Diamond Ace: Another Story of Sawamura

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"Naomiya!"

"A Ming!"

"Let's see some awesome shots!"

"A Ming!"

"Just two more wins!"

"Let's get to Koshien!"

"A Ming!"

Before he even stepped onto the field, he could already hear enthusiastic cheers. When Eijun walked into the field, the first thing he saw was the bustling audience seats on the opposite side, and the Inami rest area which was the center of the cheers.

"There are more spectators..." It's obvious that they are all here for Inami without even looking at it. "Well... after all, he's the top candidate for the West Tokyo representative."

However, compared to that side, there are not many people here.

Eijun looked around and realized that he was heading towards the Sakurazawa dugout on third base.

Moreover, the seniors should be on the first base side because they can see Narimiya's pitch more clearly.

There were just too many people there, so Rongchun took out his cell phone and called senior Chris, but it rang for a while and no one answered.

"You didn't bring it..." Thinking that they were probably put in the car with the gift, Eijun glanced around the stadium seats, 'What should I do...'

If you want to be found, you have to appear in the most conspicuous place...

Rongchun finally chose to sit down right above the Sakurazawa rest area...

Moreover, you can directly see the entire rest area of ​​Inashi from here.

"Tsk... why are all the voices cheering for Ming? How annoying..."

At this time, the third-year third baseman Hideaki Yoshizawa, carrying his bat, couldn't help but complain about the cheers from the entire stadium directed at one person.

"Of course...he is our ace pitcher." The third-year second baseman Hirai Tsubasa next to him smiled helplessly.

"But I don't have a girlfriend..." At this time, the second-year shortstop Katsuyuki Shirakawa started his nagging mode and mocked his own ace.

"Because he is the younger brother." Carlos Kamiya added with a gloating look on his face.

Cheng Gong Ming, who was practicing pitching in the bullpen, was completely unaware that he was being ridiculed by the crowd and was very proud of the discussion his pitching had caused.

"Koshien is great, but Jingu is also good..." Ming stretched his shoulders and added with regret, "It would be great if we could have the competition all year long."

"You just don't want to participate in the practice!" Harada Masamiya, who was squatting, revealed his true intention with one sentence, put his gloves in place and continued to ask for the ball, "Another straight ball!"

"bump!"

On this side, the Qingdao group that was lost by Eijun appeared in an orderly manner on the side of the Inami stand. When they saw the straight ball thrown by Ming, they all had serious expressions.

"It seems to be in good condition!" Izashiki suddenly felt his teeth itching and couldn't help curling his lips, "The sound is really loud."

The rest of the people couldn't help but tense up as well. They could still vividly remember the scene of the seniors crying in pain on the court after being defeated by Inami last year.

At this moment, their inner resentment and regret, as well as their desire to defeat Inashi, were quite strong.

"Hehehe...Everyone is looking over here!" Ming in the bullpen was also sensitive to some kind of gaze, especially from Qingdao who was sure to be there.

"Just watch carefully...any little hope and dream...will be turned into despair by me——"

"Snapped!"

"What a sharp ball..." After hearing the sound of the ball entering the glove, Chun Shi couldn't help but exclaim, "With the changeup, it will be even more difficult to hit."

In response to this, Furutani, who had no chance to pitch today, had only one thought in his mind that became stronger: "I really want to go back and pitch as soon as possible..."

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"What a terrible sound..."

"No one here thinks we will win!"

"Honestly... it's pretty good to win against them once!"

"..." Because there were fewer people here and the voices were a little quieter, Rongjun vaguely heard the discussion of the Sakurazawa team members below the block and couldn't help but frowned.

"How can you say such things before the game!"

"Aren't we working hard just to win that one time?"

Coach Sakurazawa Sanae, who was also in the rest area, heard the players' self-deprecating and discouraging thoughts and interrupted them at the right time. Her affirmative expression was an acknowledgement of the efforts they had made so far.

"Everyone, the moment to change history has arrived!"

"professor..."

"The second match of the semi-finals begins now... Daocheng Industry vs. Sakurazawa High School!"

"Both teams assemble!"

"Come on, ahhhhh!"

"Drink ah ah ah!"

When the air raid alarm sounded, players from both schools stood facing each other at home plate with a determination not to give up.

"salute!"

"Please advise!"

The competition officially begins.

"The champion candidate faces the only metropolitan school in the top four!"

"So there's a baseball club in Sakurazawa..."

"It should be considered quite famous... because every year I was eliminated in the first round... Although it is a very famous high school for college entrance examinations, in terms of sports..."

“But they beat a seeded team in the third round?”

“It’s a miracle that we can reach the semi-finals...”

"..."Such comments could be heard in Sakurazawa's support area, showing that no one believed that this team could win.

Although he knew the result was true, Eijun still had some expectations for this team, "They beat the seeded team, that's the fact."

Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Sakurazawa High School.

Although the school is almost unknown in terms of sports, it is one of the best high schools in the city for further studies.

Coach Sanae was originally appointed as the consultant of the baseball club because he was pushed by other teachers, but he is not a casual person. Once he accepted the position, he was determined to train this team well.

However, after being eliminated in the first round for 20 consecutive years, no one felt ashamed of this record, and they even regarded participating in the competition as a commemoration...

Until they came to this high school...

Sanae met Nagao Akira and Inamoto Masaaki, both freshmen at the time, at the stadium where everyone else had left early.

"Hehe..." Facing the supervisor's doubts about why he hadn't gone home yet, Chang Xuming couldn't hide his joy and smiled: "When I think about being able to compete... I'm so excited..."

"We have just the right number of players on our team..." Hitoshi Yoshiki, who was in charge of catching the ball, had the same expression, "So we first-years can play right away..."

"They have been substitute players since junior high school." Although they had the same expression, Masaaki Inamoto said the reason for their excitement in a rude manner.

"Shut up! You're not even a substitute!"

"Supervisor...if..." Because he felt that what he was going to say next would be too self-righteous, Chang Xuming emphasized it again, "If..."

"Even though the chances are considered to be almost 0%, wouldn't it be amazing if we could make it to Koshien? Don't you think it would overturn the world's perception?"

"whee..."

"It doesn't cost money to talk anyway."

"..." I really didn't expect to hear such words from this team. Sanae clearly saw their love for baseball, "But if we continue like this...it will only be a dream..."

This team won its first victory a year later...

Although the practice match was not won beautifully, this victory did change the team's thinking.

The length of practice time may not be proportional to the strength of the team.

Coach Sanae thought a lot, read a lot of books about baseball, wrote down the problems that each person needed to overcome in a notebook, and gave it to everyone.

Whenever there is something that concerns me, I will write it down in my notebook, even during practice, from every skill to every day problem, goal...

As the number of laptops increased, the number of victories in practice matches also increased...

Until now, no one expected...

At the beginning of the game, Sakurazawa unexpectedly defeated Daocheng's first batter Carlos and second batter Shirakawa.

The ball was pitched very slowly but cleanly, which made Yuki, who was watching, alert. "Chris, Senior..."

"Well..." Chris also saw the reason, "He is a butterfly pitcher..."

"How is it?" When Baihe returned to the rest area, Supervisor Guoyou immediately came forward to ask.

"Although I noticed it when I watched the video, I didn't expect his butterfly ball to be so powerful..." While answering the supervisor's question, Baihe was still very unhappy, 'Damn it, damn it, damn it...'

"……"After hearing the contestant's most intuitive comments, coach Kunitomo twisted his neck with a crackling sound.

The strength of this team can be seen from the fact that they don't force the pass but let the ball bounce once...

But on the other hand...it means they know themselves very well...

Soon, the third batter Hideaki Yoshizawa was unable to adapt to the unpredictable and slow path of the ball and was eliminated.

"Ohhhh...Inami was actually hit three times!"

"Is that a butterfly ball?"

"The defense is also very solid, they are very powerful!"

"Butterfly ball..." Looking at the pitcher who was encouraged and surrounded by his teammates and ran back to the dugout, Rongjun bent down and leaned on his legs with his hands on his cheeks.

As the name suggests, the butterfly ball will produce a lot of turbulence because the ball will hardly rotate when it is ejected, causing its trajectory to be as erratic as a flying butterfly.

This kind of ball is extremely rare in professional baseball, like a cultural heritage, and there are only a few people in the league who know how to play it.

Because the butterfly ball changes so strangely, there are basically only two ways to play it, swing or not swing...

But even in the league, such rare pitchers are not so respected.

After all, strength and speed are obviously more appealing no matter where you are.

Another reason is that this kind of ball is a disaster for the catcher! Catchers who can stably squat and catch butterfly balls are quite rare. Once they miss, the result can be imagined...

Rongchun still remembers that he had encountered butterfly pitchers in the league game before, and their batting performance in that game was terrible.

"Fortunately, my short hit was good..."

Otherwise, you probably won’t even be able to touch the ball.

In short, it's a kind of...

The pitcher didn’t know how to control the ball, the batter didn’t know how to hit the ball, the catcher didn’t know how to catch the ball, and the coach didn’t know how to coach the weird pitches.

"A contradictory ball..."

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