Baseball: A Two-Way Player

Standing in the batter's box, Lin Guanglai raised his bat high, looking seriously at Yoshinaga Kentarou on the pitcher's mound, attempting to exert pressure on the opposing pitcher right from the start.

Many teammates had been intimidated by Nihon University's offensive in the first half of the inning. As the team's captain and clean-up batter, Lin Guanglai knew it was time for him to step up and set an example.

Yoshinaga Kentarou on the mound dared not be careless. He kept exchanging information with the catcher, Suzuki Takahiro, behind home plate, discussing pitch selection. Of course, with a 5-point lead, Nihon University's pitcher-catcher combination had a lot of leeway, which significantly reduced their pressure when facing a strong batter.

The umpire pointed his right hand towards the pitcher's mound and issued his command:

"Play Ball!"

Yoshinaga Kentarou did not delay, swung his arm, and threw the baseball out.

"Clang!"

Lin Guanglai aimed at the incoming ball and swung decisively, hitting it hard in the direction of first base. The ball sailed over Kaneko Rei at first base for Nihon University and landed foul.

The pitch was counted as a strike, 0 balls and 1 strike.

The second pitch was a fastball straight to the inside high corner, significantly faster than the first. Lin Guanglai's swing was constrained by the pitch, unable to extend fully.

The ball glanced off the lower edge of the bat, losing a lot of momentum, and suddenly dipped. Quick-eyed and fast-handed, Suzuki Takahiro hurriedly used his wide, thick catcher's mitt to press the ball on the ground, preventing it from rolling away.

The count became 0 balls and 2 strikes, giving Nihon University a huge advantage, while Lin Guanglai was further pressured.

The next two tempting pitches were all seen through by Lin Guanglai, who let them pass — the count quickly returned to 2 balls and 2 strikes, and the pitcher's advantage was about to be exhausted.

Continuing to tangle, not only could the strike count easily be retrieved, but sticking too much with a power hitter could be dangerous if the pitch path were deciphered.

"Inside low straight ball, let's use this as the decisive pitch!" Seeing the signal from his catcher, Yoshinaga Kentarou nodded to show he understood, then placed his right hand holding the ball into his glove to prepare for the throw.

After preparing for a while, Yoshinaga Kentarou stepped on the pitcher's plate, then stood straight, lifted his leg, and leaned forward.

When his body reached a certain angle, his right arm swung out, and he released the ball with his fingertips at a proper angle.

Almost at the same moment the baseball was released, Lin Guanglai's advancing right foot lifted, and he swung his bat in the direction of the incoming ball with power.

The bat and the baseball collided at high speed, the metal bat hitting the lower edge of the ball with a loud sound.

"Clang—!!!"

The baseball was hit at a very high trajectory and flew towards the central field at a moderate speed.

Yoshinaga Kentarou felt his heart sink, quickly turned to look at his teammates: Sho Hango was prepared, his position was already set back. He kept adjusting his footing, attempting to catch the ball.

Retreating all the way to the deepest part of the outfield, Sho Hango could even clearly feel the cold touch of the outfield advertisement board as the baseball fell from the sky, finally landing in the stands of Shengong Second Stadium — even though Sho Hango tried to jump for the ball, he still couldn't catch it.

"Hit it!!!"

"Yoshinaga's 147 km/h fastball!"

"Clean-up batter Lin Guanglai, solo home run!"

"Waseda Real scores an additional point, the score is 1:5!!!"

In the commentary booth, Sugai Masakazu sincerely praised upon seeing the ball:

"The quality of Yoshinaga's pitch was already very high — but Lin hit it even better!"

"To increase the velocity, Yoshinaga slightly sacrificed some control, and that tiny difference of about half the pitch's location was exactly where Lin's bat made contact!"

Yoshinaga Kentarou stood on the pitcher's mound feeling somewhat stifled — since the semifinals exit in the Summer甲 qualifiers, he had been working harder than anyone to prove he deserved the team's ace spot in this major tournament.

He performed well this autumn tournament — from the pre-quarterfinal to now, he only allowed 1 point, and that wasn't even an earned run; at the start of this game, he quickly struck out the top three threatening batters of Waseda Real, proving that his performance was no flash in the pan.

"It's just a home run, we still lead by four points. No matter how strong Lin Guanglai is, he can't turn the tide alone." After calming down for a while, Yoshinaga Kentarou's mood stabilized, and he stood on the pitcher's mound again.

Seeing Yoshinaga's normal expression, Ogura Quanyou, who initially intended to call a timeout to ease his pitcher's mindset, dismissed the idea: His pitcher had undeniable skills, ranking among the best in the nation, but his only shortcoming was a tendency to lose composure when his pitches weren't smooth.

Since he still had such an expression, it meant he wasn't affected. With the team leading by four points, Ogura Quanyou naturally didn't see the need to call a timeout to disrupt his pitcher's rhythm.

Lin Guanglai's solo home run earned applause from the entire audience, but his teammates behind him suffered —

Following him, Hagiyama Mitsuo was quickly retired on three pitches by the rampaging Yoshinaga, all being fastballs that were both fast and cleverly angled. Hagiyama found it unbearable — he couldn't swing at even one of the three pitches;

The subsequent sixth batter Yagaki Kenta also quickly fell into a 0 balls and 2 strikes disadvantage, ultimately caught by Yoshinaga's signature cutter, missing the swing in a 1 ball and 2 strikes count, consuming only 4 pitches;

The seventh batter Uesugi Yasuyuki fared slightly better, but not by much. With a full count, the tense Uesugi Yasuyuki swung at an outside pitch from Yoshinaga: although the bat hit the baseball, it lacked power — a tremblingly rolling ground ball towards third base was easily caught by Hirao Toshitaka of Nihon University and securely thrown into Kaneko Rei's glove.

Good news: Lin Guanglai made an effective counterattack.

Bad news: The rest of Waseda Real temporarily couldn't break through Yoshinaga's defense.

Even though the offense didn't achieve much, at least Waseda Real's defense no longer seemed to be sleepwalking like in the first inning:

In the bottom of the second inning, as the lineup rotated back to Takayama Shun of Nihon University, they couldn't replicate their sharp attack from the first inning.

A strikeout and a ground ball double play, Waseda Real's defense finally regained some composure, swiftly retiring three batters and maintaining the 1:5 score difference.