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Diamond no Ace: Coach, I Want to Be a Batter, Not a Pitcher!

Chapter 176: Inashiro’s Counterattack · Nov 12, 2026

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Chapter List (248)

Page number / 5

151 Chapter 151: Seido’s Specialty — Brothers Home Run 2026-11-12
152 Chapter 152: The Match Ends — New Record 2026-11-12
153 Chapter 153: Before the Finals! Slider Evolution 2026-11-12
154 Chapter 154: The Showdown Before the Finals 2026-11-12
155 Chapter 155: The Post-Finals Debriefing Meeting 2026-11-12
156 Chapter 156: The Strategies of Both Sides 2026-11-12
157 Chapter 157: The Legend of Seido 2026-11-12
158 Chapter 158: The Shock of the Fatty Senior 2026-11-12
159 Chapter 159: Head-On Confrontation! Overwhelming Suppression 2026-11-12
160 Chapter 160: Don’t Be Selfish! Let’s Shoulder This Together 2026-11-12
161 Chapter 161: The Final! Seido vs. Inashiro 2026-11-12
162 Chapter 162: King vs. King: A Fiery Opening 2026-11-12
163 Chapter 163: Mutual Recognition 2026-11-12
164 Chapter 164: Seido’s Relentless Offense! Inashiro Under Pressure! 2026-11-12
165 Chapter 165: Last Year’s Grudge! An Eye for an Eye! 2026-11-12
166 Chapter 166: A 150 km/h Two-Seam! A Shocking Opening 2026-11-12
167 Chapter 167: An Overwhelming Strikeout!!! 2026-11-12
168 Chapter 168: The Shock of the Cutter! Shirakawa’s Fury 2026-11-12
169 Chapter 169: Cutter Establishes Authority! Three Consecutive Strikeouts to Open the Game 2026-11-12
170 Chapter 170: Complaints from Two Catchers 2026-11-12
171 Chapter 171: Inashiro’s Cleanup Batter 2026-11-12
172 Chapter 172: The Man Who Got Outs Complains About Everyone Else Striking Out 2026-11-12
173 Chapter 173: Untitled 2026-11-12
174 Chapter 174: The Resolve Behind a Single Hit 2026-11-12
175 Chapter 175: Defensive Mistake 2026-11-12
176 Chapter 176: Inashiro’s Counterattack 2026-11-12
177 Chapter 177: A Unique Approach 2026-11-12
178 Chapter 178: A Chain of Mistakes 2026-11-12
179 Chapter 179: Shirakawa’s Resentment 2026-11-12
180 Chapter 180: Untitled 2026-11-12
181 Chapter 181: Kominato Leaves the Game Due to Injury 2026-11-12
182 Chapter 182: The Little Brother Opens His Eyes! 2026-11-12
183 Chapter 183: The Best Way to Motivate Furuya 2026-11-12
184 Chapter 184: A Friendly Reminder 2026-11-12
185 Chapter 185: Narumiya Mei’s Winning Pitch 2026-11-12
186 Chapter 186: Narumiya’s Evolution 2026-11-12
187 Chapter 187: The Fallen Emperor Refuses to Yield 2026-11-12
188 Chapter 188: Inashiro’s Captain 2026-11-12
189 Chapter 189: Three-Pitch Strikeout — Narumiya Mei 2026-11-12
190 Chapter 190: Inashiro’s Counterattack 2026-11-12
191 Chapter 191: Using the Rules to His Advantage 2026-11-12
192 Chapter 192: Gradually Unsealing 2026-11-12
193 Chapter 193: The Two Aces Dominate 2026-11-12
194 Chapter 194: The Final Inning 2026-11-12
195 Chapter 195: The Quick Forkball Shocks the Entire Stadium! 2026-11-12
196 Chapter 196: Happy Graduation 2026-11-12
197 Chapter 197: Summer Continues 2026-11-12
198 Chapter 198: The Silent Narumiya Mei 2026-11-12
199 Chapter 199: Gold-Level Home Run 2026-11-12
200 Chapter 200: The Eve of the Koshien Battle 2026-11-12

Huff... Huff...

Kominato Ryosuke breathed heavily as a sharp pain shot through his right foot.

The agony was intense enough to make him want to cry out.

But he endured it.

Now was not the time.

If Inashiro realized something was wrong with him, their morale would immediately skyrocket.

A substitution was possible.

Someone else could replace him.

But the replacement wouldn’t have the same chemistry with Kuramochi.

That defensive partnership was too important.

From center field, Isashiki watched Kominato’s back and silently cheered him on.

Hang in there, Kominato.

The guy standing in front of you won’t let you down.

Among everyone on the field, Kuramochi was probably the most worried.

His eyes never left Kominato.

If anything happened, he was prepared to cover for him immediately.

Meanwhile, Ushijima stood calmly on the mound.

He wasn’t overly concerned about the defense behind him.

Because as far as he was concerned—

This inning could still end without allowing a runner to advance.

Even if Hirai Tsubasa had reached first base, it wasn’t a major threat.

”Tch.”

Ushijima glanced toward first.

”Standing that far off the bag?”

A faint smile appeared on his face.

There was no need to hold the runner.

No need for pickoff attempts.

No need for distractions.

Hirai immediately noticed.

”...Not even paying attention to me?”

”You don’t think I’m a threat at all?”

A vein appeared on his forehead.

”Damn it. I’ve been underestimated.”

The moment Ushijima began his pitching motion—

Hirai exploded toward second base.

”STEAL!”

Yuki immediately shouted a warning from first.

But Ushijima didn’t react at all.

Instead, he sped up his delivery.

WHOOSH!!!

The baseball rocketed toward home plate at incredible speed.

The batter never swung.

Partly because Hirai was stealing.

Partly because the pitch was simply too fast.

THUMP!

The ball smashed into Miyuki’s glove.

155 km/h.

The instant the ball arrived, Miyuki sprang into motion.

He ripped the ball from his mitt and fired toward second.

WHOOSH!

The throw was a laser.

At the same time, Ushijima immediately lowered himself, clearing the throwing lane above the mound.

Everything happened perfectly.

SMACK!

Kominato received the throw and dropped the tag instantly.

SWISH!

Hirai slid desperately toward the base.

But Kominato had already caught the ball.

The glove touched Hirai before his hand reached the bag.

”OUT!”

The umpire’s voice rang across the stadium.

”Tch!”

Hirai slammed a fist into the dirt.

So close.

Yet still out.

His decision hadn’t been wrong.

If the pitcher wasn’t paying attention to him, why not steal?

A successful steal would pressure Ushijima.

It would force him to think about the runners.

It could disrupt his rhythm.

And once a pitcher’s rhythm was disturbed, mistakes became much more likely.

The strategy itself was sound.

The problem was—

Inashiro had underestimated Ushijima and Miyuki.

Ushijima’s quick delivery took barely 1.1 seconds.

Miyuki’s throw to second required only 1.89 seconds.

Combined, that was less than three seconds.

For most runners, that was almost impossible to beat.

Even someone as fast as Ushijima himself would struggle against that timing.

”YEAHHH!!”

The Seido supporters erupted in celebration.

Ushijima turned toward Hirai and smirked.

”Stealing?”

”Who told you stealing bases was allowed?”

Hirai nearly exploded.

”What an annoying brat...”

As he returned to the dugout, he muttered:

”He’s even more punchable than Mei.”

”Grrr...”

Narumiya puffed up his cheeks immediately.

Clearly, he was still bitter about being teased earlier.

Meanwhile, Harada leaned against the railing, deep in thought.

”The sinker’s been revealed too...”

”But what’s going on with that four-seam fastball?”

”It’s already the third inning.”

”And we’ve barely seen any true four-seamers.”

”The only real one was the pitch used to control the runner.”

Harada frowned.

Something didn’t add up.

Normally, a pitcher’s four-seam fastball was their foundation.

Their strongest weapon.

So why were Ushijima and Miyuki using it so rarely?

Carlos rubbed his forehead.

”Even though he isn’t throwing many four-seamers, he’s still throwing plenty of fastballs.”

”Every pitch looks like a fastball.”

”That’s the problem.”

”They all move.”

Shirakawa nodded.

”The first inning caught me off guard.”

”But in the second inning, I started adjusting.”

”Next time, I’ll definitely make solid contact.”

Harada sighed.

”Making contact isn’t the issue.”

”The problem is identifying the pitch type.”

Then he began breaking down Ushijima’s arsenal.

”The four-seamer travels straight.”

”The two-seamer moves arm-side.”

”The cutter breaks glove-side and drops.”

”The sinker runs arm-side and sinks.”

”Four pitches.”

”Four completely different trajectories.”

”And they all start from almost the same release point.”

Everyone listening developed headaches.

Because Harada was right.

That was exactly what made Ushijima so difficult to face.

The ball looked identical coming out of his hand.

Only after release did the movement reveal itself.

And by then—

It was often too late.

What nobody outside Seido knew was that Ushijima possessed even more weapons.

The opposing teams still believed he only relied on power fastball variants.

They had no idea he could also throw slower breaking pitches capable of disrupting timing completely.

Yet even without those hidden pitches—

The current arsenal was already a nightmare.

After all, the purpose of moving fastballs wasn’t necessarily to strike hitters out.

It was to ruin their timing.

Force weak contact.

Generate easy outs.

And so far—

It was working perfectly.

Harada finally looked around the dugout and gave his teammates a simple instruction.

”Stop trying to hit home runs.”

”Just get on base.”

”Like Hirai did.”

”And once you’re on base, don’t get greedy.”

”Miyuki throws out nearly eighty percent of base stealers.”

”With Ushijima’s delivery speed helping him, successful steals are incredibly difficult.”

”Get on base.”

”Stay patient.”

”Wait for opportunities.”

”Don’t keep swinging for the fences.”

While they were discussing strategy, the inning continued.

The eighth batter stepped in.

Three pitches later—

Strikeout.

The ninth batter followed.

A weak grounder.

Out.

Just like that, the bottom of the third inning ended.

”Six strikeouts already...”

Shirakawa muttered as he picked up his shortstop glove and jogged onto the field.

Narumiya cracked his neck and marched toward the dugout entrance.

”That bastard is really full of himself.”

Carlos smiled.

”Maybe.”

”But he won’t stay arrogant forever.”

”The next time through the lineup...”

”We’ll make him pay.”

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