After the fiasco at the entrance of the school, and a promise from Sawamura to his girlfri-I mean friend Narumiya for a respectful Christmas present AND a separate birthday present, the group had to move on and get ready as The players and people started to arrive to the school.
At Inajitsu High School's baseball club.
Sawamura and Miyuki instantly felt familiar.
The run-down baseball field had all sorts of baseball equipment.
But really good baseball fields are somewhat similar.
This is because there are strict regulations for the construction of fields.
No matter how good your field is, it is still built according to these standards.
In this respect, Seidou High School's baseball field is certainly no worse than Inajitsu High School's.
In fact, there are quite a few similarities.
The outdoor fields are also divided into Field A and Field B.
The participants for training gathered on Field A, while Inajitsu High School's players continued their practice on Field B.
After Sawamura and Miyuki changed their gears, most of the people had already gathered. They weren't the first to arrive, but they were among the earlier ones.
"The real big names are here!"
When Sawamura and Miyuki appeared, the scene stirred up quite a commotion.
In today's high school baseball world, there is really only one true top star.
Regardless of strength or fame, that person is second to none in the current high school baseball world.
Regardless of whether the players present acknowledged this or not, no one could deny it.
In this day and age, Sawamura Eijun occupies such a position.
His arrival caused quite a stir.
Immediately, many people came forward to greet Sawamura. Even those who didn't approach him directly whispered and pointed at him.
Standing next to Sawamura, Miyuki felt an immense amount of pressure.
'This guy was like a light source—wherever he went, the flies followed.'
Sometimes Miyuki would think that being born in the same era as Sawamura and even becoming teammates was somewhat depressing.
No matter how good Miyuki was, there was always someone better.
But even so, Miyuki never regretted forming a partnership with Sawamura.
For any talented catcher, meeting such a pitcher in their baseball career is a blessing.
Of course, this kind of luck isn't for everyone. If a catcher lacks enough talent, partnering with someone like Sawamura could turn into a disaster.
Sawamura Eijun looked at the people approaching him with the most sincere smile.
Compared to the reporters who confronted him with hostility, these people were far more adorable.
Sawamura was good friends with many of them.
"I didn't expect you to be here too, Umemiya-san!"
The first to rush up was Umemiya Seiichi, the Ace of Ugumori High School.
This team, which wasn't remarkable last year, made a stunning breakthrough this spring.
It wasn't surprising that they were being noticed by Kunitomo.
For Umemiya, it's also a great opportunity to be here.
"It's all a bunch of monsters, and I don't know if I'll even have a chance to play."
Umemiya gritted his teeth and said.
Before coming here, he was full of confidence, thinking that with his strength, getting a rotation slot would be easy.
But now, almost all the Aces and the fourth batters from every team had arrived.
The Monsters had gathered.
Compared to these people, Umemiya didn't seem as impressive as he thought.
It's no surprise that he felt disheartened.
In fact, it wasn't just him—many of the players on the scene were also feeling nervous.
Looking at the luxurious lineup in front of them, no one dared to claim they would definitely get the chance to play.
Especially for pitchers, the situation was even more severe.
The Demon King Sawamura Eijun!
Tokyo Prince Narumiya Mei!!
These two were among the top pitchers in the country.
With them standing there, how could anyone else possibly get a chance to play?
Unless Coach Kunitomo was blind, it was absolutely impossible for him to leave these two unused and pick others.
Even someone as proud as Umemiya, looking at these two, felt his heart sink.
No matter how confident he was, when he saw these two, he knew he couldn't compare to them.
There was simply no way to compete.
"Coach Kunitomo won't mess things up. Since he invited you, he must have a plan," Sawamura said with a comforting smile.
Although he didn't believe it fully, he didn't know what else to say.
He was also curious about how Coach Kunitomo planned to arrange things.
The people in front of them were undoubtedly talented.
But just as surely, each one of them was a thorn in the field!
Expecting them to unite and cooperate was difficult, right?
And there were so many great pitchers and catchers...
This was also a big issue.
Bringing in so many great pitchers and catchers, and you can't even use them all at once?
What's the point of having them here, other than looking good?
Sawamura was also very curious about this.
As Sawamura and Miyuki arrived, most of the people had gathered.
Soon after, Coach Kunitomo stood up and asked everyone to line up in two rows.
"During this special time, as the summer competition approaches, I am sincerely grateful for everyone's response to the call!"
At first, Coach Kunitomo lowered his stance, bowing to everyone.
No matter what the players were thinking before, they couldn't help but be deeply impacted.
One by one, they quiet down, focusing on Coach Kunitomo.
"Everyone is new here. Some of you are familiar with each other, and some of you are meeting for the first time. So, let's start with self-introductions."
Coach Kunitomo didn't take any shortcuts and let everyone introduce themselves in the usual way.
The first person to introduce himself was, of course, Inui, who had been chosen as the captain.
"I'm Kengo Inui from Teito High School. When I found out that I had been selected as the team captain, it felt like my brain had been struck by lightning..."
'Lightning!'
'Did he say lightning?'
'Interesting!'
This lightning-struck bro was Teito High School's fourth batter.
He was also one of the most famous players in Tokyo.
Miyuki, who was considered the best catcher in high school, had very few catchers who could compete with him.
And the person standing here was one of them.
When everyone saw him step forward, they all clapped enthusiastically.
Then, each player introduced themselves.
Except for the tricky players from Yakushi and Sankou, all the other schools sent their top stars.
Among them, there was one person who surprised everyone.
According to the rules in Japan, this person wasn't even eligible to participate in official matches anymore.
That Coach Kunitomo could invite him showed his kindness.
This person was Yoh Shunshin, one of the few foreign high school players in Tokyo.
"Thank you very much, Coach Kunitomo, for giving a foreigner like me this opportunity. I will certainly showcase everything I have learned in these next three days..."
It was clear that Yoh Shunshin was genuinely grateful to Coach Kunitomo.
In fact, it was not surprising that he felt this way.
At this stage in high school, he had no chance of playing anymore, and he had even thought his high school baseball career was over.
At this point, Coach Kunitomo's extraordinary invitation to him felt like a rebirth.
It was not surprising that he now felt this deep sense of commitment and duty.
Sawamura looked thoughtfully at Yoh Shunshin, then glanced at Coach Kunitomo.
To be honest, he was greatly shaken.
Previously, Sawamura had somewhat underestimated Coach Kunitomo's character.
He had assumed that Coach Kunitomo agreed to such an invitation out of self-interest. In other words, it was mostly for the sake of elevating the players from Inashiro Industrial High School.
Although Coach Kunitomo did indeed have such plans, he was still able to balance the interests of the entire team.
'This was truly admirable.'
If it had been for pure self-interest, there would have been no need to bring Yoh Shunshin in.
Given Yoh Shunshin's current situation, even if Coach Kunitomo ignored him, no one would have said anything.
By calling Yoh Shunshin in now, the opportunity for the players from Inashiro Industrial High School to play would certainly be reduced.
The fact that Coach Kunitomo had the courage and determination to make this decision made Sawamura respect him.
After everyone had introduced themselves, Sawamura and Miyuki were together.
Their opinions on this matter were very similar.
Both believed that Coach Kunitomo was very serious about this event.
A team hastily assembled like this might not be strong at all.
Even if the team was made up of talented players, it wouldn't change the fact that the team's strength came from cooperation.
Individual talent alone is not enough to form a successful team.
Creating a cohesive unit out of individual stars, and making that team capable of working together, was not an easy task.
"Now, we just have to see how Coach Kunitomo arranges things!"
Sawamura muttered.
Miyuki glanced at him but stayed silent.
There was no further discussion after that, and the team began their official training.
Everyone was an experienced baseball player, so there was no need to start from scratch.
They began with defense and offense drills, focusing mainly on team coordination.
From this, it was clear that Coach Kunitomo had some skills as a Coach.
He was very perceptive and immediately identified the biggest issue with the current team.
First, there was no problem with the individual skills of the players in the newly formed team.
They were all talented, with plenty of match experience...
So, what was the problem with this team?
It was simple—since these were all temporarily assembled players, there was no expectation of much coordination between them.
So, the first issue to address was the coordination among these players.
Coach Kunitomo of Inashiro Industrial High School had his own thoughts on this.
Early the next morning, he gathered all the players and announced his plans.
"I trust my judgment. You are all the best players in the Tokyo area."
Who doesn't like to hear praise, especially from Coach Kunitomo?
All the players present looked dazed.
Being praised by the best coach in the West Tokyo area, even nationwide, was a great honor for anyone.
Sawamura, listening nearby, raised his eyebrows.
Coach Kunitomo's way of winning people over was far more impressive than he had expected.
With just a few words, he had all these players dazed, some of them even ready to throw themselves into the game.
Sawamura felt a chill down his spine.
He had seen people manipulate others before, but Coach Kunitomo's skill in this regard was rare.
With just a few words, he had hit the soft spots of everyone in the room.
Naturally, being selected for this team, representing Tokyo in a match against North American teams, was a huge deal.
Although the players acted indifferently, they were undoubtedly pleased.
Unconsciously, they placed themselves among the top players in the country.
Now, Coach Kunitomo's recognition gave them that "willing to die for a friend" feeling.
Sawamura shuddered.
They said athletes were simple-minded with developed bodies.
Sawamura had never believed this, and in his own high school team, many players used their brains to play.
The players selected for this team were all key players from their respective teams, and some were even Captains.
They were supposed to be the smartest bunch.
Yet, they were immediately fooled by Coach Kunitomo.
It seemed that when the actual game came, they would give their all, showing all their tricks without hesitation.
This was certainly good for the team hastily assembled in Tokyo, but not so much for the teams these players represented.
'To be able to wisely use your identity and position to motivate the players emotionally,'
Sawamura studied Coach Kunitomo carefully.
This man was completely different from their own Coach Kataoka.
On the surface, their styles seemed similar, but the core approach was entirely different.
Sawamura couldn't help but feel respect.
Honestly, just as a coach, Sawamura thought Coach Kunitomo might even surpass Coach Kataoka.
Even if they brought Coach Kataoka and Coach Ochiai together, their level might not surpass Coach Kunitomo's.
This wasn't because Coach Kataoka or Coach Ochiai were inferior, quite the opposite. Both were very capable coaches nationwide.
They might have different styles and expertise, but overall, they were incredibly skilled.
However, if Coach Kunitomo could come up with the right strategy for this team,
Sawamura believed that Coach Kunitomo could be compared to the sum of those two coaches.
"With just half a day's time, it's unrealistic to practice complicated strategies."
Coach Kunitomo didn't disappoint Sawamura's expectations and quickly shared his thoughts.
"But I trust everyone's abilities, and I believe you can all do your jobs well. So, rather than focusing on complicated tactics, the best choice now is for everyone to focus on their own role."
Hearing Coach Kunitomo's tactical arrangement, Sawamura almost wanted to applaud.
Coach Kunitomo's true skill as a master manipulator was nothing to be underestimated.
Suddenly, Sawamura found the situation interesting.
…