Sawamura received the news while he was in the hotel.
South Korea lost, and they lost badly.
The final score was 5-2, and South Korea had almost no ability to fight back, getting decisively defeated by Cuba's team.
This news caught Sawamura off guard.
In his mind, neither South Korea nor Cuba had any particularly impressive players.
Even looking at the roster, there were no familiar names.
This meant that neither of these teams had a superstar capable of changing the game on their own.
Unlike Italy, where they still had Mario.
In this situation, the outcome of the match largely depended on the foundation and performance of the players.
From this perspective, South Korea, being ranked higher, should have had an advantage over Cuba.
Though both teams were in the top 5.
The difference in strength and personality between the two teams greatly influenced their chances of winning.
Sawamura could not understand how South Korea, in such a position of strength, could lose so badly.
"Is there any particularly strong player on Cuba's side?" he asked curiously.
"There isn't anything too special. Oh, by the way! The pitcher they had on the mound today isn't the Ace they had before, his name is Katro."
Katro.
Sawamura frowned.
"That name seems familiar!" he muttered.
Sawamura instinctively tried to recall the opponents he had faced before.
If a Cuban player had made a name for himself in baseball, entering the Major Leagues was practically guaranteed.
But Sawamura racked his brain and couldn't recall this player.
This meant either the guy wasn't very famous or skilled in the past, or he had stopped playing baseball altogether.
To become a national team representative, it would be absurd to say this person didn't have the opportunity to enter the minor leagues or major leagues.
Especially for strong teams like Cuba, their national representatives should be even more outstanding.
The idea that someone with Cuba's caliber wouldn't make it to the minor or major leagues didn't seem plausible to Sawamura.
Of course.
Entering the minor leagues and making a name in the major leagues were two different things.
The best players from around the world gathered in America.
With the brutal competition, it was like sifting sand through a sieve.
Looking at Sawamura's generation, it wasn't just the five of them who went to America.
But in the end, only those five made a name for themselves.
The others mostly faded into obscurity.
Even if they barely stayed in the major leagues, they became role players with few actual opportunities.
The probability of someone in the major leagues not standing out was very high.
If that was the case, then Katro wasn't someone to be particularly concerned about.
With Sawamura's current skill level, he hardly considered role players as a real threat.
In the lobby, his teammates gathered to watch the game footage.
South Korea's players had indeed been disappointing, and it was no surprise they lost.
Despite their disappointment toward South Korea's team, they recognized their strength.
They were a very tenacious team.
Their skills and talent were extraordinary, and they had their own characteristics.
Moreover, their team spirit was very high, and the players were tightly united.
Once they formed a team, they seemed very formidable.
However, they just performed terribly in the match.
As Coach Takeda put it, South Korea's players were too eager to perform well, which backfired.
They wanted to impress so badly that, during the actual game, they held back too much.
Simply put, they were too cautious, failing to showcase their true style.
They appeared to be working hard, but their overall performance was greatly diminished.
After South Korea's problems began, Cuba swiftly seized the opportunity and took the lead.
They led by two runs.
South Korea's players, not willing to back down, had a strong foundation. Once they started to get serious, they were very formidable.
After giving up two runs, South Korea calmed down.
They quickly adjusted their strategy and caught up by two runs.
The total score became 2:2.
In the stands, South Korean fans were ecstatic.
Once South Korea tied the score, they prepared to push forward.
But then, Cuba suddenly erupted.
Their outburst came from an unexpected opportunity.
For some unknown reason, the South Korean pitcher, who was preparing to pitch, suddenly lost control.
Though his performance had been unsatisfactory at the start, he calmed down as the game went on and had been performing well.
From Sawamura and his teammates' point of view, even if this pitcher couldn't keep up, he shouldn't have collapsed like that.
But reality was often harsh.
After the pitcher lost control, Cuba seized the opportunity and counterattacked, scoring one more run.
The score became 3:2, and Cuba took the lead again.
This error had a far greater impact on the pitcher than Sawamura had imagined.
How severe was it?
To give a simple example:
Forget about the pitching inconsistencies that many couldn't understand.
Just the fact that the baseball bounced directly over the pitcher's head.
The pitcher simply raised his mitt, but didn't even jump.
The ball flew about 10 centimeters above the mitt.
Though the shortstop quickly covered the position, the damage was already done.
This demonstrated the problem clearly.
The player was completely stunned.
This was the same player everyone had high hopes for.
"I thought the South Koreans would be strong, but I didn't expect them to fall apart so quickly," said one of Japan's teammates while watching the match footage.
Though they had trained their fundamentals well, and every South Korean player wasn't too bad, it was clear that their game experience was lacking.
If the players from Japan had been in this situation, they would never have succumbed so easily.
Every game has its ups and downs.
When things are going smoothly, there's one approach, and when facing adversity, there's another.
With more experience, they would have figured out these tactics.
Even without formal training, they would have become experts in such situations.
But South Korean players lacked this aspect.
As a result, when attacked unexpectedly, their full potential, which could have been 100%, was only realized as 60 or 70%.
Even that was generous.
They showed no signs of turning the game around.
South Korea faced a tough situation near the end of the game.
With time running out, there seemed to be no hope of a comeback for South Korea, while Cuba was determined not to stay silent.
South Korea had no momentum for a counterattack.
Cuba wasn't going to sit idly by.
They took advantage of their one-run lead and grabbed two more points at the last moment, making the final score 5:2.
One of the top five teams, South Korea, lost.
With their defeat, the teams that will play against each other were decided.
For Japan, their next opponent was already set: Cuba.
Coach Takeda had specifically discussed Cuba's baseball philosophy with the team.
On the surface, it was a study of their tactics, but it was actually a way to predict their actions.
He wanted his players to be prepared for the coming match against Cuba.
After analyzing Cuba's strength, everyone couldn't help but secretly give them a thumbs up. On paper, Cuba wasn't as strong as South Korea.
Despite being weaker on paper, Cuba had managed to outperform South Korea and win the game.
Cuba's players were impressive.
Even though Japan's players had far superior strength on paper, they would still need to be on their toes when facing Cuba.
Though Cuba didn't have any particularly eye-catching players, at least not before this match.
After the match against South Korea, one name couldn't be hidden any longer.
That name was Katro.
Although he hadn't shown the dominance of someone like Sawamura or Narumiya, it was this man who sent South Korea into despair.
If anyone underestimated him, they might not even realize how they lost.
"Katro, why does that name sound so familiar?"
"Stop joking. Western names can sound similar. There are plenty of cases like this. Katro isn't bad, at least it's better than Kakarot."
In an instant, everyone was buzzing with chit-chat.
Not just the players, even Sawamura himself was puzzled.
He had felt something was off earlier, like he had heard the name Katro before.
Though he tried hard to recall, he couldn't quite place it.
Now, he finally figured it out—Katro sounded eerily similar to a character from an anime.
Sawamura secretly sighed in relief.
As long as he wasn't dealing with someone familiar, he thought, Japan shouldn't have much to worry about.
From this perspective, they didn't need to worry about Katro at all.
Even though they were ranked high in the world, among the top five, they didn't seem like a team that could threaten Japan's players.
In fact, outside of America, Japan had full confidence when playing against teams from other countries.
Though there might be some misfortunes with a fully developed adult team, Japan's youth players were still very confident.
Coach Takeda was extremely pleased with the team's performance.
After watching the game footage from Cuba, they could still feel the threat Cuba posed.
Although Japan's players had pointed out various flaws in Cuba's gameplay, realistically speaking, Cuba had shown something that Japan couldn't ignore.
They knew Cuba would be a tough opponent.
"What do you guys think?"
Inui was discussing with Sawamura, Narumiya, and Miyuki.
"They definitely haven't used all of their hand yet," Narumiya said, and the other agreed.
Not just them, all the other players around them discussed too.
"On the surface, Cuba seemed to have exerted full effort, but they hadn't. Cuba remained calm the entire time." Shirakawa said.
"This point is very interesting." Akashi nodded in agreement.
"What could have made them so calm?"
"Did Cuba have any hidden cards they hadn't revealed yet?"
"If so, then how much do they have?"
If it were Japan's players from the past, they would never have questioned this.
But now, they had to entertain the possibility.
In this situation, Japan's players were still confident in their victory.
This was a classic example of skill and courage.
No wonder the players who had fought through high school baseball were so decisive.
It was a pleasant surprise.
Coach Takeda discussed privately with the coaching staff, and they were very confident about Japan's chances.
Though Cuba had shown some strength, and they might have kept some power in reserve, so what?
Coach Takeda and the coaching staff had 100% trust in their players.
Despite Cuba's strength, they didn't believe they could cause any major problems. Japan would win, and not just the coaching staff, but the players felt the same.
Not only did the coaching staff share this belief, but Japan's players also had the same mindset.
Though Cuba had performed well and was strong, Japan's players were confident that they would win in the end.
Even Hongou and the others believed they could defeat Cuba in their upcoming match.
Not to mention, it wouldn't be them playing, but the Last Boss, Sawamura.
These players were all familiar with Sawamura's power.
Their level of play was far too different, and there was no comparison between the two teams.
No one had expected Cuba, so dismissed by Japan, to leave them drenched in blood on the field.
…
T/N: As always, Thank you all for reading!!
See you Tomorrow!
Until then, take care!
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