The Final Opponent

"Fourteen strikeouts and three hits, with the batting average being two hits and three RBIs?"

"He's only a first-year student. If he's properly nurtured, there's no doubt he'll be able to support the team alongside his peer, Sendou-kun!"

"After all, Furuya was a contestant who caused a sensation throughout the country in the summer!"

It's only natural that they have this level of skill!

"What do you think today?" Regardless of what other viewers thought, the third-year seniors also asked each other for their opinions.

"It's a pleasant surprise that Furuya has grown so much!"

However, the advantages and disadvantages are still so obvious, and the summer's problems do not seem to have improved significantly!

As for the lane... I'd say it was so-so today! Jun-san answered his teammate's question.

"Indeed, although it ended early, it felt like it barely met the standard."

There's another match tomorrow!

"After that, it'll be our turn to train them ourselves!" Oni-san said with a smile.

The third graders already know that they will have several Practice Match with the first and second graders.

The first and second-year contestants, with the exception of a few, knew nothing about this.

Over at the bench area,

Because of his conversation with Sendou last night, Coach Ochiai has once again fallen silent, choosing to continue observing the team.

Furuya sat on a bench, using a blue ice pack to soothe his body. He placed a water bottle very close to his mouth but stopped there, seemingly deep in thought.

"There are too many balls!" At this moment, Miyuki came to find fault.

Hearing Miyuki's voice, Furuya out of his reverie.

"There are too many useless Four Balls; they don't consider stamina allocation at all."

Absolutely not!

When Furuya heard Miyuki's words clearly, he immediately frowned and looked at Miyuki with dissatisfaction in his small eyes.

"Alas! I was saved because today's opponent was too weak!"

"If the opponent is weak, then play your best!"

"Black-bellied Glasses!" Just as Miyuki to press his advantage, he was choked by Sendou's words.

"That's just bad luck today!" Miyuki tried to make a last-ditch effort.

"I see!"

So tonight I'll reward myself with a 500-yard swing!

"???"

"Sawamura! Hurry up and clean up the benches!"

There are other school competitions coming up! At that moment, Kanemaru noticed that Sawamura was standing there motionless and called him over to help.

"Huh?" Kanemaru only realized what this guy was like when he saw Sawamura's face. He looked at Furuya with a resentful expression.

"It's out, it's out! So many emotions!!!"

If you're a real man, keep that to yourself!

He didn't play at all today!!

The Sunglasses Uncle hasn't forgotten I exist, has he?

"I just watched my pitching yesterday!" Kanemaru complained as soon as Sawamura finished speaking.

"Huh! He's actually complaining about the supervisor?" Kanemaru thought to himself, "This guy's got some nerve!"

However, that's just Sawamura's personality; he's straightforward.

Yesterday, Coach Kataoka suddenly watched his pitching, and after others told him that he might be sent out, I've been looking forward to it all day.

As a result, Sawamura, who was showing off his skills from beginning to end, was not called on by name.

"Kanemaru!!!" Sawamura suddenly shouted.

"What's wrong?!!

Suddenly again?

"Practice with me today!"

I'm going to unleash all my energy today through pitching.

"No way!! There's a match tomorrow!"

"What if I'm exhausted and need to play tomorrow?"

"Well?

That's true!

But..."Sawamura pinched his lower half with a serious expression.

"I see!

You want to practice Outside Corner Ball kicks, right? I'll practice with you today, okay?

But you can't invest too much!

"Kane~maru~!!"

"Shut up!

What disgusting breath!

Hurry up and come help! The two teams for the next match are about to enter the field!

"We must observe them carefully!" Kanemaru immediately stopped Sawamura.

"Hi!

However, in addition to that, I'd like to practice Inside Corner Ball kicks!

"You just want to smash me, don't you?!"

"No way!"

Stop lying!!!

"Seriously! There's no hope for these two idiots!" Sendou, sitting on the bench, couldn't help but laugh as he watched their antics.

Today's matches are double matches. After Seidou's match ends, it will be Chengxiang Academy's match against To-Katsushika Commercial, who had a bye in the first round!

The winner of the two teams will be Seidou's opponent tomorrow.

Since the match was held at Seidou Stadium, recording the video was very convenient.

"Puff!!

Cough cough cough!

Sendou hadn't seen the previous Drawing Lots match schedule, and he almost spat out his drink when he saw the school names for today's match.

Even though she managed to suppress her laughter, she still choked on the air.

"What's wrong?" Miyuki asked curiously when he saw Sendou's exaggerated expression.

"The school we're playing against today! Cough cough cough!"

"School? What happened to the school?"

"Name"

"A name? What's so strange about a name?"

"Don't stammer and finish your sentence in one breath!!!" Sawamura couldn't help but shout loudly while Sendou and Miyuki were having their intermittent conversation.

Furuya also pricked up his ears to eavesdrop...

"Keep your voice down, you idiot!"

They will hear you!

"Let me catch my breath!" Sendou tried to calm himself down.

After a while, when he saw that no one else was paying attention, Sendou decided to speak.

"Look at the name of that team!"

"So what's wrong with the name?!"

"Shh!!" Sawamura couldn't help but shout again, but was immediately interrupted by Sendou.

At this moment, the senior students from the third year also came over to congratulate them and happened to overhear a conversation between them.

"Chengxiang Academy! Chengxiang! Puff puff puff!"

Cough cough!

In Chinese, Cheng means 'to become',

For example, I want to become a god!

"Then what?"

"Although 'Xiang' means to fly, for some reason it has become 'poop'."

Cheng Xiang, in Chinese, can be understood as becoming excrement.

"Pfft!!" In an instant, a large group of people burst out laughing.

Several people were clutching their stomachs and couldn't straighten up, and Sawamura was laughing so hard he almost choked.

They finally understood what Sendou had been laughing about earlier, and why it was so exaggerated...

"As expected of Seidou!"

What kind of joke is this?

"There's definitely more than enough!"

"That's true!"

This grouping... while Seidou's adjustments weren't perfect, without any top-tier teams in the group, elimination seems impossible!

The spectators nearby thought that the Seidou athlete was just joking around because he was confident and didn't seem nervous about the upcoming match!

Chengxiang Academy ultimately won the match!

Therefore, they also became Seidou Tomorrow's rivals.

In the evening, after dinner, the contestants were each doing their own thing.

"Strange? Is this the pitcher who pitched today?" Tojo said, puzzled.

"Ah! I guess they'll continue voting tomorrow!" Senior Asou next to him answered his question.

It's already quite good that an ordinary school can gather nine players, and the pitchers are basically all single ace players, so it's impossible for them to have a deep roster.

"Ah! How come you recorded the fourth game as the opponent's mistake?"

"Please, Manager!" Kuramochi suddenly protested loudly.

Although the managers have already gone back...

"That was indeed a mistake!" Ono-senpai suddenly said, his tone clearly joking.

They're too focused on their own hits statistics now, especially against Kuramochi, who lacks offensive capabilities.

"With my leg strength, it would definitely be Infield Hit!" Kuramochi protested loudly, completely ignoring Ono's joking tone.

"Hey! The supervisor said it's okay to record it as a mistake!" Some senior colleague also came to help bully Kuramochi.

"Really?" Kuramochi exclaimed in surprise upon hearing this from the coach.

"Okay! It was definitely a mistake!" And this data was also finalized.

"Hahahaha!" The whole room burst into laughter.

"Puff puff puff!"

"You're laughing too hard!" Kuramochi shouted as he turned around.

Kuramochi thought they were laughing at him!

"But now I can't help but laugh whenever I see the name Cheng Xiang!" Actually, it was someone watching the video who was laughing.

"Huh?" Kuramochi suddenly realized he had made a mistake.

"Now that you mention it, I agree!" Ono chimed in.

Then came another round of laughter and joy. It would have been even more fun if Sawamura had been there, but unfortunately he had already gone to practice with Kanemaru.

Let them know that the mastermind behind this, Sendou, has vanished without a trace. (Simulated imagined attack)

After the laughter subsided, Furuya walked out of the cafeteria, ready to go back to sleep. He was exhausted and naturally prone to drowsiness, not considering how to manage his energy.

You should go to bed early tonight too!

"I have to pitch again tomorrow!" Miyuki didn't know where Furuya was going, so he caught up with him and said that.

"I'll vote no matter how much it is!"

"Only by striking when needed can you be called an ace!" Furuya replied, turning around.

"If I let you vote that much!"

Isn't that basically saying, "We're no good"?

In our group, which has no strong teams, we want to finish as early as possible so that you can have an easier time voting.

And if they don't perform well!

"That Sendou guy will become incredibly long-winded!" Miyuki thought to himself.

"Ace!" Furuya had just said "ace" and was once again immersed in the fact that he was the ace.

"I know! Go to sleep now!" Seeing him like this, Miyuki couldn't help but urge him to get lost.

"By the way, Sendou should be reading manga right now, right?"

"It really is a carefree age, so enviable!" After Furuya left, Miyuki started thinking of himself as an old man again.

Inside the cafeteria, Maezono remained silent from the beginning, staring intently at the pitcher in the video.

He's become obsessed with getting hits lately.

"Senior A-Yuan!" Just as he was secretly exerting force with both hands, Xiaochun's voice startled him.

Maezono opened her eyes wide and stiffly turned her head.

"Are you going today too? Self-practice!" Xiaochun asked when she saw Maezono turn around.

"Go!

Tomorrow it will probably be that left-handed pitcher!

"We absolutely have to get over the second baseman's head and hit it firmly to the right!" Maezono said confidently.

"Hateful!

"Removing me from the Center Batting Lineup means the game is over early!" The next second, his face was covered in cold sweat and he had a terrifying expression. His eyes secretly turned to Shirazu, who was talking to someone behind him.

After all, Shirazu was the one who replaced him as the third batter.

"We must win them all tomorrow!"

"Just you wait and see!" After regaining his composure, he shouted at the people in the video and Maezono went to practice first.

"Go to the right...!"

Senior A-Yuan! You could have attacked more freely!

Am I overthinking it?

The supervisor must have considered this when he arranged the game to go smoothly, right?

Sendou-kun had previously spoken frankly about this matter with him!

Hitting the right side has probably become a chore for Maezono!

The right side, which is the direction of first base, is the most advantageous direction for the team when there are runners on first and second base.

Adding to this, Jun-san's Maezono is something Maezono is very fixated on, to the point that it's hard for her to listen to advice.

What Sendou said earlier was completely ignored. Although Koharu also noticed the problem, he didn't have the courage to say it directly.

Not to mention that even if Sendou said was useless, he was still asked to speak again.

All they can do now is wait and see.

Hopefully, he'll come to his senses on his own, but it seems he won't listen to anything anyone says to him unless he experiences some major shock...

Coach Kataoka didn't stay in the cafeteria tonight; instead, he went directly to the Indoor Practice Field and secretly watched Sawamura practice from outside the door.

When Furuya can't allocate your energy, follow-up throws become extremely important.

For Coach Kataoka, Sawamura was not only a valuable left-handed pitcher, but also an indispensable clutch player!

"Sunglasses Uncle?" Just then, Sendou, who had finished his practice while hiding, saw Coach Kataoka at the entrance of the Indoor Practice Field.

So he quickly hid the baseball bat in his hand in a dark corner.

The rest don't need to be hidden, since simulated hitting practice doesn't require constantly swinging a bat.

The main idea is to imagine the ball your opponent throws at you, and then swing it once.

So even after practice was over, there was no sweat on Sendou's head.

After hiding the bat, he pretended to have just finished reading a comic book and was walking out of the room for a stroll as he walked over.

"Sunglasses Uncle! How's this guy's training going?" Sendou asked, peeking out of the house as he walked over.

Coach Kataoka glanced sideways at Sendou beside him when he heard the sound.

"It's so-so!"

His performance on Inside Corner Ball kicks was decent; as for Outside Corner Ball, it remains to be seen how he can overcome that challenge!

"Are you planning to let Eijun play tomorrow?" Sendou asked, turning his head while still in that position.

"When Furuya is exhausted, let him throw the last pitch."

After all, this is a rare opportunity for real competition; we can't keep him off the field just because he's practicing a new ball type!

"I see!

"In actual combat, there are often flashes of inspiration or surprising performances," Sendou Dao added with a smile.

"It's good enough that it's not frightening!" Coach Kataoka was also influenced by Sendou and learned the usage of some Chinese words.

"That's true. If we end up with too many useless Four Balls because of recent practice, that would be a real problem!"

"It's quite unusual for you to be out at this time!" Coach Kataoka laughed.

Coach Ochiai did not tell Coach Kataoka that Sendou sometimes practiced secretly.

Coach Kataoka was used to his way of getting along with Sendou, so he would joke with him from time to time.

Even though Sendou found it creepy that his usually serious coach was joking around.

"Then I'll head back first!" Sendou said and made his escape.

"..."

Requesting votes...