Naoki Hachimura walked down the steps towards the baseball fields of Osaka Toin High School with a notebook in his hands. He was dressed smart in business attire and wearing a brown overcoat to stave off the winter chill.
Despite being dressed well, the bags under his eyes and unkempt hair messed with his look. So rather than looking smart, he just seemed tired.
He let out a sigh, seeing his hot breath turn into white mist upon leaving his mouth. In the lead up to the new school year starting, his job was always crazy busy. Due to Toin’s large budget, he had to travel to all parts of the country with the sole purpose of scouting talent.
Since it was the open tryouts, he was required to attend and watch the proceedings. However, Naoki only needed to participate in the final half of the tryouts when they would be playing friendly games.
The coaching staff was responsible for recording the physical information such as the 40-yard dash, standing long jump and running drills. Once this information was captured, the players would then be separated into their specific positions.
Naoki headed over to the main Coach and stood beside him, looking out at the field. The players were currently going through warm ups before the friendly teams were chosen.
“Are there any stand outs?” He asked casually.
“There’s a couple, they should be highlighted on the sheet.” The main coach said, handing him a clipboard with some data.
Naoki looked down the list briefly before coming across the highlighted names.
“Ryo Kata, Jun Tanaka and… Ken Takagi”
“Why does that name sound familiar?” Naoki murmured. However, seeing as the player was marked as a pitcher, he really could not put a face to the name.
He had a look at their scores and was rather impressed.
“It’s not often you find such an athletic pitcher. How good is his arm?”
The main Coach grimaced a little, however he gave his honest opinion. “He has great control, but the pitches seem a little flat. It’s almost as if he doesn’t have enough strength to throw hard.”
“Hmm. How about his batting and fielding?” Naoki inquired. If he was good at both, he could ask the player to give up on pitching and head to another position.
“We’re just about to start the friendlies, did you want to see for yourself?”
Naoki nodded.
The main coach gave the signal to the others, who then promptly blew the whistle, getting everyone’s attention.
Ken who was busy warming up his shoulder suddenly turned and headed over with the rest of the group. He believed that he had performed rather well in the physical tests, but what he was really looking forward to was showcasing his talents in a game.
“Okay, we’re going to split you into groups. There will be 3 teams of 12 players and we’ll compete in a round robin style match with only 5 innings. Since we have some people whose positions overlap, you may be forced to play in positions that you’re not comfortable in. But I assure you we will take that into account when evaluating your performance.”
The coach was a man in his mid thirties with a goatee who seemed rather fit. Despite it being only 10 degrees outside, he was currently only wearing a t-shirt and shorts.
“If I call your name, come grab a blue bib.” One of the other coaches called out, holding a clipboard in his hands.
A few minutes later, everyone had been separated into one of three teams. Ken was on the team with red bibs.
When the coaches were calling out the names, Ken had heard someone familiar who had become a pro in his previous life. Ryo Kata, the second baseman and lead-off hitter for Hanshin Tigers.
He was surprised to see that the person in question actually looked rather timid, lacking the aura of a professional. Of course they were only in middle school right now, so he was still probably just a budding talent.
However, for his peace of mind Ken used the Identify skill on him.
NAME: Ryo Kata
AGE: 16
TALENT ASSESSMENT: B+
POTENTIAL: S
USER STATS:
>Physical Fitness: B+
>Pitching: C-
>Fielding: A
>Game Intelligence: B+
>Mental: C+
Ken felt a little better after viewing his stats. He had guessed that Ryo would be his biggest competition in this tryouts, so to see that he was above him in both Physical Fitness and potential gave him greater confidence.
Of course the coaching staff would have no way of seeing this information, so Ken needed to ensure that he would perform well during the games.
“Okay, Red team vs Blue team. Go to your assigned coach and see your batting lineup and positions.”
Ken gripped his fist tight, it was finally time to showcase his skills and make an impression on the coaches.
After a few minutes, the team assembled into one of the dugouts. Ken was second in the batting lineup, behind a small teenager who had a long fringe. As they walked onto the field, he wondered how the boy would be able to see that ball coming with all of his hair in the way.
“Play ball!”
The Coach shouted, blowing the whistle. Almost as soon as he had called out, the atmosphere in the surroundings seemed to thicken. Ken felt as if he was in a quagmire, struggling to stay afloat.
He moved his gaze around the other players and could see how determined they were to win and secure a place in the famous Toin High.
‘This pressure…’
Although he was a little caught off-guard, he soon adjusted. He wouldn’t be intimidated by such an atmosphere, not when he needed to catch up to Daichi. His aspirations were much higher than just getting into Toin.
Toin was merely a step on his path towards becoming a professional baseball player.
He would not falter.
DONG
The sound of the bat striking the ball rang out, drawing his attention. The kid with the fringe had managed to hit the first pitch, sending it straight back to the pitcher who promptly threw him out at first base.