On the night after the game, Li Yuanrang originally planned to sleep well to replenish his strength. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info climbed into bed before ten o'clock.

When I woke up, I found that it was just four o'clock in the morning. He was very conscious, but his knees and waist were sore.

Li Yuanrang remembers this feeling.

The last time he faced the shopping street team's practice match, he squatted as a catcher for the first time. That game was played in nine rounds. There was no special feeling that day. But the next day, the muscles and joints in the lower half of my body were very tired.

Regarding this point, Li Yuanrang consulted Akio Yabe, who has many years of experience as a catcher. The advice of the other party is to strengthen the lower plate and lower back. However, these are not goals that can be achieved in the near future.

"Otherwise, try ice on your knees after the race. And then take a half-body bath the next day? ”

Regarding the fatigue reply, Yabe made such a suggestion at the time.

Compared to pitchers who need to maintain their arms strictly after pitching. The trapper's waist and knees are a bit easier to take care of. The action of ice compress Li Yuanrang has been completed since the end of the game yesterday.

Now it's time to take a bath.

Li Yuanrang got up from the bed and went to the bathroom to put hot water in the bathtub. The small apartment he rented was no more than 20 square meters. But even in such a small house, the owner insisted on installing a bathtub according to Japanese custom.

Of course, it's not the kind that can lie down in Europe and the United States or China. With Li Yuanrang's height of just breaking through 180 centimeters half a month ago, this bathtub can only be used to sit and take a bath.

After putting most of the tank of water away, Li Yuanrang opened a pack of hot spring crystals that he had just bought from a convenience store a few days ago and poured it in. After a little stirring, the water in the bathtub turns a clear bright yellow. This disappointed him a little.

"Isn't it all milky white in the bathtub when the people in the TV series take a bath......"

Although he thought so in his heart, he still chose to soak in it. After all, it's something you buy with your own money.

Legs soaked in hot water immediately feel relaxed. Presumably because of the principle of promoting blood circulation, the half-body bath seems to be effective in relieving fatigue.

……

Sunday's training starts at 9 a.m.

When Li Yuanrang came to the driving range, most of his teammates had already arrived.

The only absentee was first baseman Masaoka.

"On the bus back yesterday, I showed Masaoka the weekly magazine in Mr. Sato's hand. The sooner you are affected, the sooner you recover. ”

During the warm-up activities, Yabe said to Li Yuanrang.

"What is Masaoka's reaction after reading it?"

"He said, 'I can't take it,' and then got out of the car and ran straight home."

"Leave him alone for now, let's get down to business first."

Captain Ichihei Fukushima walked over, gathered everyone on the court, and pulled a producer out of his trouser pocket.

"The opponent for the next game, everyone has seen the battle table. It is Kikusui high school of the metropolis. I've got some of their information here......"

Li Yuanrang looked at the piece of paper in Fukushima's hand. It's about A4 size, and it's not full.

"Two years ago, Kikusui had assembled a super lineup in the public school industry, and he was full of confidence to challenge Koshien. However, after reaching the semifinals of West Tokyo, he was still crushed by the strength of a private family. After graduating from the third grade last year, there is only one ace and four-stick star Yamato in the team who has played that game. ”

"What type of player is this Yamato?"

Someone in the team asked.

"The number one speedball player in public schools in the Tokyo area. Last year's semi-finals were played at Jingu, leaving a record of 145 mph, but that shot was hit at home run. This year, it is said that the ball speed has improved again, but it has not been measured in an official game. ”

Not every venue where college baseball games are played is equipped with a speed meter. Even venues with tachymeters like Jingu will only show ball speed in matches after the semi-finals.

For example, in the last game of the Nishitokyo tournament held at Jingu, there was no official record of the pitching speed of the two teams.

The baseball club paid 1,500 yen per hour and asked part-time coach Kazusa Aragaki to sit on a seat near home plate and measure the speed of the ball with a hand-held speed gun, which was the only way to complete the speed record for this game.

However, due to the relationship between Takanoren and the ban on players and coaches from using communication tools during games, these data can only be counted and analyzed after the game.

Kazuhei Fukushima continued to introduce the situation of his opponent.

"In addition to straight balls, variation balls include curveballs and slip balls. The level of possession is so-so. It is said that it is considered one of the few long-distance guns of the year, and it has been recorded as flying more than 170 meters during practice competitions. But the home run number in the official game is zero......"

"It feels strong, but it feels like it can handle ......"

Li Yuanrang vaguely felt that this opponent could be defeated by himself.

Although the data on ball speed and distance played are amazing. However, there seems to be no actual results in the official competition.

"Other players to watch out for are the catcher Yasaku, a mid-range cannon with a certain amount of mobility. A shortstop snow wind with good speed...... That's about it. ”

"The content of this investigation report is really simple."

Yabe said after listening to Fukushima's introduction.

"I can't help it, I haven't played much practice matches since the end of the tournament last fall. It is said that the baseball club is underfunded, and it is necessary to save transportation expenses and field rentals to maintain the operation of the team. After the graduation of this class of students, they should be abolished. ”

"Scrap Ministry? Didn't they just make it to the semi-finals last year? ”

Li Yuanrang feels that the team that only reached the semi-finals last year is now facing the abolition, which is a bit incredible.

"Public schools have limited funding, and the team they formed last year had overdrawn more resources than the school could handle, and it didn't make it to Koshien. I can't hold it anymore this year. And not to mention the baseball club, their schools have rumors of being merged. In the future, the declining birthrate will continue, and the number of participating schools in Koshien will only become fewer. ”

The number of participating schools in Koshien peaked in the 90s, when more than 4,000 schools signed up for the summer tournament qualifiers.

And now in the 21st century, there are only more than 3,800 teams left. And it is still showing a trend of decreasing year by year.

In this way, some places outside of Tokyo are showing signs of a revival of public schools.

Local public schools, which originally maintained the principle of nearby enrollment, were merged due to a lack of students.

As a result, some key public schools that recruit students from the whole city or the county and implement a centralized boarding system have greatly increased the strength of their sports departments.

However, this will not work in the Tokyo area. Tokyo is home to a number of private tycoons. It will be difficult for public universities to make a breakthrough anyway.

Kikusui High School, which the next Peace School will face, is a negative example of the dilemma of facing the abolition of the baseball club after forcibly reinforcing the baseball club.