Diamond No Ace: The Strongest Hitter Has Arrived

Chapter 440 440: One Swing To Conquer

"This first-year is really something!"

The Seido High School Baseball Team felt that this game was more interesting than they had anticipated.

Previously, they had focused their attention on the star players in the second and third years.

For instance, Carlos and Narumiya Mei from Inashiro Industrial High School, and the third-year Harada and Omae.

The Seido High School Baseball Team had always firmly believed that these were the rivals who would block their path forward.

As for the freshmen, perhaps a few were outstanding and had some fight in them.

But to make a name for themselves, they would have to wait until the Summer Tournament. And even then, the Seido High School Baseball Team did not believe any freshmen could become a deciding factor against them.

After all, freshmen like Zhang Han, Narumiya Mei, and Miyuki were simply too rare.

And even those three had only strengthened their respective teams last summer without being able to decide outcomes on their own.

Ultimately, it was the veterans who decided games.

They never expected today to bring them such a shock. A freshman was already strong enough to challenge Inashiro.

That had not crossed their minds before.

Although they were confident they wouldn't lose to Inashiro, if they claimed the current Seido was stronger than Inashiro, even they themselves would feel uneasy saying it.

If this first-year could challenge Inashiro, he could challenge them too.

It seemed they would have to keep a close eye on these suddenly emerging freshmen.

They wouldn't want to stumble and lose to someone like that.

"It's just one person. As Narumiya Mei said, it could also be a coincidence."

Miyuki analyzed calmly.

His reasoning was not without merit.

Although the Yakushi High School Baseball Team had shown little in hitting until just now, their players had been swinging their bats very aggressively throughout.

This not only increased the pitcher's psychological pressure but also raised their chances of making contact.

It was possible the batter had simply gotten lucky.

However, that idea was quickly challenged.

Yakushi High School's First Batter position also changed at this point, replaced by another first-year.

This player was named Mishima Yuuta.

Many on the Seido High School Baseball Team recognized the name. Even Zhang Han had a strong impression of this junior.

"Mishima went to Yakushi?"

Zhang Han found it hard to believe.

Before he graduated from junior high, Mishima was only a second-year player but had already built some reputation.

People were supposed to aim for better opportunities. By Zhang Han's thinking, Mishima should have joined one of the major powerhouses.

Going to Yakushi, which wasn't considered particularly strong, was unexpected.

It was like hearing that someone who scored high enough for a top university had chosen an ordinary second-tier school instead.

The shock was real. Not that the second choice was bad, but why pass up a clearly better option?

"One person is a coincidence. Two people probably isn't."

Coach Kataoka's remark cut straight to the point.

The Seido players, who had been merely curious before, now sensed something more.

It seemed this game would not end so simply.

In Inashiro's dugout, Coach Kunimoto wore a cold expression. No one could tell what he was thinking.

He gave no instructions to the players on the field. Even with Narumiya Mei talking beside him, he acted as if he heard nothing.

Outwardly calm, Coach Kunimoto's inner thoughts were not as settled as he appeared.

When scouting earlier, he had noticed that the opponent had three first-years.

But in the previous games, none of them had played, so he hadn't paid much attention. Now it seemed that had been careless.

"Ping!"

Carelessness had its price.

After a few pitches, Mishima decisively made contact.

Two outs, runners on First Base and Third Base.

The atmosphere in the stadium surged the moment Mishima hit the ball.

What the audience loved most was exactly this kind of moment. Although the stocky young man who hit the ball was making quite a fuss.

As if he had just accomplished something incredible.

But it didn't matter.

Compared to a one-sided, uneventful blowout, an intense back-and-forth battle was what everyone had come to see.

Yakushi High School was showing that possibility. In this situation, a little noise was more than acceptable.

"Nice hit!"

"Great swing!!"

Some neutral fans shouted from the stands.

Mishima, who was being praised, didn't look particularly grateful. He raised his chin and asked indignantly:

"Who are you calling stocky?"

He was perfectly average in build, wasn't he?

The image of the stocky young man suddenly became vivid in the fans' minds. Compared to the polished star players they were used to watching, this one's personality was something else entirely.

"Go for it!!"

Although he wasn't fully satisfied with the crowd's impression of him, Mishima was quite pleased with his first hit since entering high school.

A clean, crisp contact.

The only pity was that the pitcher hadn't thrown a fastball. If he had, Mishima was convinced he would have sent it out of the park entirely.

That kind of moment would have been even more eye-catching.

Mishima was still quietly lamenting this when their coach made another move.

The Yakushi High School Baseball Team made another substitution.

Just as before, another first-year was brought onto the field.

The moment this young man stepped up to the plate, he drew the attention of everyone in the stadium. There was no avoiding it. The sound he made was simply too unusual, too arresting.

"Gah gah, gah gah gah!!!"

His laugh sounded like a duck's quack: strangely comical yet oddly captivating.

The Seido High School Baseball Team players were completely stunned. They stared at the young man at the plate, still processing what they had just heard.

Three substitutions. Three first-year freshmen.

Based on the order they had come in, Mishima Yuuta, already somewhat well-known from middle school, was probably not the strongest of the three.

This young man in front of them, not tall but built solidly, appeared to be the final trump card.

Where had the Yakushi High School Baseball Team found such talent?

At this moment, not just the Seido players but the vast majority of fans in the stadium were thinking the same thing.

On one hand, a hit now would score directly. On the other, given how the three had been arranged, this young man being placed last suggested he was the strongest of the three.

But no matter how much they had imagined, nothing prepared them for what happened next.

"Boom!"

When the young man swung his bat, the sound of it cutting through the air reached even the fans in the stands.

What kind of swing was that?

"Ping!"

The white ball, like helpless prey caught by a falcon, was blasted away before it had any chance to react.

It flew high and kept going.

This scene felt deeply familiar to the Seido High School Baseball Team players.

Not long ago, someone on their own team had done the same thing.

"It flew out!"

Thanks to Tokyo Television, this Tokyo Spring Tournament had received unprecedented coverage. Inashiro's game even had a dedicated commentator. But at this moment, that commentator had completely forgotten about Inashiro Industrial.

He called it with a hoarse voice.

"Three runs! Raichi Todoroki of the Yakushi High School Baseball Team has blasted a three-run Homerun, completely reversing the score!"

It had been 2-0. Now it was 3-2 in Yakushi's favour.

Inashiro Industrial, which had defeated over thirty powerhouse schools nationwide at the Spring Koshien, was now trailing in the Tokyo Spring Tournament round of 16.

"Holy cow, a monster!"

Zhang Han heard someone exclaim beside him.

Zhang Han himself agreed completely.

That unassuming young man was indeed a monster.

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