The Seido High School Baseball Team's opponent in the second round was Shichimori High School.
Before the game, the Seido High School Baseball Team gathered information on their opponents.
In the Tokyo Tournament, there were over two hundred schools in total. Those who could reach the fourth round were already very strong.
In the first round, over two hundred schools compete, with over a hundred being eliminated, leaving over a hundred remaining.
The second round determines the top 64 teams.
Except for those with bad luck who have to play an extra round, most participating teams generally play two rounds to reach the top 64.
Among the over two hundred schools in Tokyo, that already represents the top quarter.
Teams that received seed berths, meaning those that reached the top eight in the previous autumn, begin competing from the top-64 stage.
This is also why many schools have to play an extra round. Eight schools do not participate in the first two rounds.
The Seido High School Baseball Team's last game was the round of 64 into 32.
Not only them, but the other top-eight teams also defeated their respective opponents and successfully advanced.
And compared to the Seido High School Baseball Team, which only advanced after the seventh inning, their paths were clearly much smoother.
Inashiro and Ichidai Third High School, both fresh from Koshien, had effective games ending early in five innings.
This fully demonstrated that even among the teams that had eliminated three quarters of the field to reach the top 64, the gap compared to Tokyo's top powerhouses was still very large.
But going further, it would not be so simple.
The advantage of seed berths diminishes significantly from the fourth round onward.
The remaining teams were all among Tokyo's top 32, having eliminated nearly 90% of their competitors to reach this point.
None of them were easy to deal with.
Moreover, the round of 32 into 16 held extremely special significance for all participating teams.
Only those who made it to the top 16 would be eligible to become seeded teams in the Summer Tournament.
The advantage of being seeded had already been made clear.
So even though the Summer Tournament was still three months away, the competition had already begun to heat up.
Securing a spot in the top 16 and earning a seed was a very important matter for the Seido High School Baseball Team.
For today's game, Coach Kataoka and the players had made thorough preparations.
They not only brought their own condition to its best but also carefully studied their opponents.
Their opponents today were not ordinary.
When the Seido High School Baseball Team looked into Shichimori's data, they were nearly dumbfounded.
They had never encountered this type of opponent before, and what they found sent shivers down their spines.
"They can even advance with this? They must be God's illegitimate children."
Shichimori High School had not avoided strong opponents in the previous rounds. They had even faced a prestigious school with genuine strength.
Shichimori's level had a clear gap compared to that school.
At the start of that game, the prestigious school gained the advantage.
Shichimori's strength was not weak, but they were still being outscored.
The two sides remained locked together until the ninth inning, with Shichimori trailing by two runs.
It seemed the prestigious school was about to claim victory.
Then, while Shichimori High School was on offense, the prestigious school inexplicably made an error.
Shichimori seized it, launched a furious offensive, and incredibly turned the game around in the final moments.
They not only tied the score but took a one-run lead.
Just like that, they advanced to the Tokyo top 32.
In baseball, although everyone says it is seven parts skill and three parts luck, when the difference in skill is clear, luck does not play as large a role.
Especially at this stage, where every team remaining is of a certain standard.
Hoping to score runs purely through luck against teams like these was simply not reliable.
And yet, that was exactly what had happened.
Shichimori, riding extraordinary luck, had made it this far.
The Seido High School Baseball Team, as their next opponent, felt a little uneasy.
If the opponent's strength was genuinely great, that was one thing. Seido didn't shy away from a direct confrontation.
They had matched momentum with National Champions before.
But with an opponent riding this kind of luck, no one could predict what might happen during the game.
When the players took the field, there was a hint of apprehension.
Coach Kataoka repeated his usual words.
"Don't pay attention to what outsiders say, and don't worry about the opponent's luck. Just show the condition you carry into practice every day."
That said, Seido had taken a fair amount of criticism from the media recently. The players weren't without their own frustration.
Now that they had a chance to answer their critics on the field, they were not going to waste it.
Kuramochi, the first to step into the batter's box, showed a bunt.
"What a joke. No one is on base. Why is he bunting?"
The fans in the stands were puzzled.
Shichimori High School's players responded reasonably well.
Their pitcher did not panic and pitched steadily.
Their infielders, however, did not move in.
"Ping!"
When Kuramochi actually laid down the bunt, the Shichimori players froze.
It was as if they had never considered that this might actually happen.
The teammates in the Seido dugout looked at each other.
Had they overestimated their opponents? Were these guys serious?
Kuramochi had shown the bunt clearly, yet they were completely unprepared. When he followed through, they looked as if they had been wronged.
Zhang Han was amused.
He wasn't particularly good at reading people, but he had seen this kind of reaction before and immediately understood what had happened.
These guys were too predictable.
"What exactly is going on?"
Isashiki Jun stared at Zhang Han and asked, frustrated.
How was it that none of them had figured it out, but Zhang Han had?
That made them look like they had no brains.
Being called all brawn and no brains was something they usually didn't take too seriously. But with Zhang Han's reaction so obvious, even pretending not to notice was impossible.
"The reason those guys didn't move in is that they had already concluded that Kuramochi showing a bunt was just a fake."
No outs, no one on base.
Such a situation was not suitable for a bunt at all. Even if you laid one down perfectly, getting on base was difficult.
Furthermore, the Seido High School Baseball Team was a renowned powerhouse. Playing against Shichimori, they surely wouldn't resort to that kind of thing.
Just like in the previous game, even when tricked a few times by Ushimaru Agricultural, Seido had always competed straightforwardly and hadn't relied on tactics.
Based on those two considerations, every Shichimori player had firmly concluded that Kuramochi's bunt was a fake-out.
A powerhouse like Seido wouldn't actually do something like that.
But clearly, they had underestimated Kuramochi's indifference to pride.
He had no obsession with dignity. As long as he could get on base, a bunt was the least of it. He would do far more embarrassing things if needed.
And so this bizarre scene unfolded.
Once Zhang Han explained, his teammates understood immediately, and they all started laughing.
Everyone had said the Shichimori High School Baseball Team had incredible luck. But now it seemed the Seido High School Baseball Team's luck was even better.
No outs, runner on First Base.
At the very start of the game, Shichimori's mentality cracked.
They had imagined this game many times and prepared various responses.
Although they weren't confident in beating the Seido High School Baseball Team, they had believed they could put up a fight.
With some luck, or if Seido made mistakes, they weren't entirely without hope.
But imagination was one thing. Once the game began, the gap became immediately apparent.
To put it simply, the two teams were not on the same level.
As soon as they clashed, the difference was plain for everyone to see.
"Ping!"
Kominato Ryosuke immediately followed with a hit.
The situation became no outs, runners on First Base and Third Base.
And in today's game, the Third Batter spot once again fell to Zhang Han.
He watched the baseball fly toward him, stepped out, and swung.
"Ping!"
The moment the white ball rose into the air, every Seido supporter in the stands was already on their feet.
Zhang Han did not disappoint them. The white ball struck the outfield stands heavily.
The third Homerun of the Spring Tournament.
The Seido High School Baseball Team took a three-run lead in one swing.
The victory was essentially sealed.
Coach Kataoka nodded slightly in the dugout.
He had indeed improved.
That previous game hadn't been a fluke. Zhang Han's hitting had genuinely taken another step forward.
At this point, as long as he was willing to address his minor flaws, a challenge for the top spot was within reach.
In the first inning, Zhang Han's Homerun was just the beginning. The remaining batters showed Shichimori no mercy.
They attacked relentlessly, constantly creating opportunities.
As a result, the Seido High School Baseball Team scored two more runs in that same inning.
Five runs in the first inning alone.
In the second inning, Zhang Han and Yuuki were intentionally walked consecutively.
The opponent had clearly given up on confronting them directly.
But even so, runs kept coming. Three more in that inning.
Five runs in the first inning. Three in the second. Two in the third. Three in the fourth.
By the top of the fourth inning, the Seido High School Baseball Team was already leading by fourteen runs.
Today's pitcher, Kawakami, gave up two hits but did not allow a single run.
It wasn't that Shichimori's hitting was weak. They had simply collapsed and had no desire to continue.
And so it ended the way it did.
"In the fourth round of the Tokyo Spring Tournament, the match between the Seido High School Baseball Team and Shichimori High School. The winner is the Seido High School Baseball Team."
In today's game, the Seido High School Baseball Team scored seventeen runs across five innings, averaging nearly four runs per inning.
They demonstrated exactly what it meant to have the strongest hitting lineup in the nation.
And they delivered a definitive answer to every media outlet that had written them off.
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