Chapter 9: Need for Speed

During his days in the Major League, although Sawamura's speed was not slow, it was also not among the best. The coaches noted some potential in him, but Sawamura didn't take it too seriously. He was primarily a pitcher. Though he occasionally played as a batter, fundamentally, he remained a pitcher.

In the Major Leagues, his primary task was to pitch well. Additionally, he possessed good bunting skills and batting ability, which added to his overall value. Therefore, despite not showcasing particularly dazzling speed, he was highly sought after. His utility was too strong for other teams to ignore.

Furthermore, pitchers are a rare breed, and any team wouldn't mind hoarding more pitchers like Sawamura. In professional baseball, with 25 team members, all teams wished they could have ten pitchers.

Gradually, Sawamura became accustomed to his role and was not too keen on improving his efficiency in running and stealing bases. This wasn't particularly evident when he was still on the Akagi Middle School baseball team. The gap in experience between Sawamura and those players was vast. He could outthink them in any situation.

Particularly, pitchers in the Softball League lacked many containment skills, making Sawamura seem like a duck to water.

After high school, Sawamura rarely performed on the bases. On one hand, he was the Ace of the team, and generally, the team would not take risks with him. On the other hand, the opponents were different, and Sawamura couldn't do whatever he pleased as he did in middle school.

Now provoked by his surrounding teammates, Sawamura's competitive character came to the fore. A never-give-up attitude was in his bones. Regardless of age and experience, for Sawamura, even at seventy or eighty, he would never give up on the things he cared about.

"Come on, let me see how fast Kuramochi-senpai and Shiratsu-senpai can run."

All three were ready to run. Sawamura and Shiratsu took a sprinting stance, but Kuramochi simply spread his legs and was about to run.

"Ridiculous!" Sawamura rolled his eyes at Kuramochi.

He knew Kuramochi's intentions. A real baseball player doesn't start with a sprint stance. He won't be slow even if he starts while standing up!

But Sawamura and Shiratsu were different from Kuramochi. They used the sprint stance to start, and the starting speed obviously increased a lot.

"Everyone take your positions."

Coach Kataoka on the side didn't have many thoughts. After calling them to prepare, he blew the whistle in his mouth.

Tweet!

As soon as the whistle blew, the three of them released their tension like they were pulling a full bowstring, suddenly letting go and bursting out.

"Fast!"

"So fast!"

Compared with the previous runners, the speed of the three seemed a little faster.

However, there was still a significant gap between the three of them.

Kuramochi's legs were like springs, and as soon as he heard the whistle, he immediately bolted forward.

Shiratsu started a little slower than Kuramochi. By the time Shiratsu took a step, Kuramochi was already taking his next step forward.

A bit slower than Shiratsu, Sawamura started his run. His starting speed was one gear slower than Shiratsu's and two gears slower than Kuramochi's.

The three of them stood up to each other at the start.

At the finish line, Coach Ochiai looked at Kuramochi, who was leading the way, feeling very unreal.

Even with a normal stride start, was Kuramochi really that much faster than them? Even over a distance of only 50 meters, the difference was clear.

Next came the acceleration phase.

Kuramochi's acceleration was breathtaking. He seemed like a poised leopard ready to catch its prey; his whole body appeared to be running wild right from the start.

Immediately after, Shiratsu also began to accelerate. His acceleration was far inferior to Kuramochi's. By the time Shiratsu reached his fastest speed, Kuramochi was already four or five meters ahead.

The gap continued to widen.

Sawamura's acceleration was slower than Shiratsu's. Even when he reached his fastest speed, he was still three or four meters behind Shiratsu. The gap with Kuramochi was nearly six or seven meters.

The surrounding audience was dumbfounded.

Despite rushing with all his strength, Sawamura's speed was not slow. He managed to keep up behind the other two without being left too far behind. In the final sprint stage, he used his momentum to catch up with Shiratsu.

Kuramochi took the lead, several meters ahead of the two, and crossed the finish line first.

Shortly after, Sawamura and Shiratsu reached the finish line in no particular order.

"Hyaa-ha-haa!" Kuramochi looked smug.

"Sawamura, you're ten years too early!"

Before reaching the finish line, Sawamura was out of breath.

Hearing Kuramochi's sarcasm, his stubborn personality flared up again.

"What's the rush? This is only the first round, and there are two more."

"Oh, young man, you're quite competitive. But it's okay; I'll humor you today." Kuramochi smiled smugly.

"What are the results?"

Takashima Rei was very curious and ran up to ask about the results.

"6.21 seconds."

Looking at the numbers on the stopwatch, Coach Ochiai felt incredulous.

With this speed, Kuramochi could participate in track and field competitions among Asians. Moreover, his results wouldn't be at the bottom.

This was the result of him not having received professional training, let alone sprinting.

"You might as well be a professional sprinter," Miyuki suggested sincerely.

In terms of high school standards, using the scores of freshmen and sophomores as examples, the full score for freshmen is 7.1 seconds, and most players at Seidou High School could achieve this. Of course, among seniors, the full score was 6.8 seconds. However, as long as they ran under 7 seconds, they were still considered excellent.

Kanemaru, Toujou, Miyuki, Asou, and others mentioned earlier all exceeded the full marks by a significant margin. This was the level of players at the prestigious Seidou High School.

Kuramochi's speed, in addition to this, was 0.6 seconds faster than the full score for senior players.

0.6 seconds, placed on the baseball field, was enough to determine the outcome of a game several times over.

Just by looking at Kuramochi's performance, one might not realize how remarkable it was. The best time for an Asian was 5.67 seconds. The world record was 5.56 seconds set by Maurice Greene of the United States and Donovan Bailey of Canada.

Kuramochi was only about 0.5 seconds slower than them and without any sprinting training.

No wonder Ochiai and the others were surprised. If Kuramochi participated in track and field sprint training, he might have had a real chance at breaking records.

Everyone surrounded Kuramochi and praised his speed.

Everyone overlooked the results of the other two.

Shiratsu: 6.85 seconds.

Sawamura: 6.88 seconds.

Seeing the results, Sawamura was determined to improve his record, not for the childish game with his teammates, but for his own goals.

If he aimed to be a true legend, he shouldn't leave any stone unturned.

So, he decided to put more effort into his running and see if he could gain more speed.

...

T/N: That's it for now!

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