After watching the match between Yakushi High and Sankou High, the members of the Seidou High School baseball team, led by Coach Kataoka, boarded their team's special bus to head back to the school.
On the way back, the team members couldn't contain their thoughts any longer and began discussing their strategy for facing Yakushi High's baseball team.
Originally, everyone thought the difficulty of the finals should be less than the semifinals. After all, the strength of the Inashiro High School baseball team was well known, and they had been preparing for over six months, constantly coming up with new tricks...
Even the Seidou High baseball team had done quite a bit of preparation before the game.
However, their level of preparation was nowhere near the level of Inashiro.
In the game against Inajitsu High's baseball team, the members of Seidou High School had never felt this figured out.
It was as if everything had been calculated and planned. The Seidou High team felt like a caged beast as if every move they made was shackled.
If it hadn't been for the Ace, Sawamura, who kept the situation steady with his superior abilities, to be honest, the chances of Seidou High winning against Inajitsu High would have been lower than they should.
It was too dangerous!
In terms of overall strength, Seidou High's team wasn't inferior, but their opponent had far superior strategies...
Seidou High's baseball team almost lost the game.
Luckily, they had made it through this tough challenge, and everyone quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
With the next opponent, no matter how strong, could they really be stronger than Inajitsu High?
With this thought, it seemed like the upcoming games became easier.
Before watching the match between Yakushi and Sankou High, the Seidou High baseball team wasn't highly concerned about their next opponent.
It didn't matter if it was Yakushi High or Sankou High...
To the Seidou High team, it was the same; they would destroy whoever came.
They were full of confidence before the match, but after watching it, they revised this thinking.
It seemed that Yakushi High's baseball team wasn't as easy as they had thought.
In this game, even though their Ace had been injured, the other players from Yakushi High managed to hold their ground through teamwork.
At first glance, it seemed easy, but upon careful thought, the dangers of the game became clear.
Throughout the match, Sankou High managed to get 16 hits.
This wasn't a simple number; it represented a danger that made one shiver.
Yet they only scored four runs.
Except for the pitcher, Igarashi, who performed excellently, the overall defense of Yakushi High had improved by several levels, and that was the main reason.
Looking at Yakushi High's performance, they had far fewer hits than Sankou High but still managed to score seven runs, three more than Sankou.
This efficiency far surpassed that of Sankou.
Normally, powerhouse teams are the best at converting hits into runs.
Because they've trained for a long time and specifically focus on it.
Ordinary teams, on the other hand, may lack the necessary coaching or training time to excel in this area, so their ability to convert hits to runs is comparatively weaker.
But in this game, Sankou, a powerhouse, was outperformed by Yakushi High in terms of converting hits into runs.
"There's much to analyze here."
"Yeah, they have always been a troublesome team."
Now, Yakushi High's baseball team had all their key players handpicked by Raizou. In fact, several of them had been training with him since childhood.
Though unconventional in some ways, Yakushi High's baseball team shouldn't be underestimated. Their training volume and player abilities were now at the level of a powerhouse team.
Faced with such an opponent, the Seidou High team had to carefully study them.
Also, their batting lineup was formidable.
Amahisa, one of the top pitchers in the nation, had undeniable skills and power.
Yet despite this, Yakushi High's team managed to get over ten hits off him.
This was definitely worth considering!
After analyzing the strength of Yakushi High's baseball team, Coach Kataoka seriously told everyone on the Seidou High team:
"Although their Ace might be injured and may not pitch tomorrow, we absolutely cannot let our guard down. Today's game has shown us everything. If we take it lightly, the consequences could be very serious."
After saying this, Coach Kataoka specifically asked Sawamura:
"How many innings do you think you can pitch tomorrow?"
If it were someone else, Coach Kataoka would not have asked so directly.
For most pitchers, regardless of whether they could handle it, they would probably just say, "I can do it!" to avoid disappointing the team.
But Sawamura was different.
Aside from the team's results, he was also very responsible for his own personal plans.
What did he want to do after graduation? What was his career plan? What was his training schedule?
Sawamura had everything arranged clearly, so there was no need for Coach Kataoka to worry.
Sawamura wouldn't force himself to pitch if he felt that he wouldn't be able to help the team and would only create trouble. He would speak up without needing to be told.
This was truly a player you could trust!
After hearing Coach Kataoka's question, Sawamura thought for a moment and confidently replied:
"A full game is no problem! I only threw over 80 pitches today, which is not close to my limit. I'll be fine to pitch tomorrow as usual."
Coach Kataoka nodded in satisfaction.
What Sawamura meant was that he could be in perfect condition to face the next opponent.
In simple terms, if he could pitch as much today, he could do the same tomorrow. If the pace didn't change, he could even pitch through the 15th inning.
"Alright, then be ready to start from the first inning tomorrow."
After saying that, he turned to look at Kawakami, Nishiyama, and Furuya.
"You all need to be ready as well. If needed, I might have you pitch."
Coach Kataoka said this casually, not expecting much.
In his mind, tomorrow's game would surely be extremely intense.
Would there be any opportunity for him to have Kawakami or Furuya pitch during such a fierce match?
It was unlikely.
However, just in case, if Sawamura and the Seidou team got a big lead early, Coach Kataoka wouldn't mind having other pitchers take over in the later innings.
This wasn't about giving the team more experience but also wanting to lessen the pressure on Sawamura as much as possible.
Even if he didn't need to, Kataoka would rather not.
After all, after the finals, they only had a little over a week before the Koshien tournament began!
During this time, Seidou High had no practice games.
It wasn't because the tournament banned it, but because they had to get the players to the best condition.
A good rest after a tough tournament is crucial.
Even if Seidou didn't care, the other teams wouldn't want to play practice games with them before the Koshien.
After explaining everything, Coach Kataoka dismissed the team.
After dinner, Sawamura didn't practice but went straight to shower and get ready for bed.
Of course, before sleeping, he was checking his phone to see what messages he received.
When he saw the contact number on Narumiya Mei empty today, he couldn't help but sigh.
After the match when Narumiya thanked him, it was the first time that Sawamura felt his time in high school was running out.
He always knew, and he experienced it before. But this is the first time he felt it this heavy.
Narumiya and the rest of Inashiro, Amahisa and the rest of Sankou. In just one day, he has lost most of his big rivals in West Tokyo.
Of course, he knew that they would go higher after this, and soon, he too would have to go higher. But it was like the feeling like you are growing older, even if you are excited about the challenge, you would feel nostalgic for the simple and passionate world of Youth.
Today, this Youth of Narumiya, Amahisa, and their teams ended, and soon it would be the time for Miyuki-senpai, Kuramochi-senpai, Zono-san, and the rest.
And later it would be his turn too.
Mei-san said that he didn't want to leave any regrets, but Sawamura knew he would have many of his regrets, if not why would he entrust his dreams to him?
These regrets were just inevitable.
"But not this time…"
Yet, Sawamura didn't want to take these regrets with him again.
If not then this one-in-a-billion chance would be a waste!
So for his friends and for himself,
To make the best of their Youth,
To make their summer the longest,
Eijun will do his damn best to not take any of these regrets with them!
He did it before, and he definitely can do it one more time!
"For No More Regrets!"
…
T/N: That's it for Today.
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