A Jolt

"That Tojo guy!"

"When did you start practicing secretly? You never even asked me." Kanemaru looked at Tojo and laughed.

Seeing Tojo's performance, he knew perfectly well that the guy was secretly practicing his swing.

But I was genuinely happy for Tojo.

During the Red and White Battle between the lower and upper grades, Tojo was so badly beaten that he had a mental breakdown. As his best friend, he knew best how Tojo got through that difficult time.

"As expected, there are some differences between actual combat and practice."

Although the seniors all looked very impressive during practice.

But in recent Practice Match, the average score is less than three points!

"Compared to my previous teams, they no longer have that strong lane presence!"

At this moment, the other first-year students next to Kanemaru began to sigh. The difference between practice and actual combat.

That's right, in Seidou's Practice Match, the average score is less than three points.

The average score in the first three Practice Match was exactly three points, but the score in the fourth match was only one to zero.

They barely won thanks to their Double Pitcher performance.

That's why Isashiki-senpai was able to unleash such a burst of energy despite having won four consecutive Practice Match.

Although the man looked fierce, he was actually very kind and patient with his juniors; he was just fierce in words and expressions.

Everyone knows that!

However, for someone like that to lose such a temper is rare, which gives you an idea of just how terrible the final match must have been.

Isashiki was so angry that she exploded like that.

"Baka! That's why we have this opportunity!"

Don't forget the recent Practice Match; the bottom lane lineup has been changing frequently.

The coach also frequently had players substitute for him in matches.

Therefore, the current lineup is probably not the final roster.

"As long as we show something that impresses the coach at this time, we also have a chance to make it into the First Team." Kanemaru, turning his gaze away from there, said with a smile to his first-year classmates.

In a way, Kanemaru is somewhat similar to Isashiki-senpai, but Kanemaru doesn't express his emotions, often making others think he's fierce.

Isashiki-senpai, however, was the kind of person who could control his emotions at will.

Because Kanemaru saw an opportunity in the recent arrangements, not only Tojo, but Kanemaru is also showing off his skills.

Moreover, he and Tojo have one thing in common: they are both self-aware.

Defense goes without saying; it's the most important aspect.

In terms of hitting, Kanemaru is not greedy at all. Knowing that he Long Hit fastballs, he puts all his energy into aiming at fastballs.

His hitting record is quite good.

Most of the senior students are rather greedy and haven't quite understood what they're capable of lately.

I took the most difficult shot and wasn't focused enough while watching the game.

That's why their overall strike rate is so low.

After all, the opponents in the recent Practice Match weren't very strong. In the words of Isashiki-senpai, opponents of that level could easily score double digits.

Of course, the four Practice Match mentioned earlier only refer to the First Team.

However, even including the second team, the average score is still less than three points.

This is a problem that exists across the entire team.

However, the recent poor performance of the seniors has given the freshmen hope of getting close to the starting lineup.

The pressure from Tojo and others made the second-year contestants feel nervous, and some even said that the regular contestants were being pushed to their limits.

Because they realized that if things continued this way, they might be relegated to the second team.

So even if the team's chemistry isn't great right now, the overall atmosphere within the team is definitely not bad.

To be honest, Miyuki, Sendou, the third-year seniors, and the entire coaching staff were all looking forward to the start of the Practice Match against Yakushi High School.

They expect that facing such a formidable opponent of elite strength will bring even more intense excitement to the team.

Moreover, Yakushi High School is currently on a winning streak, with their winning streak approaching thirty games.

As for how the coaching staff found out, you'd have to ask Sendou.

With Sendou's spy Mishima at Yakushi High School, it's relatively easy to get information out of them, except for some classified details.

For example, Raichi often forgets to step on the mine after hitting the ball, and once he even missed a Home Run because of this.

That silly boy never learns his lesson; he always forgets things no matter what you say.

This resulted in a group of people frantically reminding him to step on the bases every time he ran the bases.

Several times he ran past it, then ran back and stepped on it again; it was a very interesting feeling.

The information about Sendou isn't just about Raichi.

For example, by observing some small details in the game, we can deduce just how good their ace, Sanada Shunpei, really is lately.

This information was provided by Sendou; he's really good at getting information out of people and analyzing intelligence.

Any tiny detail, when put together, can become a source of intelligence.

For example, if a fielder has been playing a lot of fine play lately, it means that the fielder is in a very good mental state.

After all, luck is something that can only be maintained through ability; without ability, you can't seize luck even when it comes.

However, Mishima, who provided Sendou with so much information, betrayed his own team without even realizing it.

He believed that he was simply sharing the most memorable things he encountered each day with Sendou.

That's why the Seidou coaching staff, and even the mentally gifted Miyuki, are looking forward to this match.

They even hoped to wake the team up with a bucket of cold water.

Of course, this excludes Head Manager Oota, who is prone to worry.

He fears that the pitching roster, which has recently built up confidence and is in increasingly better form, will be brought down by this.

Even Head Manager Oota understands that their strong batting lineup is gone, and the team's current minimum strength is the pitcher lineup.

To put it bluntly, he's just a worrier, but he doesn't really understand the contestants' personalities or their inner strength.

I always thought they were a bunch of kids who couldn't handle anything, like a parent who spoils their children.

I don't want my child to be exposed to too much stimulation.

In fact, besides the adults, the only people who knew that the Practice Match during the summer vacation would ultimately pit the doctor against him were Sendou and Miyuki.

The others didn't actually know about this.

However, Coach Kataoka felt the time was right after seeing the team's current situation.

After a day of practice, Coach Kataoka told them about the Practice Match against Yakushi High School during the final gathering.

He also explicitly stated that he didn't care about the outcome of the match.

However, I hope everyone will treat this match as a test of the team's current level.

After all, the team's ultimate goal is to win the Summer-Spring Consecutive Championship in a row.

The prerequisite for consecutive championships is qualifying for the Autumn Tournament.

The pharmacist team is the best opponent to test how far they are from this dream.