Chapter 96: That’s... Seidou?

Kashiwagi High School players came to Seidou with the mentality of playing against their favorite star players.

However, the players that welcomed them were all first-year students.

Were the four strongest teams of Chiba Prefecture only worthy of playing against Seidou's first-year players?

Even though Kashiwagi's players knew they were outmatched, that didn't mean they were willing to accept this insult.

"Too haughty!" one of the Kashiwagi players gritted his teeth.

"Then let these guys truly witness our Kashiwagi spirit."

"Yes! First, let's deal with the opponents in front of us..."

The players from Kashiwagi High School stood together, united with anger, as if they were ready to tear Seidou's entire team apart.

The scene appeared very lively.

However, beneath this facade of righteous anger, there was a certain amount of insecurity.

The players from Kashiwagi High School were well aware of their own limitations.

Even though they had managed to enter the Chiba Prefecture Top Four, the gap between them and the elite teams was still massive.

Not to mention Seidou's main players, even the substitutes were mostly graduates from top youth leagues.

To put it bluntly, those players were the closest thing to professionals.

They, on the other hand, were good amateurs at best.

When amateurs faced professionals, the result was pretty much set.

Take the first-year players Seidou had fielded. Even though most of them were only 15 years old, they were all graduates from top youth clubs as well.

Despite the fact that these young players were still in their first year, they were already equipped with impressive skills.

In all honesty, Kashiwagi's players didn't feel very confident in facing off against them.

The feeling was incredibly frustrating.

Their hearts were boiling with anger, but deep down, they didn't think they had much of a chance to win.

The mental shift on the other side was something even Coach Kataoka and the coaching staff hadn't anticipated.

Fortunately, this didn't interfere with their plan.

In fact, it was exactly what they had intended.

They had always planned to have the new players go head-to-head with Kashiwagi's team in a real match.

Only through this could they truly gauge the ability of these new players.

Meanwhile, the Kashiwagi players were observing Seidou players who were warming up.

"That pitcher, is he the one they talked about?" one of the Kashiwagi players observed.

"Yeah, it is him!" one of the Kashiwagi players exclaimed.

"Nishiyama Kibo, the Ace from last year's Little League World Series Runner-up team. He's said to be a once-in-a-decade baseball talent..."

"But didn't Seidou get the catcher Yui Kaoru too? Where is he?"

"He is in the outfield. Didn't you guys recognize him?" another Kashiwagi player asked.

"What?"

"I thought he looked familiar, turned out that it was actually him!!"

"To have his position taken by someone else who is this catcher?"

"He looks Familiar too…"

"In fact, all of them feel familiar. Man, looks like Seidou got a good harvest this year!"

Originally, they had held onto a glimmer of hope. If Seidou's new players hadn't fully developed yet, perhaps they might still have a chance to win.

But after seeing the lineup filled with talented freshmen, those unrealistic hopes were shattered.

Even if these players had only recently joined Seidou's team, their talents had surely advanced by leaps and bounds over the last few months.

Even when they had just graduated from middle school, their strength likely surpassed the best players at Kashiwagi.

Not to mention that in this team, there were also players like Toujou Hideaki and Kominato Haruichi!

These two were main members of Seidou's baseball team and had exceptional skills, making them somewhat well-known across the country.

There were even people who recognized Yuuki, Okumura, Hirota, and Matsumoto.

Although these two were less famous than Yui Kaoru and Nishiyama, they were also recognized players.

Although no one at Kashiwagi High School recognized Lee-Hyun, the mere presence of the rest already gave the team an impressive aura.

So even though Seidou's main players didn't take the field at the start of the game, the players from Kashiwagi still felt uneasy.

Even if the opponents were only first-years, it didn't change much…

With this mindset, Kashiwagi's players couldn't help but play cautiously at the start of the game.

They were stiff and restrained, their movements awkward.

When the game started, and it was their turn in defense first, the pitchers' motions were stiff.

The first batter, Lee-Hyun, watched as the perfect pitch came right down the middle.

This pitch was nearly identical to the ones he had practiced with a pitching machine before.

'What a hittable ball!'

When faced with such a pitch, Lee-Hyun wasn't going to hold back.

He didn't know how many times he'd had to practice before getting a pitch like this.

The Senpais who had practiced with him before had never thrown such a comfortable pitch.

Now that the opponent had generously offered up such a pitch, how could Lee-Hyun possibly refuse?

So, facing the perfect pitch, he swung his bat.

Ping!

The baseball was hit and flew into the defensive gap.

At this moment, Lee-Hyun remembered Coach Kataoka's instructions.

He didn't fully show his speed but jogged to first base.

"SAFE!"

At the very beginning, Lee-Hyun got a hit.

This surprised the Seidou baseball team players.

"Whoa!!!!"

"That's amazing!"

"Lee-Hyun, you're great!"

"Go, go! I believe in you!"

Such a huge commotion couldn't help but draw the attention of the opposing team.

The players from Kashiwagi High School looked at the Seidou players like they were some kind of strange sight.

Is this really Seidou? The Seidou that had dominated Koshien twice?

It was just a simple single, and it happened because their pitcher had made a mistake.

Wasn't this the natural performance of any player?

Why were the Seidou players so excited?

They couldn't understand, and they were very confused.

Little did they know that the Seidou baseball team's reaction was so strong because they hadn't expected Lee-Hyun to get a hit on the first pitch.

Although Lee-Hyun had occasionally played in previous games, he had never shown any standout performances on the field.

This hit was his first!

Lee-Hyun actually hit the ball!

That made the opponents' strength highly questionable.

The players preparing to bat now all looked serious.

Seidou's players weren't interested in simply crushing a weak team.

With their status and rank, playing against such a team felt like a waste of time.

But now, it was different.

Seidou's first-string positions hadn't been fully decided yet.

A good performance would certainly increase their chances of staying in the main lineup.

So the players would absolutely not hold back.

Besides, after suffering so badly in the hellish training sessions, they had a lot of pent-up frustration.

Now, with the opportunity to vent that frustration, they weren't about to let it slip by.

The second batter, Toujou, stepped up to bat and immediately assumed a bunt stance.

Of course, the Kashiwagi pitcher wouldn't let him have it so easily.

He threw the ball inside!

For a bunt, an inside pitch was harder to touch.

However, Toujou hadn't planned to bunt at all. Seeing the pitch, he immediately pulled back his bat and swung hard at the ball.

Ping!

The baseball flew into the defensive gap.

'The metal bats are way easier…'

He and the rest of the main team were using wooden bats all of the time in America.

When he switched the metal bat, the ball flew farther than he expected.

'If I continue like this, I might lose my touch.'

He felt like he was cheating somehow, so he planned to continue training with the wooden bats.

In fact, not only him. All of Seidou's main players started training with Wooden bats after returning from America. They felt it was beneficial to their training.

Anyway, Seidou's baseball team got their second hit.

Toujou ran to first base, while Lee-Hyun took the opportunity to sprint to third.

The situation now was no outs with players on first and third base.

Seidou's chance to score was just one step away.

In the Kashiwagi High School dugout.

Kashiwagi's Coach furrowed his brows in confusion, staring at the opponents in disbelief.

'Is this really the legendary Seidou?'

…