Chapter 23: Undeserving!

Seidou wins!

And it's a slaughter of 28:5.

The newspapers were all over it the next day, making it known to everyone.

The media's evaluation of Seidou High School's baseball team remains mostly positive, with many commenting on their extraordinary strength.

Even though the Ace, the Great Demon King, Sawamura Eijun, only pitched one inning, the other players easily secured the victory, and it was a commanding win at that.

In addition, the player most frequently mentioned was Hanayama, the baseball field warrior who threw 147 pitches.

Hanayama's past, which had seemed insignificant, was dug up and widely spread.

After all, no matter how you look at it, he fits the mold of a tragic protagonist.

If they were truly able to create a miracle and defeat Seidou High's baseball team in yesterday's game, the story would be worthy of a manga adaptation.

Even seasoned journalist Fujio from Baseball Kingdom magazine cited this comparison.

However, unlike the others, Fujio did not praise Hanayama directly. Instead, he brought up something that everyone knew but had not considered—Sawamura!

His article's title was: "Not everyone can become the Great Demon King!"

The article went into detail about the miracles Sawamura had created during his middle school days with Akagi Junior High's baseball team.

Could anyone surpass that miracle?

Even Fujio did not dare to say.

But one thing he was certain of was that the miracle was unprecedented.

~~~

For Seidou High's baseball team, facing this kind of game wasn't going to be all praise.

Amidst the widespread praise, there were occasional voices of dissent.

Of course, with Seidou High's baseball team currently at their peak, these discordant notes wouldn't cause any real problems.

But that didn't mean the critics didn't have valid points.

Not to mention that these critics were analyzing the team from Seidou High's perspective.

They generally believed that the challenges faced by Seidou High's baseball team were far greater than anyone had initially thought.

Why?

Looking at the match between Seidou High and Minori Shigeru High, you could already see several signs.

First of all, Seidou High's baseball team had become the target.

They had fought countless battles, facing all types of opponents…

From this perspective, it was undeniably beneficial to Seidou High's team, who were very experienced.

Playing a game is sometimes like going to war. The more battles you fight, the more experience you gain.

But at the same time, this also became their weakness.

Many of Seidou High's intense matches were public matches.

Their information was nearly transparent to all the baseball fans nationwide.

This made it easier for teams to target them.

Like this time, Minori Shigeru was really targeting Seidou High's baseball team.

If they hadn't known so much about Seidou High, from the Coach to the players, how could Minori Shigeru possibly drag the game like this?

Seidou High's players have been so frustrated!

By the bottom of the eighth inning, it was clear that Seidou High's baseball team was going to win.

At this point, most teams wouldn't press too hard.

Especially teams like Seidou High, who are kings. They usually score just enough to win.

But in this game, Seidou High's players did not choose to hold back.

It was as if they were throwing a tantrum, clinging tightly to Minori Shigeru, determined to beat them to a pulp.

In any other team, this would seem somewhat ungracious.

Let alone for Seidou High's baseball team.

Knowing this, they still acted this way.

This showed that Minori Shigeru had thoroughly angered Seidou High's baseball team.

Why did Seidou High's baseball team react so fiercely?

The answer is simple: because this game was a complete disaster for Seidou players.

It was supposed to be an easy first game, they would go into the field score a bit, and end the game in the fifth inning and already thinking about the next match.

Seidou players entered the game not thinking much about it.

However, to their surprise, the opponent clung to them, going to extreme lengths to get a chance at winning, and persisting so desperately.

Even when they had won overwhelmingly, it didn't feel as easy as the score suggested.

Even the no-name teams are desperate to win, and they won't come at them empty-handed. Every one of them will have a set of tricks and tactics specially made for them.

Could Seidou really make it all the way to the end?

It's hard to say.

Especially when the one targeting them is the other powerhouse team. The situation facing Seidou would be even more difficult.

This was a common concern voiced by the media and Seidou High's fans.

Defending their title would be much harder than the first time they claimed it.

This is true for everything.

It's Hard To Take A Throne, But Keeping It Is Harder.

Getting an achievement is easier than maintaining it!

Though some people voiced such opinions, they did not raise any alarms for Seidou High's baseball team.

After all, they had won the game!

Victory can cover up many things.

Just like in ancient times when a war was won, even if there were domestic conflicts, they didn't seem so important.

Sometimes, they were even suppressed.

Only after a defeat did they truly experience the consequences.

Right now, Seidou High's players are like this.

Though they had been troubled by Minori Shigeru for nine innings, their pride was hurt.

But in their hearts, they had acknowledged the strength of Minori Shigeru and Hanayama.

Nevertheless, this didn't make them any less worried about their next step.

They were also keeping an eye on other teams' news.

In the West Tokyo competition, there weren't many teams that caught Seidou High's attention.

Inashiro, Yakushi, Sankou!

Besides these old rivals, only a few other schools like Sensen, Seiko, and others could grab their interest.

"These guys are vicious. Every single one of their matches, without exception, they've won!"

The news reached the ears of Seidou High's players, and there wasn't a single upset.

All the teams they had been watching had won.

Thinking about it, it was actually the expected result.

More like, it was actually what they were hoping for.

Otherwise, if a dark horse suddenly emerged and took down all these strong teams, Seidou High's players would really start to worry.

What kind of strength did this team have?

Did they have any hidden cards?

Etc., etc…

Just thinking about the sudden appearance of such a team made Seidou's players' heads hurt.

"Coach has called for a meeting!"

That evening, Captain Miyuki brought this unexpected news.

This surprised the team.

After all, the usual practice was for them to rest the afternoon after a match.

Unless a player wanted extra practice, Coach Kataoka would never intentionally push them hard.

So why was Coach Kataoka suddenly calling for a meeting?

This didn't seem like good news for the members of the Seidou High School baseball team.

When things are out of the ordinary, there's bound to be something going on!

Coach Kataoka wasn't the kind of person who liked to make a big deal out of things. So, when he suddenly called everyone together, it was certain he had something serious to discuss.

In fact, the members of the Seidou High School baseball team already knew what their Coach was going to say, even without him opening his mouth. After all, they had been with Coach Kataoka for so long that they understood each other well.

"Do you think Coach will say?"

Kuramochi asked nervously, looking at Miyuki.

Although he had a vague idea, he still didn't want to believe it. He hoped to hear a completely different answer from Miyuki.

Miyuki smiled wryly.

He paused for a moment and then said, "It's probably about today's game!"

No matter whether you liked Coach Kataoka or not, one thing had to be acknowledged:

He was professional and responsible.

As the head Coach of Seidou High School's baseball team, if there wasn't anything particularly important, he wouldn't have called the players together for a meeting.

The opponent for Seidou High's next round hadn't been decided yet. Even if it had, based on previous intel, their strength wasn't that remarkable.

They probably didn't pose much of a threat.

Such an opponent wouldn't justify calling a meeting like this.

So, the remaining possibility was that the meeting was to review today's match!

After each game, the players were required to summarize their mistakes and write them down in their notebooks. These notes had to be handed to Coach Kataoka for review. He would check whether they had recognized their mistakes and thought of ways to correct them.

If they hadn't realized their errors or didn't have a good solution, Coach Kataoka wouldn't mind pointing it out personally.

This was something unique about Coach Kataoka, who also taught Japanese.

He believed that while players might not express their thoughts out loud, they would be willing to record them in writing.

Sawamura wasn't too fond of this approach.

In his rookie days, whenever he had to write anything, his head would hurt terribly.

Although it was a little better this time around, the improvement wasn't that significant.

It wasn't that his writing skills were beyond saving, but just the thought of writing something and then showing it to others felt very awkward.

Privately, Sawamura would also reflect on his problems, but his personal notes were his own, never shown to anyone. That was his true diary.

Seidou High School Baseball Team's Meeting Room.

All the players were present, seated in rows in front of Coach Kataoka.

Coach's expression was calm, and it was hard to tell if he was angry or not.

It was unclear whether he was really not angry or if this was the calm before the storm.

But judging from the expressions of Takashima and Coach Ochiai, the latter seemed more likely.

"Today, we're going to review the game," Takashima said.

This was a regular part of life for the Seidou High Baseball Team.

After every game, whether official or practice, they would analyze the match.

It was like reviewing exam papers after a test.

Usually, this was done by Vice-President Takashima.

Sometimes, the team scout, Watanabe, would handle it.

But this time, the four major figures of Seidou High's baseball team were gathered together to discuss a big win, which was rare.

After a basic rundown of the game's record, the room turned silent.

"Did everyone see the online reports about the game?" Coach Kataoka suddenly asked.

To be honest, not many had seen them.

It was undeniable that Seidou High's baseball team was at the peak of their game. The moment the match ended, many people were already online writing reports.

The players, at first, really cared about these reports.

They had just become famous and were adjusting to their new title as Champions. So, after every match, some of them couldn't wait to log online to check what others thought of them.

When someone praised them, they would be overjoyed.

Especially when people said they had the potential to go pro, many players would grin ear to ear.

When someone criticized them, they would get furious and swear to make them eat their words.

This episode lasted for about half a year.

Over time, they became used to it. They realized that for every person who liked them, there would be someone who didn't. They didn't need to argue with them.

They just needed to stick to being themselves.

Habit truly was a powerful thing. In just a few months, Seidou High's baseball team had stopped caring much about online comments.

[Their strength is no worse than last year's!]

[Seidou High, even without Ace Sawamura, still demonstrated impressive strength!]

Coach Kataoka read several articles praising Seidou High's baseball team.

It almost made it seem like Seidou was being put on a pedestal.

The compliments were so exaggerated that even the players started to feel embarrassed.

"Did it make you feel good about yourselves?" Coach Kataoka asked coldly.

The players, still a little disoriented and shy, didn't know how to respond.

Suddenly, Coach Kataoka stood up and slammed his hand onto the table.

Crash!

The sound reverberated across the meeting room, startling all the players. They looked nervously at Coach, but no one dared to speak.

"I don't know what you all saw in these reports. What I saw was a shame! Seidou High, last year's champion, the Spring Champion, almost got beaten by a team that suddenly appeared, forcing us into the ninth inning! On Our Very First Match!"

"Exhausting the opponent's pitcher and taking seventeen points in one go. Do you feel proud of that? With this kind of offense, how can you score against pitchers like Sanada, Amahisa, and Narumiya?!"

"Where did all of the training, all of the sweat, all of this effort you have made gone to?! Where is your hunger for victory?! Going into the field with this half-assed determination?!"

"Especially you third years! Did you truly enter the field with the mindset that this may be your very last chance? That this very match could be your last?! If you continue playing like that, forget about getting the third Championship! A team like that doesn't deserve to go to Koshien!!"

Without any pause, Coach Kataoka immediately reprimanded the entire team.

The players lowered their heads, feeling like wilted plants, and didn't dare to argue.

At that moment, they really couldn't argue. Coach Kataoka was right; they had let themselves down in this game, and it was really shameful.

If it were an average team that got challenged by a dark horse like this, it would be forgivable.

But they were Seidou!

The team with the greatest chance to win the championship!

They had already been sniped in the first round of the tournament.

From the review of this match, it was clear that the Seidou players hadn't performed well.

If they wanted to dominate the country and defend their championship, then they were underestimating the other teams.

Other teams wouldn't back down, and they would fight Seidou to the end.

Minori Shigeru High School, if you really compare overall strength, was far behind Seidou.

Yet a team like that could make Seidou's players look so disorganized.

What would happen if they faced a team with strength equal to or greater than Seidou?

It was unknown.

"Go back now and write down every mistake you made in today's game in detail. Hand them to me tomorrow morning!"

Without giving anyone else a chance to speak, Coach Kataoka gave the command.

The players could only nod and agree.

"Yes!"

"Those who didn't play, don't think you're off the hook. Put yourself in the same position—how would you perform? Write a full report!"

Coach Kataoka's anger was fiercer than they had imagined.

One by one, the players slunk away, tails between their legs.

 "The next opponent is here!!"

Watanabe, in charge of scouting, came back just then.

Seidou's opponent for the fourth round had been decided.

…