Chapter 69: The Last Major Event Before the Summer Tournament!
After the ruthless defeat of Shuuhoku High School, the practice match between Seidou High School and Inashiro Industrial also concluded.
Thankfully, the incident where Tanba was injured in the original story didn't occur this time, which allowed Eijun, who knew the original outcome, to relax his last bit of anxiety.
The winner of this practice match was Inashiro Industrial, just like in the original story. As it stands, Inashiro's overall level is still above Seidou's.
With a score of six to five, Tanba, a third-year pitcher, pitched a complete game against Inashiro's mixed lineup of starters and substitutes but allowed six runs.
As Miyuki pointed out, the weakness in Tanba's fastball was still apparent.
For a pitcher, the fastball is fundamental!!!
No matter how good a pitcher's breaking balls are, without a solid fastball foundation, they lose their effectiveness.
It's not that Tanba's fastball was terrible, but compared to his exceptionally high school-level curveball, the fastball was lacking. If he could improve the speed, movement, and angle of his fastball, his curveball would be even more threatening.
This is the standard combination of a fastball and breaking ball.
Inashiro Industrial fielded half of their main lineup and capitalized on Tanba's slightly weak fastballs compared to his breaking balls during the middle innings to score three runs.
Fortunately, Tanba had learned to throw a forkball.
Keisuke Miyauchi, in the latter part of the game, used the forkball as a core component of his pitch repertoire.
This surprised Inashiro and helped stop the scoring.
Seidou High School's batting lineup managed to score five runs off Inashiro's third-year substitute pitcher, resulting in Inashiro clinching victory by just one run.
With that, Seidou High School concluded their last training session before the summer tournament.
It's noteworthy that the fateful encounter in the original story did not happen this time due to independent practice; Eijun didn't get to interact with Mei Narumiya.
Of course, he did catch a glimpse of him from afar.
Beyond that, there was little interaction.
Eijun didn't feel the need to engage with such a formidable opponent just yet. Besides, given Narumiya's personality, it wasn't very beneficial to get involved right now.
True baseball players should engage through the game itself, don't you think?
With the four practice games concluded, Seidou High found themselves in a relatively calm and peaceful period ten days before the summer tournament.
This was the calm before the storm for them.
Everyone focused on their final preparations, especially the third-year players, for whom this tournament marked the culmination of two and a half years of hard work and dreams, all centered on one goal, one direction, the ultimate pinnacle.
Koshien—the sacred goal for them all.
However, for the first-year dual pitchers, a more daunting challenge awaited them.
In the classrooms of Seidou High, first-year group.
Eijun sat at his desk, a stack of test papers facedown in front of him. He shut his eyes tightly, then slowly opened them, his face full of seriousness.
Eijun extended his left hand, wearing an expression of grim determination, and placed it on top of the stack of papers.
He swallowed hard.
"Please don't fail, please don't fail, please don't fail."
Eijun chanted under his breath.
That's right, for the dual pitchers, Eijun and Furuya, the task more formidable than baseball—final exams!!!
What? You think Eijun, who was a high school student before his transmigration, should have no problem with exams?
You're missing a critical point. Sure, Eijun, with his past life memories, probably doesn't struggle with subjects like math and English.
But, but, but!!!!
Regarding subjects like Japanese and History, there's no way Eijun could have studied Japan-specific knowledge in his past life, right?
And in recent times, most of his time was consumed by baseball, leaving very little for studying.
Although the school offered special academic considerations for baseball recruits, with lowered passing grades.
Eijun still felt uneasy deep inside.
"Hmm!"
Eijun took a deep breath, resolutely flipping over the exam papers.
When he saw the scores of the subjects before him, his heart, which had been pounding relentlessly, suddenly felt relieved, and an obvious expression of joy spread across his face.
"Hahaha!!!"
A score of 41 in Japanese and 45 in History—though these were low scores, he had reached the passing mark. The grin on Eijun's face clearly expressed his happiness and relief.
"Sawamura-kun?" Noticing the joyful expression on Eijun's face, Haruno Yoshikawa, who stood not far away, looked at him with a hint of puzzlement.
Little did she know that the usually smart, cheerful, and confident Eijun would be so happy over a mere passing grade in exams.
After all, this version of Eijun, unlike his portrayal in the original story, was known for his spirited presence on the field and his diligence in the classroom. Naturally, Haruno had no idea that in some subjects, Eijun's grades barely scraped the passing line.
While Eijun was jubilant and ready to wholeheartedly focus on the upcoming tournament,
In Class 1-B,
Furuya sat near the window, looking as if he'd been turned to stone, holding his test papers with an expression of utter despair.
Nearby, Haruichi patted Furuya's shoulder sympathetically.
"Furuya-kun, don't worry too much. There's always the make-up exams."
Haruichi's consoling tone did little for the despondent Furuya.
It wasn't just the first-years—second and third-year students like Jun Isashiki, who often struggled academically, were also anxiously awaiting their results.
Once they knew they had passed all their exams, joyous shouts filled the air.
The excitement carried over to their training sessions, especially with Isashiki's exuberant howls on the field, capturing the sentiment better than words ever could.
With everything in place except for the final push, everyone was thoroughly preparing for the upcoming summer tournament—their last chance to remove the stain of six years of shame.
This summer, they were determined to redeem themselves.
The champion Seidou must prove this year that they are indeed the true champions and not just in name only.
As summer approaches, the battlefield awaits the young warriors!
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