In the office of Seidō's Baseball Club, a group of club managers gathered, discussing the impressive game from earlier that day.
"That kid is something else!" one of them boasted, enthusiastically.
Ōta Kazuyoshi had always been more impressed with Kawakami Norifumi, but he was starting to change his mind.
Takumi's pitching had definitely made a big impression on the team managers.
It was like they'd finally found the pitcher they'd been looking for.
"Nine batters faced, seven outs. Sure, Yūki Tetsuya got a double and Isashiki Jun hit a home run, but overall he was great," one of them stated, matter-of-factly.
"He just ran out of steam at the end. Facing nine batters straight is pretty rare in a real game," Ōta mused, scratching the back of his head.
He knew Takumi could still improve, but it didn't really matter.
Just thinking about him pitching for Seidō in the Summer Tournament was getting him excited for the summer.
Today, the Seidō folks got to see what Takumi could do.
And in the future, even more people will see it.
They're gonna be even more surprised than the their players were.
Kataoka Tesshin, the coach of the team, remained silent throughout.
He was just replaying Takumi's pitching in his head.
Compared to the other players, Takumi's physical strength and skills were definitely lacking.
But his talent was something special.
Kataoka always believed hard work pays off, but he also knew that talent alone can only take you so far.
A player who puts in the effort, whether in baseball or any other field, will undoubtedly improve.
But that improvement is really just about how far they can go from where they started.
Out on the field, the guys who really make a name for themselves are the naturally gifted ones.
And the ones who get to the top are usually the most hardworking of those gifted players.
The pitchers on this team train just as hard as the pitchers on any of the top teams.
The coach would bet on that.
But even so, their Ace still wasn't quite as good as the Aces on those other teams.
That's just the difference in natural ability.
Takumi's strength and how hard he worked still weren't quite enough.
But he had something special that the others didn't.
First off, he has dynamic vision.
Coach Kataoka and the others didn't know how he got it; they just thought he had amazing vision.
It was precisely because of this that, even with his less-than-outstanding physique, he could still hit most balls.
If he got stronger, he'd be a super slugger for sure.
However the team doesn't really need another batter right now, so that alone wouldn't get him promoted.
Then, there's the Spiral ball he's been practicing in secret.
It was pretty risky, and he could have easily gotten hurt.
But he got lucky.
He didn't get injured, and he ended up with an terpitch.
That Spiral ball alone is enough for the coach to think about putting him on the First String, not to mention his accurate Straight ball and good late break.
With all those things in mind, Coach Kataoka was already picturing how the team would shift around with Takumi on board.
'Too bad his stamina isn't great.' he sighed, a bit disappointed.
If there was one thing that bugged him, it was Takumi's stamina.
If he had more, he could even be the team's Ace, even as a freshman.
"We've got less than a month. Let's get him a solid base. He can't start in the Summer Tournament, but he can pinch hit and relief pitch in tough spots," Kataoka instructed, decisively.
The team had their own pride, though.
Even without Takumi, Kataoka was pretty sure he could get them to Koshien.
Takumi was just extra backup.
"We can't let Kusunoki and Tanba slack off either. Remind them that they're still the main players for the Summer Tournament," he reminded, firmly.
A pitcher's confidence is a big deal.
Coach Kataoka was good at that.
"Train according to this plan, and we'll announce the jersey numbers in a week," he concluded, leaving no room for argument.
The First String was already completely full.
They had all 20 spots taken.
Now, it was pretty much a given that Takumi would join.
Although Kataoka was confident about Koshien, that didn't mean they were guaranteed to win.
Takumi, as a wild card, could really help them out in a pinch.
However that meant someone else would have to get cut from the roster.
On the second day that he was on the First String, everyone ran to warm up like usual.
Only this time, his performance was a surprise. Yesterday, he was getting lapped by the other guys.
It wasn't like he was totally useless, though.
He wasn't the strongest, but he was decent during physical tests.
He definitely wasn't a complete lost cause.
You could tell the First String guys were just on another level physically.
When they ran, it was hard for anyone else to keep up.
But today was a little different. He still came in last, but he was only about twenty meters behind Miyuki, who was second to last.
And less than a hundred meters behind the senior who was in the lead.
Takumi was breathing hard when he crossed the finish line.
"Seriously, did you take something or what? How'd your stamina get so much better all of a sudden?" Miyuki asked in disbelief.
The gap between Takumi and him seemed to have narrowed considerably.
"What are you talking about? I don't even know what you mean," Takumi retorted, swatting Miyuki's hand away, annoyed.
He thought that after getting that one point in stamina, he'd at least be able to keep up with Miyuki.
Miyuki was also a freshman, unlike the other guys who'd been training at Seidō for a year or two longer.
The difference was huge!