Chapter 179: Chapter 68: The Night Before the Finals
Bottom of the ninth inning, two outs.
Waseda Real 10:2 Nihon University Third.
Uchida Saint stood on the pitcher’s mound, staring directly at the batter standing on the right side of home plate.
The current situation is 3 balls and 2 strikes, full count, with no one on base.
On the sidelines, in the Waseda Jitsugyo players’ area, no one could sit there calmly anymore; all the substitutes left their seats, leaning over the railing, eyes glued to the field.
Although the suspense of the game’s outcome had long been lost, when victory was just within reach, the finals just before them, the hearts of Waseda players still had ups and downs—Lin Guanglai was no exception.
On the pitcher’s mound, Uchida Saint moved; his front foot rose high, then his body twisted rapidly to swing his arm, sending the baseball darting from his fingertips straight toward home plate.
The batter from Nihon University Third didn’t seem willing to let go of this ball, decisively swinging the bat in the direction of the incoming pitch.
"Smack."
The baseball and the bat passed by each other like two parallel lines destined never to meet, then flew into the catcher’s mitt behind home plate—Lin Guanglai had pitched many times and was not unfamiliar with this sound; but he had never felt this sound to be so beautiful.
The next second, he was tightly embraced by his teammates beside him, and then overwhelmed by the ecstasy in his heart.
On the television, the commentator responsible for live coverage of this game also spoke passionately, shouting loudly:
"Strikeout! Game over, game over!"
"Waseda Industries, they have become the second team this tournament to advance to the finals!"
"Fifty-four years of waiting, they have finally reached this moment—the last time, under the leadership of the genius Wang Zhenzhi, they claimed their first and only Senbatsu High School Baseball Tournament victory in team history;"
"Today, fifty-four years later, with over 35,000 eyes watching, they have done it once again!"
"The matchup for the finals of the 83rd Selection Tournament is now clear—"
"The king of Kanagawa Prefecture, Tokai University Sagami, will face off against the prestigious Waseda Industries from West Tokyo in the finals."
"The final showdown will begin at 12:30 noon tomorrow, friends, let’s look forward to it together!"
After completing the post-game ceremony according to procedure, Lin Guanglai was routinely seized for interviews by major media outlets.
When asked by reporters about "the goals after entering the finals and how to view the final opponent Tokai University Sagami," Lin Guanglai responded:
"Last summer, it was also a near-deciding game, also against a champion-level team. At that time, because I couldn’t hit the ball, we lost the game, and I felt very frustrated."
"Today, we finally made a breakthrough and entered the finals of the Senbatsu Tournament."
"Tokai University Sagami is strong, and their supervisor Monma has been very attentive to me—but on the finals stage, I absolutely won’t consider these."
"Since we’ve reached the finals, there’s no reason to lose—I hope to be called a ’Koshien champion player’ just like senior Wang Zhenzhi 54 years ago after tomorrow’s game ends."
The boy’s gaze was very firm, but his tone was no different from usual, as if he were narrating something that goes without saying.
Soon, reports about this Tokyo inner-city clash rapidly spread across Japan through the internet and media channels.
[Senbatsu Semifinals Second Match Quick Report—Waseda Real, Second History Finals Entry!]
[Shengong Victory Fails at Koshien! Nihon University Third 2:10 Semifinals Eliminated!]
[Full Strength Strike of the Heisei Monster! Lin Guanglai, Second Koshien Grand Slam, Overwhelms Nihon University Third!]
Headlines of all kinds spread wildly like snowflakes, engulfing the entire Japanese high school baseball world in a feverish atmosphere, with the terms "Waseda Real" and "Lin Guanglai" appearing at an exceptionally high frequency.
For some older fans who experienced the golden age of Koshien events, the scenes unfolding before them immediately transported them back to the golden era of the ’80s: when Japan was economically booming, people had an extraordinary passion for Koshien events, and it was under the leadership of a boy from Waseda Industries that this craze reached its peak...
While the spectators of the game were still discussing the content of the semifinal match, making predictions for tomorrow’s finals, on the Waseda side, the players were being urged by Mr. Izumi and Minister Sasaki as soon as they returned to their hotel.
"Quick, quick, hurry up and go take a bath—spring temperatures are unstable, don’t wake up tomorrow morning with a cold."
"After bathing, hurry up and eat. No extra practice for anyone tonight, rest for a while after eating and go lie down in your rooms!"
"You can sleep until you wake up naturally tomorrow morning—around 10:30, I’ll come to your rooms to wake you up."
The semifinals had just ended, and everyone at Waseda was operating like a finely-tuned machine—by around eight o’clock in the evening, the players had completed all the post-game tasks and were lying under the covers in their respective rooms.
That night, Lin Guanglai unexpectedly suffered from insomnia—only then did he realize why Mr. Izumi was so insistent on sending them back to their rooms early; perhaps he did the same before the finals in 2006.
It had been almost a whole year since he joined Waseda, and over the past year, Lin Guanglai had grown from a first-year kid to a star of Koshien, a cross-generational genius attracting attention across Tokyo and all of Japan;
He had already played quite a few games, including the West Tokyo Conference final, which determines Koshien participation; he should have desensitized to the nervousness before such big games long ago.
Yet, as he lay in bed, the feeling of the upcoming finals gradually surged forth—as soon as Lin Guanglai closed his eyes, all kinds of thoughts about tomorrow’s finals flooded his mind:
Will I win? Will I lose? How would winning look like? If I lose, what would that be like?
Amidst the clashing and intertwining of these thoughts, at some unknown time, Lin Guanglai began to snore rhythmically—he fell asleep.
Late at night, Izumi Minoru and Sasaki Shinichi were patrolling the rooms—being among the few in the team with relevant experience, they needed to ensure the players had enough sleep before tomorrow’s finals.
On the night before the finals, the players had mixed emotions:
Some were too excited to bear, others tossed and turned, and some were so nervous they ended up crying.
But regardless, Koshien Stadium stood there, and their opponents Tokai University Sagami awaited.
No matter how chaotic or complex their thoughts were tonight, once the sun rose the next day, everyone would have to resolutely move forward.