Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

Chapter 44: The Golden-Week

In the final of the spring competition, Seidou High School chose to retain its strength and dispatched the substitute to start the game, and finally lost to the opponent by one point. (The opponent on the other side is also the substitute.)

After losing the final of the spring competition, Seidou ushered in the golden week.

Japan’s Golden Week has nothing to do with Labor Day. From the end of April to May. There are several festivals next to each other, which are Showa Day (April 29), Constitution Memorial Day (May 3), Greening Day (May 4), and Children’s Day on May 5—exactly It is said to be Boys’ Day, and this day is also the Dragon Boat Festival of Japan.

The visual icon before and after the Golden Week is actually always associated with Carp windsocks, mostly because one of the customs of Boys’ Day is that families with boys hang Carp windsocks in the field yard; on a beautiful early summer day, the colorful Carp windsocks flutter in the wind Creating a lively and colorful atmosphere, which probably no one will resist.

During this period, employees and students will have a holiday, which is enough for a week, so it is called Golden Week.

After the rest of the students were on vacation, the Players of the Seidou Baseball Club ushered in an intensive tour.

During the seven days, Seidou’s first string went to five places and had six practice matches.

In practice games, Sawamura also began to appear gradually, not as a pitcher, but as an outfielder.

In this regard, Sawamura is very annoyed. If he hadn’t lost to Kataoka in the duel, Sawamura would have suspected that Kataoka was avenging his hurt pride. But in fact, Kataoka won the duel, and it is really stupid to say that he taking his revenge.

In practice games, Sawamura was an outfielder.

But the practice menu usually is the same as that of a pitcher, even more heavy than the average pitcher.

Chris and Miyuki even took turns overseeing his training.

At the same time, Sawamura’s ordinary “magic ball” and Forkball were also sealed in the public training!

“The most important thing now is the speed of the ball. If your ball speed can soar to 140, plus your control. Even if it is just your Straight ball and Moving ball, it is already a very sharp weapon! You need to eat as much as you can chew. it’s okay to practice other breaking balls when your ball speed reaches the bottleneck.”

“The more weapons the better, the sharper the better. But the truth is having one Sharp weapon is not uncommon on baseball fields.”

“If you sharpen this weapon enough, it will not lose its power if you learn other weapons.”

Kataoka, Chris, and Miyuki, the three people suddenly become the incarnation of three wise warriors, taking turns to impart wisdom and enlighten the clueless young pitcher.

Sawamura couldn’t help but click his tongue inwardly.

Do they really think he’s a kid? The goal of these people is obvious, that is, until the summer competition, he seals his other Pitches and waits until the right time to unseal them.

In the end, it’s just about preserving power.

Otherwise, why let Chris guide him in practicing the ordinary “magic ball”, and let Miyuki guide him in practicing the Forkball.

During the tour, Furuya stayed in the Second String to train fielding. If he didn’t hone his defense, he wouldn’t even be a relief for Seidou in the competition.

Relying on the leadership of the third-year players, Seidou High School’s first string won six battles and returned to school with unparalleled morals.

Although Sawamura was not on the mound, he was glowing too. and he did a decent job at the outfielder position.

In six games, a total of two defensive mistakes were made.

In terms of Batting, in six games, three starts, and two substitutes, he went through a total of 17 at-bats, hitting 7 hits and 6 RBIs. The batting average is as high as 40%!

This statistic is second only to the on-base rate of Tetsu and Kominato Ryosuke, and even higher than Miyuki, Kuramochi, Isashiki, and Masuko.

Through his own strength, Sawamura has won the recognition of all the Players of the First String.

After the Golden Week tour is over.

Sawamura returned to school, and he ushered in the Kanto Tournament after two days of class.

This time, the first string issued the number on the back, Sawamura was No. 18, Chris No. 19, and Furuya was No. 20. (A/N: Is there a limit of 18 or 20 people in the Kanto Tournament? I haven’t found out. Let’s count it as 20 people, it has little impact on the story.)

In the tour, Chris also participated, and he performed very well. If it wasn’t for the fact that his body had just recovered, the Coach and the coaching staff would not be too relieved. He might have already begun to compete with Miyuki and Miyauchi for the main catcher.

Seidou Baseball Club, Office of the Superintendent.

The match table of the Kanto Tournament was placed on the table in Kataoka. Because Seidou was the second place in Tokyo, it belonged to the b group lottery, and their luck was very bad. The opponent in the first round was the strong enemy from Kanagawa.

Yokohama-North High School! (T/N: The original name would be 'Yokohama North Port High School' which would be a mouthful so I decided to delete 'Port' and go with 'Yokohama-North'.)

As mentioned before, Kanagawa, like West Tokyo, belongs to the fierce battle zone. The strength of Yokohama-North High School can be imagined when it comes out of Kanagawa in the fierce battle zone and participates in the Kanto Tournament.

Apart from this, there is one more thing to mention. Like Seidou, Yokohama-North belongs to the national-level high school powerhouse.

With such a team you cannot be careless at any time.

Kataoka sat on the chair, his fingers tapped the group table rhythmically, and the expression on his face was always invisible.

“Supervisor, tomorrow’s starter?”

Ota asked, rubbing his hands together.

The starting list for the game against Yokohama-North has not been finalized for a long time. Seeing that the time is getting more and more urgent, Ota must be in a hurry.

“Call a string to the conference room.”

Kataoka’s fingers suddenly stopped, and his eyes became firm.

In the conference room, all the Players of the First String gathered together, waiting for Kataoka to issue an order.

“Tomorrow’s starting lineup, pitcher Tanpa Koichiro, catcher Miyuki Kazuya, first baseman Yuuki Tetsuya, second baseman Kominato Ryosuke, third baseman Masuko Toru, shortstop Kuramochi Yoichi, midfielder Isashiki Jun, right fielder Shiratsu Kenjiro, left fielder”

Saying that, Kataoka glanced back and forth between Sawamura and Sakai Ichirou.

“Sawamura Eijun!”

“Yes!”

Sawamura raised his hand in agreement.

However, his brows also furrowed.

Staring as an outfielder!

It seems that in tomorrow’s game, his Coach is not going to put him on the mound.

After the starting roster was announced, Kataoka looked at Tanpa and told him, “For tomorrow’s game, try to finish the game your Pitching and show your fighting spirit and strength.”

“Yes!” Tanpa glanced at Sawamura, then at Furuya, clenched his fists, and answered loudly.

“Furuya Satoru, start to prepare from the seventh inning. If there is a chance, I will arrange for you to play.”

There are two opportunities for this.

Either Seidou will win, or Seidou is in danger.

“Then I’ll be ready, okay?” Seeing that he is now on the side, Sawamura took the initiative to ask.

For Sawamura’s initiative, Kataoka is very pleased, but he did not intend to fully expose Sawamura at the Kanto Tournament.

“If you score enough in the first two innings, I will find an opportunity to arrange for you to play in the third inning. In the first two innings, you need to feel the atmosphere of the high school powerhouse. Even if you go to the mound in the future, if you can’t get used to it, I can’t use your Pitching for the time being, understand?”

“Understood!”

Sawamura frowned in dissatisfaction but nodded in agreement.

...

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