Being a seeded team, their first game in the Summer Tournament was going to be later than everyone else's.
They got a free pass through the first two rounds, so the first team they played would have already won two games in a row.
"The second round's over, and we're up against Akikawa Academy," Takashima Rei stated, straightforwardly.
She went to the game herself, and with a couple of players, she recorded their opponent's match.
After they knew who they were up against, Coach Kataoka called the team together for a strategy meeting.
"Akikawa hasn't been that great in the past. They usually get knocked out in the first couple of rounds of the Tournament. But last year, they hired a coach who used to be a pro,"
"They got a lot better right away," he acknowledged, with a bit of consideration.
Even if the coach who retired from a professional team wasn't the head coach, his skill level was extraordinary.
Under his guidance, Akikawa made it into the Top 16 in Tokyo last autumn.
Although they only reached the Top 32 this spring, they were defeated only after encountering Inashiro Industrial.
"The score at that time was 7-3. Inashiro Industrial had a significant advantage, but it wasn't a total blowout," Takashima stated, analytically.
"Now, after another six months of adjustments, their team is pretty solid all around," she added confidently.
As she spoke, the images on the projector continuously changed.
Soon, it was showing Akikawa's two games from the start of this year's Summer Tournament.
"Akikawa's first two games both ended early. Their batting lineup isn't bad; in the first game, they completely crushed their opponent 11-1 in five innings. In the second game, it was 9-0, crushing them in seven innings,"
"They have a total of six core players, led by their Ace, You Shunshin," she went on, providing additional details.
The projector showed the player's info.
He was a third-year Ace for Akikawa, with a fastest pitch speed of 139 kilometers per hour.
He knows two kinds of breaking balls: a low-angle slider and a forkball.
"Even though he doesn't have a ton of different pitches, his fastball and his control make him difficult to hit against. The one run they let up in their first game wasn't even his fault, so he hasn't given up a single run yet," she analyzed, presenting the information in a straightforward manner.
Just hearing about the other team, the Seidō players started to feel the pressure from this You Shunshin guy.
"Their three main hitters are really consistent. You can tell they've been practicing a lot."
"Besides those three, their leadoff and second hitters also got two runs..."
"And as for their defense..." she continued, diving into the specifics.
She went on and on, meticulously covering every aspects.
Takumi, who was sitting with everyone else, was pretty impressed.
He didn't realize that real baseball games were so complicated.
It's not just about being strong; you also have to be smart.
Before this, they didn't know anything about Akikawa, who they were playing next.
After Takashima explained everything, he at least had a pretty good idea of what they were up against.
He could picture what kind of team Akikawa was.
"Even though they're not pushovers, I still think we're going to win in the end," Takashima declared confidently.
After she was done, it was Coach Kataoka's turn to speak.
He didn't get into the game plan right away, but he did try to pump everyone up.
The players, who had been a little worried when they heard the other team was good, suddenly relaxed.
His words made them feel excited about the game.
Who cares about some small team like Akikawa?
It'll be easy to beat them, right?
"As for what we're going to do, we'll use our usual lineup. Yamamoto-san, you'll be playing right field," he announced, leaving no room for argument.
This sudden command from Coach Kataoka made the team pause for a moment.
Just a couple of days ago, Coach was planning to keep Takumi on the bench.
He was supposed to be their secret weapon, only coming out if things got really dicey.
So, what's with the sudden change of heart?
Kataoka nodded, knowing the players were probably scratching their heads. After all, he'd been the one to say Takumi would be sitting this one out.
It was bound to throw them off a little.
But he had his reasons. "Yamamoto doesn't have much experience in real games. Letting him play first will give him a feel for high school baseball," he stated, offering a practical explanation.
That was the official line, anyway.
And it's not like anyone could really argue with it.
But whether he actually believed it himself?
Who knows.
Meanwhile, the team about to go up against Seidō was busy checking out their competition.
Under the dim streetlights, the Akikawa players were still practicing their swings.
"The game's tomorrow, so everyone should go back and get some sleep. If you practice too late, you won't have the energy to play against Seidō." The coach urged the players to go back and rest.
But those guys swinging under the lights weren't paying any attention.
"Coach, don't sweat it, we've got plenty of energy," one of them responded.
"Just thinking about going up against a big shot like Seidō... how are we supposed to sleep?" another chimed in.
The Akikawa players weren't showing any fear of Seidō, even though they were a top-tier team.
Just excitement.
This spring, they got off to a rough start, running into Inashiro Industrial.
They lost pretty badly.
But little did anyone know, it was that very game that made the players step back and re-evaluate themselves.
They kinda figured that playing against a team like Inashiro Industrial would mean getting totally wiped out.
But it didn't exactly go down like that.
Yeah, they were definitely outplayed, but they could tell during the game that they weren't completely helpless.
Even against a top national team, the kings of West Tokyo, they could still put up a bit of a fight.
For the players of Akikawa, that was something they never even imagined they could do.
So, for the past six months, they'd been working even harder.
You could definitely see the improvement.
They'd been itching to get another shot at Inashiro Industrial.
Now, playing Seidō was like a practice run before the real deal.
The next day, the sky was clear, not a cloud in sight.