When the words "Nanakyo" were mentioned, the teammates of the Seidou High School baseball team felt a weight in their hearts.
Nanakyo, the mighty Nanakyo!
Although their performance in recent years had not been particularly outstanding, at best they had made it to the top eight.
But they were a powerhouse at the national level and a traditional one at that.
Given this, even though their performance in recent years hadn't been stellar, facing Nanakyo would still pose a considerable challenge to the Seidou High School baseball team.
If the games were to proceed like this, the opponents Seidou High School faced would likely all be top-tier teams like this one.
If that were the case, Seidou High School's trip to Koshien might not be as pleasant as expected.
It was just like a few months ago when the powerful Inashiro Industrial High School baseball team met their demise.
They had exhausted all their energy in earlier rounds due to poor seeding and, by the time the finals arrived, they were drained.
That was because, in the previous matches, Inashiro's players had already spent all their energy.
If Seidou had faced Inashiro at their peak performance, it was hard to say which team would have triumphed.
Just like now, if Seidou's first game was already so tough, would their players even have the stamina to fight for the championship after six matches?
"Don't worry too much. Our team has more than just one pitcher. Even if our opponents aren't weak, it doesn't mean we have to rely on Sawamura for every match," said the team Captain, Miyuki, noticing the teammates' anxious emotions and immediately offering reassurance.
With the Captain speaking, the teammates naturally relaxed.
'That's right!'
The position that truly required endurance was that of the pitcher.
As for the other positions, the teammates were all confident.
With their stamina and condition, even if there was an intense game every day, they weren't afraid.
They could fully recover.
After all, they didn't have to pitch continuously in a single game like the pitchers.
They only needed to focus on their fielding and batting tasks.
Just as the teammates relaxed, Watanabe quickly said something.
"Wait, wait guys! It's not 'the mighty Nanakyo,' it's just Nanakyo. A team from old Kyoto, and I don't think they have much of a history in Koshien," he said.
"Eh?"
"So they are not that Powerhouse?"
"Then…"
'A dark horse!'
The teammates exchanged looks upon hearing this news.
Since entering the 21st century, with advancements in technology and the growing influence of money, the number of dark horse teams making it to Koshien has become fewer and fewer.
In the past, there were several dark horses in every tournament, but nowadays, there were sometimes only one or two, or even none at all.
They hadn't expected that Seidou's opening match would be against such a team.
Whether it was lucky or unlucky, they couldn't decide.
"How has their team been performing in old Kyoto?"
In this information age, with smartphones, you can easily find a lot of data.
A team that had never made it to Koshien suddenly emerging as a strong contender was definitely a great story for the ever-vigilant reporters.
They should be very interested in this.
"I found it!"
Kuramochi, a gossip expert, quickly found the relevant reports.
It was a mistake to say that Nanakyo High School had never participated in Koshien. They had participated more than once.
As early as the sixth year of Koshien, they had entered once and even reached the second round.
The second time was 42 years ago. If any of the players from then were still alive, they would now be grandfathers.
And now, they had made it to Koshien for the third time.
This 'historical' performance, even after learning it, didn't help the Seidou team much.
It was too long ago. How could the data from that time still be useful?
If Nanakyo High School hadn't made it back to Koshien, the media wouldn't have bothered to dig up the old records.
The players themselves probably didn't even know about their school's past glory from over 100 years ago or 42 years ago.
Apart from that old information, the rest was about the current players.
Such dark horse teams were typically formed very simply.
Suddenly, a great pitcher or a few outstanding players would emerge, and together they would push the team to victory, creating a miracle.
The chance of a great pitcher emerging was the highest.
But Nanakyo wasn't like that.
Their transformation was due to a third-year first baseman.
Hanagata Hiroshi.
It was said that this player, Hanagata Hiroshi, for some unknown reason, hadn't joined the baseball team in his first and second years.
That was why their team had remained underwhelming.
However, in his third year, something seemed to have sparked him, and he suddenly joined the team.
From there, he led the team to victory after victory and made it to Koshien.
As for the team's previous performance, it had been decent.
While they hadn't made it to Koshien in the past two years, they were always in the top four in Kyoto.
They had a solid foundation of strength.
It was precisely because they had this foundation that when Hanagata joined, they were able to experience a complete transformation.
If the team had already been in a hopeless state, no matter how excellent Hanagata was, as a first baseman, he wouldn't have been able to lead them to Koshien.
"It looks like they are the troublesome bunch," said one of the teammates after hearing about Hanagata.
The teammates all furrowed their brows, sensing that Hanagata's skills must be extraordinary.
Sawamura stared at the picture of this person on his phone with a strange expression.
He never expected to see this name again.
If it weren't for suddenly seeing the name and face, Sawamura would almost have forgotten that such a person existed.
Looking at Sawamura's expression, the teammates seemed to understand something immediately.
"What's wrong? Do you know this person?"
Sawamura shook his head. "I know him, but whether he knows me, I'm not sure."
Sawamura answered truthfully.
But to the other teammates of Seidou, his words sounded like he was showing off.
Anyone who played baseball surely knew Sawamura, right?
How could they not know the 'Demon King'? Was he not even a high school baseball player?
It was no lie—Sawamura indeed knew of Hanagata.
If Narumiya were here, he too would have an impression of Hanagata.
When Sawamura led the Akagi Middle School baseball team to dominate the nation, many talented players emerged in the middle school baseball scene.
Apart from Sawamura, there were also the so-called "12 Rising Talents."
Of those 12, six played hardball, and six played softballs.
Among them was this Hanagata.
It was said that he was really talented. He had only started playing baseball less than two years before achieving such remarkable feats.
A newcomer who had only played baseball for less than two years managed to surpass Narumiya back then.
For this reason, Sawamura had an impression of Hanagata.
But after entering high school, Hanagata's name seemed to have disappeared.
Until now, three years later, as Hanagata was about to graduate, he unexpectedly reappeared.
And he was now an opponent of the Seidou High School baseball team.
At this moment, Sawamura felt that perhaps he was particularly fated with these legendary "12 Rising Talents."
Counting Hanagata, he had now faced 11 of the 12.
…