Baseball: A Two-Way Player

On the day after the first match ended, the spring Kantou Conference games continued at full throttle.

Whether it was the organizers' intent or not, Waseda's opponent in the second round happened to be their long-standing rival, Keio High School—in this tournament's second round, the famous "Waseda-Keio match" would play out once again.

As the most popular and well-known derby at both high school and university levels in Japan, the history of the inter-school competition between Waseda University and Keio University can be traced back to the early 1900s. As two of the most prestigious schools in Japan, Waseda and Keio have fierce competitions across various sports.

From baseball to rugby, then to kendo and canoeing, even academic forums, members from both sides strive to be the best—this atmosphere has extended to their respective high schools, with the face-off between Waseda Industries and Keio High School being a fan favorite among high school baseball fans.

Before Keio High School moved from Tokyo to Kanagawa, every encounter between the two schools drew large audiences to the stands; similarly, the Waseda-Keio match is considered the most classic event between high schools and universities, scheduled during peak times in the season, with NHK broadcasting it live.

For Lin Guanglai, this was his first experience of the Waseda-Keio match in his life—the sheer number of spectators in the stadium, far surpassing those from previous days, gave him a new perspective on the importance of this clash.

As such, winning this match became a necessity!

Unlike the unified "baseball buzz cuts" on the Waseda side, Keio's baseball team does not mandate haircuts, so most of their players still sported their long hair—especially when compared to each other, it painted a uniquely striking scene.

After both teams lined up beside home plate for the pre-game ceremony, the match officially began—Keio took the offensive first, followed by Waseda Industries.

In the first inning, Keio played aggressively. Their ace starting pitcher, the third-year left-hander Miyamori Shun, was quite formidable, and he immediately demonstrated a strong drive to strike out.

Facing Waseda's most formidable top lineup, Miyamori Shun consecutively struck out Chongxin Shen Zhong and Matsunaga Kenta, eliminating them one by one; subsequently, when facing the third batter, Kenshu Yasuda, after a seven-pitch standoff between them, although Yasuda managed to hit the ball, it wasn't well-placed and ended up right in the first baseman's mitt, easily being put out.

Waseda, on the other hand, stuck to their customary careful and steady strategy. Led by Uchida Saint, their defense wouldn't produce many strikeouts like Lin Guanglai from the pitching mound; Uchida Saint, a control pitcher, preferred to solve batters by inducing grounders and pop flies.

Though Tanida Naoki, the first batter, got a hit, Uchida Saint quickly recovered, inducing a ground ball double play, eliminating two Keio batters in one go;

Facing the third batter, Yamamoto Takakawa, he used a highly deceptive breaking ball to trick his opponent into a swing-and-miss, returning Keio the favor with a three up, three down.

On the sideline, seeing the performance of his team, Izumi Minoru nodded with satisfaction—after the Senbatsu High School Baseball Tournament, as Lin Guanglai faced increasing targeting, Waseda indeed needed other players to step up at critical moments.

Now, after winning the championship, the players' confidence and on-field mentality visibly improved; in the past, if Lin Guanglai didn't stand out, the entire match would likely become a tough tug-of-war; but now, everyone could maintain relatively stable performances.

For a team's balanced development, this was undoubtedly a good thing—baseball games ultimately are a collective sport; relying on one star player alone absolutely cannot lead the entire team much further.

Of course, this did not mean that Lin Guanglai had become a dispensable presence; in fact, the performance of regular players ensures the team's baseline, but truly raising the team to a championship level requires Lin Guanglai as the indispensable key figure.

Regarding Lin Guanglai's recent struggles, Izumi Minoru, a renowned coach with nearly twenty years in high school teams, was certainly aware of the reasons; because of this, he gave Lin Guanglai ample time and freedom to play, aiming for him to quickly improve his abilities in real, intense matches, allowing him to sooner overcome his painful phase.

The experience in assessing talent developed over twenty years gave Izumi Minoru great confidence in Lin Guanglai—when it comes to talent and effort, Lin Guanglai lacks none; thus, as the team's coach, all Izumi needs to do is choose to trust him.

Outside the batting box at home plate, Lin Guanglai prepared for his upcoming at-bat adjustments.

He lightly swung the bat in his hand, once again reviewing the content of the spin-technique strategy in his mind, ensuring both his brain and body remembered before slowly stepping into the batter's box, meeting the gaze of Miyamori Shun on the mound.

On the pitcher's mound, Miyamori Shun was contemplating his strategy—if it were a month ago, he would certainly choose to intentionally walk Lin Guanglai quickly, then focus on getting the outs afterward;

However, based on Keio's pre-game research, Lin Guanglai's batting average had significantly declined compared to during the Senbatsu, indicating he was not in good form;

This match was the renowned "Keio-Waseda match," and if they could strikeout or putout the opponent's best player at this moment, it would likely dent the opponent's confidence—thus, the following games might be much easier.

Having made up his mind, Miyamori Shun swiftly communicated with his catcher on the pitching strategy to safely eliminate Lin Guanglai as much as possible.

Lin Guanglai was not in a hurry either, drafting a strategy for his at-bat as well—Keio might deliberately walk him as many previous opponents had done; if not, then he intended to swing at the first decent pitch!

After a short while passed, Keio's pitcher-catcher duo quickly finalized the pitch plan for this at-bat.

From Lin Guanglai's perspective, he could clearly see the confident and bold smile on Miyamori Shun's face, as if he was quite confident in striking Lin Guanglai out.

That kind of expression was something Lin Guanglai hadn't seen from an opponent for a long time—so, he too intended to show his colors to the adversary.