Lin Guanglai quickly entered the ga state, with a series of pitches from the bullpen, making Guo Taiyuan, who was responsible for monitoring his pitching state and quality, nod repeatedly.
"No wonder he’s a super talent who could win 15 gas in his rookie year right out of high school. In terms of ability, there’s nothing to criticize. If it weren’t for the ’possessed by spirits’ Tanaka this year, Guanglai’s caliber would be enough to directly compete for the Eiji Sawamura Award!"
After such an exclamation, Guo Taiyuan simply turned around and focused on the ga happening on the field: The top of the eighth inning had already ended. Safarte, acknowledged as one of the best relief pitchers in today’s Nippon Professional Baseball, didn’t disappoint. Even though the SoftBank Team had an excellent scoring opportunity with one out and a runner on third base once, they ultimately couldn’t overtake the score, regrettably leaving runners stranded.
Soon, the bottom of the eighth inning ca, and the plot the SoftBank Team least wanted to see unfolded: The ball thrown by the substitute pitcher Falkenborg, replacing the reliever Yanagisawa Akimitsu, was hit out of the park with the very first pitch by Seibu’s Kuriyama Takashi.
In the fervent cheers of the Seibu Do’s ho crowd that almost pierced the sky, the baseball flew over the entire field and soared into the right field stands, stirring up towering waves.
"Currently, this is the situation. You should know better than , watching from the sidelines, how to play the next half-inning. We have no retreat now; behind us is an abyss! Treat this ga as if it were the last ga of the Japan series, and hit the baseballs one after another for ; this is the only requirent I have for you!"
"Now, stop yamring and go up and hit the ball for !"
The enthusiastic cheers of the ho crowd lingered indefinitely, and the SoftBank players’ bench on the third base side was like a lone boat in a vast ocean, appearing so isolated and helpless in the howling storm.
Seeing the baseball hit out of the park, a flash of regret and unwillingness crossed Akiyama Koji’s heart, but he quickly returned to the players’ area, gritting his teeth and saying the above words with a vehent tone.
The motivational words proved effective: At the start of the top of the ninth inning, the SoftBank team quickly launched the offensive they needed.
Third batter Hasegawa Yu grounded out to second base;
Fourth batter Nakagawa Seiichi hit a single to first base towards third base, and SoftBank then replaced him with the pinch runner Maki Takeru;
Fifth batter Yanagida Yuuki grounded out to second base, advancing Takeru on first to second base;
Sixth batter Matsuda Naohiro hit a double that penetrated Seibu’s defense, directly turning the situation on the field into runners on second and third.
According to the original batting order, the next to follow Matsuda Naohiro would be Honda Yuichi, who, in this match, had no hits in four at-bats and only reached first base once via a walk.
At this mont, Akiyama Koji signaled to the chief umpire, expressing his intention to replace the batter; placing both hands on Lin Guanglai’s shoulders, he stared at him with a fierceness Lin Guanglai had never seen before, and without much fuss, succinctly told him:
"Guanglai, you know what I need you to do on the field. I’m counting on you!"
Standing in the on-deck circle, Lin Guanglai nodded heavily towards his team’s coach, quickly stepping into the batter’s box, ready, with his eyes slightly narrowed, watching every move of Yongjing Xiuzhang on the pitcher’s mound.
Age and off-field factors indeed have taken their toll on this once-great pitcher, especially in terms of pitch power, with his average pitch speed dropping to around 140 km/h, but this doesn’t an Lin Guanglai can take him lightly.
In fact, a converted closer from a top-notch starter often poses a greater threat than pure closers:
Pure closers are like heavyweight boxing champions, typically training around 1-2 top-level pitches, often relying on power to boost pitch speed to get the job done;
And converted closers from starters have a more comprehensive arsenal, with as many as 3-4 high-quality pitches to mix, without the need to conserve energy for endurance, making such pitchers even harder to deal with.
Not to ntion, Yongjing Xiuzhang is a forr Eiji Sawamura Award winner; even if his speed has dropped, the more than six breaking balls in his arsenal are not just for show.
Considering the current situation with two outs and runners on second and third, and his team trailing by one run, Lin Guanglai set his minimum goal for this at-bat to bring back a run to tie the score for the team; of course, if the opportunity arises, he wouldn’t miss the chance to hit one out of the park for a co-from-behind victory.
The chief umpire pointed right towards the pitcher’s mound, indicating Yongjing Xiuzhang could begin pitching. After a slight adjustnt with his glove, the pitcher threw the ball in no ti—the ball wasn’t particularly fast, Lin Guanglai could even clearly see the spin of the baseball as it swung from an outside corner into his inside corner, watching it as it entered the strike zone, caught by Seibu catcher Tanigawa Ginjiro.
The umpire behind ho plate made no indication; it was a ball.
The second pitch was quickly delivered again, still targeting Lin Guanglai’s inside corner, but this ti it flew much faster than the previous one, giving Lin Guanglai even less ti to react; normally, with the advantage of one ball in hand, it would be okay to watch it pass by, but Lin Guanglai resolutely swung his bat.
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