The group where the Seidou High School baseball team is sorted is particularly interesting.
The organizing committee is unsure whether they considered the interests of other strong teams or Seidou's interests, but they made some arrangements.
In the entire group, Seidou High School's baseball team is the only top-seed team. The second seed is Seijitsu, a strong team, but they don't pose a significant threat to Seidou High School's baseball team.
Apart from that, the remaining teams in the group are very different.
Two previously unheard-of dark horses, along with three weak teams.
The three weak teams are not even worth mentioning. Their regional top-tier strength is far below the level of the top eight teams from West Tokyo. If you were to place the weak team, Sensen Academy, from West Tokyo into that kind of division, they might very well end up as the long-time champion of that region.
As for the two dark horses, one is the Nanakyo High School baseball team, which was just ruthlessly beaten by Seidou High School. There is no need to elaborate on their strength; even without many external factors, their final result would not have been good.
Frankly speaking, with their strength, making it past the first round in Koshien would be a miracle. Even playing one more round would be wishful thinking.
The same fate awaits Jouyou High School.
They are also an unknown dark horse that suddenly emerged from some obscure corner, and nobody had heard of them before.
The weakness of their strength is evident.
However, their luck is much better than that of Nanakyo High School's baseball team, as they had a bye in the first round and directly entered the second round.
As for where these three weak teams come from.
They are all from rural areas in the northeast region.
For years, they've been the first-round exit guests of Koshien.
Oh, but wait, that's not entirely accurate; one of them is quite different.
Kanetsu-Norin High School.
This team isn't a traditional weak team, nor is it a product of a region where the local kingpins have all disappeared.
They have a history.
At their peak, this team reportedly made it to the semifinals of Koshien.
They were a formidable team from a small area.
In fact, they've participated in Koshien three times.
Strictly speaking, they can't be called nobodies.
But that was more than thirty years ago.
As of now, this team is highly unremarkable.
According to local reports, the formation of this team was quite interesting. It was just a bunch of passionate youths, a product of a momentary lapse in judgment.
Making it to Koshien was already a stroke of luck.
It's said that to let the players participate in Koshien, there was even a fundraising campaign.
The money raised could only allow them to play one or two games at Koshien.
In short, they didn't even believe in themselves.
Their entire school has just only around 500 students.
It's a public school, and in this Koshien season, there are only three public schools, and they're one of them.
Because of this, the team has been the center of attention from the start.
They are just so unusual!
Kanetsu-Norin — the name sounds impactful, but actually it is just an agriculture school.
For an agriculture school team to make it into the prestigious Koshien among so many elite teams, their fate is easy to predict.
It's not good. Not good at all.
And in fact, the other two weak teams are in a similar situation to Kanetsu-Norin High School.
One is a private school, and the other is a highly academic.
Jouyou High School, although previously obscure and from a small place, is a private school. Moreover, they broke through by defeating the local elites.
No matter how weak they are, there's a limit.
At least they are much stronger than the three weak teams.
When analyzing their group opponents, the Seidou High School baseball team members felt regretful.
As a seed team in the same group, Seijitsu's luck is much better than theirs.
Look at who they're facing — all weak teams. No matter how you compare, winning is a given.
Now, look at the Seidou High School baseball team, facing nothing but dark horses.
Not only are they strong, but they're also a mystery.
In this situation, Seidou High School's baseball team can't afford to be careless.
That evening, Coach Kataoka gathered the team to analyze the next round's opponent.
This time, there was more time than the last, and Takashima managed to get the match footage of Jouyou High School from the regional tournament.
When Takashima got the footage, she was really excited.
That afternoon, the three supervisors of Seidou High School's baseball team sat down together to carefully review the opponent's match data.
Takashima, Kataoka, and Ochiai.
The President Ota wasn't there; he was busy organizing the second and third-string players.
There were so many on the team, and managing all of them needed proper logistics management.
After watching the match footage, the three supervisors exchanged glances but said nothing.
It's not that the opponent's strength was too strong to speak about.
The truth is, compared to what they imagined, the opponent's strength was a little difficult to understand.
Apart from the semifinal match against their local regional powerhouse, Jouyou High School's players performed decently.
In all their other games, there were noticeable problems with their players.
"It feels like it's deliberate!" Ochiai muttered while stroking his chin.
It was a very strange feeling. It was as if the Jouyou High School players were completely different when they stepped onto the field.
It felt almost like watching actors perform.
Something about it just didn't seem real.
But if they were truly acting, it didn't make sense.
Given their strength and past performance, this team didn't have the qualifications to act.
While the team's overall strength had increased, it wasn't due to any outstanding individual players.
How could a team without any standout players make it to Koshien so smoothly?
'I don't get it!'
Even the three giants of Seidou High School's baseball team, experts in high school baseball, couldn't understand what was going on with the opponent.
Let alone the others.
After watching the footage, the Seidou High School baseball team members were also confused.
Are they really strong? Or is it just pure luck?
On the surface, Jouyou High School seems to just have good luck.
They only won three games with their own strength, and the other two victories had a lot of luck involved.
Especially the game against their local powerhouse.
They were ridiculously lucky.
"Luck is also part of strength! Don't let your guard down just because the opponent's foundation isn't solid. Give it your all and play the game properly."
"During the match, you mustn't act recklessly or try to be overly ambitious. As long as we get the game into our rhythm, even if they are hiding their strength, they'll never be our match. And victory will belong to Seidou!!"
Kataoka, as a literature teacher, was really a master at boosting morale.
"Yes!"
The Seidou High School baseball team members stood up and responded loudly.
Although there was a strange feeling during the process, the team had no doubt about the victory.
With their strength, defeating the opponent would be a walk in the park.
Before the quarter-final, their only real opponent was Seijitsu.
Although they were eliminated early in the Spring Koshien, their strength was undeniable.
They caused major problems for their opponents in that tournament.
That performance in the Spring Koshien fully demonstrated their strength and depth.
They hadn't been significantly affected by the retirement of their key players from the previous year.
This was an old rival!
An old rival who still retained substantial strength.
Facing such an opponent, even the Seidou High School baseball team couldn't afford to be careless. If they weren't careful, they might trip over their own feet.
The road to becoming a legend never has a smooth path.
They can only take one step at a time, overcoming every obstacle in their way.
In the end, they would reach the top ahead of all other teams.
Right now, the Seidou High School baseball team had their focus solely on their next opponent Seijitsu.
As for the quarter-finals…
Because of the re-draw, the Seidou High School baseball team didn't even know who they would face.
They couldn't pay too much attention to that right now.
Just as the team was preparing for the second round of games, the Seidou High School baseball team never imagined that just as they were about to become legends, a huge dark horse would appear.
The news broke on the second day, the very day Seidou High School's baseball team was about to play their second-round game.
In the morning, they leisurely finished breakfast and headed toward Koshien, ready to face Jouyou High School in their second round.
But before they could reach the field, the Koshien stadium was already in chaos.
Outside the stadium, the Seidou High School baseball team members looked at each other in confusion.
They couldn't understand what was going on.
Why were the spectators acting so excited, as if they had all taken stimulants?
When they watched Sawamura's game before, was it this intense?
…