LIFE IN DIAMOND NO ACE WORLd

jingu tournament end

Our matches continued the following days .

Our next match of second round was with tsurumigaoka team . They looked strong too and confidence could be seen in their eyes when when we glared at each other before the match. 

This match starter pitcher was tanba senpai . The match was really exciting especially for the crowd as it was a like a pitching duel between 2 pitchers.  Tanba senpai fought with his curve,  fork balls with excellent control and they complemented his 148 max fastballs greatly .opponent pitcher was also as specialist with breaking balls and had great control on them.  Both teams never scored a run till the 7 th winning where I was substituted as a pinch hitter with aso senpai by coach . I hit a home run of the second ball which was a sinker course inlow.  Our team scored 3 runs from my home run as kuramochi and kominato senpai were on 1sr and 3rd base before my substitution . Tanba senpai also let opponent team score a run by a steal .

The match ended in our victory.   The opponent team could not score any more runs from tanba senpai as he showed the pride of ace and never allowed them.  The  final score was 4 to 0 . Kominato played from the 5 th innings with furuya too as coach had substituted them to create more chances . They could not score any run but helped the team with fielding, especially kominato who showed potential more than his older brother.

The semi  finals opponent for our team was houmei high school team . Our match was held at the second last day of the tournament.  They too looked extremely strong as they were a regular team at koshien tournament. 

Our starter pitcher was furuya and tanba senpai was in bullpen from the start of the game . Our match started with the sound of horn and shous of confidence from both teams. 

It was our turn to field first . In the first inning furuya showed good control and will power and struck out 3 first batters with only his fastballs . The batters had no trouble hitting his 154 max fastballs from the start which showed how much strong they were . Their pitcher was good too and also stopped are 3 first batters with only fastballs . His were slower than furuya but seemed more heavy and well controlled.  I liked this pitcher as I could feel that he was like me and reached here with pure hard work .

In the second inning furuya got caught and their 4 batter hit a 3 base from his slightly high fastball.  Miyuki senpai to be safe called for a slider but unfortunately it was hit by their 5th batter . He hit a sacrifice fly and they scored the first run . Furuya showed great will power and stopped the score at only 1 run in the inning . Our batting turn came and yuki senpai was walked intentionally.  I guessed that the opponent team felt great threat from him and chose to play safe . Masuko senpai hit a 2 base and my turn came .. I got my first at bat with a runner on second base but coach allowed me to hit as please instead of bunt . It felt good to know that coach trusted my skills and I knew that my hard  work paid off . The pitcher was throwing only balls and no strike which felt suspicious.  I read their intention to walk me and choose to fight it out with next batter.  It felt good to know that I was being seen a threat by opponents but it was my job to score runs for my team . Well it was a mistake to not  walk me openly and make it seem like that we were fighting it out as when the last ball came at the outhigh course near the strike zone I forcefully hit the ball out the field and scored a home run . I could swear I heard a small tch sound from the pitcher .

The game continued.  Furuya slider was not in good shape today so he got substituted out with tanba senpai after he allowed a total of 2 runs . Tanba senpai pitched perfectly till the end and didn't allow the other team to score  any more runs .

We won the game in the end . The final score was 5 to 2

The finals were decided with seido high school vs komadai fujimaki .I was excited to meet the infamous fastball pitcher hongo.  Next day came and when I met him I got disappointed as he didn't even try to talk to me . I was disappointed in the fact that he was drunk with his talent and the opponent coach didn't seem to have much concern about it . I decided to hit his ball out of the field to teach him a lesson .

The finals starter pitcher was me . Our turn to bat came first and our 3 batters couldn't even swing their bats properly before hongo s heavy fastball . I could see that he had the thing for that unusually high pride.  But I still decided to teach him a lesson even after feeling the hard work from his balls as he ignored me which I didn't like . Hmph .

I threw my balls with full power only trusting miyuki senpais lead completely and struck out 3 batters completely without letting them hit the balls . I could see the shock on their faces after feeling the force behind my ballls and honestly I enjoyed it .

The matched continued with both teams unable to score a run till 7 th inning . I hit 1 2 base and 1 3 base hits at my at bats but others couldn't follow after me . When my at bat  in 8thh inning came , yuki senpai and masuko senpai were on 3rd and 1st bases respectively.  Hongo still arrogantly pitched his very first ball as in high straight and I swung my bat with full power to send it out to the stands . I had seen the trajectory of his balls completely after my first 2 at bats which was most difficult till now in my high school games . I could feel that hongo was angry but alas his chance for revenge never came . We won the match and my at bat didn't come after thr 3rd one .

The final score was 3 to 0 in our favor .

My achievements in the match were

Pitch for 9 innings got hit 1 time , 0 runs allowed

3 at bats 2 hits and 1 home run