CHAPTER 60: CHAPTER 60: KONAN THE KING

The fourth day of the tournament, the Summer Koshien matches are still going in full swing.

The first match of the day features Hyogo Prefecture’s local prestigious team, the hosts Hodokusho Academy — their opponent is Toyama’s representative Nishikawa Kai making their Summer甲 debut.

Faced with the home-advantaged Hodokusho, the debuting Nishikawa Kai did not retreat but actively engaged in a fierce battle, leading at one point with 2:1;

However, the lack of experience and the players’ ability to seize opportunities marked the difference between a typical team and a prestigious one, ultimately influencing the course of the match:

In the first four innings, Nishikawa Kai had three golden opportunities with runners on third base but failed to capitalize, squandering chances to widen their lead.

In the end, Hodokusho Academy steadied themselves and secured a 3:2 victory over the new Summer甲 team Nishikawa Kai, successfully advancing past the first round.

Second match, Yuanbian Comprehensive Academy 0:8 Fukui Commerce. Fukui Representative, Fukui Commerce advances past the first round.

Third match, Meitoku Gijuku Junior & Senior High School 6:2 Honjo Ichiro. Kochi Representative, Meitoku Gijuku, advances past the first round.

With each match progressing, by 4 PM on the fourth day of the tournament, the most anticipated team of this year’s tournament, also the biggest favorite for victory, Konan High School from Okinawa Prefecture finally had their first match.

As the only A Level team this Summer甲, Konan’s appearance attracted a large number of Takayama baseball fans to the stadium on a weekday — even though their opponent is the relatively weak Naruto High School.

The audience nearly filled Koshien Stadium, among them were the cheerleading squads from both schools, but most were eager to witness the Senbatsu champion’s prowess; of course, after several unexpected outcomes in the past few days, some were there with a playful mindset, curious to see if the favorites would receive the "death curse" of being too popular.

Konan High School is packed with talented players, the most eye-catching being their starting pitcher Shimabukuro Hiroshi — not only a rare left-handed pitcher but also an all-rounder with both speed and control;

With a ball speed exceeding 145km/h and an arsenal including two-seam, slider, curveball, forkball, he set the record of 50.1 innings with 0 earned runs in his sophomore year.

Konan’s batting lineup revolves around their third baseman Iruku Shosuke and first baseman Maezono Hideaki, they are one a hitting machine with a batting average over 55%, once striking eight successive hits; the other, a power hitter capable of multiple long hits including home runs.

The current Konan is considered to be in the "Golden Generation" of their school’s baseball team — facing Naruto High School, they demonstrated absolute strength and determination to achieve spring-summer dominance.

After a tentative first inning, Konan’s batting lineup started their performance in the second inning: they hit consecutive three hits, scoring three runs in half an inning; then, quickly expanded the score to a lopsided 9:0 difference in two-and-a-half innings.

Despite being behind in scores, Naruto wasn’t without scoring opportunities: top of the 7th inning, their first batter Tsubakawa Yuuki hit a triple in his first at-bat, but successive batting players were struck out by Konan’s ace Shimabukuro Hiroshi, leaving a lone runner at third base.

This match’s starter Shimabukuro Hiroshi pitched 7 innings, delivered 7 strikeouts, 0 runs, showcasing the ease of an ace.

The spring champions Konan High School ultimately defeated Naruto High School with a score of 9:0, steadily advancing towards their goal of consecutive spring-summer victories.

-----------------

Around eight in the evening, at the inn where Waseda Industries were staying.

After arriving in Hyogo from Tokyo, Waseda Jitsugyo’s daily training intensity wasn’t as high as usual, training time roughly ended after 3 hours, with brief fielding practice.

The main reason for this is the extremely packed schedule of Koshien, too much practice might accumulate fatigue before the matches, thus affecting performance during the main event.

Though saying so, the players of Waseda Jitsugyo found it difficult to completely calm their minds before challenging the defending champions:

Since yesterday’s match ended, after finishing the routine training each day, the senior players would go to the Mukogawa Riverbank near the inn after dinner, practicing swinging with bats, commonly known as soto swing.

In Tsuchiya Ryota’s words, it’s "Better to find something to do instead of worrying inside the inn all day; and swinging until tired can make sleeping better."

Lin Guanglai didn’t join them today — as the starting pitcher for the next game, he was researching the opponent based on available data and reports.

As defending champions, the strength of Aichi Representative Chukyo University is unquestionable:

Main player Moriyama Junpei, right-handed pitcher and batter, fastest ball speed 145km/h, commonly uses change-ups, curveballs, sliders; last summer, primarily played as the second pitcher to share pressure with the then starter, now Hiroshima Carp’s Tanglin Xiaotai;

Starting catcher Izumura Yasuhiko, has been the team’s main catcher since sophomore year, not only skilled in catching but also a strong batter — during this year’s Summer甲 qualifiers, his average batting exceeded 50%, is the core of the defending champion’s central batting order;

In addition, Chukyo University’s three main outfielders are also worth noting:

Each of them can run 50 meters within 6 seconds, among them Right Field’s Koizumi Shu had over 60% batting rate in the local tournament, and Left Field’s Iwai Kawa Yuuta is very adept at hitting outside pitches, a mid-range hitter.

As the starting pitcher, Lin Guanglai needs to combine this information to devise different pitching strategies and distribution patterns against the various players, which is quite challenging.

Flipping through the data at hand, Lin Guanglai pondered, feeling puzzled about Chukyo University’s lineup:

As the team’s nominal first pitcher, Moriyama Junpei hasn’t started in local tournaments;

Instead, Chukyo University’s supervisor has consistently used sophomore Asano Fumuya as a false starter.

Moreover, unlike most baseball’s lineup setups, when not pitching, Moriyama Junpei’s defense position is shortstop!

It’s known that most teams choose to place the pitcher in positions like Right Field to conserve their energy due to lower defensive pressure;

But a shortstop, as the core of infield defense, requires extensive movements and ball handling during the game, undoubtedly increasing the pitcher’s physical consumption.

"Feels like there’s something worth exploiting here..." Lin Guanglai lightly rubbed his chin, murmuring to himself.

"Wait for the seniors to come back, then discuss my idea with them!"