The Old Baseball Player System

"Hey, Senpai, do you have any information about our opponent?" - Daigo asked Shun. The two were sitting next to each other on the bus so Shun could go over the game plan with the young catcher.

"No..." - Shun replied, a bit regretful. Since Shoto Junior High's first-round opponent was from another prefecture, Shun only knew their name: Matsubara Junior High School.

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"Just stick to the game plan, and everything will work out. We'll score a few runs early so you and Sora can settle in!" - Shun said with a confident smile, giving Daigo a light punch on the chest. Even though Shun was a bit nervous about facing an opponent they knew nothing about, he tried his best to inspire confidence in the young catcher.

"Got it!" - Daigo replied with a smile. After the Tokyo Tournament, he fully trusted almost everything Shun said about baseball. After all, it was his senpai's strategies that allowed him to handle Shoto's three exotic pitchers during the summer.

The bus carrying Shoto's players finally came to a stop, and when Shun looked out the window, he saw the stadium where the Kanto Tournament would take place. A flicker of excitement shone in his eyes as he tried to keep himself from trembling. The Kanto Tournament was finally here, and he was about to play on the dream stage of every middle school baseball player.

"Everyone out! Let's start warming up!" - Coach Yamada stood up and quickly gave the order to his players.

"Yes, Coach!" - All of Shoto's players responded in unison as they exited the bus in an organized manner.

"Senpai, I'm heading out." - Sho approached Shun and said.

"Alright, be careful." - Shun looked at the boy with gratitude as he nodded. The other bracket of the Kanto Tournament was being held at a nearby stadium, so Sho planned to walk there. Since they had arrived early, he had plenty of time to get to the other stadium and settle into the stands to watch and record the games.

After watching Sho leave, Shun began his warm-up. Although he had already run 20 km that morning, he still did some stretching and light exercises, including a few batting drills. Shun didn't warm up his arm, as Sora was the starting pitcher for the first round. Even though Shun was ready to take the mound if necessary, he believed Sora could handle the game on his own.

After some time warming up, Coach Yamada gathered the players and led them to the stadium's interior. After a short walk, they arrived at a door, and Coach Yamada was the first to enter, followed by the players.

When Shun stepped through the door, his excitement surged as he looked at the dugout he was now standing in. Without wasting any time, he went to the dugout lockers to organize his things for the game. He took a quick glance at the field and smiled. This wasn't a dream; he was really about to play in the Kanto Tournament.

Shun watched as his friend Kenta climbed the dugout steps and walked toward the umpire, while a tall player emerged from Matsubara Junior High's dugout to do the same. Shun observed as Kenta and the tall Matsubara player spoke with the umpire for a moment before Kenta started walking back to the dugout.

"We're starting as the batting team." - Kenta announced calmly upon returning, showing no concern about the slight disadvantage of batting first.

"Haha, let's do this!" - Shun laughed enthusiastically, not the least bit worried about batting first. He quickly put on his batting gear, grabbed his bat and helmet, and climbed the dugout steps to start the game.

---

Meanwhile, in the stands, a large group of uniformed players sat watching the field.

"Ahh, man, our game is still so far away. Did we really have to get to the stadium this early?" - Toru Okada, the center fielder for Hokuto Junior High, complained.

"Tch! Shut up, Toru! I've already told you we need to study our potential opponents! We're going to face Shoto in the semifinals, so you'd better pay attention to their pitchers!" - A boy with white hair snapped irritably. This was Yoshinori Sugawara, the white-haired maniac and also the catcher and captain of Hokuto Junior High.

"You seem pretty confident that Shoto will make it to the semifinals, Suga..." - Kohei Sasaki, the ace pitcher for Hokuto Junior High, teased with a sly smile. Kohei knew how much his friend both hated and admired Shoto's baseball team, especially a certain blue-eyed boy.

"Shut up! I'm studying all the potential opponents!" - Sugawara retorted irritably, but his friends clearly didn't believe him. They started laughing and didn't bother arguing further.

'Blue-eyed idiot, you'd better make it to the semifinals... because I'm going to be the one to destroy you!' - Sugawara muttered to himself as he watched Shun climbing out of the dugout. Ever since they lost the friendly game against Shoto, where Shun had identified a pattern in Sugawara's calls and used it against him, the white-haired maniac had been seething for a chance to get revenge.

After all, Sugawara hadn't attended all of Shoto Junior High's games in the Tokyo Tournament for nothing. He had been devising an infallible plan to crush Shun and the rest of Shoto's team in this Kanto Tournament. As for Hokuto's first- and second-round opponents, he wasn't worried. Although he had prepared for them, he knew they wouldn't pose much of a challenge to Hokuto's strong team this year.

---

Elsewhere in the stands...

"Hello, sir? I've arrived, and the game is about to start. I'll send all the details about the boy you asked me to check out." - A chubby man wearing dark sunglasses spoke into his phone. After a few words from the person on the other end, he hung up and sat down, positioning his camera and pulling out a notebook and pen to take notes.

"Shun Takahashi, huh? You've got quite a name... but let's see what kind of baseball player you are." - The man murmured curiously as he watched Shun step out of the dugout. It wasn't common for him to receive direct orders from his boss to scout specific players, much less middle school players. This made him eager to see what made Shun special enough to catch his boss's attention.