(Continued)

Is it really dating...... However, Senior Jin still has a very good attitude towards training, as long as he can handle the relationship between love and baseball club activities, I shouldn't care too much, maybe there will be a positive impact.

As I expected, Senior Jin trained harder after that, the improvement was obvious, the strikes were gradually found in the crosshairs, the ball was more accurate when defending, and the gap between him and the rest of the team was getting smaller and smaller. Sure enough, he still has motor cells.

***

Summer is here, and it's finally time to test the strength of this new team. It was the first summer for me and Black, but it was also the last summer for the two third-year seniors, Kojin and Kiba. So I secretly made up my mind that this summer, we should go as far as possible, and we can't let Senior Kogan and Senior Kiba leave regrets.

【Contest over!】 Reifuin High School created a miracle and broke into Koshien just after the establishment of the department! 】

Probably because we didn't get noticed by any opponents, our game went very smoothly in the prefectural tournament, and in the final round, we relied on Kogane's goodbye home run to defeat Kyoto's perennial winner Heian High School. The team suddenly became the focus of the whole country.

"Great! Koshien! I really never dreamed of it! "I was really surprised to face such an excited little Jin.

"You should have won the national championship a long time ago, are you so happy?"

"It's different! Because it's all about my hard work, and no one will say talent...... You and Xiao Hei are really amazing! With you here, it doesn't feel like a problem to dominate the country in one go! ”

Is the country dominant? Indeed, with Blackie here, it's hard to imagine us losing the game.

In the government competition, although Senior Jin did not appear many times, he was personally impressed every time. It can be seen that what he is looking for is this kind of reward that is commensurate with hard work. It's just that I don't think he's getting enough in return, he needs to get more in return on a bigger stage.

However......

Is it because we won the championship in the government competition, we got a little carried away, and God poured cold water on us.

After the draw, the opponent of the first round of Koshien was also determined - last summer's king Osaka Kiriyo.

***

【Strikeouts! Ace Ann's wonderful pitch brought the game to an end! After a fierce battle, Osaka Kiryo advanced to the second round! 】

Lost......

3-4, we ended up with a one-point deficit to Kiriyo Osaka, and our first summer was over.

But this should be acceptable, right? After all, we are a newly formed baseball club, and it is already a miracle that we can make it to Koshien and play so closely with a team like Osaka Kiriyo......

I kept comforting myself like this, but tears still flowed.

How can this be, I'm the captain, and the image can't be too ugly! I immediately wiped my tears away with my cuffs.

"After all, the opponent is Osaka Tongyang, and it is good for our new team to fight to this point, of course, if the draw is better, we may be able to go further...... Let's all puff up! ”

When digging in the soil after the game, Mr. Kiba cried especially sadly, and there was no doubt that he was blaming himself. That's when I realized that we had two third-year members on our team. For us we have two years to go, but for them it's the last game. At the last moment, Senior Kiba was hit by a strikeout as a substitute fighter, and the next substitute Junior Jin stayed in the waiting circle, which is really the worst way to finish.

I looked at Senior Jin again, and he still had a calm face.

"What's wrong, Xiaobai?" The senior suddenly asked.

"No, nothing...... I just think...... Forget it...... "Sure enough, I still didn't dare to continue asking.

Senior Jin has been waiting for this game for a long time, and he was so excited before the game, it must have been the sister of the international student who came to watch him play. He must have wanted to show her the brightest side on this sacred stage, but it turned out like that.

But it didn't matter, after all, I was the loser in this game, we were leading by 8 innings, but in the most critical 9th inning, I was hit with a fatal home run.

"Little white ......," Xiao Hei patted me on the shoulder and said, "Don't think about taking all the responsibility on your own......"

"I know ......"

But......

Tears still flowed disobediently.

***

After the retirement of Kogan and Kiba, the baseball club continued to move forward with a new goal. Because only two seniors have gone, the baseball club is still a team dominated by first-year members, and this team is just getting started.

One day, Chairman Moon Shadow called me and Hei into his office.

"You guys did a good job, you were able to enter Koshien just after you formed, and you almost won the final champion Osaka Kiriyo, which is already a very good result." The chairman said.

"Chairman, in fact, our goal is to dominate the country, so in fact, we are not satisfied with the result this time." Little underworld.

"Well, I know, you've always been very strict with yourself, and I know you have the strength," the chairman said, "Learn the lessons of this competition, and go to a higher goal next time." ”

"Yes!"

"Kusakabe-san, do you have anything to say as the captain?" The chairman asked me suddenly.

"Chairman, there's something I would like to ask you, why are you so concerned about the construction of our baseball club, and even serve as our advisor yourself?" I asked curiously.

"Well...... the chairman thought for a moment and continued, "I can't think of any other reason than to like baseball...... If I had to give other reasons, I used to want to play baseball, but unfortunately the times didn't give me that opportunity...... So I want to make up for my regrets through you. ”

Regretful? Speaking of which, although the chairman does not look very old, he is actually very old. If you extranemise, perhaps he spent his teenage years during the war years. His name is a bit weird, but I know that the chairman is a very good person.

"I see, Chairman," I said, "we're going to win a national championship while we're in school!" ”

"Of course it's good that you have that heart," said the chairman, "but don't forget, your main business is to study." ”

That's when I decided. After walking out of the office, he and Xiao Hei continued to make the baseball club stronger.