Baseball: A Two-Way Player

After the players from Luzheng Society and Hiroshima Comprehensive Technology left the field at the end of the match, the players of Waseda swiftly entered the inner part of Koshien. Under the urging of coach Izumi Minoru, they quickly began their pre-match warm-up.

Due to the impact of the earthquake disaster, this year's Koshien event has moved up the match times significantly to conserve energy. Even the interval times for events such as attack and defense exchanges, and pre-match warm-ups have been greatly shortened—this is a brand new experience for all players.

While the players from both teams were warming up, in the live commentary booth for the Daily News, the commentators responsible for the live broadcast of today's match also began their pre-match introduction—given that the teams are composed of entirely new second and third-year players, many viewers might not be very familiar with them, so the commentators were introducing the players of both teams.

"Good afternoon, dear Takayama viewers. This is the Hanshin Koshien Stadium."

"You are currently watching the 83rd selection tournament, Day 4, Game 3, the first round of matches—today's match features Waseda Industries from West Tokyo against Kyushu Academy from Kumamoto Prefecture."

"Waseda Industrial School is on the third-base side, attacking first."

"Kyushu Academy is on the first-base side, attacking second."

"Having made their first Summer甲 appearance since winning in 2006 during last summer, Waseda has finally secured a spot at the Shengong event for this tournament, coming to the Spring Koshien stage as West Tokyo's second representative."

"In today's match, Waseda's starting pitcher-catcher duo are both from the second year, player number 1 Lin Guanglai and player number 12 Uesugi Yasuyuki—these two have been a pitching and catching duo ever since middle school, and with the graduation of the third-year players from Waseda, this is their first time standing on the national stage."

"Among the starting nine players, four were key players in last summer's tournament."

"Pitcher, Lin, 2nd year."

"Second baseman, Shigetsugu, 3rd year—worth mentioning, he recently transitioned from third base to second base this year; his performance today is worth anticipating."

"Shortstop, Manabe, 3rd year."

"And center field, Yasuda, 3rd year."

"As for Kyushu Academy, there are five players in their starting nine who have experience from last summer's Koshien. They performed quite well last summer, reaching the top eight and losing to the runner-up Tokai University Sagami High School in the quarter-final stage; in the autumn Kyushu tournament, they reached the top four, narrowly losing to Kagoshima Real, who later secured the runner-up position at the Shengong event."

As the commentators finished their introductions, the warm-up for the players from both teams also concluded, and they lined up to salute—amidst the iconic air raid sirens of the Koshien events, today's match officially began.

On the pitching mound, Kyushu Academy's starting pitcher Otsuka Shonan was also ready—he is a second-year left-handed pitcher who took over the starting pitcher position after the departure of third-year ace Watanabe Masakatsu, with a maximum speed of 139 km/h. His skilled breaking ball types include the changeup and forkball.

Waseda's batting order is mostly unchanged from the autumn tournament, with Shigetsugu Shinjiro still leading off.

As a much-trusted leadoff hitter, Shigetsugu Shinjiro did not disappoint the team's expectations of him, successfully hitting a simple single to kick off Waseda's offense.

In the second spot, Kenta Matsunaga continued to play a tactical role for the team by selflessly executing a sacrifice bunt that advanced his teammate to second base.

Kenshu Yasuda, batting third, followed with a tricky ground ball towards third base; although Kyushu Academy's third baseman Hagihara Hideyuki managed to keep the ball infield, he couldn't relay it to first before Kenshu Yasuda reached the base.

One out, runners on first and third.

A moment later, after more than half a year, the familiar broadcast announcements of Koshien Stadium once again echoed in Lin Guanglai's ears:

"Fourth batter, pitcher, Mr. Lin."

As the announcement aired, not only in the third-base stands where Waseda's cheering team was located, but the entire Hanshin Koshien Stadium resounded with tremendous cheers—although musical instruments were forbidden, Lin Guanglai's supporters created a massive commotion using their cheering items.

Since his emergence last summer, not only in Waseda itself, but fans across the country have been quietly watching Lin Guanglai—with his tall and handsome appearance, exceptional skills both pitching and batting on the field, not only leading the team to victory but doing so with flair, perfectly hitting the sweet spot of many Takayama fans.

In today's first-round game, there were numerous spectators present in the tens of thousands of attendees specifically to witness Lin Guanglai's performance—as he stepped onto the batting area for the first time in this Spring甲, the hearts of countless supporters held their breath.

On the TV screen, the camera lens was locked onto Lin Guanglai, while underneath him displayed the personal trait keywords selected by the Daily News based on each player's individual characteristics.

Among keywords such as [All-Round Batter] and [Ace Pitcher], the Daily News program ultimately chose [Ace Fourth Batter] for Lin Guanglai—this word, in the view of the program team, not only captures the significant contributions Lin Guanglai makes in both pitching and batting but also showcases his irreplaceable status within Waseda.

In the left batting area, Lin Guanglai observed the infield defensive positions of Kyushu Academy, noticing that they hadn't made any specific adjustments, just slightly shifting their defensive formation to the right side of the field, typical against a left-handed batter.

The early spring temperature was still a bit low, particularly for pitchers, getting their body completely in game shape and finding their throwing rhythm takes some time—because of this, Lin Guanglai, poised with a ready stance in the batting area, already planned his hitting strategy for this at-bat:

For the first good ball pitched by the opposing pitcher, he was going to swing!

With the umpire's call to start, wearing jersey number 1, Kyushu pitcher Otsuka Shonan raised his right foot, then leaned his body forward; his left arm swung forward with his body, and as his arm reached a specific angle, he loosened his grip on the ball and sent it towards home plate.

The moment the ball was released, Lin Guanglai's entire body reacted instantly, initiating the backward swing; after gathering his strength, his eyes locked onto the approaching ball, deciding whether to actuate the swing.

From a visual standpoint, the speed of this ball was about 130 km/h, with a straight trajectory, aiming squarely at the inside corner strike zone.

"Inside corner, straight ball, sweet spot position!"

The results of extensive targeted winter training manifested in this crucial moment, his brain swiftly assessed the scenario in a fraction of a second. With such a favorable pitch, Lin Guanglai decisively pulled the bat in the ball's incoming direction.

The fast-moving bat swung closely past his body, drawing a graceful curve over home plate, eventually connecting with the ball as anticipated.

"Ping!!!"

The rapidly approaching baseball sharply rebounded in the direction of first and second base, cutting through Kyushu Academy's infield defense like a bullet, throwing the defending players into disarray.

The ball's angle of elevation wasn't high but headed deep into the gap between the center field and right field—Kyushu Academy's center fielder Yamashita Tsubasa tried to catch it with a diving grab, but the ball narrowly escaped him.

By a stroke of fortune, the right fielder Shimada Yuudou, initially behind covering Yamashita, got distracted by his teammate and couldn't retrieve the ball promptly to relay to an assisting teammate.

When the ball finally returned to the hands of the shortstop, Shigetsugu Shinjiro and Kenshu Yasuda, who were originally on base, had already dashed back to the home plate to score—and Lin Guanglai, who hit this drive-through ball, was standing on third base, handing his protective gear to the teammate that approached him.

He still had a smile on his face.

In the top of the first inning, Waseda leads 2-0.