At Koshien Stadium.
Currently, the two teams playing at Koshien, are Seidou High School's baseball team, and their second-round opponent, Jouyou High School.
Jouyou High School's Ace is a tall and muscular young player.
Although their team was relatively unknown before, making it to Koshien is no stroke of luck. They won their regional tournament and made it here by defeating local powerhouses.
Since the new century, Koshien tournaments have become more balanced.
Except for a few weak regions, the vast majority of teams that make it to Koshien, even if they're not traditional powerhouses, possess significant strength.
Jouyou High School is one such team.
They are a powerhouse in their own region and a regular in the top four.
As the Captain and Ace pitcher of such a strong team, Yuma Isogai is a solid player.
Not only is his skill reliable but his mental toughness and leadership are also top-notch.
He played a key role in leading them to victory over their local powerhouse. Every time he thinks of that game, he feels as if he has boundless energy.
He played exceptionally well in that match, and his teammates also performed admirably. They perfectly showcased their strength, successfully defeated their local powerhouse, and fulfilled the team's greatest wish in over a decade.
They managed to overturn the massive obstacle standing over their heads and made it to Koshien.
At that time, Jouyou High School's players were content.
Koshien was their ultimate dream. Having made it there and experienced the atmosphere, even if they only played one match, they would be satisfied.
Originally, the players of Jouyou High School truly felt this way.
But once they actually made it to Koshien, they couldn't help but have more thoughts.
Wouldn't it be great if they could perform well on this stage?
What if they could even win a match, maybe even several games...
How great would that be?
Human desire is endless.
It changes according to one's position in life.
Before making it to Koshien, the greatest dream was, of course, to reach Koshien. Once they made it, who wouldn't want to perform brilliantly while they're there?
Once this thought appeared, it became addictive, like opium.
Even the players of Jouyou High School were no exception. After they made it to Koshien, they too wanted to show off their skills on the field. However, they were unlucky to face Seidou High School in the first round.
Had someone told them before they entered Koshien that they would face the mighty Seidou High School baseball team, not a single player from Jouyou, including their ace pitcher and team captain Yuma, would have thought they could win.
What a joke, they were facing Seidou High School.
A monster team capable of matching the American Dream Team.
Facing such a team in a head-to-head match, how could they possibly win?
Before entering Koshien, this was the purest thought in Jouyou High School's players' minds.
But after truly reaching Koshien and standing on the same starting line as Seidou High School, their thoughts naturally began to change.
They both had two arms and one head. They weren't any worse than Seidou High School's players.
Why couldn't they win?
Yuma knew this line of thought wasn't right, but he didn't stop it.
The opponent was simply too powerful!
If he didn't give his teammates some confidence, he feared they would surrender as soon as the game started.
With this in mind, Yuma began the match against Seidou High School's baseball team.
As the team's Ace, he hoped to lead the team with his pitching.
In fact, in the first two innings, he did manage to do so.
Although Seidou High School's baseball team hit three singles, he managed to hold the fort and kept them from scoring.
By the third inning, the score was still 0-0.
In Seidou High School's dugout, there was an unsettling atmosphere.
The players who couldn't take the field were all extremely anxious.
They couldn't help but start directing the players on the field.
Under this pressure, how could the players on the field not give their all?
Sweat began to pour down Yuma's face, each droplet a testament to his growing anxiety.
This was his second encounter with Seidou High School's batting lineup.
In the first encounter, he had already felt the formidable strength of Seidou High School's players.
But back then, he was able to handle it, albeit with some danger. He barely managed to hold on.
However, this time, as he faced Seidou High School's lineup again, he clearly felt something was different.
If asked to put it into words, he couldn't really explain it.
But the pressure was undeniable; he was feeling the weight of it.
Each batter standing in the Batter's Box was an immense challenge for him.
Whether or not he could get through this test was still uncertain.
Yuma was shocked.
He never expected that he was facing Seidou High School's bench players.
There were even two freshmen who seemed completely inexperienced.
And yet, despite this lineup, Seidou High School was still applying enormous pressure on them.
If the full-strength Seidou High School baseball team had been standing across from them, that would have been one thing.
It was expected for the monster team to be as strong as they were.
But now, they were facing just a group of substitutes.
And yet, these substitutes and freshmen were still overwhelming them.
Yuma shook his head, brushing the sweat from his face.
He gritted his teeth and hurled the baseball in his hand with all his might.
Whoosh!
The baseball shot through the air, breaking the space and appearing in front of the batter in an instant.
In the Batter's Box, Nishiyama, one of the freshmen, smiled.
In his ears, the voices of his senior teammates from the dugout rang out, eager to 'support 'him.
To be honest, what they said made a lot of sense.
The experience of these seasoned players was unmatched.
They could turn any situation around and make the impossible seem possible.
Although Nishiyama had represented the Seidou High School baseball team in regional tournaments before, the feeling was entirely different now.
In regional tournaments, the competition was mixed.
The strength of the opponents might be incredibly weak, like those from Inashiro Industrial or Yakushi, or it could be incredibly strong. There was no certainty.
At that time, being sent to the field meant the opponent's strength was already evident. The performance in those matches didn't mean much.
Now, the situation is completely different.
Even if the opponent is weak, they are still Koshien opponents. No matter how weak, there is a certain baseline of ability.
In such a match, if one can perform well, or rather, only by performing well in such a match can one prove their worth, then they indeed have the qualifications to stay on the first team.
It should be noted that out of the five freshmen selected for the first team, two have already been kicked off.
Though, given their abilities, it won't be long before they return to the first team.
But it cannot be denied that they have lost a significant opportunity.
If they perform excellently in this Koshien, what they gain might be more than just a position.
They may even become key members of the new team.
Nishiyama is very ambitious!
If it weren't for his big ambitions, he wouldn't have come to Seidou of all places.
Now that the opportunity to realize his ambitions is right before him, would Nishiyama let it slip away?
Nishiyama has no such intention.
He doesn't plan to let such an opportunity pass. Not only will he not let it slip away, but he will also seize it tightly.
Perhaps because he's a first-year rookie, the opponents are a bit overconfident.
'The ball he pitched was sweet and lacked power.'
Such a ball, Nishiyama would never let it pass.
The moment he saw the baseball coming, he raised his bat high and swung it fiercely at the incoming baseball.
Ping!
The baseball was struck and flew high without lag.
After flying high, it landed in the gap in Jouyou's defense.
Relying on his strength, Nishiyama hit the ball out.
Although they were just first-year freshmen, compared to the third-year seniors, they were still newcomers.
But frankly, newcomers are still different.
This man, who had once won the World runner-up, revealed his sharp claws at a crucial moment, catching everyone off guard.
The players from Jouyou High School watched helplessly as Nishiyama smoothly advanced to second base.
Helpless.
They had no reaction as he naturally entered the scoring zone.
"Too strong!"
"That guy is still a rookie, right?"
"Even a rookie is so powerful. Should I say, as expected of Seidou High School's baseball team?"
"That guy might be a rookie, but he was very famous in middle school."
…