CHAPTER 74: WINDS OF CHANGE

Bottom of the eighth inning, Kantou Number One is on the offense.

Facing Kantou Number One’s third batter, Ito Shinji, Lin Guanglai and Tsuchiya Ryota use deceptive high fastballs to mislead the opponent’s swing, making Ito Shinji hit a ground ball towards third base and get out.

The fourth batter, Miyashita Akira, is in exceptional form today. On the first pitch of this inning, he swings decisively, hitting a strong grounder toward the first and second bases and successfully reaching first base.

After slightly holding Miyashita Akira at first base a few times, Lin Guanglai shifts his focus to the batter at home plate; without giving subsequent batters any chance, with two spectacular strikeouts, Lin Guanglai ends Kantou Number One’s offensive inning, leaving a stranded runner at first base.

"Three outs!"

The bottom of the eighth inning ends, and the score remains 2:6 as before, with a four-point gap—both sides have exhausted all means in the past few half innings to narrow or widen the score gap, but neither has succeeded.

Top of the ninth inning, Waseda Real’s offense—if they don’t score at least 4 runs in this half inning, this game will mark the end of Waseda Jitsugyo’s summer.

The atmosphere at the venue heats up once more—

"Clap, clap, clap—!!!"

"Boom, boom, boom—!!!"

In the Alps Stand of Waseda, the immense momentum of five to six thousand supporters almost seems to overturn the entire Koshien Stadium: they continually clap with the cheering props in their hands, beat the drums with drumsticks, and express their trust and support for the team with nearly hoarse voices.

On the first base side, in Waseda’s player area.

Facing the dire situation of urgently needing to score, with Izumi Minoru supervising, he starts to make some strategic player substitutions: Waseda’s luck is not great, as this inning lineup starts with the sixth batter Sugai Natsuki, almost all of whom are late-order batters;

Thus, Izumi Minoru first substitutes third-year Ishikawa Shoujin for the original sixth batter Sugai Natsuki—though not as good defensively as Sugai Natsuki, Ishikawa Shoujin has a stronger batting ability, which Waseda needs at this moment;

Then, Izumi Minoru also substitutes third-year left-hitter Matsui Katsushi for the original eighth batter Kakiwara Yosuke—Matsui is a typical type of contact hitter, capable of constantly putting pressure on opposing pitchers and infielders when on base.

Having completed the personnel adjustments, looking at the team members standing before him, Izumi Minoru finds that even trailing by 4 points, not one of them shows any sign of defeat; thus he speaks reassuringly:

"Did you hear the cheers and support from the stadium? Those are the voices cheering for you!"

"If we manage to turn the tables, won’t this sound become even more enthusiastic?"

"If you want to know the answer, verify it through your actions—for the team, for your teammates, for yourselves, I entrust the coming top of the ninth inning to all of you!"

As Ishikawa Shoujin gears up, holding the bat, and walks into the batting zone, all the players of Waseda stand in a neat line beside him under the supervision of Izumi Minoru to support their teammate.

"Shoujin, you must hit the ball out!"

"Just like in practice, you can do it, Shoujin!"

In the left batting zone to the right of home plate, Ishikawa Shoujin, with a serious expression, fixes his gaze firmly on the pitcher and then raises the bat—though having always been a substitute for the team over the past three years, he deeply loves this team, wanting to contribute something to both the supervisor and his teammates.

Now, it is his moment!

The first pitch, a fastball inside.

"Clang!"

As a batter, Ishikawa Shoujin shows unprecedented determination, swinging the bat at the very first pitch— the whole stadium suddenly buzzes, all eyes drawn to the baseball flying out.

"Foul." As the base umpire gestures, Shirai Keiichi of Kantou Number One slightly breathes a sigh of relief, feeling the pressure on him lighten significantly.

The second pitch, a slider low and outside.

The quality of this pitch is high; it looks as if it will slide out of the strike zone, but precisely catches the corners, the home umpire calls it a strike.

balls, 2 strikes.

The players of Waseda all press their lips tightly together: the batter being pressured by two strikes, their team still trailing by four points, if Ishikawa Shoujin is easily struck out, Waseda’s chance of catching up diminishes rapidly.

Koshien has always had a tradition of cheering for the trailing side, so currently, it’s not only their fans cheering for Waseda but also many neutral spectators—for the players of Kantou Number One, this tendency increases their pressure.

Amidst the brass band’s playing from the Waseda stands, as Shirai Keiichi’s airborne front leg lands in front of the pitcher’s mound, his arm whips forward, releasing the ball—a high fastball, clearly intending to quickly strike out the batter in front of him.

With two strikes against him, Ishikawa Shoujin has no other choice but to decisively swing the bat—at what might be his last Koshien at-bat, he doesn’t want to end it as a coward too scared to swing.

"Clang—"

Ishikawa Shoujin’s bat connects accurately, pulling the baseball to the right side of the field.

The stands erupt with exclamations; in such a crucial moment, everyone present is at a loss for words, only able to open their mouths and look skyward, searching for the ball.

Tanaka Shuji in the commentary booth also keeps a close watch on the field, and as Ishikawa Shoujin hits the ball, his voice bursts with excitement:

"He hit it!!!"

"How’s the ball? Will it be caught???"

"Ah—!!! Kantou Number One had employed the infield-in strategy! This ball pierced right through their defense!"

Holding a 4-point lead, in the final inning, Kantou Number One adopts a common baseball strategy of infield-in against the late-order batters of Waseda:

They position two outfielders close to the infield, covering the entire infield defensive area with five players apart from the relatively stationary first baseman. If the batter hits a normal single, it is almost certain to be intercepted and out.

But who would have thought, that the substitute player Ishikawa Shoujin, who had long been on the bench, would hit a long ball in the most important at-bat of his life!

Although the right fielder Hayato Onodera of Kantou Number One retreated quickly, the baseball still passed over his head; Ishikawa Shoujin sprinted along the infield and finally stopped at third base.

Ishikawa Shoujin, with a crucial triple!!!

"Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!" The Waseda players are ecstatic, each raising their fists and shouting with all their might;

"Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!" The reserves and spectators in the stands are also completely thrilled, a triple hit at the very start of the top of the ninth inning has made the changes in the game dizzying.

This game started at 11:30 AM and by now has been going on for nearly two and a half hours, right at the hottest time of the day—but somehow, a gentle breeze suddenly sweeps through the ballpark, taking away some of the intense summer heat.

Feeling the gentle breeze on his face, with his hand strapped in a bandage, Suzuki Kensuke murmurs at the end of the line:

"The wind has changed, huh."