Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

V7_Chapter 3: To Improve

The Seidou players had returned but were still unable to recover from their recent defeat.

One by one, they rushed to the field, the strength training room, and the secluded bridge, engaging in intense self-punishment as if deliberately trying to punish themselves.

“Superintendent?” Director Ota asked with deep concern.

The players seemed to be losing their minds, causing Director Ota even more worry.

Coach Kataoka, wearing sunglasses, showed no visible expression.

“Let them be. They need to release their excess energy.”

The twelve-inning game had been intense, but aside from the two pitchers, the physical exertion for the rest of the team had been minimal. If they weren’t allowed to vent their excess energy, it could lead to trouble.

‘It was good to see their attitude; it meant they were not resigned to defeat.’

“I’m going to the principal’s office.”

Having been given high hopes and ultimately stopping at the top sixteen, Kataoka felt he had to explain. The ‘Group of Death’ was tough, and the team wasn’t strong enough to win against everyone.

Normally, Kataoka wouldn’t need to report to the principal, but he wasn’t one to shy away from responsibility. He believed it was his duty and he had to take responsibility for it, even if he didn’t want to be criticized by the school’s management during training.

“I’m sorry we didn’t meet your expectations!” Kataoka said, bowing deeply to the principal and the dean in the principal’s office.

“The players performed very well. The issues were mainly due to our scouting mistakes and my tactics.”

“Oh, please don’t say that,” the sharply voiced dean quickly helped Kataoka up.

The plump principal was also surprised.

Previously, Kataoka had a lot of pride. They had expected him to become even more unruly after achieving the National Championship. Instead, he stayed true to himself.

After the defeat, he even came to apologize personally.

From this perspective, Kataoka was still quite commendable.

‘Indeed, a graduate from our Seidou High School.’

The principal and dean reassured Kataoka, stating that one loss did not mean everything was over. If the team could maintain their form, they could aim to win back in the summer.

“Win it back in the summer!” they said.

Although their words were polite and warm, they also conveyed the school’s expectations.

With top players like Ace Sawamura, the genius catcher Miyuki, and other talented individuals from around the country, the school expected Seidou to make it to Koshien. They clearly do not want the no-Koshien streak to return. Now, with so much support he was given, Kataoka was expected to lead the team to Koshien two or three times. If he couldn’t help Seidou High School build a great era, no one would know how the school board would react.

“Yes, we will win it back,” Kataoka said decisively.

Sawamura had said this before, and hearing it from Kataoka now made it even more resolute.

This feeling was shared by all the Seidou players.

In the baseball club’s dedicated bathhouse, Sawamura lazily took his bath, and then he asked for the game recording from Takashima.

The other players had gone for training, still full of energy. Sawamura, however, was completely drained. So he can’t train even if he wants.

After the game, he felt he didn’t even have the strength to talk.

Now, he needed a good rest.

But that doesn’t mean he could sit down and do nothing. He wanted to look again at the match and see if he missed anything.

He was now looking at the end of the ninth inning!

Clenching his fists, Sawamura’s face showed his frustration.

In the ninth inning, Sawamura actually had a chance to score. He had planned to use that opportunity to steal home, but Narumiya had blocked him at a critical moment.

‘What a terrible opponent!’ Sawamura thought. Before his regression, despite Narumiya’s injury, his performance in the Major League was still great.

And this glimpse of greatness appeared in this match.

If Sawamura had been at full strength, he might have avoided Narumiya’s tag. But with his energy depleted, it was unlikely.

The record continued to the twelve innings.

By the twelfth inning, Sawamura had lost three effective hits. As his strength waned, the fielders provided significant help. With their support, they managed to stabilize the situation and prevent Inashiro from taking advantage.

At the start of the twelfth inning, Carlos was up to bat. Although Sawamura’s stamina was almost gone, he still didn’t think they would lose.

But in this inning, Seidou seemed to have reached their limit.

Carlos’s weak hit landed just in front of third base.

Sawamura thought they could handle Carlos easily.

However, Higasa at third base made a critical mistake, almost identical to Kanemaru’s earlier error.

Although Sawamura’s good pitching led to double play Shirakawa and Narumiya, it wasn’t enough to avoid the loss of points. That same ball led to Carlos returning home.

Final score: 2-1!

This was the second point Sawamura lost.

‘The team is still immature, and once we reached that state, things became uncontrollable,’ Sawamura reflected on the reasons for their defeat and considered ways to improve.

The cause of the loss was clear: the new team hadn’t played serious practice games. Although the third-year seniors had helped, and many problems were identified, it wasn’t enough.

‘If only the match against the third-year seniors had been a complete disaster, it might have strengthened the team’s resolve.’

Sawamura blamed himself deeply. If he had fought less hard against the third-year seniors, it could have been better to prepare those who had never played in Koshien.

‘Or if I was stronger!’

***

By the time Sawamura Eijun met up with his baseball team friends again, it was already dinner time.

The school had prepared a feast for celebration.

Even though winning this match didn’t particularly elevate Seidou to Koshien, defeating Inashiro Industrial High School was considered a significant milestone for the principal and school leaders. Due to the tough group they were in, Seidou had faced difficult matches throughout the three games, with none being easy. After overcoming Inashiro, the remaining matches were expected to be smoother.

If there were no surprises, their opponent in the finals would likely be another powerhouse, Ichidai Sankou.

Although Ichidai Sankou was formidable, Seidou was very confident about their ability to defeat them.

In other words, after defeating Inashiro Industrial, Seidou almost had the Fall Tournament championship secured.

Such a milestone victory was naturally worth celebrating.

However, this time, they were destined to be disappointed. Seidou had unexpectedly lost to Inashiro.

In the face of the sumptuous dinner spread before them, everyone had little appetite.

Although sadness didn’t stop them from eating, it did affect their appetite to some extent.

The only exception was probably Sawamura he was eating like he didn’t lose a game at all.

Around him, several teammates had little appetite.

“Eijun-kun?”

Haruichi looked at Sawamura, who was devouring his food with surprise.

“What?” Sawamura looked at Haruichi in questioning.

“Are you alright?” ‘Or more like don’t you feel sad.’ Haruichi said but he didn’t say, he didn’t know how should he talk to Sawamura.

Originally, Seidou High was expected to play several more matches and even participate in the Jingu Tournament and the Spring Koshien. Ending their journey so soon, shouldn’t the Ace pitcher be more…sad?

“No, I am not alright…” Sawamura said with a bit of annoyance.

The teammates around him heard this and they suddenly stopped eating, and the tension in the hall spiked suddenly.

‘Of course, he is not all right.’ Everyone thought the same thing.

During the game only he, Miyuki, and maybe Shiratsu did anything, the rest of them were there for decoration.

None of them has done anything, even the only run they scored was because of Sawamura’s homerun. Not just that, he had pitched for twelve innings until he was completely spent.

They were frustrated at themselves, one of the most frustrated was Maezono.

‘What ambition that is bigger than the universe, in the end, I didn’t do anything.’

The only one who had the right to be sad or complain was Sawamura.

Just when they thought Sawamura would complain about them, Sawamura continued.

“During the game, I focused too much on batting that I squandered my stamina like an idiot. If I want to improve my batting and not affect my pitching, I have to upgrade my stamina. So right now as I am tired and I can’t train, my task is to eat to replenish my lost energy.”

“If I want to improve I need to work hard!”

Everyone was stunned at Sawamura’s replay.

They thought he would complain about them but he didn’t, and he also didn’t wallow in sadness, he simply identified his problem and took the next step to move forward.

‘If he, after all of this still wants to improve and be better, then what are we…’

Bit by bit, the eating resumed, and the intensity increased gradually,

“Can you pass me this plate?”

“I am going to get more serving.”

“Oi don’t eat all of that, leave some for me!”

“Me too!”

“Me too! I had my eyes on this dish from the start!”

Soon, everyone was like hungry beasts devouring their food.

“Even if it’s for the principal’s kindness, we have to work harder in the upcoming matches!”

Maezono, shoveling rice into his mouth, said in a muffled voice.

It seemed he wanted to use the food in front of him to fill the void in his thoughts.

The previous match kept replaying in Maezono’s mind, especially his failure of a performance.

‘As the team’s fifth batter, a clean-up hitter, I had not shown any value even when there were runners on base.’

Throughout the game, he was insignificant.

This left Maezono Kenta feeling empty.

He even doubted if his incompetence was what dragged the entire team down.

‘Looking at the number of effective base hits, Seidou was no worse than Inashiro, no we were better.’

Yet they lost the game!

It was all because they couldn’t seize their chances.

‘When Miyuki was on base! Even if he had extended the batting lineup once, the game’s outcome might have been different.’

‘Damn it!’

The gap in strength made Maezono very frustrated.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, if Sawamura didn’t try to steal home, he would stop at third base.

‘It was simply because he believed that the chance of scoring through a stolen base was higher than me getting a hit.’

It was simply that Sawamura thought Maezono couldn’t hit!

Precisely because Sawamura was objective and was doing the best for the team that Maezono felt even more unwilling.

After all, he hadn’t been able to get on base throughout the entire 12 innings.

The other teammates were also thinking the same thing while taking their negative thoughts on the food.

Soon, dinner was over.

Sawamura was too exhausted to practice, so he could only take a leisurely walk.

After eating, a little activity helped with digestion.

After walking for a while, Miyuki, appearing from some corner, caught up with Sawamura and walked alongside him.

“Do you think Inashiro can make it to the end?”

Miyuki seemed to be asking Sawamura Eijun, but he was really just musing aloud.

“They can.” Sawamura’s answer was very decisive.

“You’re that confident in them? In today’s match, Mei’s pitching was considerable, and his stamina was obviously depleted…”

“They have a week until the next match and over two weeks until the finals. No matter how exhausted they are, this time is enough to recover. Moreover, their future opponents, whether it’s Ouya, Sensen, or Seiko! Though they are not bad, they are not at the top level.

With their standard, even if Inashiro didn’t use Mei-san, they should still win. As for the finals, whether they face Ichidai Sankou or Yakushi, or even if they face a surprise duel with Yoh Shunshin, Inashiro’s chances of winning are over 60%.”

…