Diamond Ace: Monster Slayer

Chapter 229: Complete Qingdao High School

"Is Ryosuke's injury almost healed?"

After returning to the hotel, Director Kataoka invited Minister Ota to his room.

The two of them just acted separately.

Supervisor Kataoka was responsible for taking Chris to see his ankle injury, while Director Ota took Ryosuke to see his chest injury.

Chris's injury is undoubtedly more serious than Ryosuke's.

Ryosuke was just hit in the chest by the baseball, nothing serious.

Director Kataoka kept Ryosuke on the bench just in case.

To be honest, if Ryosuke wanted and Coach Kataoka allowed him to, he could have returned directly in the match against Yamamori Gakuen.

It’s just that Coach Kataoka is worried and wants to train their main second baseman in the fall.

"The doctor said there's nothing wrong with me and I can play in tomorrow's game."

Director Kataoka nodded.

He was very satisfied with the result.

This is also one of the few things that Minister Ota does to help Seidou High School with player-related work.

Although he is the captain of the baseball team, Captain Ota does odd jobs every day.

Either they prepare buses for the team to use for the games, or they prepare clothes, gloves, and bats for the players to use for the games.

How does he look like a minister?

Only this time, he did something with the players at close range.

If there were no special reasons, Takashima Rei would have to do this today.

Not only is Takashima Rei efficient, she is also much more reliable than Minister Ota.

There was no way. Takashima Rei couldn't drive, and after the matter was settled, Director Kataoka couldn't invite him to his room.

This is not the office of Qingdao High School, this is the hotel room where Qingdao High School is staying.

It's hard not to have wild thoughts when Director Kataoka and Rei Takashima, a pair of single men and women, are in the same hotel together.

"So, will these two be the starting lineups in the upcoming finals?"

"Let's see what happens in tomorrow's training. If the two of them perform well, they will definitely start."

The older you are, the more experience you have, at least that's the case for Ryosuke.

If Chris was not the third-year catcher at Seidou High School, Miyuki would definitely be able to continue as the catcher.

After all, among all the third-year catchers in West Tokyo, there are few who are better than Miyuki.

But there is no way, Chris is the first team catcher of Qingdao High School.

This is all we can do.

The second day of training.

Supervisor Kataoka and Director Ota arrived at the training ground in the backyard of the hotel early.

As soon as Koshien opens, this hotel is almost always fully booked and it is difficult to find other rooms.

And most of the people checking in are from the Koshien football team.

This led them to build a baseball field in their backyard in recent years, which helped the Koshien team train.

Director Kataoka kept his cold eyes on Chris and Ryosuke, wanting to see how they were recovering.

Of course there is no problem with Liangjie.

His consecutive catching and passing of the ball were very smooth, and you couldn't tell at all that he had ever been injured.

"Ryosuke's performance is pretty good. He will definitely be able to start in the next game."

And Chris's performance is also acceptable.

Except for the slower base running speed, there are no major changes from before.

This way, Director Kataoka felt relieved.

In tomorrow's game, the two of them can officially return to the starting lineup.

It’s just that the team’s starting pitcher has yet to be determined.

Is it Sawamura or Fūya Akira?
As for Tamba, Director Kataoka has no longer considered it.

Akira Fūya and Sawamura are growing faster and faster and have surpassed Tamba.

It seems that Danbo, the ace pitcher, got the position just because of his seniority.

Even though people wouldn't say it, Tamba, as someone in charge, knew it himself.

His strength is definitely far inferior to that of Sawamura and Fūya Akatsuki now.

It would be more appropriate to choose a starting pitcher from among these two.

What about Kawakami?
There’s no need to even think about it.

Kawakami has always been a relief pitcher or relief pitcher for Seidou High School, and the number of times he has been a starting pitcher is also very few.

The moment he entered Qingdao High School, he knew his position.

Therefore, he rarely performs in the competition for ace pitcher.

He just doesn't seem to care about the ace pitcher.

The next day soon came.

This day is the busiest time in the entire Hyogo Prefecture!
The sun had just risen and the students of Qingdao High School had just woken up from their dreams.

Even though they didn't wash their faces with cold water, there was no sign of sleepiness on their faces. They all showed high morale and spirit.

Because today may be the most lively day in their lives!
Koshien finals!
At this time, the streets and alleys of Hyogo Prefecture began to become lively.

Many vendors were selling Qingdao High School and Troll Daitojuan merchandise along the street.

Today, they also want to make a lot of money!

At the gate of Hanshin Tigers Koshien Stadium, even though the entrance to the auditorium had not yet been opened, there were already a large number of spectators gathered outside.

The Koshien finals are no different from the Spring Festival Gala for the people of the island nation.

Koshien represents youth, years of struggle, and of course, regrets.

At this time every year, 18 athletes will shed tears on the field, while another 18 will smile with joy.

This is the kind of emotional excitement that Koshien brings to the players.

The two teams that made it to the Koshien finals today are both quite extraordinary.

They are all dark horse level.

When Koshien just opened, no one thought they had a chance to make it to the Koshien finals.

Seidou High School, a declining powerhouse that has not entered Koshien for five years.

When the audience saw that the first game in the group was against Baoming High School and the second game was against Bingcheng High School, they thought that they were really lucky in the draw.

No team has better luck than them.

But people all think that it is amazing that Qingdao High School can reach the third round.

Because their opponent in the third round is Yokohama Kohoku, another national powerhouse.

But who would have thought that such a team, which not many people had high hopes for, would step by step reach the highest stage in the country.

And their opponents are even more formidable.

When the Hokkaido team appeared this time, many viewers said they had never heard of it.

For a team that no one has ever heard of to make it past the first round is pretty amazing.

What's the actual situation?
The giant troll vine rolled forward step by step despite the doubts!

In the first round, they defeated Yurong High School, a regular at Koshien, then in the quarterfinals they defeated Hakuryu High School, a strong team in the Kanto region, and in the semifinals they defeated Teito High School, the undefeated general of East Tokyo.

Under such bad circumstances, it is remarkable that these two teams met in the final.

This year's Koshien final is likely to be the one with the largest number of spectators in history.

This is the charm of Koshien. Koshien fans love the dark horse comeback plot.

But this is not the case in professional leagues.

There have always been a few teams that are popular, and when they are eliminated, the ratings will drop sharply.

At that time, those who watched their games were either loyal fans of the team or pure baseball fans who were unwilling to give up any game.

There are only these two types of people.

Therefore, in order to increase ratings, leagues often have to use specific means to arrange several popular teams into the finals.

The professional league games are money leagues.

Traffic is the bottom line.

But this is not the case with Koshien.

Since there are no interests at stake in Koshien and the competition is decided in a single game, the dark horse counterattack scenario is often staged.

Without vested interests, it is the most authentic baseball game.

9:24
The team buses of Seidou High School and Troll Otomaki arrived at the player entrance passage of Hanshin Tigers Koshien Stadium one after another.

Both teams put their best efforts today, just for the final Koshien championship.

For a high school baseball player, the Koshien championship is absolutely the highest honor.

Especially for third graders.

I wonder how much a Koshien championship will change their draft prospects.

So today, there are many scouts from the island country's professional league in the audience.

Most of them come here for Qingdao High School.

It can also be seen from the previous few games that between the third-year students of Troll Daitojuan and the third-year students of Qingdao High School, the third-year students of Qingdao High School have higher combat effectiveness.

Yuuki, Isashiki Jun, and Masuko Toru were all under their consideration.

Even Chris has many teams drooling over them.

On the contrary, the third grade of the Giant Giant Vine Scroll was not up to par.

After all, this was their first year entering Koshien, and they were brought in by a first-year boy.

What can their third graders be capable of?
If their third years had been a little capable, they would not have never entered Koshien in the school's history.

However, being able to attract the monster Hongo, the Troll Vine Scroll is also a great achievement.

Without Hongo, the baseball of the troll Otomaki would have become an eternal joke in Hokkaido.

"In the Koshien finals, the giant demon Daitomaki will play against Seidou High School. The game is about to begin."

The loudspeaker began to broadcast the match information between the two teams.

Before the sound had faded away, the audience had already become excited, and some even started dancing.

Seidou High School and the giant troll Daitomaki, Koshien finals!

The topic is already full!
"Qingdao!"

"Qingdao!"

"Qingdao!"

As an old and powerful team, Seidou High School has more audiences. On the contrary, even though the troll Daifujimaki made it to the Koshien finals, its number of fans is far less than that of Seidou High School.

The two most dedicated reporters in the baseball kingdom, Fujio and Akiko Yamato, also arrived early in the audience seats for the game.

The Koshien finals is definitely a big selling point.

Countless journalists wanted to seize this period and make a huge sale.

The Koshien finals is their best chance to make money!
"There are quite a lot of people coming today."

"That's all nonsense. The Koshien finals are always packed. There is no shortage of people at all."

"I thought that not many people would come to the match between Seidou High School and the Giant Giant Fujimaki."

Before Fujio could reply, the broadcast commentator at the stadium began to heat up the atmosphere for the match.

"Dear audience, dear audience! The most exciting moment of this Koshien is here! The Koshien finals! It's about to begin! It's worth mentioning that both teams in this game are dark horses of Koshien. Who will be the dark horse to the end? Let's wait and see!"

"Okay!"

"Down with them!"

"Qingdao High School!"

"First, let us welcome the first team to enter, a strong team from the cold north. The king of the north who entered Koshien for the first time but miraculously made it to the finals! The Hokkaido representative team! Giant Giant Fujijuan!"

From the player tunnel of the Troll Giant Vine, all the players ran out and the audience in the stands began to get excited.

"Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah!"

"so hot!"

"Big Giant Demon Vine Scroll!"

"Director Nitta!"

"Hongo, we still have to go all out in this match!"

As the giant troll Daitojuan entered the field, the players of Qingdao High School followed closely behind.

"The former national powerhouse has now entered the Koshien finals again after a decade! A super strong team, the West Tokyo representative team! Seidou High School!!!!"

Although the introduction was short, the commentator deliberately prolonged the last word.

It is to make the audience pay attention to this super strong team, Seidou High School!
With the entrance of Qingdao High School, the audience burst into thunderous applause again.

Everyone from Qingdao High School entered the venue one after another.

At the front is their ace pitcher Koichiro Tamba, but he was not the starting pitcher in this game.

After the two teams took their positions, the chairman of the Koshien Organizing Committee gave another passionate speech.

But Zhou Hui couldn't bear to hear all this. He just wanted to start the game as soon as possible.

After the speech, the starting lineups of Qingdao High School and Troll Otomaki also appeared on the electronic scoreboard on site.

Compared with the previous game, the starting lineup of the Troll Vine has not changed.

From the pitcher to the outfielder, it's all the same guys.

But the changes in Qingdao High School are huge.

The second baseman changed from Haruichi Kominato to Ryosuke Kominato, and the catcher changed from Miyuki to Chris.

Although it cannot be called a major reshuffle, the change is indeed significant.

To be honest, this is the strongest lineup of Qingdao High School!

At least that's the case for the second baseman.

In addition, Miyuki has never beaten Chris even once, so for the catcher position, Seidou High School also used their strongest catcher.

The complete team of Qingdao High School has also gathered!
"It seems that this lineup is a bit tricky today."

Old man Nitta looked at the starting lineup of Qingdao High School and a smile appeared on his face.

It's interesting to compete with opponents who give their all.

"Very good, let's get ready and try to win the championship today."

"Yes!"

"Kuramochi has to get on base first no matter what, and then we have to make a play. We have to get the point first in this inning."

Supervisor Kataoka gave instructions to the disciples in the lounge.

"Leave it to me, Supervisor!"

Kuramochi is full of confidence!

"Top of the first inning, Seidou High School is on offense, the first batter, shortstop, is Kuramochi-san."

……

(End of this chapter)