Diamond No Ace: The Strongest Hitter Has Arrived

Chapter 419: Promotion?

The newcomers who saw Zhang Han in the second team were full of questions.

Not everyone was as carefree as Sawamura Eijun.

Most newcomers, when choosing to join the Seido High School Baseball Team, had done some research on the current roster. And as long as they had looked into it, the name Zhang Han was impossible to overlook.

The core ace of the Seido High School Baseball Team. A standout rookie from last year's Summer Koshien. Zhang Han had broken two Koshien records and was the idol of many new players.

And now, their idol was in the second team.

How could they not be confused?

Before, everyone had been doing basic training together, so there was no opportunity to observe up close. At that point, the First-string and second team had been doing recovery exercises side by side, not as clearly separated as they were now.

Now that training had split into groups, certain things that hadn't added up became obvious.

"Why is Zhang Han-senpai in the second team?"

It wasn't just Zhang Han, either. Several other First-string players were also currently with the second team.

The other two Seido pitchers, Tanba and Kawakami, were among them. So was former third baseman Masuko, working through drills alongside the second team.

For the others, it was at least somewhat understandable. Each of them had their own shortcomings, and Masuko had made a significant error in the Autumn Tournament. Their time with the second team wasn't entirely without reason.

But Zhang Han, the one people called the new generation's core player at Seido, had never been heard to make any mistakes. How had he ended up there?

Part of the confusion was down to the newcomers' limited experience. With a bit more to go on, they would have noticed something else: it wasn't only Zhang Han and the others training in the second team. Chris, the former ace catcher of Seido, was there too.

All of these players were practicing with the second team.

What exactly were Coach Kataoka and the coaching staff thinking?

"Have they been dropped from the First-string?"

"There are twenty spots on the First-string roster, and this many have suddenly disappeared. Who's filling those spots?"

"Doesn't look like anyone has been added."

"That's strange..."

Nobody could find an answer.

Coach Kataoka said nothing. Neither did the other second and third-year players, nor the individuals involved. They simply accepted the arrangement and got to work.

The longer it went on, the more the freshmen couldn't let it go.

When they worked up the courage to ask their upperclassmen, every one of them was impatient and clearly reluctant to answer. If pushed hard enough, the most they would get was: "Why are you worrying about that?"

It's not your concern.

But the more the seniors deflected, the faster the freshmen's minds raced.

The Spring Tournament was almost upon them. The twenty spots on the Seido First-string roster had not yet been settled. Did the fact that those players had moved to the second team mean they had lost their places?

Whatever the reason, losing their spots was the apparent reality. And if Coach Kataoka and the coaching staff had no intention of using them, did that mean the newcomers' chance had arrived?

They barely dared to think it. But the situation was right in front of them, and they couldn't help themselves.

Either way, this looked like an opportunity.

If they could seize it, break into the First-string, and perform well in the Spring Tournament, then by the Summer Tournament, would they have a shot at a First-string uniform number?

The first-year freshmen threw themselves into the subsequent training with remarkable enthusiasm. They were hungry for a chance.

Coach Kataoka, however, had them running and working through basic drills. He gave them no opportunity to show what they could do.

The freshmen grew more confused by the day. They genuinely could not work out what Coach Kataoka and the coaching staff had in mind.

It wasn't until the Spring Tournament was almost upon them and the groupings were announced that the first-year newcomers finally understood they had been played.

Just before the tournament began, every one of the players training in the second team was swiftly promoted back to the First-string.

Three pitchers: Tanba, Kawakami, and Zhang Han. All returned.

The newcomers had gotten ahead of themselves. The three Seido pitchers, whatever difficulties and plateaus they had run into along the way, had never truly been in danger of losing their positions. Suggesting that Seido had pitchers ready to replace them at this stage was simply not realistic.

If Seido couldn't trust them, they certainly weren't going to trust newcomers.

The reason those players had been with the second team was straightforward: more opportunities to play. Before the Tokyo Spring Tournament officially began, the First-string had no practice games scheduled. The second team, not being entered in the Spring Tournament, could arrange them freely. The players who stayed in the second team got game time.

One more person was promoted alongside the three pitchers. He was a figure almost completely unknown to the first-year freshmen. His name was Chris.

By the previous autumn, Chris had largely completed his recovery. But during the subsequent rehabilitation training, his performance had been inconsistent, and he hadn't been able to return to the First-string.

It wasn't until that spring that he had fully found his footing again and returned to his former level.

Coach Kataoka had been watching, and before the Spring Tournament, he promoted Chris directly to the First-string. Not as a catcher, but as a pinch hitter.

Meanwhile, the Spring Koshien championship match had been playing out.

The Inashiro Industrial High School Baseball Team, having fought their way to the national final, gave everything they had.

In the end, they were the better team. A walk-off victory in the final inning, defeating Saibo 2-1. Inashiro Industrial had won the Spring Koshien championship.

Coach Kunitomo, who had worked tirelessly for the programme for over a decade, had finally realised his dream. His first Koshien championship as a director.

Inashiro Industrial's four second-year ace players, each formidable in their own right, had only grown stronger through the national tournament. The team had made a real statement, and was now without question the most closely watched programme in the country.

Watching their former opponent, the team that had beaten them, now stand at the top of the nation, the Seido players felt something that was hard to name.

Losing to the national champions, at least, didn't feel unreasonable.

What they didn't know yet was how they themselves would perform in the Spring Tournament.

The Seido High School Baseball Team was already eager to prove something.

And they had even more reason to be interested in the national champions.

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