Original subtitles

I'll try this next.

Hold it between my middle and ring fingers...

This feels so awkward.

Everyone's breaking balls are different.

Here I go!

Hand size, finger length, physique,

pitching form, personality... It all depends on the person.

Even if ten people threw the same type of breaking ball,

there would be ten different breaking balls.

Damn!

It didn't reach!

Sorry!

That one's a no-go!

It broke even more than the last one.

Miyuki-senpai let the ball go behind him?

It's your own unique pitch

no one else can copy.

Sawamura's original pitch.

Ball four!

What a waste.

He had him cornered, too.

Damn it!

Damn it!

What are you doing?

Switch gears!

What's going on now?

What happened to the pitcher?

I don't know why,

but he's stepping on his own toes.

Batting fourth and first baseman, Kasuga-kun.

Don't let him get away, Hiro.

A bunt? He's a cleanup!

Toward third! That's really good!

Will he make it?

Bad throw!

Runner's heading to third now!

This is bad!

I thought he was on a roll,

but runners are on first and third now!

Let's get it, Yama-chan!

Let's get the first run!

Two outs, Sawamura!

Focus on the batter!

We've got your back, Sawamura!

Damn.

What am I doing weighing him down?

Don't worry about the runners.

Your fastballs are good.

Just pitch like before, and we can get him out.

Don't worry about them?

Isn't that kind of a big lead?

You've got his attention.

Go even bigger, Hiro.

Damn it.

Sawamura, third base!

Hey...

Balk! Balk!

Seido Oya

School Academic Level

Me?

Was it me?

Was that a forced balk?

Yeah, that's the word!

What was that?

He stopped his throw to first.

It was a clear balk.

He got tricked by the runners so easily.

Wait. So that was their plan?

I think so.

The first base runner makes a big lead to make him throw,

and the third base runner runs for home as he throws.

The pitcher gets confused and commits a balk.

Playing a little mind game, are we?

Coach Ichiro Araki of Oya High.

All right, score!

A free pass to the runners!

How?

Nice run, Sumi-chan.

Perfect timing!

That was their plan?

Seems to be.

Crap.

It was my fault I yelled like that.

I basically helped the opponent.

A forced balk in a high school game.

How fortunate to see such a rare play.

Do you think they've practiced this play?

Yeah.

Seido's pitcher is a first-year.

So maybe they wanted to crush his confidence.

What happened?

What's going on?

I'll explain later.

Switch gears.

If you get flustered here, you'll give them what they want.

Pretend like nothing happened, get the next batter out,

and walk back to the dugout.

That's what they don't want to see.

Can you do it?

You've got two outs, Sawamura.

You'd better hold it here.

I'm sure Miyuki's keeping it under control,

but this batter's the key.

Let's go, Yama-chan!

You can do it!

Even the strong have their weaknesses.

It comes down to finding small victories

and making them play our game.

As a team with limited practice hours,

it's the only way we can win.

If we can win one out of ten games,

then it's worth trying.

What are our tools?

What's our strategy?

How can we win with our current strength?

It's nothing extraordinary.

This...

...is mankind's mission.

Use your head and challenge yourselves. That's where the dream lies. Source: Words of Ichiro Araki on Balancing School and Sports

Use your head and challenge yourselves.

That's where the dream lies.

Focus on the outside!

He hit the outside pitch!

But he got jammed!

No, it's going to an interesting place.

Runner on second comes home!

Nice run, Kasuga!

Seido Oya

Woohoo! Second run!

I must go!

Whoa, there!

Well, this is eventful.

Out!

He managed to keep them to two runs.

Yeah.

What started with a base on balls turned into a run with a balk,

and then another with an RBI.

Two runs in the first inning.

Not exactly the ideal start for Sawamura-kun.

Damn.

It's the first inning, Sawamura!

Switch gears!

You, too.

Yes, sir!

No time to test the change-up anymore.

They have a strong core to make a bold play like that.

We can't take them too lightly.

Go-chan, let's not concede any runs this inning.

Yeah.

I thought it'd come down to the mid-game.

Let's make good use of these two runs.

The great wall of private schools?

The public schools' limits?

What a joke.

Seido Oya

If you get good players and practice constantly, of course you're good!

We're the ones with the dream.

Let's go!

Yeah!

We're the masters of our own fates!

Meiji Jingu Sub Stadium

Kominato-kun bunted after Shirasu-kun got a base hit.

Seido's playing carefully.

Yeah.

They want to get a man in scoring position to take back one run.

Especially since the next batter is Miyuki-kun, who got a hit last time,

and is also a clutch batter.

Seido Oya

They're behind two runs.

As the catcher, I'm sure he wants to score.

Hips!

All in the hips!

Hips!

All in the hips!

And it's a boss battle again.

We've been held down pretty well so far.

We're gonna need a run soon, Captain.

Strike!

Way on the outside.

Ball!

A low, breaking ball!

Good stop!

Third pitch!

Almost!

It ended up being a foul!

Nice, Wakabayashi!

You've got him cornered!

He pitches well.

Yeah.

He's not hesitant.

They have a two-run lead,

so he's not afraid of walking the batter.

He's pitching aggressively to the edges of the zone.

What a smart pitcher.

Ball!

Swing at the low ones. Damn it.

Good eyes!

You've got this, Miyuki!

2-2 now.

I can just pitch forkballs to him,

but I don't want him to think I'm avoiding the battle.

We're the ones in the lead.

The goal is to make him swing, so I'll just pitch to the middle.

This is something special I prepared just for you!

Pitching from the side?

Take this!

What's coming? A breaking ball?

It's in the zone. I have to swing!

Out!

The second base runner couldn't run!

Nice! Two outs!

What was that?

He changed his pitching form.

He got Seido's cleanup out!

That was incredible!

A sinker.

He pulled an inside pitch!

It's going deep into left field!

Let's go!

The left fielder was waiting on the left side of the field.

It would've been a hit if he had been in his usual position.

No!

The four- and five-hole batters couldn't score with a runner!

No runs again.

We really need one.

They're trying a lot of things.

It's like they have us figured out.

Yeah! You all suck at batting!

I never had high hopes, anyway!

So please switch gears!

Damn it! Shut up!

I'll score next time.

Miyuki.

Bottom of 4th

Meiji Jingu Sub Stadium

He got jammed again!

Out!

Let's go!

Two outs with just five pitches!

He's been looking solid since the second inning!

Nice, Sawamura!

Eijun-kun, two outs!

Don't get carried away, trash!

Did that one move at the plate again?

Oh, is it moving?

Yeah.

It's definitely moving.

It's slower than the fastball, so it makes you want to swing, but...

We couldn't use the change-up,

but it looks like this one's working.

Out!

Nice one, Sawamura!

Three for three by pitching to contact!

Yeees! Yes! Yes!

Yessss! Yes! Yes!

Are they doing this...

...on purpose?

A southpaw with a weird form.

And he throws a moving fastball?

He's higher level than I thought.

Seido Oya

Sawamura's been pitching well since the second inning.

Yeah.

You're sending a lot of balls my way.

I'm making them hit 'em to you.

Of course you're not.

But it's fun to field for you.

You have a good tempo, too.

You can say that again!

It's the mid-game now.

We're two runs behind.

We need to score and tie up the game, Shinji.

Between left and center!

Keep running!

Nice double!

A runner with no outs again!

That shouldn't have been easy to hit!

Yes!

Another bunt!

Seido's being careful!

Never bunted in junior high

Thank goodness that worked.

Nice bunt, Shinji.

Batting cleanup since second-year of junior high

Batting eighth and left fielder, Aso-kun.

One out and a runner on third now!

The infield's moving in.

These guys will go for home, even with a grounder.

We have to be really careful here.

This is your moment!

Be the man of the hour, Aso-senpai!

Shut up.

Come on, Aso!

You've got it!

Let's go, Aso!

I bet no one expects I'll hit!

He hit up a low ball!

The center fielder's waiting for it!

Can he do it?

What another awkward hit.

Yeah.

He's throwing home!

Safe!

Nice!

Nice dodge!

Nice run, Tojo!

That was awesome!

So awesome, Tojo!

Way to go, Tojo.

Way to score with that fly!

RBI 1

With that shallow fly!

This run was well within my calculations.

I didn't think we could win with two runs, anyway.

Come on!

Strike! Batter out!

Taking appropriate measures.

The important thing is to take no more damage than necessary.

Luck wasn't on my side.

I was so close.

How can he be so confident?

We need to score again soon.

They still have cards to play.

Nice pitch, Go-chan.

Nice pitch.

Just as Nabe said yesterday,

it's visible from the batter's box, as well.

Watanabe found it?

Props to him.

Yes.

See? Look.

The second baseman moved.

I won't know if you can see it from the box until the game.

That's true.

I have only praise for his scouting ability.

Seido Oya

Out!

Nice pitch, Sawamura!

One out! One out!

Let's go, Sawamura!

Don't get cocky, first-year!

Strike!

It doesn't feel that fast.

I can see it move from over here.

Then I'll hit it before it moves.

Harucchi!

Two outs with five pitches again!

He's starting to look reliable!

He hasn't allowed a hit since the second inning!

We can't relax yet.

Many pitchers make you swing with breaking balls that turn into balls,

but he mainly throws strikes.

Just standing here only makes the count worse.

Then I have to swing!

Out!

Three outs already!

Wow!

Three for three again!

Yes! Yes! Yes!

I thought he would fall apart if we could play mind games,

but we can't even get on base.

His uniform number is 18.

This is the ability of a secondary pitcher?

He's walking all over us.

This wasn't in my simulation.

This is irritating.

Dumb baseball gorillas.

Go-chan, stay calm.

You want to solve a math problem?

Don't worry. I'm still calm.

He fell apart in the first inning.

He's not impossible to beat.

We just need to hold out for now.

We have to stay strong,

observe their next move,

and prepare for whatever they have.

Kuramochi.

Oya is really good and has a lot of trust in how they play baseball.

It comes down to finding small victories

and making them play our game.

Continued efforts in order to achieve victory.

That's how you make super plays that will help the team.

Next time on Ace of the Diamond Season 2: Individual Minds.

Individual Minds

Let's win the national title!