[123] Soul Of Koshien

Chapter 123: Soul Of Koshien

On the morning of July 28th, the day before the semifinals, the players were preparing and finalizing their strategies.

For Seidou High, this day was a bit special.

The players gathered around the pitcher's mound, noticing a raised mound in the center of the field, causing looks of surprise and confusion among them.

Only Eijun knew that this was a special training setup designed to prepare for the ace pitcher of Sensen High, and it was personally arranged by Coach Kataoka.

Eijun felt a surge of excitement at the thought of facing Coach Kataoka's pitches.

Soon enough, Coach Kataoka appeared on the field, accompanied by some second-string players pushing two carts of baseballs.

"Coach, what's this?" Isashiki asked curiously, glancing at the elevated mound and then at the coach, his voice full of confusion.

Yuuki Tetsuya, standing nearby, also looked puzzled.

With a slight smile, Coach Kataoka explained, "This is their idea—raising the pitcher's mound to simulate the effect."

His words were brief, but everyone understood that the towering pitcher they would face tomorrow, standing nearly two meters tall, necessitated this kind of simulation to prepare for real-game scenarios.

The players all nodded in understanding, except for Eijun, who secretly chuckled to himself, thinking, "Wait until you see what happens next. You're all going to be shocked."

As if on cue, the next moment proved Eijun's prediction true.

"So, who wants to go first?" Coach Kataoka asked, standing on the mound with a glove on one hand and a baseball in the other, smiling at the first-string players.

The players, especially the third-year seniors like Tanba Koichiro and Masuko Toru, widened their eyes in disbelief.

"Wait, Coach, you're going to pitch yourself?" Isashiki nearly popped his eyes out of his head.

"It's not like I'll have Tanba pitch," Kataoka said with a slight smile.

"No way! Is this really okay?" Kuramochi asked, stunned.

"It looks really interesting. I can't wait to bat against Coach's pitches," Ryousuke said with a mischievous grin. Though his tone was calm, his eagerness was evident, causing Kuramochi to roll his eyes in exasperation.

Haruchi, Ryousuke's younger brother, looked awkward but couldn't hide the excitement in his own eyes.

It seemed that most of the players were eager to take on Coach Kataoka's pitches.

After all, such an opportunity didn't come around often.

Eijun, too, felt his excitement rising at the thought of facing off against Kataoka.

If he could hit a pitch from his coach, it would be immensely satisfying.

Eijun's thoughts wandered playfully as he started to resemble his true self more and more, free from his last bit of anxiety.

At that moment, Yuuki Tetsuya, fully geared up, stood in the batter's box.

"Coach, can I swing with all my strength?" Yuuki asked, brimming with determination.

"If you can hit it," Kataoka replied, with a slight smirk and a hint of challenge in his voice.

This playful side of Coach Kataoka was a surprise to the first-year players, who were seeing him like this for the first time.

"No way! Tetsuya, wait your turn! Don't cut in line!" Suddenly, all the third-year seniors rushed to get in line, including players like Tanba, Masuko, and Sakai.

For them, getting a chance to hit a pitch from their coach, the former ace of Seidou's Koshien runner-up team, was a rare and thrilling opportunity.

With a resigned sigh, Kuramochi gave up trying to comment.

However, a second later, he quickly donned his gear and joined the line.

As Isashiki had said, this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Missing it would be unthinkable.

Coach Kataoka proved once again why he was Seidou's ace pitcher in the past.

Throughout the simulated practice, he personally faced all 20 first-string players, including Tetsuya, Isashiki, Kuramochi, Eijun, and Haruchi.

Yes, you heard right—Coach Kataoka pitched to every single first-string player.

With a fastball exceeding 140 km/h, combined with sharp movement and intense tailing action, Kataoka's pitches were nothing short of formidable.

The precision control of Kataoka's curveball was impeccable.

After all, as Seidou's former ace pitcher and someone who had received offers from professional baseball teams, simulating a high schooler's curveball was a task well within his capability.

The added height to the pitcher's mound made Kataoka's curveball even more intimidating.

This realistic simulation gave Seidou's players a clear and direct experience of what it felt like to face Japan's top high school curveball pitcher.

Yousuke Maki—the ace pitcher of Sensen High—was known for his deadly curveball, but under Kataoka's special training, the perceived threat of Maki's pitches seemed to have diminished before the game even started.

Eijun also stepped into the batter's box to face Kataoka's sharp pitches, feeling the sheer pressure and dominance on the mound.

He finally understood the full extent of this man's ability—the one who once led Seidou to the Koshien finals.

The power behind Kataoka's pitches left Eijun's hands trembling slightly. His control, speed, and intensity were like nothing he had ever faced before.

This was the legendary "Soul of Koshien"—Kataoka Tesshin, the former ace.

The entire practice flew by as Kataoka pitched one after another, simulating the curveball that the Seidou players would soon face.

In the end, only Yuuki managed to barely hit an infield single, while Isashiki's high fly to the outfield was the next best result.

Of course, as mentioned earlier, Coach Kataoka had intentionally scaled down the power and speed of his pitches to more closely simulate a high school level, specifically to match the abilities of Maki.

As a result, some players managed to eke out hits, but when Kataoka pitched at full power in the beginning, none of the Seidou first-string players could make any headway against him.

That towering figure, once again, left an indelible mark on the hearts of all the Seidou players.

As the sun set and the last rays of light spread across the field, only the first-year members remained to clean up the practice area. The rest of the players had already left.

For everyone at Seidou, this was an incredibly meaningful day.

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