"Swung and missed! Batter is out!"
"Waseda Industries, they are just one out away from winning the Senbatsu High School Baseball Tournant!"
The excitable voice of the ga comntator ca from the TV—it was like music to the ears for Waseda players and their supporters, instantly transporting them back to the sumr five years ago.
But to the fans of Tokai University Sagami High School, the sa voice carried a completely different flavor: even though many had prepared themselves for the possibility of losing the ga before the top of the ninth inning, when this mont was actually approaching, the bitterness and gloom overwheld them again, leaving them dejected.
On the first base side, in Waseda’s dugout, the players on the bench had all stood up early—they all knew too well what was about to happen with the ga reaching this stage.
"Winning the Senbatsu! We’re going to beco the Senbatsu champions!!!" shouted Ogata Kazuyoshi excitedly, shaking his teammates beside him.
However, no one had the ti to pay attention to him. All Waseda players’ focus was on the current situation on the field—at this mont, many hearts were racing, and the pounding rhythm told them this wasn’t a dream! Waseda Industries, along with the players fighting for her, were genuinely about to beco the Koshien champions!
Amidst the completely different ntal states on both sides, the Koshien broadcast slowly sounded again— for Waseda, who was defending on the field, if everything went smoothly, this would be the final batting announcent of the tournant.
From Tokai University Sagami High School, third year player, Ushida Tetsuya slowly walked to ho plate, stopping outside the right batter’s box on the left side.
The close-up from the broadcast cara showed Ushida Tetsuya’s extrely tense mindset at that mont, constantly adjusting his breathing rhythm outside the batter’s box, trying to calm himself and face the pitcher in a good state.
But Lin Guanglai wasn’t concerned with his opponent at this mont—after all, it was already the top of the ninth with two outs; focusing on the batter seed almost aningless at this point. Instead, he turned his body around, stood facing his own side, and scanned his teammates from first base one by one.
With a slight shift of his gaze, he could see each person’s eyes, and apart from the excitent and thrill, Lin Guanglai could clearly feel the emotions of "trust" and "dependence."
Gently nodding to each teammate behind him, Lin Guanglai turned his body back to face ho plate— eting the resolute gaze beneath Uesugi Yasuyuki’s heavy mask—they had been partners for many years, understanding each other’s thoughts without needing to say much more.
After confirming that everyone was in ga mode, Lin Guanglai gently closed his eyes, slightly suppressing the excitent and thrill in his heart, and kept setting psychological cues for himself, telling himself "the ga isn’t over yet."
When the familiar ga feeling once again filled his mind, he slowly opened his eyes—through the TV broadcast signal, everyone across Japan watching the ga saw this scene: a pair of srizing eyes filled with nothing but firm confidence.
Lin Guanglai knew well that at this stage of the ga, the initiative in the batter-pitcher duel was completely in his hands:
Tokai University Sagami had no retreat left; from then on, every batter’s turn was a battle for the team’s survival, and if they made even a single mistake, it would lead to irreversible consequences.
The first pitch, as with the previous two at-bats, was a consistent approach to pressure the batter right from the start—therefore, Waseda’s pitcher-catcher duo chose a high inside fastball.
Uesugi Yasuyuki signaled for Lin Guanglai to just throw with all his might on this pitch, leaving the rest to him.
On the pitcher’s mound, Lin Guanglai began imdiately. Compared to the smooth and fluid pitching motion before, this pitch appeared more aggressive.
The mont the baseball left Lin Guanglai’s hand, it streaked through the sky like a teor rushing towards ho plate, heading straight towards Ushida Tetsuya’s high inside corner.
This pitch greatly restricted Ushida Tetsuya’s swing space as a batter, making it impossible to swing with full power even if he tried. Therefore, Ushida Tetsuya didn’t swing, opting to let it pass and gamble on the umpire’s call—the pitch’s position was ambiguous enough to warrant such a gamble.
"Pop." The baseball landed in Uesugi Yasuyuki’s glove; while catching, the crouching catcher subtly pulled the glove down a little.
"Strike."
The umpire’s firm call ca from behind, and Uesugi Yasuyuki smiled slightly, knowing he had made the right move on this pitch.
For catchers, pitch framing is one of the ways they work to give their team an edge—in this at-bat, Uesugi Yasuyuki skillfully leveraged the umpire’s stereotype of Lin Guanglai’s exceptional control, leading to the umpire calling it a strike.
No balls, one strike, two strikes away.
The second pitch, a low outside slider—completely different from the previous pitch in both trajectory and type, aid to pull the batter’s attention and space, using the significant contrast to outwit the batter.
As the baseball sped towards him, Ushida Tetsuya, having read the trajectory, decisively swung the bat!
"Ahhhhhhhh!!!" The atmosphere at Koshien Stadium reached its peak, the entire venue like a volcano about to erupt, releasing its passion.
"Swing and a miss! Swing and a miss!"
"It was a critical pitch, and Ushida Tetsuya failed to hit the outside slider!"
"The count is now no balls, two strikes—Waseda Industries is just one pitch away from the Senbatsu title!!!"
In stark contrast to the comntator’s excitent, Tokai University Sagami players in the dugout near third base seed utterly despairing: they all leaned on the dugout fence, each looking blankly onto the field, with red eyes and making hoarse cries of desperation.
"Tetsuya, co on!!! Please, hit it out!!! Hit it... out..."
Seeing Ushida Tetsuya miss the swing, all of Tokai University Sagami players’ hearts sank to the bottom—they could no longer muster any words of encouragent, silently shedding tears seed the least disruptive way they could think of for the players on the field.
Compared to the highly-publicized Nihon University and Luzheng Society, despite being last sumr’s runner-up, Tokai University Sagami didn’t receive much anticipation from the dia and experts—nobody believed they could replicate last year’s success, especially without the star high school pitcher Ichiyotai Shintaro.
But only Tokai University Sagami’s players knew, before coming to Senbatsu, they all put their hearts into it—many of them had experienced being the runner-up last sumr, the bitter mory of that defeat pierced them deeply, making them even more eager to showcase their talents at Senbatsu.
They ca to Koshien full of hope, gave everything they had, and fought their way onto the final stage by burning through their energy—was Tokai University Sagami going to falter at the last step before victory again? Was the dream of winning Koshien really going to remain unattainable for this group of them?
"Tokai University Sagami, go on—!!!"
"Ushida, co on! Please hit the ball out!!!"
"Don’t give up!!!"
The solemn cries from supporters ca from the cheering section for Tokai University Sagami at Koshien—in this vast ocean of Koshien, the formation of Tokai University Sagami felt like a lone boat, swaying in the storm nad Waseda Industries.
Amid the overwhelming montum from the spectators, Lin Guanglai on the pitcher’s mound made his move.
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