The First Day of Practice After the War Council

September 28th,

"Yoshi!!!"

"I'll take the first place (the first one to arrive at the court)!!!" Sawamura shouted, raising his arms high on the slope outside the court.

Sawamura, who found New Direction of Effort for last night, seemed unusually excited.

"I'm off!" Furuya said as he ran past Sawamura as he raised his arms and shouted, then ran down the grass beside the steps.

"Furuya! You bastard!"

"Stop right there..." Sawamura naturally wouldn't let his rival win first place, and someone chased after him.

"Ah!"

When they went to catch Furuya, they accidentally fell and the two of them rolled down the slope.

It's fortunate that those two were walking on grass, otherwise they would have been seriously injured.

"Then I'll be going now!" Kominato said with a smile as he walked past the two of them.

"Koharu?"

"Baka, get up already!" Kanemaru cursed and ran out as well.

"These guys are still the same as ever, so energetic!"

Hahaha!!

"And what about Sendou?" Kuramochi asked Miyuki beside him.

"How would I know? I'm not his roommate," Miyuki said with a smile.

"If you don't know, who would?"

By the way!

"If it weren't for the Miyuki against changing dorm rooms, you probably would have switched with Watanabe by now!" Kuramochi retorted.

How could that be?

Looking at the grinning Miyuki, Kuramochi stared straight at him.

"...!"

"Alright! I admit it, okay? Don't look at me like that!" Miyuki and Kuramochi stared at each other for a while, and when they found that the others also had disbelieving expressions, even he, with his thick skin, couldn't stand it and gave in.

"Wouldn't it have been better to do this earlier?" Kuramochi a smile.

"That guy probably won't arrive until the assembly time before training starts!"

"It's a good thing he went to bed early yesterday!" Miyuki then shook his head and said.

Last night, Miyuki had wanted to invite him.

"Um... Senior Miyuki!"

"What's wrong, Kariba? Just say what you want to say." Miyuki said with a smile to Kariba, who had spoken.

"Actually! Last night, Sendou and I practiced with Sawamura until midnight!"

"Huh? That's not what I said!"

It must have been Sawamura forcing him again, right?

"That wretched childhood friend!" Miyuki said with a hint of envy.

Miyuki knew that if he were to be a little tougher, Sendou would probably punish him!

What he didn't know was that Sawamura had long been accustomed to being punished...

"I remember that guy did go back to the dorm!"

"I saw him when he came out to take a shower!" Ono interjected at this moment.

That's right!

He even came out in his pajamas to buy a Coke! Aso also stated that he was an eyewitness. (This guy saw Sendou pass by while playing games in his dorm.)

"Only Sawamura could get him out of bed in this situation!"

"How exactly did you do it?" Miyuki asked curiously.

"Oh!

Yesterday, Coach Ochiai said that we could ask Sendou for advice on ball control, so Sawamura rushed out.

Before long, he pulled Sendou over, and Sendou didn't even know anything about it!

"Sendou was indeed wearing pajamas..." At this point, Karihachi laughed.

"They really did pull them there!"

So, judging from Sawamura's appearance, Sendou gave him useful advice and then practiced with you guys, right?

"If that guy hadn't said anything, he wouldn't have been sitting there in his pajamas practicing with you guys." Miyuki hadn't expected that he would actually be right.

"Yes!"

"What kind of suggestion?" Kuramochi with interest.

"I can't explain it clearly. You can ask the Sendou!"

"Forget it! That sounds like such a troublesome thing, that guy definitely won't explain it!"

"Kuramochi's unusually decisive abandonment."

"That guy's here! Looks like practice's about to begin!" Ono said with a smile.

Sendou has unknowingly become his teammates' alarm clock...

The best part is that this alarm clock is incredibly accurate!

Sure enough, Coach Kataoka arrived shortly after.

Teitou has already analyzed most of the information on Seidou.

Therefore, the days leading up to the match were naturally dedicated to Combat Drill against Teitou.

For example, practicing strategies to outmaneuver the opponent's pitcher, or practicing against the opponent's batting lineup, etc.

Through the preliminary rounds, Seidou already knew that there were many fast runners on the Teitou Shindai Line.

On the first day, they began practical defensive drills, including sniping and restraining runners on the bases.

Furuya performed very well. Apart from throwing the ball off course due to being too excited during Pitching Practice in the Bullpen, Sawamura immediately recalled yesterday's practice and made adjustments.

Today's pitching from the outside was barely passable. After last night's practice, Sawamura even started trying to improve his control of the Inside Corner Ball.

The path that Sendou taught him was undoubtedly the right one; all that remained was to work hard and build a solid foundation on that path.

"Pitcher formation!"

All you need to do is obey Miyuki and follow his instructions.

This year, in particular, there are many very fast runners in the Teitou!

Use the brief time after completing your defensive maneuvers to assess the situation and prepare accordingly.

Don't rush into the next defensive position, as this will cause trouble for your teammates!

To confirm the situation, use your brain to control your body!

When faced with a crisis, we must speak up again!

No matter what happens, remember that you are not fighting alone.

Next Sawamura!! Get to the Pitcher's Mound!!

"Teitou's ace is a left-handed sidearm pitcher, so I'll let you take more shots!"

"Hi!

"Thank you so much!!!" Sawamura bowed deeply with excitement.

"What about me?" Furuya pointed blankly at himself, then was ignored.

After Sawamura ran up to the Pitcher's Mound, he looked at the runners on the bases.

"Relax!"

"Hey-hey!"

"What's wrong?" The first baseman, who was facing Sawamura's Maezono, saw the silly grin and thought something had happened.

"Puff!"

"Call out!"

"Smack!"

"Outside Corner Ball that just grazed the edge of Strike Zone?" Shirazu asked, somewhat surprised, while standing in the Batter's Box.

"It feels very far, doesn't it?"

"Although it's not as exaggerated as Furuya's, this person is also evolving!" Miyuki laughed as if showing off his own treasure.

"That was a great shot!"

But, could you possibly try to change that ridiculously silly smile of yours?

"What did you say?!!

How could I possibly laugh on the battlefield? Sawamura was completely unaware of the silly grin he was giving while relaxing.

"By the way, your ball control was much more consistent today than yesterday!"

How did you do that?

"I just threw a Wild Pitch in the Bullpen!" he shouted at Sawamura.

What is "explosive throwing"?

That's just a little off-target, it's far from being a massive shot!

Why are you always making fun of me? Sawamura was unusually unhappy with Miyuki's teasing.

"As expected, it's more effective to practice on the court if you have a hitter!"

Yoshi! One more ball!!!

"Hey-hey!!"

"Expression! Expression!"

"You better control yourself!" Miyuki shouted a reminder when he saw the silly grin, but Sawamura couldn't hear him at all.

"Puff!"

"Call out!"

"Smack!"

"Yoshia!!"

"This is a bad ball! Baka!!!"

Be serious!!!

"Throw from the right end of Home Plate to the outside corner..."

This is already sufficient for the desired practice effect.

"But a side-throw would have a wider angle!" Kuramochi during the break, offering a quiet summary of Sawamura's pitching.

They also knew that the coach wanted them to adapt as much as possible to this kind of wide-angle shot.

Left Side Throw

For a left-handed hitter, Inside Corner Ball kick is like a shot coming from behind.

For right-handed hitters, the angle of Outside Corner Ball is simply terrifying.

"When you were in junior high school, you fought against that guy named Mukai, right?"

"What kind of pitcher is he?" Kuramochi then asked Kanemaru and Tojo, hoping to get some information.

After all, there have only been a few matches, so there's still too little information.

"Mukai's throwing angle needs to be more tricky."

However, the combination of inside and outside corners, as well as the technique of making good use of the side-throw characteristics to throw the ball into the corner at a tricky angle, is the most difficult.

"It's unbelievable that he's a middle school student!" Kanemaru said with a sigh as he recalled.

"We lost to him in the final tournament too!" Tojo added. (Tojo was a second-year junior high student who reached the national Semifinals.)

"It feels like something that exploded in the third grade!" Kanemaru continued to exclaim.

"Outer angle and inner angle?" Sawamura was unusually sensitive to this current topic, his ears practically popping out of their sockets.

It makes one wonder how he heard things from so far away.

"Control the ball!" (Kawakami eavesdrops expressionlessly)

"Huh!" Ono didn't expect Kawakami to be interested in this kind of thing.

"There are hardly any good shots to play!"

Once you close in on your opponent, you'll start throwing Changeup!

The batters he dealt with were mostly those who tried to hit his Low Ball.

"You need to pay attention to that!" Coach Kataoka explained directly after overhearing their conversation.

The second-grade students present all nodded.

Don't hit the bad ball!

These are the minimum requirements for conquering Mukai!

Of course, if you think you can hit that bad ball, then that's a different story! Coach Kataoka's last sentence was clearly directed at Sendou.

Although Sendou has made some progress in watching pitches, the best approach against Mukai's Nine Palace Grid, which are characterized by their sharp angles and depth, is to stick to his own swing.

You should still shoot at balls that are difficult to judge, but give up on more precise balls. Using half-baked skills haphazardly will only result in getting beaten up.

As Kanemaru said, Mukai's sudden breakthrough in his third year of junior high school was because he discovered that the Strike Zone was not flat, but a three-dimensional space with depth.

His cleanliness will naturally increase, and his strength will also increase significantly.

When humans dedicate themselves wholeheartedly to a task, their efficiency is terrifying, not to mention when they accumulate it with an almost obsessive focus on time.

It is precisely because of this that Mukai Taiyou has become what it is today.

Coach Kataoka said all this not only because they had talked about this topic, but also because they were about to conduct various striking drills.

In reality, this group of people were living in constant fear.

Sure enough, striking practice was pure hell...

"The name Seidou is synonymous with strong fighting!"

Are Shirazu-senpai and I the only surviving power hitters from the previous generation?

You guys need to pull yourselves together! Don't you understand?

"Senior Kuramochi, it would be better to specialize in one area. Your attack is so weak. Even if you know everything, you'll only look like you're all-rounders. In reality, you're not really capable of anything."

It's better to focus on hitting in one direction to improve your batting average, and then concentrate on being active at the bases!

"You're the captain of the new team, so pull yourself together, okay?"

Even if I get a walk by the all-out attack, won't the subsequent batters get any points?

Where did your competitive spirit go at the crucial moment? (Black-bellied Glasses)

If only you had Haruichi's hitting rate, you could have Haruichi behind me. That way, even if the opponent walks me, I could still score with Haruichi.

Go practice your swing whenever you have time! You can't win a game if you don't score.

"Bang!" Unable to Kuramochi Sendou's sharp tongue any longer, Sawamura kicked Sawamura and then began to torture him.

"Why?" Sawamura looked completely bewildered.

"You're just as long-winded as that guy, you're from the same school, and you're childhood Close Friend."

The problem is, I can't beat him! (whispering)

So prepare to die! You bastard!

"What's the key sentence?" Sawamura asked, almost recklessly.

"There's nothing here! You bastard!" Seeing that Sawamura could still speak, the punishment was intensified.

Maezono dared not appear before Sendou at all, or rather, he was trying every possible way to minimize his presence...

Under Sendou's encouragement, the whole team practiced their batting practice relentlessly.

When Sendou was a first-year student, Miyuki followed Sendou around all day like a leech.

Now it has become that Sendou has spent the entire day following Miyuki around, unleashing a barrage of attacks.

Coach Kataoka ignored these observations, focusing instead on observing each player's swing and providing guidance tomorrow.

So he just followed the whims of Sendou immortal path!

Moreover, this kind of encouragement is quite good, as it can further boost these guys' Fighting Spirit.

Coach Kataoka never expected that when Sendou, who was usually not very talkative, really wanted to mock someone, Miyuki's usual mockery would be as gentle as a spring breeze.

Although it was the same as observation, Coach Kataoka's gaze lingered longest on Maezono.

If it weren't for Sendou, Coach Kataoka would probably still have put him in the Center Batting Lineup!

The reason is simple: he is a right-handed batter, Mukai Taiyou is a left-handed pitcher, and a side pitcher at that!

However, due to his trust in his own four batters, he abandoned the idea.

They planned to put all their eggs in one basket on Sendou. As long as he could maintain his intimidating presence over Mukai, then having a left-handed attacker in front of him wouldn't be a problem.

The destructive power that the lineup sent out to fight against the Teitou can unleash depends entirely on how much pressure Sendou can put on the opponent.

Moreover, this occurred when almost everyone was aware of the low point in the Sendou.

This sense of trust is incredibly heavy!

It is precisely because of this understanding of trust that Sendou is so relentlessly suppressing other contestants today.

It can both motivate teammates and regulate one's own emotions, allowing one to vent various strange feelings in advance.

The first day of practice ended with actual combat drills and observation of the strikers' strikes.

Only two days remain until the first match.