The night after all the quarterfinals were completed, reports flooded the internet and mobile apps, spreading like wildfire.
Although print media would likely take until tomorrow morning, or perhaps even later, to release their coverage, in today's information age, fewer and fewer people read magazines or newspapers.
The vast majority of people now browse information online.
"The Koshien Final Four is Set!"
"Four teams, four styles. What direction will the future of Koshien take?"
"Which team's style will lead them to the championship?"
"Osaka Kiryu High School pulls off an upset, defeating the powerful Seihou, and advancing to the next round. Their next opponent: Seidou High School."
"A dark horse emerges from the giants—Morishita, Takami—who are these players?"
"Only two days left! This year's Summer Koshien is about to conclude. Who will claim the championship? Can the Seidou High School baseball team complete a terrifying three-peat and become legends?"
"Even with the Demon King not on the mound, Seidou High School baseball team still dominated Hoshiryu..."
"Komadai Fujimaki remains true to form, crushing their opponents 16-0. They are still the most competitive team."
News on the internet has completely exploded with different updates and reports.
What was once a Seidou High School-dominated situation, with the defeat of Seihou and the strong performance of Komadai, seemed to be undergoing some changes.
In Koshien's history, it is rare to have teams that win both the Spring and Summer Koshien championships consecutively, though it has happened.
However, no team has ever won three times in a row.
There must be reasons behind such a situation.
Achieving a three-peat always seems to encounter some particularly unexpected obstacles.
At the beginning of this year's tournament, people had full confidence in Seidou High School's baseball team.
But now, after seeing the strong performances of other teams, even their confidence had been shaken.
Hakuryu, for example, barely managed to defeat Teito, who fought them fiercely.
Hakuryu didn't seem like a team that could trouble Seidou's baseball team.
But Osaka Kiryu, who Seidou will face next, is a different story.
Previously, Seihou had only lost to Seidou and Inashiro.
They seemed to have never lost against other teams.
Even in their matches against Seidou and Inashiro, although they eventually lost, the games were close, with both teams exchanging attacks and seeming equally matched.
But now, Seihou had been defeated!
Would Seidou High School's legendary path be interrupted by this unexpected turn?
No one could say for sure.
Until now, many people still don't know how much strength Osaka Kiryu actually used in the previous match.
Was it 120%? 100%?
Or just 80%?
It's the unknown that makes it scary.
When Seidou faces Osaka Kiryu, will they be able to win?
At this moment, it's uncertain.
While online support for Seidou's baseball team was still the loudest, it seemed like the situation was changing compared to the past when support was overwhelming.
Different voices were now emerging, and they were getting louder.
On the other side, Komadai's performance was also quite concerning.
In the 8-to-4 match, even though the opponent wasn't very strong, they had still won three games in Koshien.
They definitely had some strength!
Otherwise, how would they have made it to the final eight?
But even such a team, when playing against Komadai Fujimaki High School, was mercilessly crushed.
So, how strong is Komadai, who crushed their opponents?
It seemed there were other teams besides Seidou High School's baseball team who were truly capable of competing for the championship.
Seeing the negative reports online, Kuramochi angrily threw the phone aside.
'These people online were so arrogant!'
Just because other teams were performing well, they started doubting Seidou's ability to win.
It was just too much.
He was determined to prove with his actions to these people that no matter how strong the opponents were, Seidou would be the team standing at the end!
"What's wrong?"
Sawamura had just come to Kuramochi's room and saw him fuming, so he directly asked.
"You see for yourself!"
Kuramochi immediately pushed the phone screen in front of Sawamura.
Looking at the analysis reports, Sawamura didn't get as angry as Kuramochi.
He carefully studied the content of the report, then nodded.
"Although there are some biased points in the analysis, overall, there's no real problem. The next two matches will probably not be that easy."
Currently, the situation surrounding Seidou High School's baseball team is very optimistic.
About 70-80% of the fans were hoping for Seidou's baseball team to win the three-peat and create a legendary achievement.
Because of geographical reasons, many fans from other regions were not supposed to support Seidou that much.
But there was nothing they could do.
After all, back when Sawamura led Seidou High School's baseball team on a tour in America, they defeated the American Dream Team.
At that time, Seidou's baseball team and Sawamura's personal reputation had been elevated to the highest level.
To put it bluntly, they had become heroes in the hearts of baseball fans across the country.
For a team like this, winning the three-peat and achieving legend would be something even fans from teams that had once been defeated by Sawamura could emotionally accept.
Given this big environment, if reporters still questioned Seidou's ability, it was either for sensationalism or because there were real doubts.
From Osaka Kiryu's previous game, while their strength was good, it didn't seem like they were strong enough to pose a threat to Seidou High School.
If they had shown all their cards at that time, the possibility of defeating Seidou High School was nearly nonexistent.
It could even be ignored.
But the question was, had Osaka Kiryu's baseball team really shown all their cards?
At this point, with their famously cunning fox of a Coach, no one could be sure.
In fact, even now, no one knows whether Osaka Kiryu still had hidden cards.
If they had something hidden, then things could get very scary.
The enemy was in the dark, while Seidou High School was in the light.
Their opponent's strength wasn't weak!
If that was the case, Seidou's baseball team could very well lose in the match.
As for Komadai, the strength they displayed was even more frightening.
They had not only shown the potential to defeat Seidou.
They had demonstrated the actual power to defeat Seidou High School's baseball team.
In the 8-to-4 match, they had beaten their opponent by 16 points.
Although later on, the pitcher collapsed and allowed several points in succession, even so, honestly speaking,
If Seidou High School's baseball team had been in Komadai's place,
Could they have done that?
Probably not!
To be honest, if it were Seidou High School's baseball team against Yamamori,
They might win easily, but scoring 16 points from the opponent would be impossible.
It might even be difficult to score 10 points.
This clearly shows that Komadai High School was currently scary strong.
They seemed more likely to defeat Seidou.
Of course, if you really break it down, this statement might not be entirely accurate.
After all, Seidou High School's style itself determined that they might not be suited for this comparison.
But the reporters didn't claim that Komadai would definitely beat Seidou.
They only presented it as a possibility.
And from an objective standpoint, this possibility did exist, and the probability didn't seem low.
"Meeting time!"
While the two were talking, Maezono suddenly barged in to notify Sawamura and Kuramochi.
The Coach, Kataoka, was calling a meeting...
Tomorrow was the semifinals.
The schedule for Koshien was always tight, especially in the later stages.
The pace of the matches would only get faster!
Three games in five days.
There was barely any time for rest or preparation.
When the challenge came, they had to face it head-on.
…