CHAPTER 47: CHAPTER 47: THE HEAT OF THE TOURNAMENT

As the West Tokyo Conference concluded, matches in various other prefectures across Japan were also in full swing, with representative teams advancing to Koshien being decided one after another.

...

Chiba Conference, Finals.

Bottom of the sixth inning, Narita 0:0 Tokai University B!0, Narita High School’s offense, a runner on third base.

Narita High School’s third batter, Kaneko Yuuta, hit a single with all his might, sending the teammate on third base back to home plate, changing the score to 1:0.

Top of the ninth inning, Narita’s ace pitcher Nakagawa Ryosuke delivered his 11th strikeout of the game, successfully holding on to a narrow one-point lead.

"Game over! Game over!"

"The iron-arm ace Nakagawa Ryosuke! A complete game shutout, 11 strikeouts!!!"

"Narita High School, after a 20-year hiatus, makes their 7th appearance at the Summer Koshien!!!"

...

East Tokyo Conference, Finals.

Top of the ninth inning, Shutoku 5:3 Kantou Number One, Kantou Number One’s relief pitcher Ide made a substitute appearance, replacing the team’s ace Shirai, helping the team maintain a 2-point gap.

Bottom of the ninth inning, Kantou Number One launched a desperate counterattack, their batting lineup bursting with endless energy, striking hit after hit — as No. 5 Uekata hit a long ball towards left field, Kantou Number One completed a dramatic comeback with a 6:5 victory at the bottom of the ninth inning.

Kantou Number One’s players, like madmen, surged towards the pitcher’s mound from all directions on the field, while Shutoku’s players knelt on the ground, crying uncontrollably.

"Sayonara! Sayonara!"

"Goodbye hit, dramatic comeback!!!"

"Kantou Number One, after a 2-year hiatus, makes their 5th appearance at the Summer Koshien!!!"

...

Miyagi Conference, Finals.

The scoreboard above the field prominently displayed the score of the current match.

Sendai Yuuying 28:1 Kesennuma Kouyo.

In the Kesennuma Kouyo players’ area, their team members were lying on the ground one by one, their eyes losing light;

On the pitcher’s mound, following Sendai Yuuying’s ace Mukai Kenji delivering the last strikeout, the umpire announced the end of the game.

"Mukai Kenji, a total of 43 strikeouts in the conference, is incredible!"

"Sendai Yuuying, the prestigious school in Miyagi, after a 2-year absence, makes their 22nd appearance at the Summer Koshien!"

...

Aichi Conference, Finals.

Bottom of the ninth inning, Chukyo University 7:2 Aichi Keishin.

Moriyama Junpei, coming on as a substitute to find his form, pitched his last ball of the game, which was hit sky-high by Aichi Keishin’s batter, constantly rising directly above home plate.

Behind home plate, Chukyo University’s catcher Izumura Yasuhiko quickly removed his catcher’s mask, secured the ball after judging its trajectory, and confidently caught it.

On the pitcher’s mound, Moriyama Junpei gave a thumbs up to his partner.

"Game over! Last summer’s champions, Chukyo University, break through the Aichi Conference again!!!"

"This time, the goal is to march towards consecutive Summer甲 championships!"

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As time passed, representative teams from various regions were officially announced one after another, and the main event of the Summer Koshien was approaching.

As one of the national teams that finished their finals the earliest, Waseda Jitsugyo had nearly a week’s time to rest and adjust.

On the weekend after the game, it was supposed to be a rest day for everyone — but this plan was ruined when Shinichi Sasaki, the head of the baseball club, learned about it, resulting in the day’s holiday being scrapped — replaced by the entire baseball club being brought to a fundraising ceremony by Shinichi Sasaki.

"Shinichi, aren’t we at Waseda a private school? Why do we still need to hold a fundraising ceremony just to go to Koshien?" Tsuchiya Ryota, who was deprived of his holiday, felt somewhat displeased and complained carelessly to this teacher with whom he had a good relationship.

Knocking him twice on the head with his knuckles, Shinichi Sasaki retorted sarcastically, "Show some respect, kid, can you call me ’teacher’ outside!"

He then sighed, looking at the members in front of him, he asked, "Do you know how much it costs to go to Koshien?"

The baseball club members shook their heads.

Shinichi Sasaki extended his fingers, calculating in front of the group of students:

"The cost of going to Koshien mainly includes the following parts:"

"First are the travel, food, and equipment costs for selected team members, with an initial budget of about 8 million yen;"

"Then the biggest expense is the cheering squad’s cost — after all, you wouldn’t want to have no one to cheer for you during the Koshien games, right?"

"The cheering squad’s expenses include the student committee responsible for related affairs, as well as the brass band, cheerleaders, and the team members who couldn’t make the cut, covering all their accommodation, meals, and transportation costs during Summer甲."

"Should I tell you how much this cost is, so you won’t be scared!"

"About 50 million yen!!!"

Boom — When Shinichi Sasaki announced this number, the minds of the baseball club members exploded at once. In their imagination, the field at Koshien was no longer covered with soft dirt but with stacks and stacks of Fukuzawa Yukichi bills.

"Koshien... really... really burns money." Even Tsuchiya Ryota, who had been complaining initially, was shocked, stammering in his speech.

Shinichi Sasaki spread his hands in exclamation, "We’re actually quite lucky, after all, as a private prestigious school, whether it’s the baseball club’s old OB or other distinguished representatives, they donate a lot of money every year — in comparison, those small public schools face even more difficulty!"

Everyone on the side nodded repeatedly in agreement but clearly hadn’t recovered from the enormous shock —

After all, in their traditional perception, Koshien has always been associated with words like dreams and sweat: high school students from all over the country gather to strive and work hard purely for their dreams, without money or sponsorship ties — this was the first time these high school students had a direct encounter with a money-related concept.

"It feels... there’s a lot of pressure, it seems like not achieving good results would really let down our supporters," Lin Guanglai deeply sighed with a sense of understanding.

"Hahahahaha, having this realization is good!" Shinichi Sasaki patted Lin Guanglai on the shoulder, "From tomorrow onwards, everyone has to work even harder in the upcoming games to live up to everyone’s full support for us!"

"Oh—" Responding to him was the loud shout from all the members.

-----------------

During the break in the fundraising ceremony, Tsuchiya Ryota ran to the surrounding business street and bought a copy of the Asahi Shimbun — after the champions of various local conferences were confirmed, the Asahi Shimbun Company, which organized the tournament, would publish all the participating teams of the Summer Koshien on a whole page.

A total of 49 teams, each one a champion team having broken through from their respective regions.

And these representative teams from different regions will gather at Koshien in August, where only one team will emerge as the champion of champions through cruel and thrilling single-game elimination.

"Let me take a look at what teams we are facing this year..." Tsuchiya Ryota commented with interest as he flipped through the newspaper.

"Spring champion Konan High School, aiming for consecutive Spring-Summer titles. Batting lineup with 8 consecutive hits, ace pitcher Shimabukuro Hiroshi still in form..."

"Gifu representative Toki Merchants, team batting average of 40.6% — This is a devilishly high batting average, Kensuke Guanglai, you two better watch out..."

"Representing North and South Hokkaido, Hokusho High School with ace Matsuno Shima, hitting 33 home runs in Takayama totals... tsk tsk, another powerhouse hitter."

"And then the highly anticipated team aces like Yamada Tetsuro from Luzheng Society and Arihara Kouta from Guangling... It feels like this year’s Koshien will be quite interesting!"

Unbeknownst to them, the entire Waseda Jitsugyo Baseball Club’s heart had already floated to Koshien...