Baseball: A Two-Way Player

After returning from Kanagawa, the Waseda Industries Baseball Club's schedule gradually returned to normal—players trained and entertained themselves each day, maintaining the same rhythm of life as before.

Soon, the off-season was approaching: various competitions, including Takayama, college baseball, and Japanese professional baseball, were moving into their final stages.

For these young baseball enthusiasts, watching all kinds of games became their greatest pleasure during daily training.

The first to finish was the Japan's Number One professional baseball series. The Chiba Lotte Marines, ranked third in the official matches, battled through seven games, and with a record of 4 wins, 1 draw, and 2 losses, defeated the Chunichi Dragons, led by the famous player Rokkai Hoshimura, achieving the greatest "Underdog" miracle in the history of the Japan's Number One series.

Reviewing the entire season of the Lotte Team, they indeed deserved such praise:

In the official matches deciding the pennant race qualifications, the competition in the Central League was notably fierce. Unlike the Central League teams, which could steadily gain victories against average teams like Hiroshima Carp and Yokohama BayStars, even the Rakuten team, which finished at the bottom, had a total of 62 wins;

Lotte Team, with 75 wins, barely edged out the Ham Team, which made it to Japan's Number One last year, to qualify for the pennant race by just one win.

In the pennant race, Lotte Team first defeated the 2008 champions Seibu Lions to advance to the division finals, and then, facing the wealthy SoftBank Hawks, they overcame the 0-1 disadvantage typically associated with underdog teams, winning 4 out of 6 games to claim the Central League's pennant race victory.

In the Japan's Number One series, they pushed forward energetically, defeating the Chunichi Dragons, who had won the Central League twice and made it to Japan's Number One three times in the past five years, making the Nagoya Dome their home ground.

Such an underdog story was hard for the Waseda Real students in front of their TVs to resist, greatly inspiring them, and the quality of their daily training improved significantly.

After the professional baseball competitions completely wrapped up, the final national championship of the year for high school/college baseball finally commenced—the Meiji Shrine Tournament. Ten high schools and eleven universities from across Japan gathered in Tokyo to determine the strongest of the autumn season.

This competition attracted not only the attention of Takayama practitioners and fans. In fact, numerous schools across Japan were continuously focused on the event, especially on which region the championship would ultimately fall to.

The reason was simple: the Shengong champion brings back a valuable Senbatsu High School Baseball Tournament entry quota for their region.

Especially in Hokkaido and Tokyo, where the entire region has only one quota, such a quota becomes even more precious.

Therefore, from the moment the Shenong Tournament opened, everyone at Waseda became supporters of Nihon University, fully cheering for this once-defeated opponent; many were even more hopeful than the Nihon University players themselves for them to win.

After all, if Nihon University could bring back a Shengong quota for Tokyo Region, then Waseda Real, scoring a quasi-victory in the autumn tournament, could naturally become the top contender for that quota;

In a selection-based context, this additional quota might not guarantee a 100% selection, but competing against the two teams that made it to the semifinals of the autumn Tokyo tournament with a third chance is far better than vying for one shared quota among the many schools in the Kantou Region.

And Nihon University's performance did not disappoint their supporters:

In the preliminary finals against Hokkaido representative Hokkai High School, Nihon University secured a 2-point lead as early as the third inning;

They stabilized their stance in the following game, completely restraining Hokkai's offense without allowing them to score;

From the seventh inning onward, as the opposing ace pitcher's stamina waned, Nihon University's explosive offensive line began to exert its power:

From the top of the seventh inning, they scored 5 runs in three halves, killing the match completely, and ultimately defeating their opponent 7-1 to advance to the semifinals.

In the semifinals against Kantou representative Urawa Academy, making their first appearance in the Shengong Tournament, Nihon University demonstrated their senior powerhouse strengths—second baseman Suganuma Kenichi broke the long-standing stalemate with a home run, dispelling Urawa Academy's hopes.

Inspired by him, the other Nihon University players pressed forward with tight defense and orderly offense, defeating their opponents 5-2 to advance to the finals.

Even Izumi Minoru, watching the game with his players, couldn't help but praise the opponent's strength—

The current Nihon University resembles a precise instrument, with every gear meshing perfectly, each performing its duty, collectively propelling this galactic battleship forward with momentum.

"Is this the opponent we must defeat?"

Watching the Nihon University team saluting their supporters on the TV screen, Lin Guanglai felt the fighting spirit within him burning fiercely.

For Waseda Real, who wants to earn a place in Senbatsu, the stronger Nihon University is, the better it is for them;

But after the spring games end, what should be done in the upcoming matches—as an archrival in West Tokyo, Nihon University is an inevitable barrier for Waseda Real to overcome in any national competition.

Lin Guanglai definitely doesn't want this August to be the end of his high school career and Summer甲—his ambition is much greater than that.

He still remembers his past dreams, the promise he made to his predecessors, wanting to compete against strong opponents nationwide, personally raise the flag symbolizing the peak of high school baseball...

And the prerequisite to achieving all this is to first defeat a team like this, a team already capable of championing nationwide.

Of course, this is not an easy task, but Lin Guanglai's favorite thing is to turn the impossible into possible—he firmly believes in his capabilities.

"If we don't want to be sitting at home next summer watching others sweat on the Koshien's field, Nihon University is the opponent we must defeat!"

"I think, the team should be thinking the same way, right?"

Before afternoon training started the next day, Lin Guanglai shared his thoughts with his teammates.

His words naturally resonated with his teammates—a lot of them were outstanding peers before enrolling at Waseda Real; choosing to come here, these players naturally harbored their own dreams.

Seeing their enthusiastic reactions, Lin Guanglai's passion was also ignited.

He instructed all his teammates present to form a circle, speaking to them with fervor:

"Since all of us harbor the same aspirations, let's focus on defeating Nihon University as our goal and strive towards next year's Summer甲!"

"Osu——!!!"

At the same moment, the team's current manager, Saito Mayu, who was going to be a third-year student next year, ran breathlessly from outside the field.

"Shengong... the Shengong Tournament results... are out!!!"

"Nihon University... Nihon University secured... secured victory!"

"We... we can go to Senbatsu!!!"