Baseball: A Two-Way Player

One out, runners on first and second bases.

Waseda Industries, cleanup hitter, Lin Guanglai's turn at bat.

Over a month has passed since the summer game, but Lin Guanglai's record of four home runs in Summer甲 has caught the attention of all the teams in Tokyo, with many teams beginning to intensely study him.

Seeing Lin Guanglai step up, the center fielder from Nihon University Fengshan quickly signaled his teammates to back up, ready to catch the ball deep in the outfield.

The pressure on the mound weighed heavily on Watanabe Hikaru, who communicated with his own catcher at length before throwing the first pitch of this at-bat.

"Pop."

"Ball."

The pitch exceeded a speed of 130 kilometers per hour, but the angle was slightly low—passing beneath Lin Guanglai's kneecap and failing to enter the strike zone.

Without making much adjustment after the first pitch, Watanabe Hikaru quickly threw the next ball—in Lin Guanglai's view, this one was much higher than the last, but the trajectory was similar.

Lin Guanglai swung the bat, precisely hitting the ball's sweet spot.

Due to the opponent's deep outfield defense, Lin Guanglai chose not to seek a long hit or even a home run with a high-angle fly ball—one out in the top of the first inning, with runners on first and second, as the team's captain, it was more important to prioritize helping the team score.

The baseball from Watanabe Hikaru was smashed by Lin Guanglai into a line drive, swiftly tearing through Nihon University Fengshan's infield defense, landing in front of center field.

Unprepared due to the deep defensive position, the center fielder for Nihon University Fengshan hastily started running towards the ball; as he controlled the ball and prepared to throw it back to the infield, he was surprised to find Lin Guanglai, who was far from home plate just moments ago, now standing not far from the second base bag.

The two previous base runners had already successively stepped on the home plate, adding two runs for their team.

Even though Hagiyama Mitsuo hit a ground ball and was out on the subsequent play, it was of little consequence:

In the top of the first inning, the cleanup hitter Lin Guanglai's first at-bat resulted in a double, helping Waseda take a two-run lead.

Three outs, the teams exchanged roles in the field.

Taking his outfield glove from his equipment bag, Lin Guanglai jogged to the right field position, tossing the ball around with his outfield teammates on the field.

Differing from the pitcher's glove he usually used, the outfield glove in his hand now was much larger.

Generally speaking, a pitcher's glove measures about 11.5 inches to 12 inches, mostly featuring closed webs to prevent the opposing team from discerning the pitcher's techniques;

While an outfielder's glove is often sized between 12.5 inches and 12.75 inches, with web types ranging widely, including the popular cross-web design, or Ichiro Suzuki's favorite, the trapeze web; outfielder's gloves typically have deep pockets to facilitate catching high fly balls.

Given the opponent showed weak long-hitting capability according to pre-game data, Lin Guanglai positioned himself slightly forward in right field.

Waseda Real's game wasn't going particularly well.

Starting pitcher Uchida Saint wasn't really a strikeout type of pitcher;

Conversely, Uchida Saint heavily relied on stable defensive support from his teammates as a breaking ball pitcher.

While the senior third-years were still around, Waseda Real's overall defense was relatively stable, allowing Uchida Saint to frequently induce ground balls and fly balls using breaking pitches, consuming a significant number of innings, sharing the burden on the starting pitcher.

But here's the problem—today was the first official game for many of Waseda Real's players, resulting in inevitable nerves, somewhat hindering their performance.

Additionally, this entirely new Waseda Real team had been formed just over a month, and many players were not playing in the positions they were familiar with during middle school, with team chemistry still needing significant time and practice to develop.

As a consequence, the defense of this new Waseda Real team seemed inadequate, even against a mid-level Tokyo region team like Nihon University Fengshan.

In the bottom of the first inning, after striking out Nihon University Fengshan's leadoff hitter, Waseda Real's defense consecutively made fundamental errors:

Initially, Nihon University Fengshan's number two hitter, Yamashina Katsuyuki, was fooled by Uchida Saint's low outside slide, swinging to produce a weak ground ball that, after several bounces, lost most of its energy, slowly rolling toward first base.

Originally stationed at the first base bag, Hagiyama Mitsuo elected to field the ball, envisaging a straightforward and effortless out;

However, as he stretched his glove to the ground in preparation to scoop up the baseball and return to lightly step on the bag, the ball unexpectedly slipped through the gap between his grounded glove and the ground itself—

Had it not been for Shigetsugu Shinjiro at second base and Lin Guanglai in right field being proactive, this seemingly harmless ground ball would have rolled quite a distance further.

This simple fielding error turned what should have been a two-out situation into one out, with a runner on first.

This error affected the performance of the debuting players on the field, inciting fluctuations in their states.

Subsequently, against Nihon University Fengshan's number three hitter, Yamashina Katsuyuki started a stolen base attempt from first; after catching the pitch, Watanabe Taku, the catcher crouching behind the plate, stood up to make a throw to second base.

The baseball, violently sent towards second base, escaped control, soaring over Matsunaga Kenta's head as he came up to intercept it—

The throw was wild!

By the time Kenshu Yasuda retrieved the ball and threw it back to the infield, Yamashina Katsuyuki, originally on first base, had already reached third base.

Despite the number three hitter then hitting a high fly ball to right field, caught by Lin Guanglai, Waseda Real was unable to prevent the opponent's run.

The return throw from Lin Guanglai to home plate was just a bit too late; before Watanabe Takuya could tag Yamashina Katsuyuki with the catcher's glove, his outstretched foot had already touched the home plate.

At the bottom of the first inning, with two outs, Nihon University Fengshan, capitalizing on two errors by Waseda Real, narrowed the gap by one run.

Kenshu Yasuda, the coach, was extremely upset about his team's two embarrassingly basic defensive errors—

Standing just outside the player zone, Kenshu Yasuda immediately called a timeout, sending a message carrier to the mound, expressing his fury to the gathered infielders.

Lin Guanglai ran in from right field, patting his discouraged teammates on the back one by one:

"Everyone, forget what just happened—deal with the final batter first, we'll discuss the rest after the game!"