Matsukata Senior League's performance last year had been truly outstanding.
Many players were at least somewhat familiar with Matsukata. The Matsukata Senior League itself was a prestigious youth baseball club in the Tokyo area, and the number of professional players it had cultivated was no less than that of many high school powerhouses.
Last year, Matsukata even advanced to the finals of the national youth baseball tournament. Unfortunately, they lost by a single run and finished as national runner-up.
Even so, this achievement was Matsukata's best result in many years, and arguably the best in the entire Tokyo area in recent seasons.
When they claimed second place nationally, Matsukata Senior League caused a huge sensation. Their main lineup was even given a title: the "Golden Batting Lineup."
The representative figures of that lineup were Hoshida, Miyakawa, Zhang Han, and Ono, all of whom were third-year junior high students at the time.
There were also Toujou and Kanemaru, who were second-year students.
You have to understand, when they advanced to the national tournament, it wasn't as if Tokyo lacked strong teams.
Not to mention the distant regions.
Just within Tokyo alone, the teams that Miyuki, Narumiya Mei, Shirakawa, and Carlos played for were each formidable opponents. Especially the teams led by Narumiya Mei and Shirakawa.
They were also top-tier national youth baseball powerhouses. In terms of reputation and overall strength, they were in no way inferior to Matsukata Senior League.
Yet in the end, it was Matsukata Senior League that stood out in Tokyo.
They played three consecutive classic matches, won the Tokyo regional championship, and successfully advanced to the national tournament. At the national stage, they overcame one obstacle after another and pushed all the way to the final.
If not for a critical mistake by their ace pitcher at the very last moment, Matsukata Senior League might have gone all the way to the top.
From that point on, the reputation of Matsukata's Golden Batting Lineup spread like wildfire.
Among them, the three most representative hitters were:
The third batter, Zhang Han.
The cleanup hitter, Hoshida.
And the fifth batter, Miyakawa.
Without exaggeration, at least two-thirds of Matsukata Senior League's runs were directly related to these three players.
Each of their individual records was terrifyingly impressive.
Do you think that was the end of it?
No.
The legend of the Golden Batting Lineup continued even after they entered high school. In some ways, it could even be said that it had only just begun.
The three core hitters from Matsukata Senior League all enrolled in prestigious high schools.
This wasn't surprising at all. Given their junior high achievements, it would have been shocking if they hadn't joined elite programs. Entering a prestigious school was simply the natural outcome.
Under normal circumstances, a freshman at a powerhouse school finds it extremely difficult to gain opportunities in the summer of their first year. Most players enter the First-string in the autumn, become regulars in their second year, and only rise to the core of the team by their third year.
That was already considered the standard growth path of a top-class player.
But how could geniuses from Matsukata Senior League grow so ordinarily?
All of them entered the First-string in the summer of their first year. Zhang Han and Hoshida even became main players right away.
And that wasn't all.
After the tournament began, neither of them missed a single game. During those games, both produced terrifying records that surpassed even their third-year seniors.
Now, they had already become core members of their respective teams.
When the members of the two powerhouses, Seido High School and Ichidai Third High School, learned about the experiences of these Matsukata graduates, they were stunned.
These juniors were truly something else.
National runner-up. Core starters in their first summer.
Even many main players from powerhouse high schools had never achieved such feats.
This led to a subtle but unmistakable shift in mindset among the seniors of both teams. It became difficult for them to treat Zhang Han and Hoshida as ordinary first-year newcomers.
Especially after carefully studying their performances on the field, their sense of unease only grew stronger.
That was precisely why players from both sides wanted to hear their evaluations of each other.
After all, they were both core members of the national runner-up Matsukata Senior League. No one understood them better than they understood each other.
In Seido High School Baseball Club's dedicated meeting room, Zhang Han spoke without hesitation.
"That guy is just a gorilla. He relies on brute strength alone. If it comes to a real confrontation, there's nothing to be afraid of."
He was clearly talking about Hoshida.
"You can lure him with corner pitches, or force him to make contact using a changeup. As long as you stay calm and avoid mistakes while pitching, dealing with him is easy."
Was Hoshida really that simple to handle?
The Seido players were skeptical.
The three teams that had already faced Ichidai Third High School weren't idiots. They must have tried every possible method to suppress Hoshida.
Yet in the end, hadn't they all failed?
"Besides not being as terrifying as everyone thinks, Hoshida also has hitting zones he's not good at."
The moment Zhang Han said this, the atmosphere in the room changed.
This was exactly what everyone wanted to hear.
Zhang Han didn't keep them in suspense.
"The spot he's worst at hitting is the low outside corner. He avoids those pitches whenever possible. Unless he's forced, he absolutely won't swing at that kind of ball."
"As for Miyakawa, he's actually harder to deal with. But that's only for normal pitchers. For Hidezawa-senpai, Miyakawa is the easiest one to handle. His power isn't strong, so he can be completely suppressed with velocity alone."
Zhang Han sold out his former teammates without mercy.
At the same time, his former teammates showed him no courtesy either.
In Ichidai Third High School's strategy meeting room, Miyakawa was also pointing out Zhang Han's weaknesses.
"Zhang-san has been a core player for Matsukata Senior League since his first year. His first-year record was excellent. But in the two years after that, although he remained a mainstay, his overall performance didn't improve much with age."
"For some reason, Zhang-san seems able to predict where the baseball will land. His judgment of the landing point is incredibly accurate, with almost no errors."
As Miyakawa said this, the expressions of the Ichidai players grew heavy.
That was unbelievable.
Could someone really predict where a ball would land?
"It's true. Zhang-san really does have that ability."
"But that's also his limit. He can predict the landing point, but he can't tell what kind of pitch it is."
"To deal with Zhang-san, pitchers should focus heavily on breaking balls when setting up sequences. This won't guarantee an out, but it will significantly reduce his hit rate. Last year, after we entered the national tournament, several teams used this approach, and the results were very good. It directly reduced Zhang-san's hits by more than ten percent."
…
Friday, the day before the West Tokyo Tournament quarterfinals.
Zhang Han returned home and stopped by Matsukata Senior League.
Unexpectedly, he ran into Hoshida.
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