Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

Chapter 25: Invitation!

In the catcher’s position, Chris looked at the white ball behind him in disbelief. 

The picture he just saw began to appear in his mind involuntarily.

The glove and body covered the pitching left hand so that he couldn’t see where Sawamura was holding the ball at all, so when the ball came over, it looked so fast. And as far as Chris himself feels, Sawamura’s ball isn’t just about looking fast.

After adopting the new pitching form, Sawamura’s ball speed should increase. The exact amount is unknown to Chris, but from his position as a catcher, it is no less than one hundred and forty-five.

Originally thought that the 135-kilometer ball soared to 145, and the speed increased by 10 kilometers. It is no wonder that Chris’s first ball would not adapt.

But the truth is, it’s not that Sawamura’s ball speed is really 145 kilometers, his ball is not that fast. It’s just that the catcher feels the ball is faster than expected because he can’t see where the ball is being thrown. That’s what Chris is talking about.

Whether the batter or the catcher is ready, the pitcher starts with the ball in his hand. Although the ball is in the hands of the pitcher at the beginning, the timing and speed of the ball can already be judged by the swing of the arm.

Sawamura is different, because his arms are naturally soft, and after adopting the Wall-Making pitching form, his entire left-hand pitching action is blocked by his right-hand glove and chest, making the release point completely invisible to Batter.

If the batter wants to hit his pitch, he must wait for the ball to be released before he can judge the timing. In this way, it is natural to see that Sawamura’s ball is much faster than the real ball speed. (The effect is the same.)

These things were just a momentary thing in Chris’s mind.

But at this moment, both Sawamura and Miyuki were terrified.

The two hurried forward.

“Shisho, are you alright?”

“Chris-Senpai?”

They thought that Chris, who had just recovered, had his injury relapsed?

“I’m fine!”

Looking at the concerned eyes of the two, Chris was moved, but he didn’t say a word of thanks on the surface.

“Sawamura, throw again!”

After talking to Sawamura, He turned to Miyuki again and said, “Miyuki, you also stand behind me and have a look. After all, you are still the Catcher of the First String.”

This is a lot of information!

Miyuki understood two things, one was this ball, and he had to watch it in advance to catch it. The second is that he is still the catcher of the First String, and the focus is now.

"As expected of Chris-senpai, he is the real deal!"

Seeing that Chris was all right, Sawamura was relieved.

Then he threw the second ball following the pitching form just now.

Snap!

Chris caught the ball firmly.

“As expected of a Shisho!”

Sawamura gave Chris a thumbs up excitedly, and Chris nodded with a smile.

Neither of them mentioned how the situation and the batter were.

The most important thing right now is to catch the ball.

As for the imaginary duel just now, Chris and Sawamura have already lost.

Two outs, runners at third base, and if Chris missed a catch, Porter would have run straight back to home plate long ago.

The Senpai and the Kohai are also shameful people. How can you mention such a shameful thing?

The cooperation between the two was a tacit understanding, but Miyuki was a little dumbfounded.

'Damn, is this ball so fast and difficult to catch from the front?'

“If you are already this good with the Wall-Making Form? When you used the towel before, why did you not take it seriously?”

At this time, Kataoka suddenly appeared out of nowhere, startling Sawamura.

'Boss, you can’t joke like that, it’s scary, it will scare people to death.'

Facing Kataoka’s iceberg face wearing sunglasses, Sawamura didn’t know for a while, how he would explain it.

He couldn’t tell Kataoka that he was deliberately intimidating him to satisfy his self-esteem.

But, if he said that to Kataoka’s face, it is estimated that Kataoka, who was so embarrassed, would have let him run until the end of the practice without mercy.

Sawamura himself was silent. At this moment, a voice suddenly came out and saved him.

“It should be the feel. When Sawamura throws the ball, the baseball in his hand has a feel. If you have a towel, it may not be suitable.” Chris said.

Sawamura felt that his eyes were suddenly enlightened, as expected of his own Shisho, and he was so good at talking nonsense. (Chris: I don’t.)

“Yes, yes!” He hurriedly affirmed him without hesitation.

Kataoka paused, nodded, and believed what Chris said: “Don’t practice too much, twenty balls in one set, five sets are enough.”

Since Sawamura doesn’t feel good when practicing with a towel, he can just use the ball directly.

As long as he can learn it, Kataoka is not bothered about this. Of course, the number of pitches can’t be too much.

After Kataoka asked a few questions, he left gracefully.

Sawamura let out a sigh of relief and was too nervous with Kataoka.

“Miyuki, you want to come and try it.”

After receiving five or six Pitches, Chris stood up and gave up the position to Miyuki.

“Yes!”

Miyuki was not holding back and squatted down directly.

“Partner, come on.”

Miyuki excitedly shouted at Sawamura.

From the pitching position, Sawamura subconsciously felt a faint chill on his back. Such an enthusiastic Miyuki always gives people a very bad feeling, as if this kid is going to play some tricks.

Of course, Sawamura knew that this was impossible, but Miyuki’s character was too bad, no matter what he did, Sawamura couldn’t feel that he had any good intentions.

Even so, Sawamura didn’t say anything. In his heart, he still hoped to pitch the ball to Miyuki.

Whoosh!

The baseball came flying, and Miyuki opened his glove and confiscated the ball in his glove.

Snap!

Until the ball entered the glove, Miyuki couldn’t hide the shock in his eyes. Catching the ball from Sawamura has a lot to do with it.

“This Saturday, after the semi-finals of the spring competition, the whole team has free to use. I and Sawamura had a duel at that time, and I hope you will come too.”

After Miyuki catches the ball, Chris invites Miyuki.

“Aren’t you, two good partners, enough?”

Miyuki looked at Chris in confusion.

“In addition to squatting in the Catcher position to catch Sawamura’s ball, I also want to be in the strike zone and see what Sawamura’s ball looks like.”

Chris said it naturally.

“After all, I’m also a member of the third grade!”

It has been two years since that matchup, but in the mind of the third grade, he has never passed.

How much have they improved in the past two years in Seidou?

There is no better touchstone than Sawamura!

“You got it!”

Facing Chris’ invitation, Miyuki agreed without much hesitation.

Although he wasn’t someone like Kuramochi who would die if he didn’t watch the fun, he didn’t want to miss the battle of the century between the third-year seniors and Sawamura.

“But the coach won’t agree to it.”

Sawamura’s strength is at a time of rapid improvement. As long as Kataoka’s brain circuits are normal, he will not agree to let the third-year batter fight against Sawamura now. Why do we have to wait until Sawamura’s strength is at a bottleneck?

“This is a private duel, and it was proposed by Sawamura himself.”

Chris didn’t know that when Isashiki Jun told him what happened earlier. Yes, Sawamura made the offer. But at first, it was the third-year senior who took the initiative to find Sawamura first.

...

T/N: The Third Chapter.
That's it for today. Thank you all for reading, and see you later.