| Games Are Fun | |
|---|---|
| Season 1, Episode 17 | |
| |
| Air date | February 2, 2014 |
| Written by | Takeshi Konuta |
| Directed by | Mitsuyuki Masuhara |
| Episode guide | |
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Games Are Fun (Shiai wa Tanoshii, 試合は楽しい) is Episode 17 of the Diamond no Ace Anime series. The episode follows the story line from chapters 47 to 50.
Summary[]
Sawamura replaces Furuya on the mound, and his pitching form surprises the batters.
Synopsis[]
Bottom of the fourth. Hiromi Tachi, Kiryu's clean-up and ace displays his "scary smile" while thinking that "Games are Fun". He strikes out Seidou's batters three-for-three.
Top of the fifth, Furuya’s on his last inning and Miyuki tells him to throw a pitch they never practiced. Tachi at bat, tells Furuya not to walk him. Miyuki challenges Tachi with a slow pitch and Kiryu takes the bait. Miyuki calls for the fork. Accidentally though, Furuya throws a split-finger fastball that drops right at the batter’s box. This surprises Tachi who swung and missed, as well as Miyuki who, for the first time, fails to catch a pitch.
Tachi's smirk is gone, Furuya throws a fastball next, and strikes Tachi out. Seidou cheer for Furuya making him feel happy. He strikes out the next batter. Bottom of the fifth, Furuya hits a homerun off Tachi.
Top of the sixth, Sawamura replaces Furuya on the mound. Furuya goes to the left field. For the first time since the match against Azuma, Sawamura and Miyuki have formed a battery yet again. They practice at the bullpen and Sawamura thinks to himself that he's at Seidou because he met Miyuki. The Kiryu batter thinks he’s going to hit the first pitch. But Sawamura's pitching form surprises him. He can't see where the ball is coming from. And the first pitch is straight down the middle for a strike. The second pitch is hit to the right field, despite the batter swinging late, and it manages to slip by the first and second basemen. He gets on base.
Kiryu's next batter is up. The runner tries to steal a base and Sawamura takes the opportunity to show everyone the pick-off he learned from Chris, but ends up in a balk[1], embarrassing the latter. The first base runner automatically advances to second base. Miyuki reminds Sawamura to focus on the batter and calls for an inside pitch. Sawamura’s still throwing high. The next pitch goes straight down the middle, but he made it look like a pick-off throw. The batter hits it in haste and it goes straight into Sawamura’s glove. Sawamura unconsciously looks to the third base runner, throws it to second and Seidou gets the double play.
Characters[]
Characters in italic are only seen briefly and have yet to make a proper appearance.
- Sawamura Eijun
- Chris Yuu Takigawa
- Miyuki Kazuya
- Kuramochi Youichi
- Tanba Koichiro
- Kataoka Tetsushin
- Furuya Satoru
- Kominato Haruichi
- Kominato Ryosuke