NOVEL NEXT Chapter 26: <26> Day 1 of Training Camp (1)
Chapter 26: Day 1 of Training Camp (1)
5:30 AM the Next Day
"Come on, get up! Stop dawdling, it's time for practice!"
An early-rising Sawamura went from room to room, waking everyone up while Wakana and Fumino, who had risen even earlier, were preparing breakfast.
"Ugh, I'm so tired!" Sawamura yawned as he called.
"Ei-chan, let's not bother waking up Sen-chan. He has a habit of sleeping in. Let's start practicing on our own. Honestly, we're already grateful that he's willing to teach us!" Some of them stopped Sawamura as he was about to knock on Sendo's door.
"Last night, he was like a demon, insisting we wake up early to train, and then he just sleeps in. Honestly! Let's go for a run instead. Who knows what time he plans to wake up!"
With that, they grumbled as they headed downstairs, ready to run.
And so it went: eight boys running, Sendo still asleep, and two girls cooking breakfast—one cooking, and one watching.
Wakana had given up on letting the clumsy Fumino help since last night, they ended up with way more dirty dishes than there were actually used for serving food!
As the ninth player, Wakana didn't need to participate in the physical training. She just needed to maintain the basics on defense to ensure outs.
"Wakana-san's cooking skills are really impressive. I'm always so clumsy, there's no way I could compare," Fumino said as she watched the others running from the window.
"What are you saying? If you put in the effort, Fumino, you can do it too. It's all about practice."
"Really?" Fumino replied glumly, lacking any confidence in herself.
"Absolutely!"
"But I'm already struggling so much with studying math. Sigh!"
"Oh? They're already down! They've all collapsed on the ground."
"They're doing great now. At first, they could barely handle running 5 kilometers every morning. They were just fooling around before, without any real training," Wakana replied.
"Exactly!"
"Fumino-san! Breakfast is almost ready, could you go wake him up?"
"Sure!" Fumino said as she ran upstairs.
"Thud, thud, thud! Click!" Knock on the door? Not happening.
"You, how long are you going to sleep? Get up already!"
"!!"
"Fumino, what's going on?"
"Breakfast is ready! Get up."
"Okay... fine..."
"Get up already!"
"Baka, get out first!"
"Ah, sorry, sorry!" Realizing she had been staring at Sendo, Fumino hurriedly ran out in a fluster.
"Really, that airhead!" Sendo muttered as he started getting dressed, feeling relieved.
Yes, relieved. He had a habit of sleeping in the nude, and thankfully, he managed to stay calm and not show any reaction when Fumino barged in.
Fumino probably thought he was just taking off his pajama top, and if she had realized that Sendo was completely unclothed under the covers...
"Oh, good morning, you're back!" freshly washed and dressed, he greeted the others who were already eating breakfast.
"Sendo, you! It's already 8 AM. How long are you planning to sleep? It's not even morning anymore!"
"To me, as long as the time is still in single digits, it's morning."
"How can you love sleep so much? Seriously!"
"I love it a lot!"
"Temei!" (You, somewhat angered and not very polite).
"Don't sweat the small stuff! Let's eat!"
"Hmph!" Sawamura huffed and chowed down on his breakfast as if taking out his frustration on the food.
Seeing Sawamura fall silent, Sendo smiled slightly and joined them at the table.
"Alright, starting today, we'll focus on offense. You can't win if you can't score, so batting is just as important." After breakfast, Sendo led everyone to the practice field.
"As I've mentioned before, we'll start with bunts. There are only two things to master: the basic bunt stance and the art of fake bunts. Secondly, you need to learn how to switch from the bunt stance back to a normal swing, developing the skill of faking a bunt and then hitting, as well as hit-and-run strategies."
"Firstly, the objective is to bunt unexpectedly when the opponents aren't ready and to control your bat so it doesn't count as a swing on a bad pitch. This keeps your opponents cautious about bunts and reluctant to throw off-target."
"The second strategy is even clearer: when the opponents expect a bunt and throw off-target, retract your bat, gaining favorable counts or even getting a walk."
"Once these two techniques are fully mastered, it will be hard for the opponents to predict our moves. Not only will our pitch counts increase, but also our chances of getting walked will be significantly higher. It applies pressure both mentally and on the pitch count."
"Whether you fully understand it or not doesn't matter; just practice it until you get it. Got it?"
"Yes!"
"Great. As I mentioned, your bunting coach is this guy, so Eijun, you'll do the demonstration."
"Demonstration? How should I do it?"
"Baka, of course, we'll use the pitching machine. I'll set the speed to 120 kilometers per hour for you to practice bunting."
"Everyone pays close attention to this guy's form! Bunting isn't just about using your arms; it involves coordinating your entire body! So watch carefully. Then consider how you should execute it based on the various materials you've seen before, the explanations of the movements. I can't bunt myself, so I don't have anything else to teach you," Sendo said as he went to adjust the machine.
Then followed Sawamura's bunting exhibition, with each perfect bunt easy and fluid, leaving everyone watching in awe.
"Alright, Eijun, that's enough. Did everyone see? The coordination of the feet, legs, hips, and upper body. You have three minutes to think it over, then line up and start practicing."
"Yes!"
Three minutes later
Whoosh!
Ping!
Whoosh!
Ping!
For over an hour, they practiced bunting, struggling at first perhaps due to incorrect stances.
Then Sendo had everyone meditate in place, reflect on their movements, Sawamura's technique, and the standard forms they had seen explained.
Sure enough, after ten minutes of meditation, everyone's bunting began to improve.
Repeating this cycle, time passed unnoticed until it was already 10 AM. Sendo then had everyone hit ten bunt attempts, recording each person's bunting with a video camera.
By 11 AM, they wrapped up practice and went inside to prepare lunch. Since they had only arrived the previous evening and hadn't had time to go shopping, they were short on ingredients, so everyone ended up eating ramen for lunch.
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