The first game of Koshien was about to begin, and all the teams without a game on opening day arrived at their designated spectator stands.
Although the teams that made it this far weren't all national powerhouses, their strength was undeniably solid. No one dared to underestimate any opponent—after all, Koshien produced upsets every single year.
After the first game concluded and Seidōu had fully experienced the electrifying atmosphere of Koshien, they returned to their hotel.
Chris, Takashima Rei, and the coaching staff were already buried in work. Even though Seidōu had received a bye and advanced directly to the second round, their opponent was also a team that received a bye—Seika Academy, the representative of Fukushima Prefecture.
A true dark horse.
It had been over thirty years since Seika Academy last stepped onto the sacred grounds of Koshien.
Unlike established powerhouses, Seika had decent strength but almost no reputation. During their pre-tournament preparations, Seidōu had prioritized gathering information on top-tier schools like Seihō, Osaka Kiryu, Seiseisha, and Sendai Ikuei—teams that appeared at Koshien year after year.
So when their opponent turned out to be a relatively unknown school, Seidōu immediately mobilized all connections to gather intel on Seika Academy.
Yet, as a dark horse, Seika Academy's information was shockingly scarce. The only available materials were fragmented videos from the current Summer Tournament—aside from the complete footage of the final.
From the information, it was obvious Seika Academy's overall strength lagged behind powerhouse schools. They struggled through their regional tournament, barely advancing each round. Their Koshien berth carried an element of luck.
This was partly due to Fukushima lacking strong national-level teams… but also because Seika had unearthed a monster pitcher.
Kazashima Eita, second year, jersey number 1.
Seika Academy's Ace.
His fastball topped out at 145 km/h, and he commanded a four-seamer, a curveball, and a palmball.
The palmball—because of its grip—naturally had very little spin, slow velocity, and a large downward drop.
But this wasn't what shocked everyone the most.
According to online rumors…
Kazashima Eita had only been playing baseball for one year.
During middle school, he had been a tennis prodigy—famous for his precise, varied serves—and even led his school to a national runner-up title.
But after entering high school, the rising tennis star completely vanished from the tennis circuit… only to reappear as a substitute pitcher for Seika's baseball club last year.
By this year's tournament, he had already become their Ace and carried them to Koshien.
"...Hiss."
"A cross-sport king?"
"What a legendary life."
"He's pretty handsome too."
"He's tall!"
Whispers spread among the Seidōu players as they flipped through his profile.
Then Kanzaki Ryou muttered,
"Love-struck."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Kusunoki Fumiya leaned over in curiosity.
Kanzaki Ryou turned his phone screen toward him.
"It says Kazashima Eita chose Seika because he liked a senior there. Because she loved baseball, he quit tennis—which he'd played his whole life—and joined the baseball club."
Silence fell over the entire room—even Coach Kataoka and the staff.
A rising star in the tennis world… threw it away for a girl.
"Useless."
"Too emotional."
"So immature."
A few players whispered.
Miyuki shrugged. "Well… I kind of get it. They're young, after all."
"Kazuya! What are you saying?!" Kanzaki Ryou's eyes widened in horror. Did Miyuki have that kind of tendency too?
"I'm joking, I'm joking," Miyuki quickly waved his hands.
Once Kazashima's information was fully reviewed, they moved on to the rest of Seika's team—but the findings were even more scarce. The only consistent detail was that the team specialized in one thing:
Bunting.
A lot of bunting.
Even their cleanup hitters occasionally bunted.
"Are they insane? They bunt at the weirdest times. It's like they've lost their minds," Shida Shouta complained.
"Well… sudden bunts can rattle a pitcher," Someone noted.
"Sometimes they work unexpectedly well."
"And their bunting technique is extremely polished," Tanaka Wataru added seriously. "Most of their bunts land beautifully. They must've trained specifically for this."
"A budget version of Shiryu?" Kanzaki Ryou commented.
Miyuki nodded. "More or less. Shiryu uses overwhelming speed to pressure opponents. Their whole team is excellent at stealing, bunting, and creating chaos on the bases."
"But Seika is weaker in baserunning, and their batting power isn't on Shiryu's level."
"Hearing that, they don't sound scary at all, hahaha!" Isashiki Jun laughed boldly.
"Don't underestimate them!"
Coach Kataoka slammed the table, face stern.
"Any team that reaches Koshien deserves respect. Chris—play the video."
"Yes, Coach," Chris said as he started the footage.
Meanwhile…
Compared to Seidōu, Seika Academy had no trouble gathering information.
Seidōu was a nationally recognized powerhouse. Although their reputation dipped during their Koshien drought, the root cause was simply West Tokyo's brutal competition.
This year, after defeating two national-level powerhouses in the semifinals and finals of their regional tournament, Seidōu instantly became one of the potential championship favorites—and a major target for other schools' scouting.
Online, Seidōu's full tournament footage—from the first game to the finals—was readily available. Even countless expert breakdowns analyzed each Seidōu player in detail.
"Tsk… a genius first-year, they say. The strongest pitcher of his generation."
Kazashima Eita clicked his tongue as he read the glowing evaluations of Kanzaki Ryou.
"Their batting lineup is insane."
"Their defense is flawless."
"As expected from a powerhouse school…"
"Hey, uh… are we seriously going up against them?"
His teammates looked nervously toward their Coach.