"Sensen lost?"
When the news first broke, most of the players on the Seidou High School baseball team could hardly believe it.
How could this be possible? Their opponent was Bunkyo High School, one of the most prestigious institutions in the country!
Bunkyo High School is among the elite schools in Japan, known more for its academic excellence than for baseball. Almost 99% of its graduates can gain admission to top universities, with over 20% studying abroad.
It's a school that attracts top students.
This school also prioritizes sports development, and it performs quite well in that regard. In the Tokyo area, its baseball team often makes it to the top 16, even reaching the quarterfinals.
So, it was not surprising that Seidou High School could advance to the top 16 in Tokyo.
'But to claim that they could defeat Sensen? That seemed absurd.'
During the spring tournament, the three teams from West Tokyo made waves at Koshien, earning West Tokyo the reputation of being the strongest competitive zone in the nation.
Other strong teams in Tokyo, like the veteran powerhouse Ichidaisan and Sensen Academy, which frequently reaches the semifinals, also gained more recognition and attention.
Some media even hailed them as top contenders. Even in the Koshien arena, these two teams were expected to showcase significant strength.
While the media may have exaggerated, the players of the Seidou High School baseball team generally accepted this view.
They had faced Sensen before and understood their strength well. Although Seidou's capabilities had grown, they still didn't take Sensen lightly.
Objectively speaking, most would agree that Sensen had solid strength.
Especially their Ace, Maki, who stood nearly 200 centimeters tall; his curveballs from that height were notoriously difficult to hit.
Ultimately, Sensen was a strong team, and it was expected that they wouldn't easily lose to any opponent.
After hearing the news, the coaching staff of the Seidou baseball team and several key players gathered to review the game footage.
After watching the match, they felt that Sensen's loss was not entirely surprising.
Sensen lost to Bunkyo because Bunkyo featured several unfamiliar faces.
Some were actually foreigners from the U.S., and Sawamura even recognized two familiar figures on the field.
'How did they end up in Tokyo?'
The familiar faces Sawamura recognized were his past opponents from the Major League.
He had never expected them to have such experiences!
Sometimes you can't help but marvel at how small the world is; among all those passing figures, you might encounter future acquaintances.
"These players are all exchange students, and Bunkyo has always maintained a good relationship with Haval Academy…"
Watanabe, who was in charge of scouting, quickly explained their backgrounds.
"Do exchange students have the right to compete?"
"Of course, they do! Didn't Yoh Shunshin compete as an exchange student?"
Sawamura was taken aback by this revelation. He hadn't known that among his Major League opponents, there were model students hiding in the mix.
If they could maintain a connection with Bunkyo, then the high school they attended must also be impressive...
"Pitcher, Jack April! 16 years old, 1.87 meters tall, and 85 kilograms. In this game, we didn't gather much data on his pitching. We measured his speed from a distance using a radar gun; it's likely over 150 km/h…"
'Violent Boy April.'
He left a strong impression on Sawamura. They hadn't faced each other often, but Sawamura knew a lot about him.
'This guy was a classic hothead, quick to explode.'
If Sawamura remembered correctly, he should be a Super-Fastball pitcher!
"This first baseman is of African descent—Emil! He's also 16, 1.82 meters tall. He hits hard and fast, quite similar to Carlos from Inajitsu High School!"
Unfortunately, Sawamura recognized him too; they had been teammates for five years.
The guy was famous, not just because of his performance, but because of his scandals.
He was less restrained in that area and was a favorite target of the paparazzi, which always gave the team management's headache.
But he was capable in the baseball field as he was capable in the 'other' field so the team management had to put up with it.
Sawamura wasn't familiar with the other two exchange students. They likely hadn't made a name for themselves in the Major Leagues.
He had no impression of them and wasn't surprised.
"This game looks interesting!"
Seeing two old acquaintances and about to witness their younger selves excited Sawamura.
"Although the newcomers have brought fresh energy to Bunkyo High School, the real backbone of the team is still their former captain, Aoki Sugi!"
Aoki Sugi!
17 years old, the same age as Miyuki and the others, in the same grade.
Standing at 180 cm and weighing 70 kg, he was the only standout player that Bunkyo High School had.
Besides being more handsome than Akagi Takenori, his journey resembled that of Akagi in Slam Dunk.
He had immense talent but had never had good teammates to complement him, causing his skills to remain underutilized.
In their final year of high school, as if blessed by fate, he suddenly gained four exceptionally talented teammates.
These teammates couldn't be recruited through school admissions. After all, any standout players in Tokyo were already snatched up by the giants.
Bunkyo High School isn't a sports-focused academy and doesn't have special admission quotas.
Even if talented baseball players wanted to join Bunkyo, getting the required scores was tough.
Now, four exchange students had come, and two of them were rumored to be favored by Pro Teams.
It's hard to imagine such talent would choose to leave a baseball powerhouse and come to a foreign country.
As soon as they entered the school, Aoki sincerely invited them to join the baseball team.
But they didn't seem very interested.
They appeared to not care about high school baseball in Japan.
"Are you interested in watching a game with me?"
Last fall, Seidou faced Inajitsu in a Championship Level match.
A lot of spectators attended.
It was from then on that the four exchange students chose to join the Bunkyo High School baseball team.
This story, Watanabe had sourced it from somewhere. When he shared it in front of everyone, his teammates wore complex expressions.
They truly didn't know what to say.
In other words, the formidable opponent before them was, in a sense, inspired by their own game.
"The opponent is really underestimating high school baseball!"
Kuramochi muttered in dissatisfaction.
Miyuki, standing nearby, frowned slightly and then shook his head.
"But their strength is real."
With the addition of the four exchange students, Bunkyo High School underwent a complete transformation.
First, in terms of defense.
Aoki Sugi and Jack April perfectly suppressed Sensen's offense.
The entire game saw only the giant Maki achieve a single hit without scoring a single run.
Next, offensively.
After the four exchange students joined, Bunkyo High School's offense seemed to come alive instantly.
Their attacks were relentless, like a raging storm.
There were two home runs in this game.
Jack and Emil both easily launched home runs off Maki's curveball.
It didn't even seem like they were giving it their all.
After the game, reporters conducted interviews.
While this was merely a top-16 match in Tokyo, the seeds entering the top-16 had already been determined.
Unless one aimed for the finals, everyone's performance was similar, and they were all without ambition.
In such circumstances, the focus on that match was not very high.
But afterward, everything changed.
Bunkyo High School didn't appear to be merely satisfied with the top 16.
With this in mind, the media's interest in this team naturally rose. Not to mention the numerous exchange students, and how strong they were, made it even more enticing for reporters to dig deeper.
Reporters were eager to create a sensational story.
The representatives of the two exchange students spoke candidly.
"How did you feel about today's game?"
"It didn't feel like anything; it was easy to win!"
"What about you?"
"I didn't feel anything; I just won."
Jack and Emil were refreshingly blunt. They spoke their minds, not caring about the impact their words might have.
In fact, their attitude caused quite a stir.
"Who were these naive kids, thinking that defeating Sensen would make them invincible?"
"They needed to be taught a harsh lesson to understand the reality."
9:0!
The game effectively ended after seven innings.
Looking at the manner of victory, Bunkyo High School might even surpass Seidou.
If Seidou faced Sensen, it's uncertain they could achieve such a clean victory.
From this perspective, Seidou High School might have it hard to win against Bunkyo High School right now.
However, fans didn't see it this way; they were clearly overwhelmed with anger.
The demand from Seidou High School was straightforward.
They could only win the next game; losing was not an option.
…