Chapter 182: Chapter 70: Showdown at the Summit (Part 2)
However, the premise of all this is to first defeat their current opponent, Tokai University Sagami High School, otherwise, they will leave the field in defeat.
He is ready to show the batters of Tokai University Sagami High School what kind of pitching is truly worthy of a "Heisei Monster."
For Tokai University Sagami High School, the lead-off batter is their right fielder, Watanabe Shige; he is a contact hitter with strong hitting ability and poses a significant threat on base, and was a key player in last summer’s near-victory team—which makes such a batter a huge deterrent for any team’s pitcher.
But Lin Guanglai is not the least bit intimidated.
Amid the cheers from the Alps Stand, he gently placed his fingers on the seam of the baseball.
Then, his front foot lifted high, his body leaned forward, and he pitched the ball towards home plate—today, to increase endurance, Lin Guanglai used his whole body more effectively than usual during his pitches, consciously applying force through his muscles when releasing the ball.
From the batter’s perspective, the speed of this two-seam fastball doesn’t look fast, visually appearing to be just over 130 kilometers per hour.
Watanabe Shige, from the right side batter’s box, was puzzled—this speed was clearly not the expected standard of Lin Guanglai from Tokai University Sagami’s preparations.
It should be known that to adapt to the fastballs exceeding 150 kilometers per hour from Lin Guanglai, the Tokai University Sagami’s pitching machine has been almost smoking these past few days, and the players have been in utter misery during batting practice.
Despite his doubts, as the lead-off batter, Watanabe Shige wasn’t going to let this chance slip by.
The front leg gently raised, and the body stored energy to pull the bat back, swinging smoothly as the baseball was hit successfully—but the feel transmitted through the extended bat to his hands told Watanabe Shige that the ball wasn’t hit at the ideal contact point he had envisioned.
The downward drop of the baseball after entering the strike zone was greater than that of a regular two-seam fastball!
"Crack."
However, the swing, once made, was irreversible, and despite hitting the ball, the power wasn’t effectively transferred to the baseball due to muscle technique.
The baseball, knocked into the field, bounced symbolically a few times before being calmly picked up by Chongxin Shen Zhong, who handed it neatly into the first baseman’s glove, putting Watanabe Shige out.
Getting out on one pitch—this time, Watanabe Shige truly had nothing more to say.
Seeing himself out, Watanabe Shige, who had been sprinting from home plate to first base, slowed down his pace and circled back to the dugout.
As soon as he entered the player area, Watanabe Shige was surrounded by his teammates on the bench:
"Shige, what happened? The pitch wasn’t that fast, there’s no reason for such a result, right?"
"Yeah, yeah, Shige, that’s not like you..."
Although their lead-off batter was out, the players of Tokai University Sagami were not too disappointed—they were prepared for a long battle with Lin Guanglai even before the game.
The mood among these players was more of teasing rather than pressuring their teammate—just look at their faces; they could still smile.
Besides teasing, the players of Tokai University Sagami were genuinely interested in what this inning had shown:
No one knew Watanabe Shige’s strength better than his teammates in the player’s area; even Yokohama High School’s rival pitching duo struggled to gain an advantage over Watanabe Shige.
The scoreboard above the outfield showed the speed of the previous pitch—138 km/h, far from what the players of Tokai University Sagami had anticipated.
Seeing his somewhat schadenfreude-like teammates, Watanabe Shige took off his batting helmet and said irritably:
"Stop laughing, you’ll see when you’re up next, this pitch is harder to hit than the machine-fed 150 km/h balls!"
"How should I put it, the pitch may not reach 140 in speed, but the quality is just too good, do you understand what I mean?"
"Like the two-seam he just threw, it’s clearly different from the ones we usually hit—be careful when you bat; this two-seam drops into the home plate, if you hit it the old way, it’ll just be a ground ball."
When he said this, Watanabe Shige’s expression was very serious, not looking like he was joking.
Seeing their strong slugger’s expression, the other players of Tokai University Sagami nodded, indicating that they were informed and would pay attention moving forward.
However, knowing is one thing, dealing with it is another.
While heated discussions took place on the bench, the two-hole hitter, Ushida Tetsuya, from Tokai University Sagami, was already prepared.
On the mound, Lin Guanglai moved, with the same fluid and smooth pitching posture as the first batter, utilizing every muscle in his body for this pitch.
The baseball "whooshed"—darted from his fingertips, rushing towards the home plate with startling speed.
For those in the stands or watching on TV, the pitch might seem like a relatively standard fastball; but in Ushida Tetsuya’s view inside the batter’s box—
That fastball was rising!
"Whap." "Strike."
The baseball skimmed the upper edge of the strike zone, caught solidly by Uesugi Yasuyuki.
In the commentary booth and spectator stands, people lauded Lin Guanglai’s high level of control, which was completely at the super high school level; while Ushida Tetsuya, as the "victim," blinked rapidly, obviously confused by the previous fastball.
But, in an official match, there isn’t much time to adjust, so after a deep breath, Ushida Tetsuya cleared his mind and focused entirely on the current round.
Pitch delivered!
Again, a high inside fastball!
This time, Ushida Tetsuya wasn’t startled or panicked by the ball path as he had been the first time; he focused on the incoming pitch and, seeing it was in a hittable spot, he resolutely swung his bat.
"Crack—!"
A tingling sensation spread from his hands, the weight of this fastball far exceeded Ushida Tetsuya’s imagination, forcibly suppressing his attempt to exert more force.
This hit wasn’t ideal; the bat didn’t strike the ball at a particularly good spot, and his power wasn’t fully executed—the ball soared high into the sky but didn’t travel far, not even beyond Waseda Jitsugyo’s infield.
Shortstop Manabe Kenta gauged the baseball’s falling position, then prepared near the anticipated spot, lifting his gloved left hand high to accurately catch the ball.
"Whap." — For the Waseda Jitsugyo fielding players, there was no sweeter sound.
Ensuring their infield cleanly completed this catch-and-throw, on the mound, Lin Guanglai raised his two fingers high, shouting loudly to everyone on the field:
"Attention everyone! Two outs!"
"Just one more out!"
"Ohh!!!" came the unified response from his teammates.
Tokai University Sagami’s third batter, Tanaka Shunta, is not to be underestimated: in this Senbatsu Tournament, he has been the top scorer within the team, accounting for 30% of the team’s total runs.
He indeed caused Lin Guanglai some small trouble—after a series of tussles, the count was 2 balls and 2 strikes, with the pitcher slightly ahead.
With concerted efforts from Waseda Jitsugyo, Tanaka Shunta was lured by an outside slider from Lin Guanglai, hitting an infield grounder, and was put out by Egami Kenji at third base.
Three up three down, in the first half-inning final of the Senbatsu, Lin Guanglai demonstrated his dominance as the tournament’s top pitcher: despite some changes in his pitching style during this game, his ability to eliminate batters remained undiminished.
In the words of the professional commentator doing the broadcast:
"Lin Guanglai, he used the quality of his pitches to completely suppress the batters of Tokai University Sagami!"