According to the rules of the ga, if a baseball bounces out of the field after landing within the field, it will be considered a double, and all players on the field will automatically advance two bases.
This ans that after Lin Guanglai completed this hit, the situation on the field instantly turned into two outs with runners on second and third base.
Removing the heavy batting gear, Lin Guanglai handed them to a teammate on the sidelines, then jogged along the baseline to second base.
To be honest, Lin Guanglai himself was not satisfied with the result of this hit—
Due to the unique construction of Shengong Second Stadium, the outfield fence is not high, making it easy for the baseball to bounce out of the field; if the outfield boundary were slightly higher, this ball would likely have been kept within the field.
With Matsunaga Kenta’s fast legs, he originally had a high probability of directly running from first base back to ho plate to score; but now, he could only stand near third base, trying to put pressure on Kawaguchi Kiyotaka in the center of the field.
From the result of this ball, Waseda Jitsugyo actually suffered a loss; while for National Academy Kugayama, it was a blessing in disguise.
On the pitcher’s mound, Kawaguchi Kiyotaka was feeling a bit complicated at this ti:
He had made up his mind before the ga to compete against his peer Lin Guanglai, but unexpectedly, in their first confrontation, he lost so badly—he had already done well enough, yet he was still ruthlessly defeated by his opponent;
But on the other hand, for the entire National Academy Kugayama team, the current situation on the field was not so hard to accept: with two outs and runners on second and third, just getting an out nearby would end the ga—for Kawaguchi Kiyotaka, who was in quite good form today, this was not difficult.
Before Waseda’s fifth batter Yagaki Kentaro was ready to bat, the team supervisor of National Academy Kugayama Takara Samurai called a tiout on the sidelines, and then sent a ssenger to the pitcher’s mound to deliver his words to his pitcher.
The substitute player Akira Higashira, responsible for delivering the ssage, was asked by his supervisor to repeat his original words without any changes, so as he walked onto the pitcher’s mound, he directly scolded Kawaguchi Kiyotaka:
"I know you are determined to defeat the pitcher on the opposite side to prove yourself, but there needs to be a limit to your stubbornness."
"Look at the worried look on your face now. Does it look like soone who wants to prove himself in front of his opponent—can this attitude help you defeat that genius player on the other side?"
"Rember this, Kawaguchi, baseball is a team sport, a duel in a single at-bat doesn’t count for much—what pitcher can ensure he suppresses the opponent every ti?"
"If you want to prove you’re not inferior to the number one on the other side, then show your true skills—what does it matter even if you give up ten thousand hits?"
"As long as the team can win in the end, you are the true winner!"
Being scolded by the supervisor, Kawaguchi Kiyotaka, who was previously lost in the frustration of being hit, was like having a bucket of cold water poured over him and snapped awake instantly.
Though he still wanted to beat Lin Guanglai in a direct confrontation to prove himself, Kawaguchi Kiyotaka was not soone who didn’t see the bigger picture—
Since entering the semi-finals of the autumn tournant, every mber of National Academy Kugayama has been determined to vie for a spot in the Senbatsu High School Baseball Tournant, heading to that dream Holy Land.
So as not to let his own and everyone’s dreams end here, Kawaguchi Kiyotaka cast off the burden in his heart, preparing to fully commit to this ga:
He and Lin Guanglai are the sa age and both mbers of high schools in the West Tokyo area, and there will only be more opportunities for them to compete in the future. For now, it’s best to focus all attention on the ga’s outco!
After adjusting his mindset, Kawaguchi Kiyotaka quickly found his form again: Yagaki Kentaro, the fifth batter, could not handle his pressure at all, forced into swinging under 0-2 pressure, he knocked a high infield fly ball towards the pitcher’s mound and was caught out by Kawaguchi Kiyotaka himself.
Even though Waseda Jitsugyo had runners in scoring position, they couldn’t seize this opportunity—the sa problem persisted, as the latter part of the batting order mainly consisted of second-year substitutes and first-year rookies who lacked real ga experience and overly relied on their form:
When they were in good form, they could hit continuously and completely crush the opposing side in half an inning;
When they were off, they could only hope the front batting order would make a scoring drive, then rely on defense to drag the ga out to the end.
With the three batters out, the first inning of the autumn Tokyo tournant semi-final ca to an end.
Starting from the second inning, the entire ga turned into a full-speed train heading unrelentingly towards a pitcher’s duel.
Although the ga had its exchanges, with attacks and defenses on both sides, the score never changed, remaining at 0-0 from start to finish.
On the side of National Academy Kugayama, Kawaguchi Kiyotaka indeed lived up to being a qualified ace pitcher, staving off wave after wave of Waseda Jitsugyo’s offensive under cooperative defensive plays, repeatedly getting crucial outs at critical monts to keep the ga going.
On Waseda Jitsugyo’s side, Lin Guanglai, who had been undergoing professional training since the end of the Sumr甲, showcased his training results in this ga:
Starting from the top of the second inning, National Academy Kugayama’s batting lineup was completely frozen by him—regardless of the so-called center of the lineup or the lower batting order, they were all treated equally before Lin Guanglai:
Until the regular ti of the ga ended, the National Academy Kugayama batters were firmly kept to first base by Lin Guanglai, without even seeing second base.
After the nine-inning regular ga ti ended, although the score was still 0-0, Lin Guanglai had faced 32 batters and struck out 14 of them, demonstrating his exceptional competitive state.
In contrast, Kawaguchi Kiyotaka with 7 Ks and four walks in nine innings was still excellent but paled in comparison to Lin Guanglai.
But as the one involved, Kawaguchi Kiyotaka had no mind to think about such insignificant things now—with the nine-inning regular ti ending, Waseda Industries and National Academy Kugayama were tied at 0-0, leading the ga into a brutal extra inning.
Let the data go to hell—in such monts, whether it’s Waseda Jitsugyo or National Academy Kugayama, whether it’s Lin Guanglai or Kawaguchi Kiyotaka, there was only one thought in their hearts, which was—
"I/We must win this ga!"
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