"I think I shouldn't need to elaborate on how strong Osaka Tsubaki is, right? Many of you have faced them in the warm-up games, and we should be one of the teams most familiar with their caliber."

"However, what I want to say is that the current Osaka Tsubaki team, compared to when we last faced them, hasn't changed much in lineup, but the strength of these players is no longer the same."

"Unlike any opponents we've faced before, every member of Osaka Tsubaki is worth our attention—attention, every single one of them! Even their substitutes, if placed in other mid-tier Koshien participant schools, could become ace-level players!"

"Frankly speaking, if we put aside other factors and only discuss the team's current raw strength, we must admit that as of now, we are not yet a match for Osaka Tsubaki..."

"But, in the real-world sport of baseball, it's never like in video games where it's merely about who has higher ability levels—if we can perform as smoothly as we did in the first and third rounds, defeating Tsubaki isn't an impossible task!"

"I hope everyone can set their mind straight: although we are the defending champions, in this match, we are the challengers—every at-bat, every pitch, I hope everyone can fight with 120% spirit, only then will we have a chance to win!"

The night before the semifinal against Osaka Tsubaki, Izumi Minoru motivated everyone ahead of tomorrow's match—high school students are indeed the most passionate group in the world. After Izumi Minoru's speech, Waseda Jitsugyo team members were so fired up as if they had just taken a shot of adrenaline, eager to step onto the field that very night to face off against Osaka Tsubaki.

Izumi Minoru never thought his words were mere formality; since this tournament began, the players' gradually recovering condition has given him ample confidence—Izumi Minoru firmly believes that if the team's lineup can sustain their excellent competitive state from the last match, he truly has the confidence to defeat Osaka Tsubaki and lead Waseda Jitsugyo to advance to the finals for three consecutive Koshien tournaments.

Moreover, in a somewhat mystical way, since arriving at Koshien, Waseda Jitsugyo's luck has been quite good, whether it's the draw or the weather, it seems as if being blessed by the gods; who knows, maybe their good fortune might continue? After all, the stage of Koshien never lacks for Cinderella stories.

Feeling the players' gradually rising emotions, Izumi Minoru seized the opportunity to conduct a pre-match analysis:

"These players from Osaka Tsubaki, they are all elite middle school students from across Japan, their strength is undeniable, and the intensity of their baseball club training is among the nation's top, even more intense than our usual practices."

"The first one to pay attention to is their ace pitcher, Fujinami Jintaro—standing 197 cm tall, weighing 87 kg, tossing pitches over 150 km/h is as simple as eating and drinking for a pitcher with such physical gifts."

"Batters must be alert; his cutter and forkball are very powerful, and his slider is highly completed, with a speed almost indistinguishable from a straight ball, so keep a sharp eye on the ball in the batting zone before swinging!"

"But of course, he is not without weaknesses; like most tall pure-style pitchers, Fujinami Jintaro's control is quite poor. His straight ball speed often exceeds 150 km/h, and frequently flies to the upper right corner..."

At this point, Izumi Minoru paused, instructed all team right-hand hitters to raise their hands, and then spoke to them earnestly:

"Regarding this, tomorrow's batting order will be staggered, you right-hand hitters should be cautious—if Fujinami Jintaro throws a wild pitch, if necessary, you can block it with your body!"

"Next is their sophomore catcher, Mori Yuuya..."

"Then, their main gunner, first baseman Tandate Ryoki..."

While Izumi Minoru was dissecting Osaka Tsubaki's player traits using data in hand and setting up strategies suited to each person's strengths, at the other end of Hyogo Prefecture, inside Osaka Tsubaki's lodging, Nishikawa Koji was staring at a test report with a face of steel, feeling as though his heart was bleeding.

The players often love joking about their leader's luck in the draw during daily training—Nishikawa Koji was actually aware of this matter; regarding the players' complaints about "luck," he, as a supervisor, merely chuckled it off as their way to relax after meals, and didn't take it to heart.

Now, however, when this test report was placed before him, even Nishikawa Koji himself began to have doubts—could it be that our Osaka Tsubaki is truly cursed?

After enduring a nearly three-hour battle against Urawa Academy, although Osaka Tsubaki won, it wasn't without cost:

During the match, their main first baseman, the lineup's core gunner Tandate Ryoki was struck in the wrist during a pitch-hitting confrontation and collapsed to the ground on the spot;

Even though Tandate Ryoki wanted to continue the game, for the sake of protecting the player, Nishikawa Koji took the risk of possibly losing the match and replaced him.

Initially thinking Tandate Ryoki's injury was not serious and he just needed a bit more rest, but when this medical report was presented to him, Nishikawa Koji too had to face the reality:

On the eve before the semifinal against the defending champions Waseda Industries, their lineup's most crucial closer actually had a broken right hand!

As the saying goes, fractures take a hundred days to heal, now forget about the upcoming Senbatsu tournament, Nishikawa Koji would be grateful if Tandate Ryoki could return before the summer regional tournaments begin.

It's true that Osaka Tsubaki's substitutes are robust, but missing a lead hitter suddenly before an important match means all tactical arrangements for tomorrow's game must be overturned; besides, Nishikawa Koji also needs to consider how this incident will impact the players' morale.

"What troubling news..."

When Tandate Ryoki, whose spring season had declared over, returned to the team under the company of the baseball club director Aoyou Shigeki, his right hand was already set in plaster and wrapped in thick bandages, yet his face showed little sign of dejection, as if he didn't care about the injury at all;

Among the sympathetic and worried gazes from teammates, Tandate Ryoki merely smiled faintly and said:

"Keep it up, everyone—do it for me, make sure to win tomorrow's match too!"

"I want to lift the Senbatsu championship flag with you all!!!"

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