Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

On the first day of the vacation, the members of Seidou's baseball team boarded a bus and set off for Kanagawa.

Because the schedule was very rushed, the coaching staff of Seidou High School didn't even have time to provide the players with information about their opponents.

As a result, the first team's campaign was planned on the run.

If the opponents needed information on Seidou High School, it was simple; they just had to search for the videos from the Spring Koshien tournament online.

It had only been a month, and with Seidou High School's strong legacy, they could not have undergone any major transformations.

There would certainly be a variety of tactics developed to counter Seidou High School's style.

"Fortunately, they are all teams from the Kanto region, and there aren't any particularly powerful opponents," said Watanabe who had received permission from Coach Kataoka to join the team for the practice campaign.

On one hand, this gave him the opportunity to gather intelligence on the opponents, and on the other, he could offer reasonable advice about his teammates' conditions.

Over time, Watanabe was becoming increasingly important to the Seidou's baseball team.

As the saying goes, "Every field has its top expert."

When support work is done well, it can also produce impressive results.

Watanabe was quite satisfied with his current role. He knew his natural talent couldn't compare to that of his teammates, but he was happy and content to fight alongside them in a different capacity.

Coach Kataoka was also very satisfied with his performance, even going so far as to extend an invitation to Watanabe.

"If you're truly interested in baseball, you should get a coaching license. After you graduate from college, come and work at Seidou High School."

Watanabe was, of course, overjoyed by such an invitation, but also somewhat puzzled.

"Our team's assistant coach positions are already filled, aren't they?"

Seidou High School's setup was ultra-luxurious. In addition to Head Coach Kataoka, coach Ochiai, coach/Vice President Takashima Rei, and President Ota, there were four other coaches, all of whom were Seidou alumni.

Since the school's founding, the only coach who wasn't an alumnus was the outside hire, Ochiai Hiromitsu.

"Things are different now. As more new students join, the school plans to recruit a few more assistant coaches. I can reserve a spot for you!"

Watanabe felt like tears might spill from his eyes.

Originally, he had helped his teammates just for the team and to fulfill his own dreams, never expecting that he would end up securing a job for himself.

Although his talent as a player was very average, his abilities as a coach were highly recognized by the team.

Coach Kataoka even had the intention to cultivate Watanabe as his successor, although he was more inclined towards Miyuki Kazuya and Sawamura Eijun.

However, anyone could guess that these two would probably not pursue coaching after graduation.

Even if they did eventually, it would be after their playing careers had ended.

How long would that take?

It would be safer to cultivate someone like Watanabe.

Watanabe's understanding of the game, his ability to discover the players' potential, and his skill in analyzing intelligence... all showcased his considerable talent.

These talents were not the same as those needed to be a player, though there was some overlap, the difference was still clear.

This was a coach's talent.

It was like Coach Ochiai himself, who had been an average player when he was younger.

He might not have been much better than Watanabe now, but you had to admit that he was indeed a highly skilled coach.

And Coach Kataoka recognized this as well.

Because of this precedent, Coach Kataoka thought Watanabe might be a suitable candidate as well.

Watanabe himself was, of course, very happy.

Though he didn't immediately agree, he had accepted Kataoka's suggestion. After getting into college, he would pursue a baseball coaching license.

Maybe his future would be tied to baseball.

Though the players of Seidou's baseball team were currently performing very strongly, very few would be able to work professionally in baseball in the future.

Watanabe, on the other hand, had a much higher possibility of working in baseball than some of the first-string players.

"Zero information, no idea who the opponents are? This is truly the ideal test for the new team," Miyuki said, holding the match schedule.

There were six matches in total, three regions, with two matches per region.

Considering the travel time, the schedule was very tight.

And since they didn't know much about the opponents, this test would indeed be very harsh for Seidou's baseball team.

During this period, teams usually try new things and test all sorts of possibilities.

So it wouldn't be as bad.

Nevertheless, there were also benefits.

For Seidou's baseball team, they were unfamiliar with most teams outside of the few familiar rivals.

While everyone knew Seidou, Seidou didn't know every other team.

This wasn't so much of a problem during the Kanto Tournament, but it would likely happen often during the Summer Tournament.

If such situations arose, how should Seidou High School deal with them?

This was a problem the team had to solve next.

Coach Kataoka and the coaching staff of Seidou certainly weren't completely blind. With the history and experience of Seidou, there were many ways to gather information about their opponents.

There was no need to lock themselves away.

The reason Coach Kataoka and the staff hadn't released any information was to train the players.

But this also hinted at another signal.

"The teams in these six matches probably aren't that strong!" murmured Sawamura.

With the Kanto Tournament coming up, the top teams in Kanto would all participate.

This meant that in half a month, Seidou High School would likely face a few of these teams.

In this case, they wouldn't be foolish enough to schedule practice matches with Seidou.

Even the top teams in each district might not be Seidou's match, let alone those that weren't the district champions.

So, Sawamura was certain about this.

The practice matches opponents would not be particularly strong.

Of course, if they were invited to a practice match with Seidou High School, their strength couldn't be too bad either.

It was exactly these types of teams that were the best practice partners. Coach Kataoka could easily adjust the team's lineup.

"There are some with brains in their heads!"

Sawamura murmured quietly, but the sharp-eared Kuramochi overheard him and immediately pulled out the match schedule, pointing at it.

"Did you see this school? Tobuyasu High School!"

"What about it?" Sawamura asked, confused.

Kuramochi, with his firm tone, made Sawamura guess that this team must be strong.

However, to be honest, Sawamura didn't recognize this school name at all.

Which made sense: Tobuyasu High School wasn't considered a national powerhouse and wasn't even particularly famous.

'Why was Kuramochi so concerned?'

'No, wait... he felt like he had heard the name somewhere before.'

The memory was a bit distant, and Sawamura wasn't entirely sure. But it did ring a bell.

"Isn't it a famous Football school?"

At this point, someone who understood the situation spoke up.

After asking around, it turned out that Tobuyasu High School wasn't just any unknown school; it was a famous athletic school in Kanagawa Prefecture.

While their strongest sport wasn't baseball but Football, Tobuyasu High School's Football team was the national runner-up, its basketball team was in the national top eight, and its volleyball team made the national top four.

Such a school must be known for its spirit and its athletes' quality.

"Even if the other teams are strong, it has nothing to do with their baseball team, right? Could it be that their top athletes all somehow ended up on the baseball team? Even if they did, baseball isn't just about brute force..." Sawamura muttered, perplexed.

"You don't understand!" Kuramochi said confidently.

"Their baseball team was already strong, but they've been overshadowed by other big schools in the Kanagawa region, so they've never made it to Koshien."

"But this time is different. They fought their way through the Spring Tournament and made it all the way to the final. Although they lost to the champions of Kanagawa, they still managed to secure second place."

Kanagawa's second-place team? That was indeed a formidable opponent!

"When do we play them?"

"This afternoon."

As they approached Kanagawa, Watanabe began to fulfill his responsibilities.

"This afternoon, we need to watch out for this player."

Watanabe had somehow found a large poster.

The poster featured a model, with some brief information about him:

- Height: 188 cm

- Weight: 78 kg

- Hobbies: Basketball, Football, baseball, table tennis

- Favorite song: Last Moment (The ending theme of Bleach)

- Favorite actress: Kim Hee-sun

- Favorite actor: Jackie Chan

Looking at these details, the model seemed like an international young man.

Only 16 years old, the same age as Sawamura and the others.

His name was Senzo Shiki, a supermodel with fans second only to Sawamura in all of high school baseball.

He was famously compared to other players.

Sawamura couldn't help but laugh.

Upon hearing the name Tobuyasu High, he felt like it sounded familiar.

But due to the passage of time, his memory was unclear.

Seeing Senzo's photo now, he remembered who he was and also recalled Tobuyasu High School's reputation.

…