The BEST episodes of Ace of Diamond season 1
Every episode of Ace of Diamond season 1, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Ace of Diamond season 1!
A meeting with catcher Kazuya Miyuki changed the 15-year-old Eijun Sawamura's life. He said goodbye to all his friends and knocked upon the door of Seidou, a prestigious baseball school, intent on testing his own strength. There, he met many proud baseball players who were betting everything on the sport! A classic tale, yet new and fresh.
#1 - You're in the First-String
Season 1 - Episode 13 - Aired 12/29/2013
To stop the attacks on Chris, Sawamura reverts back to his original pitching form while maintaining the wall against the dangerous Naoyuki Zaizen. The results not only improve Sawamura's speed, but they start putting pressure on Zaizen and reveal an injury he had earlier. With Chris and Zaizen being of equal strength now, the momentum swings back to Seido. After 3 innings Chris and Sawamura are pulled from the game. The game concludes and the Coach calls everyone together. Two players are moved up to the varsity team, and many third years have their hearts broken. While Chris isn't brought up to play, he is brought up as a manager for the varsity team.
#2 - The One Pitch
Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/6/2013
Eijun Sawamura, the pitcher of a novice junior high baseball team, meets with a bitter walk-off loss. For Sawamura the loss becomes his last game in junior high, so he sets a new goal of going to the nationals in high school with his teammates. As he begins his hard quest on studying, a guest arrives unannounced. Her name is Rei Takashima. Rei had been watching his last game and believes Sawamura has a gift. She is the assistant director of the prestigious Seidou High School Baseball Team, and she invites Sawamura to Seido after seeing his potential. Sawamura's reply shocks her, but Takashima refuses to give up and tricks Sawamura into a visit.
#3 - Partner
Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/13/2013
Kazuya Miyuki becomes the catcher for Sawamura in a contest against Seido's dangerous clean-up batter, Kiyokuni Azuma. As Eijun tries to pitch down the middle, he finds himself tense and unable to control the ball. Kazuya immediately calls time and comes out to give him some words of encouragement. The words have the desired effect as Eijun finds more control than ever before and unveils a dangerous weapon he didn't know he had. Seeing how people like Kazuya can alter his pitching, Eijun decides to come to Seido as long as he can become the ace of the team.
#4 - Not Qualified to Be a Pitcher?
Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/20/2013
Eijun is nervous about rooming with older teammates, but they make him feel a too little at home on his first night. Eijun ends up oversleeping and shows up late when it's time to meet Coach Tesshina Katoka, a former Japanese pro pitcher. Miyuki also shows up late, but he uses Sawamura as a decoy to sneak into his line. Katoka shows no mercy and says Eijun can never become a pitcher if he can't show up on time. He also makes Miyuki run laps. Sawamura is determined to prove he can be the ace though, so Coach Katoka gives him a special challenge, saying until he can complete this challenge, he can't play in a baseball game for Seidou.
#5 - At the Dorm
Season 1 - Episode 48 - Aired 9/14/2014
Seidou returns to their dorms where each player comes up with his own conditioning and training to take place over the three days leading up to the championship.
#6 - Reliable Underclassmen
Season 1 - Episode 57 - Aired 11/23/2014
As Seidos's players continue to get confused by Narumiya's pitches, Coach Katoka comes up with a dangerous plan. He tells his batters to give up on the change-up. Seido begins their rally with the underclassmen. Furuya gets on base, Eijun moves him to second, and Kuramochi gets on bringing Ryosuke to bat. Inashiro's defense begins to shift for the threat, but they are all shocked when Ryousuke asks Katoka to replace with a pinch hitter.
#7 - The Winning Shot
Season 1 - Episode 40 - Aired 7/20/2014
The top of the ninth takes place as the battle between Seido and Yakusi reaches its climax with a battle between Tanba and Raichi. Tanba makes the count 2-2 when Miyuki finally calls for the forkball to make its debut. Will Raichi have success against the forkball, or will the pressure get to him? The winner advances to the semifinals as the loser ponders how they can improve for next season. This episode covers chapters 116 to 120.
#8 - Decision
Season 1 - Episode 56 - Aired 11/9/2014
Inashiro continues to get hits off of Tanba and put Seido in tight spots. Most of the spectators think the game is all but decided. In the bottom of the seventh Tanba's leg begins to cramp. Feeling there is no other possibility if they are to have a chance to win, Coach Kataoka puts Sawamura out on the mound to face off with Narumiya!
#9 - Strong Men
Season 1 - Episode 55 - Aired 11/2/2014
Inashiro manages to load the bases with two outs against Tanba, but Tanba pulls through to get Seido going. To counter Seido's potential momentum Narumiya and Harada change their pitching pattern frequently, confusing Seido's batters. As the innings change and the Seido players walk out to the field, Kuramochi stops Ryosuke to ask him about his injury and whether or not he can go on.
#10 - Entrusted Faith and the Courage to Perform
Season 1 - Episode 54 - Aired 10/26/2014
In the top of the fifth Furuya gets a hit off of Narumiya, leading to a chance to tie the game with Shirasu. The only problem- Shirasu bats ninth. Will Shirasu make it on base, and what will Inashiro do when Tanba takes the mound in the bottom of the fifth?
#11 - Change Gears
Season 1 - Episode 53 - Aired 10/19/2014
After three innings the game remains close. Next up is the cleanup, Yuki, and Narumiya changes his gears. Baiting with the changeup, he strikes out Yuki with a fastball, creating momentum for Inashiro. Seido realizes Narumiya is only going all out for Yuki, but will this lead to them having a mental blow or lead to them being more determined than ever to defeat Narumiya?
#12 - I Don't Want to Lose
Season 1 - Episode 52 - Aired 10/12/2014
Mei battles Yuuki one-one-one. Then it's time for Furuya to shine. Furuya throws his own team for a loop when he thanks them for helping him be successful. He then proceeds to strike out the side. Miyuki and Mei go head-to-head, and Mei gives Miyuki exactly what he wants in a change-up, but with no one on it turns into an easy out. Furuya comes out for the second and strikes out the clean-up and #6 batters, though Mei manages to pop out to third instead of striking out. With Furuya throwing with more control and speed than ever, Inashiro realizes they will have to change something up to be successful. It's the end of two, and Seidou leads 1-0.
#13 - The Battle Begins!
Season 1 - Episode 51 - Aired 10/5/2014
Seidou battles Inashiro for the right to go to Nationals. Mei overthinks his opening battle with Kuromichi and walks him. Kuromichi steals second base standing up, a sacrifice bunt from Kominato moves him to third, and a base hit from Isashiki gives Seido a 1-0 lead. Seeing nothing to lose, Mei decides to battle Yuuki one-on-one as the rest of Seidou watches wondering if Mei is losing it.
#14 - Footsteps to Tomorrow
Season 1 - Episode 50 - Aired 9/28/2014
After the intense practice with Azuma, the coach sends the first years off the field and forces the infielders into their own brutal training with him. Rei Takashima takes this opportunity to teach the first years and Kawakami what the third years were like in their first season at Seidou. At the end of the episode the starting lineups for the game against Inashiro are revealed.
#15 - A Face From the Past
Season 1 - Episode 49 - Aired 9/21/2014
Kiyokuni Azuma returns to force Seidou into some fielding practice against strong hitters. Little does he know that a rematch with Sawamura is on the horizon, and Azuma comes to realize that this version of Seidou could be the strongest in the history of the school.
#16 - That Summer
Season 1 - Episode 47 - Aired 9/7/2014
Despite seeing Mei's pitching, Sawamura declares that they will be the ones to advance to Nationals. When the first years need to use the restroom after the match, Kazuya decides to escort them so they won't get lost like usual. While waiting for the first years to finish, Kazuya and Mei meet face-to-face, and we learn that Mei had tried to recruit Kazuya to Inashiro to form the strongest team in the nation. Instead of joining them, Kazuya vowed to beat them and form the strongest team elsewhere. This episode covers chapter 140 and the second half of 149.
#17 - Pitching of Despair
Season 1 - Episode 46 - Aired 8/31/2014
The pitching duel between Nagao Akira and Narumiya Mei continues with neither team able to consistently get on base. Akira begins to lose his calm when Inashiro's batters begin to figure out his knuckle ball. Unfortunately it's right as Inashiro's cleanup batter, Harada, arrives. A home run gives Inashiro the lead, leading to an 8 run fourth inning, and Mei continues to strike out the side as Inashiro easily advances to the finals with a called game 11-0 after 5. This episode covers chapters 137 through 139.
#18 - Fantasy
Season 1 - Episode 45 - Aired 8/24/2014
The second semifinal takes place as Inashiro Vocational battles a surprise dark horse in Sakurazawa High. Sakurazawa had 20 consecutive seasons of first round exits until some surprise first years arrived. Inamooto Masaaki, Hitokoro Yoshimi, and Nagao Akira arrived. Akira brought in the same enthusiasm as Sawamura, but while his pitch looked super slow, the erratic pattern confused many payers. Masaaki surprises everyone by getting the top of Inashiro's order out with his knuckle ball, but when Mei takes the mound and strikes out the side Sakurazawa begins to realize how little a chance they have of advancing. This episode covers the second half of chapter 134 through chapter 136.
#19 - Best Pitch
Season 1 - Episode 44 - Aired 8/17/2014
Sawamura faces off with Hino in a match-up that come determine the end result of the game. In the showdown Sawamura develops a new pitch, the crossfire pitch. Seido advances with an 8-3 win after Nori gives up an additional run. Sawamura gets to meet briefly with his friends before the team heads inside to watch the other semifinal match. This episode covers the second half of chapter 131 through the first half of 134.
#20 - Revenge
Season 1 - Episode 43 - Aired 8/10/2014
Haruchi replaces Tanba in the batting lineup with the bases loaded in a 1-1 game in the top of the sixth. Haruchi falls behind 0-2, but Hino gets greedy and throws a curve ball which Haruchi smacks into left center field for a 3 RBI double, giving Seido a 4-1 lead. Sawamura replaces Tanba as the pitcher and walks the leadoff batter. A quick short field hit gets over Ryousan's head, giving Sensen two runners on. Seido sacrifices a run, making it 4-2, to get the first out, but now Hino comes to the plate with runners and second and third and only one out. After a quirky relay message is sent to Sawamura, all the players relax and Sawamura vows he will never let Miyuki say some words to him again that were shared after the last game. This episode will covers the second half of chapter 127 and go through the first half of 131.
#21 - The Giant Looks Down
Season 1 - Episode 42 - Aired 8/3/2014
The battle between Sensen and Seishun gets underway. Sawamura's friends arrive in the fourth inning to see that Seido trails 1-0. In the fourth Seido begins to make contact with Hino's curve ball. Seido manages to load the bases, but a dramatic double play fly out, tag out at home keeps Seishun locked at zero. As we reach the sixth inning Ryousan gets on base. Haruchi is told to start warming up his batting skills, and Sawamura is told to warm up in the bullpen. Ryousan manages to steal home on a ground ball to third, tying the score at 1 a piece. This episode covers chapters 124 to 127.
#22 - It's the Semifinal
Season 1 - Episode 41 - Aired 7/27/2014
The results of the quarterfinals are shown. Seido learns they will be facing a giant who is a curve ball specialist in the semifinals. Furuya is informed he won't pitch in the semifinal. Instead they hope he recovers from his fatigue. The team only has 1 day to prepare for the semifinal match. In an effort to help the team advance, the seniors raise the mound and the coach acts as the pitcher for a special batting practice. As the morning of gameday arrives, one of Seido's players accidentally shaves his head bald. Sawamura also learns his friends from home will be attending the semifinal to root for him. Meanwhile Haruchi's brother reveals only 18 players can move on to nationals, and he reveals if he doesn't make it to nationals, he will retire from baseball. This episode covers chapters 121 to 123.
#23 - In Pursuit
Season 1 - Episode 75 - Aired 3/29/2015
The game remains close at 3-1. In the bottom of the eighth the 1st & 2nd year players manage to tie the game up. Miyuki brings in Sawamura to play in the ninth inning. Sawamura's first opponent ends up being none other than the subbing in Chris. Sawamura pitches to his best ability as a thanks to Chris for teaching him all he knows. The two teams remain tied at 3 at the end of 9. Kataoka calls for the game to continue until all the seniors have played, allowing Sawamura the chance to master his new pitch during the seniors final game.
#24 - Outsider
Season 1 - Episode 66 - Aired 1/25/2015
Inashiro loses by 1 at the Koshien Finals, but the game still doesn't deliver the excitement of the Seido, Inashiro showdown. At Seido, an outsider observes many of their practices before approaching Coach Katoka. Many players begin to wonder who this gentleman is and if he could possibly be a spy.
#25 - Guiding Light
Season 1 - Episode 74 - Aired 3/22/2015
The seniors convince Coach Kataoka to let them have their graduation game before the upcoming tournament and before the tourney drawings take place. Kataoka asks them if they are just impatient, but Yuki tells him this final game is the only way to give the new team the strength they will need to move on. Kataoka realizes the seniors have one final lesson to share, and the game begins. Sawamura wonders if he will be able to pitch.