The Jingu Tournament Begins

In the end, Sendou gave Furuya a rough explanation of what it meant.

The happy moments of that day also eased much of the shadow cast by Sendou's pain.

Life had to go on, and so did practice.

The sheer volume of swings and game experience had begun to transform Maezono.

He had now become an indispensable, reliable batter for Seidou.

Even compared to Kuramochi and Shirazu, who had Koshien experience, he was not far behind.

Sendou and Miyuki could only wander around the bullpen all day.

Since they had not made the Jingu Tournament roster, all they could do was watch.

The other players who, like them, had not made the roster were all serving as ball boys, picking up balls and handling miscellaneous chores.

Just like when Maezono and the others had failed to make the roster in summer.

Maezono and the others had been stuck doing chores until Koshien ended, and could only take empty swings during self-practice!

"Our first game is tomorrow. How far do you think this team can go in the Jingu Tournament?" Miyuki asked softly as he watched the team practice.

"I don't know!

The Jingu Tournament gathers the winners of the Autumn Tournament from ten regions... right?

But a lot of Summer Koshien teams got knocked out during the Autumn Tournament!" Sendou said as he looked over the list of participants.

"Yeah!

After all, the new team had nearly half as much time to build chemistry!

We nearly lost several games in the Autumn Tournament ourselves!

It wouldn't be impossible for us to lose our first game to Teitou!" Miyuki nodded as well.

"Other than Yamamori Houmei, who have to play an extra game first, there don't seem to be any powerhouse teams. Who handled the Drawing Lots this time?

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