"What’s the word? Has our opponent for the third round been decided yet?"
Lin Guanglai, having finished his shower, erged from the bathroom and walked into the main conference room filled with people. There, Waseda Jitsugyo players were watching the third match of the day.
After defeating Hanamaki East High School, everyone was concerned about who their next opponent would be:
While there is a three-day break between the second and third rounds, allowing everyone to recover to a relatively sufficient state, from the third round onwards until the final showdown, all qualifying teams will continue to battle consecutively. This ans that the intensity of each upcoming match will have a huge impact on the subsequent gas.
Hearing a voice from behind, Ogata Kazuyoshi turned to look and replied:
"Oh, it’s Guanglai—Hmm... Sakushin Gakuin and Karatsu Comrcial are tied at 3:2, the ga is almost over."
"From the current look of things, the result is still unclear—though Sakushin is in the lead, their ace was replaced at the start of the bottom of the ninth inning, and there are runners on bases for Karatsu Comrcial. It seems they have a fair chance..."
Sitting next to Ogata, Lin Guanglai’s gaze was also drawn to the TV screen:
The bottom of the ninth inning was underway, with Sakushin Gakuin leading by a single point as they entered the final phase aiming to hold onto their advantage; whereas, Karatsu Comrcial, although trailing, could easily overco the one-point gap for a walk-off win if their lineup perford well.
Their ace, left-handed pitcher Ohtani Shuhiro, wearing the number 1 jersey, had just been hit with a safe hit and was replaced by their team manager Komane Takahiro; the player substituting him was the main first baseman and second pitcher, right-hander Iino Tetsuya—fundantally stronger, and their opponent’s starting pitcher was hit out of the ga. In any case, representing Saga, Karatsu Comrcial had already gained a certain advantage.
However, what surprised many, including Waseda Jitsugyo players, was that substitute Iino Tetsuya unleashed unprecedented energy in what might be his final Sumr League career ga:
After throwing a few warm-up pitches, Iino swiftly struck out Karatsu Comrcial’s seventh-bat catcher Sasaki Yutaka;
The eighth-bat first baseman Ito Keitai opted for a high fly sacrifice hit, advancing the runner from second to third base, and entrusting all hopes of leveling the score to their last-bat teammate;
Ninth-bat, under supervisory guidance from Karatsu Comrcial’s Yoshihara Akihiro, decided to make a last-ditch effort by sending up the third-year pinch hitter Mine Kentaro—however, this third-year was unable to et expectations, his ball was too soft and was easily caught by Sakushin Gakuin’s second baseman Banazaki Naoto, who calmly sent it into the first baseman’s glove, achieving the precious third out.
On the TV screen, via Koshien broadcast signals, Waseda Jitsugyo players saw the ecstatic celebration embraces of Sakushin Gakuin players, while simultaneously witnessing the disheartened looks of Karatsu Comrcial players—especially the pinch hitter Mine Kentaro, who failed to get a hit, feeling he let his teammates down, knelt on the ground unwilling to get up, clearly unable to face the harsh result.
In front of the television, Lin Guanglai watched the screen, rubbing his chin with his hand:
"Sakushin Gakuin, huh... The opponents definitely know us well, but we’ve never really considered them as potential opponents before... Looks like we need to study the opponent more these next couple of days..."
Even though not knowing much about the present mbers of this team, indeed, whether it be Lin Guanglai, Waseda Jitsugyo players, or audiences watching this tournant, anyone interested in high school baseball would surely be familiar with the na Sakushin Gakuin.
If you choose one school from all those participating in Koshien that could represent Japanese baseball, the one from Tochigi, Sakushin Gakuin, would certainly appear on the candidate list.
In Showa 37 (1962), led by ace pitchers Yagisawa Soroku and Kato, Sakushin Gakuin triumphed in both spring and sumr Koshien tournants, achieving the first "Spring-Sumr consecutive championship" feat in Japan high school baseball history—their na is preserved in Koshien’s historical hall for countless players and fans to admire afterward;
Nine years after achieving the Spring Koshien victory, a super-genius player from Sakushin Gakuin erged, shattering the conventional concept of high school baseball, stirring baseball frenzy across Japan—this man, was none other than the "Monster" Jiangchuan Zhuo.
Note, his nickna isn’t "Showa Monster," but rather just "Monster"—a unique honor belonging to this legendary pitcher.
As a pitcher, Jiangchuan Zhuo’s performance at Sakushin Gakuin can be described with one phrase: "Non-human": Nine no-hit gas and two perfect gas in three years of formal high school gas, 36 consecutive half-innings without giving up a hit, no runs allowed, achieving 60 strikeouts in a single Senbatsu tournant—each accomplishnt here is what many would struggle to achieve in a lifeti, even in ga settings, but the "Monster" broke all baseball conventions.
However, the aforentioned achievents of Sakushin Gakuin belong to the past. In Japan, people like to call those strong schools that have seen prosperous tis in history "Ancient Giants"—Sakushin Gakuin at present fits this concept perfectly, a "Fallen Ancient Giant."
This point is clear just from the evaluations by various professional baseball dia on their performance at this tournant:
An intuitive rating of 5C showcases their present poor level, aning that most professional dia predicted a high probability of an early knockout;
Daily Sports’ comntary on this team claid they "could only rely on relatively ample bullpen rotating strategies" to barely scrape victories—it’s not a favorable assessnt.
However, it’s this team which wasn’t favored, since the local tournants began winning streaks consecutively, with many big-margin victories—averaging 10 runs per match across Tochigi tournant six matches from round one to the finals, unrivaled in local offensive power;
Entering the Sumr Koshien, their lineup continued the strong local tournant firepower, crushing Fukui’s powerhouse school Fukui Comrcial with a massive score of 11:1 in the first round, stunning all skeptics;
In the just-finished second round, Sakushin Gakuin battled Karatsu Comrcial over 9 innings, ultimately narrowly winning 3:2 and successfully advancing to the third round.
Their next opponent has also been determined: in the third round, the "revived Ancient Giant" Sakushin Gakuin will face its biggest challenge this sumr: the prestigious West Tokyo school, Senbatsu Champion Waseda Industries, advancing on their path to Spring-Sumr consecutive championships—ironically, it’s Sakushin who first accomplished this feat standing as the roadblock for them.
Koshien has always been an incubator for upsets, after today’s big victory, Sakushin players are filled with hope for the upcoming gas—they are confident they can disrupt Waseda Jitsugyo’s quest for their seventh consecutive championship on this grand stage.
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