NOVEL NEXT Chapter 9: The Acting ‘Coach’
Chapter 9: The Acting ‘Coach’
Seeing Sawamura standing up, all the freshmen of the first grade, are looking at him, and he is looking at them back, they have a bit of dissatisfaction on their faces.
Although many people were eager to do it, none of them stood up and said anything.
Because they also know that what Sawamura relies on, of course, is based on his skills and achievements!
It is precisely because during the daily training, when everyone in the first year was training together, they could feel the gap between them and Sawamura more and more. And strength is respected On Seidou’s baseball field!
Sawamura is undoubtedly the number one freshman, and when he said these words, it was difficult for anyone to say they were up for the mission.
“You mean you are going to be our acting coach in this game, aren’t you?”
Kanemaru’s tone reeked with dissatisfaction.
Among the freshmen who understood the meaning of the game and hoped to appeal by becoming the acting coach, there are three in total. In addition to Sawamura, there are Toujou and Kanemaru. There are others too but they stay silent either due to their character or lack of skills so there is no potential to be the acting coach.
“Don’t get me wrong, we are buddies in the same trenches in today’s game. How can I just think about some vain thought? Anyway, I also worked as an acting coach in Akagi.”
'Shameless!'
Kanemaru looked at Sawamura, both angry and helpless.
'You have brought this out and said it like that, who can compete with you.'
'As Ace and Coach, he led the nameless Akagi Middle School to win the National Championship and freaking twice!’
With such a resume, how can others compete with Sawamura?
“Then Who else wants to be the acting coach?”
Sawamura looked left and right and found that no one stood up.
“Don’t be like this. Anyone who wants to do it can come up. It feels like I’m bullying you people.”
Sawamura set his sights on Kanemaru, Toujou, Furuya, Takatsu, and Kominato, these powerful players.
Kanemaru subconsciously avoided Sawamura’s gaze, but he was a little unwilling.
Toujou looked nervous, apparently thinking about what to throw next.
Furuya swayed his head, with completely no idea of what was going on.
Kominato was very enthusiastic and looked at Sawamura seriously.
“Okay, if that’s the case, then I’ll do it.”
Clap!
Sawamura clapped his hand twice, signaling everyone to get together.
The Players were obedient and formed a circle with Sawamura in the center of the circle.
“First of all, everyone must understand the meaning of this game.”
'Um?'
Sawamura’s first sentence managed to attract everyone.
“This game is played with the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the spring competition at the door. In terms of timing, it is definitely not the normal in-team game timing. That means this game is not a normal game at all, but a special recruitment assessment of the first string and second. So, if you perform well in this game, you may even have the opportunity to be directly promoted to the first string directly.”
“What!”
“Really? I’ve never heard of that.”
“You’re not just guessing, are you?”
The players are surprised.
“Trust your coach.”
Sawamura said seriously.
“Now that we understand the meaning of this game, then let’s talk about the factors that are not in our favor. First, the opponent is the Senpais who has been training before us in this team for one to two years, and the tacit understanding is far more than ours. Second, the opponent’s average strength is also higher than ours. Don’t underestimate them because most of them haven’t entered the first string. Seidou’s second string is also very strong! Third, for the third grade, this is almost the last chance they have to enter The first string, and their fighting spirit is not comparable to us…”
“We get it, we get it, please do not continue!”
Kanemaru was quite motivated at first, and although he was a little nervous, he thought he should be able to show his strength when he stood on the field.
As a result, after being told by Sawamura, he suddenly felt as if he had no confidence at all.
‘The ones I’m talking about aren’t the most brutal stuff, the most brutal things are about our own team, which I still didn’t say.’
Sawamura ignored Kanemaru and continued: “Also, the arrangement of the lineup is decided by the Coach. We don’t know how this lineup is arranged. But it is nothing more than that, whoever performs poorly will be replaced.”
“How can we play the game when cooperation, strength, and morale are not as good as the opponent’s?”
“Or to put it another way, what kind of approach do we need for this game?”
All the Players, influenced by Sawamura, began to fall into their own thoughts.
Before they could finish thinking, Sawamura answered.
“It’s actually very simple. What we need to know is what this game means to us.”
“Work hard to show your best self! This is what this game means to us. But here’s what I want to say. The best self is not just about showing off your skills, cooperation, and fighting spirit. These things are also very important. Our first goal is of course to be selected into the first string. Even if you cannot be selected into the first string, it is not bad to be promoted to the second string. At the very least, you must show your own Skills and leave a good impression on the Coach. There are a full 100 people on the team. If the first impression is not good, it may be difficult to have a chance to succeed in the future. Understand?”
In the beginning, when Sawamura was the acting coach, some players who were in famous baseball teams were still a little dissatisfied in their minds!
As we mentioned earlier, if the hardball is a professional, then the softball league where Akagi and Eijun played in middle school is equivalent to the amateur league.
You are asking the people in the professional league to follow the orders of the people in the amateur league, of course, it is not easy.
If it weren’t for Sawamura’s outstanding achievements and his own strength being significantly higher than theirs, Sawamura wouldn’t become the acting coach so easily.
They just didn’t expect that Sawamura would say something like that after becoming the acting coach. These young players who came from famous clubs felt that every word he said was valuable.
The analysis is also reasonable!
These players from the Famous schools are not really stupid!
They also vaguely guessed why Kataoka was holding the in-team game at a time like this.
But even if they guessed it, they were reluctant to tell others about it.
If they talk too much and others become serious, they are likely to outperform them. Then maybe it was someone else who entered the first string, not themselves. (People are selfish after all.)
But Sawamura is different!
He can analyze all the details he knows very thoroughly. He hopes that the Players on the same team as him can perform well.
Honesty is an expression of confidence!
The reason why Sawamura was so honest, and without reservation, told everyone the real purpose of this game. It is because he has absolute confidence in himself to be selected for the first string.
At the start of the game, Kaneda was the first to get on the mound.
…
T/N: This Chapter has been Revised