"We won…"
"We won again…"
"Three consecutive wins!"
"Four consecutive wins!"
…
After the training camp, Seido High School Baseball Team achieved four consecutive victories in their practice games.
Although, apart from the first game against Yakushi High School Baseball Team, Seido High School Baseball Team's other opponents were generally of average skill.
However, their achievement of such results was still somewhat unexpected.
Not to mention outsiders, even Seido High School Baseball Team's own students and teachers found it hard to believe.
They hadn't expected that even when physically exhausted, their performance could be so strong.
Manager Ota, who had been very worried about the players' condition, completely put his concerns aside after seeing their performance.
He walked around the team with a completely different demeanor.
He held his head high and puffed out his chest, looking very distinguished.
"Mr. Ota is so energetic!"
A teacher from the school couldn't help but give a thumbs-up after seeing him.
"I heard the team's practice game results were good. I suppose they'll definitely make it to Koshien this summer, right?"
"The players performed well!"
"Who knows, it also depends on the luck of the draw…"
Ota responded with a cheerful smile, naturally exuding an air of self-satisfaction.
It was as if they had already secured their spot in Koshien.
Not only him, but the coaching staff also highly praised the players' performance.
Now, the ones feeling troubled were Coach Kataoka and the Seido First string players.
After the welcoming match, Seido High School Baseball Team promoted four players to the First string in one go.
These players also performed very well during the training camp and practice games.
This presented a very difficult problem for everyone at Seido.
There were a total of twenty-four players, but the First string only had 20 spots. When participating in the Tokyo Summer Tournament, there were roster limits.
A team could have a maximum of twenty players.
Coach Kataoka had no choice but to select from these twenty-four players.
In addition, there was the competition for starting positions, and the selection of the Ace.
Immediately after the practice games, the group draw was about to take place. Before the draw, these things had to be decided.
Only when these things were truly finalized could Seido High School Baseball Team truly begin the integration of the First string and the practice of their tactics.
Not only was the coaching staff busy, but the players were also very anxious.
The fourth practice game had ended, and the roster should be announced by Monday evening at the latest.
Along with the roster, uniform numbers would also be announced.
Unlike previous years, by this time, most positions were already set in stone.
The truly contested spots were only two or three, and even those two or three positions were not very important.
But this year, there were simply too many areas of contention.
The original First string substitute players did not have a significant advantage compared to the four newly promoted First string rookies.
In terms of importance to the team, they were even less significant than those four rookies.
Who would stay and who would leave became unknown.
Including Sawamura and Kominato Haruichi, a total of four first-year rookies were promoted to the First string.
And each of them performed remarkably well, so it was also uncertain if all of them would be able to stay.
After all, those competing with them for the same positions were not simple characters either.
In addition, the selection of the team's Ace was also widely discussed in private.
For the starting catcher, the third-year students generally favored Chris's return. The first and second-year players, however, supported Miyuki more.
In the second-year classroom, Kuramochi actively went to Miyuki's seat, watching him hold several notebooks and continuously calculate something.
"What are you doing?"
Miyuki looked up, instinctively wanting to cover the contents of his notebook with his arm. When he saw Kuramochi, he gave up on that idea.
Even if he showed these notebooks to Kuramochi, he might not understand them.
"Coach Ochiai integrated their original team ranking method and made a strength ranking for our players."
"What ranking?"
"A ranking of individual player strength. Although this ranking may not fully show the strength differences between players, it can serve as an important reference. For example, which of the first-year players will stay? And who in the First string can become a starter? Through this, there should be a numerical representation."
"Has the ranking been announced?"
Kuramochi couldn't wait to see that ranking list.
He wanted to see where he, Kuramochi, the great, ranked in the current Seido High School Baseball Team.
"Why are you so excited? Anyway, your ranking will be outside the top ten, what's there to see?"
Miyuki saw Kuramochi's expression and ruthlessly exposed him.
"How is that possible? I'm the starting shortstop, the offensive detonator of Seido High School Baseball Team. How could my ranking be so low? As for you, your ranking won't be below Chris, will it? If so, I'll just have to say goodbye to you in the dugout, because we're not on the same level anymore."
"Then you don't have to worry. I heard Zhang Han is also practicing shortstop defense now."
Kuramochi, who was just bickering, was instantly ignited.
He grabbed Miyuki's collar: "What did you say?"
Miyuki raised both hands.
"I just heard it through the grapevine, you're not lacking confidence, are you?"
With Zhang Han, who could have one hundred percent confidence?
Their classmates, seeing these two bickering again, all had a look of having grown accustomed to it.
Even watching them get physical, no one stepped forward to stop them.
It was as if they had already guessed that these two wouldn't actually do anything out of line.
In fact, Kuramochi was indeed just joking and quickly let go.
"These two guys always like to get tangled up lately, don't they?"
"Their relationship is really good!"
"Good relationship? How could that be? It's probably that no one wants to get tangled up with them."
"New ranking method?"
Almost at the same time, Zhang Han also learned this news.
He had originally intended to pretend not to care. The only person in the entire team who could truly make him feel a competitive threat was Yuuki.
Even if others ranked above him, what then?
"Your ranking probably won't be very high."
Isashiki Jun, who told Zhang Han this news, had a gloating expression.
"Why?"
Zhang Han, who had originally intended to pretend not to care, was inexplicably told this by his senior, so of course he wanted to know the reason.
"See, you couldn't resist, could you? It's your fault for giving up two runs in the practice game…"
Zhang Han's playing time in the entire practice game was not very long. In this limited playing time, he also gave up two runs and three hits, including a Homerun.
Although Zhang Han performed exceptionally well in other aspects, if it's a comprehensive score, it must be an average of all aspects.
Zhang Han, who gave up two runs and three hits in a short amount of time, would definitely have his score greatly affected.
Looking at Isashiki Jun's expectant expression, Zhang Han said, pretending not to care, "So what? As long as I can keep my First string position, it's fine."
This… His performance was far from what Isashiki Jun had originally imagined.
So much so that Isashiki Jun, upon receiving this answer, was stunned for a long time and couldn't say a word.
"I told you not to show off in front of Zhang Han. Even if his score is affected, his score will still be above yours."
Chris emerged from somewhere and said with a serious expression.
Isashiki Jun immediately felt embarrassed and directly slipped away.
"You're the one who knows the scoring model, Chris? How is this score calculated?"
Zhang Han was very curious.
"The scoring model is quite scientific. Coach Ochiai truly lives up to his reputation as a former Coach of a Kanagawa powerhouse team. His scoring model can essentially interpret a player's comprehensive ability."
"That amazing?"
Zhang Han's eyes widened instantly.
Batting average, fielding percentage, on-base percentage… Baseball itself has very professional technical statistics. Zhang Han, currently, in terms of technical statistics alone, should be the undisputed first in the team.
Although these statistics are loose, they can essentially be considered the most professional evaluation of a player's skill in a certain area. Their reliability is very strong.
According to Chris, the comprehensive evaluation system brought by Coach Ochiai is in no way inferior to these professional evaluations.
So Zhang Han was very curious: how exactly was this achieved?
"The scoring is divided into several parts. First is training and performance. Daily training accounts for 30% of the score, and game performance accounts for 70%. Training and games are also divided into hitting performance and defensive performance, then scored based on their respective technical characteristics. For example, hitting performance is also divided into teamwork and on-base percentage…"
With a simple explanation, Zhang Han already understood most of it.
But the confusion in his eyes did not decrease; instead, it increased.
"What about strikeouts, defensive gems, Homeruns, and stolen bases?"
It's important to know that the outcome of a batted ball has different significance for the team.
An ordinary hit and a Homerun, an ordinary out and a strikeout, have vastly different effects.
If all these factors are not taken into account, it's difficult to determine a player's true performance.
"In addition to regular scoring, there are 20 bonus points. These 20 bonus points are for situations like this. A Homerun adds two points, a defensive gem adds one point, and a strikeout adds 0.5 points…"
Zhang Han quickly processed what Chris said in his mind, and then he had to admit that the scoring method adopted by Coach Ochiai was relatively reasonable.
Although there would still be deviations when measured by this standard, it could basically serve as an important reference.
Regardless of how a player's performance on the field feels to others, players with high scores must be very capable. Conversely, players with low scores probably aren't very good.
"What's my score?"
Although Zhang Han knew that because of the game against Yakushi High School Baseball Team, the two runs he gave up would greatly affect his score, he was still very curious. According to this new method, what was his score exactly? And what was his ranking in the entire Seido High School Baseball Team?
"A comprehensive score of 94.71. This is what I saw in Coach Ochiai's notebook. Since I don't know your performance during practice, based solely on your data from the practice game, this score is reliable. You have many bonus points; you got a full twelve points out of twenty, making you the one with the most bonus points in our team."
Chris said.
Although he tried to remain expressionless, Zhang Han could still hear the concern of an older student for a younger one in his words.
If 100 was a perfect score, Zhang Han was quite satisfied with this score.
After all, he had given up runs, and he was struck out twice in seven at-bats. No matter how you looked at it, he couldn't get a perfect score.
But what did Chris's current expression mean? Could it be that many people's rankings surpassed his?
If the score wasn't enough to affect Zhang Han's mood, then the only thing that could affect him was his ranking.
"What's my ranking?"
"Ranked third!"
This ranking was beyond Zhang Han's expectations.
It wasn't bad; he just hadn't expected it to be so good.
After all, his given-up runs were there, greatly affecting his score.
Fortunately, he had many strikeouts and a total of three Homeruns, adding more than ten points in one go. However, this was also a reflection of his individual ability.
"What about Yuuki-senpai?"
Indeed. Chris seemed to have anticipated Zhang Han's question.
Zhang Han wasn't without competitive spirit; he just didn't like to show it. Just like now, after knowing his own ranking, he was still bothered by Yuuki's ranking. He was probably not only interested in the ranking but also in Yuuki's score.
"95.12, his ranking is before yours."
"As expected of Yuuki-senpai, he took first place."
Zhang Han was not surprised by this result either.
Yuuki's hitting record was similar to Zhang Han's; both had 5 hits in 7 at-bats.
As for why his score was higher than Zhang Han's, it was because Yuuki seemed to have no errors. He had zero errors in his fielding. Even when he was extremely fatigued, all the balls hit to him were still stopped by him. He just had fewer bonus points than Zhang Han; otherwise, the gap between the two would definitely not be this small.
"This score is more reliable than I imagined. Who is second?"
"Second place is Yuuki. As for whether the score is that reliable…"
At this point, Chris paused.
************************************
Upto 50 Chapters In Advance At: P@treon/Vividreader123