Seido's Lovely Manager (Miyuki Kazuya x Female OC)

XVII. Fall Tournament Begins!

It was a week before the tournament started and the whole team stared at Miyuki in deisbelief. The current captain was the representative for Seido during the Main Fall Tournament block drawings and the team that the school was first playing against was none other than Teito, one of the favorite powerhouse school Nationals for East Tokyo.

"Our first opponent is Teitou?!" Maezono excaimed shocked as well as the other second years. They couldn't believe that their first opponent was one of the strongest schools in Tokyo.

"We're in the worst possible block. Your luck at drawing is so unreliable," Kuramochi told Miyuki still in shock wondering how unlucky the boy was seeing that Inashiro was also included in the same block as they were. Miyuki on the other hand let out a laugh at the shortstop's comment remembering how Emi also told him how unlucky he was when the boy showed her the game schedule.

"Isn't it exciting?" Miyuki told the second years with his usual smile.

"IT'S NOT FUNNY AT ALL!" Kuramochi exclaimed in anger and his voice was heard by Haruichi, Sawamura, Furuya, and Emi who were carrying some babseball stuff to the field. The trio looked confused while Emi let out a tired sigh already knowing what was happening in the cafeteria.

"What was that about?" Sawamura asked them as he heard Kuramochi's voice.

"Kazuya-san might have told them about our next opponent. The guy is very unlucky with drawings," Emi shrugged and continued to walk away carring a box full of baseballs.

"Huh?" The trio asked still confused.

"You guys will understand soon," Emi told them with an apologetic smile. The boys simply followed her without any other comment, but they were curious at what was so serious for Kuramochi to shout that loudly.

===

"Teito High School have been to Nationals twenty-one times and won twice. They do so well every year that it's strange not to see them at Nationals," Rei started as the team watched the videotape in the cafeteria.

"Captain and catcher, Inui Kengo-san, hits hard and throws hard," Emi said as she read over her notes, "Not to mention, they have a first year who pitched at Nationals, Mukai Taiyou. This battery started at Nationals and led the team. They got the team to the round of sixteen."

"They have a junior who can throw at 140km/h but this first year is their real ace," Miyuki told the team.

"He's a southpaw sidearm, and his best pitch is the screwball," Kuramochi added.

"It's not a common pitch, so it might be problematic," someone else said.

"It breaks in from behind for left batters too," Miyuki informed the team.

"Lay off the low breaking balls, and aim for the ones that come in a little higher," Coach Kataoka told the team, "Let's follow this simple strategy. We'll do more hit and runs too, put pressure on the pitcher with aggressive baserunning. They'll have a strategy against us too, it's all about how composed you can be under pressure. Learn to enjoy playing against strong opponents, let's have fun and win!"

"Yessir!"

===

That afternoon, during practice, the team stood by the bullpen on Sawamura's request to watch his so called new sidearm pitch.

"Here I go!" Sawamura shouted as he tossed a weak sidearm pitch. Emi didn't know if she should cry or laugh at Sawamura's pitiful pitch and neither did any of the players.

"What do you think of my sidearm?" Sawamura asked excitedly, "I think is good!"

"Sawamura-kun...." Emi muttered unsure of what to say.