CHAPTER 343: CHAPTER 194: THE PERFECT CURTAIN CALL

"Jintaro, take it easy... The game has come this far, and no matter what happens in this half-inning, you can retire guilt-free as the one among us who completed the mission."

In the semi-final against Yamanashi’s Kofu, Lin Guanglai could rest assured and keep a low profile; but against a strong opponent like Mitsuhoshi Academy, Osaka Tsubaki couldn’t afford any complacency: their ace pitcher had started and completed three games in four days, with a total pitch count of over 350 balls—had it not been for their luck in drawing a bye in the first round, they might not have had enough pitching reserves to handle the games.

At this stage of the game, whether Osaka Tsubaki could maintain the 0-0 score largely depended on the performance of Fujinami Jintaro—after all, he was set to face Waseda Jitsugyo’s second, third, and fourth batters in this half-inning, which meant he would inevitably have a direct showdown with Lin Guanglai.

The pressure, as immense as mountains, as swift as tides, was almost entirely upon Fujinami Jintaro’s shoulders; as the team’s ace, the first line of defense, this was a responsibility he had to bear.

Thus, on the way from the dugout to the field, Osaka Tsubaki’s captain Mizuhara Gakuto walked alongside Fujinami Jintaro, aiming to ease their pitcher’s burden in this way.

However, Fujinami Jintaro wasn’t as tense as Mizuhara Gakuto imagined; on the contrary, more than tension, he felt exhilarated at this very moment, his whole body trembling slightly with this emotion.

"Don’t worry, my captain—I swear as the ace pitcher of Osaka Tsubaki, I won’t give up even a single run before we take the lead back!"

Seeing him like this, Mizuhara Gakuto felt much more at ease; he nodded heavily and also vowed, "Alright! Jintaro, I believe you will do what you say! As long as we can get into extra innings, I also swear that I will secure the winning run from Lin Guanglai!"

Their fists gently bumped together, then they each headed in different directions: Fujinami Jintaro strode towards the pitcher’s mound, while Mizuhara Gakuto jogged quickly toward the right field direction.

As soon as he stepped onto the pitcher’s mound, Fujinami Jintaro glanced around the entire Koshien Stadium, feeling a surge of heroism in his heart, compelling him to shout out loud—his hesitation, his retreat, his fear of failure all poured out with this roar, leaving nothing but a heart full of fiery determination and unwavering faith.

Taking a deep breath to calm his mind, Fujinami Jintaro shifted his gaze towards home plate—there, Waseda Jitsugyo’s second batter, Egami Kenji, was already prepared.

Unlike last year’s number two, Matsunaga Kenta, Egami Kenji relied more on his defensive skills to secure his place in the team; although his offense had significantly improved compared to when he played at the end of the lineup, most of the time he still served as a bunt specialist.

Against a powerful Fujinami Jintaro, even though the opponent was quite fatigued, even though he had persevered for a long time, ultimately he could not get the ball into play.

In a full count of 3-2, Fujinami Jintaro’s fastball didn’t miss the strike zone this time, the 150 km/h pitch accurately and fiercely hit into the right-hander Egami Kenji’s strike zone.

"Strike! Batter out!"

"Yatta—!!!" At the same moment the batter was confirmed out, Fujinami Jintaro clenched his right fist and roared loudly; following that, other Osaka Tsubaki players on the field and sidelines cheered for him.

"Great pitch! Jintaro! You truly are our ace!"

The struck-out Egami Kenji felt deeply remorseful, carrying his bat, he hung his head low as he returned to their dugout.

Before he could speak, Lin Guanglai’s hand was already on his shoulder:

"It’s okay, Kenji, you’ve done well—don’t worry, there’s still Daigo and I, I promise you I will help the team secure the victory."

Upon hearing Lin Guanglai’s words, Egami Kenji slowly lifted his head, his gaze gradually rising until it finally met the eyes of the person in front of him—his eyes were so clear, filled only with confidence.

"Then it’s settled, I also believe Guanglai, you can do it."

Within these few words, the situation on the field was constantly changing:

In the new lineup, Suzuki Daigo, serving as the third batter, had technical characteristics somewhat similar to last year’s Hagiyama Mitsuo, both being strong-bodied hitters; however, unlike Mitsuo, Suzuki Daigo was a genuine mid-range hitter, although his distance wasn’t as good as Hagiyama Mitsuo’s, his batting average was much higher—in Waseda Jitsugyo’s journey to this stage, besides Lin Guanglai, he was perhaps one of the biggest contributors in the lineup to the team.

But this time, Suzuki Daigo could not break through the joint blockade of Fujinami Jintaro and Osaka Tsubaki’s defensive players:

Though he made contact with the baseball, it couldn’t fly out of the infield; shortstop Tsumashika Sei caught the ball securely in his glove, and after fully adjusting, passed the ball to Tandate Ryoki at first base.

Two outs, no one on base—from a statistical standpoint, this should be an absolute advantage for Osaka Tsubaki; however, any audience aware of the current Takayama would not feel that Osaka Tsubaki had it in the bag.