The Air Raid Siren sounded again nearly forty minutes later.
"Salute!"
The boys from both sides stood before home plate and removed their caps in salute.
When they raised their heads, everyone looked calm, but one side could not help smiling.
The winners of the Tokyo Autumn Tournament were Seido. Nearly half of them had dirt from sliding across the bases all over the fronts of their uniforms.
This victory was especially meaningful because it was the first time they had earned recognition in a major tournament since rebuilding the team. Nearly half of them had only been substitutes or cheering from the stands during the last Summer Koshien.
This was the first victory we earned ourselves! They had not been resting on their seniors' achievements; they had truly fought for this with their own hands. That sense of security was incomparable.
There was another group in the stands witnessing something like a changing of the guard.
"Damn it, I want to get down there too! Those brats do not even have thirty percent of our ability!" Senior Isashiki was, as always, furious that he could not personally take the field.
"Stop acting like a child. There's no fun in picking on second-year juniors." Senior Kominato was as sharp-tongued as ever, though he kept the latter half of his thought to himself. At a time like this, we should be aiming for the seniors in college.
In the end, though, he could not say those words aloud.
The cost of continuing to play baseball in college was far too high, and Kominato Ryosuke himself claimed that he had already fulfilled his lifelong wish of playing baseball, so he would not continue after entering college.
At the same time, unable to voice those words, Kominato Ryosuke felt the disappointment he had