On the day of the weekend practice match, the clouds that had hung overhead for days finally cleared, and sunlight shone boldly down on the young baseball players. Kōshū stood at the edge of the field in a helmet, picking up balls that rolled into foul territory and putting them back in the basket.
Coach Ninomiya was not serving as umpire today. He seemed to have just taken several people to the video room, where the floor-to-ceiling windows beside the field provided an excellent view of the game.
"Isn't that ball boy your ace?" Takashima Rei pushed up her glasses. Since Kinoshita Little League was also in West Tokyo, it was one of the little league teams she scouted every year.
"Hmph. Miyuki Kazuya, that catcher, is one of your new first-years this year, right? During Christmas, he took Kōshū to practice changeups. I clearly told him that he needed to let his arm rest properly during the break."
A bead of cold sweat ran down Takashima Rei's forehead. This old man was still as blunt as ever, launching into accusations the moment he opened his mouth. But she was no less imposing. "I'm truly sorry about that, but scouts can't interfere too much in players' private lives. Coach Ninomiya is the one who can do more when it comes to keeping players in line."
"Hahaha, you two are still hung up over that?" A scout from a prestigious East Tokyo school tried to smooth things over.
A few years ago, Takashima Rei had just graduated and returned to Seido as a scout. Kamiya Manager had not been gone for long then, and Coach Ninomiya strongly recommended one of his prized students to her. Yet due to Seido's circumstances, that student ended up attending another school. It should not have been a big deal; it was merely the student's choice of path.
But one day, that student suddenly called Coach Ninomiya to apologize, saying his arm had suffered a serious injury and that he had to quit the Baseball Club. Ever since then, Coach Ninomiya's words to Takashima Rei had always carried a barb.
They both knew the school's manager was the one to blame, yet neither could let it go.
"His parents are Seido OBs."
"Mm, I understand. I'll come scout him more often in the future."
It was impossible to tell whether these two actually had a good relationship or a bad one. They had suddenly gone back to talking normally again.
"Well, I actually don't want him going to Seido that much. Your manager is still too young. Since taking over, he hasn't made it to Koshien except in his first year, has he?" Coach Ninomiya did not think Seido was weak, but it was a good line of attack.
Takashima Rei turned serious. "A change in team manager inevitably brings changes in style and instability within the team. Cruel as it may be, it is perfectly normal not to see results for several years after changing coaches. Now, after gaining experience, Kataoka Manager has developed his own overall coaching style. I believe that next year or the year after, we will definitely represent Tokyo in competition."
The game below officially began, and no one spoke any further.
This Intra-squad Practice Match still used the method of drawing lots to divide the players into Team A and Team B. Sato was Team A's pitcher, while Shibasaki pitched for Team B.
The moment the game began, Sato threw a hit-by-pitch at nearly 140 kilometers per hour, missing the location Hiramiy had called for by an absurd margin.
"Time!" Hiramiy lifted his mask and ran toward the pitcher, who had taken off his cap.
"What's wrong, Sato? Not feeling it at the start?"
"No. It's just my first time starting."
Hiramiy froze for a moment. That did seem to be the case. Was his control suffering because he was nervous?
"Your fingers aren't hurt, are they?"
"No. I'll settle in properly from here."
Hiramiy looked at the pitcher again, then patted his chest. "It's fine. You've already gotten the worst-case scenario out of the way. It can't get any worse."
After that, Sato stopped overthinking and struck out the second and third batters in succession. Although Hayakawa Aki, batting fourth, hit an enormous extra-base hit, Team B scored only one run and left a runner stranded on third. The top of the first inning came to an end.
During the gap while Team B's players took the field to warm up, the scouts in the video room began discussing the game. "That cleanup hitter is pretty good. He has tremendous power."
"Wasn't he a catcher in the Second String last year?"
"That throw to second was really smooth. Around what time?"
"About 1.88 seconds." Coach Ninomiya answered the scouts' questions about Hayakawa Aki.
Other than a small number of people, most of the players had no idea when scouts might come, so what the scouts saw was the children's normal level of play.
That catcher is good, but what Seido needs most right now are pitchers. Takashima Rei was also evaluating Hayakawa. Although the team already had catchers like Chris and Miyuki Kazuya, prestigious schools wanted every generation to have representative players. With a strong arm and strong bat, just how far could this catcher develop? He'll probably get a recommendation slot with reduced admission requirements.
Then came the discussion about Shibasaki.
"This kid wasn't a sidearm pitcher before, was he, Coach Ninomiya?"
"That's right, but he asked to switch to sidearm pitching himself so he could deal with batters more effectively. He mastered the new form in about a week, and his velocity has now risen to 130."
"An orthodox right-handed ace throwing 138 kilometers, a left-handed sidearm pitcher throwing 130, plus a reserve first-year throwing 140 kilometers. Kinoshita Little League's Pitcher Lineup is really loaded."
The remark drew agreement from the others. Coach Ninomiya merely stood to the side, nodding without speaking.
Sitting among the scouts, Takashima Rei had gradually come to understand the old man's cunning over the past few years. It was like Black Friday: when everyone else was buying things, it stirred up your own desire to buy. Scouts were the same. When they sat together, they were easily influenced by one another, creating a so-called pressure effect. It did not violate the rule against contacting players in advance, yet it gave every player the greatest possible attention.
Kinoshita Little League's ace would not take the field today, but someone could casually quote his latest pitch speed. It was clear that everyone knew a great deal about Kōshū's circumstances. Fortunately, Kōshū's father is a Seido OB. That makes things much easier. Takashima Rei had already begun considering how to use the alumni association to indirectly contact Kōshū's father.
Downstairs, Kōshū could feel people studying him from time to time, but when he looked around, he did not see anyone unusual.
"Could they be the legendary scouts? Damn it, I'm just a ball boy on the sidelines today. That sucks."
At the end of the bottom of the first, Shibasaki's pitches had been extremely powerful today. Three Up, Three Down. Team B was currently leading, 1–0.
The first thing Team A's pitcher Sato did when he stepped onto the Pitcher's Mound was tidy the dirt beneath his feet. He still seemed somewhat off, keeping his head down as he scraped and shifted the dirt around.
"Sato!" Kōshū called from the sidelines. "Want me to fix it for you?" He raised the tool in his hand.
"Haha, it's fine." For some reason, seeing Kōshū holding the tool looked hilarious to Sato. The ace had become a Pitcher's Mound dirt maintenance worker, and it eased his mood considerably. He finally raised his head and began communicating with the catcher.
"Ah, I'm so jealous." At some point, Hayakawa Aki had walked over beside him and supplied the line.
"I'm not jealous, okay?" Kōshū argued. Then he saw Team B's sixth batter hit a hard grounder toward shortstop. Lang Zhi was directly in its path and reached out his glove to catch it, but the ball's bounce changed from what he expected. It bounced up from beneath the shortstop and flew directly over his head.
"Ah, it's going to get through." Kōshū was one of the few people who had realized scouts were present today. If Lang Zhi let this ball get through, would it go down as an E on their side?
I suggest everyone stop ordering takeout.
I suffered two disastrous setbacks these past few days. In one case, I found something like a leg in the filling of a pan-fried bun; in the other, I found a bug in my noodles. The key thing was that both places had used those Meituan bonus coupons, so after getting refunds, those two coupons were useless too.
Takeout really isn't as clean as cooking for yourself...
Before you continue