CHAPTER 82: CHAPTER 82: PRESSURE

Bottom of the third inning, with Lin Guanglai caught out, the batting order starts to rotate anew.

Even with an inning’s worth of experience, Nakagawa Ryosuke was almost exceptionally irrational today — facing Chongxin Shen Zhong again at the plate, Nakagawa Ryosuke, after opening with two consecutive bad balls, threw three consecutive high-quality inside corner pitches, each one precisely landing on the edge of the strike zone, leaving Chongxin Shen Zhong in a bitter struggle.

As a batter, when encountering a pitcher with such a hot touch and irrational pitching, all one can do is force oneself to swallow the bitterness.

This half inning has possibly not even lasted ten minutes, yet the situation on the field has already turned into two outs.

Matsunaga Kenta, who followed, also had no response — after the exchange of three pitches, the count stood at one ball and two strikes.

Under the pressure of a pitcher’s advantage with two strikes, Matsunaga Kenta was lured by Nakagawa Ryosuke’s slider and, after swinging, hit a ground ball to the second-base area.

Second baseman Ooki Ryouta jogged forward to meet the ball, effortlessly scooped it up with his left hand, then tossed it to first base, putting Matsunaga Kenta out.

Bottom of the third, Waseda Real’s offense still isn’t going smoothly, their lineup completely suppressed by Nakagawa Ryosuke — for the second time after the first inning, they experienced a three up, three down.

One-third of the entire game has passed, and in this phase of the matchup, Waseda can be said to have been utterly defeated by Narita — although the deficit is just one run, which can be erased or even overturned with a single wave of offense; however, Nakagawa Ryosuke has performed in such a way today that both Waseda’s players and spectators at the field and in front of the TV are in disbelief:

In three innings, his pitching didn’t even allow Waseda to hit a single safety; two three-up, three-down innings with the only bases being reached via walk — it’s hard to imagine this kind of performance coming from a pitcher who threw 116 pitches in a game less than 24 hours ago.

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

"Pop." — Top of the fifth inning, with two outs, Narita’s third batter Kaneko Yuuta hit a ball that was too soft, providing an opportunity for the prepared Matsunaga Kenta:

He scooped the baseball from the ground into his glove, and without thinking, he threw the ball toward second base — Fukasawa Kouta, who was stationed near the second-base bag, was ready, gently stomping on the second-base bag first to put out Oka Miechi, who was sprinting to second; then with a flick of his arm, he sent the ball to first base where Sugai Natsuki caught it without any suspense.

With a beautiful 6-4-3 double play, Waseda successfully snagged the last two outs needed to end this half inning — the score on the field remained Narita leading 1:0.

"Bottom of the fifth inning, Waseda’s offense, the batter is the seventh, second baseman, Fukasawa-kun."

Stepping into the batter’s box for the second time in this match, Fukasawa Kouta performed excellently this time — as the lead-off hitter in the bottom of the fifth, he fully displayed his excellent selection and stickiness in ball-handling, tirelessly sending Nakagawa Ryosuke’s pitches foul and tangling with him.

In total, 9 balls later, Nakagawa Ryosuke, who swiftly dealt with batters in previous innings, had no way out with him.

The 10th ball, the count is full at three balls and two strikes.

Somewhat fatigued, Nakagawa Ryosuke threw a fastball that was slightly slower and higher in trajectory, and Fukasawa Kouta seized the opportunity.

With a "clang," the baseball was sent flying, landing in the no-man’s land behind the infield and in front of the outfield — with this safety hit, Fukasawa Kouta reached first base, perfectly fulfilling his role as the lead-off hitter.

Standing on the bag, he handed his protective gear to a teammate who came forward, smiling, clearly pleased with his performance.

"Eighth hitter, left fielder, Kakiwara-kun."

The next batter for Waseda was Yosuke Kakiwara, who, just as he stepped into the right batter’s box on the left side of the home plate, turned his bat horizontally, posing as if to bunt, focused on the pitcher on the mound.

As the eighth batter, Yosuke Kakiwara’s hitting ability isn’t strong, and his batting average isn’t high — he’s in the starting lineup more for his excellent defensive skills; hence, he’s not too concerned about batting, whether it’s a regular hit or a sacrifice bunt, he accepts the arrangement.

His performance didn’t disappoint his teammates — facing Nakagawa Ryosuke’s pitch, Yosuke Kakiwara lightly tapped the ball with the bat, nullifying most of the baseball’s momentum while pushing it forward towards his body, and the now energy-deprived baseball dropped straight to the ground, slowly crawling along.

As the baseball hit the ground, Fukasawa Kouta on first base simultaneously dashed towards second.

Although Kondo Tomoya promptly sent the ball to first base, putting out Yosuke Kakiwara, they couldn’t prevent Fukasawa Kouta from reaching second base.

"Bottom of the fifth inning, one out, a runner on second base."

"Next up to bat is Lin Guanglai — for Waseda, who has been suppressed by Nakagawa from Narita throughout this game, this is absolutely their opportunity to score!"

On the third-base side of the cheering stands, Lin Guanglai’s dedicated batting support song rang out once more, its loud tune echoing from the stands, reigniting the atmosphere in the venue and also bolstering Lin Guanglai in the batter’s box.

The supporters of Waseda, having suppressed their spirits for most of the game, seeing their team finally get a scoring opportunity, stood up from their seats, yelling loudly for Lin Guanglai:

"Guanglai Guanglai! Hit the ball out! You can do it!"

"Go go! Lin Guanglai!"

Lin Guanglai adjusted his helmet, walked into the batter’s box with his head down, traced the area around home plate with his bat a few times, then lifted his bat high.

First pitch.

Nakagawa Ryosuke maintained his usual composure, swung his arm, and pitched the ball.

Accompanied by a "swish" as it sliced through the air, the baseball bridged the distance between home plate and the mound in a fraction of a second, heading straight for the batter.

"This ball is hittable!" was Lin Guanglai’s instinctive thought upon seeing the incoming ball, even before his brain fully reacted, his body started to move on its own.

"Clang!" The baseball in flight was struck by the bat in his hands, flying toward the outfield.

"Did he swing at the first pitch? Is Lin too impatient?"

"Ah, that ball is flying high, heading toward the outfield!"

"But it seems this ball has height but not distance!"

Though the baseball was batted out, Lin Guanglai’s swing this time noticeably didn’t complete, with the energy not fully transferred to the ball.

Narita’s center fielder Oka Miechi anticipated the drop point of the ball, easily catching it in his glove; seeing the ball caught out, Fukasawa Kouta, who was ready to sprint to third, quickly returned to second base.

Seeing the base umpire signal the out, Lin Guanglai felt very frustrated; his face was tense, and he wore a serious expression, as if there was a fire in his chest urging to be vented.

Looking at the bat in his hand, Lin Guanglai felt an urge to smash it onto the ground — but in the end, he held back.

Running back to the player area, taking the water handed by a teammate, Lin Guanglai expressionlessly watched the field — two outs, a runner on second, and the scoring opportunity in this inning has been wasted by him again.