late at night.

Baishan High School Dormitory, Room 201.

Lying on the bed, Gochi Iwata suddenly opened his eyes and shouted angrily.

"Damn it, why can't I sleep?"

As soon as he closed his eyes, the scene of the tragic defeat in the game would reappear in his mind over and over again, and a strong sense of regret would well up in his heart.

It's not like he's never lost before, so he doesn't know why his unwillingness is so strong this time.

This feeling made him extremely ashamed.

Gochi Iwata raised his hand and made a fist, slamming it on the bed board.

"Bang!"

In the quiet dormitory, a sudden muffled sound sounded, which startled him.

Iwata regretted his impulsive smashing of the bed. Not only did his hands hurt, but the sound was so loud that he might wake up his roommates.

"Hey, where's Hiroki?"

He got up and took a look and found that Tsuji Hiroki, who was in the same dormitory, was not on the bed. He had gone somewhere. No wonder no one came to scold him.

Since I couldn't sleep anyway, Gochi Iwata simply got up and went to the bathroom to wash my face.

When he walked to the corridor, he heard the "swish" sound of swinging the bat in the open space outside. He was surprised that there were still people practicing swinging the bat so late.

Walk over.

"Hiroki?!"

Iwata Gochi was surprised to find that it was Hiroki Tsuji who was practicing his swing by the light at the door, and couldn't help but shout out.

"Ah...it's Gangzhi."

Seeing that it was Gochi Iwata, Hiroki Tsuji continued to swing the bat while panting, covered in sweat, it was obvious that he had been practicing for a long time.

Iwata Gochi looked at him and hesitated to speak.

After swinging the stick dozens of times, Tsuji Hiroki stopped, picked up the towel aside and wiped the sweat from his face, and sat down on the steps at the door.

Gochi Iwata also sat over and said, "I haven't felt this way for a long time."

"Um."

Tsuji Hiroki knew what he meant.

Half of the high school players who play baseball lose in the first round.

But enduring the gap between goals and reality is inevitable during the three years of high school.

This is not an injury that will last a lifetime. Young people will always grow up, learn to give up, and bury their original dreams deeply.

As third graders, they haven't cried over losing for a long time.

But.

"I'm so unwilling..."

Gochi Iwata said softly.

They didn't play a serious game and lost. In this case, their efforts in the past three years were nothing.

Hiroki Tsuji also sighed. As the captain of the team, he felt uncomfortable having brought the team to this state.

"Just now, do you still remember our dream when we first joined the club in the first grade?"

After being stunned for a moment, Gochi Iwata replied: "You want Hakusan High School to become the pride of your hometown?"

"Um."

Surprised that Iwata Gochi remembered it so clearly, Tsuji Hiroki nodded.

"..."

Both of them fell silent and raised their heads to look at the sky.

At this time, the dark night sky seemed to be heavily smeared with endless thick ink, without even the glimmer of stars.

.....................

the next day.

Baishan High School teaching building.

Standing quietly by the window in the corridor, Tsuji Hiroki, wearing a school uniform, put his hands in his trouser pockets and looked at the scenery outside the window.

Not far away is the baseball field.

The venue is well maintained, there are not too many weeds, the water tank is cleaned every day, and the training equipment is very old but well maintained.

But it wasn't like this before.

Hakusan Town, located in Tsu City, Mie Prefecture, has a population of only 11,000 people.

Baishan High School is located in such a completely rural place.

Since 2007, Hakusan High School has been defeated in the first round of the Mie Prefecture Conference for 10 consecutive years, and most of the time it was a big defeat. It can be said that it is a weak team that is bullied by everyone.

The current superintendent of Hakusan High School, Higashi Takuji, took office in 2013.

At that time, the baseball club had only five members and was on the verge of being abandoned.

Is there any point for such a team to continue to exist?

No one wanted to answer this question, only Totoji took action.

The first thing Totosu led his members to do was not to train, but to prepare the training ground.

To be precise, weeding.

Relying on their hands to pull out the plants one by one, Dong Tuoji and the others managed to create a huge site.

After taking over the team, Totoji supervised and made adjustments in all aspects, from recruitment to training.

The baseball club had no money to buy a pitching machine, so Totosi bought an old-fashioned pitching machine from the second-hand market.

Although the old ball machine has a maximum ball speed of only 140 kilometers and often breaks down, the team can finally carry out hitting training.

Hakusan High School did not prepare a special bus for the baseball club, so Supervisor Higashikawa used his connections to get a small old bus, and he acted as the driver to take the players to games.

The players didn't have enough game experience, so Higashikata asked supervisors from other schools to play against Hakusan High School.

Up to now, the baseball club of Hakusan High School has conducted 150 training games with schools inside and outside the prefecture every year, aiming to allow the players to accumulate experience through a large number of actual games.

No difficulty can stop the children of Hakusan Town from pursuing their dreams. This weak team is getting stronger every year.

At last year's county meeting, White Mountain High School finally ushered in its first victory in 11 years.

Used it for 4 years.

From a one-round battle with 5 members, to the top 16 in the prefecture with more than 40 members.

Higashi Takuji gave baseball in the town a new lease of life, and more and more children in Hakusan Town played baseball.

This year is the fifth year that Dongtuosi has been in office.

The baseball club has become stronger in Hiroki Tsuji's class, but everyone seems to have slowed down in chasing their dreams.

Even if Hiroki Tsuji is the captain, he does not have the right to ask everyone to pay the same amount, he can only do so that he feels worthy of his conscience.

Holding the letter in his trouser pocket tightly, Tsuji Hiroki made up his mind.

"Dong dong"

There was a knock on the door.

Sitting in the classroom office, Higashikata raised his head and said, "Come in."

"Oh, it's Hiroki."

Seeing Hiroki Tsuji coming in, Higashi Takuji's expression was a little strange.

"Hello, supervisor."

Tsuji Hiroki made up his mind and solemnly requested: "Supervisor, I would like to apply to borrow the school's training venue at night."

"My parents have been convinced by me and they have no objection."

Taking out the application form from his trouser pocket, Tsuji Hiroki hurriedly added, fearing that Totakuji would not agree.

After receiving the application form, Totoji said thoughtfully: "It's not impossible to have additional training at night."

Hearing the supervisor's answer, Tsuji Hiroki breathed a sigh of relief and felt it was great.

"But," Totoji changed the topic, "Why don't you come together? We all need to train together."

"Together?"

Tsuji Hiroki was a little confused. He only represented himself and had not asked anyone else.

He was about to open his mouth and explain clearly to the supervisor.
To be continued...