Diamond Ace: No Regrets Chapter 266

The game had not yet begun, but the stands around the stadium were already packed with enthusiastic spectators.

Many were excitedly chatting, anticipating the upcoming match between Seido High and Sen High.

In the stands, a group of friends from Nagano had also found their seats, having made a special trip to Tokyo to cheer for their friend Sawamura Eijun.

Among this group of noisy youngsters, Wakana, with her short hair and green top, stood out.

Wakana’s eyes eagerly scanned the starting players of Seido High, but she didn’t see the figure she was longing for.

A sense of disappointment welled up in her heart.

Just as she was getting anxious, a voice suddenly reached her ears, a familiar voice that made Wakana’s eyes light up.

Following the direction of the sound, Wakana spotted Sawamura Eijun in the warm-up area on the side of the field!

He was shouting and doing warm-up exercises, completely forgetting the text message he had received yesterday.

He also didn’t notice Wakana in the stands, watching him intently.

Wakana quietly watched Sawamura, not making a sound to disturb him, afraid of affecting his condition.

Just seeing him was enough to make her feel content.

As time passed, the players from both sides entered the field one after another, beginning their final warm-up preparations.

In the Sen High dugout, Coach also received the starting lineup for Seido High’s game.

He rested his chin on one hand, thoughtfully stroking it, while holding the list in the other hand, examining it carefully.

“Not using their ace pitcher in the semi-finals, I really don’t know if Kataoka is too confident, we are very familiar with Tanba, doesn’t he fear being crushed by us.”

The game began, Seido High, first at bat!

“Hissah!”

Kuramochi Yoichi gripped the bat tightly in his hand, swaying his body slightly, each step carrying a unique rhythm as he walked towards the batter’s box.

In his mind, the scene of practicing batting with Coach Kataoka yesterday kept flashing.

The wide-angled curveball simulated by Coach Kataoka was difficult for him to handle, but Kuramochi didn’t feel discouraged.

He could occasionally hit that kind of tricky wide-angled curveball.

“If I can’t hit well, I have to find a way to get on base!”

Kuramochi cheered himself up in his heart.

He knew that among the first-string batters of Seido High, his role was the “on-field engine,” and getting on base was his main task!

After thinking about it, he decided to try a bunt steal, although it was quite difficult, it was at least a feasible batting option now.

“Ping!”

On the pitcher’s mound, Maki threw a pitch.

Kuramochi quickly swung his bat horizontally, and the baseball was knocked away.

To his disappointment, the landing point of the baseball was not ideal after being knocked away, it landed less than two steps in front of the pitcher’s mound.

Even so, Kuramochi didn’t choose to stop.

He unhesitatingly dropped the bat in his hand and ran quickly towards first base.

Even if there was only a one in ten thousand chance, he wouldn’t give up, what if the pitcher from Sen High made a mistake in covering the position!

In stark contrast to his tall stature, Maki, standing on the pitcher’s mound, was unusually quick in his defensive movements.

The distance that usually takes two steps to cover was just a relaxed stride for Maki.

Without any hesitation, when he bent down to touch the baseball, Maki quickly scooped the baseball into his glove.

Then he stood up, unhesitatingly switched the baseball from his glove to his hand, and threw it to first base.

“Pa!”

Maki’s throw was so fast that it was staggering, the first baseman caught his throw when Kuramochi Yoichi had just run two-thirds of the distance.

Kuramochi was ruthlessly called out!

“Damn it!”

Kuramochi Yoichi muttered with a frustrated expression.

Seeing Kuramochi Yoichi walking back with a face full of unwillingness, Kominato Ryosuke seemed very relaxed, with a faint smile on his face, he cheerfully comforted him.

“It’s already very good, you ran so far.”

Kominato Ryosuke’s tone was slightly teasing, making it clear that he was in a very relaxed state at the moment.

He gently stomped on the batter’s box under his feet, and then steadily raised the bat in his hand, preparing to hit.

“The game has just started, I still have to consume you, so that Tanba can relax a bit when pitching!”

“Ping!”

In just two pitches, Kominato Ryosuke’s face had already become unusually ugly when batting.

His original plan was to continue hitting the ball foul.

The trajectory of the baseball flying from the pitcher’s mound to the batter’s box was an extremely exaggerated arc-shaped diagonal line.

To accurately hit such a ball, one must constantly calculate the change in the angle of the baseball during its flight.

Just on the previous pitch, Kominato Ryosuke made a misjudgment.

He originally intended to hit the ball foul, but it turned into a line drive flying towards third base.

And the third baseman of Sen High was obviously prepared for this situation, he had been waiting in front of third base.

While the baseball was still flying in the air, before it landed, the third baseman of Sen High quickly reached out his glove and steadily caught the baseball.

“Out!”

No one on base, two outs.

The performance of the first two starting batters of Seido High against the giant pitcher Maki Yosuke of Sen High seemed somewhat inadequate in the eyes of the spectators in the stands.

Maki Yosuke quickly eliminated these two batters with his clean pitching.

Maki Yosuke’s figure was already very tall, standing on the pitcher’s mound, his figure was particularly eye-catching.

The spectators in the stands looked sideways, especially those neutral fans who had not seen Maki’s game before, they were very surprised by the strength of this pitcher, and secretly sighed in their hearts.

“This pitcher is so strong!”

In the Seido High dugout, Coach Ochiai was quietly observing the situation on the field.

His fingers lightly twisted his mustache, and his eyes were firmly locked on Maki Yosuke on the pitcher’s mound.

Coach Ochiai’s expression was serious, as if he was thinking about strategies to deal with Maki Yosuke.

“The advantage brought by height is more difficult to deal with than expected!”

In the information collected before, neither Coach Kataoka nor Coach Ochiai felt that Maki’s pitching was the kind that their disciples could not hit.

According to their estimation, with Kominato Ryosuke’s batting skills, it shouldn’t be so difficult to deal with the opponent’s pitching.

But now, the situation on the field was exactly the opposite.

Kominato Ryosuke was solved by the opponent in just three pitches.

If they are not more careful, Seido High will be the one to suffer.

“Pitchers are originally a group of people with high unpredictability, the pitching ability itself is one aspect, the state is also very important, although I don’t know why, today’s Maki is obviously in a state of explosive performance.”

As a catcher, Chris’s understanding of pitchers can be said to be very in-depth and specific.

He not only pays attention to the pitcher’s technical movements and pitching habits, but also conducts a comprehensive analysis of the pitcher’s psychological state and game strategy.

For Maki Yosuke, this opponent, Chris has always had his own judgment and positioning.

In his opinion, Maki Yosuke’s strength is between second-rate middle and lower levels.

Although Maki Yosuke has a tall stature, he doesn’t seem to be able to make full use of this advantage and doesn’t perform well in the game.

In theory, Chris believes that Maki Yosuke’s strength is only so-so, and there is not much room for improvement.

However, the opening of today’s game surprised him, Maki Yosuke’s pitching performance completely exceeded Chris’s expectations.

The balls he threw were not only full of power, but also obviously faster than before, and the accuracy of the ball path also improved significantly.

This extraordinary performance made Chris feel very confused.

He really couldn’t figure out why the pitcher from Sen High was in such good condition today, so good that it was a bit exaggerated.