The Old Baseball Player System

"It looks like Seishin isn't in our bracket..." - Shimizu said as she looked at a piece of paper. The paper was the Tokyo tournament bracket, which had two separate brackets.

Teams were randomly assigned to one of the brackets, and from that point on, each bracket functioned as a separate tournament. The Tokyo tournament granted two spots for the Kanto tournament every year, so the champion of each bracket secured a spot in Kanto.

"So we'll only face those guys in the Kanto tournament..." - Daigo said, sounding a bit relieved.

"That's if we both make it to the Kanto tournament." - Kenta replied calmly.

"I don't know about them... but we'll get there! For sure!" - Shun said with determination as he looked out at the field. No one said anything in response to Shun's words, but everyone could feel the boy's resolve.

The game began with Seishin on the mound. A short boy with a funny expression was warming up, preparing to pitch.

"Sidearm?" - Shun said, surprised, as he observed the boy's pitching style.

Typically, pitchers throw with an overhand motion, keeping their arm above their head, which places more pressure on the shoulder, resulting in a more vertical pitch trajectory.

However, sidearm pitchers, like Seishin's, extend their arms out to the side, placing more strain on the elbow and creating a more horizontal pitch trajectory. Read latest stories on m_v-l'e|-NovelBin.net

This delivery makes it extremely difficult for batters, who aren't used to this kind of motion or the unusual trajectory of the ball. That's why it's very tough to hit against a good sidearm pitcher. However, finding a good sidearm pitcher, especially in middle school, is rare.

Shun watched the pitcher closely, unable to hide his surprise. The boy had only two pitches, a slider and a sinker, but these were more than enough to shut down the inning, retiring three batters with ease.

"Damn!" - Daigo exclaimed, impressed.

"This is the first time I've seen a sidearm pitcher. It's really impressive. The batters just can't read his pitches properly." - Jiro said as he watched the short pitcher walk off the mound. It was then that the Shoto players noticed something unusual.

"Huh? He's not the ace?!" - Sora said, shocked, as he noticed the number 10 on the pitcher's back. If this guy wasn't the ace, who on earth was?

Shun pondered the number on the pitcher's back. Of course, he couldn't jump to conclusions based on the number alone, but if Seishin had someone even better in their bullpen... facing them in the Kanto tournament wouldn't be easy.

In the bottom half of the inning, Seishin's offense was just as impressive. They employed the famous small ball strategy, and their players executed it flawlessly. The Seishin players focused on reaching base, and once they got on, they did everything they could to bring the runner home.

This might sound obvious, but this strategy is incredibly difficult to counter. No matter who was at the plate, as long as there was a runner on base, they wouldn't hesitate to bunt or hit sacrifice flies to score runs.

Of course, the downside of this strategy is that it gives the opposing team many "free" outs, and often, it doesn't yield many runs. However, when combined with solid defense, it becomes incredibly hard to beat.

Almost all of Seishin's batters followed this strategy, except for one. A tall, chubby boy, not athletic in the slightest, who played first base and batted fourth in the lineup. Shun found the boy's appearance amusing until he crushed a monstrous home run to center field, leaving everyone in the stadium in awe.

"This Seishin team... they're really good..." - Ren, the young samurai, said, clearly impressed. His expression showed how relieved he was that they wouldn't have to face such a team in the Tokyo tournament.

Shun nodded. He couldn't deny that he also felt a bit relieved. While he didn't think it was impossible to beat Seishin, he knew facing them would be a real hassle. Honestly assessing the situation, Shun believed that Seishin was probably the most complete team in middle school, at least from what he knew.

But little did Shun know, he hadn't seen everything yet. The short, funny-looking pitcher retired all nine batters without giving up a hit or a walk. But to everyone's surprise, someone else took the mound in the fourth inning.

A tall, lanky boy with glasses and long arms stepped up to pitch. He wore his glove on his right hand, meaning he was a lefty. But the real surprise came with his first pitch.

"You've got to be kidding me!" - Ren shouted in disbelief after seeing the absurd pitch from the new pitcher.

"Submarine?" - Shun said, shocked, as he watched the pitcher's delivery. Technically, it was a sidearm throw, putting pressure on the elbow instead of the shoulder. However, instead of throwing with his arm extended to the side, the pitcher dropped his arm as low as possible, releasing the ball almost at ground level.

This delivery gave the pitch a vertical trajectory, but instead of dropping, the ball tended to rise as it approached the plate, making it a nightmare for batters who had spent their lives hitting pitches that dropped.

The submarine pitcher quickly retired the three opposing batters, ending the inning. It wasn't until he left the mound and returned to the dugout that the real shock hit everyone.

"Number 11? What the hell?" - Ren shouted as he noticed the boy's jersey number.

"Who the heck is Seishin's ace?!" - Kenta asked, clearly shaken after seeing two incredible pitchers, neither of whom wore the ace's number.

"Looks like Kanto won't be easy..." - Shun said with a grin. He had seen enough. Unless something unusual happened, Seishin was undoubtedly heading to the Kanto tournament.

The game didn't last much longer. Despite using the small ball strategy, the opposing team simply couldn't contain Seishin's offense. In just five innings, Seishin scored 11 runs, enough to end the game via the Mercy Rule after the submarine pitcher easily closed out the fifth inning.

After watching such an incredible team like Seishin play, even Shun found it hard to focus on the next game. But thanks to his Learning Master quirk, he managed to analyze enough of their next opponent.

The winner of the match was Suzuhara Middle School, after a long nine innings that ended with a 3-1 score. Suzuhara's pitcher was a third-year student. While he had a good fastball, that was all he had. Shun felt confident that Shoto's lineup would have no trouble hitting against this pitcher.