The newcors who saw Zhang Han in the second team were full of questions.
Not everyone was as carefree as Sawamura Eijun.
Most newcors, when choosing to join the Seido High School Baseball Team, had done so research on the current roster. And as long as they had looked into it, the na Zhang Han was impossible to overlook.
The core ace of the Seido High School Baseball Team. A standout rookie from last year's Sumr Koshien. Zhang Han had broken two Koshien records and was the idol of many new players.
And now, their idol was in the second team.
How could they not be confused?
Before, everyone had been doing basic training together, so there was no opportunity to observe up close. At that point, the First-string and second team had been doing recovery exercises side by side, not as clearly separated as they were now.
Now that training had split into groups, certain things that hadn't added up beca obvious.
"Why is Zhang Han-senpai in the second team?"
It wasn't just Zhang Han, either. Several other First-string players were also currently with the second team.
The other two Seido pitchers, Tanba and Kawakami, were among them. So was forr third baseman Masuko, working through drills alongside the second team.
For the others, it was at least sowhat understandable. Each of them had their own shortcomings, and Masuko had made a significant error in the Autumn Tournant. Their ti with the second team wasn't entirely without reason.
But Zhang Han, the one people called the new generation's core player at Seido, had never been heard to make any mistakes. How had he ended up there?
Part of the confusion was down to the newcors' limited experience. With a bit more to go on, they would have noticed sothing else: it wasn't only Zhang Han and the others training in the second team. Chris, the forr ace catcher of Seido, was there too.
All of these players were practicing with the second team.
What exactly were Coach Kataoka and the coaching staff thinking?
"Have they been dropped from the First-string?"
"There are twenty spots on the First-string roster, and this many have suddenly disappeared. Who's filling those spots?"
"Doesn't look like anyone has been added."
"That's strange..."
Nobody could find an answer.
Coach Kataoka said nothing. Neither did the other second and third-year players, nor the individuals involved. They simply accepted the arrangent and got to work.
The longer it went on, the more the freshn couldn't let it go.
When they worked up the courage to ask their upperclassn, every one of them was impatient and clearly reluctant to answer. If pushed hard enough, the most they would get was: "Why are you worrying about that?"
It's not your concern.
But the more the seniors deflected, the faster the freshn's minds raced.
The Spring Tournant was almost upon them. The twenty spots on the Seido First-string roster had not yet been settled. Did the fact that those players had moved to the second team an they had lost their places?
Whatever the reason, losing their spots was the apparent reality. And if Coach Kataoka and the coaching staff had no intention of using them, did that an the newcors' chance had arrived?
They barely dared to think it. But the situation was right in front of them, and they couldn't help themselves.
Either way, this looked like an opportunity.
If they could seize it, break into the First-string, and perform well in the Spring Tournant, then by the Sumr Tournant, would they have a shot at a First-string uniform number?
The first-year freshn threw themselves into the subsequent training with remarkable enthusiasm. They were hungry for a chance.
Coach Kataoka, however, had them running and working through basic drills. He gave them no opportunity to show what they could do.
The freshn grew more confused by the day. They genuinely could not work out what Coach Kataoka and the coaching staff had in mind.
It wasn't until the Spring Tournant was almost upon them and the groupings were announced that the first-year newcors finally understood they had been played.
Just before the tournant began, every one of the players training in the second team was swiftly promoted back to the First-string.
Three pitchers: Tanba, Kawakami, and Zhang Han. All returned.
The newcors had gotten ahead of themselves. The three Seido pitchers, whatever difficulties and plateaus they had run into along the way, had never truly been in danger of losing their positions. Suggesting that Seido had pitchers ready to replace them at this stage was simply not realistic.
If Seido couldn't trust them, they certainly weren't going to trust newcors.
The reason those players had been with the second team was straightforward: more opportunities to play. Before the Tokyo Spring Tournant officially began, the First-string had no practice gas scheduled. The second team, not being entered in the Spring Tournant, could arrange them freely. The players who stayed in the second team got ga ti.
One more person was promoted alongside the three pitchers. He was a figure almost completely unknown to the first-year freshn. His na was Chris.
By the previous autumn, Chris had largely completed his recovery. But during the subsequent rehabilitation training, his performance had been inconsistent, and he hadn't been able to return to the First-string.
It wasn't until that spring that he had fully found his footing again and returned to his forr level.
Coach Kataoka had been watching, and before the Spring Tournant, he promoted Chris directly to the First-string. Not as a catcher, but as a pinch hitter.
anwhile, the Spring Koshien championship match had been playing out.
The Inashiro Industrial High School Baseball Team, having fought their way to the national final, gave everything they had.
In the end, they were the better team. A walk-off victory in the final inning, defeating Saibo 2-1. Inashiro Industrial had won the Spring Koshien championship.
Coach Kunitomo, who had worked tirelessly for the program for over a decade, had finally realised his dream. His first Koshien championship as a director.
Inashiro Industrial's four second-year ace players, each formidable in their own right, had only grown stronger through the national tournant. The team had made a real statent, and was now without question the most closely watched program in the country.
Watching their forr opponent, the team that had beaten them, now stand at the top of the nation, the Seido players felt sothing that was hard to na.
Losing to the national champions, at least, didn't feel unreasonable.
What they didn't know yet was how they themselves would perform in the Spring Tournant.
The Seido High School Baseball Team was already eager to prove sothing.
And they had even more reason to be interested in the national champions.
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