The recent achievements of the Seidou High School baseball team over the past two years have been witnessed by all, and they are considered excellent.
They have even earned the title of "the King."
This title, however, is not prefixed with any location.
It's not the King of West Tokyo, nor the King of Tokyo, nor even the King of the Kanto region.
The absence of any prefix means something.
It means the strongest baseball team in the whole country.
This is what the Seidou High School baseball team represents.
As the Coach of such a team, Kataoka's fame has naturally risen alongside the team's success.
He is now being hailed as one of the top Coaches in the country.
Many people have even started researching Kataoka's habits and tactics.
Through this research, they have indeed discovered many valuable insights.
For example, many reports clearly record the following:
Kataoka has the discipline of a soldier.
He is very strict with the players, and the training for Seidou High School's baseball team is intense. The players have a strong collective sense of duty and honor.
Without even considering other aspects, just these points make the team seem like a military camp.
A leader like this should, of course, act decisively and swiftly.
Once they make it to Koshien, shouldn't the roster spots be immediately finalized?
Koshien only has 18 roster spots, while the West Tokyo tournament allows for 20.
The first-team players have to go through a new round of cuts and selections.
This rumor had already spread earlier.
But as the leader of the team, Kataoka hadn't made any final decisions.
It wasn't until they were heading to Hyogo Prefecture with less than two days left before departure that Kataoka finally called all the players together to redistribute their jersey numbers.
This wasn't Seidou High's first time reaching Koshien.
In previous years, it hadn't been this complicated. They would just kick out two players from the first team, and that was enough.
As for the selection of the players? Although the process was somewhat painful, Kataoka and the coaching staff would surely act in advance and wouldn't leave things to the last minute.
Such matters are generally better handled quietly.
After all, making it to Koshien with the team only to be excluded due to limited spots would be a huge blow to the players.
Handling this quietly minimizes the damage to them.
However, for this tournament, it was clear that Kataoka wasn't planning on doing that.
Before heading to Hyogo, he had already collected all the players' jersey numbers.
"What's going on?"
Kanemaru looked longingly at his number 5, the number for the main lineup, and was almost in tears.
Kanemaru wasn't someone overly sensitive, but his behavior now was because of his awkward position.
Except for him, the other players' jersey numbers in the Seidou High School baseball team were generally unchanging.
Although he didn't know exactly what Kataoka had in mind, he thought the jersey numbers wouldn't change too much.
The reason he thought they probably wouldn't change, rather than definitely wouldn't, was because of some reason.
After all, the positions of the main players on the team weren't all set in stone.
Take Kanemaru, for example.
Since Seidou High School's baseball team focused on defense, Kanemaru had a clear advantage in that area.
That's why he had become the main player at third base, number 5.
In terms of overall strength, he was not necessarily superior to his rival, Higasa, for the same position.
Given this situation, how could he not worry?
On the field, the 20 first-team players stood in a row.
The second and third-team players who hadn't left the school were lined up behind them, practicing alongside them.
Not long after, Kataoka, along with the three key figures of the Seidou High baseball team, arrived at the field.
Behind them followed the team Coaches, who were holding fresh jersey numbers.
Each time Kataoka called out a name, that player stepped forward to receive their jersey.
"Number One, Ace, Sawamura Eijun!"
This was probably the most predictable spot.
Although there were other pitchers in the Seidou High baseball team's resting area, when it came to the Ace, it could only be Sawamura Eijun.
Compared to the others, they were far from his level.
Next, number 2 was given to Miyuki.
This was also an undisputed spot.
Although three exceptionally talented catchers had emerged this season, they were still far too raw.
They couldn't possibly threaten Miyuki's position.
The other players' situations were similar—though two positions were somewhat uncertain, the choice of players for the summer tournament had been carefully weighed in advance.
The final decision was to stick with the players on the field.
This choice already said everything.
Previously, the jersey numbers, to some extent, were the most reasonable.
"Number 3, First Baseman, Maezono Kenta!"
"Number 4, Second Baseman, Kominato Haruichi!"
These selections were all expected. Although there were substitutes in the Seidou High resting area, their strength still had some gap compared to the main players.
Take Kijima, for instance. He was quite strong, but once compared to Kominato Haruichi, his abilities didn't seem as remarkable.
The same went for Yamaguchi and Maezono.
Number 5, Kanemaru.
Kanemaru's concerns were unnecessary.
This small gesture almost confirmed that Kataoka and Ochiai still trusted him immensely.
Kanemaru himself greatly relaxed, finally feeling secure.
Number 6, shortstop, of course, was still Kuramochi.
Number 7, Asou.
Number 8, Toujou.
Number 9, Shiratsu.
Number 10, Kawakami.
Number 11, Furuya.
Number 12, Ono.
Number 13, Yamaguchi.
Number 14, Kijima.
Number 15, Higasa.
These were the original second and third-year main players of the Seidou High baseball team.
Their positions were hard to shake.
The ones who needed to be replaced were indeed the first-year players.
"Number 16, Yuuki Masashi."
When Kataoka called this name, Yuuki Masashi quietly sighed in relief.
Although he had always been confident in his abilities, as long as it wasn't confirmed, his heart was in constant suspense.
There were just too many outstanding newcomers in this batch.
Number 17, Nishiyama Kibo.
Nishiyama, the second standout among the first years after Yuuki, might actually be the best in terms of overall ability.
"Number 18, Okumura Koushuu."
Finally, the competition between the two new catchers had come to an end.
Okumura, through his practice games and performance in that match, had indeed shown considerable growth.
At this stage, he was more suitable to be the team's trusted main Catcher.
…