"The West Tokyo Finals, Seido High School versus Nioh Gakusha, final score twelve to zero. Seido High School takes the victory. Congratulations to the baseball team. They are the champions of West Tokyo and have earned their ticket to Koshien!"
The commentator's voice was hoarse from shouting.
Even so, it could not drown out the thunderous cheers from Seido High School Baseball Team's staunch supporters.
Many of them had forgotten how long it had been since they last experienced a moment like this.
It was simply too exciting.
"Seido! Seido! Invincible Seido!"
"King Seido! King Seido!"
The cheers in the stands rose and fell like waves.
At first, it was only Seido's die hard supporters shouting at the top of their lungs. Gradually, even the neutral fans joined in, yelling just as wildly.
"Hey, shut up. Have you forgotten whose fan you are?"
"Oh, right. I almost forgot I'm a Nioh student. But Seido is really amazing!"
That much was undeniable.
If Seido High School Baseball Team were not amazing, how could they have made it this far?
Ichidai Third High School. Inashiro Industrial. Nioh Gakusha.
Well, the last one was almost unnecessary to mention.
Seido's ability to reach this point had nothing to do with luck. It was pure strength.
A terrifying strength that shocked everyone who witnessed it.
They proved with their performance that they were the strongest team in all of West Tokyo. They were the team most qualified to represent West Tokyo and step onto the Koshien stage.
Not only Nioh Gakusha, who had been completely swept aside, but even the other two great powerhouses had been forced to bow their heads.
This championship was beyond dispute.
The entire stadium stood up and applauded. Seido High School Baseball Team fully deserved such honor and recognition.
On the field, the players of Nioh Gakusha were completely numb.
One by one, they collapsed where they stood, faces blank, eyes dull, showing no reaction at all.
Some people cried when they lost.
But at this moment, they no longer even felt like crying.
They did not have the face to cry.
Losing this badly, this miserably, how could they still bring themselves to shed tears?
A team that had made it to the finals.
Did they really deserve to stand here?
On the other side, the scene was entirely different.
The players of Seido High School Baseball Team were radiant, heads held high, chests out.
After years of silence, Seido High School had finally returned to Koshien.
At this moment, every single one of them seemed to shine.
Only Manager Ota was crying.
He kept wiping his eyes with his sleeve, his shoulders trembling.
He was simply too excited.
The players themselves felt it differently. For them, this victory represented the culmination of their three years of high school baseball.
But Ota was different.
From Coach Sakaki to Coach Kataoka, he had been there the entire time.
He had endured the years when the team struggled and their results were far from ideal.
If there was anyone who felt the frustration of Seido's downturn most deeply, aside from Kataoka, it was him.
Now, finally, they could hold their heads high.
Who would dare criticize them now?
Who would dare say that Seido High School Baseball Team was finished?
They had answered everything with their actions.
They had slapped those doubts away without mercy.
Coach Kataoka was also happy.
However, his personality was reserved, and his emotions were not as openly displayed as Ota's.
Moreover, Kataoka had already anticipated this victory long ago. He had a clear idea of how this game would end. Because of that, while he was pleased, he did not lose his composure.
As the Director and true leader of the Seido High School Baseball Team, he knew very well that this was only the first step.
The first goal had been achieved.
Now came the second.
Seido High School Baseball Team's slogan had never been modest.
Their goal was never simply to enter Koshien. What they wanted was to dominate the nation. From this point on, Kataoka had to consider the challenges that awaited them at Koshien.
Years ago, when he first became the Director of Seido High School Baseball Team, he had once led the team to Koshien.
At the time, everyone around him praised his achievement.
But Kataoka himself never felt it was his credit. Strictly speaking, that team had not been trained by him.
Those third year players had already received more than two years of guidance under Coach Sakaki. Their skills were mature, their styles already formed.
Could those players truly be considered Kataoka's achievement?
Moreover, Seido's performance at Koshien that year was not outstanding.
They were eliminated in the round of sixteen.
Leading such a strong team and achieving only that result made Kataoka feel ashamed. He did not think he had contributed much at all, and even believed that he had been incompetent.
Yet the principal and the school's Director did not criticize him.
Later, watching Inashiro repeatedly advance to Koshien and seeing their performances there, Kataoka gradually came to a realization.
This was not the same as when he had been a player.
Koshien was never easy.
Those teams were selected from all over the country. Every one of them was an elite.
It could not be said that every team was a powerhouse, but the majority were undeniably strong.
To rise above more than forty such teams and reach the very end was far more difficult than winning the West Tokyo championship.
Inashiro had only reached the finals once, the semifinals twice, and the quarterfinals six times. In nearly half of the remaining appearances, they failed to even reach the quarterfinals.
Looking at those records, and then looking back at his own past results, Kataoka no longer found them so unacceptable.
This time, Seido High School was entering Koshien again.
And Kataoka was ambitious.
He had to break his previous record.
He had to lead this team to true national dominance.
Originally, he had not held much confidence in the players under him.
Then, a serious accident occurred before the tournament even began.
Although Kataoka did not give up, deep down he did not believe the team had much of a chance.
But now, everything is different. Through training and competition, the team's strength had grown increasingly solid.
Kataoka's confidence grew along with it. He firmly believed that these young players would create even greater glory.
While the Director was lost in thought, the players of Seido High School had no such restraint.
They celebrated their victory freely and exuberantly.
Zhang Han and Miyuki embraced on the field, waving toward their teammates and supporters in the stands. They wanted to share this glory and joy with everyone watching.
As for whether those people truly appreciated it, that was no longer important.
"Heh, that's really enviable."
Kuramochi looked at Zhang Han and Miyuki jumping and cheering on the field, his eyes full of envy.
To step onto the Koshien stage in their first year, and to do so as core players of a powerhouse team, was something almost too perfect.
But he would not lose either.
By autumn, he would definitely be promoted to the first string.
Sooner or later, he would stand on the Koshien stage as well, together with Zhang Han and the others.
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