Are you okay?
Yeah, I'm fine.
I was told not to pitch for two weeks.
I see.
Good.
Because I'm not stopping.
Come back in top shape.
May 10th Field B
Stop.
We'll do the next drill after a one-minute interval.
Yes, sir.
They're getting started.
Seido
Naruta Industrial
Line up!
Thank you!
Seido — Naruta (West Tokyo) (Chiba)
Naruta Industrial Coach Ikkyu Chazawa
Batting First Shortstop Kuramochi
Batting Second Second Base Kominato
Batting Third Right Field Shirasu
Batting Fourth Catcher Miyuki
Batting Fifth First Base Maezono
Batting Sixth Center Field Tojo
Batting Seventh Left Field Yuki
Batting Eighth Third Base Higasa
Batting Ninth Pitcher Sawamura
I'm out of the lineup?
Bow!
Good game!
Seido High School Practice Field
Naruta Industrial's starting pitcher is a powerful right-hander.
His best pitch is a sharp slider.
With his height, he's a perfect stand-in pitcher
for Ichidai Third High's ace, Kosei Amahisa.
Swing for the fastballs at the start.
I don't care if you ignore the sliders.
Hit before he settles into a rhythm.
Naruta Industrial...
It's one of the high schools I was looking to join.
Hey!
It was you, wasn't it?
You attacked my friends!
Staff Room
Kuramochi!
Do you know what you've done?
You broke his nose! He's a city council member's son!
What do you mean? That wasn't me.
The whole city could hear that shrill yell of yours.
Some of the schools scouting you have withdrawn their interest.
I can't change that.
But I don't regret what I've done.
Yoh-chan...
They really did figure it out!
I guess I'll need to find a different high school.
I d i o t
I've been getting in trouble since I was a little brat.
The only thing anyone ever praised me for was baseball.
They're all gone, eh?
Staff Room
I'm sorry.
If I couldn't play baseball...
I'd never considered what that would mean.
I'm home—
Yohichi, there's someone here to see you.
It's nice to meet you.
I'm Takashima, the assistant coach of the Seido High School baseball team.
Seriously?!
I believe that you can become Seido's lead-off man.
S-Seriously?
I can keep playing baseball!
Yeah, right on!
Yeah!
Nice running!
Master Cheetah has made it around the world once!
Nice cheetah!
Shut up!
He's got some good legs on him.
I wish I had a leadoff like that.
What are they swinging for?
Fastballs?
Ball four!
Furuya!
Don't rush things! Get yourself healed up first!
I'm not the most reliable third-year.
None of us is satisfied with how we did in the spring!
Go eat something, take a bath, and sleep!
That's the part...
that I'm missing.
Yeah, here we go!
A run scored on a double down the line!
Oh, yeah!
Zono-senpai is roaring!
Roar, Zono!
He's hitting again.
Oh, yeah!
It's crazy how often we score when Kuramochi-senpai gets on base.
This lead will take the pressure off Sawamura-senpai when he pitches.
Seido
Naruta
Sawamura, this team's gonna come swinging.
I don't want them to zero in on a pitch this early.
We'll show them a few of the Number 11 we've been practicing.
Got it. I'll be ready.
Don't force it.
I'll get it done.
Yeah!
They're starting Sawamura.
So what about Furuya?
I don't see him on the bench.
Sawamura's been handling all of the important games.
He's on a roll, I bet.
He basically dominated Hakuryu.
I saw that article on Land of Baseball. They called it a golden age.
Having both Furuya and Sawamura reach this level of pitching...
I knew he had it in him.
No bragging!
Naruta Industrial's third, fourth, and fifth batters
aren't called the Southpaw Killers for nothing.
If Sawamura can get things done, it'll show he's the real deal.
You're here to watch?
How far can he go?
Can he keep riding the wave?
Sawamura, you can do it!
Go.
Go, Sawamura!
Last Winter
Aw, man!
That didn't work, either!
I can't keep it under control!
That was way off. How are you gripping it?
Like this!
Put that away!
Practicing breaking balls?
Just testing a few different grips.
I'd prefer he just learn to throw sliders and curveballs.
S l i p
How can you be so clumsy? Jeez.
Learn Today
Devote Every Moment
Coach Ochiai left without saying a word.
Next one.
Here goes!
At least throw something that'll cross the plate.
Urgh!
U r g h !
You're not even trying!
Yes, I am!
I'm heading out!
Just a little more! Please, Cap!
Your weakness is the speed of the pitch.
A metal bat would send it flying.
You need to increase the speed of your pitches during this off-season.
That's the more important challenge to overcome.
With enough speed and control, even the weirdest of pitches
can become incredible breaking balls.
Let's take the time to find what suits you best.
You should be training, too, Cap!
You get injured easily!
Shut up! I've already healed!
I can't put it in play.
Strike! Batter out!
Whoa!
That's his fourth!
Seido
Naruta
He's only allowed one hit so far, right?
Naruta's Southpaw Killers can't touch him!
Sawamura's on a roll!
Oh, man. The batters are all swinging late.
Yeah.
And he's locating his pitches perfectly, too!
The trajectory is just insane.
I can't see the ball during his windup, and then...
Haruichi!
Yeah!
Nice pitching!
Nice pitch, Sawamura!
Lookin' good, Sawamura!
Their bench is really cheering.
He's so focused.
That ball's on fire!
You're the man! Seriously!
Number 11 wasn't ready, but I'm glad we showed them a few things in the first inning.
I'm just a little concerned about the quick pace.
He's not even pitching 140 km/h.
But his pitches are really sharp.
That determined expression and his exceptional ball control...
And those mysterious breaking balls he throws now and then...
So there was a pitcher like that hiding behind Satoru Furuya.
Seido High School has a fearsome team.
This is incredible.
Yes.
So this is how Sawamura-kun pitched against Hakuryu.
He doesn't just set the tone, his pitching pulls the team forward!
His back?
Yes. I plan to put Furuya on a solo regimen for a while.
His symptoms aren't severe, so no need to worry.
I'll make the training schedule.
I'll get him powered up and ready to return.
He's seemed preoccupied lately.
I hope this will help snap him out of it.
We'll have to let the other pitchers handle the practice games.
We've been invited to several other games, as well.
Should we bring up someone from the second string?
No need!
Kawakami!
We have both Kawakami and Sawamura!
Kawashima and Kaneda are ready, too!
Strike! Batter out!
Huh? A telegraphed squeeze play?
No way! He's gotta be faking.
I can see the runner clearly.
If the runner moves, I'll pitch out.
Man, he jammed it!
The third-base runner is going for it!
The ball's not moving! I can't throw home in time!
It'll cross the line! Don't touch it!
It stopped just before the line!
The third-base runner scored!
That's the fifth run!
Yeah!
Nice batting, Sawamura!
That jerk! Even luck's on his side!
Yeah! Yeah!
He did it!
Don't pretend you meant to do that!
You couldn't do that again if you tried!
I hope your hand doesn't hurt.
Sawamura...
You did it, Eijun-kun!
That jerk...
I'm here...
This team still has me!
Bottom of the Seventh
Seido
Naruta
A few hitters made it on base, but they were the exceptions.
Sawamura didn't give up any runs in the first six innings.
In the seventh, a walk and a hit have put runners on second and third with one out.
Koyasu, the cleanup, is up to bat.
A high fastball was hit to deep right field.
Naruta scored one run after tagging up.
With another runner on third, he fell behind, making the count two balls, no strikes.
It was the touchiest moment of the game.
Foul!
The batter hung on and made the count three balls, two strikes.
His next pitch was a powerful inside fastball.
Out!
Sawamura threw 98 pitches in seven innings,
Eijun Sawamura Innings Pitched: 7 Pitches: 98 Hits Allowed: 4 Walk(s): 1 Run(s) Allowed: 1 Strikeouts: 5
giving up four hits, one walk, one run
and earning five strike-outs.
Nice, second!
That's enough for today. Go cool down.
Damn, why am I so out of breath?
I've only pitched seven innings!
Sawamura!
Nice pitching!
Yeah!
Good work! Have a drink!
He's been pitching at full strength since the first inning.
Maybe he got a little too enthusiastic.
S l i p
It's okay when you get ahead in the count,
but when the numbers miss, you have to fall back on fastballs.
You need to work on controlling the numbers.
But when your fastball is on, this is how well you can pitch.
You showed that to our teammates and the stands.
It was exhilarating to catch.
Are you teasing me?
Are you teasing me because I came off the mound in the seventh?
What a dirty way to rub it in!
I'm giving you an honest compliment.
You never do that!
It's scary coming from you!
It makes you look even scarier!
Hey!
Seido
Naruta
Bottom of the Eighth
In the bottom of the eighth, Kawakami, the rotation's #2, took the mound.
Their team has several right-handed batters
who can hit to the right, hence Southpaw Killers.
If you can get your sinker down around their knees, they'll swing for it.
And throw my slider out of the zone?
Yeah, after you get a few strikes with your fastballs.
Play!
Go, Kawakami!
Seeing Sawamura and Furuya pitch so well gets me pumped up.
I want to keep performing in every game that I can.
As a third-year...
and as a pitcher...
I want to win!
I don't want any regrets this summer!
Kawakami faced seven batters,
allowing one hit and earning three strike-outs.
They're throwing another good pitcher at us.
The Naruta batters were unable to find a pitch to target,
and fell to Seido, 7–1.
Seido Naruta
W: Sawamura/Kawakami L: Obori/Otsuka
Their winning streak since their away games has extended to seven wins.
Asari – Seido (Saitama) (West Tokyo)
Next, in the second game,
the Kaneda-Ono battery started,
and the rest of the fielders were swapped out as well.
In the early innings, Kaneda performed well with his forkball,
and the other team's pitcher threw effective 12-6 curveballs.
Asari
Seido
The game continued as a pitchers' duel until the fourth inning.
The stalemate was broken by the shortstop Takatsu, who was batting first.
First-year Yui, the right fielder in this game, also got on base...
And third-years Yamaguchi and Mimura brought runners home to score three runs.
But in the sixth inning, Kaneda gave up several hits, tying the score at three.
Asari
Seido
Get out there!
Here we go!
Then, in the seventh inning...
this player took the mound.
Tojo-san is taking the mound!
So he can pitch, too.
That was what he was best at!
The whole team will have to cover the gap left by Furuya.
Tojo.
Can you take the mound this Saturday?
Yes, sir! I can!
Please let me pitch!
He threw sliders and curveballs, keeping his pitches precise and low,
and racking up the groundballs.
Out!
Lookin' good, Tojo!
Here comes another!
Bring it!
Yeah!
That was good. It looked like the same pitch but dropped out of the zone.
Mind if I go next?
Hang on, Kominato!
Tojo, just a few more!
If you insist.
I'll be throwing the pitches you can never hit, Shinji.
Yeah!
Choosing to spend his time as the pitcher for batting practice,
he worked on improving his ball control...
which he put to use in this game.
Out!
And...
Sixth batter Kanemaru's hit one high and deep,
as if in reverence to Tojo's return as a pitcher.
That two-run home run would prove to be the game winner.
Seido High School achieved practice game victories
over Naruta Industrial and Asari High School,
extending their winning streak to eight games.
55 Days Until the Summer Tournament
"Bloom of Youth!"
I got it! I got it!
His defense has improved.
But I hate his MLB-inspired call outs.
I got it! I got it!
Trusting his pitcher's arsenal,
he calls a simple and effective game.
I got it! I got it!
It's kind of like a promise he has made himself!
I got it! I got it!
When the time comes, I'll gladly...
I got it! I got it!
On the next episode of Ace of the Diamond Act II:
"Kind of Like a Promise."
Next Time
"Kind of Like a Promise"
Let's win the national title!
Color Illustration / Yuji Terajima