Baseball: A Two-Way Player

The game continues.

Two outs, a runner on first base, Konan High School leads 5-1.

Using a highly deceptive breaking ball, the Konan pitcher-catcher duo successfully tricked Lin Guanglai into swinging, bringing the count to 0 balls, 1 strike.

In the first round of the pitching duel, Shimabukuro Hiroshi had a slight edge; but Lin Guanglai wasn't upset. After a brief adjustment, he once again raised his silver and black bat high, staring intently at the pitcher not far away.

After confirming the pitch through signals with his catcher, Shimabukuro lifted his front leg high, pressed his body forward, and threw the ball with a swinging motion of his arm.

Just as the baseball reached in front of home plate, Lin Guanglai's bat swung up to meet it.

"Clang—"

With the immense counterforce, the baseball flew flatly along the first-base line towards right field; Lin Guanglai's swing was very full.

The moment the ball flew over, Konan's first baseman Maezono Hideaki and right fielder Mingyi Guijie both sprang into action—

Seeing the ball flying over with a strong tailwind, Maezono Hideaki, who stands nearly 185 cm tall, simply jumped up high, trying to perform a stellar catch, intercepting the ball above his head;

Mingyi Guijie, who had been on guard against long hits, sprinted from the deep right field into the infield, attempting to catch Lin Guanglai out before the ball landed.

Lin Guanglai also threw his bat aside and ran swiftly towards first base.

Eventually, the baseball made a turn in the air, landing outside the first base line— "Foul ball."

Konan's players breathed a sigh of relief once they confirmed the ball was out of play—had this ball landed in the field, it most likely would have been near the first base line, a hated spot for all defenders.

Lin Guanglai had almost reached the first base bag when the first base umpire ruled the ball foul; thus, he could only slowly halt his steps, then return to the plate to continue batting.

Though the quality of this hit was very good, making all Konan players tense and significantly stirring defensive players, ultimately, the ball went out of play—thus the situation reached a rather awkward state for the batter: Two outs, 0 balls, 2 strikes, with pitcher and catcher holding an absolute advantage.

For the third pitch, Shimabukuro chose to speed up with a high inside fastball, which had high quality, squeezing Lin Guanglai in the batter's box—under the pressure of 2 strikes, he could only barely keep up with the ball, then forcefully hit it out.

"Clang!"

This time, Lin Guanglai didn't hit well, only managing to graze the baseball with the bat—sending the ball flying towards behind home plate, landing before the oncoming Yamakawa Daisuke trying to catch it.

Foul ball, with the count still 0 balls, 2 strikes.

For the fourth pitch, Shimabukuro attempted the same trick, trying to fool Lin Guanglai into a swing with a forkball again, but this time he didn't succeed: Confronting the seemingly menacing baseball, Lin Guanglai didn't react, merely watching the ball cross the plate, then rapidly dropping, being caught by the catcher in the glove.

Ignoring what happened behind him, Lin Guanglai just stood there, his gaze locked on Shimabukuro on the mound; the camera focused closely on him—his smiling face seemed to say:

"The same move again, it's useless on me!"

Perhaps influenced by that smile, for the fifth pitch of the at-bat, Shimabukuro failed to control his pitch trajectory—had it not been for Lin Guanglai's timely reaction, along with the thought to exert more pressure on his opponent, this pitch would have hit him directly.

In just two pitches, the count changed from 0 balls, 2 strikes to 2 balls, 2 strikes.

On the mound, Shimabukuro received the ball back from the catcher—a freshly replaced ball, not yet touched by Koshien's soil. He squatted to rub some talcum powder on his right hand, contemplating the next pitch tactic:

"No, I can't keep entangling like this."

"Only 1 pitch remains advantageous in the count, and the opponent has clearly adapted to my pitch variations..."

"Let's settle it with the next ball!"

After touching his chin, Shimabukuro proactively conveyed his idea to Yamakawa Daisuke—through eye contact, the well-coordinated pitcher-catcher duo nodded in agreement.

Winning pitch, decided with a fastball!

Shrugging his shoulders slightly, Shimabukuro attempted to relax his body; taking a small step forward, feeling the familiar sensation of the pitching plate under his sole.

Once adjusted, Shimabukuro turned his body sideways, lifting his front left leg high, then lunging forward with a big step, instantly twisting his lower body and hips, pressing his body forward.

When his body leaned to a certain angle, his upper body followed, exerting force, the right hand holding the ball whipping powerfully forward past his body.

At the release point, Shimabukuro released his right hand, letting the baseball pitch out effortlessly.

Sensing the on-field momentum shift, Lin Guanglai clearly realized his opponent would determine the victory in this pitch—thus when the baseball flew from Shimabukuro's hand, Lin Guanglai was resolute in his determination to swing.

Face-off, head-on confrontation!

With the incoming pitch, he lifted his front foot, stepping forward, his upper body driving his waist and abdomen to twist backward—the entire body like a drawn longbow, fully charged with force, guiding the bat to the ball's location.

"Clang—!!!"

The baseball and bat violently clashed, Lin Guanglai's swing continued, despite the numbness spreading from his hands, he persistently exerted force to the right, sending the bat forward.

Upon hitting the ball, Lin Guanglai sensed it—the swing was smooth and vigorous, the hit felt full and fluid; watching the baseball soar high, he immediately tossed the bat, sprinting around the infield at full speed.

On the way to first base, he saw the faces of supporters on the first base side—their eyes all fixed on the baseball, wearing a unified expression: mouths slightly open, looking incredulous, all gazing towards right field;

Reaching second base, he saw several Konan outfielders in rapid pursuit of the baseball, running as fast they could towards the drop point, fearful of being the reason for the baseball dropping;

Sprinting past third base along the base line, the entire stadium erupted again: cheers like thunder roared in his ears; across the third base side, from the Alps stand, came the sighs of disappointment from Konan supporters.

As soon as his front foot stepped on home plate, Lin Guanglai spread his hands next to his ears: cheers, sighs, and the wind from his rapid running all filled his ears.

The next second, he was embraced tightly by his teammates rushing up from the dugout.