Chapter 5: Do you have a problem?

"You serious?"

An 80% success rate for hits.

Even when Sawamura saw it, his expression was one of astonishment.

You have to know that the opponents who faced off with Okumura Koushuu in those two matches were no pushovers.

One of them came from a prestigious school well-known nationwide, and their pitcher was also quite famous…

Although not as well-known as Sawamura, anyone with a slight knowledge of high school baseball would have heard of this pitcher.

Perhaps not the absolute top in the country, but definitely a pitcher who stood out in the national league, with undeniable strength.

Even this level of pitcher had been taken down twice by Okumura during their encounters.

It was simply unbelievable!

This kind of performance couldn't just be described as a decent showing for a newcomer.

It had already surpassed the level of demonstrating individual talent and reached a whole new realm.

One could even say that, to some extent, Okumura had helped lead the team to victory.

To think that a newcomer was already making such an impact on the Seidouu High School baseball team!

"That kid really is quite diligent."

Kuramochi, the acting team captain, gave Okumura a high evaluation.

It wasn't just Okumura—Kuramochi even thought that all of this year's first-year students were monsters, one and all.

Among them was his proud Deshi, Han Lee-Hyun.

Before joining Seidouu High School's baseball team, no one knew better than Kuramochi what kind of person Lee-Hyun had been.

As Lee-Hyun's Shisho, he was clear about his level.

To put it bluntly, when this disciple had first joined, he was a complete amateur!

A total newbie!!

In the years of Seidouu High School's baseball team, it seemed like they had never received a player so far removed from the sport.

Lee-Hyun didn't even fully understand the basic rules of baseball.

But after the recent matches, he seemed to be getting the hang of it.

At the very least, it was hard for others to immediately spot any weaknesses when looking at him.

Except for his 'lack' of ability while running the bases, during the rest of the game, Lee-Hyun performed like a regular player, completing the full match.

His hitting performance was zero.

There was one defensive error in the middle, but he also had two standout moments.

It wasn't exactly perfect, but it was certainly competent.

Considering how he had started out when he first joined the team, Lee-Hyun's performance could not be simply described as acceptable.

This was truly the work of a genius!

Yes, his movements were still somewhat unrefined, and his body was not yet fully trained to move before his mind...

By the Seidouu High School baseball team's standards, Lee-Hyun was still far from qualified.

But even so, during the matches, he didn't seem any worse than the others.

At least no one could tell that he was out of place.

Sawamura looked at Okumura in surprise.

Although he knew that this kid would rise eventually, he was still astonished when Okumura truly did.

The speed of his rise was a bit too fast, wasn't it?

This left Yui Kaoru and Matsumoto in a rather unfortunate position.

They had both had a real chance, especially Yui Kaoru.

But compared to Okumura, their chances now are falling back.

During the practice matches, while some newcomers shone, others did not perform as well.

For instance, Yui Kaoru and Nishiyama.

When they first joined the Seidouu High School baseball team, they had been among the brightest newcomers, standing out from the rest.

It was obvious that they were superior to their peers.

However, after joining the first-string team, their performances had not been as noticeable.

Yui Kaoru had done reasonably well as a catcher, though not spectacular, and had made few major mistakes.

He had three at-bats, with one hit.

While in the outfield, he made an error.

Given the standard expected of a newcomer, Yui's performance was already quite good.

If it had been any other newcomer in his position, they might not have done any better.

But when you compared his performance to Okumura's, the gap was considerable.

Especially when considering Yui's reputation, the gap seemed even more pronounced.

Nishiyama's situation was similar.

It wasn't that his performance was lacking, but compared to those competing for the same position, it seemed there was still a significant gap.

In the earlier practice matches, he had worked with Furuya and Kawakami.

The three of them each pitched about ten innings, while the remaining innings were split between Kaneda and Toujou.

In those nearly ten innings, Furuya threw four Walks, 11 Strikeout, and gave up only one run.

Kawakami allowed one Walk, and two Strikeout, and gave up two Runs.

Besides that, Furuya had hit two home runs.

As for the improvement in their pitching abilities? That was still uncertain.

However, Furuya's batting abilities had definitely improved.

Kawakami had also gotten a hit.

Although he usually didn't stand out, when it came time for him to make a move, he didn't hesitate, proving his worth as a Seidouu High School baseball team member.

Then came Nishiyama.

His control was good, and he hadn't thrown any Walks.

However, he gave up four Runs, even though he had six Strikeouts.

Still, compared to the Runs he allowed, the strikeouts seemed irrelevant.

For a newcomer, giving up only four runs in ten innings against a strong high school team was quite a good performance.

Nishiyama's performance was definitely good.

But compared to Furuya and Kawakami, his gap was substantial.

Let alone compared to Kaneda and Toujou.

Even the Runner-up pitcher in the Little League World Series, after joining Seidouu High School's baseball team, had not shown his magical abilities and seemed to blend in with the others.

It was truly astonishing.

~~~

Going abroad is not an easy task.

Before stepping out of the country, there are always some procedures that need to be prepared.

Fortunately, the players didn't have to worry about these things themselves. As the organizers, Robert and his team had already taken care of all the arrangements in advance.

For this, Coach Kataoka was very pleased.

Originally, the time for this American training camp was a bit tight for the Seidou baseball team.

If the players still had to worry about other matters during this process, then this American training camp would have been a complete loss for Seidou High School.

The players were all very excited…

Although some far-sighted individuals thought that simply adjusting to the time difference, along with the travel time,

the timing of Seidou High's players heading to the United States might not be a worthwhile deal.

But the young players ignored these concerns.

There was nothing to be done. After all, they were young.

Young people are full of energy. Even if they stayed up several nights in a row, they didn't mind. Adjusting to the time difference? What was the big deal?

"Is this the legendary 'fearless young calf not afraid of the tiger'!"

Looking at his fearless teammates, Sawamura Eijun felt as if he were witnessing the death squads of ancient wars.

At this moment, they were so excited that they hadn't even considered the seriousness of the matter.

Those who have never experienced it personally can never understand the pain of adjusting to the time difference.

Of course, if one's daily routine is already irregular, it's not a big deal.

For those with irregular schedules, the concept of day and night doesn't really exist.

However, the players of Seidou's baseball team clearly did not fall into this category.

During their time at Seidou, the players maintained very regular schedules. Even if they practiced late into the night, they still followed their own habits to rest.

Though they didn't sleep for long, their exhaustion from the day would make them fall into bed immediately.

Their sleep quality was very high.

With a regular schedule and high sleep quality, once they reached the other side of the Earth, their routines would be completely reversed.

Sawamura could already imagine the miserable state of his teammates.

Of course, there was no need to worry too much.

There are benefits to being young.

Nothing a good sleep can't solve. If there's still an issue, then just sleep a little longer.

According to Sawamura's own habits, by the second or third day, his body would have adjusted to the time difference.

Training during the day, even if tired, he would push through. By nighttime, he would sleep soundly until morning.

How could he not recover?

Even if the biological clock caused some trouble, compared to the players' excitement, what was that?

Sawamura didn't take the matter too seriously.

However, the coaches and Coaches of Seidou High's baseball team could not ignore it.

Thus, after some discussion, Coach Kataoka and Coach Ochiai came up with a rather devious strategy.

On the day of departure, they gathered all the players at 3 AM.

Though the Seidou High baseball team usually trained early, this time was extremely early.

On top of that, due to their excitement, the players had actually slept late the previous night. They had barely taken a nap when the Coach dragged them out of bed.

They were all half-asleep, as if about to collapse.

At this moment, if they were given a bed, they would definitely fall asleep immediately, even outdoors.

Of course, the Seidou coaches were not so kind.

"From now on, the training will be led by President Ota," Coach Kataoka announced to the players. Then, he ordered them to start running.

"Don't all look like you're still asleep. Do you want the American players to laugh at us?"

'Who Cares About That?!'

The players were all thinking to themselves but still had no choice but to obey Coach Kataoka's orders.

After running for a while, their drowsiness disappeared.

One by one, the players regained their focus and performed well during the subsequent practice.

Thus, they continued training until 7 AM, when they finally had breakfast.

To their surprise, there were even classes scheduled for the day.

This was something the baseball players had never expected.

In their minds, they were supposed to be going abroad today. Why were they still attending classes?

The feeling of exhaustion quickly returned, and they were all exhausted.

However, the teachers were not easy opponents. They had honed their skills while dealing with Seidou's baseball team.

Under their supervision, very few of the players managed to sleep.

After the first class, the players were led to a bus to head to the airport.

"The 10:30 flight and we still had to attend an early class. When did Seidou's baseball team players become such good students?"

Sawamura yawned and complained.

He only intended to vent to Miyuki and Kuramochi, with no other intentions.

However, strangely, after his complaint, he didn't receive any response from his two friends.

Curiously, Sawamura turned around and saw the cold gaze of Coach Kataoka.

'Oh No!!'

These two idiots were so unloyal, they didn't even give him a warning.

"Do you have a problem?"

Coach Kataoka asked coldly.

Sawamura immediately shook his head vigorously.

He was joking—how could he possibly have an issue?

And even if he had one, there was no way he'd bring it up with Coach Kataoka now.

He wasn't foolish.

Coach Kataoka stared at Sawamura for a moment before silently walking away.

After the scare, Sawamura came to his senses.

The feeling of sleepiness faded away.

The bus traveled smoothly and arrived at the airport.

At this point, the players' excitement had faded, and the sense of fatigue returned.

After going through security and boarding the plane, each of them obediently put on their eye masks and passed out.

Had it only been training without that early class, the Seidou players might not have cared so much.

But with that early class, it was different.

Almost all the Seidou High baseball players had this trait—when they had class, they loved to sleep.

For them, the early class was like a sleeping pill, a lullaby.

The fact that they managed to stay awake until the plane was quite impressive.

The players slept through more than ten hours, arriving at the other side of the Earth.

Because of the time difference, it was still morning when they arrived.

Although they had slept on the plane, they were still not in top condition.

However, they no longer felt too sleepy…

…