Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

Sawamura could no longer afford to hold back.

He had to give it his all!

At this moment, amid his usual fastballs, Sawamura suddenly threw a breaking ball.

The appearance of this breaking ball was so sudden that, logically, it should have been able to fool the opponent.

But the result was worse than Sawamura had imagined.

Facing the sudden change-up, the opponent remained calm, patiently waiting for the ball to reach his bat.

At that moment, Sawamura realized he had been wrong.

He knew that the American players had many highly skilled players, but he always thought that these players were still young and would be quite immature compared to their performances in the major leagues.

But it was clear he was mistaken.

These players were not immature at all, and some were already on the verge of mastering their own styles.

Just like Jacklin.

Sawamura had originally thought his hitting was calculated.

But now, it seemed that Sawamura was the one who had been naïve.

This guy named Jacklin had a heart bolder than expected.

When the change-up appeared, he firmly pushed the ball away.

Even against the change-up, he didn't swing wildly!

It was because Sawamura's change-up had an irregular drop once it got near the strike zone.

If the opponent had swung wildly, the result could have been disastrous.

Naturally, that was not something they wanted to see.

So they chose a different approach: even if they couldn't make an immediate impact, they would wear down the opponent step by step.

Paak!

The baseball, after being struck, dropped into the outfield.

Francis, who was originally on second base, quickly ran to third base.

Had the ball fallen in the infield, no one could have predicted how the outcome would turn out.

And now, with one out and runners on first and third base, the Japanese team faced an unprecedented huge crisis.

Facing this crisis, Sawamura remained calm.

At this moment, he made a signal for a timeout.

Both Renji and Takeda trusted him immensely.

Seeing Sawamura's signal, they nodded in agreement.

Then the infield players gathered on the mound, unsure of what strategy they were discussing.

Naturally, in a situation like this, the Japanese players gathering to discuss tactics was the most normal thing.

After all, the next confrontation would decide everything.

Francis, at third base, squinted his eyes, watching Sawamura's actions carefully.

After the meeting, the players returned to their positions.

Sawamura wrapped his left hand with his mitt and raised his arm high, ready to pitch.

The American players took their stances, ready for action.

Clearly, they had already come up with an offensive strategy.

But just then, Francis heard the sound of a ball hitting a mitt, then he felt someone bump into him from behind.

'What?'

He turned in surprise and saw the Japanese third baseman.

The guy smiled mischievously, and when he opened his mitt, there was a white baseball lying in it.

The scene was enveloped in an eerie silence.

Earlier, America's attack had been like a hysterical roar.

It seemed they would never stop until they had thoroughly crushed the Japanese team.

But then, no one expected this.

With runners on first and third bases and America showing off their might, the Japan team called for a timeout.

This timeout made it clear that the Japanese players had been pushed to their limits.

From the audience's perspective, Japan team seemed to have pushed back, with losing points being almost inevitable.

If Japan team lost points at this moment, it would undoubtedly trigger a huge chain reaction!

In this game, Japan team's players might find themselves in a disadvantageous position that most people couldn't even imagine. If things went down that path, their situation would be extremely unfavorable.

To avoid making things worse, Japan players had to come up with a feasible counterattack strategy.

Of course, their first priority was to ensure they didn't lose any points!

At the very least, they had to prevent a large number of points from being lost.

The timeout called by Sawamura on the pitcher's mound basically meant just that.

At least from the spectators' perspective, Sawamura's timeout seemed to signal that intention.

He recognized the danger and was preparing to gather the players together to discuss how to deal with the opponent.

The reason for his urgency was primarily because Sawamura was unfamiliar with the teammates he was currently playing with.

Those who could understand this were already quite familiar with Sawamura Eijun.

This was largely due to the more than 2,000 fans who had traveled from Japan.

In their eyes, no matter how strong Sawamura's personal abilities were, even the "Demon King" couldn't fight off so many opponents alone. After all, a tiger can't fight off a pack of wolves.

Faced with so many opponents, he would surely be overwhelmed.

Moreover, the players he was working with weren't his old teammates from Seidou High School's baseball team!

They weren't even his teammates from Tokyo!

Instead, they were a collection of elite players from all over the country.

As a pitcher, trying to cooperate with such a team, especially when the coordination required was so high, naturally required some discussion.

Without prior communication, how could the players cooperate with him on defense if they didn't understand Sawamura's intentions?

That was the thought shared by nearly everyone.

No one expected that Sawamura, the Demon King, would pull such a move in this critical moment.

This move required not only skills but also superb acting skills.

And Sawamura was playing the role of attracting attention at this moment.

This was akin to performing a magic trick.

When a magician performs close-up magic, there are subtle techniques at play.

To put it simply, they make sure the audience focuses on one hand, while the other hand secretly performs an action when no one is looking.

Once the action is done, they shift the audience's gaze back, and naturally, the audience is astonished, feeling as if something magical has occurred.

On the pitcher's mound, Sawamura displayed an overwhelming aura, as if he intended to completely crush the opponent with his pitch, his eyes never leaving the batter.

No one noticed the third baseman sneaking up on Francis.

Even Francis himself didn't realize this.

As soon as his foot left the base, Sawamura made a tricky throw, without even looking, without any wide arm movement, he sent the ball flying to third base!

The third baseman swiftly caught the ball and then placed his mitt on the runner.

At that moment, neither Francis nor the fans understood what had just happened.

They didn't know why Japan's third baseman had done that.

It wasn't until the third baseman playfully opened his mitt to reveal the small baseball inside that everyone realized the trick!

In this critical situation, where Japan team was on the brink of losing points, they boldly executed an impressive stunt!

With this strategy, they successfully stopped the American players.

What had started as one Out with runners on first and third base was now two Outs with a runner on first base!

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