There's no such thing as a completely soundproof wall in the world, especially not in a group. Although Sawamura, who hosted the skill test, didn't say much, he wasn't the only senior present; there were others.
When Sawamura returned to the baseball club dining hall for dinner that evening, those who had a good relationship with him surrounded him.
Kanemaru, Toujou, Haruichi, Furuya, Miyuki, Kuramochi.
Six people surrounded Sawamura, with Miyuki and Kuramochi each sitting on one side of him.
Opposite him were Kanemaru, Toujou, Furuya, and Kominato.
Sawamura knew exactly what these old friends wanted to know, but he simply wouldn't share.
Calmly, he brought his meal to the table and focused intently on enjoying the food before him.
Since he hadn't practiced with the team, his physical energy consumption was low, so finishing three bowls slowly.
While the others had already finished eating, Sawamura took several more minutes to wipe out the rice in front of him.
The guys around him had long finished their meals but none of them showed any sign of leaving.
They just stared at Sawamura in silence.
"I'm stuffed!"
Sawamura set his chopsticks down and glanced at the six who surrounded him, unwilling to let him go.
Resigned, he spread his hands.
"If you have any questions, just ask."
Since he couldn't escape, Sawamura figured he might as well say something.
Hearing that they finally got to the point, his companions perked up, looking very interested.
They had long heard that this year's recruitment of new students had gone particularly well, with numbers surpassing the combined totals of previous years.
Not just in numbers, but also in talents. According to hints dropped by Takashima Rei, there were many promising talents among them.
Even the seniors at Seidou High School dared not be careless about the true prodigies from the youth league.
After all, no one knew if another newcomer like Sawamura would emerge.
Seidou High School had a tradition in this regard. In the past two years, Chris and Tetsuya had replaced two Senpais.
Miyuki had also taken Chris's place during his freshman year.
There is also Sawamura, who had taken down the Ace pitcher of the team during the Kanto Tournament.
From the perspective of a freshman, this was certainly a source of pride. But from the viewpoint of the original Senpai, it was a tragedy of life!
Whether they liked it or not, the Senpais did not want such a tragedy to happen to themselves.
It was fine when they were freshmen, but now they were vested interests. Even those who had experienced Koshien wanted to enter again.
No one wanted to be eliminated at this moment.
Knowing who your competitors are in advance is certainly beneficial.
"Are there any particularly outstanding freshmen?"
Seeing that Sawamura wasn't inclined to speak, Kanemaru couldn't hold back any longer and asked directly.
"Don't worry, there are two third basemen, but their abilities are quite average and won't pose a threat to you."
Sawamura's answer didn't relieve Kanemaru at all. Although he wasn't yet securely positioned as the third baseman, Kanemaru was never one to shy away from competition.
"Who's afraid?"
Kanemaru stood up angrily, "I'm just curious!"
But inwardly, he sighed with relief.
Sawamura glanced at Kanemaru, who seemed relieved and chose to remain silent.
To be honest, there was really no one among the freshmen who could threaten Kanemaru's position.
There were only a few players capable of threatening the current main roster at Seidou, and half of them were pitchers and catchers.
The remaining was like Takuma, a second baseman; even if he switched positions, it would only be to shortstop.
He had no overlap with the third baseman position.
Yuuki Masashi had excellent hitting power, but his immature defense made it difficult for him to hold down the infield.
The last player was Kagami, who was an outfielder.
He posed no threat to Kanemaru either.
In this way, there really weren't any new players who could challenge Kanemaru's position, but that didn't mean Kanemaru could relax.
Just because there was no threat from the freshmen didn't mean there weren't potential threats within the first string.
Not to mention Higasa, who directly competed with him; even in the current second-string, there were players eyeing Kanemaru's position.
"So, are there really new students who could threaten our positions?"
Although Sawamura didn't say it outright, the implication in his words was clear. With Miyuki's intelligence, how could he not pick up on it?
"Yes!" Sawamura nodded wryly.
There were indeed players capable of challenging the main lineup.
Considering the current weaknesses at Seidou High School, Sawamura believed that two players had the best chance to break into the main roster.
One was Yuuki, and the other was Nishiyama.
In the current Seidou High School, the only ones with real long-hitting capabilities were Sawamura Eijun and Miyuki Kazuya.
Most others were more technique-based hitters and lacked strong and long-hitting ability.
Even some who could hit long didn't have impressive batting skills.
All in all, Seidou High School lacked depth among its hitters.
Given this context, Yuuki Masashi was undoubtedly the most likely to stand out among all the freshmen.
In addition, Sawamura believed that Nishiyama had the second-best chance to rise.
Masashi's ability to break through now was not only due to his own strength but also because Seidou High School's lineup was lacking.
With the combination of these two aspects, as long as he didn't perform too poorly, his promotion to the first string was almost a given.
As for Nishiyama, it was simply about his overall prowess.
Currently, Seidou High School doesn't lack good pitchers, and people even refer to it as the "Kingdom Of Pitchers."
However, that didn't mean the pitching lineup at Seidou High School could be complacent.
On the contrary, there were many unstable factors in the pitching lineup. Besides Ace pitcher Sawamura Eijun, both Furuya and Kawakami had significant weaknesses.
Furuya's stability was a major issue; if he was in good form, things were fine, but when he wasn't, he could self-destruct.
Kawakami's issues were also serious.
On one hand, he lacked sufficient sharpness, and on the other, his fighting spirit paled in comparison to Sawamura and Furuya.
Of course, having flaws doesn't mean they lack strength; in fact, aside from a handful of pitchers nationwide, most pitchers have some issues to varying degrees.
If there were no promising pitchers, Coach Kataoka would find it hard to incorporate new ones into the lineup.
But Nishiyama had exceptional potential and remarkable overall strength.
It seemed likely that Coach Kataoka would struggle to resist the temptation to train him personally.
Since returning from Koshien, the roster of 18 players had not been replenished, leaving two slots open.
After all, there are 18 player slots in the Koshien resting area, while the Tokyo Spring Tournament has a full 20.
Even during this period, there was no way to exclude first-string players, but those two spots could always be filled.
It was expected that after the players returned, those two spots would naturally be filled with the two who had been eliminated before.
However, Coach Kataoka did not do this and instead kept the two slots open.
This approach was quite intriguing.
If Coach Kataoka didn't plan to select new players in this spring competition, then no fool would believe it.
That's why the scene before him unfolded, with everyone pressuring Sawamura Eijun for information.
"Who is more likely?"
Being promoted by Coach Kataoka would pose a significant threat to other players.
"There are so many capable people; how do I know how the Boss will choose?"
Although Sawamura had an idea, he didn't intend to voice it.
People who can't keep secrets and say whatever comes to mind find it hard to leave a reliable impression.
Without a nine out of ten certainty, Sawamura wouldn't proactively try to look stupid.
What if Coach Kataoka returned and thought differently from what Sawamura expected? Wouldn't that be embarrassing?
But that didn't mean that the people in front of him were stupid either.
"Then who do you think is more likely?"
It was almost the same question, just prefixed.
Sawamura glanced at Miyuki, who understood and then rattled off seven names.
"Yuuki Masashi, Yui Kaoru, Okumura Koushuu, Seto Takuma, Kagami Kouta, Nishiyama Kibo, and Matsumoto Jun."
When he blurted out so many names, everyone around him was dumbfounded.
The others were fine; they didn't know much.
'But Matsumoto Jun? Wasn't he Eijun's Kohai?'
How could he be compared with those star players who were famous across the nation?
"Don't think we don't know anything; it seems like three of the names you mentioned are catchers?"
Kanemaru, being well-informed, was very aware of this.
Sawamura helplessly nodded.
Although he didn't want to admit it, he had to say that there were indeed quite a few aiming for Miyuki Kazuya's position after his retirement.
Coincidentally, he was familiar with all three of them.
Before entering Seidou High School, these three must have done extensive research and assessed their own abilities, confidently choosing to join Seidou.
'But perhaps none of them anticipated that the three would run into each other.'
'I wonder if those three are regretting their decision now?' Sawamura thought with a mischievous smile.
…
T/N: Poor Miyuki, everyone is waiting for him to bite the dust! XD