At the end of the third game, when the offense and defense were exchanged, Li Yuanrang looked at the stands on the left and right. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 The number of info viewers has decreased rather than increased. Now there are only about two or three thousand people.

"There's not even a cheerleader or a cheering group."

The last time Li Yuanrang went to watch the game of the joint team, at least he saw the support group of Tachikawa Agriculture in the stands. None of the four schools participating in the competition today had any organized support activities.

"The three schools on the other side are going to have classes today, and some of them have to make up for the final exams. I don't think I'm going to come out to see a game in the baseball club where the starting lineup can't even be put together. ”

From this inning, Akio Yabe, who will be in charge of the right field guard, said as he passed by Lee Wonrang.

"Isn't it Saturday?"

"A lot of private schools are open on Saturdays. On the contrary, there are two days off on public weekends. ”

"Then why don't we go up."

"There aren't many private schools like Peace Academy."

"But since our school doesn't have classes on weekends......"

Li Yuanrang didn't want to show off in front of the students of this school or anything. He had seen a lot of baseball-themed animations before, and he was deeply impressed by the cheerleaders in the stands.

The first time I played was at Jingu Stadium, a mecca for high school baseball in the Tokyo area. But without such support, he felt a little lost.

The race continues to move forward. The United team made some sporadic hits, but couldn't score any more points.

And in the half of the Peace Academy's offense, the combined team could only get out of the game from a few players with weaker strength.

At the end of the fifth game, the score was eight to one, and the Peace School led by seven points. But when the last number of outs of the game was obtained, the players on the court of the United team were as happy as if they had won the game.

Li Yuanrang was a little confused by this kind of scene.

"At least they won't be out of the game early at the end of the five innings."

Yabe could see that Lee was puzzled by his opponent's performance, so he explained.

In the competitions of the local conventions, there are rules for the so-called "effective competitions".

If a team leads by 10 points at the end of five innings, or by more than 7 points at the end of seven innings, a valid match can be ended early.

The United team kept the difference within 10 points, at least retaining the possibility of continuing the game on their own.

However, this possibility only lasted for one round.

In the second half of the sixth inning, Masaoka, Li Yuanrang, and Fukushima hit hits one after another. Yabe chose a four-bad escort.

Coming out at full base was Honda, the second baseman at the sixth base. A member of a sophomore quartet who lacks presence on the team.

Honda, who is not good at speedball, hits a curveball thrown by the opposing pitcher Kenta Ohtani between first and second base.

The ball passed under the first baseman's side arm and into the outfield.

Lee Wonrang and Kazuhei Fukushima returned to home plate one after another. As soon as Yabe bypassed the base pack at third base, the referee declared the Peace School the winner.

Eleven to one. Honda hit a goodbye hit that ended the game early.

Players from both teams salute in line and then wave to the spectators in the stands.

Next, many members of the team, led by third-year students from Tachikawa Agriculture, took out cloth bags that had been prepared long ago and dug up the soil on the field.

"Didn't you dig after losing the Koshien competition, what's going on with digging at the end of the first round of the West Tokyo Games?"

Li Yuanrang asked Yabe beside him.

"After all, today's game is at Jingu Stadium, the mecca of college baseball in the Tokyo area. Didn't the finals also be played at the shrine? ”

"But today is not the final."

"Ten years later, when I took it out to show off to my relatives and friends, I just had to say that it was 'the soil of the shrine'. Who's going to ask if it's the final. ”

After a while, the staff of the stadium ran out and began to stop the United team's behavior. However, the excavated soil has not been confiscated.

The average college team doesn't have the habit of digging after a game at Jingu Stadium. For this reason, Jingu Stadium does not have a lot of spare sand like Koshien.

"It's the same as we said in the game, we'll team up separately next year, and we'll see you then."

Kondo's Yuma from San Javier School didn't get involved in the excavation activity from the beginning. After saying hello to my sister who was watching the game from the sidelines. He came to the Peace School to say goodbye to Li Yuanrang and the others.

"When that happens, you're welcome to come and play practice with us."

According to the results of the baseball club, Akio Yabe will take over as the team's main manager after the summer conference. With this stance, he extended an invitation to Kondo for a practice match.

"And what about your autumn conference? The new students who have been promoted from the middle school will not be enrolled until next spring. ”

Li Yuanrang asked.

"Most of the people in Tachikawa Agriculture are in the third grade, and they will retire after the competition today. Only us and Guangde are left, and there are still nine people left. If you want to participate in the autumn conference, you have to find another school to join you. ”

"Hope you can find it."

"If you can't find it, you can only practice it yourself for half a year."

In fact, the Peace Academy has been unable to assemble a nine-person lineup since the end of last summer's conference. As a result, he was absent from the two congresses in the fall and spring. It wasn't until Li Yuanrang's arrival that this situation changed.

And now because there are two newcomers, Donald and Tokuda, and Tagu, who is also in the IT department. At the autumn meeting, I don't have to worry about the number of people who start first.

……

On the bus on the way back, the atmosphere was relaxed. After breaking through the first war, the Peace School had a full week of rest.

If the following matches can be won consistently, such an easy preparation cycle will not be repeated.

From the second round onwards, the interval between each match is often only two or three days.

Teams from the Nishitokyo region will need to play eight rounds in less than a month if they want to qualify for Koshien from the qualifiers. On average, there will be two per week. This will be a big test of the starting pitcher's physical strength.

This is especially true for teams like the Peace Academy, which only have one starting pitcher. Whether the ace's physical strength can be supported will be an important factor in determining the team's victory or defeat.

The result of finishing the game early in six innings like today's is the ideal situation. Ichihei Fukushima threw less than a hundred goals before and after. The physical strength is more than enough.

A bus full of members of the Peace School Baseball Corps returns to the campus. There was a slight bump when passing over speed bumps. A small cloth pocket beside Masamune Miyagi fell from the seat into the aisle of the carriage. Some sandy powder was sprinkled on the floor inside the car.

"What is this?"

Several teammates asked questions at the same time.

"Probably the soil of the shrine."

Captain Kazuhei Fukushima guessed the answer without even looking at it.

Obviously, when the players of the United Team were digging in the soil just now, Miyagi, who was in the third grade, also fished in troubled waters and came back.