Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

V7_Chapter 12: Surprise!

When the white ball was hit, Wakabayashi’s eyes were filled with awe.

Even though he was the opponent, he had to admit it the hit was truly beautiful. The ball arced like a perfect arch, landing precisely in the gap of the defense.

The Ouya High School fielders were prepared, but they couldn't react in time, and the baseball flew past them.

Clean and sharp.

Two Outs, runner on second base!

Watching Sawamura reach second base, Wakabayashi gave him an enthusiastic thumbs-up in his mind.

the hit was that good, there is nothing he could say or criticize about it.

While preparing the data on Seidou High School earlier, Wakabayashi had already recognized the challenge posed by his opponents. He told Hiro, who was working with him, that Seidou High School had two batters with no apparent weaknesses.

One was Sawamura!

This Ace’s terrifying power wasn’t just evident in his pitching; he was also exceptionally skilled in hitting.

The other was Miyuki, whom Wakabayashi would face next.

Though Miyuki’s fame was slightly less than Sawamura’s, facing Seidou High School in a real game revealed that Miyuki was just as challenging, if not more so.

Now, with two Outs and a runner on second, Wakabayashi faced Miyuki.

“Great opportunity!”

“It’s all up to you!!”

Scattered cheers rose from the stands.

Even onlookers felt their adrenaline surging.

With runners on base, especially on second and third, Miyuki’s concentration was formidable.

Seidou had unwavering confidence in their fourth batter.

Amidst this atmosphere, the young pitcher with the mushroom haircut looked increasingly menacing.

No matter how you looked at it, there was no comparison between the two teams.

Seidou’s strength was ingrained in their very bones.

‘Such an insufferable feeling of privilege!’

Wakabayashi kicked the dirt on the pitcher’s mound and scowled at Miyuki in the batter’s box. He had a feeling that Miyuki would show no mercy.

As long as the baseball was in the strike zone, Miyuki would hit it.

And Wakabayashi felt that this pitch might actually be hit.

‘Damn baseball gorilla, all that training has probably engraved baseball into his soul, right? As a private school, they can freely arrange their practice times—it's truly enviable.’

‘But I refuse to lose to such an opponent!’

Whether out of personal principles or something else, Wakabayashi was deeply frustrated by the presence of such a formidable opponent.

This was evident in his eyes.

Realizing he couldn’t handle Sawamura and Miyuki, Wakabayashi was prepared. He had meticulously developed new pitches for this very moment.

‘Let’s see you handle this luxurious pitch I’ve specially prepared for you!’

Originally, he intended this pitch for Sawamura. But given the situation, Wakabayashi decided to use it now.

Whoosh!

He delivered his carefully crafted pitch.

Miyuki, ready to face Wakabayashi’s decisive pitch, had thoroughly studied his opponent’s habits.

‘In this critical situation, if he didn’t want to avoid a direct confrontation, the first pitch should be the Winning Shot.’

‘A low-angle Forkball.’

‘Although it didn’t seem very fast, Wakabayashi’s pitch speed was actually quite high, over 140 km/h.’

Such a pitch was challenging to hit, as it would sink abruptly as it neared the batter.

Thus, Coach Kataoka had initially advised the team to completely avoid low-angle pitches and aim for pitches in the middle or higher zones.

‘The previous batter’s prolonged at-bat was a side effect of this strategy. By avoiding low-angle pitches, Wakabayashi had to throw more pitches.’

However, Miyuki had a different plan. He was aiming for that fast Forkball, which was Wakabayashi’s signature pitch.

He was confident he could hit it.

‘Bring it on!’

As Miyuki impatiently awaited the ball, the white ball hurtled toward him.

But it wasn’t the forkball he anticipated.

‘What?’

It was a sidearm pitch!

Wakabayashi, a right-handed and very orthodox pitcher, had never used a sidearm pitch before.

This sudden and unexpected change caught everyone off guard.

‘Can he pitch sidearm?’

Miyuki couldn’t make sense of it.

His mind raced, trying to predict the ball’s trajectory and movement.

Everything was uncertain, and he couldn’t guess anything.

But one thing was clear to Miyuki:

‘This pitch wouldn’t solve me.’

So he focused on getting a feel for the pitch and hitting it foul.

Ping!

The moment Miyuki hit the ball, his face became stiff.

The ball’s movement was unexpected, somewhat like a Sinker.

Without giving him time to react, it fell sharply towards his feet.

Miyuki couldn’t control the sudden change and could only try to hit the ball a foul.

Snap!

The ball was caught by Wakabayashi and thrown to first base.

“OUT!”

Three Outs, offense and defense exchange.

Seidou High School’s explosive lineup, which had scored 17 runs in the previous four innings, was now silenced.

“Damn it!”

Back in the dugout, the team regrouped to discuss their strategy.

No one was prepared for the sudden change in pitch.

“Before, the opponent surprised us with a Shuuto against Inajitsu, and now he’s shown a sidearm pitch. This pitcher is truly full of surprises!”

Was it a Surprise?

Yes.

Does it make Seidou worried?

No.

This sudden development did not turn into a shock; the Seidou High School players had such strong mental resilience.

“A sudden change in Form.”

Ochiai stroked his chin thoughtfully and said, “It’s rare to see such talented pitchers at public high school. But don’t they also have their own weaknesses? The gap in player strength still exists.”

“Coach Ochiai is right! No matter what tricks the opponent has, it is just tricks. The strength gap between us remains. We should stick to our style and overwhelm them with our pitching depth. If we do this, we will definitely win in the end.”

“YES!!”

Coach Kataoka was a master at boosting morale.

In the bottom half of the first inning, the Seidou High School baseball team replaced their gear and took the field.

The pitcher for this inning was Furuya.

Seeing Seidou High School’s starting pitcher, the Ouya High School players felt complex emotions.

It was similar to their game against Inajitsu High School before, where the opponent’s Ace pitcher didn’t play. Now, Seidou High School’s Ace pitcher was on the field, but instead of taking the mound, he was in the outfield.

‘These prestigious high school players seemed to have coordinated to look down on Ouya.’

“Are we being underestimated?” Gao, with his hate for Famous School, asked directly.

“Not necessarily. This could be a good opportunity for us,” Coach Araki said with a bright smile. He appeared quite young like he was in his early twenties.

When Seidou High School analyzed their opponents before, someone remarked that Araki was inexperienced and could be a student of their own coach.

Watanabe felt embarrassed.

Coach Kataoka also had a displeased expression.

Sawamura was struggling to control his laughter, his belly shaking.

If Kataoka’s face hadn’t grown increasingly dark, Sawamura might have never stopped laughing.

Despite Araki’s youthful appearance, he was actually 40 years old. In contrast, Coach Kataoka, who had just graduated from university six years ago, was only 28.

More than a whole decade younger.

“Have you laughed enough?” Kataoka’s cold eyes turned to Sawamura, who awkwardly stood up.

“Sorry Boss!”

At that answer, everyone was stifling a laugh.

Sawamura raised both hands in a surrender gesture.

What could he do at this moment?

Who would have thought that Coach Kataoka was so sensitive about this issue?

Honestly, Kataoka didn’t look much older than his real age, maybe five or six more years. But Araki’s youthful appearance was strikingly misleading for a 40-year-old.

…