Chapter 50: Summer Tournament (2)

"As we know, our next opponent is Yokosuka middle school. While they have never really had much success, we can not afford to underestimate any team at this moment. Especially since we haven't had a proper game at all this season." The Coach stated, moving his gaze over his young players. "That being said, I will be sending out our best players for this match." He spun the whiteboard around, revealing a list of players and their positions and batting order next to their names. Ken felt like closing his eyes, feeling a lump crawl up to his throat. Pitcher: Kouichi Yamada - 9 Relief Pitcher: Imai Nakamura Catcher: Daichi Takagi - 4 Stop: Keisuke Chiba 1st base: Ken Takagi - 2 2nd Base: Takeshi Omae - 6 3rd Base: Kenta Shouichi (captain) - 3 Left Outfield: Aki Arima - 8 Center Outfield: Tatsuya Tanaka - 5 Right Outfield: Shin Goto - 7 Reserves: Jin Hatake, Hikaru Genji, Ryo Yoda, Hisao Kobayashi, Masahiro Yuuta Ken felt his body flood with relief after seeing his name up there on the first base. He quickly turned to Daichi, who was grinning from ear to ear, and the two shared a great moment. However, Ken didn't want to be rude, so he kept his voice down, lest he sow discord amongst his other teammates. Thankfully, Jin didn't seem to be too upset, or at least he didn't show it outwardly. "Just because you're on the starting lineup now doesn't mean that you will stay there. If I see anyone underperforming, I'll sub you out straight away." The Coach spoke up, breathing some life into the unfortunate people who were left out. "Alright, we're going to work on some strength and conditioning training today and then a light training tomorrow before our game on the following day." "Yes, Coach." Finally, the day arrived when Seiko would take on Yokosuka in the first match of the Summer Prefecture tournament. Despite it being a little hot, it was amazing weather for the game of baseball. Like all the prefecture tournaments, it was a single-elimination tournament, meaning that 1 simple loss would result in a team's hopes and dreams being crushed. The Summer Nationals, simply referred to as Koshien, was the most prestigious event of the year in High school baseball. Every year, 49 teams are eligible to take part in the 12-day event in Osaka. Unfortunately, they were still in middle school. So while they would not be able to taste the glory of Koshien this year, if they could nurture a winning culture and mindset, it would set them up for success in the years to come. After all, having the Kanto tournament flag on their resume would only help to boost their confidence and chances of enrolling at prestigious high schools like Toin. Yokosuka chose to start on the field, sending the enthusiastic Keisuke up to bat first. He stared at the pitcher with hungry eyes, ready for any pitch that was thrown at him. DONG The pitch was sent flying to the outfield for a double, coming to a stop just near the foul line. Keisuke was all smiles as he stood on 2nd base, sending a smug look to Ken, who had just stepped up to the plate. Ken felt his heart beat wildly in his chest with excitement as he took in the atmosphere. Although he had batted thousands of times with the Image training function of the system, there was much more pressure in this situation. After all, the moment they lost a game, their dreams of winning the tournament would be crushed. The pitcher threw a wild pitch towards the outside, resulting in a ball. Ken had been able to track the trajectory of the pitch from start to finish, filling him with a large confidence boost. After facing 120 km/h balls in his image training, these 90 km/h fastballs did not seem to pose much of an issue. Now that he had seen the first pitch, he wouldn't hesitate. Another ball came flying towards him, once again to the outside. Having seen the same pitch earlier, Ken's eyes narrowed before sending his bat swinging toward it with power. DONG The ball whistled past the first baseman's outstretched glove and headed into the right outfield. Ken burst off of home plate towards first, tilting his body slightly and powering his way to 2nd. "Home! Home!" The catcher shouted loudly towards the outfielder, who was busy collecting the ball. He was around 90 meters away, which would be impossible to cover with a single throw as a middle schooler. Therefore, he threw to first base, who then turned around to throw it home. Unfortunately for them, Keisuke had already placed his foot on home plate and was swaggering towards the dugout with a spring in his step. "Nice hit!" Ken flashed a grin at Daichi, who had just called out, giving him a thumbs-up in response. Captain Kenta Shouichi was up to bat next. Despite being a single run ahead, his face was solemn, showing an intense concentration as the pitcher began his throwing motion. DONG Once again the ball was smacked, yet this time, the shortstop had managed to pull off a miraculous catch after diving to his right. "Out!" Kenta's face dropped, and he slowly made his way back to the dugout. Ken stifled a laugh, seeing his captain's reaction. Kenta surely was someone who wore his emotions on his sleeve. It was now Daichi's turn to step up and bat. His large shoulders and big frame made the pitcher feel a sense of unease. There was a certain prestige that came with being the cleanup batter, almost as much as being the Ace of a team. However, while aces needed to consistently pitch well to impact a game, cleanup batters needed only 1 almighty swing to win. "Ball" "Ball" "Ball" Ken's jaw opened wide as he saw what was happening. It turned out that Yokosuke was going to walk Daichi in his first proper match of the season merely because he was the 4th batter. He didn't know whether to curse the opponents or congratulate them for making such a decision to walk an unknown player. However, he felt kind of stifled after seeing the confusion on Daichi's face. 'Swing!' Ken mouthed from 2nd base, making the action of swinging an imaginary bat. He was hoping that Daichi would at least get some contact with the ball, thanks to his amazing hand-eye coordination. As long as he can hit the ball, he'll at least get a chance to play today. Daichi nodded and positioned his body over the plate a little. Most of the balls had been way outside the strike zone, so he wished to be closer to it. The next ball flew towards the outside, a few inches outside of the strike zone. Yet, Daichi had somehow managed to get contact on his swing due to his body positioning and ingenious batting technique. He had swung mostly with just his left arm, allowing the bat to reach a further distance away from his body. DONG! Daichi began to run towards first base, unsure of where the ball had traveled. It was only when he saw that not even the outfielders were moving that he knew something had to be wrong. He lifted his head and moved his gaze around, only to hear cheers from his side of the dugout. "Nice Home run, Daichi!" "That was a home run?" Daichi felt confused, yet in the next moment, he felt thrilled. He quickly checked that he was not still holding the bat in his hands before making his way around the plates. "W-what the hell was that?" The pitcher muttered to himself.