Waseda Industries, inside the baseball club activity room.
The players sat in a circle, all eyes on Izumi Minoru standing at the center, listening attentively to his words.
"In the semi-final match, our opponent will be National Academy Kugayama from the same West Tokyo region. Some of you have faced them this past spring, while others have yet to experience their strength."
The match Coach Izumi was referring to took place earlier this year at the Tokyo Spring Tournament—back then, Lin Guanglai had just enrolled and hadn't made the team lineup yet; in the spring encounter, Waseda then secured a decisive victory with a score of 10:2, advancing to the semi-finals.
"I know some of you have already started thinking about how to play against Nihon University from the other bracket—let go of such impractical thoughts! Focus your attention on the opponent right in front of you!"
