Diamond Ace's Passionate Swing

"nice shot!"

The referee's voice pulled Lin Xiao back from his thoughts.

"The hitter is out!"

The batter facing Yang Shun-chen struck out without touching the ball.

The sporadic chatter in the stands gradually subsided.

Lin Xiao gazed at Yang Shunchen on the stone-throwing hill, a complex emotion flashing through his mind.

"That's quite good."

"But to be honest, it's a shame he's on a team like this."

"If he had gone to a school with a baseball powerhouse like me, he might have beaten us."

These thoughts flashed through Lin Xiao's mind like shooting stars, disappearing in an instant.

His attention returned to the game in front of him.

The game progressed like a precisely calculated program, advancing step by step.

They seemed somewhat helpless in the face of Yang Shunchen's batting lineup.

Their attacks were thwarted time and time again.

They also failed to effectively break through Yang Shunchen's defenses.

The score remained deadlocked at 0-0 throughout the game.

Time passed by, second by second.

"Match over!"

The referee's voice broke the silence on the field.

The electronic scoreboard displayed the final score: 3:0.

Mingchuan Academy, thanks to their early scoring and Yang Shunchen's outstanding performance, maintained their lead and won the game.

Yuki, standing in the stands, glanced at the scoreboard.

"The defensive players' morale clearly changed the moment they scored the first point in the early part of the game."

Jun Isashiki nodded in agreement.

"Yes, the ball has distinct inside and outside corners."

"Be cautious with your pitches, especially those with a low pitch concentration."

"Only five hits were allowed."

"Does this mean that the pitcher is highly trusted?"

Sawamura looked up, a hint of doubt flashing in his eyes.

"trust?"

Akira Furuya stood to the side, silently wiping away her sweat.

"It's so hot..."

Jun Isashiki took a deep breath, his gaze hardening.

"The match is scheduled for Wednesday, three days from now."

"This opponent is not as simple as before."

……

The atmosphere inside the meeting room at Seido High School was serious and tense.

The team members sat around the tactics board, listening attentively to Chris's analysis.

Chris stood in front of the tactics board, holding a pen and drawing various symbols on it.

"Yang, as the ace, doesn't throw breaking balls much."

"But he often uses curveballs and forked balls when he wants to get a good number of balls."

"The ball speed is approximately 135 km/h."

"What we need to pay most attention to is his incredibly precise ball control."

He drew two diagonal lines on the tactics board with a pen.

"From a high ball to a low ball at the outside corner, or from a high ball at the outside corner to a low ball at the inside corner."

"He cleverly used the diagonal to make it difficult for the hitter to strike."

"I'm afraid he won't throw an easy ball straight to the center."

He raised his head and his gaze swept over each team member.

"The extent to which you can avoid those borderline errors and swing at your own pace will be the key to defeating him."

Coach Kataoka's voice echoed in the conference room.

"A half-baked swing only emboldens the opposing pitcher."

"No matter what kind of pitch the opponent throws, you must swing the bat powerfully without hesitation."

"Never forget this."

"Then, to shake up this kind of intelligent pitcher, you need to rely on a combination of high running speed and short batting."

"You all understand that your reaching base will put pressure on the opponent, right?"

"clear!"

The team members responded in unison, their voices filled with fighting spirit.

Lin Xiao suddenly spoke up and offered his suggestion.

"Tomorrow we'll test our base-reaching speed; we can combine short bats and base steals simultaneously."

"When I watched the game today, I made a point of observing that although Yang Shunchen's pitching accuracy is very high, his release speed is not as fast as mine."

"So, Kuramochi and I are the first and second batters. As long as Kuramochi hits a short bat to reach base, we can steal bases one after another."

"Besides, my batting average is pretty high, and my speed isn't slower than Kuramochi's, okay!"

Coach Kataoka looked at Lin Xiao, a hint of admiration flashing in his eyes.

"You can give it a try."

......

"when!"

"when!"

"when!"

The crowd watching outside the stadium gasped in amazement.

"That's amazing!"

"Just looking at it makes me feel good!"

"Not only were the powerful strikes outstanding, but even the precision strikes during the transition phase of the offensive were excellent!"

"Two consecutive matches won by large margins must pose a threat to their opponents!"

"Yuki, as the team leader, has a really strong presence!"

"Professional baseball scouts have probably approached him, but he doesn't seem interested at all. Right now, all he can think about is how to lead everyone to Koshien as captain."

"Lin Xiao's hitting was also good. Although he didn't hit many home runs, he managed to hit every single one."

"Judging from his posture, he is a strong contender for the future fourth batter."

"An ace and fourth batter, huh..."

"Furuya is a heavy hitter too."

Chris walked over with a stopwatch: "Alright, let's try out Lin Xiao's idea from yesterday."

Chris was responsible for recording Kuramochi's speed, while Kanemaru was responsible for recording Lin Xiao's.

A crowd gathered around, watching with great interest.

Kuramochi stepped into the batter's box, eager to try: "Come on!"

Lin Xiao teased from the side, "Kuramochi, run faster!"

"Ping!"

Kuramochi accurately hit the ball.

He immediately dropped his bat and sprinted toward first base.

"Da da da~"

It arrived even before the ball.

Step firmly onto the base.

Chris announced the time: "4.35 seconds."

Lin Xiao followed closely behind, also sporting a beautiful short-sleeved outfit.

Kuramochi hit and ran, successfully reaching second base.

Lin Xiao followed closely behind and went up to first base.

Chris: "3.3 seconds."

Kanemaru: "4 seconds 15."

"oh!"

"Lin Xiao so fast?!"

Kanemaru looked on with envy: "Fast ball speed, good hitting, good stamina, and fast speed..."

"Which door did God close for him? Monster!"

Ryosuke Kominato then took to the field to strike.

The ball was hit and sent flying.

Kuramochi and Lin Xiao once again engaged in a fight and a chase.

Kuramochi was the first to return to home plate.

Lin Xiao followed closely behind and also made it back to home plate.

Although the audience didn't know what they were doing, they were also shocked by the speed.

"Oh, that's too fast!"

"This distance, one step is equivalent to three steps for Kuramochi."

"So tall, yet it runs quite fast."

Jinwan silently calculated in his mind: Lin Xiao's average base running speed is 4.15 seconds.

Chris: Kuramochi's time is 4.20 seconds.

Coach Kataoka looked at Lin Xiao thoughtfully.

"This method allows us to get the points first; his speed poses no threat to me at all."

Lin Xiao already had a plan to counter Yang Shunchen's pitches.