Diamond Ace: Monster Slayer

Chapter 210 Kuramochi's Redemption

"nice shot!"

"nice shot!"

"Good ball! Batter out!"

"nice shot!"

"nice shot!"

"Strike! Batter is out! Three outs! Attack and defense switch!"

Xiao Fōgaya got three strikeouts again. No matter how you look at it, it seemed like he didn't feel any pressure getting these three strikeouts.

These three strikeouts seemed like they were just playing around and were easily won.

After getting three strikeouts in a row, Akira Fōtani threw the ball on the pitcher's mound and walked away.

The whole person is full of energy and vigor.

In the Koshien semi-finals, he was still able to rely on his physical talents to play.

It has to be said that it is much easier for people with physical talents to play basketball than ordinary people.

They can always make a living by relying on their physical talents.

If the average person does not have deep enough baseball skills, he or she will not be able to play baseball well and become the person who decides the outcome of the game.

Compared with others, Jiang Gu Xiao and Zhou Hui are completely a dimensionality reduction attack.

Few people can do anything about him.

They are simply the most talented duo in West Tokyo.

"Strong! Strong! It's really too strong!"

In the stands, a reporter from a newspaper saw Kouya Akira's performance and applauded him so hard that his hands almost turned red.

"Senior, senior, this is really too exaggerated. There is no need to do this at all."

The reporter behaved as if he was crazy, and the people around him looked at him with caring eyes.

His disciples couldn't bear to watch it anymore, so they immediately hugged their senior and stopped him from going crazy.

"What do you know? Fūtani-san is too talented. His pitching speed is simply not comparable to that of an average high school student! I dare say that he can definitely break Otani's pitching speed record in Koshien!"

This reporter is obviously very optimistic about Akira Jōgō and his words are a bit exaggerated.

Akira Fōtani is strong, but he is still not comparable to Shohei Ōtani.

Shohei Ohtani is now the leader of Japanese baseball, while Akira Furiya is just a fastball pitcher who can't control the ball steadily and has no skills at all.

The two people are not on the same level at all.

It is really too early to put Akira Fōtani and Shohei Ōtani together now.

"Mr. Tamada, although Furuya-san is indeed very capable and has rare talent for a modern high school pitcher, isn't it a little too early to compare him to our country's top pitcher?"

A female voice was heard, and the reporter named Yutian immediately turned around to look.

"Ms. Miko?"

When the disciple of reporter Yutian saw the graceful woman with a charming walk in front of him, the hand that he was holding around reporter Yutian loosened unnaturally.

It seems like he is deeply attracted by his opponent's appearance.

But this woman has heavy makeup on her face, not her natural look, so it is hard to know what she would look like after removing her makeup.

"Isn't this Brother Kondo? You are here too."

Ms. Miko followed the apprentice named Kondo and greeted him.

It seemed that they were already acquaintances, and Ms. Meiko even called him "brother".

This is not empty talk.

Kondo is younger than Miko, so it is normal for him to be called "brother".

"Look at you like this, it's really embarrassing!"

When Kondo saw Ms. Miko, he seemed to have lost all his strength, felt very unnatural, and his face turned red.

If you put your hand on his heart, you can even feel his heart beating.

In fact, Mr. Tamada already knew that Kondo liked Ms. Miko.

Ms. Miko is three years older than Kondo. If they were to get together, it would be considered a sister-brother relationship.

As the saying goes, a woman who is three years older than a man is rich.

With such a perfect age difference, and the fact that Ms. Miko was good-looking and had many men pursuing her, Kondo was naturally deeply attracted to her.

But Mr. Tamada has always known about this.

Because of this, Mr. Yutian also counted a lot of his own apprentices.

It would be a lie for Mr. Tamada and Ms. Miko to say there was no story.

They have a certain connection.

The two of them are competitors.

Mr. Tamada is a reporter for Baseball Stars in Chiba Prefecture.

Baseball Star is a newspaper that specializes in high school baseball.

In this newspaper, you will hardly find anything other than high school baseball.

Even when the island nation performed well in the World Series and other newspapers were scrambling to report on it, he was still analyzing the situation of high school baseball.

There are really not many newspapers and periodicals that are so dedicated.

Although Baseball Star only has newspapers about high schools, their profits are not small at all.

Because of Koshien, high school baseball has always been valued in the island country.

Some people prefer high school baseball to professional baseball.

During the Koshien period, Baseball Stars was extremely busy with printing tasks alone.

And Mr. Tamada is the chief reporter here.

Mr. Yutian came here under the orders of his boss, and he took this job very seriously, without any intention of just going through the motions.

He really likes the sport of baseball.

And what about Ms. Meiko?

She is the chief female reporter covering major baseball events for another newspaper in Chiba Prefecture.

Compared to Baseball Stars, Baseball Big Events covers more content.

The performance of the two newspapers has always been comparable.

Although this relationship may lead to competition between the two of them, what really makes them look down on each other is a previous story.

The two were a loving couple, but after breaking up, they became irreconcilable.

Since the two worked for different newspapers, they naturally became enemies.

"Tamadara, even if you are a fan of Tanaka, you shouldn't belittle Ohtani like that. Ohtani's ability is not comparable to Furutani's. His pitching speed is fast, but it's not enough to break the record."

Ms. Meiko's argument makes perfect sense.

Mr. Tamada is a fan of Tanaka, while Ms. Miko is a fan of Otani.

The two of them seemed to be from completely different worlds, and I wondered how they got together.

"I'm telling you, Furutani is a very talented pitcher! He will definitely surpass Otani in the future!"

"Ahahahahahahahaha, that's not necessarily true."

Ms. Meiko's laugh is very artificial, which makes people feel very uncomfortable when listening to it.

"What did you say?!"

"If I'm not mistaken, you didn't use a camera to record the way Furuya-san pitched the ball, including the moment he struck out, right?"

Mr. Yutian suddenly remembered this.

If Ms. Meiko hadn't reminded him, he would have forgotten it!

Mr. Tamada looked at Kondo, who nodded.

At the most suitable time to capture the moment, Kondo chose to control Mr. Tamada who was about to go crazy.

"That's my guess."

Ms. Miko smiled and took out the photos she had just taken.

The high-resolution photo of Fūya Akatsuki was on his camera. "How about it? If you say something nice, like calling me sister or something, I might give it to you."

"I would never do that!"

This has turned into a question of face. Mr. Yutian, who is very concerned about his reputation, would not give in to his ex-girlfriend even if he was scolded by his boss today.

"Well, after all these years, I didn't expect you to still be so twisted."

Ms. Meiko put away her camera and leaned over the railing to watch the game.

The game came to the bottom of the seventh inning.

If Seidou High School wants to score, they must seize these two games.

The first to come on the field in the ninth inning was their back-end batting line!

Although Seidou High School now holds the lead, the lead is not that big.

If Yamamori Academy could really seize upon their weaknesses, it would be very likely that they would catch up or even overtake the opponent.

A one-point lead is not safe at all.

What Qingdao High School needs now is more points!
If they are really overtaken, Qingdao High School's back-end batting line may not be able to make up the difference.

Of course, this is the worst-case scenario.

Now Akira Fōtani is on a roll, so there shouldn't be any problem winning the next round.

Besides, doesn’t Qingdao High School have another trick up its sleeve?

In the bullpen of Seidou High School, Sawamura has almost finished warming up!

Once Sawamura has warmed up, he can go on court immediately.

If Yamamori Academy is given a quirk ball pitcher at this time, it will be even more difficult for them to play.

Sawamura's inside corner ball, outside corner ball, and changeup are impossible to break through without hard work.

Fūya Akira went down, and so did Sawamura.

When has the pitching staff of Seidou High School ever fought such a successful battle?
"Director Kataoka, do I have a chance to play later?"

Kuramochi's voice sounded like the buzz of a mosquito and was not clear.

His batting performance in the previous inning was not very good, and coupled with the feud with coach Kataoka, he thought his chances of playing were slim.

There is even a possibility that he will slip off the main list of Qingdao High School.

As the starting shortstop of Seidou High School, he didn't even have the courage to face his own supervisor.

Seeing Kuramochi's timid look, Director Kataoka glared at him.

Director Kataoka’s killing eyes are already invincible!

Kuramochi couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat when he saw this.

Although it is summer and the weather is hot, it is normal to sweat.

But what he left behind was a cold sweat!

This is enough to show the sense of oppression that Director Kataoka feels.

When Director Kataoka gets angry, people with poor mental quality may really not be able to bear it.

Although Kuramochi looks playful, he is sometimes afraid of Director Kataoka.

"Do you want me to take your place?"

What I mean is, when coach Kataoka didn't replace you, do you still need to ask his opinion when you play?
Hearing this, Kuramochi finally felt relieved.

Director Kataoka still has great confidence in him and does not hold any grudge against him for the previous incident.

"No, no, I'll come right up."

Kuramochi said as he ran to the batter's box.

Fortunately, he has not lost his main position.

Kuramochi is the one who knows best what kind of person Director Kataoka is.

Kuramochi lived in the same dormitory as Masuko Toru, which made him aware of the ruthlessness of Director Kataoka.

He knew it when Toru Masuko was directly demoted from the first team by coach Kataoka because of his mistakes.

Therefore, he was very careful in every game after that, for fear of being transferred from the first team to the second team.

"Bottom of the seventh inning, Seidou High School is on offense, the first batter, shortstop, is Kuramochi-san."

After seeing Kuramochi, Kamisama Kazuto and Kamisama Yuto didn't pay too much attention to this kid.

Judging from the previous attacks, this kid did not show the speed talent that people said.

Although his explosive power is amazing, it is still difficult for him to get on base if he is not given enough time.

It should be difficult for a guy with poor hitting ability and only speed to survive in the pace of high school baseball.

But Kuramochi is an exception.

His speed is at the level of a second-tier athlete, and he can reach base with just a short hit.

Such talent is truly mouth-watering.

It is also because of this talent that he has always been able to sit firmly in the starting position of Qingdao High School.

Otherwise, with his striking ability, how could he survive under such great competitive pressure in Qingdao High School.

It’s still the right strike zone!
Kuramochi has a special obsession with getting on base.

He can shoot with both hands, and he gives many teams an indescribable sense of pressure.

But it was not like this in front of the two Shenzu brothers.

It seemed like the two Shenzu brothers were his nemesis, and he couldn't even raise his head during this game.

"It's coming. Let's use the inside corner for the first ball."

Kamado and Tou gave a secret signal, and Kuramochi assumed a short stick stance.

After seeing this posture, Kamado and Tou frowned.

He had used this tactic before but had never been able to get on base, which gave Kamisama and Dou plenty of confidence.

But if he still hit them like this under this secret signal, it would be a bit painful for them.

"Change of plan, high angle straight ball."

Anyway, Kamisama Yuto's ball can float upwards, which is a big test for the players of Qingdao High School.

Kuramochi has never been able to do anything to Yuto Kamisama, and this must be the reason.

Although this ball path is easy to hit, the opponent is Kuramochi.

That’s no problem!

Just so confident!
"Whoosh!"

The ball paths when facing short hits are very limited, which is why Kamizura and To changed their tactics after seeing Kuramochi use a short stick.

right here!

The white ball rushed out like a laser.

Shan Shou Academy, which thought it was foolproof, was dumbfounded the next moment.

Kuramochi put away the bat and changed into a normal batting stance.

"This is?!"

Shenzu and Dou panicked!

"Qiang!"

Holding the bat, Kuramochi knocked the flying white ball away.

Kuramochi's batting ability was poor and he hit the ball right in front of the third baseman.

But the distance from third base to first base is enough for Kuramochi.

"Hip!"

Kuramochi, who was like a little motor, completed his base reach before the baseball arrived.

"Safety on base!"

No one is out and there's a runner on first base!
Only then did Shenzu Hedou realize that the short hit was an illusion!
With so many short-stick attacks from Kuramochi before, Yamamori Gakuin thought that Kuramochi was going to use a short stick this time as well!
But little did he know that this was a trick he used to lock the ball's path!

This blow also allowed Kuramochi to redeem himself!
……

(End of this chapter)