Original subtitles

July 20th

Hachioji Stadium

More important than the past in which we've screwed up...

More important than the future in which we'll surely screw up...

What matters is this moment,

where we might screw up!

Defense! Balls will come flying your way again today!

Please deal with them for me!

Batting 9th, Pitcher Eijun Sawamura

So Sawamura's starting today.

He had a miserable showing in that first game.

Was it really that bad?

They pulled him partway through the 4th.

He only gave up two runs, but his line was terrible.

I hope we see him back in the form he had before the tournament.

Batting 1st, Shortstop Yohichi Kuramochi

Try getting one out first!

Batting 2nd, Second Base Haruichi Kominato

Expect a swing at the first pitch!

Batting 5th, First Base Kenta Maezono

Get it done, Sawamura!

Batting 6th, Center Field Hideaki Tojo

Show us what you can do!

Batting 7th, Third Base Shinji Kanemaru

Let's have some fun!

Batting 3rd, Right Field Kenjiro Shirasu

Batting 8th, Left Field Takeru Aso

I'm in left today!

Seido High School Manager Tesshin Kataoka

Tomorrow's the Norikane match.

Sawamura will be starting.

Kawakami will be in the bullpen in case anything goes awry.

You've memorized their batters' idiosyncrasies, right?

Yes, sir!

But the quarterfinal is also scheduled three days from now.

If possible, Sawamura, I'd like you to pitch a complete game tomorrow.

I will.

I'll meet your expectations, Boss!

Boss?

1st-Year Takuma Seto

1st-Year Koshu Okumura

1st-Year Kaoru Yui

He called him "boss"?

Sawamura-senpai's awesome on so many levels!

He's still looking tense.

Batting 4th, Catcher Kazuya Miyuki

Play ball!

But you'd better get past it.

That's the nature of the mound where you guys have chosen to stand.

Pitcher Satoru Furuya

All that pressure and the team's expectations

are a privilege exclusively for the one who stands there.

Pitch with it all on your shoulders!

Yes...

This is my first summer...

as the team ace!

Up Ahead

Sawamura's the one whose pitching kept

the team alive while Furuya was struggling.

Kamio

Sawamura, Furuya

Sarashina General

Furuya, Kawakami

Yoko

Kaneda, Kawashima, Sawamura

Kashiwagi Academy

Kawakami, Kaneda

Furuya, Tojo

(H)Miyuki

I think most of the players are aware of this.

Neither Furuya nor Sawamura could have come this far on their own.

First, our uniform number one!

But this isn't a finish line either.

I actually hope this uniform number swap will lead both of them to further growth.

Well? Aren't you going to come get it?

Dammit...

Quit shaking!

Furuya walked this road...

And you're going to start walking it now, Sawamura.

Meiji Jingu Stadium

July 5th

National High School Baseball Championship Tokyo Qualifiers

Opening Day

The summer tournament has begun at last.

Coming together for the opening ceremony at Jingu Stadium

are players from all our rival teams.

It's my first tournament wearing the ace number on my back.

And it'll be my last tournament with Miyuki-senpai and the other third-years.

I'm going to use every ounce of strength I've found along the way

and try to win the championship!

Norikane Seido

Batting 5th Pitcher Takaya Urabe

The first pitch is a fastball!

And it's a hit!

It's a line drive right into the right field seats!

The 3-hole, Kenjiro Shirasu, puts them on the board with a three-run homer!

Silent Killer!

The Assassin!

It's way outside the zone! That's ball four!

Reporter Fujio Mine

Reporter Akiko Owada

Walked him on four pitches?

Miyuki-kun must have intimidated him.

5-hole Maezono sends it flying, too...

And the center fielder's got it!

Gimme a break!

The second baseman flubs the throw!

It's one out, with runners on second and third!

Norikane's defense seems flustered.

He probably wanted to bail out the pitcher,

but he should've kept a clearer head.

The tone was set by Seido's leadoff and 2-hole hitters getting on base.

Kuramochi-kun's great focus in squaring up an unfamiliar pitcher with one swing.

It's a grounder to left!

He then played mind games by not attempting a steal with his famous speed.

Ball four! Take your base!

Then Kominato-kun racked up the pitch count,

letting the bench do some analysis.

And before the pitcher could develop a rhythm,

Shirasu-kun hit it out of the park.

If that grounder had gone to a fielder...

If he'd gotten a strikeout with his splitter...

Then the momentum might've been on Norikane's side instead.

7-hole Kanemaru grounds one down the middle!

The man on third will come home!

The man on second rounds third, too!

That's our Shinji!

He feasts on fastballs!

Safe at home!

And Kanemaru will make it to second!

That's Seido's fifth run of the inning!

We've got your back at the plate tomorrow.

Just do your thing, Eijun-kun.

Just don't sleep weird and strain your neck or something.

Nice run, Tojo!

Thanks! Glad I reached home safely!

That's five to nothing, right?

Yeah, for now!

Aso keeps up the momentum!

Hell yeah!

A double to left brings in the sixth run of the inning!

You seem a bit more relaxed.

Yeah.

Six runs. I'd say that's...

More than enough, yeah!

But once runs get on the board, we have to be careful.

I need to pitch well so that this doesn't turn into a run fest.

Right.

Only by locking them down now will we secure control of the game.

We're starting with their clean-up man.

Let's start mixing some numbers in there.

Right!

I'm all ready!

Norikane Seido

Top of the 2nd

Strike!

Foul!

Foul!

Batting 4th, Shortstop Yuichi Shibukawa

I can't get a read on him!

His swing is wide but sharp.

He's laser-focused on the low ball too.

I don't mind if you throw it down the middle.

For now, I want to know what the numbers look like.

He's ahead in the count. He shouldn't need to waste any pitches...

But what the numbers look like change day by day.

My choice here is...

A fastball!

Strike! You're out!

There it is! Number 7!

1st-Year Yohei Kukki

1st-Year Hirofumi Asada

The improved cutter!

The ball just disappeared.

Batting fifth, pitcher, Urabe-kun.

Foul!

Ball!

Damn it. I can't let it end like this.

Come on, Urabecchi!

There's plenty of time for a comeback!

Just launch it out of there!

He wants to take back the runs he gave up with his bat.

Yes, yes...

I totally get how you feel, man!

Come on, don't get all worked up like him, too.

I'm sorry. But I can't let you have this.

Not this summer!

Right to the first baseman!

Maezono touches the bag for out number two!

Nice pitch, Sawamura!

Two outs!

Two outs!

He swung at a low, tough pitch too.

Norikane Academy Manager Kenji Shimura

If their whole team is looking for low pitches...

Strike! Swing and a miss on a low breaking ball!

It just... dropped?

There it is! Number eleven!

The splitter!

They're not going after high pitches, so pepper the fastballs there...

And when you give them the low pitches they're after, use a splitter.

When the batters are focused on low pitches...

...this is a demonic way to call the game.

Strike number three comes on a high fastball!

In the bottom of the second,

Shirasu-senpai got on first with a walk, then...

Steal!

Miyuki-senpai sent him home with a double.

Norikane took out their starter...

but Maezono-senpai hit their reliever hard and early!

As we got up to a huge eight-run lead,

Ace Sawamura-senpai also turned it up a gear!

Yeah!

2nd Year Hiroomi Takatsu

2nd Year Wataru Kariba

Nice pitch!

Two outs!

Two outs!

They're on fire today!

Okumura, should I head back to the bench?

Pitcher Norifumi Kawakami

I'm pretty sure Sawamura's gonna be okay.

I think so.

With the stabilization of his fastball's control and speed,

his numbers have grown more precise as well.

Early on, his nerves had his pitches floating on the high side,

so Miyuki-senpai directed him to focus on the center and establish a rhythm.

Sawamura-senpai trusted him and was able to pitch more freely.

This is how a battery should be.

Strike! You're out!

Norikane Seido

Yeah!

Norikane finally put a hit on the board.

But the comeback won't be easy.

Sosei High Koji Nara

I was looking forward to seeing Norikane get its teeth into Seido, but...

Seido really is crazy.

Batting 3rd, Left Field Yusuke Hinata

Foul!

Foul!

Norikane's batters have started swinging away.

It's only the fourth inning.

Way too early to give up on the match.

We keep throwing so many high pitches,

but their strategy doesn't change.

Can't underestimate the power of stubbornness.

But...

We're far enough ahead that a long ball here and there won't be an issue.

What we don't want is multiple hits in a row.

With how things have been going, even two or three runs would be nothing to sweat...

But I don't want to give up a single run!

I hear that.

Carry everything on your shoulders.

This is what you've wanted! It's what it means to be the ace!

Strike! You're out!

Great pitch!

Nice pitching, Eijun-kun!

Two outs!

Two outs!

What's going on here?

I just struck him out, but it doesn't feel like I did.

Harder...

I have to go harder!

First pitch is a splitter in the dirt for a ball!

Second pitch, fastball high and inside, ball two!

Two balls, no strikes.

A perfect count for the batter.

Foul!

The opposite of high and inside...

He got a piece of Eijun-kun's low and outside pitch...

The things we all feel about this final summer...

Our pride, and the position we've worked so hard to reach...

No one we face will be an easy win.

Make them swing at the numbers— not just high and low, but in and out.

We have our pride too.

I can't afford to hesitate...

I'll swing at this, hard!

Strike!

Okay!

Nice pitch!

It looked like the same path as the last one...

...but turned into his improved cutter!

You've got him on the ropes! Take him down!

Go!

It's okay to let him get a piece of it!

No need to rush!

Just be yourself!

Two outs!

Show 'em!

Go!

Sawamura-senpai!

I don't want to give up anything.

I don't want to give up a single run!

Is this the ego of a pitcher?

Simple selfishness?

If possible, Sawamura, I'd like you to pitch a complete game tomorrow.

No, that's not it.

Nobody put this on my shoulders.

I put it there myself!

I chose this role!

It's not about personal satisfaction.

Your pitching needs to drive your opponent to the ground!

Strike! You're out!

He's out swinging!

That's the end of the frame!

All right!

He allowed a runner in scoring position,

3rd-Year Shuji Higashio

3rd-Year Hisashi Watanabe

3rd-Year Yasushi Kudo

then struck out the third and fourth in the order!

Dominating pitching that won't give the Norikane lineup an inch!

That's Seido's ace, Eijun Sawamura!

Nice pitching, Sawamura!

You pitched through it.

Right down the middle, though.

Nice pitching!

Sawamura's back!

You got ahead of yourself back there, idiot.

But that's good enough for today.

Keep that spirit up to the end.

You get that, everyone?

Let's end this game early.

Yeah!

We had one hit all game?

It's not reflected on the scoreboard,

but our men played their hearts out today.

Urabe pitched well, which makes it all the more heartbreaking for him.

That's what it means to compete in nationals.

Their opponent was better. That's all.

Yes.

It's been our policy since spring to go hard early on offense.

I think our experience in practice matches really helped us today.

Sawamura-kun stumbled in the first match.

Did his performance today relieve you at all?

No, he got ahead of himself.

Even though we had a huge lead,

the other team was swinging well.

Maybe he felt more pressure than it seemed from the bench.

That seems kind of harsh...

But both his early stumble and his full-force pitching today

are still valuable experience.

It'll all carry him well to next time.

Nice pitching.

Your turn next.

Sosei Kowa

Our second match is Sosei High versus Kowa High.

Sosei High Soichi Nagira

On the mound for Sosei is their ace, Nagira!

He forces a grounder to third,

and it's two outs already!

Is that the Sosei two-seamer?

It got the hitter so off-balance.

It dropped so fast, it looked like a fork.

The Sosei two-seamer, handed down generations of Sosei pitching...

They may have some special method for developing it.

They're a team known for solid defense and training great pitchers every year.

Nara there, in particular, is a famous defender on par with Kawabata,

and is strong in every metric.

He's the one to watch out for.

Though he's nowhere near as entertaining as Kawabata.

He's aggressive in his positioning, though.

Another Tokyo bigshot, huh?

Don't get jealous!

Hey, Sawamu—

Nah, Kanemaru. Leave him.

He said he didn't get any sleep yesterday.

West Tokyo Qualifiers 5th Round Seido 13 - 0 Norikane (Game Called in the 5th Inning)

Next time on Ace of the Diamond Act II -Second Season-...

Next Time

"For the Team"

"For the Team!"

Aim to take nationals!