Diamond Ace: Another Story of Sawamura

·

Inspired by Narimiya's pitching, the first-team batters who returned to Seidou couldn't wait to start batting practice.

"Really...congratulations on advancing to the finals!"

The principal and the dean of studies immediately rushed to the stadium to inquire about the team's condition and greet Coach Kataoka.

"There's nothing wrong so far!" The Dean of Studies wiped his sweat nervously, and carefully glanced at Supervisor Kataoka's expression, "The problem is what's next..."

"Do we have a chance of winning the remaining game?" Compared to the dean's hesitation, the principal asked directly with a smile.

"There's no need to be so direct..." Minister Ota couldn't help but mutter after hearing such a straightforward question.

"..." On this point, Takashima Rei remained silent. She could understand the principal's thoughts, but she could not give any response.

After all, Seidou has missed out on Koshien for six years, and its enrollment has been getting worse year by year, which has caused the board of directors to be quite dissatisfied.

"To be honest...the opponent is really strong." In response to the two's concerns, Kataoka simply responded with his own affirmation.

"What?" After hearing such straightforward truth, the principal's expression suddenly became a little reluctant, "It means... there is no space at all..."

Coach Kataoka did not answer the question directly, but turned around and looked at the first team members who were practicing independently on the court.

The principal and the dean of studies also looked in the direction Supervisor Kataoka was looking, and of course they saw the players sweating profusely.

"Haha...the competition just ended. What a group of passionate kids." Looking at these hard-working children, the principal smiled with satisfaction.

"You'd better stop them!" The dean was a little worried when he saw this situation.

"They can't wait to compete..." Kataoka crossed his arms, and the smile on his face showed his confidence in these kids.

"The other players are not the only ones who have grown..."

"..." Rong Chun, who was far away, glanced at the people who were talking to the principal and the dean in front of the rest area, and he already understood everything in his heart.

At that time, it took him a long time to find out about that...

In order to take responsibility for failing to lead the team into Koshien in the summer tournament, coach Kataoka voluntarily submitted his resignation, but in order not to cause trouble for the team, he stated that he would lead the baseball team until the end of the autumn tournament.

It was because I couldn't get the last out that I didn't make it to Koshien...

The arrival of Ochiai, the hard work of the seniors and the words of Miyuki-senpai...

"As long as we win the autumn tournament... we will definitely be able to participate in the spring Koshien tournament..."

"So he can't leave us... to compete at Koshien, right?"

But at that time, there was only one sentence engraved in my heart, 'As long as we win, the supervisor will not leave! '

So, everyone worked very hard, and under the leadership of Coach Kataoka, Seidou successfully won the championship of the autumn competition, and the coach was able to continue serving in Seidou.

"This time... nothing like that will happen..." Eijun muttered to himself as he turned and walked down the embankment.

After filling a bag of ice in the cafeteria, Rongjun found Senior Ryosuke who was resting in a corner of the dormitory holding the ice bag.

"Hmm?" Seeing Eijun walking towards him, Ryosuke looked up at him with a smile, "Is Sawamura trying to sneak away again?"

"Hehe..." Rong Chun didn't refute it, which was considered as acquiescence to this possibility. He laughed mischievously and shrank into the corner, "Is Liang-san being lazy?"

“Well…” Ryosuke didn’t refute this possibility, but it didn’t affect his sharp tongue. “You are still in the reflection period! If you make the supervisor and Chris angry again, you really won’t even have a chance to play in the finals…”

"..." Since he had no chance of winning when it came to being sarcastic, Eijun decided to get straight to the point, "How are you feeling, Ryo-san?"

"...Great! Is there anything wrong, Sawamura?"

"..." Rongchun looked at the injured person who was still stubborn, and without saying anything, he squatted in front of Liang Sang and grabbed his right ankle.

"Hiss..." Liangjie didn't react immediately. He failed to dodge in time and suddenly took a breath in pain, then he shrank back reflexively.

"Does it hurt?" Rongchun held his cheek and looked up at Ryosuke. There was a slight wrinkle of forbearance between his smiling eyebrows. "It looks like it really hurts..."

"..." Really... How could this junior be so sharp-eyed and thoughtful? Ryosuke quickly calmed down the slight movement between his eyebrows, "It's just a minor injury. It will be healed the next day after a rest."

"Impossible..." Rongchun immediately denied this possibility. A broken bone would take a hundred days to heal, so even if it was just a sprain, it would not take only a day or two.

"I'm not a porcelain doll. What can a small collision do to me..."

Then, regardless of whether Ryosuke was willing or not, Eijun grabbed his feet and took off his shoes and socks. Sure enough, his ankles were already bruised and purple.

"..." Sawamura looked up at him, but Ryosuke still stubbornly said it didn't matter.

"It's not serious yet..." Rongjun grabbed his ankle with one hand and the sole of his foot with the other to try to move the joint, then put the ice pack he had prepared on his ankle, "But if you don't rest well, it will swell up soon..."

"Even the ice packs are ready. The opening just now was just a prelude to what's happening now!" Ryosuke quickly smoothed his brows and said with a smile, "You're quite scheming!"

"..." Rongchun was silent.

"Heh..." Seeing his junior who had nothing to say, Ryosuke couldn't help but laugh out loud, "But... I still want to thank you for your concern, which I didn't say out loud."

"I just didn't say it now..." After placing the ice pack in a suitable position, Eijun stood up and sat next to Ryosuke, looking at him seriously, "From my point of view, I strongly suggest that Ryo-san should not participate in training anymore, and should not participate in the game the day after tomorrow."

"..." Ryosuke's smile deepened after hearing this, and he tilted his head to look back at Eijun, "I know what's going on."

“…”Faced with Ryosuke’s dark mode of threats and warnings, Eijun knew that this was impossible, but he would not easily compromise on this matter.

"If...Ryo-san's injury prevents him from continuing the competition, I will tell the coach." Rongjun lowered his eyes with a hint of sadness in his eyes, "Because, if I don't tell him...something terrible will happen..."

"...I understand." Ryosuke was very sharp and noticed the little expression that Eijun rarely showed. For the first time, he looked seriously at this little adult in everyone's mouth, "After all...I also want to stand on the stage of Koshien."

"Yes!" Ryosuke was willing to compromise here, and Eijun was so happy that he smiled and replied loudly, "Yes!"

"It really looks like a puppy..." Looking at Eijun's smiling face, Ryosuke naturally had this thought in his mind.

Sincere, thoughtful, smart and capable... Such people are indeed likable and can handle all kinds of people.

No wonder my younger brother likes him so much, and so does that guy Fūya.

"Liang-san, you must not over-exercise or walk too much these two days. Try to give your feet a rest..."

After applying the mask for more than ten minutes, Rongchun looked at the condition of his ankle and carefully told Senior Ryosuke what he needed to pay attention to.

"Got it..." Rongchun's serious look made Ryosuke put away his sharp tongue. After putting on his shoes and socks, he stood up and tried to walk a few steps, "Let's go! If we don't see each other for too long, we will be discovered."

"Also..." Rong Chun followed with an ice pack, "It's better to apply ice again at night, and bandage it..."

"I never realized before that Sawamura can be so talkative..."

·

The contestants’ independent practice continued until nightfall, and after taking a shower and having dinner, everyone stayed in the cafeteria.

At this moment, the scene being played on TV was the recording of today's match between Daocheng and Sakurazawa.

From the angle facing the pitcher's mound from behind home plate, Cheng Gong Ming was photographed in the center of the picture, and everything from his pitching posture to the path of the ball was clearly shown.

"As a result, he only threw four changeups in this game..." Chris looked at his notebook and summarized the information he had sorted out, "He threw three pitches of the forkball and only seven pitches of the slider. He mainly used the straight pitch to match his pitches."

After hearing this, Isashiki also expressed his own opinion, "Although Sakurazawa is not a strong hitter, he pitched the ball in that way because he was aware of our sight..."

"He really used the cross ball to the right-hander's chest very effectively..."

"Interlaced ball...?" Furuya looked at Eijun in confusion. He didn't quite understand this ball, but the ball that person threw must be a very powerful one...

"Hmm... This is a pitch unique to left-handed pitchers..." In order to make it easier for Furuya to understand this pitch, Eijun gestured on the table while talking, "The ball will be thrown from the diagonal position of the right-handed batter, like this..."

"Oh..."

"..." Seeing that Furuya seemed to understand but didn't understand, Eijun blinked, "The ball will fly from the left to your chest..."

"Oh!" Jyoutani understood now and felt it was so powerful, but he seemed unable to use it.

"Hehe..." Haruichi couldn't help but laugh when he saw the interaction between the two, "Eijun's cross ball is also very good!"

"That's all because of Chris-senpai's good guidance!" Rongjun looked at Chris-senpai with sparkling eyes, looking like he admired him very much.

"So...what does the only person who hit a double off Narimiya last year think?"

At this moment, Ryosuke asked a question without mentioning anyone by name, but everyone looked at Yuki in tacit understanding.

"..." Under everyone's gaze, Yuki was silent for a while, then gave his answer, "We have players on our team who can disrupt the opponent's first and second batsmen, and we also have players who can hit according to the situation. The most important thing is that all of us will swing the bat with all our strength."

"We can definitely defeat Cheng Gong now!"

Yuki's affirmative words were an affirmation to everyone, and everyone immediately showed a confident smile.

"Let's fight with our own style of play until the end!"

"no problem!"

The passion of the contestants also made the supervisor Kataoka and Rei Takashima, who were present, very pleased.

Even though the opponent is Narimiya, people still expect the batters to perform well...

Next up, it's the pitchers...

·