CHAPTER 41: CHAPTER 41: LIN GUANGLAI’S SOLO PERFORMANCE

Compared to Nihon University Tsurugaoka, who were suffocated by Lin Guanglai’s pitching and Waseda Jitsugyo’s solid defense, Waseda Jitsugyo’s offense, although not outstanding, was steadily advancing.

The pressure brought by the finals was still visible to everyone.

The entire Waseda Jitsugyo lineup appeared somewhat tense in today’s game: between swinging with full force and selecting pitches, they often hesitated, ultimately missing good pitches or hitting bad balls under two-strike pressure due to their indecision.

Logically speaking, with the team’s offensive performance, coach Izumi Minoru and the players should be very anxious at this moment. After all, if the offense stalls, the team’s defense could easily be affected.

However, Lin Guanglai’s dominance today was simply too strong.

The game had gone two and a half innings, and the score was still 0–0.

In the three and a half innings of Nihon University Tsurugaoka’s offense, they hadn’t managed to get even a single hit off Lin Guanglai.

Apart from getting on base once due to a walk, all of Nihon University Tsurugaoka’s batters were firmly locked in the batter’s box near home plate by Lin Guanglai, unable to move an inch.

Pitching three innings, with five strikeouts and one walk, these were Lin Guanglai’s stats so far in the finals.

With such a pitcher leading the defense, what worries could Waseda Jitsugyo’s players have? They could let loose and attack!

Therefore, starting from the bottom of the third inning, Waseda Jitsugyo’s batting lineup began to strongly recover:

First, the seventh batter, Fukasawa Kouta, faced Ogaki Yuichi of Nihon University Tsurugaoka. After a patient battle, he hit the ball and reached first base. The ball pierced through Nihon University Tsurugaoka’s infield defense and was eventually blocked by the outfielders.

The next batter, the eighth, Kakiwara Yosuke, then seriously executed the team’s strategy, choosing to use a sacrifice bunt to help his teammate advance bases — Nihon University Tsurugaoka successfully put out Kakiwara at first base, but could only watch as Fukasawa, originally at first, advanced to second base.

Next up was the ninth batter, Lin Guanglai.

Stepping into the batter’s box, Lin Guanglai held the bat high and then lightly shook it — this action was mainly to keep his body active and prevent losing focus due to the pitcher’s prolonged setup time.

Nihon University Tsurugaoka’s catcher, Uemura Yuji, signaled an inside high fastball on the corner, and after Ogaki Yuichi nodded, he pitched.

The angle of this pitch was tricky, and Lin Guanglai let it pass without swinging.

No balls, one strike.

For the second pitch, the opponent changed their pitching strategy, beginning to press Lin Guanglai down low — still inside, but this time it was a low slider. Unfortunately, the control of this pitch was slightly off, sliding past the strike zone.

The count was now one ball, one strike.

Glancing at the field’s defensive positions, Lin Guanglai noticed a change in Nihon University Tsurugaoka’s defensive alignment:

Because there was a runner on second, their infield and outfield had clearly moved forward to prevent infield hits;

Meanwhile, since he was a left-handed batter, Nihon University Tsurugaoka’s fielding was also slightly shifted to the right.

On the pitcher’s mound, Ogaki Yuichi of Nihon University Tsurugaoka stretched his body and delivered the third pitch of this at-bat.

"Whoosh~" The baseball escaped from Ogaki Yuichi’s hand, shooting towards home plate.

Faced with this pitch, Lin Guanglai did not choose the traditional uppercut swing from top to bottom towards his body;

Rather, he opted to slightly delay his swing time, scooping at the baseball from bottom to top.

"Clang—"

With a loud crack as the bat made contact with the baseball, the ball shot up into the sky, flying towards the unguarded area of left field.

The left fielder and center fielder of Nihon University Tsurugaoka were sprinting towards where the ball was descending, hoping to catch it in time;

The moment Lin Guanglai hit the ball out, he was also sprinting — as long as the ball landed, it would at least be a double.

Near second base, Fukasawa Kouta didn’t rush; he was still observing the situation.

The baseball began to descend rapidly; the two outfielders of Nihon University Tsurugaoka had their eyes glued to the trajectory of the baseball, forgetting to watch each other —

With a "bang," left fielder Ohtake Ryota and center fielder Santaniichi Tadashi collided; the baseball landed inside the field.

At the moment of the outfielders’ collision, Fukasawa Kouta, positioned between second and third bases, launched into action — if he didn’t run, Lin Guanglai from behind would reach second base!

On Nihon University Tsurugaoka’s side, the dizzy Ohtake Ryota couldn’t afford to hesitate. Ignoring the fallen cap and his own body’s pain, he snatched up the ball from the ground and threw it towards third base — a score was inevitable, but at least they needed to try and tag out the advancing pitcher at third base.

Without paying attention to their reaction, Lin Guanglai, who had already reached second base, continued advancing towards third.

Faster, faster, even faster!

Closer, closer, getting closer!

Just a short distance from third base, Lin Guanglai lowered his center of gravity and then propelled his entire body towards third base.

Utilizing the momentum from his run, his body slid a short distance along the ground, and he managed to touch third base with his hand before Nihon University Tsurugaoka’s third baseman received the ball.

"Amazing! Amazing! Mr. Lin is really in full form today! Not only was he as reliable as a fortress on defense, but his very first hit of the entire game was a triple — truly a genius freshman, amazing!" Commentator Ikezaki Fusho couldn’t contain his excitement, bursting with emotion.

No Takayama fan would miss the birth of a genius, especially for a commentator like Ikezaki Fusho, who had been involved in Takayama baseball for years.

He had a vague premonition that today’s finals would become a classic game, repeatedly mentioned in the coming years.

Slowly getting up from the ground, Lin Guanglai patted the dirt off himself and vigorously punched the air in the direction of his team’s dugout, his smile making TV viewers’ female fans exclaim "kawaii~!"

The following batter, Chongxin Shinjiro, also didn’t disappoint his teammates. With a high fly sacrifice hit, he sent Lin Guanglai from third base back, perfectly completing his task.

Thanks to Lin Guanglai’s burst, Waseda Jitsugyo changed the on-field score to 2–0 in the bottom of the third inning, taking a solid and strong step towards Koshien participation.

However, Lin Guanglai’s performance was far from over.

Strikeout, strikeout, and yet another strikeout!

The excellent performance at bat further enhanced his performance on the mound, and Lin Guanglai, as if he had unlocked a limit like Kakarot, completely controlled the pitching mound.

From the fourth inning, he threw six strikeouts in succession, with four of them being perfect three-strike strikeouts;

In front of him, neither strong nor weak batters, neither center batters nor peripheral batters, made any difference — because the outcome that awaited them was the same: a strikeout.

At this moment, Meiji Jingu Stadium seemed like a stage, and amidst the cheers of the audience below, the sole protagonist, Lin Guanglai, made a dazzling entrance to commence his solo performance.