Chapter 332: The First Battle of Autumn

Two more days passed, and they were back in the meeting room.

The bracket for the Autumn Tournament Regional Qualifier had just been released.

Seido's first-round opponent: East Tokyo, Toyosaki High School.

Although it was only a public school with a mediocre track record, not a single person from top to bottom at Seido failed to take it seriously.

This was the first battle for their newly formed team, and they had to produce sufficiently impressive results.

Facing a weaker team was an opportunity for the new First String members to fully showcase themselves in an official game.

Everyone was eager and ready to show off their skills in the match.

"That is all! That is the data for all the players from Toyosaki High School. The opponent is not strong, but we cannot let our guard down. Pay attention to their infield pull-hitting, be extra careful on defense, and do not give the opponent any chance to break through our defensive line."

"Yes, Coach!"

"Very good. This game is the first battle for the new team. No matter who the opponent is, we have our own things to do and goals to achieve. Take every step steadily. I do not want to see any sloppy performance during the game, do you understand?!"

"Understood!!"

The voices from below were uniform and resonant.

"Then, I will now announce tomorrow's starting lineup."

Looking at the spirited players in front of him, Coach Kataoka nodded with satisfaction.

"First batter, Shortstop, Kuramochi Yoichi."

"Second batter, Second Baseman, Kominato Ryosuke."

The middle infield combination was still Kuramochi and Kominato, only it used to be the older brother Kominato, and now it was the younger brother Kominato.

During the recent practices and training games, Kominato Haruichi had performed brilliantly and successfully earned the starting spot.

"Third batter, Catcher, Miyuki Kazuya."

"Fourth batter, Left Fielder, Huangqian Yangyi."

After the fourth batter was announced, the expressions of the players below were a bit strange. Captain, Ace, and now Fourth Batter too.

Coach, you are really working our Huangqian like a pack mule.

Huangqian Yangyi himself gave a bitter smile; although he had anticipated it, having all three core roles concentrated on him made him feel considerable pressure.

"Fifth batter, Third Baseman, Arima Kazusa."

The extremely talented hitter Arima Kazusa had also fought for a spot in the middle of the batting order. After more than half a year of tempering, Arima Kazusa possessed quite impressive hitting techniques and the ability to hit for extra bases.

A starter, fifth batter! Arima Kazusa was emotionally stirred. Although this was only the new team's first game and the coach was still experimenting with the batting order, as long as he seized this first opportunity, he wouldn't have to worry about losing his spot in the middle of the order.

"Sixth batter, First Baseman, Maezono Kenta."

"Seventh batter, Right Fielder, Shirasu Kenjiro."

"Eighth batter, Center Fielder, Tojo Hideaki."

The eighth batter was Tojo, who had joined Seido and voluntarily transitioned to an outfielder. Before joining Seido, Tojo had always been a pitcher on his teams, and in middle school, he was even the ace pitcher for Matsukata, having reached the national top four.

Carrying the dream of being a pitcher, he was brutally struck by reality after entering Seido. To get playing time, he had to switch to being an outfielder, and in his heart, he was actually somewhat unwilling.

But there was no help for it; ahead of him were the absolute ace Huangqian Yangyi, the backup ace Kawakami Norifumi, the same-year fastball genius Furuya Satoru, and the same-year natural left-handed pitcher with the Seven-colored Changeup, Sawamura Eijun.

Seido's pitching staff is truly damn hard to break into!

Understanding this, Tojo quickly adjusted his position. He no longer hoped for the pitcher's mound for the time being; he was satisfied enough to enter the First String and earn a starting spot. And right now, Center Fielder was his position!

"Ninth batter, Pitcher, Sawamura Eijun!"

The last name fell.

First-year pitcher Sawamura Eijun had earned the starting opportunity.

"Those 9! That is tomorrow's starting lineup. This is a new beginning, go all out!"

"Yes!!!"

"Sawamura!"

"Yes! BOSS! Here! Bigboss!" Sawamura stood up excitedly in a flash, legs together, standing at attention and saluting.

"Tomorrow, I want you to pitch a complete game. Can you do it?"

A complete game!!

Everyone was shocked. Being a starter was already enough to be highly regarded, but to be asked for a complete game! This was the new team's first game, which was enough to show how much the coach valued Sawamura.

Sawamura was also stunned to hear the coach ask for a complete game; this was the first time he had been expected to do so by the coach. After a deep breath, Sawamura puffed out his chest and shouted with full breath: "I can!"

"Good! Perform well tomorrow."

Coach Kataoka patted Sawamura on the shoulder, then turned to look at Furuya and Kawakami.

"Furuya, Kawakami, there are two more rounds of games coming up, you two will be responsible for them. No problem, right?"

Both nodded after hearing this. Three rounds of the regional qualifier, the three of them would each be responsible for one game; it was not a big problem.

Looking at the bracket, the opponents in these three rounds were not strong, which allowed them to test the team's chemistry while giving the pitchers a chance to perform.

As for the team's ace, he was slated for the Left Fielder position during these three rounds of qualifiers. Huangqian Yangyi was happy to rest; the opponents weren't strong, and it was a bit boring for him to pitch, plus he could still bat, right? His current home run count had reached 55, and Huangqian Yangyi's goal was to push his home run count to over 60 in this Autumn Tournament.

Huangqian Yangyi being nailed to Left Fielder made him happy, and the other three pitchers were also happy since they had a chance to play, but Asou Takeru was miserable.

Having finally made it into the First String and snatched the Left Fielder position, he ended up being pinned to the bench.

What a pitiful guy.

The next morning, 8:30 AM.

The first game of the Autumn Tournament Regional Qualifier.

First base side, West Tokyo, Seido High School.

Third base side, East Tokyo, Toyosaki High School.

After entering the field, the two teams presented completely different atmospheres.

On the Seido side on the first base line, although everyone had no intention of looking down on the opponent, the atmosphere was relatively relaxed. Only a very few people who were playing for the first time felt nervous, worried that they wouldn't be able to put on a good performance on the field.

Meanwhile, on the Third Base side, the expressions of the people from Toyosaki High School were truly unsightly.

When the tournament bracket was released and they learned their first-round opponent was actually Seido High School, the sky fell for the people of Toyosaki High School.

As a metropolitan public school, their Baseball Club was mostly recreational and could not even be considered strong among metropolitan high schools; although it is said that friendship comes first and competition second, and they themselves never expected to achieve any remarkable results, wasn't it going too far to make them play Seido right from the start?

This is a Koshien hegemon, a championship battery! The strongest Pitcher and the strongest batting lineup!

A one-round exit!

Even if it's about the spirit of participation, this is too much, right?

Facing the big boss right at the start! Toyosaki High School was practically crying.

"Sigh~ why is our luck so bad."

"It's over before it even began."

"It's finished, it's finished; let's just go home and sleep after 5 innings."