If only his pitching velocity had been another ten kilometres per hour faster back then.
No, even an additional five kilometres per hour would have been enough.
The results would have been completely different.
After his rebirth, Sawamura had devoted himself wholeheartedly to improving his pitching velocity.
This kind of training was most effective when carried out over the six years spanning junior high and senior high school, allowing a pitcher's development to progress alongside his physical growth.
Once the body passed the age of sixteen, however, its development would largely begin to stabilise. Making substantial improvements in pitching velocity after that became extraordinarily difficult.
In his previous life, Sawamura had only managed to reach 140 kilometres per hour by the time he graduated from high school.
That certainly wasn't a poor velocity amongst professional pitchers.
Unfortunately, it didn't provide him with any particularly significant advantage either.
In this life, Sawamura wasn't asking for much.
All he wanted was to improve his previous record by another ten kilometres per hour.
If he could reach 150 kilometres per hour while retaining his astonishing repertoire of breaking balls, he was absolutely certain he could create a legend of his own.
Although Sawamura had achieved a respectable amount of success in his previous life, he'd still fallen considerably short of becoming a genuine legend.
Even amongst the players of his own generation, he hadn't managed to establish himself as the greatest.
But that was getting ahead of things.
For now, back to the match.
A first-year junior high school student.
Twelve years old.
A pitching velocity of 120 kilometres per hour!
Although Sawamura himself wasn't particularly satisfied with that figure, it was already an astonishing achievement.
At the very least, the members of Shirin Junior High's second-string team were finding it rather difficult to accept.
During their usual batting practice, they generally faced pitches travelling at around 100 kilometres per hour.
Even the fastest pitches they encountered rarely exceeded 110.
A fastball travelling at 120 kilometres per hour was something completely outside their experience.
"Strike!"
"Strike!"
"Strike three! You're out!"
…
"That pitcher's fastball is ridiculously quick!"
"Tell me about it!"
"How are we supposed to hit something like that?"
For a while, Shirin's players were completely at a loss.
Meanwhile, Sawamura continued encouraging his own teammates.
"One run! That's all we need! Just one run!"
"I'll keep their batters under control, so as long as you lot can score a single run, we've still got a chance!"
"Don't worry about whether it's skill or blind luck! Just swing whenever you see the ball coming! Sooner or later, something's bound to happen!"
At that moment, Sawamura was beginning to regret his earlier decision.
If only I'd been batting fourth!
If he'd been the cleanup hitter, all the first three batters would have needed to do was reach base.
Then he could have brought them home with a timely hit.
Unfortunately, with Sawamura occupying the leadoff spot, the three batters immediately preceding him in the lineup were the seventh, eighth and ninth hitters.
Forget Shirin's pitcher.
Even if an eight-year-old child had been throwing the ball, those three would probably have struggled to make contact!
In the end, no miracle occurred.
Akagi Junior High's first practice match was destined to end with a certain amount of regret.
After seven innings, the score remained unchanged.
Akagi Junior High 0–0 Shirin Junior High.
A scoreless draw!
Because this wasn't an official match, Shirin's coach hadn't bothered arranging any particular offensive tactics for his players.
Otherwise, even with Sawamura's 120-kilometre-per-hour fastball, there was no guarantee Akagi could have held their opponents to a draw.
Nevertheless, although the result was somewhat disappointing, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing for Akagi's players.
The match had allowed them to recognise their own shortcomings.
More importantly, it had made them even more interested in baseball.
When it came to developing enthusiasm for a sport, nothing worked quite as effectively as actually participating in a match.
After experiencing their first competitive game, the members of Akagi had finally begun to understand the true appeal of baseball.
Sawamura was extremely pleased with that outcome.
At the time, however, he had no idea what consequences this particular match would eventually bring to him and Akagi.
Unlike Akagi, Shirin Junior High was a well-known baseball school in Nagano Prefecture.
It maintained regular contact with many of the other schools throughout the region.
As Shirin's second-string team continued arranging additional practice matches, a particular name gradually began circulating throughout Nagano's junior high school baseball community.
That name was…
Sawamura Eijun!
Almost overnight, Nagano Prefecture seemed to have gained a remarkably talented new pitcher.
A fastball exceeding 120 kilometres per hour!
That single achievement alone was more than enough to attract attention.
Even Sawamura, despite possessing the experiences and knowledge of his previous life, hadn't anticipated that he would somehow become a well-known junior high school pitcher throughout Nagano Prefecture.
As his reputation spread, invitations for practice matches began pouring into Akagi.
There was certainly no shortage of schools eager to face them.
However, after giving the matter careful consideration, Sawamura decided against asking Sano to arrange another match immediately.
Using setbacks to stimulate his teammates' interest in baseball was all well and good, but once was enough.
If he continued arranging matches in which his friends were completely outclassed, the strategy might eventually produce the opposite effect.
At the very least, Akagi needed to score some runs in their next practice match.
Otherwise, wouldn't every Akagi baseball game simply become an opportunity for Sawamura to put on a one-man performance?
A team was a team.
It wasn't the private possession of any single player.
Sacrificing the collective interests of the team for one's own benefit was absolutely unacceptable.
And as the captain, founder and organiser of the baseball club, Sawamura believed he had an even greater responsibility to lead by example.
With that in mind, he gathered his teammates and told them about the invitations.
"We've received quite a few requests for practice matches lately. Looks like everyone's rather interested in this fastball pitcher of yours!"
Sawamura made absolutely no attempt to conceal the smug satisfaction spreading across his face.
Faced with such shameless honesty, his teammates naturally felt a little irritated.
Nevertheless, they understood his point and didn't make too much of a fuss.
After all, regardless of how infuriating Sawamura could sometimes be, his abilities spoke for themselves.
"But I turned them all down."
Sawamura's next words caught everyone's attention.
"This team doesn't belong to me alone. It belongs to all of us."
He looked around at his companions.
"And I certainly don't want to hear people going around saying that Akagi is nothing more than Sawamura Eijun's one-man team!"
Sawamura went on to say quite a few things.
However, those particular words were what truly reached his teammates' hearts.
A couple of the more emotional boys were even moved to tears on the spot.
"Oi, oi! Even Wakana hasn't started crying yet! You're supposed to be grown lads! Stop embarrassing yourselves!"
Sawamura couldn't resist teasing them.
From that day onwards, Akagi's players followed Sawamura's instructions and threw themselves into baseball practice with even greater determination.
They trained harder than ever.
And they waited patiently.
Waited for the opportunity to step onto a baseball field and compete once more!
When that day finally came, they were determined to astonish everyone!
Time passed quietly as Akagi's players continued their relentless training.
Before anyone realised it, an entire month had passed since their match against Shirin Junior High.
Throughout that period, everyone had worked extremely hard.
Not only had they become familiar with the basic rules of baseball, but their batting and fielding had also begun to look reasonably competent.
At the very least, they now resembled actual baseball players.
Sawamura felt that the time was finally right.
They could begin considering their next practice match.
When he brought up the idea, Sano immediately expressed his wholehearted approval.
"Of course! Club activities are supposed to involve exchanges with other schools! How can you improve without interacting with other teams?"
In truth, Sano had been driven almost to the brink of madness by the endless telephone calls requesting practice matches.
Every single day, someone seemed to be contacting the school about arranging a game.
Now that Sawamura had finally agreed to accept another invitation, Sano naturally had no intention of letting the opportunity slip away.
"Then, Sensei, could you show me the schools that have invited us to play over the past month?"
Naturally, Sano had no reason to refuse such a reasonable request.
Without hesitation, he handed Sawamura the list of schools whose names he'd recorded.
Of course, the list wasn't entirely complete.
Sano had made a few deliberate omissions.
Amongst the schools that had contacted Akagi were several of the very same teams that had previously looked down on them and refused their initial practice-match requests.
Now that Sawamura was becoming famous, those schools had suddenly changed their minds and come knocking.
However, Sano had rejected every single one of them with righteous indignation!
After all, those schools had been the ones to turn their noses up at Akagi in the first place.
There was no way he was going to welcome them back with open arms now!
"This one!"
After carefully examining the list for quite some time, Sawamura finally selected a particular school.
"Tell them we'll be travelling to their school for the match. They should have the field ready for us."
Sawamura delivered these instructions with such casual confidence that Sano momentarily experienced a rather peculiar illusion.
For some reason, the boy's manner made it seem as though Akagi Junior High was some extraordinarily prestigious baseball powerhouse.
In reality, however, Akagi had accomplished precisely one thing.
They'd managed to draw a single practice match.
And their opponents had merely been Shirin Junior High's second-string team!
Without Sawamura Eijun, who on earth would have even heard of Akagi's baseball club?
End of Chapter 006