Original subtitles

The final game...

...of my junior high career.

My last pitch meshed the gears of my fate.

Path, Eijun Sawamura to the Scorching Mound

Nice to meet you.

You must be Eijun Sawamura-kun.

Rei Takashima Seido High School Baseball

I'm the assistant director of the Seido High School Baseball Team.

My name is Rei Takashima.

If you are actually aiming to go to the nationals,

you should gain something from seeing a top-level practice.

Is it just me?

Or did she make fun of my junior high team?

You better be kidding me!

I went to Tokyo to watch the Seido High School Baseball Team's practice.

If you don't want to get better, then go back home to your mommy!

I couldn't stand Azuma-san talking trash to his teammate,

so I challenged him to a duel.

And then he showed up.

This sounds like a lot of fun.

Rei-chan,

can I catch his pitch?

Who's he?

Kazuya Miyuki, a catcher.

I'm Kazuya Miyuki, a second-year at Seido.

My first impression of Sawamura was...

Well, a guy with a big attitude

but not the skills to back it up.

But Rei-chan herself brought him here, so I figured he must have something.

That's why I volunteered as catcher.

The best pitches

are works of art produced by the pitcher and the catcher working as one.

Works of art?

Let's get cracking, partner.

Partner?

Sawamura's pitch far exceeded my expectations.

Fastballs for life? Yeah, right.

I'm sure he doesn't realize it,

but his pitch moves at the plate.

His pitch was a natural moving fastball that changed its path at random.

Just clear your head...

and give me your best shot.

I'll catch it with everything I have.

Right down the middle.

What is this feeling?

I can hear my heart beating loud and clear.

Oh, man...

I know I can throw my best pitch here.

I just gotta trust his mitt,

and it'll be the best ever.

The best pitch I've ever...

ever thrown!

I'll hit it outta the park, you stupid kid!

Nice pitch.

This moment...

...I think I opened the doors to a new world.

Seido Spirit Dorm

The pitch I threw at Miyuki-senpai wouldn't get out of my head,

so I decided to join the Seido High School Baseball Team.

Nice to meet you.

But even after I joined,

there were many obstacles in my way.

I'm Kataoka, the head coach.

Is this all the new members this year?

Yes, sir!

I can't walk out in this atmosphere.

Damn it!

He came here late, but he's trying to sneak into the line!

A guy who can't even apologize for being late to practice...

is not a member of the Seido Baseball Team.

If you don't like how I do things, then don't show up.

Ever.

I overslept because I was naive.

I have no excuse.

But I'm... I'm...

I'm...

I'm here to become the ace!

And I'm confident that I want it more than anyone here!

And then, I was forced to form a battery with...

...someone I didn't know instead of Miyuki-senpai.

I'm Chris Yu Takigawa.

Nice to meet you, loser pitcher.

What is he doing?

He didn't move the mitt a single inch.

What's wrong?

This is where my...

mitt is.

A head-to-head battle of powers is the best part about baseball?

Maybe for your own self-satisfaction.

I would never...

want to entrust the three years we spent here to you.

I couldn't understand Chris-senpai,

and my urge to retaliate only grew larger.

Switching out Tanba-kun for the pitcher, Furuya-kun.

It's hard to believe he's a first-year like us.

One of his pitches can crush a batter's heart.

This is the difference between Furuya's talents and yours.

You...

I told you.

You'll never be the ace on this team.

As long as he's in your grade.

What about you?

You're a second-string like me.

Aren't you frustrated that you lost to a second-year?

You finish practice so early.

If you want to go up, don't you have to practice harder than anyone else?

You've just given up on getting better!

Give up on aiming higher?

For the idiot that you are, you're sharp.

Don't end up like me... Sawamura.

Back then,

I didn't know anything.

National Training Center

How naive I was or anything about Chris-senpai.

We're here.

Next, one-hand rowing.

Ten reps.

Don't rush. Go slowly.

Go slow.

He ruptured his subscapularis and pronator teres muscles.

On our team, with so many players,

being away from the team for a year

is the same as quitting the team.

Even Coach Kataoka asked him to support the team as a manager.

However, he clung to a small chance,

and he never gave up on finishing as a player.

You're kidding.

Are you...

kidding me?

Hey, Sawamura-kun!

Why?

Why did you let a stupid first-year like me mouth off to you and not say anything?

Damn it!

Are you kidding me?

Damn it...

I look like...

...a stupid moron now!

I have an impossible request.

Please...

Please...

Please teach me baseball.

On the Seido Baseball Team, there's another pitcher...

...who's a first-year.

Sorry.

I threw a little too hard.

This... is how I met the one who will be my rival pitcher on the team,

Satoru Furuya.

What are you doing?

He's a first-year!

Don't swing at those high fastballs!

Furuya is a fastball pitcher who gets strikeouts by power.

But...

Furuya, I'm sorry.

I can't catch your pitch...

He's a monster.

Damn.

What does he want from us?

I'm sorry, Furuya.

The upperclassmen don't want to play baseball with you.

Furuya's pitch was too fast,

and he couldn't play baseball like he wanted to in junior high.

By the way, did you hear the word about the first-string team?

Twenty players can be registered for the summer Tokyo District tournament.

Super Baseball Theory: The Logic of Batting

Basically, two second-string players will be moved up by the summer.

You serious?

So the scrimmages will be good opportunites to show off.

Two players?

Yep, two players.

So we're moving up to the first-string!

No, nothing's final yet...

In the practice game against Kokudokan,

which doubled as the last first-string tryout,

I finally got the chance to form a battery with Chris-senpai.

Switching out the catcher, Ono...

for Takigawa.

My job was to open the doors for Sawamura

with the kind of talent he has.

And in the duel against Zaizen of Kokudokan,

I saw how much potential he really had.

I've only been pitching for three innings,

but was I able to show Chris-senpai...

that I've improved, even a little?

Was I able to get even a little bit closer...

to the crown, the ace number, that's still miles away?

For now, I'll just throw my best pitch into his mitt!

The infinite possibility to shine as much as you polish...

...like polishing a diamond in the rough.

And then, as the summer tournament closed in,

the members of the first-string team were announced.

The new first-string players...

are first-year, Haruichi Kominato,

and another first-year, Eijun Sawamura.

That is all.

Wait a minute...

What about Chris-senpai?

I have no regrets.

In my last moments,

I was able to receive the best pitch...

I've ever had as a player.

There's only one thing we can do.

We have to get stronger,

so we can fight for those who can't!

Now...

You don't have any time to look back.

Not just you...

Me, too.

I'm going to fight till the very end.

The fight Chris-senpai couldn't.

This goes for both of us.

So get stronger.

Stronger.

Meiji Jingu Baseball Stadium

National High School Baseball Championship, Tokyo Qualifier

Then the summer tournament began.

There are many strong teams in our West Tokyo District.

Ichidai Third High with Manaka-san as the pitcher.

Let's get another run!

Yeah!

And...

The ones who robbed us of our ticket to nationals last summer.

Inashiro Vocational School with Mei Narumiya as the ace.

But on our team, we have amazing upperclassmen, too.

The quiet, cleanup hitter and captain, Yuki-senpai.

He sucks at shogi, though.

Miyuki, let's pick up from where we left off yesterday.

The roaring three-hole and strong-shouldered center,

Isashiki-senpai.

Don't tell anyone, but his nickname's "Spitz."

Who's a Spitz?

Kind to others but strict to himself,

a power-hitter five-hole, Masuko-senpai.

His family owns a liquor store.

One of my roommates at the Seido dorm,

the cheetah-legged, lead-off man,

Kuramochi-senpai.

He's a second-year like me.

A fellow first-year who made the first-string,

a baseball prodigy,

Kominato Haruichi, also known as Harucchi.

There's no easier pitch to hit than this.

His brother and second baseman,

Ryosuke Kominato-senpai.

He doesn't even come close to Ryosuke-san yet in terms of both fielding and batting.

Haruichi, you're in the way.

As for the pitchers,

we have our ace, Tanba-senpai, looking to come back from an injury,

and Nori-senpai, the second-year sidearm pitcher.

The reason people say we don't have an ace is because...

Ball four!

Tanba-san couldn't overcome his weak mentality.

But Tanba-san overcame his weakness with effort.

Yes! A fastball!

It dropped?

At last, we can go into the tournament in our best state possible.

Or so I thought...

Everything is about getting to the stage.

We're definitely going...

...to nationals.

We were forced to go into the tournament without our ace.

Until Tanba-san comes back,

Furuya, Sawamura, and Nori's pitching are our only hope.

Strike! Batter out!

Game set!

Akikawa Seido

In the fourth round against Akikawa Academy,

we're now facing our first pinch.

I asked for forkballs, but you couldn't relax,

and your fastballs are only getting higher.

Even if you keep throwing, you'll drag the team down.

Now hurry up and get off the mound.

Furuya.

I'll carry on your frustration.

Leave the rest to me!

We've inherited...

...your spirit.

We can't afford to lose.

Not for the people who didn't make the team,

nor for the pitcher who walked off.

I'm here with everyone's will on my shoulders.

Give me a four-seamer to the inside.

You can, can't you?

Come!

Yes! Yes! Yes!

Yes! Yes! Yes!

Sawamura finally stands on the mound.

We enter the mid-game with Akikawa.

Seido is definitely strong,

but Yeung-kun has a reason he can't lose as well.

Mine-san, is that because he and Miyuki-kun both wear glasses?

No...

Next time on Ace of the Diamond: Neck and Neck.

Neck and Neck

Let's win the national title!