Chapter 44: Pride For Results

"Is this the mental side of Japanese baseball?"

The Coach of the Wind Youth Academy team was deeply shocked inside.

Before coming to the game, he had done some research on the All-Tokyo team's composition and even looked into the relationships between the players.

They were almost all competitors from the same division; calling them bitter rivals wouldn't be an exaggeration.

But to suddenly forget all of this, and pursue the same goal together this seamlessly in a short period is a magnificent concept.

As a qualified Coach, he knew that top to something like that you need a lot of prep time to get something like that.

'But in just a few days?'

The sixth batter of the Tokyo team and the fourth batter were wearing completely different uniforms.

Even a fool could see that these two players definitely didn't come from the same team.

Moreover, looking at the sixth batter's physique, it was clear he was a power hitter.

Being selected and placed in the middle of the lineup meant his batting skills must be quite good.

In a hastily made team, players like him would almost never choose to bunt to walk a teammate.

But this sixth batter from Tokyo didn't hesitate at all and made that choice almost immediately, sacrificing himself to get the teammate safely on base and allowing the team to score a solid Run.

Trading selfish pride for results.

Today's game was an exchange match between the Tokyo region and the American Wind Youth Academy. It seemed that the organizers attached great importance to it, inviting many media outlets.

To stand out and perform well in such a match would definitely benefit the individual players.

Similarly, making such a self-sacrificial choice, to bunt and support a teammate without instructions from the Coach…

From an individual player's perspective, it was actually a very unwise choice.

Even if the team won, the player making the quiet contribution would be hard to remember.

From this perspective, the sixth batter truly made a great self-sacrifice.

As a team Coach, the American Coach thought more deeply about the situation.

'Why could the Tokyo players make such a choice?'

Wasn't this a strange thing?

For the player himself, there's nothing to gain and everything to lose.

Why should he make such a sacrifice for a teammate who wasn't even from his own team?

The player, Sawamura, whose name was cheered by the crowd, garnered all the attention.

But what did that have to do with the player who made the sacrifice?

Under such circumstances, the batter resolutely made that choice.

This really highlighted the problem.

"It's the baseball culture here that shapes the players."

This is the style of baseball from Japan!

It's because of countless such choices made in their daily practice that players can act so decisively when the time comes.

Even though the All-Tokyo team was hastily assembled, from a coordination perspective, they had already surpassed the American players.

The American players also had some level of coordination, but they needed a lot of time to reach that level.

Even then, their coordination appeared weak in comparison.

Facing this disadvantage, the American Coach's face showed no signs of discouragement.

He didn't believe that his players' awareness was any worse than Tokyo's.

It was just that the two teams pursued different styles.

The style demonstrated by the All-Tokyo team earned his deep respect.

But to say that this would make them surrender?

That was absolutely impossible.

The American representative team had their own style.

After losing one Run, Weede quickly stabilized the situation.

He didn't let his team continue to concede.

And so, the game unknowingly moved into the third inning.

It was now the American team's turn to attack.

Yoh Shunshin displayed his usual focused pitching, With Inui giving his support and lead.

They made short work of the opponents, getting them out three up, three down.

"To defeat this opponent in the first round, it seems impossible."

On this point, the North American players were also very aware.

They had already begun planning for their second-round matchup with Yoh Shunshin.

But before that, there was something they had to do first.

That was to prevent the All-Tokyo team from gaining any more momentum.

On this front, Weede did well.

He quickly earned two Outs and then faced the leadoff batter, Carlos.

Two Outs, no runners on base.

Carlos, who had been full of determination and ready to attack, suddenly made a very surprising choice.

He swung his bat with all his might and hit the baseball high into the air.

Paak!

The baseball flew far, all the way to the deep center field.

But unfortunately, it was caught by the American outfielder.

"OUT!"

Carlos, who had been hoping to hit a home run, pouted in displeasure and walked off the field.

Three Outs, offense and defense exchange.

In the top half of the fourth inning, the American team's turn to attack came again.

The first batter to step up to the plate was their leadoff hitter.

He was a short, dark-skinned player with a cheerful smile.

But even with his easygoing attitude, you could see that he was taking this seriously.

They had already prepared a well-thought-out strategy.

They were just waiting for the chance to cleanly defeat Yoh Shunshin.

But unexpectedly, the All-Tokyo team didn't send Yoh Shunshin back onto the mound.

Instead, they switched pitchers.

"Yoh Shunshin off the mound, pitcher Narumiya Mei!"

A young, short, and slim boy emerged from the All-Tokyo team's dugout.

Looking at his youthful face, the American players exchanged confused glances.

"Are there any middle school students here to participate in the competition?"

Upon hearing the teammate's question, the American players looked at each other.

Although they couldn't quite understand how it seemed like that was indeed the case.

The assistant coach who came with the American team was named Hans. He wore gold-rimmed glasses and appeared to be a very refined person.

He didn't look like someone involved in sports at all.

When he overheard the players around him saying increasingly harsh things, he could no longer tolerate it.

"There is no such thing, all of the Japanese players here are in their last year of high school."

"Huh, is that so?"

"Yeah, and this pitcher is actually famous. Do you know Koshien?"

When the American players heard the word "Koshien," they all fell silent.

Anyone familiar with baseball has of course heard of it.

Especially for players in this age group, they all have a special attachment to Koshien to some extent.

"The player in front of you is the runner-up pitcher from the spring Koshien tournament. He's considered one of the strongest pitchers in high school!"

"OOOH!!!"

After Hans finished speaking, all the players gasped in surprise.

They never expected that the opponent in front of them had such a big background.

"He doesn't look like it at all!"

"Three innings with one pitcher? Are they planning to use a rotation system?"

The American players weren't fools. Hans had just given them a hint, and they quickly figured out the Tokyo team's plan.

"If what Hans said is true, then their pitching squad must be very strong."

Carlisle mumbled to himself.

And he had an extremely bad premonition.

If their guess was correct, then the Tokyo team had three pitchers ready to play.

According to usual patterns, this inning might be their best chance to score.

In theory, the closing pitcher could not possibly be worse than the starting and middle-relief pitchers.

If his guess was right, the consequences of this match could be disastrous.

While Carlisle was somewhat lost by his own thoughts, the on-field duel had already reached a conclusion.

Paak!

The first batter for the Wind Youth team didn't recklessly swing at Narumiya's pitch.

Although he didn't know exactly how strong Narumiya's pitching was, he could tell it wouldn't be weak.

In a situation like this, it wouldn't be wise to take a risky swing at such a high-level pitcher, so he chose to steal a base.

He wanted to use his speed to break through the Tokyo team's defense.

This idea was quite creative. The Tokyo team didn't have much defensive preparation for it.

They could only watch as the ball was hit.

Paak!

At the moment the ball hit the bat, Anthony, the batter's face turned pale.

Clearly, he never expected the ball he hit to be so powerful.

The baseball bounced out, and it was obvious he hadn't handled it properly.

Both the speed and angle of the ball left the batter in despair.

Narumiya, standing on the pitcher's mound, took two steps forward and effortlessly caught the ball in his mitt before tossing it to the first baseman, Miyuki.

Snap!

The first batter was cleanly out.

With one Out and no one on base, the Tokyo team had successfully made the first Out.

However, the Tokyo team's players didn't seem very relaxed.

The pitch that sealed the batter's fate wasn't surprising at all.

Narumiya had pitched excellently, using his superior skills to completely suppress the batter.

But despite that, the runner almost made it to base.

When the ball was thrown to Miyuki, the runner was only about five meters from first base.

"Incredible speed!"

"If Narumiya was late by a beat, we would have lost this hit!"

"With such runner on base, his threat would have increased exponentially."

This served as a big reminder to the Tokyo team's players.

The reason they were able to make such a great start was mainly because of their excellent performance, as well as some luck.

But that didn't mean their opponents were weak.

On the contrary, from the information they'd gathered, their opponents were not only not weak but in some aspects might even be stronger than they were.

This match was no different. If they weren't careful, the result could be disastrous.

The catcher, Kengo Inui, also realized this.

So, when it came time to call the next pitch, he became much more conservative.

However, Narumiya, his partner, wasn't satisfied with Inui's performance.

Inui's calls for the pitches were continuously rejected by Narumiya.

The lack of coordination between the pitcher and catcher was so obvious that even the audience could notice.

A reporter from Baseball Kingdom Magazine, Owada Akiko, nervously gripped her camera and murmured to herself.

"Could there be a problem?"

What she was seeing wasn't a good sign.

If the Tokyo team lost to the American team, it would be one thing. But if they collapsed due to internal conflict, it would be a huge embarrassment for them.

"It won't happen! Narumiya is not someone who doesn't understand the situation. The reason he's doing this is to express his desire to fight to his partner."

At the catcher's position, Inui's gaze was fixed on Narumiya, his eyes almost seemed to speak.

'Have you really made up your mind?'

'Of course!'

Strictly speaking, this match wasn't the only thing on Narumiya's radar.

His goal and ambition were aimed at Miyuki and Eijun, who were also on the field.

To achieve that goal, this former Tokyo Prince was already preparing for his coronation.

The era of the Tokyo Prince was over. The next era belonged to the King.

…