Chapter 177: Chapter 66: Piercing Strike
Standing on the pitcher’s mound, Ken Yoshinaga felt every muscle in his body tense up, his entire being trembling in a strange state of fear and anxiety.
He knew that deep down, he was indeed feeling a bit scared.
He slightly turned his head, glancing with his peripheral vision at the massive scoreboard over the outfield behind him — Waseda 6:0 Nihon University, the score cut into Ken Yoshinaga like a sharp knife, exposing his scars to the air.
Ken Yoshinaga knew that, up to this point in the game, almost all the runs allowed were because of him — even though he had chosen to avoid facing Lin Guanglai head-on, he still couldn’t prevent the score from widening.
He was someone who held himself to high standards, even to the point of being considered obsessive by others; every time the team fell into a difficult situation, Ken Yoshinaga would subconsciously pressure himself, believing that it was because he hadn’t done well enough that the team was losing.
Just as Coach Ogura told him, this mentality was like a double-edged sword, able to harm others but also injure himself:
During last summer’s West Tokyo Conference, in the semifinals against Nihon University Tsurugaoka, Ken Yoshinaga, then the team’s second starting pitcher, was entrusted with an important role by the coach, taking over for Yamazaki Fuyuki with the team leading 4:2;
But the result was that he was completely overwhelmed by Nihon University Tsurugaoka’s offense, destroying the favorable situation and leaving senior Yamazaki Fuyuki with regrets as he departed.
Since that game ended, Ken Yoshinaga had been practicing like mad, treating himself almost masochistically during daily training, completely disregarding his own body — it was with this tenacity that he regained the trust of the coach and his teammates, securing the position of ace pitcher and leading Nihon University to win the Shengong tournament.
Since autumn began, Nihon University hadn’t lost a single game in more than half a year, and Ken Yoshinaga believed he had completely moved past the agony of that defeat;
However, today, standing on the pitcher’s mound at Hanshin Koshien Stadium, that feeling from the summer surged back over him like a tide — Ken Yoshinaga felt as if he were a floating plant engulfed by waves, about to suffocate in the ocean’s embrace.
The last time he faced Lin Guanglai in a head-to-head matchup was an unforgettable experience for Ken Yoshinaga:
In a nine-inning game, he suppressed all of Waseda’s batters, but when facing Lin Guanglai, Lin hit three home runs in a single game — if not for his own team’s lineup performing extraordinarily well that day, who knows what the outcome of that final might have been.
Because of that game, Nihon University decided to intentionally walk Lin Guanglai multiple times today against Waseda — they were indeed intimidated by his previous performance.
But now, this plan had already failed: One out, bases loaded, selecting an intentional walk now would be equivalent to giving the opponent a score — not to mention how the audience might react to such behavior, even the players of Nihon University on the field would look down on themselves.
Suzuki Takahiro, noticing the subtle changes in the mindset of their pitcher, stood up once again from the catcher’s position behind home plate, called a timeout, and summoned the infield teammates, walking straight to the pitcher’s mound.
Just as he reached the mound, Suzuki Takahiro placed a hand on their pitcher’s shoulder, looking him straight in the eyes, and seriously said:
"Kentarou, you’re overthinking it again — remember what we talked about before? Throw the pitches you want to throw! As your catcher, I’ll block any pitch that comes my way!"
Suzuki Takahiro’s words resonated with the others. The only sophomore among the starting nine, first baseman Kanezaki Reiya, patted his own chest and confidently promised Ken:
"Yeah, Kentarou-san, don’t overthink it — it’s only 6 points, with our offensive power, there’s still a lot of game left! Let’s quickly end this half-inning, and then we’ll start our counterattack!"
Looking at his teammates surrounding him with continuous encouragement, Ken Yoshinaga felt a wave of emotion and nodded heavily.
As the Nihon University’s defense players returned to their original positions, this at-bat officially began.
Ken Yoshinaga took a deep breath, exhaling all his worries and frustrations, then, filled with steadfast belief, lifted his front foot and thrust his body towards home plate — with the twist of his waist and abdomen, his arm whipped violently, and the baseball sped from his fingertips, charging toward home plate.
This pitch came low and inside toward Lin Guanglai, placed at an uncomfortable spot for the batter — after a brief deliberation in his mind, Lin Guanglai decided to let this ball go to see what comes next.
"Strike."
"Nice—!!!"
As the umpire at home plate called a strike, Ken Yoshinaga on the pitcher’s mound shouted loudly — he hadn’t played well this inning and desperately needed such an opportunity to release his emotions.
Seeing their pitcher deliver such a beautiful strike, the Nihon University players had no hesitation in praising him, words like "Good pitch" and "Great pitcher" poured out as if they cost nothing, while Suzuki Takahiro behind the plate gave a thumbs-up, signaling that his partner had made a great pitch.
Faced with what seemed like an excessively excited reaction from the opponents, Lin Guanglai showed no reaction; he merely stepped out of the batter’s box for a brief adjustment, then emotionlessly resumed his batting stance.
Second pitch.
"Crack—!!!"
This pitch was hit by Lin Guanglai, soaring high and flying deep into the outfield — Ken Yoshinaga’s heart sank, and he quickly turned towards the outfield.
Amid the audience’s disappointed gasps, the baseball grazed along the edge of Koshien Stadium’s foul pole and flew into the stands — but it was just outside the pole.
Seeing this, Ken Yoshinaga let out a heavy breath; his heart was a bit unsettled: it was really just a fraction away, just a fraction, and he would have been revisiting the nightmare from six months ago.
But no matter what, now Nihon University has the advantage of two strikes, giving them many options and they don’t need to rush as before.
After twice attempting to bait Lin Guanglai into swinging with bad pitches, catcher Suzuki Takahiro decided to settle the score with this next pitch.
High and inside, fastball, full speed — after setting this pitch combination with signals, Suzuki Takahiro assumed his crouching position, looking at his partner with determined eyes, shouting in his heart:
"Throw it over, Kentarou — let all of Japan see your incredible strength!"
Whoosh—the baseball flew out with the sound, speeding towards home plate — Ken Yoshinaga executed this pitch to his utmost, exactly as the catcher had asked.
Seeing the ball, Suzuki Takahiro felt a surge of joy and immediately opened his wide, heavy catcher’s mitt to prepare for the catch.
However—
"Crack—!!!!!!"
The expected loud clash of the baseball hitting the glove did not happen; instead, there was the sharp explosion of the bat making contact.
Under the gaze of more than thirty-five thousand pairs of eyes, the baseball soared high and then quickly descended onto the deep green stands of Koshien Stadium.
From the moment the baseball was hit by Lin Guanglai, the expressionless face of Ken Yoshinaga, which had momentarily improved, once again became devoid of color; he didn’t even have the strength to turn around for the departing ball — the huge, crisp collision had already told him the result of this pitch.
One by one, the Waseda players ran past him, leaving their cheers along the way.
At this moment, Ken Yoshinaga had lost both joy and sorrow — he just wanted this game to end quickly.