Diamond Ace's Passionate Swing

Chapter 80: Sawamura Crisis? Lin Xiao's Rescue

Fujio nodded: "This round is crucial."

Coach Kataoka, observing the situation on the court, said in a deep voice, "Take it slow. Come on, we're in the lead, so shoot as much as you want. Shoot in your own style, Sawamura."

"come on!"

"Should we let Sawamura-kun vote?"

"Coach Kataoka is still letting the first-year students play, even though Lin Xiao is different. Maybe it's out of trust in the player!"

"To maintain control after the comeback, defense is crucial in this game."

"If there are any unstable factors..."

Sawamura stood on the pitcher's mound, took a deep breath, and shouted to his teammates on the field, "Nice to meet you!"

The coach of Senquan frowned as he recalled Maki's pitch: "What was he doing? He should have thrown a fastball! If he had just defended the long-range shot, he wouldn't have given up four points!"

Sawamura stood on the pitcher's mound, his gaze resolute, silently thinking, "Those guys must be watching me from somewhere in the stands..."

"Absolutely not..."

"I've lost face in front of them!"

"Great! That was a good first shot!"

Miyuki's voice rang out at just the right moment.

"good!"

"Go!"

However, the next shot surprised everyone.

"Four-ball!" The referee's voice rang out mercilessly.

"What?!"

"I messed it up!"

Sawamura covered his face in frustration: "The worst-case scenario was walking the first batter to the floor!"

He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down: "In short, calm down first."

Miyuki, watching Sawamura's comical antics from home plate, said, "Take a deep breath and get ready before you go on the field!"

"Can't you pitch properly unless you cause some kind of trouble...?"

Sensen's batter stood in the batter's box, carefully observing Sawamura's pitching motion.

"The pitcher's left hand came out later than expected. Is he really a pitcher whose swing timing is hard to predict?"

The coach from Xianquan nodded in satisfaction.

"Not bad, not bad, you can see it very clearly."

"This 'four bad guys' deserves a lot of credit for getting into college through the guaranteed admission program; we should give them a good shout-out later."

Sawamura gritted his teeth, silently chanting, "I'll keep an eye on him..."

The attacker was speechless: "What kind of tactic is this?!"

At this moment, the fighter from Xianquan suddenly adopted a short-range fighting stance.

Miyuki immediately pointed out, "You're adopting a short-suit stance..."

"While this team is likely to play steadily and get the runners to bases, we can't let our guard down!"

Just then, the runner on first base suddenly started running.

"They stole a base!"

"Ping!"

The baseball flew out, passing by second baseman Ryosuke Kominato, who was trying to cover for him.

Sawamura realized the situation was dire: "Fight...fight and run!"

Miyuki made a quick decision: "Pass the ball to third base!"

"Safely on base!"

The referee's gesture signaled the success of Xianquan's tactics.

The commentator's voice carried a hint of worry: "Exploiting the defensive gaps at second base, Sensen Academy launched a clever attack on Sawamura, who had just been substituted in."

The Seido cheerleading squad also got nervous.

"No outs, runners on first and third, Sawamura-kun..."

The coach of Xianquan smirked: "The saying 'opportunity follows crisis' is absolutely true. By having a pinch hitter replace the pitcher at bat, we can forcefully seize the initiative."

"It's impossible for a pitcher to be at his best every time he's substituted in."

"Moreover, the risk is even higher for a first-year player whose performance is still inconsistent."

"Listen up! Although his pitches are unpredictable, they don't have much speed. As long as you hit them with all your might, you can easily get past the infield defense and keep attacking!"

"yes!"

The Xianquan team members responded in unison.

The coach from Xianquan thought to himself with smug satisfaction, "This way, I can enjoy watching the panicked expression on the other team's young coach's face."

Seeing that things were going badly, Miyuki immediately requested a pause: "Excuse me, please pause..."

Sawamura suddenly stopped him: "Wait! It's okay, no need to pause!"

Sawamura's words surprised everyone.

"In baseball, it's only natural that the pitcher's ball gets hit; a player only becomes truly effective after the opponent scores!"

"Sawamura said loudly."

Isashiki, in the center outfield, shouted in confusion, "What's wrong?"

Lin Xiao mercilessly retorted, "You're acting like a chuunibyou again!"

Miyuki sighed helplessly: "Only when the opponent scores can you stand on your own..."

You've misunderstood.

"They actually refused to pause, does that mean this crisis is nothing?"

"How arrogant..."

Minister Ota stamped his feet in frustration, yelling, "Idiot... idiot!"

Xianquan's coach sneered, "That first-year kid is quite the show-off."

Miyuki looked at Sawamura and thought to himself, "Well, this is probably just Sawamura's... consistent style."

Chris, a senior colleague, commented, "You can tell he's still very calm."

Taiwada analyzed, "The infield adopted a middle defense prepared to sacrifice a point, because the immediate priority is to get an out."

Miyuki shouted to Sawamura, "Don't worry about the runners, focus on taking down the attackers!"

Sawamura took a deep breath and shouted at the attacker, "Hit me if you want!"

The Xianquan batter adopted a posture that forced him to score.

"Bad ball!"

The referee's voice rang out.

Sawamura asked, somewhat puzzled, "Huh? The runner stopped running..."

Miyuki immediately realized: "They're trying to shake up the pitcher! For a pitcher who's just been brought in, the most important thing is to get the first out. Rather than scoring an easy run, are they prioritizing destroying our pitcher?"

"Bad ball!"

The referee announced it again.

Miyuki reiterated, "Don't worry about the runners, focus on fighting the batters!"

The coach of Xianquan thought to himself, "They should also be looking to score a good goal."

The batter seized the opportunity and swung the bat powerfully: "Right in the middle!"

However, something unexpected happened.

"What... I swung too late!"

The baseball was hit, but instead of flying to the outfield, it flew towards second base!

"Hey, look what Lin Xiao is doing!"

"Why isn't he staying where he is?"

Lin Xiao rushed toward second base at an astonishing speed.

"Let me do it!" Lin Xiao shouted.

Ryosuke Kominato rushed out from second base and, seeing Lin Xiao's figure, exclaimed in surprise, "What?! When did this kid get here?!"

Lin Xiao leaped forward and pounced!

"Snapped!"

He actually caught the ball that Ryosuke Kominato missed.

"Out!" The referee's gesture fell decisively.

Lin Xiao quickly stood up and threw the ball forcefully toward home plate.

"Get down!"

"call out!!!"

The baseball hurtled through the air and headed straight for home plate.

"Run faster!"

"The ball is here!"

Miyuki was on high alert, ready to receive the ball.

The runners dove towards home plate.

"Snapped!"

"Bang!"

Dust flew everywhere.

The umpire's hand gestured again: "Safe on base!"

The commentator excitedly exclaimed, "Lin Xiao's long-range rescue has resolved Sawamura's crisis!"

"Oh, oh, oh, Lin Xiao!"

"Well done!"

"So cool!"

"Double kill!"

Ryosuke Kominato ran over and patted Lin Xiao on the shoulder: "Thanks!"

Lin Xiao replied with a smile, "Don't mention it, we're on the same side, okay!"

The coach from Xianquan looked at Lin Xiao's defense and his expression became even more unpleasant: "I didn't expect his defensive range to be so wide."

"call out!"

Miyuki immediately reminded Sawamura, "Sawamura, throw to first base!"

"Ping!"

Sawamura didn't dare to be careless and quickly passed the ball to first base.

"Snapped!"

"Out!"

The referee's voice announced the end of the round.

"Three outs, then it's time to switch sides!"

Lin Xiao shouted loudly to Ze Cun, "Well done!"

Sawamura said gratefully, "Thank you for your protection; you saved my life!"

Lin Xiao laughed heartily: "You should know your own level, why won't you let me pause?"

Sawamura, enraged and embarrassed, yelled, "Shut up!"