While Eijun continued to refine his Numbers pitch series, Coach Kataoka returned from the drawing ceremony with the brackets for the quarterfinals.
This marked the final stage of grouping for the tournant.
Overall, Seidou High School drew a fairly moderate opponent, neither overly challenging nor too easy.
Fortunately for Seidou, they wouldn't face the powerhouse Komadai Fujimaki High School unless they both advanced to the finals.
However, baseball is unpredictable, and even if Seidou reaches the finals, there's no guarantee that Komadai Fujimaki will be their opponent.
After all, Seidou defied expectations to change their destiny and make it this far to Koshien, so who's to say Komadai Fujimaki won't falter as well?
The butterfly effect is a real phenonon—until the results are decided, no one can be certain of anything.
And for now, Seidou's ability to even make it to the finals remains uncertain.
Baseball, as they say, is round, and anything can happen.
Among the remaining eight teams, while there are differences in strength, the gap isn't significant.
Any outco is conceivable.
Seidou's opponent for the quarterfinals is an established powerhouse: Ikuei High School, the representative from the Miyagi region.
Fans of Ace of Diamond may recall this team from the original series, where they faced Inashiro Industrial in the semifinals of Koshien.
In terms of overall ability, Ikuei High is roughly on par with Seihou High School.
Their individual hitting power is slightly weaker, but their comprehensive team potential is incredibly high.
In fact, they reached the finals of this year's Spring Koshien.
Moreover, they defeated Ichidaisan in the quarterfinals of the current tournant.
Although their victory was narrow—a one-run margin—it demonstrated their strength.
Ichidaisan High had been leading the ga and controlling the tempo until Ikuei High erupted in the fourth cycle of their batting order during the eighth inning to turn the ga around.
It's worth ntioning that in the original series, during the sumr Koshien semifinals, Narumiya i of Inashiro completely shut Ikuei High out, preventing them from scoring even a single run.
From start to finish, Inashiro dominated them entirely.
Comparing current abilities, Ichidaisan High and Inashiro Industrial are of comparable strength.
This leads to the conclusion that Ikuei High is a team with an exceptionally high ceiling—they can defeat top-tier teams like Ichidaisan but can also be completely overpowered by teams like Inashiro.
For Seidou, determining how to face such an opponent will require careful consideration.
Most of Seidou's players don't know about Inashiro's complete domination of Ikuei High in the original series.
What they do know is that Ichidaisan High, a team they've had fiercely competitive matches against in their regional gas, was defeated by Ikuei High in the spring tournant.
This fact alone is enough to keep them on high alert.
At their lodging that evening, following the conclusion of all third-round matches and the drawing ceremony, the entire Seidou team gathered in the hotel's conference room.
They discussed strategies not only for the quarterfinals but also for the semifinals and finals, should they advance.
With only three matches remaining, and little ti between them, the schedule was tight for all eight remaining teams.
Having co this far, it was only natural to set their sights on winning the championship.
The teams that have made it to the top eight are undoubtedly the best of the best in the nation.
As such, Seidou must tread carefully, maintaining their style while avoiding any carelessness or complacency.
At this mont, Chris took the lead in the eting as always.
Providing the players with a clear understanding of their opponent is crucial.
Chris presented detailed information about Ikuei High's team, including their overall strengths, batting style, and pitching staff.
As the scouting leader, Chris had gathered and analyzed this data thoroughly.
"One particular aspect to watch out for is Ikuei High's pitching lineup," Chris began. "They use a rare two-pitcher system. Their second-year pitcher, Yoshinori Sato, serves as their starter. He wears jersey number 10, with an average velocity of only 135 km/h. He's a right-handed pitcher and batter, with his signature pitch being a forkball."
'His forkball timing is deceptive, capable of forcing batters to swing and miss. Its release and speed are nearly identical to his fastball, which makes it challenging to anticipate. His pitching stance is textbook, and while his release point is clear, his ball trajectory can sotis be unpredictable."
Chris continued with a detailed breakdown of Sato's pitching tendencies.
"Since the regional tournant, Sato typically pitches until the fourth or sixth inning, enough to face two batting cycles. At first glance, he seems like a pitcher ant to eat up innings, but that's not entirely accurate. As of this sumr tournant, his ERA stands at 2.154. There's a high chance he'll be Ikuei High's next ace pitcher."
Chris's detailed analysis was invaluable, giving Seidou's players a deeper understanding of their upcoming opponent and the challenges they might face.
ERA (Earned Run Average), a baseball term, is also known as a pitcher's earned run rate. It is calculated as "earned runs multiplied by 9, divided by innings pitched."
For example, in the ga against Seihou, Eijun gave up one earned run while pitching a total of 5 and 2/3 innings.
The calculation would be: (1 × 9) ÷ (17 ÷ 3), approximately equal to 1.588.
This is quite an impressive statistic, but it only represents the result from a single ga.
The more innings a pitcher throws, the more reliable their ERA becos.
Conversely, with fewer innings pitched, the reliability of the ERA decreases.
In professional baseball, an ERA between 1 and 2 signifies a top-tier pitcher, 2–3 is excellent, and 3–4 is considered adequate.
Generally, ERA is calculated over the course of all gas a pitcher participates in during a season.
Such season-long ERAs hold significant value because professional players participate in 100–200 gas per year, throwing hundreds or even thousands of innings.
The larger sample size provides greater statistical reliability.
Chris's ntion of Ikuei High School's pitcher and his exceptionally low ERA is impressive, but it reflects only the statistics from the current sumr tournant.
Its value as a reference is sowhat limited. Chris likely shared the number simply as a supplentary point.
...
"135 km/h, and a forkball, huh."
"Hmm, sounds pretty ordinary. But if he's starting for Ikuei High School, he must be sothing special, right?"
"So, on average, he allows about two runs per ga?"
"Not quite two runs. He doesn't pitch complete gas. Usually, it's around four or five innings per appearance, giving up one or two runs."
"Well, that's based on just under ten gas during the sumr tournant, right? Just for reference."
"Even if it's just for reference, it's still an excellent number."
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