Original subtitles

Let's go!

Focus on the batter!

Okay! Nice pitch!

Nice pitch, Furuya!

Two outs!

Now's the time to take him out!

He's getting tired!

No, I'm not.

Kanemaru.

Y-Yes, sir?

Tell Sawamura to ice his shoulder.

Hey.

I brought the ice box over.

Make sure you ice your shoulder.

He's been like this ever since he came back.

This is the first time I've seen him so beat since the tournament.

It's way wide!

Yeah! Third run!

We've taken the lead!

Hey! Why didn't you cover?

Miyuki!

How's Sawamura?

His pitch has power,

and he's not getting overwhelmed by the batters.

But in the recent games,

his inside pitch has often been a little wide.

I don't know how aware he is of the problem,

but it may be because of the hit-by-pitch in the final.

Furuya!

Sawamura.

Switch.

Well, that was inevitable.

Things weren't going to get better at that rate.

Furuya's pitching?

Kawakami pitched in the last game,

and Furuya's the most consistent pitcher right now.

Wait a minute.

I haven't gotten a single out yet.

Eijun-kun.

If I...

If I walk off the mound now...

Give me the ball.

We don't need two pitchers on the mound.

I know it must be frustrating, but—

Of course!

I gave up three runs without getting a single out.

I should be switched out!

S-Sorry that I'm passing the baton like this.

Take care of the rest.

No.

Stop.

Don't walk off.

I know this feeling.

It's the same as that game.

The mound's getting farther...

...and farther away.

Back then,

I thought I'd never...

...ever get to stand there again.

It's exactly the same.

If I walk off here,

I'll...

Seido High School Practice Field

Yeah!

Twenty wins in a row!

We reached our goal!

We're the best!

It was all me!

My pitching at the beginning won us the game!

Nice pitching, Sanada!

Sanada, great job!

What about me?

Thank you for today's game.

We were able to discover some problems,

and it was a productive game.

Not at all. Thank you.

Productive, huh?

Gonna write it off as a practice game, huh?

I have to say,

that Furuya boy smells like a lot of cash.

I'm sure there are many pro teams that have their eyes on him.

True.

He should be training to play professionally.

But I could say the same about your cleanup.

Oh?

Do you really think so?

He's my son. Thanks.

What's important is how they grow as individuals.

It's really difficult to find the balance as the head coach.

After all, Furuya isn't our only player.

Yes, you're absolutely right.

Spoken like a true mentor.

Though you're boring.

I'm just a coach for hire.

If I don't produce results, I'm fired.

I'm sure he's in the same shoes.

Well, then. Maybe it'll be spring or summer,

or even fall.

When we face each other in the tournament,

let's go all out.

Let's go home!

Yes, sir!

Are we done already?

Yes, we are.

Their team is centered around the ace and the cleanup.

I wouldn't want to face an energetic team like this in the tournament.

In the end,

Kawakami couldn't hold Yakushi's batters down, either.

Kind of sad, since Furuya was doing really well.

Not to mention our batters got shut down by Sanada.

Seido Yakushi

What happened to last year's Seido?

The group stage is in two weeks,

and the tournament's in a month.

Are we gonna be ready?

You didn't stand a chance.

Seido Yakushi

This is where you are right now.

This is the current team.

This atmosphere is bad.

We shouldn't have accepted the game.

Batters! Especially the second-years!

You lack assertiveness in the box!

Perhaps you're putting the focus on batting for the team.

But if you can't stick to your own style of batting, what's the point?

I haven't been giving you any instructions in the practice games

because I knew you would do well

if you swung like you do in practice.

You've lost my faith in your batting skills.

The starting roster is going to be flexible.

I'll let whoever's doing well play, regardless of your grade.

So keep that in mind.

Stretch, then be done for the day.

Yes, sir!

Miyuki, Kawakami,

Sawamura.

You guys stay.

What do you think about your pitching today, Sawamura?

Sir.

I couldn't pitch to where Miyuki-senpai requested.

Are you aware?

You're unable to pitch to the inside.

I am.

In the final, you walked off after throwing a hit-by-pitch.

Your body might be unconsciously avoiding the inside pitch.

He has the yips.

Due to an error or a hit-by-pitch at a crucial moment,

what used to be an easy task can become impossible.

Since it's a mental problem,

and he has the yips,

he's going to be useless in the fall tournament.

Sawamura.

Practice on your own starting tomorrow.

Avoid any contact with a ball.

Your practice will mainly consist of running to strengthen your lower body.

I'm on a separate regimen right before the season?

Does that mean...

Kawakami, you gave up some hits,

but you did well keeping your pitches low.

Make sure you fine-tune your technique before the season starts.

Yes, sir.

Of course.

With how I pitched today,

I'm...

...useless.

At the moment,

our batting lineup is much weaker than last year's.

So we have to shift our focus to defense.

We'll have many close games that'll put pressure on defense.

No matter how well Furuya's feeling,

he still doesn't have the stamina to pitch a full game.

In order to take the fall tournament,

we'll need to rely on both of you.

Huh?

Did you see Sawamura today?

He was running all day in Field B.

Why?

Because of yesterday's game?

Well...

What? He has the yips?

One of my junior high teammates couldn't pitch to first.

Tojo might have a chance at pitching now.

Are you dumb?

He gave it a lot of thought before making the switch.

Mind elaborating on that, Kanemaru?

Chris-senpai.

Yakushi and Seido had a practice game?

Yeah.

The game went 7-2,

with Yakushi making a comeback.

Those two played right before the fall season?

I wish I'd been there.

Me, too.

So Yakushi won.

Without the third-years,

the teams can change drastically.

I'm sure the scores of the game represent the current state of both teams.

True.

Yakushi's still has their core players from last year.

It really comes down to how much

team building each school can do over the break.

Yeah.

Wow! What a huge crowd!

And that goes for every team,

Inashiro Vocational School

regardless of how well they performed in the summer.

Summer break's about to end,

but the third-years are still practicing.

Some of them are playing in the USA-Japan game,

and there's the National Sports Festival in September.

So the more you play at nationals,

the longer you get to play as third-years.

The crowd is crazy, too,

since they were the runner-up at nationals.

It's been ten days since the national final, and the crowd hasn't died down.

They spent most of their summer break at nationals,

and got a sense of accomplishment

from making it big there.

However,

the team building for the fall is inevitably delayed.

Harada-kun, do you have a second?

Sure.

Inashiro Vocational School

Good job at nationals.

Have things calmed down on your end?

I'd say so.

I'm sure there's a lot of pressure on whoever's replacing you.

Have you already found a new captain?

Yes.

All the players and coaches picked Fuku-chan as the new captain.

Fuku-chan?

Who's that?

He wasn't on the roster for nationals,

and I doubt he'll make the starting lineup this year, either.

But he's the most responsible person on the team,

and he takes great care of the field.

Even Narumiya acknowledges him.

That's interesting.

Whoa!

Man, it's hot.

Hey, Carlos!

Don't take your shirt off here!

There was one ball on the field yesterday.

And two the day before that.

If you can't even properly clean up after practice,

just go kill yourself.

Hey! Don't drink straight from the bottle!

Think of the others!

None of the starters could possibly be a captain, so there's that, too.

I see.

Oh, where's Narumiya-kun?

He seems like the biggest lone wolf.

He's probably in the bullpen.

Oh?

Is he already preparing for the fall?

Not at all.

He hasn't pitched at all since he came back.

The coach plans to use the third-years for the sports festival, too.

He's pretty fatigued from nationals,

and he still has a long road ahead of him.

But you know how he is.

I'm sure he's being sour in the bullpen.

Okay. Nice pitch.

Ball! That was a ball!

Just a bit too low! Too bad!

Please don't interfere just because you're not pitching.

Why not? I do whatever I want!

You can't.

You're an upperclassman. Please don't be so selfish.

What's that?

An upperclassman can't be selfish?

How do you define an upperclassman, then?

Wow! He's not holding back.

Now that Masa-san's not holding the reins anymore,

no one's stopping him.

I'm actually a little rattled.

I feel like I should practice catching your pitches more.

Don't worry about that.

I'll throw wherever you hold the mitt.

Then how am I different from a wall?

You don't look happy.

You think I don't understand anything?

I didn't say that much.

He's sharp.

Don't worry.

I don't expect you to replace Masa-san right off the bat.

Well, I suppose if you put it that way...

But I don't plan to lose, either.

Not until we take the top.

Just FYI, I'm pretty selfish.

Yes, sir.

I'll say no to your request on the mound.

I know.

I get a ton of fan letters, too.

Oh, okay...

And this is just between you and me, but

a first-year in the brass band asked me out yesterday.

No one cares!

The group stages for the fall start soon.

After the sports festival in September, the third-years will retire,

and the fall tournament will start in October.

They have to do team building on top of all of that?

The winning teams don't exactly have it easy, do they?

But this is an experience unique to teams that've won,

and it's all part of experiencing nationals.

Ambition

From the teams that lost in the first round

to the teams that made it to the national final,

every team is spending their summer getting ready

to line up at the same starting line again.

Hey, baseball team!

How was your summer "break"?

Shut up.

Man, you guys were so close.

People were crying on the bleachers.

One of my friends said it was more intense than a game at nationals.

You're still talking about that?

That's ancient history for us, man.

And I have to say, I've gotta give Sawamura some credit.

He was pitching so confidently on the Jingu mound.

So loudly, too.

He's nothing like that in class.

Remember what he said in class at the beginning of the year?

I'll be the ace of the team, and my name is Eijun Sawamura!

And you'd better remember my name!

Everyone laughed at him when he said that,

but maybe he'll really be the ace one day.

Did I say something weird?

No.

Hey, Haruno!

Did something happen to Sawamura over the break?

He looks like a different person!

He looks so gloomy now!

He's reading a book, too!

That's The Book of Five Rings.

It's the book Miyamoto Musashi wrote before his death

about his upbringing and his way of the sword.

Musashi?

Is he trying to be a samurai now?

Well, I kind of like the gloomy Sawamura.

Is he trying to learn something from a man who never lost?

The second trimester started,

and the group selection for the fall closed in,

but Sawamura was still on a separate regimen.

Now he's reading a book on Rickson Gracie.

I see.

The inside pitch.

Fearlessly throwing close to the pitcher was his style of pitching.

It's like he lost his biggest weapon.

True.

If he has the yips, it could be bad.

But he was throwing fine in other practice games, right?

Y-Yes, sir.

Then perhaps it's best not to make a big deal out of this.

Aren't you gonna say something to him?

I believe he'll turn this around and come out even stronger in the end.

That's the kind of guy he is.

Isn't he?

I don't have time to worry about someone else.

Having a flexible roster means I have a chance, too!

The season's closing in,

yet what am I doing?

How can I start, much less be the ace...

...if I can't get any outs?

Damn it.

I'm so weak.

We go into the group stages with a lot of worries

and a lot of work to do.

I can't play outfield,

and I haven't even been in the bullpen recently.

What does the coach want from me?

What are we gonna do, Miyuki?

Don't we need Sawamura in order to win this season?

Next time on Ace of the Diamond: September Sky.

September Sky

Why doesn't Coach Kataoka just give up on him?