Diamond Ace: Monster Slayer

Chapter 193 Career Gap

The baseball landed heavily on the guardrail behind Zhou Hui.

Baseball can be described as incredible both in terms of the power and speed of the ball.

Tanaka has his own logic when pitching.

This can make his ball hit harder and faster, which is something most people can't learn.

Behind what others cannot learn is Tanaka's hard work day and night, otherwise how could he become the best pitcher in the country.

In addition to hard work, his talent is also an inseparable part.

No matter how hard you work, without the blessing of talent you cannot bring yourself to a height that is beyond the reach of others.

Tanaka did just that.

Not only does he have outstanding talent, but his hard work also made him a nationally famous pitcher.

"nice shot!"

Scout Kawashima made the judgment from the side.

From his perspective, the ball was in the strike zone.

On the baseball field, it is not only the umpire behind the catcher who can make good calls on balls and balls.

So can the first and third base umpires.

Although they are farther away from home plate than the umpire, they can see the side more clearly.

If the three referees cannot make up their minds, VR equipment can only be used.

Of course, there is no Koshien.

In Koshien, most of the time the referees make the calls, and the two referees rarely have a chance to make calls on the home plate situation.

Zhou Hui ran over and threw the ball back.

"Snapped!"

Tanaka reached out to catch the ball.

This one action alone was enough to make him happy for a while.

I actually passed the ball with my idol.

This is something that many people cannot accomplish even in their dreams.

Looking at Zhou Hui's evasive eyes, Tanaka smacked his lips, as if realizing something.

If this continues, he will not be able to see Zhou Hui display his full strength.

When they meet professional baseball players, they will blush like boys and their physical functions will decline, making it impossible to fully unleash their strength.

This was Tanaka’s first impression of Zhou Hui.

If he enters the professional baseball league in this state, he will have no chance after Zhou Hui enters the professional baseball league.

Professional baseball requires game results, not social skills.

You are asked to go up there to play in the game.

Now Tanaka is even beginning to fear that Zhou Hui will turn professional baseball into a star-chasing event.

Scout Kawashima put his hands in his pockets, a look of disappointment on his face.

Zhou Hui's performance was far from his expectations!
In his impression, Zhou Hui has always been the kind of player who swings the bat actively.

Active swinging, coupled with unparalleled strength.

This is people’s first impression of Zhou Hui.

But Zhou Hui now doesn't seem to have shown this advantage.

The second advantage is unknown because he has not yet hit the bat on the baseball.

At least his first advantage was not seen by the Kawashima scouts.

Facing Tanaka's pitch, he was hesitant, wanting to swing but not actually doing it.

This can be seen from Zhou Hui's small details.

When Zhou Hui faced the first ball, he had already lifted his left foot a little, and the bat was pulled back further than at the beginning.

This is the preparatory movement a batter makes before swinging the bat.

But when he saw the baseball flying towards him, he pulled the bat back. I don't know what was going on.

Tanaka's ball was firmly in the strike zone, and the entire ball was only half a ball away from the red center.

In order to take care of Zhou Hui, Tanaka deliberately chose a location close to the center.

He knows the gap between Koshien players and the professional first team.

That's not a small difference.

There are many players who sign up for the professional draft right after graduating from high school, but they are all gifted and competitive enough among their peers.

After they participate in the election, there is a high probability that they will be selected with a high draft pick.

But after being selected, many of them showed difficulty in adapting to the local environment in the second team, and their dominance in high school was no longer there.

So there is still a big gap between high school and career.

Not to mention he’s the top pitcher in the country.

"It's not right that you don't even swing at this position in the middle."

Zhou Hui certainly knew that position was easy to hit, but his opponent was Tanaka after all.

Although the position was correct, Tanaka showed no mercy in terms of speed and power of the ball.

To be honest, Zhou Hui himself wasn't sure whether he had a chance of hitting the ball just now.

Zhou Hui only plays the balls he is sure of.

For him, it was a very humiliating thing to swing and miss.

This is closely related to his personality.

For the next ball, Tanaka still made a quick decision, raising his leg and swinging the bat.

But this is also the case when Zhou Hui has made adjustments.

If he swung the bat before Zhou Hui even raised it, it would seem like bullying.

He is the top pitcher in the country as a high school student and has great advantages in all aspects of physical fitness.

He didn't want to be accused of winning unfairly.

This ball was still a straight ball. Compared with the previous ball, it could not be said to be very similar, but it could be said to be exactly the same.

The speed and power of the ball give Zhou Hui the same feeling.

The only difference may be the location.

"Qiang!"

After testing the first ball, Zhou Hui was able to grasp Tanaka's pitching rhythm.

This is still quite difficult.

There is a big age difference between the two, and Tanaka is in the golden age for professional athletes.

Even if he didn't use his full strength, the pitch was not something that an average high school student could hit.

It's already good enough that I'm not fooled by him.

The moment he swung the bat, the reaction force from the bat gave Zhou Hui a stinging sensation in the base of his thumb.

It was already Zhou Hui's ability to catch the bat and prevent it from falling to the ground, but he had no control over the direction of the baseball at all.

The baseball was hit out of bounds.

“Very good!”

Kawashima scouts praised Zhou Hui highly.

He never thought that Zhou Hui could actually hit Tanaka's ball.

Even if Tanaka tried his best to throw to the red center, it would still be a challenge for a high school student to hit it.

Zhou Hui was able to hit a ball that he could not hit even if he held the bat short, but he did so by holding the bat normally.

This kid is extraordinary!
Seeing this, scout Kawashima immediately ran over to pick up the ball.

He knew that Zhou Hui's hands might have blisters from being rubbed.

It's the same with Tanaka's ball. Without batting gloves, a high school student simply can't handle it.

"Whoosh!"

Sure enough, in the next ball, due to the pain in his palm, Zhou Hui's last swing became deformed and did not have the previous smooth feeling.

"Snapped!"

"Strike! Strike!"

The ball hit the guardrail and Zhou Hui was struck out.

From this duel, Zhou Hui can also see that the gap between himself and professionals is still very large.

It is not something that can be made up for in a short period of time, it takes time to settle.

However, he was already very satisfied to have the opportunity to play with Tanaka.

……

(End of this chapter)