Baseball: A Two-Way Player

The fastest pitch in high school history at 156 km/h swept through the entire Koshien Stadium and even the whole of Japan like a storm. From the current appearance, no matter the outcome of this match, the focus of public opinion would likely once again be on Lin Guanglai.

The question of who would break Sato Yuuki's record of 155 km/h has been a topic of discussion for many Takano media and spectators in the past year. After all, with the continual improvement and development of baseball techniques, recent Koshien tournaments have seen more and more pitchers who can throw mighty fastballs;

Just last Summer League, there were four players who could pitch straight balls at speeds exceeding 150 km/h. Among them, Tokyo's Lin Guanglai and Iwate's Ohtani Shohai were only in their second year; this year, Osaka's Fujinami Jintaro has made a strong entry, and these three physically gifted hardcore pitchers are considered the most likely candidates to break the record.

No one expected that on the second day of this tournament, during a first-round match, the record that lasted for five full years would become obsolete, which indeed caught everyone off guard;

At the same time, this has stimulated the further enthusiasm and imagination of Takano spectators about high school baseball: As the most outstanding one among the current high school "Big Three Pitchers," Lin Guanglai has already taken the lead as a model, defending his position as the number one in Takano—will the remaining two also have a performance in the upcoming matches?

While the spectators were still imagining the fierce scenes of future duels, the players on the field had already completed the switch, and now it was Waseda Jitsugyo's turn to bat.

"It should be fine, right..."

At the forefront of the Alps Stand, wearing Waseda Jitsugyo uniforms and carrying cheering items, the substitute players who did not make the Senbatsu High School Baseball Tournament's 18-man roster looked at their teammates on the field with some concern.

Frankly speaking, when Lin Guanglai is standing on the pitcher's mound, the team's defensive issues are not that significant. Many points lost in pre-season games often occurred after Lin Guanglai left the field;

Compared to the confident defense, what worries these players is still the upcoming offensive segment: The current batting order arrangement has not been tested in actual combat, and the specific effect is still uncertain.

Lin Guanglai did not know what his teammates in the stands were thinking at the moment, and he did not have time to care what others thought—serving as both the pitcher and leadoff hitter, at least in the first inning, he was probably the busiest among the 18 players in the two teams.

Hurriedly throwing down the pitcher's glove, and with the help of his teammates quickly donning his batting gear and protective equipment, Lin Guanglai only managed to gulp down a few sips of cold water before picking up his bat and heading to the batter's box.

Celestial Principle High School's starting arrangement today was somewhat unexpected: For the position of starting pitcher, their coach Hashimoto Takenori did not choose the ace pitcher Yamamoto Ryuya;

Today taking the mound as the starting pitcher is Nakagawa Kita, who uses a submarine pitching motion—a third-year left-handed pitcher whose fastest pitch speed is only 136 km/h due to his pitching posture; but with precise control, a concealed pitching release point, and a rich arsenal of sliders, curves, forkballs, and sinkers, he often causes significant trouble for opponents.

Last fall, during the Kansai tournament, Celestial Principle High School relied on the strategy of starting with Nakagawa and then using ace Yamamoto Ryuya for relief to overturn the powerful Osaka Tsubaki in a decisive match.

Although breaking ball pitchers in the high school stage are not favored by professional baseball teams, it must be acknowledged that such pitchers have considerable advantages in these stages of the competition, sometimes even surpassing many traditional hardcore pitchers;

The main reason is that most high school hitters tend to rely more on physical attributes rather than technique—their batting skills are actually quite rough—so when facing high-quality breaking balls, these hitters are often easily fooled or unsure of their position.

However, having hit 80 home runs in official games and pre-season matches in just over two years and considered most likely to achieve the high school total of 100 home runs, Lin Guanglai happens to be a hitter equipped with both power and technique—this is true even after switching to a wooden bat, only causing balls that would barely clear the fence to instead fall within the field.

Faced with the renowned hitter Lin Guanglai in his first at-bat of the match, the Celestial Principle's coach did not issue an intentional walk order to his pitcher and catcher—not because they wanted to have a direct showdown with Lin Guanglai, but because walking the leadoff hitter would provide too much room for the opponent's offensive tactics, and besides, Lin Guanglai's threat on the bases is also significant.

In the left batter's box, Lin Guanglai raised his bat, his wrists lightly oscillating, keeping his body in an activated state at all times to avoid reacting too slowly or a decrease in bat speed due to excessive tension.

Having autonomously chosen to become the team's leadoff hitter, Lin Guanglai knew he had to adjust his hitting strategy and mentality with his position change:

As a cleanup hitter in the past, he could sacrifice batting average more to pursue mid-to-long distance hits; but now, ensuring he could safely get on base while advancing as many bases as possible was his priority—hitting mid-to-long-range liners would naturally be great, but being caught while overly pursuing long hits would be counterproductive.