Chapter 314: The Draw

The next day, August 4th, Huangqian Yangyi got up early and ran into Yuki Tetsuya at the cafeteria, who was preparing to attend the drawing ceremony.

"Captain, thank you for your hard work; you must bring back a good draw," Huangqian Yangyi said with a smile.

Yuki Tetsuya shook his head with a wry smile, "I'll do my best, but you know how my luck is."

"It doesn't matter; no matter who we draw, we just need to crush them," Huangqian Yangyi said with a smile.

"I, for one, hope we can get a bye in the first round," Yuki Tetsuya said.

At Koshien, there is no such thing as seeded teams; every team must draw lots, and this can, to a large extent, even affect the final outcome of the championship.

For instance, if two teams with championship-contending strength have bad luck in the draw, it is possible for them to meet in the first round.

Even for Seido High School, if their luck were truly abysmal, they could encounter strong schools one after another starting from the first round, such as Osaka Kiryu, Seibo High School, Teito High School, Hakuryu, Komadai Fujimaki...

If the bracket were like that, why even play? Just pack up and go; you go back to your Gao Lao Zhuang, and I'll go back to my Liusha River.

"It doesn't necessarily have to be a great draw, as long as we don't meet strong teams in the first two rounds, a decent draw is fine," Huangqian Yangyi said.

Yuki Tetsuya nodded; he didn't dare hope for a bye, but as long as they didn't run into those overly strong teams in the first two or three rounds, they could preserve as much stamina as possible without too much depletion.

Moreover, encountering slightly weaker teams would allow the First Years to take the field, hone their skills, and accumulate experience.

After all, if the four little ones in their First Year wanted to play at Koshien, it could only happen when facing weak teams; if their luck with the draw was truly bad, they would just have to sit on the bench the whole time.

After eating a little something to fill his stomach, Huangqian Yangyi took the four little ones out of the hotel.

After playing at the stadium for the morning, not long after they returned to the hotel, Yuki Tetsuya, who had attended the drawing ceremony, came back.

"How was it? How was it?"

"Who is the first-round opponent?"

The companions asked impatiently.

Soon, Yuki Tetsuya announced the completed bracket; the Koshien draw is divided into two parts, with 49 teams determining the matchups for the first three rounds in the first draw, and after three rounds, the final eight are decided, followed by a second draw.

And in the first draw, 15 teams would receive a bye.

The Seido players were all desperately hoping to draw a bye so they could rest more and observe their opponents in advance.

Unfortunately, Seido ultimately did not have that kind of heaven-defying luck.

Seido's first-round opponent was Naruto High School from Tokushima Prefecture.

"Not bad, we won't meet any strong teams in the first three rounds."

"Mm, the Captain's luck this time is barely acceptable."

"A decent draw!"

Yuki Tetsuya smiled and looked at Manager Kataoka; with the bracket in hand, the next step should be to research the opponents and set the lineup.

"Neither strong nor weak, it counts as a pretty good appetizer, just right for a warm-up," Huangqian Yangyi said after briefly checking the information on Naruto High School on his phone.

Naruto High School is a public school with limited resources but diligent training; they have been to Koshien a few times, with their best result being reaching the top 8 five years ago, and they are skilled at 'Small Ball Tactics' (bunts, stolen bases).

Among the core players, Captain Moriyama Ryo is a Shortstop with a wide defensive range and is skilled at double play combinations.

The ace Pitcher is Third Year Kuroda Shota.

Pitching characteristics: sidearm (low-shoulder delivery), maximum speed 141 km/h, skilled at the Sinker, and possesses a calm and composed personality; he is a pitcher who relies on his brain.

In addition, there is the Third Year cleanup Batter Shimazu Yu, who is a finesse-type Batter skilled at pushing hits and sacrifice bunts, with a very good on-base percentage.

The entire team's characteristic is the frequent use of bunts, stolen bases, and hit and run plays to deplete the opponent's Pitcher's stamina; their weakness is also very obvious: the Naruto High School batting lineup lacks Extra-base Hit ability, and the center of the lineup lacks explosive power.

"The game time is on the afternoon of the 7th; everyone must make full preparations. The training for these next few days will focus on maintaining condition; training time and intensity must be controlled well. Do not do unnecessary things. The weather forecast shows that the next few days will be high-temperature weather exceeding 30 degrees Celsius; whether training or playing, pay attention to hydration. Do you understand?"

Manager Kataoka held the bracket and looked at the Seido group in front of him.

"Yes! Manager!"

The Seido group shouted in unison; this is the one bad thing about Summer Koshien—it's too hot! Compared to the comfortable climate of the Spring Koshien, the Summer Koshien is simply a double test of the players' physical and mental states.

"Specific tactical arrangements and the starting lineup will be announced before the game. Tonight, the Manager will organize the Naruto High School player data and send it to each of you. You must commit the opponent's player data to memory and make full preparations."

"Yes!"

"That is all! Dismissed!"

Just as Seido was holding their meeting, once the Koshien bracket was out, it immediately sparked discussion in the outside world.

Especially upon seeing that this champion team, Seido, hadn't encountered a single strong school in the first three rounds, the audience couldn't help but marvel at Seido's luck, with some even talking about the fortune of a champion!

On the other side, at Naruto High School, after the bracket came out and they learned that their first-round opponent was actually Seido High School, the meeting room suddenly fell silent.

Champion Seido! The winner of last year's Summer Koshien and this year's Spring Koshien, maintaining an undefeated record to this day, and also the biggest favorite to win this year's Summer Koshien.

For them to run into such a team in the first round was simply a huge joke to Naruto High School.

"It's over."

"How can our luck be so bad!"

"This is Seido, after all."

"Are we going to be one-and-done?"

Listening to his teammates' dispirited talk, Naruto High School Captain Moriyama Ryo wanted to say something to cheer them up, but the words wouldn't come out; Seido, after all, had the strongest Pitcher Huangqian Yangyi, hailed as the undefeated Overlord, and at the same time possessed the strongest batting lineup—what could they possibly use to win?

And in the following two days, the Seido group conducted careful research on Naruto High School while also maintaining a minimum level of training every day.

The night before the game.

"Everyone is here, right? Next, I will announce tomorrow's starting lineup."

As Manager Kataoka's voice fell, all of Seido felt a jolt; it was time!

"First, Shortstop, Kuramochi Yoichi."

No surprise there; the position of Seido's cheetah was as stable as Mount Tai. As a left-handed Batter with super-fast foot speed, there was no doubt that this was Seido's eternal detonator.

"Second, Second Baseman, Kominato Haruichi!"

Hearing this name, everyone was stunned for a moment, then turned their heads one after another to look at Kominato Haruichi behind them.

Kominato Haruichi himself had an expression of disbelief; he had guessed that he might have a chance to play in this Koshien, but he never expected it to come so quickly.