Zhang Han hit a clean three-run home run.
There weren't many people around to cheer him on.
Outside the dugout, the old alumni who had come to watch gathered together, their faces full of indulgent smiles.
"This pitcher is too unlucky. He ran into Zhang Han right at the start. How is he supposed to pitch after that?"
"Look, even Zhang Han himself seems uncomfortable. He didn't celebrate at all, just slipped back into the dugout."
Zhang Han hadn't celebrated, but not for the reason the alumni assumed.
Toujou was his former junior, and now his dormitory roommate. Representing the senior team, Zhang Han naturally couldn't hold back at the plate. But celebrating wildly after hitting a home run off his own junior would have been the same as mocking him. Zhang Han couldn't do that.
When he returned to the dugout, no one around him offered congratulations either. In everyone's eyes, Zhang Han hitting a home run was simply how things were supposed to go.
Only Coach Ochiai, watching from the freshman team's side, took a long look at Zhang Han after observing the reactions around him.
Nobody had made a sound, as if this was entirely expected. What the people around Zhang Han didn't realize was that this very naturalness was the most terrifying thing of all. The level of trust these players had in Zhang Han, expressed by showing no reaction whatsoever, said everything.
Even the first string players had gone quiet, watching Zhang Han return to the dugout without a gesture or a word.
Isashiki Jun, who had been loudly holding court earlier, shut his mouth and said nothing more.
In the freshman dugout, morale crashed.
Two players still had fire in their eyes, but they couldn't find words. Even Sawamura, who was usually impossible to silence and had been standing at the very front of the freshman group, stared at Zhang Han with something like shock.
As a pitcher, he had immediately run the scenario in his head. The outcome of facing Zhang Han was obvious. If he himself were put on the mound right now, he would probably suffer the same fate.
The sheer scale of the gap left even the relentlessly open-minded Sawamura without anything to say.
"I told you, letting Zhang Han bat against the freshmen now was too early. This could completely crush the confidence of the freshman pitchers."
Manager Ota paced in tight circles, wringing his hands.
Takashima Rei, who had originally held the opposite view, opened her mouth and then closed it again.
It did seem like too much.
They had always wanted the freshmen to have fighting spirit. But throwing them directly at Zhang Han might have been a step too far. If every pitcher in this year's freshman class got demolished by Zhang Han and consequently lost their nerve to stand on the mound, then the consequences could be serious.
Takashima Rei began to worry too.
The senior team led three to one.
A heavy silence had settled over the field. Nobody seemed to know what to say.
Coach Kataoka, who had been standing behind the catcher in umpire gear, straightened up, looked around, and spoke.
"The score on the field is not three to one. It's negative seven to one. The senior team is currently eight points behind."
The announcement caused a stir.
Even the old alumni watching looked puzzled.
"Starting the senior team with negative ten points? What's the reasoning behind that?"
"This year's freshmen have some genuine talent, and they came in with a week of preparation. From what we've seen so far, they do have some strength and coordination. Docking ten points from the start seems quite strict."
"Then again, the senior team cheated a bit too. They already made up three of those points immediately."
"But not everyone on that team has Zhang Han's strength."
The audience complained on the senior team's behalf. The players themselves, however, barely reacted. After a brief moment of surprise, they absorbed the ruling and moved on. Starting at negative ten had not shaken their confidence or their resolve. They still believed they would win, and win clearly.
Even with the talented players who had appeared among this year's freshman intake, even with the selection process and the week of team building behind them, the senior team chose to face the challenge head-on. That pleased Coach Kataoka and the coaching staff greatly.
On the freshman side, the reaction to the advantage was mixed.
"Why do we get a ten-point head start? We don't need charity."
Jinguuji was the first to say it.
Sawamura, standing at the front of the group and not yet having played, followed immediately.
"Exactly. We can win this with our own strength."
Standing right next to him, Jinguuji was almost frightened by his own teammate.
He had said they didn't need charity. He had not said they could actually win the game.
Little guy, are you still dreaming?
Their opponents were a mixed lineup of first string players and second string regulars, with a monster like Zhang Han in the middle of it. In a game like this, performing well without losing by a catastrophic margin would already be a success.
Winning?
Even as a joke, that was going too far.
But somehow, the suffocating tension Zhang Han's home run had created evaporated the moment Sawamura opened his mouth. The freshmen found their breath again. Their fighting spirit came back.
"Don't underestimate high school baseball, and don't underestimate the seniors standing across from you. They have one to two years of practice on you. These ten points exist to account for that difference. If you still lose the game under these conditions, then the problem lies with your own effort and strength."
The ten-point gap erased the age difference.
This was a fair contest, proposed by the coaches and approved by the coaches. The performances in this game, and the result on the field, would go a long way toward determining the future direction of every player involved.
The freshmen, who had not felt enough pressure before, suddenly found the air heavier. Something had changed in their eyes. They were no longer just thinking about performing well. They wanted to win.
Across the field, in the senior team's dugout, Zhang Han and Chris and the rest wore cold expressions.
They were not unaware of the freshmen's renewed determination.
But they were on opposite sides now. Whatever it took, they would not give up a single position on this field to the youngsters in front of them.
First string or second string. Not one position.
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