Diamond No Ace: The Strongest Hitter Has Arrived

Chapter 448: 7 Freshmen

The first two candidates, or rather the first three, had not exceeded Coach Kataoka's expectations.

Although a player's achievements in middle school carried no formal weight once they entered high school, there were still bound to be differences. Whether they had received formal training, whether they came from a Little League team, what they had accomplished before arriving.

Players who graduated from prestigious Little League teams and achieved results there always had a baseline, no matter how modest.

And players like Toujou and Kanemaru had been absolute core players on their respective teams.

Their strength was beyond doubt.

In the list Ochiai had provided, both players from Matsukata were ranked in the top three.

Kataoka nodded quietly.

Although he and Ochiai didn't interact much normally, their assessments tended to align. But when he reached the next name, he couldn't help feeling a little puzzled.

"Furuya Satoru?"

He had no strong impression of this newcomer, yet he was ranked fourth.

Manager Ota, seeing the coach's puzzled expression, guessed that Kataoka had simply not had the chance to take note of this particular new student.

During the Spring Tournament, the coach was occupied every day with training the First String, integrating the team, and studying opponents. He genuinely didn't have the bandwidth to focus on new students.

Generally, new students would only enter Coach Kataoka's radar after the Spring Tournament ended.

"This newcomer is excellent. His throwing distance during the tryouts exceeded 120 meters. I reported it to you before."

That one.

Kataoka nodded.

Now he understood somewhat why Ochiai would bring up a newcomer with no prior achievements.

"Not only his throwing. This young man's hitting is also exceptionally strong. He seems to have a natural instinct for tracking the baseball, and combined with his raw strength, his contact rate is very high. Especially his long hits."

At this point, Kataoka had to pay closer attention to Furuya Satoru.

"Is he one of our specially recruited players?"

Kataoka couldn't claim to remember every player brought in through special admissions, but he remembered eighty to ninety percent of them.

He had no recollection of this name at all.

"No. He came through the regular entrance examination."

He had even paid full tuition.

That made it even more interesting.

Kataoka filed the name away carefully.

Ranked fifth was Takatsu.

Also a Little League player. Before joining Seido, he had already become a core hitter on his team and had performed exceptionally well in the tryouts.

Then there was Kominato Haruichi from Kanagawa.

"Kominato?"

The name was very familiar.

Coach Kataoka looked up at Manager Ota with a puzzled expression.

"Among all the new students, this young man has the second-highest batting average. Compared to Jinguuji, the difference is very small. They are almost neck and neck. However, he is slender and seems slightly less physically developed than some of the others, so he has been placed at sixth for now."

"He is also the younger brother of one of our current players."

The player in question was, of course, Kominato Ryosuke.

This Kominato Haruichi was the younger brother of Kominato Ryosuke, who had earned a reputation as something of a troublemaker on the field.

"Quite a few interesting newcomers have arrived this year."

It had been worth going to watch the Yakushi game, if only to raise his expectations.

Kataoka's gaze moved to the last name on the list.

To be honest, among the dozens of new students, fewer than five had registered clearly enough in Kataoka's memory to be matched with a name.

This included Jinguuji, Toujou, and a handful of others who had made names for themselves at well-known Little League programs.

And by coincidence, the last name Ochiai had written down was also someone Kataoka knew.

The only exception among all the new students he recognized.

Sawamura Eijun.

The young man who had talked back to him on his very first day.

Ochiai had expected Kataoka to be displeased seeing that name.

After all, the young man had challenged him directly, and Kataoka had already explicitly told him to give up on being a pitcher. For Ochiai to put Sawamura's name on the list was, in a sense, pushing back against that decision.

But to Ochiai's surprise, Kataoka showed no anger at all. Instead, he wore a knowing expression.

As if he had already anticipated this young man would end up on the list.

"Coach, please hear me out..."

Manager Ota was growing anxious.

He didn't want the coach and Ochiai, who was on his way to becoming the team's head coach, to come into conflict over this.

Whatever the outcome, the team would be affected.

But Kataoka wasn't angry. He simply waved his hand to signal Ota to stay quiet.

Then he turned and looked at Ochiai with a calm, questioning expression.

"I imagine you're wondering why I included this young man."

Ochiai was slightly caught off guard.

He hadn't expected someone this young to be so composed.

"Two things. First, this young man struck out the team's cleanup hitter. Second, he threw a curveball that traveled nearly ninety meters. Both demonstrate that even with a breaking ball, his pitching has a very strong natural action on it."

"Including him on this list also serves another purpose. Our team is currently most lacking in pitchers, and this young man's natural talent and characteristics could genuinely contribute."

Kataoka knew both points Ochiai had raised better than Ochiai did.

"For now, let him keep running. Everyone else should maintain their current training. After the Spring Tournament is finished, we will organize a match for the new students."

Coach Kataoka's position was clear. Everything would be decided after that match, based on what the players showed at that time.

"Isn't it too early to have them play against the second team so soon?"

Manager Ota was worried.

A match like that could very likely knock the new students' confidence.

Seido's second team was not weak. If they put together a solid lineup with a capable pitcher, they could realistically compete for a top-eight spot in Tokyo.

New students just weeks into high school, going up against that?

They would be crushed.

"We don't need players who can't perform under pressure."

Coach Kataoka's position was firm.

"What about Sawamura?"

Ochiai asked.

"Don't notify the new students yet. Wait until after the Spring Tournament."

Kataoka hadn't answered directly, but he hadn't denied it either.

For some reason, Ochiai had the distinct feeling that Kataoka Tesshin didn't actually dislike the young man who had talked back to him.

"He's truly an unfathomable person."

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