Diamond Ace: Another Story of Sawamura

Chapter 148: The Battle of Xibang

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"Why, do you know what the real problem is?"

"Yes!" Rongchun nodded in response.

"Should we throw it to him?" Chris asked.

"Do you have a strategy yet?"

"Yeah!" Rongchun nodded in response.

"Infield defense, get ready to catch the ball." Chris looked up at several people.

"So! You two..." Kuramochi didn't understand what they were saying at all, and was pulled off the pitcher's mound by Ryosuke.

"Cooperate with them both." Liangjie just said with a smile.

This game was weird, not only the process but also the sudden change.

'Our reel suddenly stopped firing after one round, but our opponent's reel suddenly started firing after one round...'

At this time, Danbo returned to the rest area and sat inside the rest area, covered with a towel, lowered his head and remained silent.

The water marks on his face gradually increased, filled with regret and self-blame for causing this situation.

The players in the rest area were all worried about Danbo's situation, but no one said a word of comfort.

"..." Supervisor Kataoka hadn't said a word since Tamba returned to the rest area without saying a word, but he couldn't help but grit his teeth when he heard the voice.

"Idiot... If you are so unwilling that you want to cry, then just become stronger!"

"Yes!"

"In the bottom of the third inning, the game resumed. Sawamura, who had just been substituted in from Seidou High School, faced a batter with two outs and the bases loaded..."

"Eighth bat, center fielder Ishida!"

Chris positions his glove, ready to catch the ball...

"..." Rongchun nodded, 'Let's finish this game as soon as possible and get the game back on track!'

'Deal with him!'

Facing Sawamura who had just come on, the batter was very cautious and chose a moderate stance.

"If you can hit it, shoot without hesitation!" Although the coach said so, I still need to observe the first two balls...

This pitcher who can attract the attention of his own three main players, pitcher, catcher and batter, obviously has something.

At this moment, coach Nishijigo in the rest area narrowed his eyes slightly. Now they have gained enough advantage. The next step is to prevent Seidou from scoring. As for Sawamura's pitching, they can slowly observe and wait for the opportunity to act.

"Sure enough, very beautiful..." Yuzhong Zi exclaimed, lowering his body and staring at Sawamura who was pitching on the pitcher's mound with his sharp eyes.

'His posture on the mound...'

Faced with the pitching posture that made it impossible to see the ball's release point at all and the ball that suddenly appeared in front of him, Ishida was a little stunned and couldn't react for a while.

"Qiang..."

Swinging the bat again, the unpleasant sound made people feel unlucky.

"Third base!"

As Chris called out, Zengzi also moved his position, looked at the ball path and raised his glove.

The baseball is clearly an infield fly ball that will be caught.

"Snapped!"

"Out!"

After losing three points, Qingdao finally got the third out and ended the third game.

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"Well done! Sawamura!"

"Good shot!"

As soon as he returned to the rest area, Rongchun received praise from his seniors.

"Yes!" Rongchun responded and glanced at Tanba-senpai who was sitting in the corner. He seemed still sad.

Although it is understandable, he cannot be blamed for the loss to a large extent. The opponent studied his pitching too thoroughly, and he has done everything he can.

When Supervisor Katagang welcomed all the team members, he also signaled everyone to start the mobilization meeting.

"I'm sorry! It was my misjudgment that led to the consecutive loss of points." Chris apologized for his mistake.

"..." Looking at Chris who bowed his head deeply, Kataoka was silent for a moment, "Then you have found the problem!"

Facing everyone's gaze, Chris looked at Rongchun cautiously and expressed his opinion.

"It's not that the ball is thrown to a difficult place, but that the ball is thrown to a place where the batter can't hit it..."

"Yeah." Eijun nodded. It seemed that the two of them had the same idea. "The real amazing one is the catcher."

When he first realized this, Chris also thought it was unlikely, but in the end he had to admit, "He is controlling the pace of the game."

Judging from the batter's movements, you can determine what ball the batter is waiting for, and which ball position the batter is incapable of hitting based on his posture, or how poorly he would hit the ball even if he tried.

Similarly, you can also judge what to do next and what the path of the ball will be based on the pitcher's movements and the defensive actions.

It was just a simple fake move, there was no way to fool him easily, the human body is the most honest.

This method, of course, cannot be easily discovered by others, because most people would not think that it is their own body that is sending them secret signals.

"..." While Senior Chris was explaining to everyone, Rongchun's eyes were always on Xibang.

It was really surprising, any weakness was exposed in those eyes.

I have never heard of such an outstanding person in my previous life.

To be honest, if I were just being suppressed by my more famous predecessors now, I wouldn't remain unknown forever.

With such strength, he is enough to be a main force in both college and profession, and is even not inferior to his predecessors Chris and Miyuki.

"So..." After listening to the explanation, Ryosuke asked with a smile.

"Their first round of batting was to observe Baldy Lang's pitching, and their first round of pitching was to observe our batting?"

So we were played by each other from the beginning...

"..." Chris looked at Ryosuke and nodded silently, "It should be for close observation..."

That would explain why he couldn't swing at the first two pitches...

"..." Baldman, who had been listening quietly to the whole process, was shocked at first, but now, facing Ryosuke's devilish smile, he chose to remain silent.

"…Have you…used this trick before?"

"Hmm..." Chris frowned and thought for a moment, "To some extent, most catchers will make judgments based on some information, but the other party has a more thorough grasp of it."

"After all, this requires a lot of data analysis."

"Yuki-senpai..." When everyone was analyzing the situation, Eijun, who had been silent for a while, suddenly spoke up and looked at Yuki who was about to go on stage.

"Hmm?" Yuki also looked at Sawamura.

"If the first ball is a low outside strike, and the second ball is a low inside strike, the third ball will definitely be a high inside changeup."

"..." Yuki looked puzzled after hearing this.

"If the first two pitches are not right, there is a high probability that it will be a walk."

"strike out!"

It didn't take long to say that. Isashiki was struck out and walked out of the batter's box with gritted teeth.

"Damn it! There is no easy ball to hit at all."

"Fourth batter, first baseman Yuki."

"..." Yuki didn't know what to do for a moment and looked to Supervisor Kataoka for instructions.

“Don’t be too obvious!” Eijun just smiled softly and added, “Especially the first pitch, the catcher will notice it.”

"Do as Sawamura said first." Kataoka quickly responded to Yuki after a moment.

"Yes!"

"But..." After Yuki-senpai came on stage, Eijun turned his head and looked at Chris-senpai, "The probability of the former should be greater!"

"Are you so sure? What if..." Looking at Sawamura's confident look, Minister Ota scratched his head anxiously when he thought of any other possible scenarios.

"Minister, calm down..." Although he said this, the others were not very calm either.

"..." Chris was also confused, but Rongchun didn't seem to care.

"Go get on base! Yuuki!"

"Qingdao! Go!"

"Qingdao! Qingdao!"

"If we can strike out four batters here, Seidou will completely lose the chance of a comeback."

Niwa felt that his own heartbeat was even louder than the thunderous cheers from the stands.

The cheers from the stands also made Yuuki look serious. Was it what Sawamura said, or...

Yuki took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled, preparing for the confrontation.

"Perform your strike! If there is a slight chance, hit the ball hard!"

Zi glanced at Yuki in the batter's box, then gave the signal for the first pitch.

Niwa on the pitcher's mound also nodded seriously, and then in an instant, a white light flashed.

"call out!"

When Yuki saw the trajectory of the ball, he subconsciously tightened the bat in his hand.

'No, there's no way!'

"Snapped!"

"The hitter misses!"

"It's a low, extreme pitch to the outside corner...even though it's a bad pitch..." Miyuki looked at Sawamura quietly, wondering what his basis was.

'The important thing is the second goal...'

The second ball...

A beam of white light almost brushed against Yuuki's knee and penetrated into the glove behind him.

"Snapped!"

"nice shot!"

"A low ball to the inside corner!" Miyuki looked at Sawamura in shock.

"Another hit..." Chris also looked at Rongchun in surprise.

With just two goals, Nishibon created a tense atmosphere in the Qingdao rest area, and even coach Kataoka clenched his fists nervously.

The first two balls were both successful, and they were very offensive.

"Two good shots!"

"Niwa, good shot!"

"Contestant Niwa refuses to give in at all!" Yamato Akiko exclaimed, then looked at Senior Feng.

"Ah..." Fujio Mine responded, "Nishibō will try every means to prevent Seidou from scoring. Now is not the time to switch from offense to defense."

'Will the third pitch be a high inside corner breakaway?'

'Don't be too obvious!'

Before Yuki could think about it, the third goal came as expected.

"call out!"

A high changeup at the inside corner!

"Off the track, bad ball?" Yuki's eyes darkened, and at this moment he felt that the ball in front of him seemed to smash him...

"Do you want to fight?"

"!" The ball was getting closer and closer to the field of vision, but it changed before reaching home base.

'Hit him!'

Time seemed to slow down at this moment. He took that step without hesitation and cut the air in front of home plate with the weapon in his hand.

"Qiang!"

"!" Until the ball was hit, Zi was in a state of shock as his experience was refreshed.

"Eh..." Seeing that the catcher's expression finally changed, Rongjun suddenly felt that he was not that great after all.

At least, not so much now.

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