Long Time No See

"In the next period of time, there are three more games to play before the Practice Match against Yakushi High School."

There are two matches today.

Chiba's match will be left to Furuya and Sawamura.

The match against Furukawa will be left to Kawashima and Kaneda.

The Yamaguchi High School match will be handed over to Kawakami.

For the Practice Match against the pharmacist, I plan to field all my strongest players, who will also be the best opponents to test the strength of our new team.

The three games before that were the preliminary rounds.

Each of you must remember this and be prepared.

"Hi!!"

As soon as school ended at 3 p. m., before the warm-up and the arrival of the opponents for today's Practice Match, Coach Kataoka gathered the players together for a pre-match pep talk.

The opponents for the first Practice Match will arrive soon, while the opponents for the Second Match Practice Match are Chiba Shodai High School from Chiba Prefecture, who will arrive around 5 o'clock.

"Boom!!!"

When Furuya heard the name Yakushi, he thought of Raichi Todoroki, and when he thought of Raichi Todoroki, he thought of the Long Hit that hit the fence in the first at-bat of the summer game.

"It's so hot!" Sawamura, sensing Furuya's fighting Fighting Spirit, exaggeratedly joined in the shout.

"Damn it, I want to fight in the Yakushi Game too!" Kanemaru said, rubbing his hands together eagerly.

"After all, their main player is also a first-year student, just like us!"

"So the important thing is these three matches before the Yakushi Game," Tojo said with a Fighting Spirit look on his face.

"Ah! If I can perform well here, maybe I can be selected as a starter!"

"We absolutely must leave a result!" Kanemaru replied, thinking about what Sendou had said at noon.

"Yes!"

"Instead of focusing on offense, let's concentrate on defense... huh?" Kanemaru silently repeated to himself upon hearing Tojo's words.

"Start warming up now, dismissed!" Coach Kataoka had already asked everyone to warm up because the opponents were about to arrive.

Moreover, warming up takes a lot of time, and the longer the better.

In fact, their First Match opponent, Furukawa High School, arrived here not long after.

Team B was tasked with taking their place; frankly, it was a team mainly composed of second-string players, with none of them being regular starters.

Kanemaru Mama has been waiting for this match for a long time.

Before the Yakushi Game, this was probably his only game as a starting third baseman.

And given Sendou's emphasis on strengthening defensive capabilities, and with Coach Kataoka taking notice, this match undoubtedly presents the best opportunity.

With his mind highly focused and extremely excited, Kanemaru's presence on the defensive end was indeed very strong.

While it may be related to the fact that the opponent he faced was weak and his own pitching lineup was not strong, it is also true that he took advantage of so many opportunities to fully demonstrate his defensive attitude.

Not only was his reaction quick, but his movements were also swift and decisive, which earned him a slight nod of approval from Coach Kataoka.

However, they still lost the game, marking the new team's first defeat.

Although apart from the players in the competition, no one else cares about things like winning streaks.

This is, after all, just a match that has been adjusted.

While the match against Furukawa High School was still in progress, the Chiba team had already arrived.

And he warmed up with the main players of Seidou.

So the First Match was over. The players were immediately substituted.

"Puff!"

"Piu!"

"Thump!!!"

"Nice shot!"

"The attacker is out!"

"Puff!"

"Piu!"

"Thump!!!"

"Nice shot"

"The attacker is out!"

"Three outs, change of game!"

Coach Kataoka just mentioned Yakushi today, and Furuya's recent form is absolutely top-notch.

So, although the first three batters were unsuccessful, Furuya gave his opponent a rude awakening right from the start.

With three strikeouts in a row, they easily ended the first inning's defense.

In the second inning, Miyuki, was the leadoff hitter and hit a double, announcing his return to the game.

The batter behind him steadily sent him home, opening up the game.

Furuya, displaying incredible prowess, gave the opponent no chance, striking out two more batters, and none of the three batters reached base.

"Haha! Furuya's been getting better and better lately!" Kuramochi said as everyone returned to the bench.

"Yes! But shouldn't you guys get a few more points?"

With only one point in two rounds, anyone who didn't know better would think they were facing a formidable opponent like Yakushi High School!

"At least get three or five points!" Sendou said as soon as he stepped onto the bench.

"Just you wait, you bastard!"

"We'll show you the score right away," Kuramochi said with a smile.

"Then I'll stay here and wait!"

Kuramochi, unusually, didn't boast. In his second at-bat in the fourth inning, he reached base with Infield Hit.

It's been a long time since I've felt this way. His batting ability was lacking in the Koshien tournament, and his recent form hasn't been good either. His on-base percentage is really low.

Finally, he got to hold his head high for once. Then, he and Kuramochi formed a perfect Hit and Run combination, and Koharu sent him directly to third base.

Xiaochun's performance has been consistently strong lately, and he's the only batter on the team with a batting average of over 50%.

This is the kind of efficiency Seidou athlete should have when facing opponents of this caliber.

Then, Maezono, the third batter, sent Kuramochi with a fly ball from the outfield.

"Tch!" Maezono scoffed as he watched the fly ball in the Maezono.

"It's been a long time since we've seen these three team up to score, hasn't it?!" Kanemaru said, raising his fist in celebration.

"That's true!" Tojo agreed and walked towards the bench.

As a starting center forward and a six-bat hitter, it's almost his turn.

"A beautiful minimum!" Sawamura smiled and gave a thumbs up.

"It's so noisy!" Maezono scolded, blushing.

"Ping!!"

"Smack!"

They're inside!!!

Two Home Run!!

That's a four-point difference!

"Haha! It's been a long time since I've gotten four points so early!"

Seidou's batting lineup suddenly improved, and many of the OBs were already cheering from the sidelines.

They were really worried about the laning phase before!

"Ha ha ha! That bastard!"

"Finally it's out! The shot I've been waiting for!"

"Hahaha! This feeling... it's been so long." Miyuki, who was running the bases, hummed happily.

As Sendou's Main Gun after his injury, he had two hits in two at-bats, a first for him since joining the new team.

"That's still quite destructive!" Coach Ochiai said, still stroking his beard.

"Hmm! The confusion in the players' eyes has disappeared."

"His individual skill level is definitely not low, and he's starting to get playing time," Coach Kataoka replied.

"Before the laning phase, he clearly gave the impression of not playing well... why?" Head Manager Oota was very puzzled by this.

That's all for now! It's too late...

Goodnight everyone.