Everyone at Kinoshita Little League only had this stadium to themselves for half an hour, and another member of the Little League team came over. They were relatively small, only players in their early ten years, so when they saw the heated fielding practice on the field, they all felt a little bit frightened.
"Do we really want to share a venue with them?"
"Will you be pushed aside?"
"Half on one side should be more fair."
The players' private discussions did not interfere with the communication between the coaches of the two teams. The team leader was a young woman. She had a whistle hanging on her chest, ready to blow it at any time to quiet the players.
"Coach Ninomiya, there are always so many people in your club." Even with people she met for the first time, she said as if she had known them for a long time.
"Coach Yoshinaga, please take care of me when we meet for the first time." Coach Ninomiya seemed to not understand the other party's approach at all.
"Don't be so serious, Coach Ninomiya, so the two teams share a venue. I have never encountered this before. What should I do?" The young woman pointed carelessly at the white-haired old man behind her. "The old immortal of our team is with the team today and wants to come over and take a bath in the hot springs. This winter, his bones are ventilated."
The man known as the Old Immortal was the former head coach of this team. When we saw him last year, his waist was still very strong. But now, he looks like an apple that has been stored for a long time, and his height and body shape have shrunk.
Coach Ninomiya stepped forward and held the hand of the wandering old man. "Yoshinaga Head Coach, how are you?"
"Ah? I've already eaten. I just had something to eat at the hotel." When someone talked to him, he seemed to be in much better spirits.
"Hey - so, don't let him come over, it will be bad if he gets hit by the ball." Yoshinaga Nana, the daughter of the old immortal, who had no choice but to take over the team, spread her hands and said.
"Hey——" Things fall into their own kind, Coach Ninomiya looked at the young woman with a clean face, a daughter of an old woman, and doting on her, even if her mental state is already very bad, do you still want to come with her?
In this situation, Coach Ninomiya could only say, "There are Infield Group, Outfield Group and Pitcher Group on the field now. Let your team spread out and train with our coach."
"Okay -" the young coach Yoshinaga didn't look like a head coach at all, as if he instantly became Coach Ninomiya's subordinate, he answered quickly.
Then he returned to the group of yellow-striped children, touched the head of this one like a big sister, pinched the cheek of that one, and announced the news.
"Eh? So should we just walk over there? It feels so awkward."
"What's embarrassing? Just treat it like queuing up in a bakery." Coach Yoshinaga's ease infected the group of children, and they ran to the training team separately.
Fortunately, Coach Ninomiya had foreseen this and said it in advance, so these children were really like queuing up at a bakery. They were at the end and walked forward with the people practicing in front. They were super conspicuous, a group of black with bright colors mixed in.
"Hahaha, you're lying, these kids are so innocent." Coach Yoshinaga covered his mouth and smiled happily.
But it was revealed when he caught the ball. The lack of practice meant that his basic skills were not as solid as Kinoshita Little League's.
A ground ball was not handled well and Infield Coach called him.
"What's your name?"
"Shibata, shortstop."
"Your body's reaction ability is good, but you can't wait there and passively wait for the ball to come in. Instead, you have to face the direction of the ball and keep your feet active."
Another baseball passed.
"This time is good, remember the action, next one!"
After a few back and forth, the children who stepped in looked much more focused.
"It's great to have so many coaches!" The young woman standing aside helped the old man to a chair.
"Have you taken the coaching certificate?" Coach Ninomiya stared at the court, but part of his mind was distracted.
"This year's deadline has passed, and you can't take the exam until the second half of the year." Yoshinaga The old man suddenly became like this a few months ago, and he had no time to prepare.
Coach Ninomiya let out a long sigh. Kinoshita Yanagi, who was preparing equipment next to him, felt a sharp edge on his back. Why are you staring at your son in the United States?
"I don't even think I need to take the exam. After all, the original team has been reduced, and there will be no more after this year's departure." Coach Yoshinaga rarely put away his smile and looked very serious as he said, "Although those who are serious about playing baseball have left, there are still so many children. I hope they can learn something in the last year."
In fact, many baseball teams have no capital or institutional support behind them. Most of the time, non-professional coaches and parents of children form the staff. Once something unexpected happens, someone needs to take on extra work. Those who cannot accept it will let their children transfer to other teams.
"You can hire a professional coach." After listening to a lot of words, Coach Ninomiya opened his eyes and responded.
"It just wasn't suitable in terms of personnel and money, so it ended up like this."
Hey, there's really nothing we can do about it. Kinoshita Little League has a lot of problems now. During the past few days of spring training, Kinoshita Club's outdoor playground has been lent to other teams with repayment. We can save money when we can, and we don't have time to help others solve their problems. So Coach Ninomiya just looks at it and only prepares for the afternoon practice match.
The schedule of these two weeks of practice matches is very intensive. 8 teams will compete in a round-robin competition every day, and each team will face the other 7 teams twice.
"Okay - gather!"
The result was clearly Training Camp, but they still maintained the rhythm in the club. When Kōshū and the others started their lunch break, other teams had already started practicing.
In the afternoon, they had to climb halfway up the mountain to compete. There were three gentle slopes along the way. They ran up it and by the time they got to the venue, they had just finished warming up.
"I heard that in the mountains, the air is thin and it's easy to get Home Run."
"Really, do you want to try it today?" The teenagers, who couldn't stop talking once their feet stopped, started discussing again when the coach went to say hello.
"It's a lie. What a high mountain it must be. The terrain here is obviously just a little higher."
"Yes, if the air is thin, it should be difficult to breathe."
"So, can I play Home Run today..."
Coach Ninomiya finished the discussion there, waved violently to the children, pointed to the first base side, and a group of children all obediently walked over and put down their things.
Today's starter is Kōshū. He was allowed to use all ball types during Training Camp. Before Summer Tournament, the actual combat during this period was a good period to correct the problem. The remaining Shibasaki and Sato, followed by Kōshū, everyone has the opportunity to pitch the entire game. Pitchers who have no pitching tasks during this period will perform Outfield Defense in the left field.