After watching the game between the Seidou High School Baseball Team and the Kanetsu-Norin High School Baseball Team, the players from the Komadai Fujimaki High School Baseball Team had a lot on their minds.
They had already regarded Seidou High School's Baseball Team as their primary hypothetical rival.
Any changes in Seidou's team were always closely noted and analyzed by them.
By now, they could say with confidence that they were one of the teams that understood Seidou High School the most.
And when it comes to studying Seidou, there was one person they could not avoid—Sawamura Eijun.
Any changes in his pitching form, pitch speed, or breaking balls were enough to make the Komadai Fujimaki players extremely cautious.
Just like now, when they saw a new breaking ball from Sawamura.
Not just once, but multiple times!
This meant that Sawamura's new breaking ball wasn't some lucky pitch.
It wasn't a coincidence.
It was a genuine breaking ball, a weapon that could be used effectively.
This meant that when they faced Seidou High, they would have to consider dealing with this type of pitch.
Before, they had already decided to abandon two of Sawamura's breaking balls.
There was no chance of winning against those.
Given that, they thought it would be better to focus on the pitches they could hit.
With two of Sawamura's pitches already abandoned, this meant that if Sawamura used any of those, they would have no choice but to surrender.
The probability of this happening was already terrifyingly high.
If a new pitch was added to this mix...
Then the Komadai Fujimaki players couldn't help but doubt themselves.
Would they really be able to go head-to-head with Seidou High?
"This pitch is sharp, but it hasn't appeared in previous games. It may not be Sawamura's regular pitch. Furthermore, it looks a bit similar to Kanetsu-Norin High's Ace pitcher's breaking ball. Since Seidou's batters can hit it, there's no reason we can't. In terms of pitch speed, Sawamura's fastball may not even be as fast as that guy, Hoshitaru's," said Renji, who was always the brain of the team, immediately offering his thoughts when their situation didn't look good.
"Well said, that's the spirit," said Nitta, the Coach of the Komadai Fujimaki team, as he walked out of his room and seriously looked at the players watching the game.
"The game hasn't even started yet, so we don't need to inflate the opponent's strengths and diminish our own. No matter what kind of unexpected changes or hidden breaking balls they have, our determination must remain unchanged. If there's anyone who's already thinking about backing out, just say it now. I won't let you take the field during the match."
Last summer, and this spring! Both times, the Komadai Fujimaki Baseball Team's Koshien journey had been forcefully stopped by Seidou High's team.
Komadai Fujimaki never wanted to settle for being the dominant team in Hokkaido.
After going through such rigorous training to reach the nationals, their goal from the beginning was the same as Seidou's: to dominate the country.
But both of their dreams were cut short by Seidou.
The rivalry between Komadai Fujimaki and Seidou had therefore been established.
Every time they faced Seidou, they were filled with intense excitement.
They were crazy about it!
However, because Seidou's team had blocked their way twice, the Komadai Fujimaki players were mentally scarred by Seidou's team.
Each time they faced Seidou, their momentum would falter slightly.
Their coach, Nitta, had noticed this.
But he could do nothing about it!
What happened in the past couldn't be changed, no matter what he did.
Now, all he could do was try to ignite their fighting spirit with some provoking words.
He hoped they could keep pushing forward and not be affected by their mindset.
Provocation.
It worked at any time.
Even for adults, when a leader needs to assign a tough task to a subordinate and fears they may not have the confidence or may refuse, they might use some provoking words.
It often produced surprising results.
If it works on adults, it's even more effective on these passionate 16-17-year-old boys.
After hearing their Coach's words, the players straightened their chests.
They stood tall and proud!
They were determined to prove they were not the kind of cowards their coach had described.
They were heroes!
They were passionate baseball players!
"Well done!"
Nitta was deeply pleased with his players' response.
As long as they kept this momentum and continued the effort they'd put in recently, even when facing Seidou, Komadai Fujimaki still had a chance to win.
'They could do it. They definitely could.'
Nitta kept telling himself this in his mind over and over.
He wanted to make this victorious mindset a steel stamp, deeply imprinted in the hearts of every Komadai Fujimaki player.
'They could win!'
Not only Komadai Fujimaki, but the other teams that won also were actively studying Seidou's information.
None of these teams were unfamiliar to Seidou's players.
In recent years, Seidou High's performance has so dominant.
No matter what major competition it was, they generally won all the way to the championship.
Under such circumstances, almost all the top schools nationwide had already faced Seidou.
Not to mention Teito High from Tokyo, who had already crossed paths with them multiple times.
Seidou had also played against Komadai Fujimaki twice.
Once last summer at Koshien, and again this spring at Koshien.
In both games, Seidou had dominated Komadai Fujimaki.
It was like stepping over their heads to claim the throne.
There was also Hakuryu High.
Seidou was very familiar with this team as they had encountered each other around three or four times, whether it was in the Kanto Tournament, Koshien, or practice games.
All of their encounters were intense, but the final results were always Seidou's victory.
This team, its players, and lineup, were well known to Seidou's team.
In fact, even now, their top players still keep in contact with Seidou's players.
They often called or texted to check on each other.
Seihou High!
This was also a team that Seidou was incredibly familiar with. Their Ace pitcher, Akashi, had left an impression on Seidou's players.
The remaining three teams were no different.
They had all played against Seidou.
Osaka Kiryu.
If you think about it, this was the first strong opponent that Sawamura and the others faced when they joined Seidou's team.
It was a practice game.
Seidou played these types of practice games almost every year.
Their schools were particularly close.
Back when Seidou had fallen off and couldn't make it to Koshien, how did they maintain their peak performance?
It was through these friendly schools.
Because of these encounters with national-level teams, Seidou's players had a broad understanding of the game.
It helped them maintain their form.
The revival of the mighty Seidou Baseball Team had a lot to do with their hard work and Sawamura's arrival.
But also, the foundation of their legacy and their solid relationships with these top national teams played a massive role.
Yamamori High School!
This team had risen fast, and when they played against Seidou in the spring Koshien, they seemed rather immature.
But now, after defeating several teams, they had reached the national top eight.
And the last one was even more familiar.
From Sawamura Eijun's hometown, Nagano Prefecture.
Hoshiryu High School!
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