Chapter 209: Baseball Idiots

Thinking of this, Fujio also felt a bit of pity for Ichidai Sanko; they clearly had a pitcher with peerless talent, yet the guy found training a waste of time and boring, so he quit the team to go date.

Where is Ichidai Sanko supposed to go to reason with that?

Take today's game, for instance; if Amakusa Kosei were still on the team, even if Ichidai Sanko still lost in the end, they absolutely wouldn't have lost by as many as 8 runs.

"Senior, let's go interview Seido," Miss Akiko suddenly turned her head to say.

Fujio nodded, "We definitely have to go for an interview, but not now. Seido is about to face the finals, and at a time like this, Coach Kataoka won't allow the players to be disturbed."

"Is that so? What a pity," Miss Akiko looked disappointed.

Fujio chuckled; this woman, the interview was just a pretext, wanting to go see the handsome guy with glasses was the real reason.

At Seido High School, after Huangqian Yangyi and his group returned, they disbanded on the spot to rest.

Returning to the dormitory and grabbing his basin and towel, Huangqian Yangyi went to the room next door to knock on Miyuki's door, and the two walked toward the bathhouse side by side.

"What's wrong with you? You look like your complexion isn't very good."

Soaking in the tub, Huangqian Yangyi asked while fiddling with his little Huangqian.

Miyuki, soaking opposite him, shook his head: "I was thinking about Tanba-san's pitching today; perhaps he really isn't suited to be a starter."

"You only just realized?" Huangqian Yangyi felt helpless; wasn't that obvious?

"Among the three pitchers on the First String, besides you, neither Tanba-san nor Kawakami are suited to be starting pitchers. It's fine if the opponent isn't strong, but if they encounter a formidable enemy, once the opponent starts attacking aggressively from the get-go, both of them will find it hard to withstand that kind of pressure."

Miyuki leaned his head against the edge of the tub, "The ideal state is, of course, for you to pitch the whole game alone; that way everyone is relaxed, except for you."

Hearing this, Huangqian Yangyi rolled his eyes. This was the least likely scenario to occur. Not to mention that his stamina couldn't possibly support him pitching every game, with his ball speed, once the pitch count got high, it would be very damaging to his body; the Coach would absolutely never allow it.

"Let's be realistic," Huangqian Yangyi said.

Miyuki smiled and said: "You start, Kawakami relieves, and Tanba-san closes; that's the best."

"But, we can't do that every game. Once we reach Koshien and encounter strong enemies, if every game follows this pattern, it will be very easy for us to be targeted."

Huangqian Yangyi nodded in agreement; this was indeed a problem. Ever since Seido consecutively won the Summer Koshien and Spring Koshien championships, all the baseball powerhouses in the country had regarded Seido as the biggest rival for this year's Koshien. Everyone's data had likely been studied over and over again countless times. If they didn't add something new, even Huangqian Yangyi couldn't guarantee they could walk safely to the end at Koshien.

"Listening to you, between the First Year Sawamura and Furuya, who do you favor?" Huangqian Yangyi asked.

Miyuki was silent for a long while, seemingly deep in thought.

"From the current stage, Furuya Satoru's pitching ability is undoubtedly more useful than Sawamura's. Although his control is still lacking, his ball speed is his greatest weapon."

Speaking of this, Miyuki gave a wry smile and continued: "However, with you here, he won't be of use for the time being; at least this summer, he won't have a chance."

"So, you think Sawamura will be the first to enter the First String?"

Miyuki gave a hum, "Although that kid's ball speed is a bit lacking, his natural movement is an effective weapon, along with that pitching form where the release point is invisible. Plus, he has also mastered his four-seam Fastball quite well now. Next, as long as he can improve his control and pitch well both inside and outside, he will definitely be able to give those teams that don't understand him a surprise."

"You're using him as a secret weapon, then," Huangqian Yangyi said.

Because of his own presence, Sawamura and Furuya definitely wouldn't have many opportunities to play while in their First Year, at least not until the Summer Tournament ended.

The others at Seido might not know, but Huangqian Yangyi was clear about how pressure-resistant that kid Sawamura was; just look at the countless times he saved the game in the original story.

For a guy with such a big heart, if he could enter the First String, it would be no problem for him to occasionally start on the mound; at least Huangqian Yangyi felt he was more reliable than Tanba.

Miyuki shrugged helplessly: "No choice, no matter which of the two it is, they can only be like this for a short time."

Hearing this, Huangqian Yangyi shook his head, "There are still a few months left; it's too early to say these things now. Who knows, before the Summer Tournament starts, these two kids might give you a surprise."

"You're right, these are problems the Coach and the instructors should worry about," Miyuki said.

Thus, the two soon sank into silence.

That evening, after his self-training ended, Huangqian Yangyi came to the Dugout at the A-side Field to watch the First Years' red-and-white scrimmage.

Although it was only an internal scrimmage for the First Years and not a new-versus-old scrimmage, Huangqian Yangyi was very interested.

He wanted to see who among the First Years would be promoted to the Second String after this.

"Yangyi, drink some water."

Fujiwara Takako handed over a sports drink.

"Thank you, Senior."

"The First Years are all very spirited," Fujiwara Takako noticed that Huangqian Yangyi had been watching the game on the field the whole time and smiled as she spoke.

Huangqian Yangyi gave a hum, "Senior, let me see the data for those few guys."

"Who?" Fujiwara Takako asked.

"Furuya Satoru, Sawamura Eijun, Kominato Haruichi, and Arima Kazusa."

"Okay." Fujiwara Takako turned around and started searching through a pile of notebooks and folders.

"Here you go."

"Mm, thanks."

Flipping through the training data for these few over this period, Huangqian Yangyi was more and more pleasantly surprised. Furuya Satoru's control seemed to have made some progress; at least that was what the training data showed. It was just hard to say how this guy would fare once he got into a game.

And in Sawamura's data, there was actually a cutter; Huangqian Yangyi was stunned for a moment and turned his head to ask: "Senior, when did that kid start practicing the cutter? How come I didn't know?"

Fujiwara Takako blinked and smiled: "Just two days ago, Chris taught him."

"Senior Chris?"

Hearing this answer, Huangqian Yangyi immediately looked toward the B-side Field, where Chris was training with the Second String.

Who would have thought, the master-disciple bond between Chris and Sawamura had come after all.

Come to think of it, whether it was Furuya Satoru or Sawamura Eijun, both had started some systematic training half a year early due to Huangqian Yangyi's intervention; it was no wonder they had such a growth rate now.

As for batting, among the few, Kominato Haruichi's batting performance remained eye-catching, followed by Arima Kazusa. That kid looked like a refined person, but he turned out to be an Extra-base Hit type Batter.

Looking at defense, Kominato Haruichi and Arima Kazusa were still the ones who stood out.

By comparison, Sawamura and Furuya Satoru's performance in the outfield could be described as disastrous.

They were simply two baseball idiots who knew nothing but pitching.