Chapter 320: The Devil's Home Ground
Just a few hours after returning to the hotel, before Seidou held their strategy meeting, inside the room of Yokohama Kouhoku Academy's head coach—
"Coach, when are we holding the strategy meeting?"
The baseball club captain—so unimportant he didn't even have a name—asked.
"Give it a little more time."
The buck-toothed coach sighed.
On the TV in front of him was the decisive match between Seidou High and Inashiro Industrial.
"What's wrong, Coach?"
"The match the day after tomorrow… may very well be our last game of the year."
"Against Seidou? But we beat them in the spring Kanto Tournament! We've grown stronger over the past few months too! Even if they improved, it shouldn't be—"
Before the captain could finish, he was interrupted.
"That's exactly the problem. They're no longer the same team as they were in spring. Both offense and defense have evolved."
In spring, Yokohama Kouhoku's runs had mostly come off Seidou's ace Tanba.
"Back then, Tanba was mentally fragile. But from the Inashiro game, you can see that weakness is completely gone. I don't know why his control wavered slightly in the final, but he's probably adjusted by now."
The coach switched footage, continuing calmly.
"And then there's this man—Furuya Satoru. The pitcher we couldn't crack in spring has improved as well. On top of that, Sawamura Eijun emerged,
and there's also the side-arm sophomore Kawakami.
Their pitching staff is now complete. Scoring big like we did in spring is simply unrealistic."
"Really…? But even so—"
He was interrupted again.
"Do you remember the opening ceremony broadcast's introduction of Seidou?"
'The best batting lineup in the nation.'
"If we're talking about spring, they were strong–national-class, sure. But 'number one in Japan'? Not quite. The reason lies here."
The TV screen filled completely with Sendo's face.
"In spring, he was clearly still a beginner. Now he looks the part. This man has reached the same tier as their cleanup hitter, Yuki Tetsuya."
"You know Seihou's Sano Shuuzou, right?"
"Yes! A championship favorite's cleanup—66 career home runs in high school!"
"Seidou's Yuki and Sendo—either one of them is on par with Sano."
"Seriously, Coach?! That… that lineup is just unfair!"
"After being tempered by the West Tokyo final,
Sendo will probably keep growing. Right now, he's still an unknown. Putting two hitters of that level together makes Seidou's lineup incredibly smooth. Frankly, stopping their scoring will be extremely difficult. We need to be mentally prepared to give up at least five runs."
The coach paused.
"But our batting lineup will struggle to score five runs off their pitching staff. Do you understand? Still—baseball isn't decided until it's played. We need to prepare ourselves mentally. Under normal circumstances, if the score is seven to three, our win probability is under thirty percent. And if Sendo is in the same form as the final—we might as well surrender."
"Then…!"
"Strategy meeting in thirty minutes. Don't let the players see this footage. For the meeting, use Seidou's semifinal recording instead. Strictly speaking, this Seidou lineup— no, Sendo Akira—is simply not a high-schooler."
"Understood."
The coach turned off the video.
Though his tactical ability wasn't on par with coaches from the fiercest regions, that didn't mean he was incompetent.
…
The next day, Seidou's players began targeted training at a certain middle school.
Meanwhile, Sendo was forced by Coach Kataoka to do extra baserunning drills—leaving him utterly confused.
After all, Yuki batted ahead of him.
Even if he got on base, how much could speed really matter?
Still—training was training.
When the coach didn't explain, nobody dared ask.
The starting pitcher for tomorrow was already confirmed.
Once again, Shirasu sadly found himself on the bench.
No choice—Coach Kataoka didn't want to sacrifice Furuya's batting.
Furuya wasn't great with breaking balls, but he crushed fastballs.
Even Narumiya Mei had paid dearly for that.
As the second round began, the fifteen teams with first-round byes finally took the stage, joining the remaining seventeen teams to compete for eight quarterfinal spots.
Many were powerhouse schools.
And among them, Seidou drew the most attention.
After all, among the West Tokyo giants, Seidou was the only one with a bye.
Everyone was eagerly awaiting Seidou's Koshien debut.
Spectators didn't have the detailed intel that coaches did—but their curiosity was more than satisfied by one phrase from Baseball Kingdom magazine:
"The best batting lineup in the nation."
That alone was enough.
Professional baseball was in the offseason.
Players like Ozawa and Azuma came to watch.
Seidou's OBs had long since secured tickets.
And nationwide—teams eliminated in the qualifiers were on break.
That meant Seidou's former rivals and friends would all be there cheering.
The day had finally arrived.
August 12th — Hanshin Koshien Stadium.
First game of the day:
Seidou High vs. Yokohama Kouhoku Academy.
"Let's go!!!"
"OH!!!"
"Charge!"
"YOSHAAA!!!"
With the shouts of both captains, the players rushed toward home plate.
"Rei!"
"Please take care of us!!!"
"The match between Seidou High School and Yokohama Kouhoku Academy is about to begin! Batting first—Yokohama Kouhoku Academy. Now, let us introduce the lineups for both teams. Yokohama Kouhoku Academy—"
(Details omitted; each player appeared on the big screen in batting order.)
"Next, the Seidou High School lineup!
Leadoff! Shortstop—Kuramochi! Number 6!
Second! Second baseman—Kominato Ryousuke! Number 4!
Third! Right fielder—Isashiki! Number 7!
Cleanup!!!
Center fielder—Sendo!!!
Fifth! First baseman—Yuki!
(The rest omitted—see broadcast!)"
When the cleanup spot was announced and the name appeared on the big screen, the entire Koshien Stadium exploded!
"A first-year cleanup?! Are you kidding me?!"
"What kind of batter is that?!"
"This is the first time I've heard of something like this from a powerhouse school!"
"Seidou's starting pitcher is a first-year too!"
"Seriously? Did Seidou give up on the game?"
…
"Amazing, amazing, amazing!!!!"
Akagi's friends threw their arms up in celebration!
There were simply too many people in Koshien—those inside the stadium couldn't hear them at all.
"I read the Baseball Kingdom article! Some people said Seidou's first-years are a Super Diamond Generation! Seeing both the starter and the cleanup being first-years in such an important opening match—that proves the article wasn't exaggerating! But the report didn't go into detail about Furuya-kun.
Still, he started five out of six games in the regional qualifiers, and his strikeout numbers were huge.
I'm really looking forward to this!"
"True! For such a crucial opening match, Seidou wouldn't send out unreliable players. So just how terrifying are Seidou's first-years this year? That 'Super Diamond Generation' really has my interest."
The two commentators began chatting casually.
But the most shocked person in the entire stadium was Yokohama Kouhoku's coach—his face had turned iron-blue.
It wasn't that he felt underestimated.
It was that Seidou's lineup had become more reasonable—and far more dangerous.
Sendo and Yuki were batters of the same level.
Which was more dangerous: runner Yuki with batter Sendo, or runner Sendo with batter Yuki?
There was no need to think—the latter, without question.
From every angle, that was the answer.
Especially after watching the Inashiro footage, the buck-toothed coach had once had a flash of inspiration: use baserunners ahead of Sendo to restrict his speed.
But this batting-order adjustment rendered that idea completely useless.
To use that plan, you'd need runners ahead of Sendo—but if you put Sendo on base, you'd be facing Yuki with runners on first and second.
That was completely different from facing Masuko with runners on.
As a coach from a powerhouse school, he saw even more.
For example: Sendo as a runner drawing attention, forcing the pitcher to divide his focus while facing Yuki—making Yuki's at-bat far easier.
If you ignored Sendo, Yuki alone was already dangerous, and Sendo could run wild on the bases—giving up runs would be inevitable.
And if Sendo suddenly exploded and shattered the pitcher's mentality, then when the pitcher desperately tried to recover—
the next batters would be Yuki, Masuko, and Miyuki.
Recover from that?
No chance.
More likely, the pitcher would collapse completely in one wave.
This was a cup of pure poison.
Trying to escape unscathed from the Sendo–Yuki combo would probably cost you a layer of skin.
Only now did Sendo finally understand the batting order—and why he'd been forced to do extra baserunning drills yesterday.
It was all part of the scheme.
No matter how hard he thought about it, he never imagined Coach Kataoka would swap him with Tetsu.
After all, the cleanup spot symbolized the main cannon.
With the introductions finished, Seidou completed their warm-up, and the game officially began.
"Top of the first inning! Yokohama Kouhoku Academy at bat! Leadoff—second baseman, Ishioka!"
"Now then, let's get back to the game. Ishioka has stepped into the box—let's see what Furuya-kun's pitching looks like!"
"Pitching on this stage really feels amazing, doesn't it? You too, Furuya! Don't think about anything else.
Use your pitching—make Japan erupt!!!"
Miyuki spread his arms and casually set his mitt, clearly signaling Furuya to throw with everything he had.
Coach Kataoka had always had the same reason for starting Furuya: use his fastball—his sheer power—to intimidate the opposition.
As a professional-level stadium, Koshien displayed pitch speeds precisely for every ball.
Otherwise, no one would've known in a past life that Narumiya Mei's max speed was 147 km/h.
Under this grand stage, Furuya raised his arm high.
Once he pitched, nothing outside the field could affect him.
"Don't swing at his balls!" Yokohama Kouhoku's coach shouted loudly.
Even now, he was worried—Furuya's pitches were simply terrifying.
As the so-called "Cardinal God" once said:
they were like living creatures, screaming toward you, making you swing unconsciously.
"Pff!"
"Piu!"
"BOOM!!!"
"Strike!!!"
In the end, reality proved the coach's concern absolutely correct.
"AAAAAAAH!!!"
Koshien erupted!
"147 kilometers! Furuya-kun's very first pitch is this speed! Is this the Super Diamond Generation?! This is an unbelievable monster!" the commentator shouted.
Summer Koshien wasn't like spring.
More than fifty thousand spectators packed the stadium.
The deafening noise made it impossible to hear anything—even people sitting right next to each other.
It was nothing but endless roaring.
"Pff!"
"BOOM!!!"
"Strike!!!"
"Second pitch—148 kilometers! Now for the third!!!"
The commentator had basically turned into a speed announcer, screaming along with each pitch.
"Pff!"
"Piu!"
"BOOM!!!"
"Strike!"
"Batter out!!!"
"Final pitch speed—151 kilometers! Swing-and-miss strikeout!!! Unbelievable—already approaching Koshien's fastest pitch record as a first-year!!! No one imagined a pitcher of this level would appear!"
"Absolutely! All of Japan has been shocked!
At this rate, he might hit 160 km/h by his third year!"
As for the commentators' chatter—
the scouts' eyes were practically popping out of their sockets.
West Tokyo was a fierce region, so scouts did attend—but no one had exact numbers.
Guessing and confirming were two completely different things.
Not to mention the scouts who hadn't even watched West Tokyo.
"This first-year's velocity is even faster than in spring!
The power's the same—completely irresistible to swing at!"
Ishioka said to the next batter after being struck out.
But in a first at-bat, words didn't help much.
The entire Koshien Stadium fell into a frenzy.
The powerhouse that returned to Koshien after six years—they had truly come for the championship!!!
"BOOM!!!"
"Strike!"
"Batter out!"
"Change sides!!!"
"145!"
"147!"
"149!"
"150!"
Minimum 145, maximum 151.
Each number hammered relentlessly at everyone's nerves.
Overwhelming power.
Overwhelming speed.
The thunderous boom as the ball hit the mitt.
The crowd grew more and more insane!!!
This was an unparalleled carnival.
Just as Coach Kataoka had hoped, Furuya's pitching—combined with the madness of the crowd—tilted the entire game decisively toward Seidou in just one inning.
Seidou High was once again enjoying the feeling of a home game.
"One, two! Seidou!!!"
At that moment, Seidou's cheering section—bench players, brass band, cheerleaders, even the school-organized supporters—shouted in unison.
"SEIDOU!!!"
"SEIDOU!!!"
Their voices drew more and more crazed spectators into the chant.
Hanshin Koshien Stadium was gradually transforming into Seidou's Devil's Home Ground.
Honestly, whoever came up with this tactic had a pitch-black heart.
Sendo: "Who are you talking about?"
(You, obviously!!!)