Baseball: A Two-Way Player

According to the rules of the game, if a baseball bounces out of the field after landing within the field, it will be considered a double, and all players on the field will automatically advance two bases.

This means that after Lin Guanglai completed this hit, the situation on the field instantly turned into two outs with runners on second and third base.

Removing the heavy batting gear, Lin Guanglai handed them to a teammate on the sidelines, then jogged along the baseline to second base.

To be honest, Lin Guanglai himself was not satisfied with the result of this hit—

Due to the unique construction of Shengong Second Stadium, the outfield fence is not high, making it easy for the baseball to bounce out of the field; if the outfield boundary were slightly higher, this ball would likely have been kept within the field.

With Matsunaga Kenta's fast legs, he originally had a high probability of directly running from first base back to home plate to score; but now, he could only stand near third base, trying to put pressure on Kawaguchi Kiyotaka in the center of the field.

From the result of this ball, Waseda Jitsugyo actually suffered a loss; while for National Academy Kugayama, it was a blessing in disguise.

On the pitcher's mound, Kawaguchi Kiyotaka was feeling a bit complicated at this time:

He had made up his mind before the game to compete against his peer Lin Guanglai, but unexpectedly, in their first confrontation, he lost so badly—he had already done well enough, yet he was still ruthlessly defeated by his opponent;

But on the other hand, for the entire National Academy Kugayama team, the current situation on the field was not so hard to accept: with two outs and runners on second and third, just getting an out nearby would end the game—for Kawaguchi Kiyotaka, who was in quite good form today, this was not difficult.

Before Waseda's fifth batter Yagaki Kentaro was ready to bat, the team supervisor of National Academy Kugayama Takara Samurai called a timeout on the sidelines, and then sent a messenger to the pitcher's mound to deliver his words to his pitcher.

The substitute player Akira Higashira, responsible for delivering the message, was asked by his supervisor to repeat his original words without any changes, so as he walked onto the pitcher's mound, he directly scolded Kawaguchi Kiyotaka:

"I know you are determined to defeat the pitcher on the opposite side to prove yourself, but there needs to be a limit to your stubbornness."

"Look at the worried look on your face now. Does it look like someone who wants to prove himself in front of his opponent—can this attitude help you defeat that genius player on the other side?"

"Remember this, Kawaguchi, baseball is a team sport, a duel in a single at-bat doesn't count for much—what pitcher can ensure he suppresses the opponent every time?"

"If you want to prove you're not inferior to the number one on the other side, then show me your true skills—what does it matter even if you give up ten thousand hits?"

"As long as the team can win in the end, you are the true winner!"

Being scolded by the supervisor, Kawaguchi Kiyotaka, who was previously lost in the frustration of being hit, was like having a bucket of cold water poured over him and snapped awake instantly.

Though he still wanted to beat Lin Guanglai in a direct confrontation to prove himself, Kawaguchi Kiyotaka was not someone who didn't see the bigger picture—

Since entering the semi-finals of the autumn tournament, every member of National Academy Kugayama has been determined to vie for a spot in the Senbatsu High School Baseball Tournament, heading to that dream Holy Land.

So as not to let his own and everyone's dreams end here, Kawaguchi Kiyotaka cast off the burden in his heart, preparing to fully commit to this game:

He and Lin Guanglai are the same age and both members of high schools in the West Tokyo area, and there will only be more opportunities for them to compete in the future. For now, it's best to focus all attention on the game's outcome!

After adjusting his mindset, Kawaguchi Kiyotaka quickly found his form again: Yagaki Kentaro, the fifth batter, could not handle his pressure at all, forced into swinging under 0-2 pressure, he knocked a high infield fly ball towards the pitcher's mound and was caught out by Kawaguchi Kiyotaka himself.

Even though Waseda Jitsugyo had runners in scoring position, they couldn't seize this opportunity—the same problem persisted, as the latter part of the batting order mainly consisted of second-year substitutes and first-year rookies who lacked real game experience and overly relied on their form:

When they were in good form, they could hit continuously and completely crush the opposing side in half an inning;

When they were off, they could only hope the front batting order would make a scoring drive, then rely on defense to drag the game out to the end.

With the three batters out, the first inning of the autumn Tokyo tournament semi-final came to an end.

Starting from the second inning, the entire game turned into a full-speed train heading unrelentingly towards a pitcher's duel.

Although the game had its exchanges, with attacks and defenses on both sides, the score never changed, remaining at 0-0 from start to finish.

On the side of National Academy Kugayama, Kawaguchi Kiyotaka indeed lived up to being a qualified ace pitcher, staving off wave after wave of Waseda Jitsugyo's offensive under cooperative defensive plays, repeatedly getting crucial outs at critical moments to keep the game going.

On Waseda Jitsugyo's side, Lin Guanglai, who had been undergoing professional training since the end of the Summer甲, showcased his training results in this game:

Starting from the top of the second inning, National Academy Kugayama's batting lineup was completely frozen by him—regardless of the so-called center of the lineup or the lower batting order, they were all treated equally before Lin Guanglai:

Until the regular time of the game ended, the National Academy Kugayama batters were firmly kept to first base by Lin Guanglai, without even seeing second base.

After the nine-inning regular game time ended, although the score was still 0-0, Lin Guanglai had faced 32 batters and struck out 14 of them, demonstrating his exceptional competitive state.

In contrast, Kawaguchi Kiyotaka with 7 Ks and four walks in nine innings was still excellent but paled in comparison to Lin Guanglai.

But as the one involved, Kawaguchi Kiyotaka had no mind to think about such insignificant things now—with the nine-inning regular time ending, Waseda Industries and National Academy Kugayama were tied at 0-0, leading the game into a brutal extra inning.

Let the data go to hell—in such moments, whether it's Waseda Jitsugyo or National Academy Kugayama, whether it's Lin Guanglai or Kawaguchi Kiyotaka, there was only one thought in their hearts, which was—

"I/We must win this game!"