V3_Chapter 12: Preference

In less than three weeks, more than 100 high schools have to select the team that can represent West Tokyo in Koshien.

With such a tight schedule, the timetable must be very dense. Only two days after the end of the first game, Seidou High School was about to face the second game.

Before the second game, Kataoka deliberately went to the bullpen to observe the state of several pitchers.

In the bullpen, Sawamura is the best pitcher.

His imagination exercises with Chris were very fulfilling.

Japans, major leagues, minor leagues, present and past…

All powerful Batters and runners became their opponents.

In infinite imagination, they defeated these opponents one by one.

“This ball is too sweet! If the batter is Bruce, this ball will be blown out.” Chris said sternly.

Sawamura raised his hand apologetically.

After all, man is not a machine, and he also misses Pitches especially when training.

“Next opponent, Sakata. There are two Outs on the field, and there is a runner at second base. Let’s start!”

Chris and Sawamura continue to wander in the ocean of their imagination.

Ochiai, who was watching, was also amazed.

“I’ve been teaching high school baseball for more than ten years. It’s the first time I’ve seen a player who can do the imagination practice like Sawamura while in the first grade. With him and Takigawa as the battery of Seidou High School, the important matches can be completely handed over to them.”

This is a disguised suggestion of using this battery to deal with the Sankou!

Kataoka nodded and said nothing.

If there is any doubt about Chris, then there is no doubt about Sawamura’s strength.

He is the Ace of Seidou!

“You guys go ahead and do ten sets of 10 to 15 balls.”

Kataoka said.

“Yes, sir!”

“Yes, Boss!”

Sawamura raised his hand to signal that he received the order.

While Chris agreed, his heart sank.

Kataoka ordered a sensible increase in the number of pitches thrown by Sawamura.

This shows that in the eyes of Coach Kataoka, Sawamura’s status is irreplaceable. He will still send Sawamura to play when it comes to a critical situation, even if there may be an extra innings.

Although Sawamura earned this trust through his own efforts little by little, however, it was the first time in Seidou High School that a first-year player could gain such full trust.

‘I hope that Sawamura will not take the same path as me because of too much pressure.’

Chris thought worriedly.

At the same time, he also made up his mind right now, he must take good care of Sawamura and prevent him from going overboard.

“Chris-senpai, I’m done running.”

While Chris was practicing with Sawamura, a panting figure appeared in the bullpen.

It is Furuya.

“Can Senpai catch for me now?”

Pure eyes stared at Chris, making Chris look a little uncomfortable.

Chris did not know how he had motivated this Kohai and made him abandon Miyuki and follow his ass.

“You can start pitching, but it’s not me who catches the ball.”

Chris made a pause gesture with Sawamura and then brought Furuya to a net.

There is a board ahead of the net, and the center of the board is empty, the size of which is exactly the same as the strike zone.

There are also horizontal bars on the board, which can be fixed to divide the strike zone into upper and lower or left and right.

“Your biggest problem right now is not ball speed and power, but ball control. First of all, just throw in the strike zone. 50 Pitches a Day, remember to give it your all and don’t give up ball speed just because of ball control. If you hit the board the whole net will fall, then you have to pick it up and reposition it yourself. The 50 balls do not mean that you will pitch 50 balls in total, but pitch 50 Strikes, You understand? We will start the next training session when will you be able to throw 50 Strikes out of 80 Pitches? Of course, this is just an extra training item, and your usual practice can’t be stopped.”

After Chris finished speaking, he went back to the bullpen to practice with Sawamura.

Miyuki couldn’t stand this kind of guidance.

“Senpai, in this way, there is no way for him to do it in a short time. Are we going to let him play?”

Chris didn’t care.

“Currently, we do not need the power of Furuya, as long as he can do it before the final. Didn’t you also tell him to practice the Forkball? I believe that Furuya will make enough progress by that time. This will definitely surprise the people of Inashiro.”

Miyuki thought about it, if Furuya could really throw the ball into the strike zone, his strength would not be underestimated.

Moreover, the most interesting thing is that Inashiro had seen Furuya’s pitching before, and Chris and Miyuki could also guess the easiest countermeasures they could come up with.

If Inashiro really does that, then what Furuya will bring them is not suffering, but rain of hell.

Kataoka didn’t interrupt this with a word, and let the players train freely.

After watching Sawamura and Furuya, he went to see Tanpa again.

Tanpa’s fighting spirit is maintained well, and his pitching is also very powerful.

“Very good, just keep throwing the ball one by one like this!”

Kataoka nodded and said.

“Don’t be in a rush to play, you will have more chances to play. For the time being, leave more time to Furuya and Kawakami, and let them familiarize themselves with the atmosphere of the Tournament. You and Sawamura should keep your physical strength and ensure that you are in the best state of the game. And, I will leave the quarterfinals to you! If you can keep your fighting spirit and focus, I will let you start in the quarter-finals.”

The opponent in the quarterfinals is Sankou High School!

Tanpa raised his head, looked at Kataoka seriously, and said, “Yes!”

Not only the supervisors and coaches but also the players of Seidou know that their real summer competition actually starts in the quarterfinals.

Only in the games after that, Seidou High School needs to play every game seriously.

In the competition of the seed selection system, unless a Dark Horse team suddenly appears, the strength gap between the seeded and the non-seed is very huge.

Seidou High School naturally doesn’t need to care about other opponents.

Of course, this is only from a strategic point of view. Otherwise, Seidou High School will inevitably lose with such a mindset.

After hearing Kataoka’s words, Miyuki turned to look at Tanpa.

If he remembered correctly, Tanpa-senpai and the current Ace of Sanko High School are acquaints.

When the two were in middle school, they were on the same team.

‘Tanpa-senpai has always been Manaka’s relief pitcher. Later, the two joined different schools and each became the Ace of the team…’

But Tanpa dropped from the Ace to the relief again.

Fate is amazing!

‘The reason why Kataoka let Tanpa-senpai be the starter  in the game with Sankou may be because of Tanpa-senpai’s complicated feelings right now!’

He hoped that Tanpa-senpai could rely on his own strength to prove that it was not a wrong choice to join Seidou.

Privately, Coach Kataoka still has some preference for Tanpa-senpai.

‘I just hope that this preference will not put pressure on Tanpa-senpai!’

…