Ace of Diamonds: The Last Piece of the Puzzle

In the second half of the eighth game, Qingdao attacked first. Both sides were fully prepared. There were less than two games left before the end of the game.

There are six outs left, please work harder, we have to deal with the hitters more carefully, Qian said with his eyes.

It was obvious that Didong and the others did not give up, and they never thought that the game would end like this. They pinned their hopes on the ninth inning, hoping to achieve a comeback in the last inning.

The number of balls is not the important thing, just a senior! The most satisfying thing for me is to trick the batter into hitting a bad ball! Mukai showed a playful smile.

But if you are confident that you can let me pitch in the ninth inning, how can I live up to your expectations! Don’t worry, I’m a new senior! I will definitely take these six outs.

"call out!"

"One out!"

Mukai easily dealt with Aomichi's seven-hit Hikasa. He couldn't help but show a happy expression when he saw that the opponent took a shot at his bad ball as expected, and was easily eliminated by the defense.

"It's already the eighth inning, and I can still throw the ball into the corner of the strike zone!" Owada said with emotion.

"This means that I am very confident in my pitching style!" Fujio said lightly, but there were still some words that he did not say.

That's because he felt that Didong's ace Mukai seemed to be too obsessed with his own style. It's great to be able to get hitters to chase down bad balls, but he's often picked off by hitters because of this, which turns the final result into a full-ball count.

If you can use the ball well to lead the duel and let the ball be dealt with by the defense, you should be able to save more balls. His pitching will also be more calm and watertight, but if this continues, I'm afraid it will leave more opportunities for Qingdao.

On the other side, they also followed the ball-controlling route. Kurosawa of Aomichi was the complete opposite, winning more outs with fewer balls.

Generally, fastball pitchers mainly strike out, just like his teammate Shitani. It's rare for a pitcher with that speed to use his fielding to get outs.

Although he will choose to strike out to deal with hitters from time to time, it can basically be seen that he prefers to use defense to deal with hitters.

However, judging from this game, there seemed to be some problems with his pitching state. Although I don’t know whether it was due to the weather or other reasons, it seems that it is still unknown whether the three outs in the last inning can be successfully won.

There are still some risks for Qingdao. If they can choose to let their ace come off the mound in the last inning and immediately replace it with one of the other three pitchers, the risk may be much smaller.

But just like Teito's coach Okamoto has not chosen to let his ace go, Seido's coach Kataoka has no intention of changing shots. The coaches on both sides unanimously chose to let their aces complete the shot, as if they had discussed it in advance.

But no matter how impeccable the suppression was before, just one ball can turn the tide of the battle. This is baseball. Which team will the goddess of victory smile at today? !

"The batter finally got to swing the bat!"

"Strikeout!"

"Ah! It's so exciting!" Mukai couldn't help but laugh out loud after finishing eight batters. He was so happy!

The ace's sudden cheering even startled his own defenders, which also shows that Qingdao's line play put enough pressure on him.

This gave him a sense of accomplishment in defeating them with his own pitching, which he couldn't feel in games against ordinary teams. It can be seen from his attitude that although Qingdao's line play is not mature enough, it is constantly improving.

"It's two out!"

"We need to continue the offensive until the ninth game!"

"This game needs to end as soon as possible!" Didong's fans began to cheer for the players.

"Nine-stick center fielder, Tojo-kun!"

"If you throw it here, that's it! If you throw it here, that's it!" As soon as Sawamura saw his little friend coming up to hit, he quickly went to the sidelines to provide hitting guidance.

But stupid village, you really dare to use your specious things to teach Tojo! Are you sure you were teaching and not misleading? ! (?｀⊿′)?

"Come in, you!" Today is another day when the friends desperately drag Sawamura into the rest area! ~(ˉ▽ˉ~)

He really couldn't rest for a moment! He is so energetic all the time! But even with him around, the atmosphere in Qingdao is always very good!

Just like now, his stupidity made the rest area, which had been a little tense due to Kurosawa's words, finally return to normal.

"Kazuya, do you think it's our turn in this round?" Kurosawa also came out of the locker room at this time, what a coincidence! It really makes people wonder if he has been eavesdropping inside!

"What does it matter! And wouldn't it be better if we didn't get our turn?! Doesn't that mean we won! Isn't our ace confident enough to deal with the three lower hitters?!" Miyuki said with a bad smile.

Kanemaru on the side looked at Tojo who was coming to attack without blinking, and cheered in his heart: "Tojo can't keep suffering until the end!"

"call out!"

"Good shot!" Another good shot was easily won!

Mukai's pitching posture is to throw a diagonal straight ball from the side. If it is inserted from that angle, it will be really difficult for the batter to hit!

And even in the eighth game, his power has not weakened at all. This made Tojo and Kanemaru, who were both acquainted at the same time, couldn't help but wonder how he practiced in Teito!

Not only were they curious about Mukai, Mukai was also curious about them, especially Tojo. In his memory, he was an ace pitcher who was as famous as him during his time in Tojo Junior High School. Unexpectedly, after Aomichi High School, he actually gave up his pitching status and became a center fielder? !

This made Mukai very unhappy. He hated people who gave up so easily. However, two outsiders took away the pitcher's mound, specifically a double pitch.

He probably felt very unhappy that Tojo actually lost to two wild animals, and besides, these two were not from Tokyo.

"call out!"

After all, it's Tojo who has been fighting against him for three years in junior high school. Who knows what he is thinking now! He chose to strike with one hand at the critical moment!

"boom!"

"Behind second base!"

The ball was successfully hit, and the exact same scene as Qingdao in the first half of the game happened. The ball landed just in the no-no zone.

"Hahahaha, Kuramochi, you should show off this time, right?! The juniors are already in front of you, so it's a bit embarrassing if you can't get out!" Miyuki snickered.

"That's right! I didn't expect that the first one to perform well was actually a year old!" Kurosawa calmly added some more blows, stabbing the second-years who hadn't played yet.

"Ah! I will fight out!" After Kuramochi promised, he left for the strike zone without looking back.

"Great!"

"Just listen to me!"

Kanemaru: You must be too confident! But forget it, Tojo finally fought out, I'm in a good mood this time so I won't argue with you!

Haruichi, who was standing in the waiting area, couldn't help but smile when he saw Tojo running up to second base. He kept sighing in his heart that his waist and legs were so strong, he couldn't have practiced pitching!

Mukai turned slightly sideways and looked at Tojo who was dismantling his equipment and couldn't help but smile. He read Tojo's determination from his eyes.

It’s enough to understand that neither the game nor the pitcher has given up! This made him think back to his junior high school days, when he was the only one who hit his winning goal!

But it really pissed me off! How come this guy is now a center fielder and can still hit his own ball! Doesn’t transformation take time? I should have made great progress, right? !ヽ(`Д′)?

"Come on! Kuramochi!"

Kuramochi took a deep breath and looked at Mukai on the pitcher's ball seriously. He kept alternately replaying the two scenes in his mind: that he had no contribution at all in this game and that even his junior student failed.

The last game is left. This is the last time I will play in the mat. I must score in this game. No matter what method I use, my mission is to connect the offense to the next hitter.

And that guy Kurosawa must be very tired! There is only one point difference but it is not safe at all! There must be at least a two-three-point gap to make it easier for him to shoot!

"Hit..."

"Hit..."

Tojo left the base fair and square, putting pressure on the pitcher. Unfortunately, Kuramochi's first pitch was a foul ball and he quickly returned to the base.

After that, he left the base greatly again, but Mukai didn't care about him at all. Now he was only one out count away, so naturally solving the opponent's Kuramochi was the priority!

However, Teidong's pitchers didn't expect Seido's Ichiboshi Kuramochi to be so confident in his own footwork. He actually chose to hit with two outs. They were completely caught off guard by the opponent.

So which one will be more flawless, Kuramochi's Scud or Teito's defense? Facts have proved that Kuramochi's footwork is absolutely error-free, but Teito's defense is not necessarily so, and he actually passed the ball at such a critical moment.

Suddenly, there was a crisis situation on the field with people at the second and third bases. With just one mistake and one hit, Kuramochi ran to second base with his own flying legs.

"Qingdao..."

"Qingdao..."

"Qingdao..."

This is simply a bolt from the blue for the pitcher! The most annoying and troublesome runner on base! At this time, shouldn't he be grateful that he had just been beaten out by Tojo, so there was someone on the base before him?

At least now he can't steal free bases, which is probably good news! Mukai kept smiling, his expression seemed to be frozen on his face.

He is still a little confused in his mind. Did he cause a big crisis in just a moment? ! I really don’t know what to do!

"Second baseman Kominato-san!"

"Koharu grabs the ball and attacks! You have a pair of sharp ball-selecting eyes hidden under your bangs!" As soon as he saw another friend of his on the court, Sawamura turned on the off-court buff again.

Kanemaru, who was sitting next to Sawamura, was sweating profusely! After hearing this, Haruichi felt very ashamed and couldn't help but blush. This... this is too shabby, Eijun-kun!

"It's the turn of Kominato-san who is very good at hitting, and the second base runner is Kuramochi-san. If Aomichi scores again, it will be difficult for Teito to come back!" Owada sighed.

The Dongdong players on the field chose to pause, and the coach also sent a messenger in time, saying: "Everyone, just do as I say."

Mukai chuckled and said, "Why should you learn to be a coach?"

"Let's go!"

"Yes!"

The game started again, and Qian decisively crouched away from Haruichi and placed his gloves in the outside corner. According to the coach's wishes, we don't need to go head-to-head with them, we just have to fight against confident hitters and get the last out number safely!

"The bases are loaded?! It's such an obvious outside pitch! It's easier to defend when the bases are packed, so I chose not to fight the batter." Toma said excitedly, but Okumura did not express his opinion.

"I can't tell that the other party is so hateful. Could it be that he is scared after seeing through Koharu's true nature?!" Sawamura said, and it was obvious that Kanemaru on the side had some urge to escape!

Idiot? ! These are also part of the tactics, right? ! Mukai thought silently as he listened to Sawamura's shouts. ˉ\_(ツ)_/ˉ

"Bad ball!"

"Really take out the batters that can be taken care of. This is the natural choice for pitching. After all, the next batter is the third pitcher who has not had a hit today."

Yes, he was on the third team today. The sixth team position was given to Hakushu by Coach Kataoka. It's a pity that even though he was in third place today, he still didn't do anything!

Standing next to Coach Kataoka, Ochiai felt troubled when he looked at this person. He really couldn't understand why his partner was so optimistic about this person. In his opinion, this person's hitting was not good at all and he always couldn't hit.

Now, even the opponent has treated him as Qingdao's weakness in the line, and it is clear that they want to easily get the third out from his hands.

"Four balls, walk!"

"Three-bat first baseman Maezono-san!"

"If I were a catcher, the last thing I would want to see is for the batter to let go of all the low pitches. If you can't hit the ball, you won't be able to hit it. Just choose the ball you can hit carefully. That would be great!" Miyuki took the lead in adding a hit buff to Maezono before the fight started!

"Yes!" Maezono nodded seriously to express his understanding.

But even if he understands these principles, Mukai's ball is not that easy to hit. Qianyuan was quickly cornered by Di Dong and the others.

It's a pity that everyone underestimated Maezono's strength. Now many people should be thinking that this game is going to end like this!

I'm afraid no one thought that he would hit the ball in the end! But this guy is always so unexpected! If you don't take action, you will be the king of attack once you take action.

He casually sent out a five-thunder blast, which caught everyone in Didong completely off guard. In the end, all runners on the base returned to home base.

The eighth game is over, yes it’s over! The eight-year-old in the front park failed to reach base and was thrown out, causing the eighth inning to end unexpectedly.

In the first half of the ninth inning, Qingdao only had the last three outs left to win the game, and the score between the two sides was a full four points apart.

Even though Qingdao saw the astonishing performance of Didong, who had learned from the past, he still had no intention of replacing his ace pitcher in the end, and the coaching staff made up his mind to let him pitch completely.

"Out!"

"Out!"

"Out!"

"competition is over!"