Diamond No Ace: The Strongest Hitter

Chapter 75: Nemesis

"Let's observe one more pitch!"

"Tch, observing the pitch path, huh? Then this batter must have noticed that Eijun's ball curves. It looks like relying solely on throwing it down the middle won't last for many innings. Since you want to observe, we'll take advantage and rack up some strikes," Sendo thought to himself, glancing at the batter under his mask as the second batter decided to keep observing after the first pitch.

Sawamura's "quirky pitch" is a type that begins to change trajectory right before it reaches the strike zone.

The traditional Japanese batting style, established by Sadaharu Oh, is called the "Golden Rooster Stance," also known as the "Scarecrow Stance." In this stance, the front leg is lifted, which allows the batter to use the momentum from stepping forward.

The difference among various batters lies in how much they lift their front leg. However, this style has a drawback: when swinging the bat, the batter loses sight of the ball right before it makes contact with the bat.

This means they lose visibility of the ball at the crucial moment, and Sawamura's pitch changes its path right at this point.

This leads to batters feeling odd upon making contact because they have no idea how the ball moved.

This is why, in the original series, except for a few like Yuuki and Masuko, most batters only realized the unique nature of Sawamura's pitch after noticing its movement intentionally during the at-bat.

If they simply swung without observing the pitch, they'd end up like in the practice matches against their teammates and seniors—striking out without knowing what hit them.

Additionally, from what he observed, Eijun's cutter initially behaves more like a typical cutter, changing direction earlier.

This makes the movement visible, unlike his "quirky pitch." But as he refined it, it started resembling the quirky pitch, making it seem like the ball vanished.

"Pop!"

"Strike!"

"The movement was different this time as well."

"Confused, aren't you? You don't know what to do, right? Well, goodbye then!" Sendo said internally as he signaled the next move.

"Huh, where?" Sawamura was momentarily surprised.

"Don't hesitate! Come on!" Sendo spread his arms, signaling his intention clearly.

"If I throw a wild pitch, it's not my fault!" Sawamura thought, starting his pitching motion.

"What should I do? I have to swing!" The second batter, seeing Sawamura begin his pitch, panicked and swung desperately.

"Strike! Batter out!"

The final pitch was an outside corner ball, without needing to lower it, effectively acting as an inside corner ball to a left-handed batter.

Considering the random movement of Sawamura's quirky pitch, the odds of the ball deviating from the strike zone were quite high.

However, the batter had no other choice.

Upon seeing the ball in the strike zone, she had to swing, with no time to predict how it would move.

This time, the ball continued drifting outward. Had it been a left-handed batter, it might have even been a hit-by-pitch.

"Nice!" Sendo couldn't help but praise Sawamura's courage.

To be honest, Sawamura hadn't fully realized the quality of his pitches.

Even if others pointed it out, he wouldn't remember.

However, he knew his control wasn't great, so when he saw the signal earlier, he worried about missing the target.

"This should boost your confidence a bit! Next, let's take down the third batter in one go and shift the momentum completely to our side!" Sendo thought as he looked at Sawamura.

"Sorry, but that kid's fastball is really tricky. It veers unpredictably," the struck-out batter shared information with her teammate, who was next up to bat.

"Huh?"

"In any case, observe the first pitch and you'll see. But don't waste too many pitches observing—just one. If we try to observe more, that catcher will read our minds and prioritize throwing strikes, forcing us to swing at unknown pitch paths! For the second pitch, don't use the leg lift for your swing; stay steady."

Although she was struck out, the second batter quickly figured out how she got out.

"Got it!" Although she didn't fully understand what kind of unpredictable pitch her teammate was talking about, she chose to trust her.

The trust between baseball teammates is strong, especially in stronger teams where this bond is even more pronounced.

"What happened? I saw you were confused. Does that kid's pitch have some kind of secret?" Coach Mitani asked the batter as she returned.

.....

On the other side, the third batter took her place, and the game continued.

"I don't know what's going on, but I trust my teammates!" The third batter gripped her bat tightly, preparing to swing. However, this was all in vain.

"That second batter must have told you something. So no matter how much you try to put on a front, it's pointless. You won't swing, and Eijun's pitch isn't something you can hit just by watching it a few times," Sendo thought as he observed the batter's stance, immediately realizing she wouldn't take a swing.

"Straight down the middle! Heh!" Sawamura saw the sign and raised his hands high, showing his signature smile.

"Getting excited so easily, huh? You're such a simple guy..."

"Pop!"

"Strike!"

"…So simple-minded," Sendo remarked internally after catching the ball.

"What? It dropped?! Is this his fastball? No, his pitch movement is unpredictable!" The batter thought, shortening her grip on the bat.

"This kid's pitch isn't that easy to hit cleanly! And especially with a wooden bat!"

"Crack!"

Another straight fastball down the middle. The batter made contact but ended up hitting a high pop fly towards third base.

"I got it! I got it!" The third baseman shouted to alert his teammates.

"Smack!"

"Out!"

"Alright! Three outs, switch!" Sendo gently lifted his mask and jogged off the field.

"Why? He struck out the top three batters from Sakura Girls's University with just a regular fastball?" One of the observing players from Tokumei Academy's elementary division was visibly puzzled.

"Sorry, Coach!"

"Don't worry about it. That kid's pitch is quite interesting! It's probably a 'quirk ball,' a pitch that changes unpredictably near the batter's hands."

"It's similar to a knuckleball, but with less dramatic movement. However, unlike the knuckleball, which relies on the lack of spin and barely reaches speeds of a few dozen kilometers per hour, this pitch is faster and powered by finger pressure, making it much quicker."

"For us, it's like facing a natural nemesis. It's quite tricky to deal with, and his pitch speed isn't slow either. Remember this: in the next at-bat, stand at the front edge of the batter's box. Let's see if we can hit the ball before it changes."

"Yes, Coach!"

Coach Mitani analyzed Sawamura's pitching characteristics from his players but didn't have a concrete countermeasure.

The weak contact capability of wooden bats, combined with a 130 km/h "quirky pitch," was a nightmare for them. It could be said that getting a clean hit would require a lot of luck.

…

"Nice pitching, Ei-chan!"

"Nice one!"

"Alright, that's enough praising. He's going to get a big head if you keep it up!" Sendo saw everyone complimenting Sawamura and noticed his cheeks starting to turn red, so he jokingly called him out.

"Who's getting a big head? Sendo, can't you say something nice about me for once?"

"Alright, now it's our turn to bat. As usual, we're a weak team, so we need to carefully observe their pitch patterns, get on base as much as possible, steal bases, and put pressure on them to force errors. Let's go!"

"Yeah!!!"

------------

If you want to read 20 chapters advanced.

Visit my patreon: patreon.com/Shu_21