Chapter 95: Against Adversary

The next day, Saturday.

The players of the Seidou High School baseball team were finally liberated from the hellish training.

The so-called "hellish special training" was supposed to last a week, but the first six days were the toughest. By the last day, the training became relatively easier.

They no longer had to endure the crushing physical exercises; instead, they only needed to play a few games.

This doesn't mean that playing the games was easy; games also consumed a lot of the players' energy.

However, compared to the tedious physical exercises, this level of exhaustion was negligible.

So, despite being extremely fatigued, the teammates were still looking forward to the upcoming practice games.

Coach Kataoka and the coaching staff, unusually, did not announce the starting lineup in advance.

They said they would notify everyone right before the game started.

Additionally, there was no preparation for the opponent's information.

So, for the next few games, no one knew who would be playing, who the opponent was, or even what kind of tactics and characteristics the opposing team had.

"Three completely unknown challenges!"

This made Sawamura quite emotional.

Did Coach Kataoka trust them too much?

At 9:00 AM, a bus slowly drove into Seidou High School.

On this bus were Seidou's opponents for today.

To be more precise, they were the opponents for the first game of the day.

They were from Kashiwagi High School in Chiba Prefecture.

Kashiwagi wasn't a traditional powerhouse, but recently they had been on a strong streak.

In the previous spring tournament, they made it to the top four in Chiba Prefecture.

They were a fairly strong team...

Of course, with their level, they couldn't compare to Seidou High's baseball team.

Seidou High had been hailed as the king after winning both the Summer and Spring Koshien tournaments last year. They were the strongest and most powerful team in Japan.

Their previous match against the American Dream Team had boosted their reputation even further.

Now, many people couldn't even name all 12 professional baseball teams in Japan.

But hardly anyone didn't know about Seidou High School's baseball team.

For Kashiwagi High School's players, facing such a team, they had never imagined that they could win.

It was a joke—Seidou High was the king.

If they could beat them, then the players from Seidou High might as well buy a marshmallow and choke themselves to death.

For Kashiwagi's players, this match felt more like a star-chasing trip.

Their desire to meet their idols far outweighed their competitive drive.

"This is Seidou!"

As soon as Kashiwagi High's players entered the school, they were stunned.

As a rising team without a traditional powerhouse background, they could only imagine what kind of facilities Seidou had.

In fact, the Kashiwagi High baseball team only had a single field, and the few professional-grade facilities they had were almost entirely monopolized by a handful of people...

Upon entering Seidou, they were completely dazzled.

A row of batting cages, a professional field, a crowded group of people training, various specialized training facilities...

It felt like stepping into another world.

Moreover, the players training there moved with such professionalism, precision, and speed.

Even though they hadn't played a real game yet, Kashiwagi High School could not help but feel discouraged.

How could they compete with such a team? Their next match was probably going to be a disaster.

"Are these the first-string players from Seidou High?"

Looking at the players vigorously training on the field, one of Kashiwagi's players mumbled.

Kashiwagi's Coach, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, chuckled bitterly.

"Probably not!"

Seidou's main first-string players, although they weren't as star-studded as the North American Dream Team, still included a fair number of top-tier players.

In fact, among them were several who were already at the top level for their age.

The Great Demon King, Sawamura Eijun!

The Hero, Miyuki Kazuya!

The Cheetah, Kuramochi Youichi!

The Monster, Furuya Satoru!

These names were famous throughout the country.

And yet, none of them were present.

This meant that Seidou's main first-string players hadn't even appeared yet.

As expected.

After a while, Coach Kataoka arrived with Coach Ochiai, President Ota, and all of the first-string players to greet them.

"Thank you for coming all the way here!"

As the leader of a prestigious team, Coach Kataoka didn't show the slightest hint of haughtiness.

His attitude was unexpectedly polite and respectful.

This kind of attitude greatly satisfied Kashiwagi's Coach and players' vanity.

They quickly followed suit with pleasantries.

"It's us who should be thanking you! Being able to play against the Kings has been a long-standing wish for these players. If it weren't for you giving them this opportunity, they might never get to see the might of the Kings in their entire high school career."

It must be said, that speaking is truly an art.

With a few words, the Coach lowered their stance and gave themselves plenty of room to retreat in case of defeat.

They were only here to experience Seidou's strength; losing was an obvious result.

If their players showed any shining performance, Kashiwagi High would feel it wasn't a wasted trip.

As for winning...

To be honest, not just Kashiwagi's players, but even their Coach never considered that possibility.

So, playing against Seidou High was their chance to be close to their heroes.

"Do you think Sawamura will play?"

When they arrived at the rest area, one of the Kashiwagi players looked eagerly toward the bullpen on the other side.

In that bullpen was his favorite player, Sawamura Eijun.

Sawamura was smiling and talking with his teammates, looking completely relaxed.

"Stop dreaming. A team like ours, how could Seidou High's baseball team field all their main players?"

Another player shook his head and said.

This player was being realistic.

Kashiwagi High was a top-four team in Chiba Prefecture. If you were in Chiba, they would be considered a strong team.

Even though they were a rising team, their strength was still considerable.

But compared to Seidou High's baseball team, they simply didn't compare...

Chiba itself wasn't even a fierce battleground, so how strong could their players be?

Would Seidou High's baseball team really send out all their main players to face an opponent like this?

Come on, stop kidding.

Coach Kataoka and the coaching staff had no such plans.

The reason they chose an opponent with mid-tier strength was primarily to test the newcomers.

So, from the very beginning, Coach Kataoka pushed all seven newcomers onto the field.

They were:

Pitcher: Nishiyama.

Catcher: Okumura.

First baseman: Yuuki.

Shortstop: Lee-Hyun.

Third baseman: Hirota.

Outfielder: Yui Kaoru.

Outfielder: Matsumoto.

To complete the nine players, two veteran players were also brought along.

They were: Kominato and Toujou.

These two veteran players were quite special in Seidou High's baseball team.

Their skills were exceptional, but their leadership abilities were rather ordinary.

Toujou was slightly better, but Haruichi's leadership was practically zero.

From this arrangement, it was clear what Coach Kataoka and the coaching staff of Seidou High had in mind.

This test was for the new players.

Otherwise, if Sawamura, Kuramochi, Miyuki, and Kanemaru—players of that caliber—were put in, even if the majority of the team were new, it would be hard to say that the performance would truly reflect the newcomers' abilities.

"Isn't this a bit too risky?"

President Ota nervously rubbed his hands, looking anxiously at Coach Kataoka.

Sending so many newcomers straight into the game...

Considering they had just finished hellish training and considering the strength of the opponent, the situation was truly worrisome.

If they were crushed by the opponent from the start...

Even if the team was made up mainly of first-year students, it would still represent Seidou High.

"Only in adversity can we truly see these guys' real strength."

Coach Kataoka's attitude was firm. He believed that only by doing this could they fully test the true abilities of Seidou High's players.

Among these newcomers, who really had the qualifications to stay on the first-string team?

This was something Coach Kataoka had thought long and hard about.

To be frank, this was an incredibly difficult task.

After all, the first-year players who remained on the first-string team wouldn't just represent themselves.

They would also represent the entire Seidou High baseball team.

They would represent the third-year players who made way for them.

How could they make the eliminated third-year players willingly give up their positions for the first-year players?

There was only one way.

That was to show results in the game, allowing the third-year players watching from the sidelines to genuinely acknowledge the newcomers' abilities.

Only in this way would they truly earn the right to stay on the first-string team.

Only then would they have the right to wear Seidou High's uniform and represent Seidou High in the Summer Games.

…