Chapter 378: Finals as Training Ground

In the second semi-final, Inashiro Industrial vs. Teito High School, Teito High School ultimately secured the victory. During the game, Narumiya Mei did not take the mound to pitch at all. Seen in this light, it appears Inashiro Industrial has already given up on the Spring Tournament. After all, it is only a Dudahui, and this year is Narumiya Mei's final opportunity to participate in the Summer Koshien; Manager Kunitomo would absolutely not let Narumiya Mei fight to the death here against Teito and Seido.

Furthermore, Narumiya Mei's condition has been fluctuating recently, so he definitely needs to adjust properly; a duel between powerhouses would only increase the burden on Narumiya Mei.

In the evening, Huangqian Yangyi, Miyuki Kazuya, Kuramochi Yoichi, the Captain, and the Vice Captain were all summoned to the office.

"Manager."

After the three of them entered, Huangqian Yangyi familiarly sat on the sofa opposite Manager Kataoka. Seeing this, Miyuki chuckled and sat down as well, while Kuramochi felt somewhat uneasy; those two bastards were used to coming here, but he hadn't come many times.

"Sit."

Only after Manager Kataoka spoke did Kuramochi sit down.

"Tsk, to think you even need the Manager to invite you to sit; you've got quite the airs."

"Exactly, exactly, is it really necessary to put on such a show?"

Huangqian Yangyi and Miyuki began stabbing him with words without the slightest restraint.

Takashima Rei and Department Head Ota, standing to the side, couldn't help but laugh immediately, and Ochiai Hiromitsu also curled his lips while watching Kuramochi's embarrassed expression.

Backstabbed by his good friends, Kuramochi Yoichi could only scratch his head in embarrassment.

Manager Kataoka shook his head helplessly. Of his three disciples, Huangqian Yangyi and Miyuki Kazuya were both certain to shine in professional baseball, and as for Kuramochi, ever since he was a First Year and was coaxed by Huangqian Yangyi into specializing in left-handed batting, his current strength was also sufficient to enter professional baseball, though it was hard to say how far he could develop.

Out of these three excellent people, not a single one was serious.

"The next game is the final..."

"Are you going to let me take the Pitcher's Mound?" Huangqian Yangyi asked.

"No."

Manager Kataoka rejected Huangqian Yangyi's request to play. "For this final, Miyuki, Kuramochi, you two will rest."

"Eh?"

"Huh?!"

Miyuki and Kuramochi stared at Manager Kataoka in shock. The two of them—one was the detonator of the batting lineup, the other was the team's unshakable starting Catcher—and both were Vice Captains; were they really not going to play at all?

"In the next game, Teito High School shouldn't let Mukai Taiyo pitch the whole game either; this is a good opportunity to train the team," Manager Kataoka said.

After hearing this, Huangqian Yangyi nodded to himself. Since both were powerhouses and neither would go all out, it was indeed a rare opportunity for the non-starting players.

Miyuki and Kuramochi clearly understood this logic as well. Regarding the Catcher position, it would likely be centered around Ono Hiroshi, and perhaps Yui Kaoru would get a chance to play.

As for the Shortstop position, Kanemaru Shinji, who had switched to being Kuramochi's backup, also needed to accumulate game experience. With the game against Teito being a final, he wondered if he was prepared.

"Of course, as the backbone of the team, seeing what the team can achieve while you are not participating is also something that needs to be known during this game," Manager Kataoka continued.

After this summer ends, the Third Years will retire. While it is still only the Spring Dudahui, taking this not-so-important final to test the team is truly the most appropriate thing to do.

"What about me? Am I not playing either?" Huangqian Yangyi asked.

"Huangqian, you still need to be in the batting lineup. Although we are training the team, this is a final after all; you need to score enough runs to ensure the team's victory."

"Put that way, I feel a lot of pressure," Huangqian Yangyi said with a bitter smile.

"Well, well~ after all, you are the Captain," Miyuki said, patting Huangqian Yangyi's shoulder with schadenfreude.

Of the three, only Huangqian Yangyi was given a task. After returning to the dormitory, Huangqian Yangyi grabbed Yui Kaoru, while Miyuki and Kuramochi went to grab Sawamura.

If nothing unexpected happened, in the final, Furuya would pair with Ono Hiroshi, while Yui Kaoru would pair with Sawamura. Although it felt a bit like cramming at the last minute, he still had to let him get more familiar with Sawamura's pitching.

"Captain, I've tried Sawamura-senpai's numbered pitches in the Bullpen; except for the No. 2 and No. 7, I can catch the others steadily." Although Yui Kaoru didn't know if he would play in the final, he was still very excited that Huangqian Yangyi wanted him to come to the Indoor Training Ground to catch Sawamura's pitches.

"Is that so? Then let's focus the training on the No. 2 and No. 7 pitch types later," Huangqian Yangyi said.

The No. 2 was Sawamura's signature Two-seam Fastball; so far, Yui Kaoru hadn't caught it enough times in training and wasn't proficient yet, and his success rate for catching the No. 7, the Modified Cutter, wasn't high either. If these two pitch types were missing during the game, the power of Sawamura's pitching would instantly drop by more than half.

"Yes, I will work hard," Yui Kaoru nodded earnestly, promising.

Not long after arriving at the Indoor Training Ground, Sawamura was also kidnapped by Miyuki and Kuramochi. During the hour of catching practice, Yui Kaoru had his fill; Sawamura's numbered pitches were very interesting to him.

In the blink of an eye, the final against Teito arrived.

Tokyo Spring Dudahui Final, Seido High School vs. Teito High School.

When the starting lineups for both sides appeared on the scoreboard, as the two managers had expected, neither side had sent out all their main players.

On Seido's side.

First Batter, Second Baseman, Kominato Haruichi.

Second Batter, Catcher, Ono Hiroshi.

Third Batter, Third Baseman, Arima Kazusa.

Fourth Batter, Center Fielder, Huangqian Yangyi.

Fifth Batter, Right Fielder, Yuki Masashi.

Sixth Batter, First Baseman, Maezono Kenta.

Seventh Batter, Left Fielder, Asou Takeru.

Eighth Batter, Shortstop, Kanemaru Shinji.

Ninth Batter, Pitcher, Furuya Satoru.

"Huangqian Yangyi is indeed in the batting lineup." Manager Okamoto was not surprised at all to see Huangqian Yangyi's name appear in the starting lineup.

Seido's arrangement was simply brilliant; it could train the newcomers while ensuring the victory of the game to the greatest extent.

"I think Manager Kataoka intends to let Huangqian-senpai continue to rack up his Home Run count."

Mukai Taiyo, who had been told he would only have three innings of playing time today, looked at the Seido bench opposite with great displeasure.

"A terrifying record," Inui Kengo said with a straight face. He wouldn't be catching the whole game today either; according to Manager Okamoto's wishes, he needed to pair with other pitchers on the team during today's game, after which he would be moved to the outfield, while Mukai Taiyo would pair with the First Year catcher.

Soon, the game began.

Furuya Satoru, who started on the mound, only gave up two runs over the course of 5 innings, aside from the Home Run he allowed when facing Inui Kengo.

Meanwhile, Seido's batting lineup blossomed in every way; there were 7 Home Runs alone—one from Furuya Satoru, one from Yuki Masashi, one from Arima Kazusa, one from Maezono Kenta, and three from Huangqian Yangyi. Teito changed two pitchers, and both were blown out.