Diamond No Ace: The Strongest Hitter Has Arrived

How could there be a Fastball that drops?

Not only was Harada confused, but in the Inashiro Industrial High School Baseball Team's dugout, almost everyone had big question marks above their heads.

They couldn't understand what was going on.

So all of Inashiro's players waited for Harada to come back and share information with them.

Manager Ota of the Baseball Club, who had a receding hairline, was a little worried. He was afraid that these players, by focusing too much on the showdown with Zhang Han, would forget their most important task at hand.

But Coach Kunimoto did not give any instructions. He calmly watched the players openly discuss Zhang Han's pitch.

Manager Ota with the receding hairline stroked the back of his head and leaned close to Coach Kunimoto, looking as if he wanted to speak but hesitated.

Coach Kunimoto guessed his partner's thoughts almost perfectly. He shook his head and said nothing.

"What exactly is going on? You're really embarrassing our baseball team, senior. You're our cleanup hitter, and if even you can't hit the ball, how are the rest of us hitters supposed to hit?"

Narumiya Mei questioned him without ceremony.

All the surrounding players frowned.

With Narumiya Mei, as his partner, speaking so frankly, they found it difficult to say anything.

Harada Masatoshi still looked puzzled.

Even though the showdown had ended one or two minutes ago, that last pitch was still imprinted in his mind.

How could it be, so far off?

He didn't need to be an observer; he could see how far his bat was from the baseball when he was in the batter's box.

"The baseball dropped, and the drop was not small. A 155 km/h dropping ball. If Zhang Han can maintain this pitch, then it will be very difficult for us to score runs."

As the baseball team's captain and cleanup hitter, when Harada said this, all the players of Inashiro Industrial fell silent.

A Fastball at this speed could already easily strike out most of their hitters.

If the baseball could still change while maintaining that speed…

Then the hitters of Inashiro Industrial High School Baseball Team seemed to have no choice but to surrender.

Manager Ota with the receding hairline, seeing the players' disappointed expressions, couldn't help but feel nervous.

If the players went onto the field in such a state, the consequences…

"Fortunately, we are currently in the lead. Even if we cannot score again in this game, as long as we can hold onto the current score, we can win the game. I'm counting on you, Ace!"

Harada Masatoshi stared intently at Narumiya Mei, placing the hope of victory on his Ace.

The players of Inashiro Industrial were naturally unwilling to accept this. But circumstances were stronger than them, and given the current situation, they truly had no other options.

Currently, it seemed they could only get the last six outs and rely on that one-run lead to win the game.

"Oh!"

Narumiya Mei's little face was flushed with excitement.

He had been complaining about Harada, but he didn't expect his senior to value him so much, putting the entire outcome of the game on his shoulders.

"Don't worry, I won't let them score!"

By now, Narumiya Mei had thrown over a hundred pitches.

But whether from his face or his overall spirit, there was no sign of fatigue.

On the contrary, he was eager to try.

Anyone could tell at a glance that he was full of anticipation for the upcoming showdown.

Seido High School.

Last summer, it was a similar scene, a similar score.

Inashiro Industrial High School Baseball Team ultimately failed to make it to Summer Koshien by a single run.

This regret, even though Inashiro Industrial won the Spring Koshien, could not be compensated for.

On one hand, the influence of Spring Koshien itself couldn't compare to Summer Koshien.

But that wasn't the most important thing; the most important thing was that those third-year seniors who fought alongside them last summer no longer had the chance to dominate the nation.

Narumiya Mei would never forget this grudge.

Even when they eliminated Seido last autumn, Narumiya Mei was still not satisfied.

From now on, as long as he stood on the pitcher's mound for Inashiro Industrial High School Baseball Team, he would absolutely not allow Seido High School Baseball Team to win any game against them.

Not even practice games, let alone this Kanto Tournament final.

The players of Inashiro Industrial, facing the almost invincible Zhang Han, did not completely collapse.

On the contrary, they quickly recognized the reality and swiftly came up with a countermeasure.

However, the fans in the stands could not perceive this.

At this moment, the fans were still immersed in Zhang Han's perfect pitch.

Seido High School Baseball Team, renowned for its Batting Line, was previously most criticized for its pitching staff.

Although there were many pitchers, and each one had their own unique characteristics and a certain level of skill.

But compared to their outstanding batting line, their pitchers always seemed to have various minor issues, giving the impression that they were never quite reliable.

Especially when paired with the phrase "Nation's Best Batting Line," Seido High School Baseball Team's pitching staff felt like their biggest weakness, a drag on the team.

The loyal supporters of Seido High School Baseball had worried a lot about this before.

Now, it's good. Zhang Han has successfully established himself on the pitcher's mound. Even the core hitters of the formidable Inashiro Industrial High School Baseball Team couldn't truly hit his ball.

Forget about getting a hit; even making contact with the ball was extremely difficult.

This feeling was simply incredibly powerful.

For the loyal supporters of Seido High School Baseball Team and Zhang Han's personal fans, there was nothing more enjoyable than the scene unfolding before them.

Even if the baseball team was temporarily trailing Inashiro by one run.

The loyal supporters of Seido High School Baseball Team and those female fans were not too worried.

They believed in Seido, they believed in Zhang Han, and they believed that the title of National First Batting Line was not an empty boast.

As long as the pitcher's position was stable, they believed that Seido catching up or even surpassing the score would be a matter of minutes.

After all, it would soon be the turn of Seido High School's baseball team's hitters to step up to the batter's box for the fourth time.

Their opponent hadn't changed, and it was estimated that the hitters in Seido High School Baseball Team, except for Zhang Han and Yuuki, had already gotten used to Narumiya Mei's pitch speed and pitch.

On the contrary, Narumiya Mei had already thrown over a hundred pitches, and it was impossible for his pitch speed to remain as it was at the beginning of the game.

After all, no matter how strong he was, he was still flesh and blood, just a sixteen-year-old boy.

So the fans in the stands, at this moment, cheered with particular enthusiasm.

In the dugout of Seido High School Baseball Team, the atmosphere was not much different from that in the stands.

The players' expressions were still relatively relaxed; they thought similarly to the fans. As long as they could control runs allowed, a difference of one or two runs, in the eyes of Seido High School Baseball Team's players, was not an impossible task.

They believed that their side still had a lot of hope.

Because their mindset was relaxed, they even had the leisure to care about Zhang Han's pitch.

"So cool. Was that a forkball just now?"

Kuramochi asked excitedly.

Although Zhang Han's pitching was fast, the players of Seido High School Baseball Team were not ordinary people either.

With their eyesight, they could still see the distance between the bat and the baseball.

They didn't believe that such a distance was caused by Harada swinging and missing.

One must know that Harada Masatoshi was a presence that could rival their captain, Yuuki.

How could he make such a low-level mistake?

If it wasn't Harada's mistake, then the only reasonable explanation they could think of was that Zhang Han threw a breaking ball.

Only this could explain why the bat and the baseball were more than 10 centimeters apart at that time.

"That's a secret!"

Zhang Han joked with a smile.

He would not easily reveal the pitch he had painstakingly honed just to satisfy his companions' curiosity.

"You damn bastard, you've completely betrayed our pure friendship."

Kuramochi rolled up his sleeves, looking ready to give Zhang Han a beating.

"It's our turn to attack. Everyone, let's not make a fuss."

Manager Ota stepped out to mediate.

In fact, not only Kuramochi was curious; many other teammates also craned their necks and pricked up their ears, waiting to hear.

But now, Zhang Han, perhaps due to too much interaction with the cunning Miyuki, was no longer as easy to talk to as before.

He just wouldn't explain.

The others could only temporarily bury this curiosity in their hearts.

Only Chris, looking thoughtfully at Zhang Han and Miyuki huddling together, muttered softly.

"It should all be Fastballs."

Zhang Han used to often find Chris to be his partner, but only in the past two weeks, he had been mysteriously staying with Miyuki, not knowing what they were researching.

His daily pitching count was limited now, and the longer he spent with Miyuki, naturally, he had no time to practice with Chris.

Counting it up, Chris had not received Zhang Han's pitches for a week.

He didn't expect that he would actually develop such a miraculous pitch.

Although Zhang Han only started practicing in the past two weeks, the initial idea for it was much older than two weeks, so Chris knew a little about it.

Precisely because he knew a little, he understood even more clearly what it meant for Zhang Han to develop such a pitch.

If he wasn't restricted, then Zhang Han, on the pitcher's mound, would likely change the history of high school baseball.

On the other side, Zhang Han and Miyuki huddled together.

Whether it was the fans in the stands or the teammates in the dugout, everyone had very high praise for Zhang Han's pitching that he had just displayed.

In their eyes, Zhang Han and Miyuki, this duo, had firmly shut down Inashiro Industrial High School Baseball Team's offense.

Little did they know, these two were also extremely flustered at the moment.

"Compared to practice, it's completely out of control in an official game."

Miyuki said with a wry smile.

"No choice, it's the first time using it in an official game, so some error is normal. It will get better and better later."

Zhang Han comforted him.

However, Miyuki did not fully take Zhang Han's comforting words to heart. In his opinion, this game was not over yet.

Not only was their offense not over, but Seido High School's defensive task was also not over.

Bottom of the eighth inning, Seido High School Baseball Team to bat.

The first to step up to the batter's box for Seido High School Baseball Team was their Ninth Batter.

Just then, at the very front of Seido High School Baseball Team's dugout, Coach Kataoka stepped forward and gave an instruction.

"Seido High School Baseball Team, changing pinch hitter."

This move left not only the fans in the stands and the players of Inashiro Industrial High School Baseball Team utterly bewildered.

Even Seido High School Baseball Team's own teammates couldn't understand what their Coach was thinking.

"First-year, Jinguuji, pinch-hitting!"

And so, Jinguuji, who had not appeared in a game even once before, stepped up to the batter's box.

As the game neared its end, Inashiro Industrial Baseball Team only needed to get six outs to win the game.

Seido High School Baseball Team actually sent out a first-year rookie who hadn't played before in such a critical situation.

No matter how strong that rookie was, the players of Inashiro Industrial High School Baseball Team and the spectators in the stands did not believe he could hit Narumiya Mei's ball.

Therefore, they couldn't understand what on earth the Coach of Seido High School Baseball Team was thinking.

"That person is Jinguuji!"

Of course, some fans recognized Jinguuji.

Recalling his achievements in junior high school, it seemed understandable that Coach Kataoka had expectations for him.

But even so, the fans still didn't believe Jinguuji could hit Narumiya Mei's ball.

So the vast majority of fans present were very confused by Coach Kataoka's actions.

Some even thought he was crazy.

But there were also some who had a very different view on this; they believed that Coach Kataoka's approach was not only fine but also very clever.

For example, Fujio, a veteran reporter for Baseball Kingdom Magazine.

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