"Thank you for the game!"
The players from both sides lined up and bowed, taking off their caps to reveal two rows of shaved heads.
Not many people cried on the Spring Koshien stage.
Compared to the teams stuck at home watching on TV, the teams that made it to Spring Koshien were already fortunate enough. Besides, they had to think of it this way: wasn't coming to Spring Koshien meant to prepare for Summer Koshien?
For the sake of good luck, they shouldn't go home in tears.
Seido had sent off another team. This was their second win, equivalent to taking two steps forward through the grueling schedule.
"You did well today." For once, everyone was not picking on Eijun. This was the second time he had looked reliable at Spring Koshien.
For a moment, they even felt that handing a big game over to Eijun might not be so bad.
That thought only flickered through everyone's minds for an instant before the familiar sense of unreliability washed away that bit of expectation.
"Thank you all for your support. I shall continue performing like this on the Spring Koshien stage, so please look forward to it." After taking a stroll around the Pitcher's Mound, Shiba Inu was still riding high on excitement.
In today's game, Kōshū pitched five innings, Kawakami relieved for two, and Eijun closed out the final two.
Beside them, Haruichi secretly wiped away a cold sweat. It's fun when balls keep slipping through, but closing games like this is seriously nerve-racking.
Furuya followed along, trailing woodenly behind them. Once again, he had not taken the field today.
A stream of blue emerged from the Players' Tunnel, orderly making their way out. At the corner ahead was a dark mass like a flock of crows covering the