Chapter 4: Third Round Opponents

As the number one seeded of the tournament, Seidou High School's baseball team had little to do in the week leading up to the competition.

All they needed to do was wait and see who their opponent would be.

"Do you want to go check out our future opponent?"

Sawamura asked Miyuki.

On the second day after the opening ceremony, the first-round matches had already begun.

Among all the games, the most highly anticipated was undoubtedly the match featuring Inashiro Industrial High School.

Since Inashiro was not a seeded team, they had to compete in the first round.

The seeded teams that were drawn into Group B along with Inashiro must have felt like crying.

They had fought so hard in the spring tournament to earn a seeded spot—only to end up in the same bracket as Inashiro Industrial.

If they had known this would happen, they wouldn't have bothered working so hard for that seeded in the first place!

Even the seeded teams had no confidence. Let alone the public school that had to face Inashiro in the first round.

Before even stepping onto the field, their spirits had already crumbled.

If this wasn't their last shot as third-year players, they might have even considered forfeiting the game in advance.

And yet, after the match ended, they deeply regretted not surrendering.

If they had conceded early, at least they could have saved some dignity.

Now?

27-0.

When Seidou's players saw this score, they were completely dumbfounded.

They knew it was impossible for a public school to challenge Inashiro Industrial.

But this?

27-0. After five innings, the game was called early.

That meant Inashiro averaged more than five runs per inning!

Seidou had assigned someone to keep an eye on Inashiro's games.

When he saw the score, Sawamura frowned and asked Watanabe:

"Coach Kunitomo didn't hold back?"

Unlike Seidou's coach, Kataoka, Kunitomo wasn't the type to relentlessly crush weaker opponents once the game was clearly decided.

"That score was made by their bench players."

Watanabe said while flipping through his notebook.

"...What?"

Sawamura was visibly stunned.

"Wasn't Mei-san pitching?"

"Narumiya only pitched two innings. The rest of the game was handled by a first-year pitcher. That same first-year also had multiple hits at bat…"

"That strong? What's his name?"

"Akamatsu Shinji."

This news sent shockwaves through Seidou's players.

So Seidou wasn't the only team that had strengthened its roster with talented new first-years.

Inashiro had also patched up its weaknesses.

"This just got interesting."

Sawamura's competitive spirit ignited.

He knew about Akamatsu Shinji, he became the Ace of Inashiro after Narumiya graduated, and wanted to go see him in action and suggested to Miyuki that they should watch Inashiro's game.

But Miyuki shook his head.

"Forget about Inashiro for now. Take a look at our first opponent instead."

Miyuki placed the tournament bracket in front of Sawamura.

Sawamura leaned in to examine it.

He had originally thought that, aside from Inashiro, Yakushi, and Seidou itself, there was no team in West Tokyo that could match them.

Under those circumstances, why bother paying attention?

They could just overpower any opponent.

But since Miyuki was insisting, there had to be a reason.

Ignoring an opponent was a surefire way to get eliminated early.

After the first round, two teams remained, and the winner of their match would face Seidou.

Those two teams were:

Private Sanae High School

Public Minori Shigeru High School

"It should be Sanae, right?"

Sanae had failed to earn a seeded spot in the Spring Tournament, but that was only because they had run into Sensen early.

Sensen might not have any standout features, but they were extremely solid.

The fact that Sanae managed to score six runs against Sensen showed they were a legitimate team.

They had top 16 potential and, with luck, could even aim for the top 8.

Of course, with Seidou blocking their way, they wouldn't make it past the round of 32.

Miyuki, however, shook his head.

"I'm talking about the other team."

He pointed at Minori Shigeru High School.

Sawamura stared at the name for a while before hesitantly asking:

"...That's not a general high school, right? Is it a specialized school?"

"Correct. They take regular subjects but also study agriculture."

A public agricultural school.

In high school baseball, that basically meant "weak."

Nine out of ten times, schools like these were eliminated in the first round.

No budget, no coach, no time, no real competition.

"...They actually won their first-round game?"

The very idea shocked Sawamura.

"Not only did they win, they dominated."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

Now Sawamura was intrigued.

Minori Shigeru had won 11-0.

Five innings. Early game termination.

That kind of performance was on par with a powerhouse school.

"Their Coach is a woman. Her name is Miwara Rin. We didn't take them seriously at first, so we didn't record any footage."

"Our scouts say their key players are their catcher, Tekuno Kanden, and their pitcher, Hanayama Kuzan."

Sawamura frowned, trying to recall any information about them.

"Tekuno… I don't know him. But Hanayama, I do. He was the Ace of the Kametaki Senior Club. When he graduated middle school, several powerhouse high schools offered him spots—but he turned them all down. I assumed he just quit baseball…"

But it turned out, that Hanayama never gave up baseball.

"Sanae vs. Minori Shigeru, huh? This just got interesting."

Sawamura suddenly lost interest in Inashiro's new first-year pitcher.

Right now, he was more intrigued by the opponent right in front of him.

"Since we've got time, we might as well go watch them in person."

~~~

Hachioji Stadium.

Today marked the seventh game of the second round of the Tokyo Summer Tournament.

The sudden emergence of this opponent piqued his interest.

"Since we're just idling around, why don't we go and watch in person?"

Sanae High School was facing off against Minori Shigeru High School.

Both teams had demonstrated incredibly strong performances in their opening matches.

They had each secured overwhelming victories against their opponents and had displayed impressive strength, ending their games early.

If not for the tough draw—having to face a powerhouse like Seidou High School ahead—both teams might have had a real chance to achieve something significant.

Reaching the quarterfinals or even semifinals in the West Tokyo tournament would earn them just as much attention as making it to Koshien.

But unfortunately, the reality was harsh. Since they were about to run into Seidou, no matter how strong they were, their journey would ultimately end there.

Even the students from both schools didn't believe their teams had any real hope of advancing further.

This match would likely be their final chance to showcase their abilities.

Both schools had brought a large number of supporters.

Whether out of sympathy or for other reasons, the atmosphere was lively.

Among the spectators, two unexpected visitors had arrived.

Those two were none other than Sawamura and Miyuki.

The first match for Seidou was extremely important!

Seidou High School's baseball team could not afford even the slightest mistake.

Although neither of these teams had been on Seidou's radar before, the team's two aces had still come to observe.

Not only them—Watanabe, Seidou's top scout, was also sitting in the front row.

In modern baseball, intelligence gathering was becoming more and more crucial.

If you let others analyze you while failing to analyze them, you wouldn't even know how you lost when the time came.

Seidou High School's continuous dominance wasn't just about the players sweating on the field or the coaches making strategic decisions.

People rarely saw how much behind-the-scenes work was being done to ensure their success.

By the time Sawamura and Miyuki arrived, the game was already halfway through.

In the fourth inning, the score was 2-0.

The previously unknown Minori Shigeru High School was leading by two runs.

Meanwhile, the supposedly stronger Sanae High School was struggling.

"Wasn't Sanae's offense supposed to be strong? I remember they even managed to score multiple runs against Maki when they played against Sensen."

Sawamura asked in confusion.

He wasn't surprised that Sanae had given up runs.

Their biggest problem had always been their unreliable Ace pitcher.

There was simply no solution to that issue—without a solid pitcher, a team was at a huge disadvantage.

This was the very reason why Seidou had failed to make it to Koshien for so many years in the past.

Pitching talent was something largely determined by natural ability.

Hard work can only take you so far.

If a player had the right foundation, training could help them develop into a formidable pitcher.

But if they lacked that fundamental ability, no amount of practice would turn them into an Ace.

Sanae's Ace pitcher was the latter type.

He wasn't necessarily bad—his pitches didn't have any glaring weaknesses.

Yet for some reason, whenever he played in an official game, his pitches were always hit.

There was just nothing they could do about it.

As for replacing him, the alternatives were even worse—some couldn't even throw strikes.

How could they win like that?

In contrast, Sanae's batting lineup was outstanding.

In terms of offensive power alone, they ranked among the top ten in all of West Tokyo.

Because of this, in a high-scoring game, Sanae had the upper hand against most teams.

Yet now, against Minori Shigeru, their offense had completely stalled.

This result was difficult to accept.

Miyuki and Sawamura exchanged glances, both seeing deep concern in each other's eyes.

Something was off.

During the Spring Tournament, Seidou evaluated and ranked every team in West Tokyo.

The goal was to identify potential threats.

That list had included Sanae—but not Minori Shigeru.

If this team was really this strong, there was no way they would have gone unnoticed during the Spring Tournament.

"When we get back, we need to dig up some old records."

The two spoke in unison.

Clearly, they were thinking the same thing.

As the game continued, Minori Shigeru's female Coach said something to her players.

However, whatever she told them seemed to make them anxious.

Their players began to rush their plays, allowing Sanae to find an opening.

Sanae's offense exploded, scoring two runs to tie the game.

2-2!

Minori Shigeru's Coach was rumored to be a beautiful woman with great ability.

Since the stands were too far from the dugout, Sawamura couldn't confirm whether she was actually beautiful.

But as for her ability—well, that part seemed exaggerated.

Based on her decisions just now, her level was only average.

When a team is leading, maintaining their pace is the best approach.

Trying too hard to extend the lead can be a mistake.

It was like playing League of Legends—if your team had a slight advantage, why force a risky Baron fight?

One bad decision could lead to a full team wipe, and suddenly the enemy would snowball to victory.

Minori Shigeru had fallen into this exact trap.

Now, not only had they failed to widen the gap, but they had also lost their lead.

At this rate, they might not even get the chance to face Seidou.

Just as Sawamura expected, once Sanae's offense fully erupted, it became unstoppable.

In the following innings, they added three more runs.

Although Minori Shigeru managed to score twice as well, the overall score now stood at 5-4.

Sanae had successfully turned the game around.

From the stands, Sawamura had already made a rough assessment of both teams' strengths.

To be honest, they were both decent.

With some luck, either team had a shot at making the quarterfinals of the West Tokyo tournament.

This wasn't to say they were already at that level, but they at least had the ability to challenge for a top-eight spot.

That alone was quite impressive!

However, both teams also had significant flaws.

At their current level, neither was a real threat to Seidou.

"It'll take a little effort, but there's no doubt we'll win."

That was Sawamura's final evaluation of these two teams.

…