Diamond Ace: Another Story of Sawamura

·

"Bah!"

The door was forced open with a loud bang, which didn't scare the people in the ward, but it scared the people in the corridor first.

"You guys! This is a hospital!"

"Be gentle!"

The two people lying on the bed were silent, looking towards the door indifferently, only to see Jin Di rushing into the ward anxiously.

"Shimada Mannosuke is dead..."

·

Not surprisingly, the last spot in the quarterfinals was taken by Hakuryu High School, which has the level of the Koshien semi-finals.

Since then, after eleven days of competition, the third round of competition officially came to an end.

The draw for the quarter-finals will begin the next day.

Also...

"Just now, we received a notice from the organizer that we will be accepting media interviews in the evening." Supervisor Kataoka threw a stone in a flat tone.

"what?"

"Tonight?"

One stone can cause a thousand waves!

I heard the news right after returning to the hotel. Not to mention the first and second year players, even the third year seniors would be nervous.

In fact, after entering Koshien, there should have been a lot of interviews from the school, but the players of Seidou High School did not experience the madness of the media.

This is because Director Kataoka rejected most of the interviews.

He does not want the players to be exposed to too many external factors and be disturbed while moving towards the goal of winning the national championship.

So he had always refused in his heart, but under pressure from the organizer and the school, Director Kataoka had no choice but to agree.

At the same time, even if Coach Kataoka doesn't like these things, he should know that this is an opportunity for the players to make a name for themselves.

In addition to good grades, a good media image and a good publicity platform will also give them a bright future.

Whether in college, professional baseball, or society, players who can become famous in Koshien will have a bonus of honor.

"For media interviews, all players must be present..." Kataoka said, glancing around and then silent for a moment, "Where's Sawamura?"

“……” The originally tense atmosphere suddenly cooled down and everyone fell silent.

"Eijun said..." In the silence, Haruichi raised his hand weakly, "His friend was injured, and he went to the hospital."

"Yes, he told us." Jyoutani nodded heavily.

"He said he would report to the supervisor..." Haruichi couldn't say this. The supervisor's question meant that Eijun hadn't said it yet...

"..." Kataoka was silent for a moment, then looked at Chris.

"..." Chris saw the supervisor looking over and just smiled softly: "I'll ask him to come back early."

"Oh..." Takashima Rei next to her pretended to adjust her glasses and sighed silently.

Before the interview began, the contestants took a shower, ate, and rested as usual, since the interview venue was on the first floor of their hotel anyway.

“……” After getting to know the two first-year students, Chris smiled helplessly.

"That kid..." Kuramochi was so angry that his teeth itched. Who would come to watch the game and fall down and end up in the hospital? "Why don't you find a more convincing excuse?"

"I'm sorry..." Haruichi lowered his head guiltily.

"I won't let Eijun go next time." Fūya said seriously.

"This has nothing to do with you." Chris smiled gently, then walked away silently to send a message to Rongchun.

Now it's time to figure out how to get him back before the interview starts...

"Let's discuss with the director whether we can postpone the interview with Eijun..."

"You bastard, you didn't answer the phone again!"

Before he knocked on the door, Chris heard Takashima Rei's resentful voice.

"..." Chris was silent for a moment, turned around and left, 'Forget it, let's think of another way...'

Director Kataoka sat alone on the sofa in the reception room, while Takashima Rei stood beside him, looking anxious.

"If the child doesn't come back for the interview, it will give a bad impression. What if there are any negative comments?"

"..." Looking at Director Kataoka calmly drinking tea, Takashima Rei adjusted her glasses and said, "The interview will be held tonight, don't you need to let the contestants write their scripts first?"

"Especially for the third-year players, this could be their stepping stone to college or even the professional world."

"I hope they can leave a deep impression on the audience here..."

Director Kataoka remained noncommittal...

“A baseball player who can become famous must have a solid foundation, excellent statistics, and the achievements of his team.”

To put it bluntly, it is the performance on the field. Especially for the stars in professional baseball, outstanding performance on the field is their foundation.

"But that's not enough. There are plenty of players on the baseball field who are solid but only moderately famous."

"What do you think they're missing?"

"The contestant himself and the personal charm that can attract supporters." Takashima Rei's answer came out immediately.

But after she said this, she immediately felt that the answer might be too abstract, so she changed her words.

"If a baseball player wants to be remembered, in addition to fighting hard on the field, he must also have an image that is not offensive to others off the field..."

"Ah..." Kataoka nodded, "And what they have to do is to show their own characteristics."

"There is no need for any disguise, it is their own character."

"Of course, we must provide appropriate guidance during this process."

·

Considering the need to not disturb the players' rest too much and to control the duration, the organizers put some effort in this regard.

The interviews were conducted in a live broadcast format, with eight schools simultaneously connecting channels from various regions.

They are...

The prosperity of Northeast (Miyagi)

Meitoku Gijuku in Shikoku (Kochi)

Hokkaido (South Hokkaido) Giant Monster

Tenri in Kansai (Nara)

Intellectual debate in Kansai (Wakayama) Wakayama

Seidou in Kanto (West Tokyo)

Shugetsukan in Kyushu and Okinawa (Kumamoto)

White Dragon of Kanto (Gunma)

"Congratulations, Director Kataoka."

"Thank you, and congratulations."

Seidou High School and Hakuryu High School, two teams from the Kanto region, were arranged to be interviewed together.

After meeting, Director Kataoka and Director Sasaki shook hands and congratulated each other out of courtesy.

"Is Sawamura not back yet?" Takashima Rei held up her glasses as usual, and a reflection passed through them under the light.

The interview was about to begin, but Sawamura hadn't shown up yet. She had gradually changed from being impatient to being calm.

"Not yet..." Chris replied softly, nodding to the White Dragon players.

"Everyone should try to relax and show your best. Even if you say something wrong during the interview, it doesn't matter. You must correct it in time and be humble."

After the host signaled to all the contestants, he took the stage first and bowed to the reporters below the stage. The interview officially began.

"Welcome to tonight's live press conference. I'm the host, Fujioka."

Many of the reporters in the audience were old friends of Fujioka, and after hearing his self-introduction, they applauded cooperatively.

"Clap clap clap!"

"Thank you!"

"I'm an old acquaintance of yours, so instead of looking at my face, you should probably want to see tonight's protagonists!"

I guess the reporters in the audience were anxious to get more useful things from the two teams.

So Fujioka didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point.

"First, let us welcome the coaches of the two teams in the Kanto region, Aodo High School and Hakuryu High School, Mr. Kataoka and Mr. Sasaki!"

Unexpectedly, two supervisors came on stage at the same time. The reporters in the audience were quite surprised, but they immediately understood his intention.

This is the biggest highlight of this interview, the off-court showdown between the regular visitors to Koshien and the team that has achieved glory again after many years.

"welcome!"

Fujioka very politely stepped forward and shook hands with the two directors, and the cameras of the media reporters also started filming.

"Oh!"

After shaking hands with Sasaki, Fujioka showed a surprised expression when he shook hands with Kataoka, as the two hands were completely different.

"Both supervisors have their own characteristics!"

Compared to Director Sasaki who never lets go of a stopwatch, Director Kataoka's hands are really hard, and his palms are as hard as iron.

All this clearly told Fujioka that the supervisor in front of him was different from other supervisors.

It's not just theory, his own strength is probably extremely powerful.

After the coaches were seated, Fujioka first looked at Seidou High School, which was the hottest topic at the time.

"When he was a player, Coach Kataoka led the powerful Seidou to the runner-up in Koshien with the name of 'Iron-Blooded Ace'!"

"Now, as a supervisor, I have led Seidou High School to Koshien again. What do you think?"

Kataoka nodded: "This is all the result of the players' hard work."

"Hahaha! How modest!" It is a very standard answer to give all the credit to the contestants.

"So, what is your next goal for Seidou High School?"

Originally, he wanted to say a few more words, but Fujioka already knew that there was no point in asking further, so he might as well ask directly about the goal of Qingdao High School.

All he knew from Qingdao High School's slogan was that they had only one goal, to dominate the country.

But in the two games in Koshien, Seidou High School was very low-key and did not shout slogans.

If this sentence could be said by Director Kataoka now, it would be interpreted with a different meaning.

All the reporters in the audience looked at Kataoka eagerly, waiting for Kataoka to say the four words they were expecting.

Sasaki, who was sitting on the other side, heard this and glanced at Supervisor Kataoka with concern.

Kataoka's heart suddenly started to alarm.

As the coach of a high school baseball team, you must be humble and cautious in what you say and do. Once you say something wrong, it will only create more resistance for your own players.

Takashima Rei in the audience nervously adjusted her glasses, "Director Kataoka, don't be fooled!"

"Our goal, of course, is to win the next game first! And we will always stick to this goal."

After Director Kataoka finished speaking, everyone at the scene was stunned.

Only when you savor this sentence carefully can you realize how clever it is.

Sasaki on the side also looked at Kataoka with great admiration.

To put it bluntly, doesn't it mean that Seidou High School has to keep winning?

·