After saying goodbye to Sano, Sawamura immediately brought the good news to his Teammates at Akagi.
"A practice game!"
Having only been established for three days and not yet truly understanding what Baseball was all about, his Teammates stared blankly at Sawamura one by one.
"Captain, you're not joking, are you?"
"Joking?"
Sawamura found it hard to believe. "How could I be joking? Go ask around; I, Sawamura, am a famously honest man in Nagano."
An honest man?
Aotsuki Wakana stared at Sawamura without saying a word, but her expression was quite intriguing.
"Fine, whatever!"
Sawamura's skin wasn't thick enough yet; he felt a bit embarrassed being stared at by his childhood friend.
"But most of us still don't know anything yet."
Nakagawa Shin asked hesitantly.
"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter!"
Sawamura shook his head with a smile, signaling them not to worry. "Baseball is the kind of sport you learn as you play."
"Of course, as the team captain and Ace Pitcher, I still need you guys to do me a favor. I need a Catcher who can catch my pitches."
A Catcher?
The Teammates looked at Sawamura in silence. They weren't actually so ignorant that they didn't know what a Catcher was—most of them knew. But could a team really play a game with just a Catcher?
"That's enough!"
Sawamura smiled brilliantly.
Against a weakling school like Shilun Middle School, as long as someone could catch his balls, it would be enough.
"Everyone, put on the Catcher's gear and try one by one. If anyone can catch my pitches, we'll go out for Chinese food tonight."
"Alright!"
Hearing that Sawamura was treating them again, Wakana was displeased. "Treating us again? Do you even have any money left?"
The ten thousand yen given by the school had long since been spent.
"It's fine, I'll bring Teacher Sano along. I'm sure he'd be more than happy to contribute some activity funds for our newly established Baseball Club."
In the office, Sano suddenly sneezed for no reason.
"Achoo! Is someone thinking of me?"
Sano, who had just met a girl, had a mysterious blush on his chubby face.
He felt that perhaps his spring was finally coming!
On the other side, after the Teammates tried one by one, only Yamaguchi was finally able to catch Sawamura's pitches. Thus, he naturally took on the heavy responsibility of being the team's number two Starting Catcher.
Just as the team had finalized their pitching and catching partner, news from Shilun Middle School arrived.
Their schedule seemed quite open; the practice game was scheduled for this Saturday afternoon. They could either come to Akagi, or the Akagi Teammates could go to Shilun Middle School.
"We'll go, we'll go!"
The newly appointed captain of the Akagi Junior High School Baseball Team, Comrade Sawamura, said righteously, "Since we were the ones who requested the game, of course we should be the ones to go. How could we let the students from Shirin rush over here?"
"It's not that far, our two schools..."
Wakana exposed him, whether intentionally or not.
Sawamura's wide eyes glared, displeased. "What does the distance matter? What matters is sincerity."
"You're just worried that the team doesn't have a dedicated Baseball field, right?"
Aotsuki couldn't stand Sawamura's act and called him out directly.
Akagi Junior High School, having just established its Baseball Club, naturally didn't have a dedicated Baseball field. Given Principal Takata's stinginess, Sawamura even doubted they would get one even by the time they reached their Third Years.
In fact, in his previous life, Sawamura had never used a dedicated Baseball field at Akagi until the school was merged. The only temporary field they had was built by the Teammates themselves.
"Haven't you heard that seeing through someone without saying it makes for a good friend?"
Sawamura's face couldn't take it anymore,
as he glared at Aotsuki and spoke.
"Oh my, being glared at like that gives me a headache. I might not be able to participate in the game on Saturday."
"My dear lady, what's wrong? Who upset you just now? Tell me, and I'll go take care of them."
Sawamura immediately did a 180-degree turn, rolling up his sleeves and striking a pose like he was ready to fight someone to the death.
"Get lost, who's your 'dear lady'?"
Aotsuki was embarrassed by Sawamura's words, her small face flushing with a strange blush.
"How much of a chance do you think we have of winning?"
Before going to the game at Shirin, Aotsuki asked Sawamura worriedly.
For the first game of the Akagi Junior High School Baseball Team, Aotsuki Wakana really hoped everyone could start off with a victory.
If they won the game, things for the Baseball Club would proceed very smoothly. If they could become a capable force, represent the school in competitions, achieve good rankings, and win glory for the school, then no matter how stingy Principal Takata was, he would have to show some appreciation.
As long as a school club performed well, anything was possible; some powerful clubs could even pull in sponsorships. If it was an established club like the Baseball Club, the probability of receiving support would definitely be higher.
As Aotsuki indulged in her daydream, Sawamura's eyes almost went blank listening to her.
What did Wakana just say? What are the chances of winning?
This joke is getting a bit too big, isn't it?
Major competitions in this country used a knockout format. This meant that teams in the first round and teams in the second round had completely different levels of strength.
Shirin could consistently make it to the third round, so their strength was easy to imagine.
A bunch of rookies from Akagi would be lucky not to be slaughtered. And she's thinking about winning percentages?
Young lady, that's not how you daydream.
"Maybe there's some chance."
Looking at Aotsuki's face, Sawamura ultimately didn't dare to be blunt and only spoke vaguely.
There's a chance!
Aotsuki felt much more at ease hearing this. Being childhood friends with Sawamura, she knew his personality very well. Although he often bragged, his basic judgments were usually very accurate. If Sawamura said there was a chance of winning, then there must truly be a chance.
When Sawamura saw his Teammates the next day, they were all puffing out their chests with their heads held high, looking full of confidence.
They seemed to have already mentally prepared themselves for a win.
But Sawamura really didn't know where their confidence came from. This was probably what they call "newborn calves not fearing tigers."
After re-explaining the basic rules of Baseball to his Teammates, Sawamura began to lead them in training.
Before the game with Shirin, he kept thinking about teaching everyone as much as possible. Sharpening the spear at the last minute is better than not at all.
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, the day of the scheduled game with Shirin arrived.
Akagi is a district with three middle schools located next to each other. They are Akagi, Akagi West, and Shirin. Both Akagi and Akagi West are metropolitan middle schools, while Shirin was privately funded and built, having better conditions than the two public ones.
The two schools were less than two hundred meters apart, and the Akagi Teammates reached Shirin's Baseball field in less than two minutes.
Here, they would play the first practice game since the formation of the Akagi Baseball Team.