Chapter 384: The Eve

Having watched two games of Yura Sogo Technical High School, everyone at Seido discovered a problem: this team, in terms of the overall quality of its players, is not considered outstanding; that they can win so brilliantly is almost entirely due to Coach Sakaki crushing his opponents in terms of tactics.

During the game, whether on offense or defense, Coach Sakaki can always provide the most appropriate instructions at critical moments; under his command, the combat effectiveness of Yura Sogo Technical High School instantly increases by two levels.

In the entire team, besides Coach Sakaki, there are two other most important people.

One is their ace, the defensive core, Higashiyama.

The second is the fourth batter, Chida; the individual strength of these two is naturally far behind that of the powerhouses, and they can only be considered experts among ordinary high schools; if they were at Seido, perhaps they would only be able to enter the Second String.

But the two execute Coach Sakaki's instructions quite well at critical moments, which must be said to be a kind of talent as well.

"The key point is still Coach Sakaki; as long as we can lock down their tactics, the rhythm of the game will be in our hands."

"Furuya, for the first game, you start; suppress the opponent's batting lineup, can you do it?" Director Kataoka named Furuya.

Furuya stood up with a whoosh, "I can!"

Director Kataoka nodded and continued: "This is a team worth paying attention to; do not be led astray by the opponent's tactics at the start; play steadily and take the game."

"Yes, Director!!"

The First String members, led by Huangqian Yangyi, said in unison below.

This game is not an ordinary game, but a showdown between Director Kataoka and his teacher.

"Very good, then now, the starting lineup for tomorrow."

"First batter, Shortstop, Kuramochi Yoichi."

"Second batter, Second Baseman, Kominato Haruichi."

"Third batter, Catcher, Miyuki Kazuya."

"Fourth batter, Center Fielder, Huangqian Yangyi."

"Fifth batter, Third Baseman, Arima Kazusa."

"Sixth batter, Right Fielder, Shirasu Kenjiro."

"Seventh batter, First Baseman, Maezono Kenta."

"Eighth batter, Left Fielder, Asou Takeru."

"Ninth batter, Pitcher, Furuya Satoru."

The starting 9-man roster was out, and no one was surprised.

Huangqian Yangyi twisted his neck, leaned into Miyuki's ear, and whispered: "Later, help me catch."

"Hm? You're going to pitch?" Miyuki looked surprised; these past few months, Huangqian Yangyi had focused all his energy on batting and hadn't mentioned pitching at all.

"What? You wouldn't have forgotten that I'm the ace, would you?!" Huangqian Yangyi said.

Miyuki chuckled: "How could that be possible? You are always the best ace in my heart."

"Heh, disgusting." Huangqian Yangyi pushed Miyuki away in disgust.

Soon, the meeting ended.

"Furuya, remember to look at the data for every Yura batter again after returning to the dormitory." Huangqian Yangyi reminded.

"Yes, Senior Huangqian."

In the Indoor Training Ground, when the members who were training independently saw Huangqian Yangyi and Miyuki come over and walk to the pitching area, everyone stopped their training one after another.

"Captain, are you finally making a comeback?"

"Huangqian, do you want me to stand in the Batter's Box?"

"Me, me!"

"It's been a long time since I've hit the Captain's pitches."

The teammates gathered around impatiently, each clamoring to bat.

Huangqian Yangyi smiled and shook his head, "Everyone go back and train properly; I'll find my form first, and I'll let you hit in a couple of days."

Hearing Huangqian Yangyi say this, everyone slowly dispersed again.

On the other side, Tokyo, Setagaya Ward, Yura Sogo Technical High School.

It was also a pre-game meeting, but Yura's was much more serious.

After analyzing Seido, Coach Sakaki took his computer back to his office, opened it, and continued to watch the game footage of Seido, especially the parts where Furuya and Sawamura were pitching.

Just then, the Department Head of Yura High School walked in; seeing Coach Sakaki still studying the game footage, he smiled and said: "Furuya Satoru, Sawamura Eijun, these two pitchers are very excellent."

"Yes, a power pitcher and a Seven-colored Changeup pitcher; it really makes one envious," Coach Sakaki said jokingly.

The Department Head also smiled and continued: "Do we not need to study Seido's ace?"

In today's meeting, they studied and analyzed Seido's tactics, batting lineup... every aspect was covered, but they had not studied Huangqian Yangyi's pitching.

Hearing the Department Head's words, Coach Sakaki wiggled his hips and changed to a more comfortable position leaning on the sofa.

"You mean Huangqian Yangyi? No need."

"No need?"

Coach Sakaki hummed: "That's right; to be honest, I have coached for decades and have never seen such a talented pitcher; no, it's not just talent, that kind of pitcher should be called powerful; that is not something that is useful to study; this is not a gap of one or two levels."

"But even so, we..."

Before the Department Head could finish his sentence, Coach Sakaki continued: "Rest assured, he will not appear."

In Coach Sakaki's deduction, for this third round, Seido's first battle, it is impossible for them to send out their ace, so these two second-year pitchers will be their biggest opponents.

Unlike the previous two games, for Yura Sogo Technical High School, this one is the real tough battle, with a winning chance of no more than 30 percent.

And that is assuming Seido's ace does not come out to pitch.

But if Huangqian Yangyi takes the mound, then no tactics will be of any use; if you can't score, everything else you do is empty.

"Then, will Seido's starter be one of these two?" the Department Head said, looking at the images of Furuya and Sawamura flashing across the computer screen.

"Mm. Although Seido still has a third-year sidearm pitcher, his style is not suitable for starting, and in past games, the number of times he has started is also very few; most of the time he is a reliever."

"In all likelihood, Seido will send out Furuya Satoru as the starter, especially against a team like ours that focuses on tactics; a power pitcher can speed up the rhythm to a great extent, suppress our batting lineup, and destroy us in terms of momentum."

Hearing Coach Sakaki's analysis, the Department Head nodded to himself, feeling some anticipation for the match against Seido.

The date, July 15th.

Before the teams for the match had even arrived at the venue, 70 percent of the spectator seats were already filled, almost entirely with Seido fans.

Especially among the veteran fans, this match was a trial showdown between Seido's former manager and current manager, and they naturally would not miss such a good show.

As for the media, they were also very interested in such a gimmicky topic and had arrived at the scene early.

At nine o'clock, the Seido High School bus drove into the venue, and not long after, that familiar blue and white figure appeared in the spectators' field of vision at the entrance to the First Base side dugout.