough to make Senquan realize that Qingdao was aiming at Maki's curveball, and Qingdao's increasingly accurate hitting made them grit their teeth and stare at the next batter.

"No matter what, use your body to stop the ball!"

Masuko weighed the bat and, to the sound of the brass band's cheering song, got into position to hit the ball. "Boom..."

The moment Maki threw the ball, his pupils suddenly dilated. The batter actually took a bunt stance at this moment and hit the ball out.

"Ah...it was hit near there!" The third baseman, who was originally defending against the long hit, hurried back to defend in a panic.

At this time, Yuki was already approaching the empty third base, and the third baseman caught the ball and passed it to first base. Before the first baseman caught the ball, Masuko had already stepped onto the base.

"Oh oh oh oh oh!"

"An unexpected hit!"

"One out, runners on first and third base!"

In this situation, the situation can be reversed at any time, with just one hit.

"Change your mood and try again!" Yagi called a timeout and ran to the pitcher's mound to calm Maki's emotions first. They must not panic at this time.

"Sorry...I'm sorry, Maki..." The third baseman also felt guilty. After all, many balls were hit towards third base today, and he indeed failed to defend well.

"Don't waver. The coach also said that you are in good shape today. Just deal with the next batter!"

After a short break, the game resumed. The moment the batter stepped onto the field, the atmosphere in the stadium reached its climax again.

"Please! Miyuki!"

"Hit a good shot, asshole!"

"There are people on first and third base now!"

"..." Looking at the batters coming on the field, coach Ukai rarely complained or said anything. Instead, he touched his chin silently and then gave a secret signal.

Then, to everyone's astonishment, the catcher of Xianquan stood up and stood outside the home plate, casually raising his glove to ask for the ball.

"Xianquan's pitching and fishing duo did not fight with Miyuki! Instead, they chose the bases loaded strategy!"

It was too risky to go head-on with this batter compared to the next one.

"..." Yukichi's originally confident smile suddenly showed some lack of interest.

"..." As the next batter, Sakai squatted in the waiting area with a frown on his face. He had seen from this tactic that he was completely underestimated.

"Four bad balls!"

After the umpire called a ball, Miyuki noticed Maki kicking his feet in dissatisfaction on the pitcher's mound as he ran to the bases. "That guy looked like he didn't care even if we had to decide the outcome..."

It's better to be hit out than to be walked.

Many pitchers would have this kind of proud idea of ​​facing death head-on, but Xianquan obviously does not need such an impulsive pitcher.

Coach Ukai is well aware that baseball is an efficiency-oriented sport, and the team should try to avoid competing with batters who have the potential to score and choose a more conservative tactic.

Despite being underestimated, Sakai continued to aim for the curveball, hitting the base of the baseball with his bat and yanking it toward left field.

"Good!" The distance of this high fly ball was enough for third base to run back. Sakai stared at the ball while running as fast as possible, 'I have fulfilled my minimum duty...'

At this time, Yuki, who was on third base, had one foot on the base and the other foot stepped out to steal the base. The moment the ball fell into the left fielder's glove, "Run--!!"

Following the instructions of the baserunning instructor, Yuki rushed out in an instant and ran towards home plate.

"Onuma!!!" Without any pause, the left fielder quickly threw the ball to the second baseman the moment he received the ball.

"Yagi!!" The second baseman threw the ball back to home plate in one smooth catch and throw.

The runner's slide, the catcher's tag, and the two people colliding at home plate, each with their own wishes, both looked at the umpire, waiting for the final judgment.

"Runner out!!"

"OK!!!"

"Sensen Academy showed smooth and excellent defense. With one out and the bases loaded, Seidou High School didn't seize the great opportunity!"

At this moment, the commentary broadcast and the cheers of Xianquan mixed together, causing the audience to tremble.

Judging from the results, Xianquan's method of avoiding confrontation based on data and choosing to advance was a successful choice.

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"It's useless to think about the past. What's important is the next game." Kataoka was upset about the loss in the first half. After all, the game had just begun. "Tamba, just try your best to pitch! I believe your strength is enough to support this game!"

"Yes!"

The supervisor's affirmation made Danbo quite excited. Today he stood on the pitcher's mound with the determination to complete the game. He had no intention of giving up the mound.

"Defend with all your strength!"

"Yes!"

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Xianquan started from the bottom of the at-bat. Danbo was determined to pitch to the end, and with the encouragement of the supervisor, he was in excellent form from the start, striking out nine batters and one.

"Huh..." Looking at Miyuki who was playing the ball carefully, Tamba cooperated very well and threw the ball he wanted. He also wanted to make up for the loss of points in the third game due to the opponent's sneak attack and prove his strength as a ace.

"The second pitch is a low curveball to the inside corner..." Aiming at Miyuki's glove, Tamba nodded and quickly threw the ball.

The ball flew straight towards the batter's face, and the batter was so scared that he subconsciously shrank back to avoid the baseball, and it was this dodge that caused him to miss the ball.

As the baseball approached the batter, it drew a sharp arc, went into the home plate strike zone, and flew into the catcher's glove.

"Snapped!"

"Two good shots!"

"OK! OK! Nice shot, Tamba-senpai!" The ball was still very sharp, and Miyuki said as he threw the ball back.

"What a sharp curveball..." The batter gripped the bat tightly, stood back to the batting position, and waited for the ball. "What will be the next ball..."

The catcher had already spotted the pitcher's straight ball, but the supervisor still told them to aim for the straight ball, so...

Looking at the ball flying straight towards him, not sure whether it was a breaking ball or a straight ball, the batter's eyes flashed with determination, and he aimed at the ball's path and swung the bat.

"Qiang!"

The batter was delighted by the sound of the baseball and bat hitting each other, and he pulled the ball out with force. When he saw the baseball flying out, he dropped the bat and rushed to the base.

Sure enough, no matter what kind of pitcher or catcher they are, it is impossible for them not to throw a single straight ball, so how can they play the game relying only on changing balls?

"Right outfield!" The ball was hit so beautifully that Yuki couldn't help but be surprised.

Originally, I wanted to test whether Xianquan would change his target because of the change in the ball distribution in the previous game. Now it seems that he is determined to bite the straight ball of Senior Danbo.

At this time, Hakushu, who was stationed in the right outfield, was also keeping a close eye on the ball flying towards the field. The ball landed in a very clever direction, between center field and right field, and very far away.

"Hakushu, keep your eyes on the ball!"

On the other side where Hakushu was running after the ball, Isashiki also came running to support him. Looking at the ball that showed no signs of falling, both of them gritted their teeth and ran towards the home plate wall.

I didn't expect to be hit so far. Yuki felt incredible. Could this second batter have such great strength? He seemed to have seen the pale face of Tanba Senior.

If this is hit out, the blow will be too great, 'You must catch it!'

The baseball, which was being closely watched by everyone, finally began to fall near the outfield stands, but this was still a clever landing direction.

"I must catch it!" Isashiki increased his speed completely without caring about the danger of hitting the wall, and overtook Shirasu who was closer to the ball. He raised his leg, stepped on the wall, and jumped up, trying his best to stretch his glove towards the baseball.

"Oh oh oh oh oh!"

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