Diamond No Ace: The Strongest Hitter Has Arrived

Chapter 471: Progress!

Inside the Yakushi High School Baseball Team's dugout, Todoroki Raizo was remarkably quiet, sitting alone on the bench, chin resting on his hand, index finger tapping his cheek incessantly.

He was reflecting.

Todoroki Raizo wasn't one to reflect often, but now he felt it was necessary. How did they go from holding the absolute initiative to being constrained at every turn? Was it Zhang Han's Fastball and Homerun, or Yuuki Tetsuya and Isashiki Jun's consecutive hits? These were certainly important reasons, but not the whole story.

The most crucial reason Yakushi fell into such a predicament was that Seido High School Baseball Team played outside the norm. These guys had shamelessly changed their usual style.

Previously, Seido High School Baseball Team played with a very simple and clear style. They would hold onto their score while trying to expand their lead as much as possible. Compared to reckless full-on assaults, they preferred a steady, methodical offensive approach. Whenever there was an opportunity, Seido would try to score.

But today, Seido High School Baseball Team changed their usual style. They no longer insisted on a steady approach, but instead tried to maximize hitting opportunities. Many times, they no longer relied on the team's overall strength to score, but rather on the individual abilities of the players.

This style looked very familiar to Todoroki Raizo. How could he not be familiar with it? This was the style of their Yakushi High School Baseball Team. Swing with all your might, hit with all your might, constantly putting pressure on the pitcher. Seido High School Baseball Team was doing exactly that now.

And it looked like they would continue to do so. At this rate, Yakushi High School Baseball Team could practically declare surrender. Even if Yakushi High School Baseball Team's offense was incredibly strong, there was a limit. Once the score difference widened to a certain point, Yakushi High School Baseball Team would definitely be beyond help.

Thinking of this, Todoroki Raizo sighed. He once again lamented that choosing West Tokyo as the main battlefield for him and his son seemed like an unwise decision. Although the fruits reaped from emerging victorious from this battlefield were greater, the cost would inevitably be higher.

"But that's precisely what makes baseball interesting!"

"Keep it up, Yuuto! Don't be intimidated by their swings."

After reflecting for a while, Todoroki Raizo suddenly realized that he was truly not suited for such things. He might as well enjoy the game with his players.

A coach of a baseball team, yelling out encouragement directly. The Seido High School Baseball Team players were somewhat unaccustomed to it.

Miyuki thought more deeply. From the players to the coach, the opposing team seemed to carry a certain intensity. What kind of intensity exactly? Miyuki couldn't describe it. But he could clearly feel it.

He even had a premonition that if today's game fell into the opponent's rhythm, Seido High School Baseball Team would likely face considerable trouble. This was not an exaggeration; Miyuki truly felt this way, and it was a strong feeling. In this situation, he needed even more to help the team score as many runs as possible. Only runs were the most tangible thing.

Although they had no idea how Zhang Han's pitching would change later, as long as they opened up a sufficiently large score difference, then no matter how much the situation deteriorated, they could still be sure of victory.

"Ping!"

Miyuki, having calculated well, aimed at the incoming baseball and hit it hard. He hit the center of the ball perfectly.

The catcher for Yakushi High School had bloodshot eyes. He actually guessed it? This was not a swing made on a whim; this guy had been aiming for an inside pitch from the start. Because of this, he was able to cleanly hit the ball.

The white ball drew an arc in the sky and fell into the outfield.

"Good job, Miyuki!"

Isashiki Jun started running even before the baseball landed, praising Miyuki as he ran. Isashiki's personality was relatively straightforward. If you didn't hit well, he certainly wouldn't have anything good to say. But if you really hit well, he would never be stingy with praise. It was precisely because of his outgoing personality that he could form a perfect complement with Captain Yuuki Tetsuya, and Seido High School Baseball Team had grown so healthy and strong because of it.

Isashiki Jun, having rounded Third Base, rushed back to Home Base without stopping. Yakushi High School Baseball Team's outfielder, Akiba, picked up the ball and threw it directly back to Home Base. Although he didn't have time to tag out Isashiki Jun due to the long distance, Isashiki Jun successfully returned to Home Base, helping Seido High School Baseball Team score their third run.

The total score became 3:1.

However, Akiba's performance still startled the fans present, and also greatly startled the Seido High School Baseball Team players. A long throw of over seventy meters, landing only once in the middle, and then accurately bouncing into the catcher's mitt. Seeing the small, one can know the large; to be able to do this, this first-year named Akiba was truly extraordinary.

Although the overall impression of Yakushi High School Baseball Team wasn't entirely reassuring, if you talked about individual players, especially those three first-years and the hidden Ace pitcher Sanada, they were all extremely outstanding. Some were terrifyingly strong in certain aspects. Others had excellent overall qualities, such as Mishima and Akiba.

With the addition of these core players, plus Yakushi High School Baseball Team's previous third-years, who, though not exceptionally outstanding, all had a certain level of skill, everyone said that Yakushi High School Baseball Team winning against Inashiro Industrial was due to luck. If Inashiro had known Yakushi's information beforehand, if Narumiya Mei, as the Ace, had stood on the pitcher's mound from the beginning, the outcome might not have been that way.

But those who said such things overlooked an important premise: even with good luck, it still requires skill as a foundation. Yakushi High School Baseball Team's strength was also very good. Otherwise, even if a pie truly fell from the sky, they wouldn't be able to catch it.

Seido High School Baseball Team's offense ended there. The seventh batter hit a fly ball, which was caught by the pitcher for an out. Just like that, the game moved to the top of the second inning.

Zhang Han had already changed into his gear, waiting to take the field to pitch. Miyuki Kazuya discussed tactics with him before he went on.

Yakushi High School Baseball Team didn't seem like they were going to surrender. Since they had no intention of surrendering, they would definitely take action. Miyuki and Zhang Han needed to discuss tactics in advance.

"No need! When soldiers come, we block them; when water comes, we build a dam."

Zhang Han said calmly, covering his mouth with his glove.

"What does that mean?"

Miyuki apparently hadn't heard this proverb.

"It's simple. Let's see what the opponent throws at us, and then we'll figure out how to deal with it. You tell me so much all at once, I can't remember it all."

Just now, Miyuki had given three consecutive signals and three sets of countermeasures. Zhang Han was very impressed by this. Although his IQ wasn't low, it wasn't at the level of a super brain. On top of that, he hadn't cooperated much with Miyuki before, only remembering six or seven signals yesterday. Adding those three more, it would be a miracle if he didn't get confused.

With his mind full of signals, how could he pitch? Instead of hesitating like that, it was better to go all out and confront them head-on.

Miyuki obviously realized this as well. After all, before yesterday, the team hadn't even decided to let Zhang Han start, so their preparation was clearly insufficient.

"Then just pitch as you like! I'll give you signals based on the situation. If anything really goes wrong, we'll call a timeout."

The two hit it off immediately and quickly settled on a plan.

Now they could fully focus on facing the Yakushi High School Baseball Team batters. For Zhang Han, this feeling was very new. Although he had been a pitcher before and played many games, it was different then. At that time, he focused more on cooperating with teammates and constantly considering the situation on the field and the opponent's strategy. After a game, not only was his body tired, but his head tended to ache too.

Now it was different.

His former self didn't have a decisive weapon. The reason he could stay on the pitcher's mound most of the time was through experience and strategy, coupled with teamwork. Now, Zhang Han had his own weapon. He no longer needed to rely on his teammates as much as before; he could completely rely on his own strength to get outs.

"Swoosh!"

The white ball whistled out.

The Yakushi batter standing in the batter's box felt the muscles on his face twitching continuously. He had already witnessed Zhang Han's Fastball from the dugout earlier. That speed was truly terrifying. The baseball reached the catcher's mitt almost in the blink of an eye.

But now, truly standing in the batter's box and facing Zhang Han's pitch, he suddenly had a different feeling. The speed was even faster than when he was watching from the side. It was impossible for him to wait until he clearly saw the ball before swinging. To hit the ball, he had to act in advance.

One, two. Now.

The batter silently calculated the time in his heart and swung his bat out in advance. Surprisingly, he really found the rhythm. However, the position where he swung was still very far from the baseball. To swing early, one must predict the ball's trajectory. Unfortunately, he couldn't predict it at all.

"Pop!"

"Strike!"

"Strike!!"

"Strike!!!"

"Strikeout!!"

"Strikeout!!!"

"Strikeout!!!!"

Three consecutive strikeouts, although two balls were added in between, did not affect Zhang Han's performance. At this, the entire stands went wild.

In the Seido High School Baseball Team dugout, the coach responsible for statistics, and Nitta, who was intently watching the monitor in the stands, almost said in unison.

"He's improved again!!!"

************************************

Upto 50 Chapters In Advance At: P@treon/Vividreader123