Diamond Ace: Monster Slayer

Chapter 218: Locking in the Top Two in the Country
"The first match of the Koshien semi-finals is over. Seidou High School played against Yamamori Academy. The final result was that Seidou High School defeated Yamamori Academy 6:3. They became the first team to advance to the Koshien finals this year!"

The commentator's voice became louder and louder, and he almost seemed to be short of oxygen.

After shouting, they might even start to retch.

But these are irrelevant to him. This is his mission. What he needs most is to drive the atmosphere of the entire game. This is what he should do most.

After ten years, Seidou High School once again stood on the stage of the Koshien finals.

Sawamura stood on the pitcher's mound, stunned.

I couldn't believe what I saw.

"We...we made it to the Koshien finals?"

Sawamura stared blankly at Miyuki, Masuko Toru, Yuki, and Haruichi who were rushing towards him.

They were all rushing towards him.

The usually crazy Sawamura is inversely proportional to his current self, and the crazy ones have become his teammates instead.

Under normal circumstances, this is an outrageous thing.

But now, it has become a reality.

"Great, Sawamura, great pitch!"

"Sawamura-kun, you really amazed me."

"Thanks to you, I also made it to the Koshien finals for the first time."

"Captain Yuki!"

Sawamura's eyes were full of disbelief.

Captain Yuki, thanks to me?

Now Sawamura hasn't reacted yet and wondered what happened.

It's all very confusing.

"Sawamura, we've made it to the Koshien finals!"

At this time, Zhou Hui's voice came.

Being able to reach the Koshien finals means that they have become one of the two best teams in the country.

Zhou Hui, who was usually aloof, also started dancing.

There are so many scouts in the semi-finals, will there still be not enough scouts by the time the finals come?
But these are all scouts for the island country's professional baseball team, and Zhou Hui looks down on them at all.

Although the island country's professional baseball league has a certain influence around the world, Zhou Hui feels that it is not enough.

He hopes to enter the major league draft directly after graduation.

This is not Zhou Hui's arrogance, but he really has the ability in this area.

Although this goal was not achieved by the Eastern Qing Kingdom in the end.

But apart from achievements, Zhou Hui is not inferior to Dongqing Kingdom in any aspect.

In terms of striking ability, the two can actually be said to be evenly matched.

Each has its own advantages.

Dong Qingguo's players are mainly based on strength, and they can be said to have no skills.

But what about Zhou Hui?

Both aspects are top-notch and complement each other to become one of the best players in the country.

In other aspects.

Dynamic vision, speed, defensive coverage and defensive flexibility are all unmatched by the Eastern Qing Kingdom.

This is Zhou Hui’s strength.

Although Dong Qingguo still has the ability to enter the major leagues, it is already good enough for him to enter the first team of professional baseball at present.

"Ahahahahahahaha! Ahahahahahahahahaha!"

Suddenly, Sawamura, who was still in a daze on the pitcher's mound, burst into laughter, as if he was having a seizure.

The batter from Yamamori Academy, who had just been half-kneeling in the batter's box wiping his tears, was also frightened by this scene.

"what's the situation?!"

The pitcher was on the pitcher's mound just now and couldn't believe the reality in front of him, but now he seems like a completely different person.

it's wired!
"Looks like it still has to be me. How can I win this game without my brother Sawamura? Hahahahaha!"

Sawamura boasted loudly.

Seeing Sawamura like this, everyone in Qingdao High School felt relieved.

"It looks like this kid hasn't let the excitement get to his head."

Yuki took a look at Sawamura's condition and smiled helplessly.

"Stop showing off."

Kuramochi couldn't stand it anymore and hit Sawamura directly.

But now Sawamura has become extremely excited.

Excited people will not be affected by the outside world.

Even when Kuramochi hit him on the head, he didn't feel any pain.

“Have you recorded everything?”

Fujio crossed his arms and looked at Yamato Akiko beside him.

Owada Akiko nodded.

"No problem. Whether it's Sawamura-san, Furuya-san, or Zhou Hui-san, even Tamba-san's performance has been recorded on this camera."

As she spoke, Yamato Akiko showed Fujio the photos in the camera one by one.

Fujio nodded.

Akiko Yamato's growth is now the same as Sawamura's, and she is making great progress.

Fujio is the most authoritative reporter in West Tokyo, so it would be no problem for him to train Akiko Yamato.

Now the question is how to train her well.

Akiko Yamato is now considered a qualified journalist.

"That's right. Let's use the photo of Sawamura-san getting the winning strikeout as the biggest photo in today's newspaper."

Fujio said.

The competition had just ended and Fujio decided on the photo for the newspaper after just one look at the photos.

"Eh? Why? Wouldn't it be better to use the photo of Zhou Hui hitting a home run?"

The biggest selling points of this game are undoubtedly these three.

The first is that Zhou Hui hit his fifth home run in his high school career, and at the same time raised his RBI to a new level again.

The second is the outstanding performance of Kamisama Kazuto and Kamisama Yuto.

No matter how Seidou High School changes its pitchers, it seems to have no effect on them, and they can still hit hits continuously.

Moreover, Shenzu Yuto also hit one of the only two home runs in this game.

Compared with Zhou Hui, this is not inferior at all.

The third is the performance of Seidou High School's pitchers.

Please note that this is the performance of Seidou High School's group of pitchers, not the performance of just one pitcher from Seidou High School.

The three pitchers who played for Seidou High School today were: Eijun Sawamura, Koichiro Tamba and Akira Furuya.

The performances of these three people can be said to have their own merits, and each of them gave the audience a different surprise.

But their performances all have flaws.

Although Sawamura did not allow Yamamori Gakuin to hit any hits or lose any points when he was on defense, can he be singled out and included in a report?

This is impossible.

Although Sawamura's performance was perfect, he was facing the back-end batting line of Yamamori Academy after all.

He only faced two people in the top batting line of Yamamori Academy.

As for these two people, Fōgiya Akatsuki and Tamba have also faced them.

The final result was also an easy solution.

Anyone with eyes can see that the most difficult batters for Yamamori Academy are still the two Shenzu brothers.

But Sawamura did not face them head-on in this game.

There was no direct confrontation between them, so it was hard to say who was stronger or weaker.

If Sawamura were to be made the headline, I'm sure it would attract a lot of criticism.

Although Sawamura broke through his own limits in this game and increased the speed of the ball to a level he had never reached before, can he guarantee that he can throw such a ball easily?

If it cannot be guaranteed, perhaps Akira Jōgō is still more skilled.

It’s better to choose Akatsuki Fūdani than Sawamura.

"Because we want to try something new."

"novel?"

Yamato Akiko didn't understand.

It's not her fault. She's just a novice when it comes to baseball reporting.

Not as good as Fujio in every aspect.

"That's right. I believe all the famous newspapers will choose Zhou Hui's home run as the front-page photo. If we choose Sawamura's, it will definitely attract a lot of attention."

Fujio said.

When Yamatoda Akiko heard this, she felt that there was something strange but she couldn't find any flaws.

"Although Sawamura's performance today was not as good as Zhou Hui's, he did break through his own limit. If this content is published, it will also help their magazine sell well. I believe that in addition to Zhou Hui's home run, the main content today is Sawamura's pitching speed."

"Then can you guarantee that Sawamura can pitch at this speed in every game?"

This is a point that Yamato Akiko is worried about.

If Sawamura performs poorly in the next game, wouldn't their report be in vain?
"Can you write a report about the next game now?"

When asked this question, Yamato Akiko was indeed speechless.

"I……"

"Since you can't write a report about the next game, then you should focus on the game at hand. It's Sawamura's fault that he can't pitch. We reporters have made predictions in our reports. But the most important thing is the present."

Owada Akiko nodded.

Mr. Fujio is really great. When can I become a reporter like him?

This has always been a wish of Akiko Yamato.

"It's getting late, let's go back."

As he said this, Fujio took Yamato Akiko and left the Hanshin Tigers Koshien stadium together.

Many newspaper reporters who were with him also chose to leave.

The photos were already there, the games had been watched, and the next step was to write down what they saw and thought.

"Is that Mr. Mine from Baseball Kingdom?"

One of the reporters was filled with admiration when he saw Fujio.

As a little-known reporter in Shikoku, he was lucky enough to see a famous reporter like Fujio.

Ever since he started as a reporter, he has always regarded Fujio as his idol.

Fujio is a well-known figure among baseball reporters across the country.

"Everyone line up!"

Three umpires gathered at home plate, and the chief umpire waited for the players of Yamamori Academy to finish scooping up the Koshien soil, then raised his right arm to announce the assembly.

He didn't do that when the players were holding up the dirt.

Because he knew what the soil of Koshien represented to high school baseball boys.

Although there is a set time for leaving Koshien.

But rules are dead and people are alive.

They also love baseball and naturally understand the feelings of these teenagers.

"The game is over. The West Tokyo representative team, Seidou High School, defeated the Yamanashi representative team, Yamamori Academy, 6:3. Everyone bowed and saluted!"

"Thanks for the advice."

The game came to an end here. Seidou High School defeated the strong opponent and stood on the stage of the Koshien finals.

Reaching the Koshien finals proved that they had already secured a spot in the top two in the country regardless of whether they won or lost.

This is indeed unimaginable considering the poor situation of Qingdao High School in recent years.

But unexpectedly, Qingdao High School really did it this time.

But their ambitions are not over yet.

Zhou Hui’s current goal is not just to be in the top two in the country, he wants to do his best.

He wants to be number one in the country! He wants to win the Koshien championship!

He also wanted to truly see what kind of team the Troll Daifujijuan, which was trained by old man Nitta, was.

As per convention, everyone from Qingdao High School stood in a row and bowed to the audience on both sides to express the highest etiquette.

Regardless of whether their opponents support them or not, as long as they have watched the entire game, they will express their gratitude.

This is the most basic courtesy of Qingdao High School.

"This time, we must win the Koshien championship!"

"Coach Kataoka, you will definitely win the championship, right?"

"Let Supervisor Sakaki see that we can't do without him!"

"We need to show those who look down on us our achievements, even those who have failed to achieve them!"

"Zhou Hui, continue to make history!"

"You are the best hitter in the universe!"

All the audience expressed their enthusiasm for Qingdao High School.

Some people even compare Director Kataoka with Director Sakaki.

Judging from the current achievements, Director Kataoka's achievements are indeed higher than the other party.

But to be honest, Zhou Hui, the person who determined how far Qingdao High School has come, was not trained by Coach Kataoka!

His ability to train players remains to be seen. Perhaps only when one of Sawamura or Furuya Akatsuki becomes successful can we say that Coach Kataoka's achievements are higher than Coach Sakaki's.

Many people are still looking forward to Zhou Hui.

This is quite possible.

With Zhou Hui's current strength, if he continues to maintain his current efficient performance, it will not be difficult for him to break the record.

As long as he wants, he can leave his name on the Koshien batting record.

"How does this feel?"

Chris looked at Zhou Hui with a smile.

This was also his first time to reach the Koshien finals.

“It was great, it felt great to have the audience cheering for me.”

Although Zhou Hui had felt this feeling countless times, this time was the only time he could remember it clearly. He could not forget it for a long time.

"That's right, this is an affirmation of our strength. We are already one of the top teams in the country."

"Ok!"

Above the auditorium.

Watching Seidou High School reach the Koshien finals, Toshinori, as the former captain, felt extremely proud of it.

His alma mater finally made it to the finals of Koshien, the highest hall of high school baseball.

It was just that he came in after they left, which made him feel awkward.

In his first year after graduation, Seidou High School made it to the Koshien finals. Doesn't that make him seem a bit redundant?

But baseball is different from football and basketball.

Football and basketball may have the cancer of not caring about winning or losing the game for the sake of statistics, but baseball definitely does not have that.

Otherwise, Dongqingguo would not have entered the professional baseball league.

Dongqingguo has already devoted all his efforts to Qingdao High School. Even if he does not enter Koshien, he should not be the one to be condemned!

"Okay, let's go say hello to Director Kataoka then."

……

(End of this chapter)