Ace of the Diamond

At the Baseball Kingdom magazine office, Mine looks back to the summer tournament. The game between Yakushi and Seido was an exciting watch. Seido played their pitcher relay in order to face Yakushi's powerful batting lineup.

Inashiro and Seido met in the final. Inashiro played around their unparalleld ace, Narumiya. Whereas Seido relied on their 4-man pitcher relay. The first-year pitchers, Furuya and Sawamura, played key roles in the game.

Tanba got a leg cramp and couldn't continue, so Sawamura came out at the bottom of the seventh. Yuki turned the game around in the top of the eighth. Sawamura continued to pitch well throughout the bottom, but...

Seido draws into the most competitive bracket in their attempt to win the tournament. The first opponent is Teito, and they have a first-year pitcher who's already been to nationals forming a battery with their captain. They're trying to take nationals.

A huge crowd gathers at Edogawa City Baseball Stadium to watch the game between Seido and Teito. At the top of the first, Furuya takes out their cleanup and catcher, Inui. Teito's first-year pitcher, Mukai, is making good use of the corners to take control of the Seido batters.

The game is paused due to the rain. Mukai stretches in his dugout, Furuya looks spaced out, and Sawamura is pitching in the bullpen. The game resumes, and Miyuki immediately gets a double. However, Mukai is keeping it cool on the mound.

Sawamura makes a great relief. However, Mukai, as the self-proclaimed best pitcher his year, continues to toy the Seido batters. Kuramochi fights for a walk to first and Haruichi follows up with a hit. Can they score?

Mukai scatters his pitches offensively, but Tojo puts up a good fight and gets on base. Kuramochi follows after, and the Teito battery walks Haruichi to load the bases. It's two outs and bases loaded at the bottom of the eighth. Immense pressure is on Maezono.

Seido beats Teito, and the team is excited to play Inashiro again. Being influenced by how Maezono swings his bat every day after dinner, many follow suit. However, some aren't exactly on the same page.

It's Seido vs Nanamori, and Coach Kataoka has made a big roster change. Haruichi, Furuya, Tojo, and Kanemaru — four first-years are in the starting lineup. To top it off, the starting pitcher is Sawamura. Now that he's gained confidence in his outside pitch, Miyuki feels that Sawamura needs his inside back.

Sawamura overcomes the yips and shows off an impressive pitching job against Nanamori Academy. "You can be in contention for the ace position now," says Miyuki. Inashiro and Ugumori are playing at Ota Stadium, and Inashiro's victory might be in danger.

Inashiro vs Ugumori. At the bottom of the seventh, Tadano and Narumiya are having a difficult time seeing eye to eye against the highly offensive Ugumori batters. Umemiya hits a big one and Ugumori turns the game around with two runs! The runner-up team at nationals is cornered.

Inashiro is defeated, and the Seido Nine, who were hoping to take down Inashiro themselves, are visibly disturbed by the upset. After seeing Miyuki and Maezono's attitude toward Watanabe, Kamenashi steps in...

Ugumori vs Seido. Ugumori's cleanup, Umemiya is at bat, and Furuya pitches a high fastball remembering the conversation in the restroom. "If you can't do as I say, then get off the mound right now." Miyuki gives Furuya a reality check.

Umemiya pitches a power curveball to finish off Miyuki, but Miyuki manages to react quickly, thanks to Watanabe's scouting, and hits an RBI into the center field. Maezono follows up with a nice long hit along the left foul line to match Miyuki's RBI for a second run to Seido.

Bottom of the seventh, Seido is batting. Tojo hits a double into the right-center field. Higasa follows up with a two-run hit, giving Seido a five run lead over Ugumori. However, the Ugumori players look strangely cheerful, and seeing that, the audience begin to cheer for them.

A hit makes a bad bounce in front of Haruichi, and Seido misses out on a double play. Now, Ugumori has the bases loaded with no outs. Ugumori has momentum, but Seido's defense boldly shifts forward. Can they stop Ugumori as the batting order resets to the top?

Bottom of the eighth, it's two outs with a runner on third, and Umemiya face off against Miyuki. Miyuki hits long but stops just short of the fence, and the game goes into the final inning. For the final inning, Coach Kataoka gives the mound to Sawamura for his strong spirit.

It's the final inning, and Umemiya's at bat. Sawamura's concentration peaks. "I won't run away." Sawamura's cutter goes right into Umemiya's chest. He swings and hits a grounder toward Sawamura. Can Seido get Umemiya out?

Seido High School makes the round of eight, but Miyuki is overstressed by his role as the captain. "I thought that with you as the captain, the team will get better," Yuki encourages him. To add to the problem, the ace of Oya High School knows Furuya is injured.

"I don't want to quit the team," Watanabe says strongly. Miyuki and Maezono may have some issues, but the second-years as a whole are getting along better. Haruichi continues to practice hard, chasing after his brother's back. And the coach announces the starters for the Oya game. The pitcher is Sawamura.

At Seido's indoor practice area, Sawamura is trying to learn a breaking ball. He's having difficulties pitching any breaking balls but immediately succeeds on pitching a changeup with Coach Ochiai's advice. Is Sawamura finally moving on to the next phase of his pitching?

The runner on first takes a big lead. As Sawamura tries to throw to first, the runner on third runs, and Sawamura stops his throwing motion. "Balk!" says an umpire. Oya takes a run from Sawamura with a clever play.

Sawamura goes three for three in the bottom of the fifth. Next inning, Kuramochi gets a hit off the first pitch, and Shirasu follows as well. However, Oya scouts and analyzes well. Can Wakabayshi help turn the game in their favor?

Oya has runners on first and second with only one out, and the cleanup, Kasuga, is up next. However, Sawamura can't suppress his excitement. "Pitch with confidence," Maezono encourages Sawamura. Miyuki holds his mitt low and away.