At this Koshien, two baseball teams stood out the most. One was the Osaka Kiryuu High School Baseball Team, whom the Seido High School Baseball Team was about to face, and the other was Seihou High School.
The strength of these two baseball teams was clearly head and shoulders above the other teams participating in Koshien.
Other baseball teams, even those so-called powerhouses, more or less had flaws.
In other words, their lineups were not perfectly balanced.
This was not because their Director failed to do his best, nor because their players were lazy. It was mainly because of the simple fact that you cannot make bricks without straw.
There were only so many excellent star players each year, and they were divided among different baseball teams. That meant that in almost every powerhouse, the players' abilities varied. Some were stronger, some were weaker.
Even the Seido High School Baseball Team was no exception.
Their core hitting trio consisted of Azuma Kiyokuni, Yuuki Tetsuya, and Zhang Han. In terms of hitting ability, these three were clearly stronger than the rest of their teammates. Purely in offense, they were not inferior to the hitters from Osaka Kiryuu or Seihou, and in some aspects, they might even surpass them.
Hidezawa's pitching was excellent, and Miyuki's game-calling and receiving skills were sharp and mature beyond his years.
But in the other positions, the strength was not as overwhelming.
Most powerhouses were like this. They had outstanding players, but it was impossible for all nine positions to be filled with star-level athletes.
The terrifying thing about Osaka Kiryuu High School Baseball Team was that all nine players on the field were star players.
And not only the starters.
Even the players sitting on the bench were former standouts in middle school, with strong records and impressive individual performances.
"What kind of monster team is this?"
"They were already hard to deal with in the practice game, and now this lineup…"
Every player on the Seido High School Baseball Team was proud.
If the opponent's strength was not overwhelmingly despairing, they would never look so heavy-hearted. If the gap were small, they could come up with countless ways to turn defeat into victory.
But in this situation, they truly did not know where to begin.
On paper, the strength of both sides was clear.
Osaka Kiryuu did not need tricks or special tactics. A direct confrontation might already be enough to suppress Seido.
Could they really win against such an opponent?
Objectively speaking, their chances were slim.
The gap between the two dominant teams and the other powerhouses was obvious.
It was no wonder that the organizing committee had placed Osaka Kiryuu and Seihou on opposite sides of the bracket.
In the eyes of many, those two teams were destined to meet in the finals.
One of them would stand at the top of the nation.
In that process, Seido was merely a stepping stone.
Understanding this, the grouping made sense. With two major contenders separated, Seido had a fifty percent chance of meeting one of them before the finals.
They had drawn that half.
They had drawn one of the strongest opponents in the country.
The players' morale dipped slightly.
Coach Kataoka looked around at his team.
He understood clearly that they were not giving up.
They were not defeated in spirit.
They were under pressure and trying to find solutions.
Facing such a powerful enemy, he was not disappointed. On the contrary, he was pleased. When encountering a problem, they were searching for answers rather than running away.
"What are your thoughts? Everyone, speak."
Coach Kataoka encouraged discussion.
The teammates began talking one after another, proposing different ideas.
In Seido High School Baseball Team, this kind of discussion was common before facing strong opponents. Even if the ideas were naive or immature, Coach Kataoka would not blame them.
Through this process, the players learned to think.
They gradually stopped focusing only on individual matchups and began considering the entire game structure.
At first, many players were uncomfortable with this approach. They were used to following instructions, not making decisions.
But over time, they adapted.
They learned to analyze.
However, although many ideas were raised, none seemed truly decisive.
Coach Kataoka frowned slightly, then turned his gaze toward Azuma Kiyokuni.
Although Tanaka was the captain, Azuma was the spiritual pillar.
Tanaka handled responsibility and organization.
Azuma lifted morale.
"Azuma, what do you think?"
Azuma Kiyokuni wore a serious expression.
Despite his usual arrogance, he knew the opponent they were about to face was extremely strong.
"There's nothing much to say," he began.
"On paper, we're weaker than them. That's obvious."
No one refuted him.
"But we haven't played yet."
The room quieted.
"We don't know if their strength is exaggerated or not. We'll only know once we play."
Play.
Those words struck like a bell.
What were they doing?
Speculating.
Worrying.
Trying to solve a game that had not yet begun.
Azuma was right.
No matter how much they analyzed, tomorrow's game would still be played.
If they were afraid now, would that cancel the match?
Of course not.
They had to step onto the field and prove themselves.
"Their lineup is balanced. It's hard to find weaknesses," Azuma continued.
"But from their perspective, they probably can't easily find flaws in us either."
By this stage of Koshien, Seido had already polished many of their earlier weaknesses.
Although on paper they were inferior, the gap was not insurmountable.
"There's still a lot of grinding to do tomorrow," Azuma said. "We'll see on the field."
They had come this far.
Even if the odds were against them, they could not retreat.
If they could not find a perfect plan tonight, then there was only one thing left to do.
Fight.
Tomorrow, against Osaka Kiryuu High School Baseball Team.
There was nothing else to choose.
They would fight.
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