Chapter 101: The Test Results

Kashiwagi High School, who had been brimming with confidence just moments ago, was now completely stunned.

They were dazed, not understanding at all what was happening.

What on earth was going on?

They all looked on in a daze, their minds utterly blank.

The original 3:2 scoreline underwent a revolutionary change.

A two-run home run directly rewrote the situation on the field to 4:3.

Seidou High School took the lead!

In sharp contrast, the teammates of the Seidou High School baseball team were celebrating with Yuuki while glancing at Kashiwagi High—with a touch of mischief!

With such a huge moment of glory, they couldn't allow Yuuki to claim it all by himself.

They, too, had to make their presence felt!

After all, this match was not only a contest between Seidou High School and Kashiwagi High School—with Seidou's team, primarily composed of first-year students, facing off against Kashiwagi—but also a battle among themselves.

"Kominato!"

"Toujou!"

These two seniors hold very stable positions within the team. There is almost no chance they will be dropped from the first team.

It is more likely that it will be one of the seven first-year freshmen.

They are not only close teammates but also rivals.

Who will ultimately remain in the first team?

That can only be determined once the match concludes.

11:4!!!!

The enormous gap in the score left the Kashiwagi High School players utterly speechless.

They had been brimming with confidence, only to find that even without deploying Seidou's main first team, they were completely overpowered by a bunch of first-year kids.

Among them, Kominato Haruichi's performance was the most eye-catching.

On defense, he repeatedly helped the team resolve crises.

Up to this point, his fielding success rate remains a perfect 100%.

In other words, every ball hit in his direction was caught by him.

Not only did he perform outstandingly in defense, but he also demonstrated remarkable skill at the plate.

In five plate appearances, he recorded three hits and one walk.

His on-base success rate reached as high as 80%.

At the same time, he also drove in three runs.

As one of the core players of the Seidou High School baseball team, although he did not take on a leadership role in this match—owing to his personality and a lack of natural leadership talent—he still served as an example.

His actions spoke volumes to all the freshmen, showing them just how far they still have to go.

Another player, Toujou, did not perform quite as impressively.

In five plate appearances, he only managed three hits and produced no RBI.

In fact, a 60% hit rate is still quite high, essentially confirming that his ability far exceeds that of the other freshmen.

As for not being able to drive in runs—it can hardly be blamed on him!

After all, whether or not a run is scored is not solely up to the batter.

However, he still managed two successful steals, and never lost an opportunity to run home!

Besides these two Senpais, several of the freshmen also performed well.

In fact, not only did some do well, but when compared with the two veterans, their performances were by no means inferior.

First and foremost is Yuuki!

Truly worthy of being the former Captain's younger brother, his performance was ferocious—almost inhuman.

He recorded a single and a home run, contributing a total of four runs.

Among everyone, he scored the highest.

Although his on-base percentage wasn't as high as the previous two, he gave the impression that he would never miss the ball in a critical moment.

For a player, that is incredibly important!

As a first-year rookie, it is likely that not even Kataoka could reasonably demand any higher from him.

After all, his performance is already nearly perfect.

In addition, the most outstanding performance came from Okumura.

As a catcher, he made almost no major mistakes and even produced several brilliant plays.

This can no longer be described merely as potential—his ability is quite commendable.

On top of that, he recorded two hits and an RBI.

It must be noted that originally the Coach and coaching staff of the Seidou High School baseball team did not have very high expectations for him.

They never believed that he would eventually achieve great things in hitting.

Little did they know that he would get a nice surprise today.

Okumura's on-base success rate was also as high as 40%, which is truly astonishing!

When Okumura first joined the Seidou High School baseball team, his presence wasn't very remarkable.

Compared with Yuuki, Yui Kaoru, and Nishiyama, whether in terms of reputation or test scores, he seemed to lag behind these three.

But once the game began, Okumura transformed as if he were a completely different person.

His performance during the match was on an entirely different level compared to regular practice.

After endless analysis, the coaching staff of the Seidou High School baseball team could only arrive at one uncertain conclusion:

Okumura is a typical "game-time" player.

When the game begins, his level of excitement is several times higher than at any other time, which often leads to outstanding performances.

And now, he has truly surpassed the latecomers.

Nowadays, among the first-year freshmen, he is widely regarded as one of the most likely to secure a spot in the first team.

Competing with him for the same position, Yui Kaoru recorded one hit and one RBI—a slightly inferior performance.

Considering factors like luck, it isn't entirely fair to claim that Yui Kaoru is worse than Okumura.

But sometimes luck is indeed a part of ability.

For example, after this test, either both could remain in the first team, or if only one can be chosen, neither Kataoka nor the coaching staff would easily set aside Okumura in favor of Yui.

Overall, the presence of these players is very strong.

Whether at bat or on defense, even when they do not get a hit, their battles with the opponents are intense and impressive.

Then there is Nishiyama!

Nishiyama's performance today left people rather speechless.

If you say he performed poorly, that isn't entirely accurate; but if you say he performed well, his statistics aren't particularly outstanding.

For instance, he gave up four runs.

However, aside from those three runs he conceded in the early phase when his body was still unaccustomed, in the remaining eight innings he only allowed one run—and he struck out Kashiwagi High School's fourth batter twice.

He made tremendous contributions to the team's victory.

If you disregard that first inning and those three runs, Nishiyama's performance in this game can be described as nearly perfect.

Even those three runs cannot be placed solely on his shoulders.

In the beginning, everyone's movements were very stiff with numerous mistakes.

Otherwise, even if Nishiyama had given up runs in the first inning, he wouldn't have allowed as many as three.

This is pitching!

Not to mention his hitting—he recorded two hits and one RBI.

Perhaps he can't be considered a superstar, but he is by no means inferior.

When it comes to overall ability, Nishiyama still gives the impression of being the top among this year's freshmen.

Yet for the current Seidou High School baseball team, his role undoubtedly overlaps with that of Sawamura.

In comparison, the team presently does not seem to need a pitcher of his type!

Mainly because he has not demonstrated the kind of qualities that would prompt Coach Kataoka to promote him on an exceptional basis.

Thus, although the vast majority agree that Nishiyama is currently very good among the freshmen—in both pitching and hitting with astonishing skills and ability—the chance for him to remain in the first team is, compared with other newcomers, not particularly high.

As for the two Kohais of Sawamura, their situation is rather unfortunate.

Although they have some talent, compared with national top talents like Yui Kaoru, Nishiyama, Okumura, and Yuuki, the gap is still considerable.

Matsumoto spent the entire game merely "playing along" with hardly any contribution.

Hirota, on the other hand, performed somewhat admirably by recording a home run, a hit, and an RBI.

Based solely on these superficial statistics, he isn't even behind Yuuki.

But anyone with an eye can see that he is on the verge of collapse.

Lacking in stamina! Lacking in strength…

He looked completely exhausted and devoid of energy.

And most importantly, his defensive errors were problematic.

Among all the players, Hirota had the highest number of mistakes.

Originally, the foundation laid by Sawamura for him was pretty good, but compared with those monsters who have been rigorously trained from a young age and received the best education, he still falls short!

This difference is even clearly noticeable.

And Matsumoto is even worse.

Although he is willing to follow the Coach's instructions, aside from his role as a catcher, he is of little use in any other position.

His error rate is second only to Hirota's.

Keep in mind that while Matsumoto is playing in the outfield, Hirota is tasked with infield defense—the pressures on the two are not the same.

If we were to say who is most likely to be cut from the first team at this point, these two would definitely be among the top candidates.

Of course, if the team were to face a personnel shortage at a specific position—say, needing a pinch hitter or an additional catcher—then these two might still have a chance.

After all, they do possess unique characteristics as players.

Finally, there is Lee-Hyun.

In terms of performance, Lee-Hyun ranks alongside Hirota and Matsumoto as the three weakest players.

Throughout the entire game, apart from that early hit, he produced no other notable performance at the plate.

And that's not all.

On defense, he committed errors three times.

Out of a total of only nine balls hit to the shortstop, he was responsible for a full one-third of the defensive mistakes.

This placed him third from the bottom in terms of errors—first being Hirota, second Matsumoto, and third Lee-Hyun.

Based on this performance, Lee-Hyun should have virtually no hope of remaining in the first team.

Yet, very strangely, almost everyone believes that among these first-year underclassmen, Lee-Hyun is the one most likely to stay in the first team!

…