Diamond Ace: Another Story of Sawamura

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In the seventh inning, Qingdao started batting from the first batter.

For the first pitch, Kuramochi hit the bat directly. The moment the ball hit the ground, he threw away the bat in his hand and ran to first base at a very fast speed.

"Third baseman!"

When the third baseman picked up the ball and turned to pass to first base, the runner was only a few steps away from the base, which really frightened the third baseman and he did not dare to hesitate at all.

But before the first baseman caught the ball, Kuramochi's legs were clearly better.

"Safety!"

"Not bad..." Ryosuke walked out of the waiting area with a smile, greeted the referee and then stood in the batter's box, giving people the impression that he was a polite and well-behaved child.

Yagi, who was closest to Ryosuke, looked at the smiling batsman and inexplicably felt that "this person is very dangerous."

Now the curveball has been completely targeted by the hitters of Qingdao, so he definitely can't throw it easily anymore. For now, he can only focus on the straight ball.

'The first ball, a low straight ball from the outside corner! '

"……" Kuramochi, who had been keeping a distance from the base to create a sense of security, stole a base just before the pitcher threw the ball.

"Steal a base!"

"!" Hearing his teammates' exclamations, it was impossible for Maki to retract his posture, so he had to grit his teeth and quickly throw the ball out.

While Ryosuke was looking at the incoming ball, he was also paying attention to Kuramochi out of the corner of his eye. When he determined that the ball had deviated from the strike zone, he stopped swinging.

"Bad ball!"

"Damn it..." Yagi caught the ball and quickly threw it to second base, but as soon as the ball slipped out of his hands, he knew it was too late.

"Safety!"

After successfully stealing the base, Kuramochi began to leave the base boldly to disrupt the pitcher's rhythm.

Maki immediately looked at Kuramochi on second base with anger, asking him to provoke him like this, and then threw a pinball to second base...

"Hehe..." However, this level of restraint obviously posed no threat to Kuramochi. After several unsuccessful attempts, Kuramochi looked at Maki, who was obviously unhappy, and continued to provoke him proudly.

"Maki!" Yagi tapped his glove hard to draw Maki's attention back. The restless runner was troublesome, but ignoring the man in the batter's box was not a good idea. 'Focus on the batter, and leave the runner to me!'

"Heh..." Looking at Maki on the pitcher's mound, Ryosuke's smile deepened, and his hidden thoughts were obvious.

"Tsk..." Maki pulled the brim of his hat, glared at Ryosuke, and threw the baseball with all his strength.

"nice shot!"

Facing the second ball, Ryosuke remained unmoved and chose to watch silently, because the previous attack was completely aimed at Maki's curve ball, so the possibility of a curve ball in this inning was not great.

Then what comes next will just be... a straight ball!

"Qiang!"

Ryosuke successfully hit the expected straight ball and sent it over the second baseman's head.

Ryosuke threw away the bat with satisfaction, but the moment he raised his foot to run the base, he felt a sense of discomfort from his right ankle, which made him gasp and frown.

Kuramochi at second base had already heard the sound and moved. Ryosuke gritted his teeth and endured the severe pain as he ran towards first base. Now was a great chance to score and he must not miss it!

"Quick pass to first base!"

When he heard the catcher's call, Ryosuke was the first to see the pass from the center fielder. His expression darkened and he rushed towards the base not far in front of him.

Amid the flying dust, the stadium fell into silence at this moment, and the time it took for the ball to fall into the glove and the time it took for the runner to touch the base was almost the same.

The difference lies in the referee's judgment.

Under everyone's gaze, the referee was silent for a moment, then made the announcement that the ball was safely on base with both hands raised!

"Safety on base!"

"Ryo-san! Good job!"

"Isashiki, go on!"

Everyone in Qingdao could not hide their joy. No one was out, there were runners on first and third base, and it was the center fielder's turn to bat. It was the best situation ever.

Qingdao's attack horn has now sounded...

Amid the expectant cheers from the audience, the center batters stepped onto the field one by one. Isashiki was the first to walk onto the field with his bat in his hand, looking ferocious.

"Boy! Watch me blow you into pieces!" Izashiki threatened, and facing the first high ball from the inside corner, he chopped it out with the force of a knife.

A hit to right field was enough for Kuramochi to run back to home base easily, and Ryosuke took over the second base position.

Seidou scored another run, and still with no one out, with runners on first and third base, it was the turn of the fourth batter, Tetsuya Yuki, who had no power, to come on.

"Yuki!"

"Zhe! Hit him out!"

"Maki!"

"Let's solve it one by one!"

The cheers coming from the audience seats and the rest area are full of their expectations for the players on the field and their most sincere trust.

"..." Maki panted and sorted out the current situation in his mind. Now he knew that the people in Qingdao were much stronger than he had imagined.

“……” At this time, Yagi, who was at home base, saw the unyielding look in Maki’s eyes and turned to look towards the rest area.

"Hmm..." Coach Ukai touched his chin and looked at Maki on the pitcher's mound.

It’s not that Maki’s pitching condition has declined, nor that he has lost his fighting spirit, but that his pitching has been completely seen through.

According to coach Ukai's many years of experience, Maki should be replaced now, but facing the fourth batter, the pressure on the pitcher who takes over must be great, and facing a lineup of this level, the risk is also quite high.

"Maki! The ball path is very good, throw it with all your strength!" After receiving the coach's instruction to continue throwing, Yagi placed his gloves in the position to receive the ball.

Hopefully, the goddess of luck will favor us. We don’t need a lot, we just need one elimination number urgently, and we will fight for it ourselves later.

"Qiang!"

With the first ball, Yuki hit the center of the ball solidly. The power of this hit seemed to be the last straw that broke the camel's back.

The ball passed through the outfield defense in an instant, hit the ground hard and bounced out...

"Ooooh! Another long hit to left field!"

"No one is out again, runners on first and third base!"

"Azhe! Good fight!"

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"The attack horn in the last game was interrupted, which had a great impact on Xianquan..." Having said that, Chris looked at Kawakami who was resting.

"Yes..." After hearing what senior Chris said, Yuki nodded.

Kawakami's last pitch was very good. Although it was very bold for Miyuki to throw that kind of pitch, it is obviously bolder for a pitcher to throw a pitch that is beyond expectations and norms.

To be honest, it is quite rare to be able to throw a slider with a small deviation to a deviation close to a curveball, and this is without losing the slider's ball speed and the first half having the same trajectory as a straight ball.

If this ball was not a coincidence, but could be perfectly reproduced in a later stage, this ball would definitely become synonymous with Kawakami.

"..." Then Miyuki took the bat and secretly glanced at Sawamura before going on the field.

Unexpectedly, he not only calmed Kawakami's emotions, but also took the opportunity to boost the momentum of the batting line. It can only be said that his move was indeed good.

However, I still feel a little unwilling. I am the catcher, so why are the similar words coming from my mouth not as useful as those from a first-year pitcher?

After conceding consecutive points, sophomore player Maki was replaced, but the subsequent pitcher could not withstand the momentum of Seidou and was hit by the fifth batter Masuko which went through second base, resulting in another run lost.

When facing Miyuki, the sixth batter, Senquan still implemented the walk strategy and chose to let the batter hit out when there were runners on first and second base.

Although the process was quite difficult, they still got three outs with tenacious defense.

In the eighth inning, pitchers from both sides tenaciously resisted the attacks from the other side's batting line and tried their best to throw their best balls, so that no points were lost in this inning.

The game went to the ninth inning with a score of 7-2...

In the last game, Xianquan was unable to withstand the fierce bombardment of Qingdao's batting line and lost another point.

Even so, Xianquan's attack in the second half of the inning was not affected. The third graders' persistence did not allow them to give up the game so easily, and the batters tried their best to stick to the ball.

"Great, no problem!"

"Let's take it back bit by bit!"

Suddenly, I want to cry...

Beside me are the cheers of my teammates and on the field are the hard-working figures of the seniors.

Maki's hands trembled uncontrollably as he gripped the railing. In his heart, he had long known that he had not joined Qingdao... not because they had not invited him...

"It's just because I didn't have the courage to join them... But... I kept it to myself... I am a member of this team now..."

"I'm sorry..." Seeing the seniors trying their best, Maki finally bent down and leaned on the railing, tears streaming down his face, "I'm sorry..."

Even though they knew the outcome was a foregone conclusion, Senquan's batting line still held on to the pitch tenaciously and snatched a point from Kawakami at the last minute.

"competition is over!"

"Third-year player Danbo passed the baton to second-year player Kawakami. The two pitchers' relay perfectly blocked the opponent!"

"After three years, Qingdao High School has made it to the finals!"

"Good!" Amidst cheers, Kawakami quietly clenched his fists and greeted his teammates who were celebrating the result of the game.

In response to the enthusiastic cheers from Qingdao, every player from Xianquan walked with tears in their eyes, supporting each other.

"This year... the hurdles for the semifinals are still this high..." Coach Ukai walked out of the rest area after the players lined up for the game, his face full of dejection.

"Every player played very hard. It was a well-trained team...Our players didn't give up until the end...but in the end, they only gained the most important thing, which was confidence..."

"..." Seeing the opposing coach Kataoka take off his hat and salute, Coach Ukai also took off his hat and saluted, 'Humph... I underestimated my opponent, I'm still not mature enough...'

"salute!"

"Thanks for the advice!"

Amid the applause of the audience, the two players paid tribute to each other...

The match between Qingdao and Sensen ended with 8-3.

Seidou High School still has one more win to advance to Koshien...

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