The opponent of Seidou High School in the semifinals is Ichidaisan High School.
Among the few prestigious schools in West Tokyo, the connection between Seidou and Ichidaisan can be said to be the deepest, having faced each other three times this year alone.
Last year, during the spring tournament, Seidou High School climbed to the Kanto Tournament by stepping on the shoulders of Ichidaisan.
In that encounter, Seidou decisively defeated Ichidaisan.
The second matchup between the two teams was last Fall in the playoff finals.
Once again facing Ichidaisan, after a fierce battle, Seidou proved to be superior and secured their spot at Koshien.
When counted, the rivalry between the two teams can be said to run deep.
Now, in the semifinals of the spring tournament, the two teams meet again.
This can only be described as a truly remarkable fate.
However, in the real world, such things are unavoidable; when a region has several strong teams, collisions between the strong teams are inevitable the further they go in the tournament.
If two teams are particularly strong, then their matchup becomes a natural occurrence in every tournament.
Regarding intelligence on this opponent, the players of Seidou were already well-acquainted with it, leaving little to prepare other than simple things.
On the night before the game, Superintendent Kataoka specially called the players together for a meeting.
This has become a tradition for Seidou; before every major game, they gather the players to discuss strategies.
Seidou High School had long prepared strategies to counter Ichidaisan, which in itself was not much to discuss.
The key issue remained the arrangement of personnel.
Superintendent Kataoka put considerable thought into this matter, ultimately deciding to field the team's currently strongest lineup.
Two newcomers were put on the field at the same time.
Nishiyama and Yuuki.
Both of them played as outfielders, with Nishiyama replacing center fielder Toujou and Masashi taking the place of left fielder Asou.
For Toujou, this was a first. He originally believed his starting position was quite secure, although, in terms of batting, he couldn't confidently say he was better than those two newcomers.
However, when it came to defense, he should be significantly stronger than the two newcomers.
But it was clear that Superintendent Kataoka did not value defensive ability for this match as much as he valued batting performance.
Because on the pitcher's mound today, he had sent out Sawamura.
In today's match, Sawamura was starting once again. Unless something unexpected happened, he was likely to pitch the whole game.
"Are we going all out?"
Miyuki was also taken aback when he saw the lineup.
Aside from Toujou being replaced, almost all the other players were the regular starters for Seidou High School.
Superintendent Kataoka intended to go head-to-head with the opponent.
This didn't mean that Seidou High School was afraid of them, but since the opponent was Ichidaisan, it meant they could very well meet again in the summer.
In this situation, going all out against the opponent was not necessarily a good thing for Seidou High School.
"You guys are privately trying to make Seidou a legendary team, right? Since it's supposed to be a legendary team, losing a single match is unforgivable. Are you planning to lose a few more?"
This was the first time Superintendent Kataoka revealed his ambition in front of the players.
It was just a few words, but the player's fighting spirit exploded like they were getting ready for an epic battle and leaving their name in history.
Which passionate young man will refuse that?
"If you want to become a legend, you have to show legendary performance. After every pitch, consider the situation on the field and adjust your strategies accordingly based on different circumstances. Show me everything you've learned in Seidou during the games. Do you understand?"
"YES SIR!!!"
What else was there to misunderstand? Superintendent Kataoka had already made his point clear.
The teammates felt an unbelievable surge of passion flowing within them.
Their excitement could not settle down for a long time.
"Of course, don't underestimate the opponent. Although we had previously achieved victory, the current Ichidaisan is completely different from before."
Watanabe stood up at some point, holding a baton. He began to recount the intelligence he had gathered.
"Although Ichidaisan's tactics haven't undergone significant changes, their level of cooperation has drastically improved. The Ace Amahisa Kousei has only worked with his teammates for a short two months in the past, but now they have been cooperating for over seven months."
Since September until now, it was already April.
The opponents had indeed refined their skills for seven to eight months.
With the training volume at Ichidaisan, they had probably already mastered what they needed.
"This can be seen from their previous matches. Unlike us, Ichidaisan has faced two very strong powerhouses."
Narumiya and Inashiro Industrial!
Narumiya's strength is already considerable, not to mention Inashiro Industrial as a whole.
It's important to note that Inashiro Industrial is the only team that Seidou truly fears. They even lost to Ichidaisan in the first round.
"The opponent is without doubt strong!"
Putting together everything Watanabe had said, it essentially boiled down to these words.
Despite this, the fire in the eyes of Seidou players did not get any dimmer.
It was precisely because the opponent was strong that the match became interesting, right?
Otherwise, if the opponent was as weak as a chicken, Seidou would lose motivation and interest.
They had played too many of those crushing matches.
"Alright, go get some rest early and prepare for tomorrow's match."
After Superintendent Kataoka's order, the players of the Seidou High School baseball team left the meeting room.
The main players were all in deep thought.
Masashi and Nishiyama were both highly motivated.
Sawamura approached them and patted them on the shoulders.
Even though these two were Sawamura's Kohais, they were both slightly taller than him.
It felt a bit awkward to pat their shoulders.
The two turned to look at Sawamura seriously, both silent.
"Tomorrow is a great opportunity to prove your strength."
Sawamura didn't waste words, getting straight to the point.
'Prove!'
These two words struck deep into Nishiyama and Masashi's nerves.
Although they had been performing well previously, it felt like nothing had changed in their situation.
Clearly, they had performed even better than other Senpais in batting. However, the way others looked at them still seemed quite ordinary.
It felt as if their accomplishments were simply taken for granted.
This feeling was quite complex.
The two had been searching for the root of this feeling, and unexpectedly, Sawamura approached them to clarify their doubts.
However, after saying that, Sawamura smiled slightly and left.
Tomorrow was a good opportunity to prove the two's strength.
For Seidou now, not everyone had the chance to challenge them.
Only those truly top-tier teams had that qualification.
Similarly, if one wanted to establish a foothold in Seidou, simply defeating weaker opponents was far from enough.
They had to showcase their unique characteristics in genuine powerhouse battles.
Toujou and Maezono climbed to their current position by stepping on the shoulders of Teitou High School's Ace pitcher, Mukai Taiyou.
Likewise, during the process of Shiratsu and Kominato becoming the core players of the team, they also produced results in such critical matches.
This was the true reason they became the main players of Seidou High School.
Otherwise, merely showing strength in easy and favorable matches was simply not enough.
Seidou High School had plenty of such players.
Whoever they put on the field didn't matter; why were they specifically chosen?
And Ichidaisan, with their Ace Amahisa, was such an opponent.
Only in such matches could they truly showcase their performance, allowing them to seize a core position from other players.
Some things Sawamura couldn't explain clearly; ultimately, they had to rely on themselves to comprehend.
However, Sawamura believed they would understand one day.
It's just that it's hard to say whether that day would be tomorrow.
Meanwhile, at the indoor training facility of the Ichidaisan baseball team.
Several rookie players stared wide-eyed at their Senpais who were constantly swinging their bats.
"Though I've heard for a long time that Ichidaisan's practice volume is astonishing, I didn't expect the Senpais to work so hard."
"How many times are they swinging their bats in a day?"
Behind these rookies stood Amahisa Kousei, who had appeared at some point.
"In our Ichidaisan, there's a long-standing legend. If a batter swings their bat a thousand times every day and keeps it up for a year, they'll have a baseball spirit attach itself to their bat while batting."
He said it with utmost seriousness, leaving the few freshmen in a daze.
"Kosei, don't feed the rookies any weird ideas."
"That saying wasn't initiated by us; didn't Omae-senpai say it before?"
"If it really exists, I'd love to see it."
"Come on, daydreaming doesn't require a movie ticket, does it?"
"Why would you want something so strange?"
"If there really is a legendary baseball spirit, maybe I could hit out the Demon King Sawamura's pitches."
The players' fighting spirit was high, and Coach Tahara nodded secretly while observing the practice.
He was quite satisfied with these disciples under him.
Originally, in the West Tokyo region, Inashiro Industrial High School was overwhelmingly strong. Now Seidou had risen to prominence...
Ichidaisan, caught between two powerhouses, was finding it increasingly difficult to survive.
If this dragged on, it would be challenging for him to maintain such a strong lineup.
They must perform well in the upcoming summer tournament. Otherwise, even next year's recruitment would become problematic.
…
T/N: So it is a new volume, and we had to deviate a bit from the Tournament to prepare a few things!
You also can check my Patre0n for extra Chapters.
https://www.patre0n.com/ColdColt
There are +140 Chapters there.
Anyway, Thank you all for reading!!
And I hope you all have a nice day!