The day after the match between the Seidou High School baseball team and the Kanetsu-Norin High School team, the major media outlets were going crazy.
In fact, many newspapers even worked overtime that night, printing and distributing their publications.
Although this might sound simple, in reality, it's not as easy as everyone thinks.
To report on the events from yesterday, they need editing, layout design, printing, and distribution...
Why has print media been in such decline recently?
One major reason is its time delay.
The same piece of news may take only five minutes to spread on the internet.
As long as someone who knows the news posts it, it's out there.
However, with print media, based on their normal work cycle, it would take at least two to three days for people to see the report.
The two mediums are incomparable.
Fortunately, we live in an era of technological explosion.
Even now, there are still many people who haven't accepted the internet.
They're accustomed to print media on one side and they are using the old newspapers in wondrous life hacks on the other.
These remaining users/uses give print media its last breath of life.
But believe me, this won't last long.
It won't be long before print media is completely gone.
The ones that will remain are online media and maybe television stations.
And even with the rise of online media, television's market share will gradually shrink.
Luckily, television stations usually have an extraordinary establishment and irreplaceable roles.
So for now, we don't have to worry about being completely replaced by online media.
The next morning, when the Seidou High School baseball team members saw the reports in the newspapers, they were all very surprised.
"These reporters are too capable, right? They finished editing and publishing this so quickly?"
"Such an amazing speed."
"Good thing these guys aren't playing baseball, or we might not even be their opponents."
The teammates sat in front of the newspapers, each joking light-heartedly.
As they opened the pages, it was no surprise that nearly all the headlines were about Sawamura Eijun.
[Great Demon King breaks new record!]
[In one game, two records—Where is the endpoint for the Great Demon King, Sawamura Eijun?]
[Coach Takeda attends in person, and carefully evaluates Sawamura Eijun for the first time. Is Sawamura a candidate to be the new U18 team captain?]
[Coach Takeda formally extends an olive branch to Sawamura Eijun, hoping he will take on the role of Ace pitcher.]
Almost all the headlines were about Sawamura.
The Seidou High School baseball team had already gotten used to this situation.
Nearly every time they played, Sawamura would become the most dazzling figure.
In this regard, the teammates genuinely respected him.
Perhaps because they were on the same team, they were more aware of Sawamura's strength than their opponents were.
This guy was truly strong, so strong it was a bit frightening!
The media's praise for him, to the Seidou High School teammates, was not just justified; it was actually still underselling him.
From their point of view, Sawamura's ability wasn't just far superior to that of high school players; if placed in the professional league, he would probably be a powerhouse.
Of course, this was just their imagination. Whether it was true or not would only be revealed after Sawamura made it to the Pros.
It wasn't just the front page; even the second page had a lot of coverage of the Seidou High School baseball team and Sawamura.
One of the articles even gossips from his female fans.
When the teammates saw this article, they all focused their attention on Sawamura.
Sawamura raised both hands and struck a surrender pose.
"Oi! You all know it is nonsense!"
Moreover, none of this had anything to do with him.
"This is amazing!"
While the teammates were curious/jealous about Sawamura's gossip, Miyuki suddenly spoke up.
His words caught the attention of everyone, and they shifted their focus back to the article.
Not all of the second pages had articles about Seidou High School or Sawamura Eijun.
One particularly authoritative newspaper published a piece about their opponents.
The Kanetsu-Norin High School baseball team!
[In this round of the tournament, there were no particularly dangerous situations. No underdogs broke through the ranks. All the teams that made it to the top eight were top-tier national powerhouses. Although there were no surprises, that doesn't mean there weren't outstanding teams among the ones eliminated. Today, we will talk about the team that was eliminated by Seidou High School, Kanetsu-Norin High.]
[This team, from almost disbanding to making it to Koshien, and then facing Seidou High—never falling behind... Their journey was nothing short of legendary.]
[Moreover, due to the characteristics they possessed, they were very much like the protagonists of a manga, which naturally garnered significant attention.]
The reporter used this as a starting point to describe in detail the formation, growth, and rise to glory of the Kanetsu-Norin High baseball team.
Among all of this, one name could not be avoided.
Hoshitaru Akito!
In the entire game, he only gave up three hits!
The hitters who got those hits were Sawamura Eijun and Miyuki Kazuya.
In fact, in previous matches of the Seidou High School baseball team, whenever they encountered difficulties, it was these two players who stepped up.
Up until now, it seemed that no pitcher nationwide had been able to deal with them completely.
Hoshitaru's performance in the game against Seidou High was enough to earn anyone's respect!
It was fantastic!
The reporter's praise for him was certainly not lacking.
"An unexpected monster, one of the top pitchers. If he had been on another powerhouse team instead of Kanetsu-Norin High, the outcome of the game might have been drastically different."
Such comments and praise all pointed to the birth of another monster-level pitcher.
A pitcher who could rival the likes of Hongou and Narumiya.
And just like that, another monster emerged!
After reading this report, almost all the teammates turned their attention to Sawamura.
Although they weren't happy, they had to admit it.
The reporter wasn't wrong.
Aside from Sawamura and Miyuki, it seemed that none of the Seidou High teammates had managed to hit against Hoshitaru.
The teammates were eager to know what Sawamura thought of this article. Did he agree, or did he dismiss it?
"No need to worry too much. The other team clearly had the advantage of being an underdog. If it were an opponent we were more familiar with, we probably wouldn't have had such a tough time."
Hearing Sawamura's words, the teammates inexplicably relaxed.
Yeah!
If Hoshitaru had shown his full strength from the start...
The Seidou High team would have been able to make some adjustments and preparations before the game.
They were confident that the score wouldn't just be 4:0.
Even without Sawamura and Miyuki's help, the other teammates could have still scored.
Just as the teammates were gaining momentum, Sawamura Eijun's next words struck them back down.
"Though there were various reasons that made Hoshitaru so strong in this game, his strength is indeed outstanding, and that's the main reason. The reporter's praise wasn't wrong. Even compared to Hongou and Narumiya, this guy is probably not far behind."
According to Sawamura's original thoughts, Hoshitaru wasn't just comparable to them.
They should all have their own strengths.
Their pitching styles were quite different, and overall, Narumiya might be slightly better.
But it wasn't by much!
In terms of level, these three were definitely on the same level of monsters.
The media coverage not only caused a huge stir within the Seidou High School baseball team, but it also caused a significant uproar elsewhere.
"Big news, big news! The pitcher Hoshitaru, who played against Seidou High School's baseball team, is now considered one of the top pitchers in the country!"
Just like Seidou High School, the team from Tokyo, Teito High School, had their own dorms arranged here.
Teito High School had already defeated their opponents and officially advanced to the top eight of Koshien.
Now that their group matches were all over, they were just waiting for the draw to determine the matchups for the top eight.
One of the teammates, holding a newspaper, ran in loudly shouting.
The main players of the Teito High School baseball team furrowed their brows as they heard the shout.
Immediately, they shot cold glares toward him.
The teammate who had shouted loudly immediately felt the temperature around him drop several degrees.
He looked around in confusion but couldn't understand what was going on.
It wasn't until he saw the cold expression on the face of his team's Ace pitcher that he realized.
He had been foolish to bring it up in front of the team's Ace, especially since the topic was so sensitive.
Teito High School's Ace pitcher, Mukai Taiyo, was also a very skilled and promising player.
However, he had suffered repeated setbacks in past encounters with Seidou High School and Inashiro Industrial High School, which had prevented his reputation from improving.
Everyone acknowledged his strength, but he was still considered a step behind the top-tier pitchers in the country.
During this period, Mukai had been working hard to bridge that gap.
However, before he could prove himself as one of the top pitchers, a new contender had emerged out of nowhere.
One match had solidified this new pitcher's position as a top-tier Ace.
To bring up that pitcher in front of Mukai was like slapping his face.
The teammate who had shouted earlier immediately regretted his words.
"Can we really trust what's in the newspaper?"
Mukai, with his slicked-back hair, suddenly stood up and walked toward his bedroom.
His teammates watched his back in silence.
To be honest, judging by Mukai's performance at Teito High, none of the Teito players had any complaints about him.
He was indeed very talented and capable.
It was precisely because of his presence that Teito High School's baseball team had made it so far in East Tokyo and advanced to Koshien.
Although East Tokyo wasn't as competitive as West Tokyo, it was still filled with strong teams.
Standing out from this group wasn't an easy feat.
Thanks to Mukai's lead, Teito High School's baseball team managed to reach this point smoothly.
To the Teito team members, Mukai was already the most perfect player in their eyes.
But it's not that you don't know your worth, it's that you get compared to others.
Once something is compared, the differences inevitably show.
As top pitchers from Tokyo, both Sawamura Eijun of Seidou High School and Narumiya Mei of Inashiro Industrial High School outperformed Mukai.
The gap was so clear that even without facing each other in a real match, anyone with sharp eyes could clearly see it.
The difference was undeniable.
Even Teito's own players had to admit that.
On another floor of the same hotel, some old acquaintances of the Seidou High School baseball team were also staying.
They were players from the Komadai Fujimaki High School baseball team.
At that moment, they were watching the match between the Kanetsu-Norin High School baseball team and the Seidou High School baseball team.
How outstanding was the performance of the Kanetsu-Norin High School baseball team?
How capable were their players?
Did their Ace pitcher Hoshitaru really have the power to be considered one of the best pitchers in the country?
They didn't care much about that.
All of their attention was focused on Seidou High School's baseball team.
After the match footage was finished, Renji, wearing glasses, instinctively rubbed his nose.
"They never had a chance at all!"
In this match, the performance of Seidou High School's players didn't exceed the expectations of the Komadai Fujimaki players.
They were old rivals, and they knew each other well.
The Komadai Fujimaki players not only understood Seidou's players' capabilities but also had some vague guesses about their potential future development.
There was no way around it—they were just too familiar with each other.
In Hokkaido, the Komadai baseball team didn't encounter opponents strong enough to make them worry.
Their path to Koshien was relatively easy and smooth.
Given this situation, the majority of their time was spent studying opponents from other regions.
Among them, Seidou High School was their primary focus.
They spent nearly half of their time studying Seidou, while the rest of the time was split between practicing against Seidou in simulated matches and studying other opponents.
Spending so much time on this had certainly paid off.
As for understanding Seidou High School's baseball team, the Komadai Fujimaki team was no worse than the teams from West Tokyo.
Now that they had watched Seidou High School's match footage, they were even clearer in their minds.
The strongest competitor in this year's Koshien was likely still Seidou.
As for Kanetsu-Norin, since they had already been eliminated, they didn't need to care too much.
It would be better to think about how to face Kanetsu-Norin next year when they meet them in Koshien.
For now, focusing on Kanetsu-Norin's strength and performance would be a waste of time.
"This team's strength is quite impressive. They've never gone all out in Koshien before. The threat level is exponentially higher. Even if we face them, we'll have to be very cautious. And looking at their teamwork, we really can't be sure that we'll completely shut them down."
One of the teammates summarized.
The others understood what he meant.
If they were in Seidou's shoes, facing such an opponent, even if they were confident of defeating them, they would still have to be careful not to give them any opportunities.
After all, Kanetsu-Norin was strong, and there wasn't much intel on them before.
Their surprise attack could still be effective.
What shocked the Komadai Fujimaki team the most was the performance of the man on the mound.
Sawamura Eijun.
The core Ace and soul of the Seidou High School baseball team, whose performance directly impacted the team.
It was this guy who had never given Kanetsu-Norin any chance to strike back from start to finish.
The Gyoji team also put themselves in Kanetsu-Norin's shoes.
If they were in the Batter's Box facing Sawamura, would they be able to hit his pitches?
Honestly, none of them had any confidence in doing so.
And in this match, Sawamura had shown two high-level breaking balls.
One of them was a pitch he had used before in West Tokyo.
The Komadai players recognized it.
But the other pitch, they had never seen before in any of Sawamura's past matches.
How many more types of breaking balls did Sawamura Eijun have?
…