Although the dormitory rule is to gather at the dormitory on the evening of August 30, there is no specific time limit. If possible, Sawamura wanted to linger until the afternoon before leaving. But the old man can no longer tolerate his laziness. As the Ace of the National Champion, his teammates are still training in school. How can he be so laid back as the Ace?
"If you lost your Ace number, I won't spare you!!"
Under the threat of the old man's fists and kicks, Sawamura had no choice but to take the dessert prepared by his mother and the pudding he bought specially, and set foot on the train back to school early in the morning.
After waving goodbye to the friends who came to see him off, Sawamura took out his mobile phone and sent a group message to his teammates.
-I am back!
After a full ten minutes, there was no reply.
Sawamura was not angry and immediately added another one.
-Oh, I brought too many things from home, what should I do if I can't carry them there? Is there a kind Senpai who would come to the station to pick me up?
This time, the teammates were clearly enthusiastic.
The Switchitter (Kuramochi): What time is it? You should be straightforward when you ask for help from the Senpai. Your Senpais is busy you know.
Delicious Pudding (Masuko): Is there any pudding?
Hidden Fourth Batter (Kanemaru): Do you need a car? If you need it, I can borrow Takashima-sensei's.
Kominato Haruichi (no screen name): Welcome back Eijun-kun
***
'Sure enough, the charm of the food is great.'
Sawamura smiled lightly and continued to give everyone back information.
After chatting for a while, when Sawamura looked up, two people were already standing in front of him. A woman in her thirties with a five- or six-year-old kid.
"The Demon King!!!"
The child pointed at Sawamura excitedly and said to his mother.
His mother gave her child a doting glance, smiled and asked Sawamura if she could take a picture and autograph for her son's name.
Sawamura quickly signed his name, and then went to the toilet for an excuse.
Before you know it, Sawamura is already a celebrity. People around will inevitably point and point, and some fans may even take pictures and sign autographs.
If he is really free, Sawamura doesn't mind.
But not in a busy place on a train, so he disguised a little with a hat and a mask, returned to his seat, and fell asleep.
He doesn't know what happened to the team because he hasn't been at school these days.
When Sawamura got off at the station, he saw someone coming to pick him up.
Kanemaru, Kuramochi, Masuko, Kominato, Kanemaru, Toujou…
'Wait, it's a little too enthusiastic.'
Sawamura silently counted the number of the things he had, and sadly found that he might not be able to get it.
"Why did you come?"
Kuramochi's tone was very dissatisfied, and he was very enthusiastic and considerate to fetch Sawamura's bag and prepared to open it at the station.
"It's too bad to eat here, let's go back to school and open it again."
Sawamura persuaded with a wry smile.
Sawamura took the train in the morning, and it was almost noon when he got off the train in Tokyo. When the group returned back the school, it was time for lunch.
Sawamura put the bag back in the dormitory and followed everyone to the cafeteria.
In the cafeteria, almost everyone who saw Sawamura greeted him, and Sawamura politely distributed the snacks he brought from home to everyone. He couldn't do it even if he didn't want to. Kuramochi and Kanemaru had already pressed him and scoured his bag.
Apart from the pudding being raided off by Masuko, there are many other things, all of which were confiscated.
During the meal, Sawamura, Kuramochi, Kanemaru, Kominato Haruichi, Furuya, and Miyuki sat together.
Sawamura sat in the middle, and Miyuki sat opposite. On both sides of Sawamura are Kanemaru and Haruichi, and next to Miyuki are Kuramochi and Furuya Satoru.
Because of the character of Shiratsu, he almost did not participate in team-building discussions. The six people sitting here now, except for Kanemaru, are all members of the old team.
During the meal, a few people talked about the team's recent situation with Sawamura.
Now the Senpais of the third grade and the players of the first and second grades are completely separated.
Third-year Senpai, prepare for the U-18. The first- and second-year players are preparing for the selection of the new team.
The original Seidou High School baseball team was mainly established with the third grade as the center. In the main force of the first string, except for Sawamura, the Ace, Kuramochi, the first batter, and Shiratsu, the right fielder, the others are all third graders.
This includes Yuuki as the first baseman, Kominato Ryosuke as the second baseman, Masuko as the third baseman, Sakai as the left fielder, Isashiki Jun as the center fielder, and Chris as the catcher.
Of the nine people, two-thirds are third-year seniors.
Not only the main force but also nearly half of the third graders on the bench.
In this way, as soon as the third grade leaves, the main force of Seidou High School will be completely rebuilt.
In the original main force of the Second String, almost all non-third-year players were promoted to the First String. There are Maezono, Kanemaru, Toujou, and the others.
After the Second String is promoted, the twenty-member quota of the First String will be considered complete.
But this is only for members. In addition to the members, there are also the main positions, the team's back number, and the arrangement of the batters.
These are all things to consider!
The only ones that have been identified now are probably Sawamura No. 1, Miyuki No. 2, Kuramochi No. 6, and Shiratsu No. 9.
Besides these four positions, the others are up for re-competition.
A new round of the main competition has begun!
"Has the Captain's choice been confirmed?" Sawamura asked directly.
Several people shook their heads.
It means not yet.
Sawamura frowned, it seemed that Coach Kataoka, Coach Ochiai, President Ota, and Deputy President Takashima, had not made the decision.
"The Captain should be determined first," Sawamura said with a wry smile.
Seidou High School has not yet determined the main team, and at the beginning of September, the preliminaries for the Fall Tournament will begin.
Fall Tournament are generally scheduled in October.
But the situation in Tokyo is different. There are too many teams. There are a total of 260 schools and academies!
It is too cruel for so many schools to carry out single-round elimination, and it is not conducive to the development of the team.
Therefore, the organizing committee decided to arrange a qualifier before the official competition.
The qualifiers are drawn by the 260 schools, with four teams in a group, and the four teams play a round-robin match, and the team with the first points advances. If the two teams have the same points, that is, in the event that both teams have two wins and one loss, and will play another match.
The qualifiers are a seeded selection system, and generally there will not be two particularly strong teams in the same group.
The winning team will be decided at the end of September for the real Tokyo Fall Tournament.
The winner of the Fall Tournament will be eligible to play in Koshien in the spring.
Because Seidou won the National Championship, he did not need to participate in the qualifiers and directly advanced to the main competition. Which gave them some time.
But even so, it's only a month before the game officially starts. In such a short time, it is not only necessary to establish the main team but also to hone the team into a fighting force.
So Seidou has to hit the ground running like an Olympic Sprinter.
'This is difficult!' Sawamura thought.
Especially since the Captain has not yet been determined, this is even more difficult!
…