"OUT!!!"
The small ball was hit, flying high into the air.
The tall freshman outfielder, Kagami Kouta, had arrived early and was already waiting for the ball's landing spot. The baseball dropped and was caught securely in his mitt.
With the final Out recorded, Kuki Youhei finally completed his task.
"Tsk!"
Kuki himself was not satisfied with the result in front of him.
In just two innings, he had given up nine runs. Since he started playing baseball, he had never been so crushed.
Seidou High School.
It wasn't until now that Kuki truly realized what kind of school he was at.
Number one in the country, the king of Seidou.
It was indeed different.
The next inning, the next inning would surely…
Just as Kuki Youhei made up his mind, the previously silent Coach Kataoka finally responded.
"Freshman replacements!"
He replaced three players all at once: the pitcher, the catcher, and the second baseman.
The freshmen's original plans were suddenly disrupted.
"This is just too obvious…"
Yui Kaoru, who was temporarily directing the new students, had a bitter expression on his face. His plans with Okumura were immediately shattered by Coach Kataoka's big move.
'It seemed that Coach Kataoka had no intention of allowing the freshmen to adjust on their own. He simply wanted to see if any of us could stand out in such a desperate situation.'
Kuki Youhei was extremely frustrated. He had given up nine runs, and it was an understatement to call his performance a complete rout.
"Nice Slider!"
Seto Takuma kindly comforted him.
But Kuki Youhei wasn't in the mood to listen.
"How can you say it was nice when things are this bad?"
If Kuki Youhei was frustrated, Matsumoto felt deeply wronged. He had held back his ultimate move, but before he could use it, he was replaced.
This wasn't fair!
He had secretly vowed to catch up to Sawamura-shisho as soon as possible so that he could continue fighting alongside his senpai.
"That idiot..."
In the Senpais' dugout, Sawamura muttered in annoyance.
A few years ago, when Matsumoto and the others first joined the Akagi Middle School baseball team, Akagi had also conducted a team selection.
Sawamura Eijun had a vivid memory of Matsumoto's performance.
Not only was Matsumoto strong, but he also had his own cleverness. However, today, it was clear that his cleverness had backfired. Before he could showcase his wit, it was ruthlessly ignored by Coach Kataoka.
After all, there were over 60 freshmen, and the time for each to perform was very limited. If you didn't act quickly, trying to play tricks like pretending to be weak while actually strong would only make things worse.
'He might as well learn a lesson from this!'
Thinking this, Sawamura turned his head away, ignoring Matsumoto's pitiful eyes.
The three people chosen by Coach Kataoka were all familiar to Sawamura.
The catcher was Okumura, the pitcher was Asada, his Kohai was in the same dormitory, and the second baseman was Seto Takuma.
'Here we go!'
The freshmen's lineup had been changed.
On the surface, it seemed like Coach Kataoka was deliberately disrupting the freshmen's plans. But Sawamura knew very well that Coach Kataoka's real intention was to evaluate the strength of these freshmen, and whether their combined abilities could create good chemistry.
'In the upcoming inning, the Senpais couldn't afford to be careless. Otherwise, they might actually end up in trouble.'
On the other side, Asada was stunned when he learned he had been chosen.
Since joining Seidou High School, Asada had always felt like air. Although he had been specially recruited, he looked around at the others, all of whom came from big youth baseball clubs.
It was inevitable that he felt a little belittled.
Asada wasn't from a youth baseball background. He had played softball in middle school. In fact, even after three years in middle school, he had never become the Ace pitcher of his team.
Given this background, his feelings of being less were not surprising. After all, this year, Seidou High School had the elites of this year's recruits, and most of the new players were from youth baseball leagues. Very few were from softball leagues.
Among those from the softball league, the only ones who had been specially recruited were Asada, Matsumoto, and Hirota from the Akagi Middle School baseball team.
It was very rare to have someone like the 'Maou' Sawamura Eijun in the softball league. You couldn't expect everyone from the softball league to be at that level.
Asada himself didn't think he was a genius like Sawamura-senpai. In fact, since he started playing baseball, he had never experienced the treatment of a genius. How could a player who was a relief pitcher in middle school consider himself a genius?
Given these circumstances, Asada had a very low opinion of himself. When Takashima Rei recruited him, he even doubted if someone in Seidou High School's admissions department had made a mistake.
Especially when his former teammates found out that he had been specially recruited by Seidou High School, their expressions were filled with envy, almost like they had caught pink eye. The ace pitcher from his old team even burst into tears.
Asada couldn't tell if it was out of jealousy or excitement for him.
Such an Asada didn't even think he had a chance to play in this welcome game. Yet, to his surprise, Coach Kataoka called his name first!
Asada was confused, while others could clearly see the situation.
Although Asada looked down on himself, that didn't mean no one else did. Quite the opposite—Asada actually had quite the presence in the Seidou baseball club.
Why? It's simple, just look at the dormitory where Asada stayed.
Dormitory No. 5 was the main dormitory for the Seidou High School baseball team. The four people in the dorm were Sawamura Eijun and Kuramochi Yoichi, the unshakable core players of the team. Nishiyama, a junior newcomer, was also promoted to the first team under exceptional circumstances.
Being in the same dormitory as these three guys made it impossible for Asada not to stand out.
With such presence, it wasn't surprising that Coach Kataoka would call his name first.
However, Asada himself didn't understand these things, so he was still in a state of confusion.
"Can I really do it?"
Asada, who was completely unprepared, felt his whole body trembling. He truly hadn't prepared himself mentally and was now seriously considering running away.
"Asada, go for it!!"
Kuki Youhei, who had just been replaced, ignored his own awkwardness and cheered for Asada.
At this point, they were teammates, standing in the same trench. It was only natural to encourage a teammate in such a situation…
"Alright!"
Asada answered blankly, but he was far from mentally prepared.
"No need to worry."
Just as Asada was feeling uneasy, a voice that radiated calmness came from behind him.
Asada turned around to see someone with a protagonist-like appearance.
It was none other than Okumura, who was about to form a partnership with him.
In stark contrast to Asada's awkward position, Okumura had already started to stand out among the freshmen with his excellent skills after spending a month together.
"Don't worry, there's no problem. You're a left-handed pitcher, and with your height, the Curveball from this position will definitely leave the Senpais struggling."
Okumura's voice was very calm, with no exaggeration, as though he was stating a fact.
This statement gave Asada a lot of confidence.
Although he still believed that with his basic skills, it would be hard to shut Out the Senpais, he sincerely wanted to live up to Okumura's expectations.
He didn't want to disappoint those who had high hopes for him.
"Don't worry, no problem. Let's show the Senpais the determination of our 'Slowpoke Squad'!"
Although Okumura and Asada seemed completely unrelated, in reality, the situation was quite different.
They shared a common trait among the freshmen—they both struggled with the strict requirement of eating three large bowls of rice.
Neither of them had a particularly big appetite, so they really struggled with the three big bowls of rice that were strictly required by the Seidou High School Baseball Club.
If they were ordinary people, they would have resorted to some tricks. But neither of these two was interested in doing so…
So, they could only stuff one grain of rice at a time into their mouths. Every meal, they ate the slowest.
This led to Okumura calling them the 'Slowpoke Squad'.
Because, at every meal, they were always the last two to finish eating, and by that time, they were the only two left in the entire cafeteria.
It was only during these moments that he could clearly feel that he and Okumura were teammates in the same trench.
Asada quickly calmed down and was able to handle the next game with composure.
"Don't worry!"
In the top half of the third inning, the Senpai team began their offense.
The first batter to step into the Batter's Box was Kawashima, the eighth hitter.
In the Senpais' dugout.
Sawamura looked at the battery duo on the field. Both were freshmen he knew closely.
'Never underestimate the third-year students of Seidou.'
Even if they were lower-ranked batters in the second team, their skills had been honed through experience. If they weren't careful, a super long hit could come at any time.
'They had to be fully prepared…'
Whoosh!
Seeing Okumura give the signal, Asada didn't hesitate. He threw the ball without any doubts.
The ball was incredibly slow.
Kawashima, standing in the Batter's Box, furrowed his brows as he watched the ball coming towards him.
He seriously began to doubt life. How could a ball be coming at him that was under 120 km/h?
How did such a person even get into Seidou?
Ping!
With that doubt in mind, he didn't hold back. The ball was hit out with great force.
After the ball was hit, it flew far away.
Kagami, stationed in the outfield, ran with all his might toward where the ball was likely to land. But the gap was so wide, that he couldn't make it in time.
He could only watch helplessly as the ball dropped to the ground, turning into a massively long hit.
Taking advantage of this hit, Kawashima rushed to second base in one breath.
The situation suddenly turned into no Outs, with a runner on second base.
As soon as he stepped up to pitch, Asada had to face the enormous crisis of a runner on second. His luck, it could be said, was absolutely dreadful.
In the Senpai's dugout:
Sawamura shook his head in resignation.
His kohai from the same dormitory was about to suffer a brutal trashing, and as his Senpai, he could just sit by and watch.
"This one is useless too!"
"This pitcher's pitch speed is barely even 120 km/h." (74 mph)
"Any other team would find him underwhelming, let alone Seidou."
"It's a shame he's so tall. I thought he could throw a decent pitch."
These alumni and fans of Seidou High School were especially harsh in their comments.
Almost instantly, they tore Asada to pieces. Everyone knew what the consequences would be.
It was bound to involve a great deal of punishment.
Okumura, the catcher, also felt the pressure. He knew very well that if he did nothing now, the game would soon spiral beyond repair.
"Time!"
Without hesitation, he immediately called for a timeout to the umpire, Kataoka, behind him.
Unexpectedly, this approach seemed to please the alumni and fans of Seidou High School.
"This freshman sure has guts!"
"I remember when I was a freshman, we didn't call for timeouts so frequently."
Whether it was Matsumoto in the first round or Okumura now, facing the strict Kataoka, they didn't seem intimidated.
They were confident enough to put forward their own ideas and suggestions.
That was definitely a good thing.
"It was just a pity that this catcher's partner was a bit lacking. Otherwise, this might have been more promising."
"Before, everyone had been singing the praises of the high quality of this year's freshmen. But now, it wasn't evident at all."
"Could it be that, aside from Nishiyama and Yuuki, who had been promoted to the first string, there were no other exceptional freshmen?"
The supporters of Seidou High School were uneasy. The freshmen playing in the game now, however, couldn't feel the tension.
When Okumura walked to the mound, his expression was very serious.
This immediately frightened Asada.
Had he disappointed Okumura?
In reality, Asada had overthought it. Okumura was simply gathering his words, figuring out how to speak to him.
"That last pitch, did it land right in the middle?"
Facing Okumura's question, Asada felt ashamed.
He wanted to explain but didn't know where to begin.
"First of all, after watching that last pitch, I didn't feel worried at all. In fact, I felt relieved."
Asada's eyes widened in disbelief. He didn't understand what Okumura was doing.
Could it be that this slowpoke-mate also wanted to ridicule him? But looking at Okumura's protagonist-face, Asada couldn't bring himself to think that way.
'Okumura-kun wasn't that kind of person.'
"If deep down, you're trying to avoid facing the Senpais, then you'll never stop them."
Okumura spoke sincerely, almost as if stating a fact.
Hearing this, Asada felt incredibly encouraged.
He felt like a warrior fighting against fate.
The kind that could charge at the Senpais!
"Keep it up! As long as you can show your unique traits, we'll definitely have a chance."
On the mound, Okumura said a lot to Asada. But when boiled down, the message was simple:
'You can do it!'
'You'll be fine!'
'Believe in yourself!'
'You absolutely can do it!!'
Through this near-hypnotic method, Okumura gradually changed Asada's mindset. By now, Asada truly believed that he could handle it.
Did this approach work?
Just look at Asada's current spirit, and the effect was obvious.
Sawamura who was about to watch his senpais DESTROY Asada, was a bit relieved to see Asada's spirit was not low.
He understood that the situation before him had changed drastically. If they didn't take action now, they might end up being counter-attacked by the opponent.
"Play steadily, get a point first, and then we'll see!"
Sawamura immediately signaled to the players on the field.
…
T/N: Feel free to leave a Comment guys!
And Powerstones are much much welcomed!