The coach’s words made sense. They were on their opponents home turf, against the team which had held supreme dominance over the sport since its inception.
If they weren’t working as a team, there was no chance that they would win.
Seeing the serious faces of his players, the Head Coach nodded in satisfaction before moving to the side.
Chris took the stage next, a clipboard in his hand. He gestured to the staff member behind the laptop, prompting him to change the display.
The fixtures for the Super Round appeared on the screen in the next moment, showing their game schedule.
“As I said earlier, the fixtures have been released. Like the group stages, we’ll be playing 5 games over 5 days. The two teams who end up on top of the group will play one another for 1st place, while the 3rd and 4th teams will play for 3rd place.”
Most of the players were aware of this fact beforehand, but it was good to hear it once more. They turned their attention to the screen as Chris continued.
“We’ll be up against Australia first, followed by Cuba and United States. Our toughest match ups will be back to back, so we can’t let our guard down.”
Ken frowned. Going up against Cuba again was one thing, but to play against the US the following day was a bit of a concern.
He had watched most of their games at night with Daichi and the squatter Hiroki who still didn’t want to return to his room.
Much like Japan, they had a pitching rotation. The prodigy Ryan Smith had only pitched in a few matches, and never for long. It was like they were conserving him for some reason.
“We’ll now go through some footage of Australia’s games since we’re playing them tomorrow.” Chris said, sitting down in front of the laptop.
The film started to play, showing Australia up against South Africa. The first thing that stood out was the quick and efficient defense from the infield.
A small figure was yelling loudly, directing the fielders as if he was a general on the battlefield. He had light skin and was only 5’6 with some scarring on his face, making him stick out.
“That’s Nikko Diwa. Despite finishing 3rd in the group stages, he was a big reason why Australia were able to keep their point differential down.” Chris added, zooming in on the player.
Ken nodded. The short stop was essential for dictating the movements of the infielders, it was generally played by the loudest and most energetic of players in the team.
Subconsciously, his gaze moved to Aki.
‘And the most annoying apparently…’ He thought inwardly.
“That’s not all. This big guy is Jebadiah Stauber, his arm is perhaps the strongest in the World Cup.”
The camera moved to an almighty specimen in the outfield. If one compared his height to the back wall, one could instantly tell that he was a giant.
On the screen, the tall guy plucked the ball out of mid air and let his arm loose, throwing it all the way back towards home plate from deep in the outfield.
“Holy crap!”
The team recoiled after seeing his ridiculous arm.
However, the shock only increased a moment later. As the ball rocketed through the air, it cleared the catchers head by at least a foot, soaring over him and allowing the runner to slide home for the run.
“H-He overthrew that!?”
Chris smiled in amusement, he was also this shocked upon seeing the teen’s arm the first time. Since they’d been in different groups initially, he hadn’t needed to do any research on Australia to begin with.
“I’d love to say that was all we had to worry about from him… But he’s also one of the best batters in the tournament.”
The next few scenes was the giant in the batters box. It was only now that one could see how big the guy really was.
DOOOONG
An almighty sound came from the speakers as the ball was sent into the stands with force.
“Whew that guy can hit.” Riku whistled before adding his two cents.
“Indeed. But as long as we can limit the runners on base by the time he’s up to bat, there shouldn’t be any issues.” Chris said matter-of-factly.
The meeting went on for a while longer, but it was pretty similar to their other ones. Australia’s pitcher wasn’t anything outstanding, at least compared to their own and the other top teams.
He was a pitch to contact kind of pitcher who had great stamina and control. Out of all the pitchers in the World Cup so far, he was leading in number of pitches, considerably.
“Man I’m craving rice…” Riku said on their way out of the meeting room.
It had almost been a week since they arrived in America, and they’d been able to taste all different types of foods. But since the players were used to eating rice at least 2 times per day, they were missing it.
“Tell me about it. I think if I see another hamburger or fries I’ll be sick.” Kuro added, massaging his stomach.
His nausea added another layer to his gloomy expression, causing everyone to back away slightly at the sight.
Even Ken who loved his father’s hamburgers was starting to get over the food.
He suddenly remembered the conversation that they had before leaving for Tokyo University.
‘I miss mom’s cooking…’ he thought, feeling the same way as Kuro.
After dinner, the players retreated to their rooms for the night. Ken managed to secure the laptop once more, in order to watch some of the games that were played today.
It had become somewhat of a ritual that these 3 would gather in their room every night to do some research.
Since they’d studied film today about Australia and had already played Cuba, Ken decided to turn on the United States vs Netherlands match that was played earlier today.