Chapter 190: Chapter 74: The Final Half-Inning
At the moment when the base umpire beside first base announced that Lin Guanglai successfully reached base, the vast Koshien Stadium erupted into a wave of enthusiastic applause—under the watchful eyes of more than forty thousand people, Lin Guanglai stood on first base and extended his hand to salute the audience, expressing his gratitude towards them.
The camera inside the stadium broadcast was also fixated firmly on him at this moment—under the noontime sun, the boy’s face was covered with sweat, and his white uniform was stained black by the dirt of Koshien, yet this did not prevent the audience from giving him applause and gazes of awe, admiration, and even surrender.
What an amazing person, what a genius ballplayer—since his debut in high school, Lin Guanglai has been a record-smashing machine:
First-year star, no-hitter game, home runs at Koshien, selection into the Japan High School Team... these achievements are things many players wouldn’t dare dream of; and now, the record for a perfect hitting game has once again been claimed by him.
Even spectators with abundant viewing experience, who have been immersed in Takayama competitions for years, must admit that Lin Guanglai is indeed a super genius rarely seen in centuries—even when compared with those illustrious predecessors, he is not at all overshadowed.
Even though the game on the field continues, many spectators still remain immersed in that moment just now, unable to extricate themselves.
With Lin Guanglai’s hit, the gap in the score widened once again to five—just like the previous script, Tokai University Sagami fought to claw back a point from Lin Guanglai, only to hand it back half an inning later.
The situation on the field: two outs, bases loaded, score 7:2.
"Hagiyuta-senpai, hit it out!" At first base, Lin Guanglai shouted towards Hagiyama Mitsuo, who was batting after him.
The current situation on the field is a great opportunity for Waseda Jitsugyo to extend their lead, albeit holding a 5-point lead now, which seemingly paves the way to victory; but who would complain about having fewer points?
Unfortunately, although Hagiyama Mitsuo hit the ball deep into the outfield, Watanabe Shige manning right field completed a very beautiful defensive play, catching the ball with a ground-skimming slide, and also grabbing the third out of this half inning.
Waseda Jitsugyo’s offense ends here, and the two sides of the game switch positions.
Outside the player area near third base, Momma Keiji helplessly shook his head, only smiling bitterly to himself:
In this game, rather than losing to Waseda Jitsugyo, it is better to say they lost to Lin Guanglai alone.
According to baseball conventions, this sport is actually one of those where individual prowess has the least impact on team results—unlike basketball where one star can carry a mediocre team, in baseball, no matter how well one performs, it often can’t affect the outcome of the game.
But Lin Guanglai defies conventions; he transcends them.
In this game, despite Waseda Jitsugyo now leading 7:2, 5 of these points are directly related to Lin Guanglai:
He first tied the score with a solo home run when trailing; then hit a bases-clearing triple and scored himself with the help of teammates; finally, that one-point RBI single helped him achieve the great feat of a perfect hitting game.
Without Lin Guanglai, Waseda Jitsugyo would only be tied 2:2 with them now—three whole innings remain, and who knows which way the game will turn.
But now, precisely because of Lin Guanglai’s immutable presence, Waseda Jitsugyo’s "momentum" has become unstoppable—as a coach who has led high school baseball teams for many years, Momma Keiji understands very well the importance of "momentum" in these amateur-level games.
It can be said that in the current match of Tokai University Sagami, they lost precisely on "momentum"—every time they exceeded the score or tried to close in, Lin Guanglai would timely interrupt their offensive rhythm with hits or strikeouts; between these attacks and defenses, Tokai University Sagami’s players would often be caught off guard, ultimately leading to results where they couldn’t attack nor defend properly.
When his players returned from the field to the bench beside third base, Momma Keiji already knew in his heart—probably in this match, their fate was sealed for Tokai University Sagami.
Looking at the downcast and dejected players, Momma Keiji no longer attempted to ignite their competitive spirits with stern words; instead, he spoke gently:
"Everyone played very well today, I’m proud of you."
"You have done the best you can, you can hold your heads high."
"In the upcoming game, let us lay down all mental burdens, and enjoy the game—to the fullest—remember what I said to you before? Our Tokai University Sagami did not come here to be the supporting act."
"Show your opponents the demeanor of the kings of Kanagawa—the rest, leave it to the gods!"
Dividing the game by every three and a half innings, when the players of Waseda Jitsugyo took their positions on the field, the finals of this Senbatsu High School Baseball Tournament officially entered its finale.
In the top of the seventh inning, Lin Guanglai also reached a bottleneck in physical stamina, but the players of Tokai University Sagami, emboldened by their coach’s encouragement, seized the opportunity and used small ball tactics to score one point once more, narrowing the lead to 4 points.
The difference between 4 and 5 points doesn’t appear much, but this back-and-forth at least gave Tokai University Sagami’s players a glimmer of hope in creating a miracle—after all, a 4-point gap sometimes just needs a grand slam to even out.
In the bottom half of the seventh inning, the latter part of Waseda Jitsugyo’s batting lineup did not score; Nagata Ryudou and his infield teammates collectively resolved the crisis with a runner on third base.
In the subsequent top of the eighth inning, after obtaining a slight chance to catch their breath, Lin Guanglai adjusted from his physical bottleneck and once again displayed formidable dominance from the pitcher’s mound:
A strikeout, two ground balls, three up three down.
Among the balls he threw in this round were fastballs exceeding speeds of 150km/h—even in the bottom of the eighth inning, being able to pitch such blazing fastballs again proved his prowess to baseball fans all over Japan.
During the subsequent bottom half of the eighth inning, Tokai University Sagami responded with their own three up three down.
Even when faced with a 4-point gap, their players did not give up—their indomitable spirit deeply moved the audience at the venue as well as in front of the television, earning applause from the entire audience, including the cheering section of Waseda Jitsugyo.
This half inning, it was Yasuda Kenshu’s turn to bat third, and Lin Guanglai did not have a chance to step up to bat.
But at this moment, no one cared about this anymore.
As the exchange in offensive and defensive positions was completed, the game subsequently entered the ninth inning.
The ninth inning—in baseball terminology, this word carries meanings beyond its literal significance; in other words, the ninth inning itself is synonymous with miracles.
The land of Koshien bears the memories of many past people, and in the past eighty-two springs, countless moving stories have been born in the ninth inning.
And now, as Lin Guanglai steps onto the pitcher’s mound, the 83rd spring story is about to reach its climax.