Seidou High School, Seishin Dormitory, Seidou Baseball Club's exclusive dining hall.
At this mont, gathered here were Seidou's 20 first-string players, the coaching staff's four key mbers, three female managers, and second-year scouting team mbers such as Watanabe.
Even if the opponent was just an obscure high school with a significant gap in strength, Coach Kataoka would never allow his team to be complacent during an official match.
Therefore, the preparation and scouting work were conducted as thoroughly as possible, with no negligence in tactical and strategic arrangents.
Consultation and delegation with Ochiai were also part of his duties.
Their first opponent was Toyosaki High School, a public high school from East Tokyo.
"Although it's just a public high school, I'll say it again: we must give it our all and crush the opponent. There must be no complacency or arrogance. Don't think that just because we've won a championship once, you can look down on others. Besides, this victory had nothing to do with most of you. Got it?"
Coach Kataoka's sharp gaze swept across everyone present. His stern tone made players like Miyuki and Eijun put on serious expressions.
"Give it your all and win this ga!" Kataoka said firmly.
"Yes!"
"Now, I'll announce the starting lineup."
"First batter, shortstop, Kuramochi."
"Yes!"
"Second batter, second baseman, Kominato."
"Yes!"
"Third batter, first baseman, Maezono."
"Yes!"
The third spot! The cleanup lineup!
Hearing Coach Kataoka's announcent, Maezono's eyes sparkled, his face turning red with excitent. His thoughts were evident — a player who had been stuck in the second team for so long couldn't hide his feelings.
What he didn't notice, however, was the flash of dissatisfaction deep in Ochiai's eyes as he stood beside Kataoka.
"Fourth batter, catcher, Miyuki."
"Yes!"
"Fifth batter, right fielder, Shirasu."
"Yes!"
"Sixth batter, left fielder, Sawamura."
"Yes!"
Eijun was montarily stunned by Coach Kataoka's words but quickly responded loudly. So it's left field, huh? He had a feeling from the beginning.
Well, left field is fine.
It could serve as a warm-up for the official matches, helping him find his rhythm.
"Seventh batter, pitcher, Furuya."
"Yes!"
Furuya seed like a different person at that mont.
When Coach Kataoka announced that he would be the starting pitcher, his entire presence ignited like a blazing blue fla.
"I won't lose!"
Their eyes t as Eijun turned to look at him. In that instant, Eijun seed to understand the ssage conveyed through Furuya's determined gaze. A slight smile curved on his lips.
So, Furuya was finally awakening?
"Eighth batter, center fielder, Tojo."
"Yes!"
"Ninth batter, third baseman, Shoji."
"Yes!"
"That concludes the starting lineup for tomorrow. The match will be held on our school grounds, so we have extra ti to prepare and rest. Tonight, practice independently but stop by 9 PM and rest early. Don't relax just because it's a preliminary round. Understood?"
"Yes!"
After announcing the starting lineup and emphasizing key points, Coach Kataoka and Ochiai left together. As long as the team's attitude was right, the preliminary round wouldn't be a problem — the gap in skill was just too wide.
It was like comparing soone who had reached the third stage of a professional career to those who had just left the beginner's village — simply incomparable.
What Coach Kataoka emphasized was primarily the players' self-discipline and attitude.
In terms of strength, there was no issue facing opponents in the preliminary round. What he needed to discuss with Coach Ochiai was the upcoming official matches in October after the preliminaries.
The biggest difference between the autumn and sumr tournants was not only the rger of the East and West divisions but also the absence of seeded teams.
This was why, as depicted in the original storyline, Seidou High School faced Teito High School right in the first match.
Of course, the claim that "strength is not an issue" was only relative to preliminary opponents.
Not only Coach Kataoka and Coach Ochiai but even players like Eijun knew this in their hearts.
If they were to face formidable teams such as Yakushi High, Teito High, Ichidaisan High, or Inashiro Industrial, the biggest weakness would undoubtedly be their batting lineup.
Against pitchers like Sanada, Amahisa, or Narumiya, Seidou's current batting lineup was barely satisfactory.
In fact, it was difficult even to discuss lineup consistency when the individual strength of each batter was already lacking compared to the previous generation.
"I hope we can gradually correct our batting lineup issues over these three preliminary matches," Eijun murmured quietly to himself, hoping that even if individual abilities couldn't drastically improve, at least they could build cohesion and consistency.
The key lay in the heart of the batting order. If this problem wasn't resolved, the upcoming official matches would be full of challenges.
"Defending the glory of a champion isn't just sothing you say," Eijun thought as he gazed at the bright new moon outside the window, his expression turning deep.
...
September 12, Sunday, 9:00 a.m., Seidou High School, Field A
Crowds had already gathered near the field. As the sumr champions, Seidou High School's first official match with its new lineup naturally attracted significant attention.
Not only were there ordinary spectators but also nurous dia reporters from across regions, including familiar faces from Baseball Kingdom — Akiko and Fujio.
Among the crowd were also scouting mbers from rival powerhouse schools, such as Teito, Inashiro, Ichidaisan, Yakushi, Sensen, Seiko, and Oya.
Everyone was eager to witness the strength of the sumr champion's new lineup. This had beco a national focus.
On the first-base side was Seidou High School; on the third-base side was Toyosaki High School.
Facing the sumr champions right in the first match of the regional preliminaries was nothing short of a bitter ordeal for Toyosaki High School.
"Our first match is against Seidou? Man, this grouping is really unlucky," a Toyosaki outfielder sighed.
"It's just a preliminary, but there are still so many spectators and reporters," Toyosaki catcher said, shaking his head.
"No kidding."
"Well, it's Seidou, the champions after all," the Toyosaki ace muttered jealously.
"Looks like this ga might end early," soone predicted pessimistically.
"You never know. Maybe we'll have a sudden breakthrough, or they'll make a bunch of errors," another player suggested optimistically.
The bold remark caused a brief silence in the dugout as everyone stared at the audacious speaker, who grinned nervously under their gazes.
Then, laughter filled the bench.
"Heh, yeah right…"
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