Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 338 - 190: Opening Heaven’s Gate with One Swing (Part 2)
As the match reaches this critical point, the Waseda Jitsugyo players are no longer concerned about the cost-effectiveness of a bunt—they have confidence in Lin Guanglai; as long as they can send one person home to score, their ace will surely hold the advantage.
At this moment, Suzuki Daigo stayed calm. He did not rush to swing despite having a runner on third base, instead adhering to the home plate rules and earned a walk.
Clearly, Matsui Yuuki’s stamina has reached its limit; what’s worse for him is that Lin Guanglai will be the next to bat.
Sensing the shift in situation sharply, Lin Guanglai advanced towards home plate while the commentator began to build anticipation for the upcoming at-bat:
"Two outs, runners on first and third—it’s undoubtedly the defending champion’s best scoring opportunity this match, and the next player to bat is Lin Guanglai, deeply trusted by his teammates. Over the past two years, he has proved numerous times his strength as Koshien’s top player."
"Facing him directly is Matsui Yuuki, who has also created countless miracles this summer—until now, he has thrown 66 strikeouts in four games. This Mr. K is undoubtedly the brightest star of this summer’s Koshien."
"Now, the two players face off directly—in the previous three at-bats, one hit, one strikeout, one walk, both players can be said to be evenly matched."
"Will the upcoming showdown become a turning point in this match?"
As Lin Guanglai stands firm in the right batter’s box, the umpire points to the pitcher’s mound with his right hand, signaling the start of the game:
"Play Ball!"
For the first pitch of this at-bat, Matsui Yuuki did not press the inner corner firmly as he had done with other batters but chose a safer outside pitch—there’s no need to discuss the strength of Lin Guanglai’s hitting; with his stamina waning, Matsui Yuuki isn’t too confident.
After two outside pitches of similar direction, the count becomes 1 ball, 1 strike: Matsui Yuuki successfully tempted Lin Guanglai to swing at a slider, and Lin Guanglai also messed with Matsui Yuuki’s mind with a foul ball that grazed the foul pole in Koshien’s outfield.
After an intense exchange, the pitcher and batter remained evenly matched, but with runners at first and third, Lin Guanglai only needed to consider hitting a base hit to bring in the score; for Matsui as a pitcher, there’s much more to consider:
On the pitcher’s mound, Matsui Yuuki didn’t rush to throw but glanced at the bases on both sides—there, the Waseda Jitsugyo batters were flitting around like flies, buzzing incessantly; especially in this sweltering heat and energy-depleting situation, Matsui Yuuki inevitably became a bit anxious.
He pitches two consecutive balls again, but this time the result isn’t favorable for the defense—all were called balls by the umpire, and the situation on the field suddenly turns to 3 balls, 1 strike.
On the Alps Stand for Tokogakuen Academy, supporters’ expressions became serious as an uncontrollable feeling emerged in their minds; the boys clasped their heads silently waiting, and the girls folded their hands in prayer, focusing on the not so tall figure on the pitcher’s mound—this summer, Matsui Yuuki had already created too many miracles, they firmly believed he could do it again!
Lift the leg, gather strength, twist, and throw the arm!
The baseball swiftly shot from Matsui Yuuki’s left hand, heading straight towards Lin Guanglai’s inner corner at home plate.
In this crucial moment, Matsui Yuuki still chose to risk attacking the inner corner, trying to get the urgently needed strike count in this way.
The trajectory of this pitch was flawless; although the speed had decreased somewhat from before, it was definitely still above 140 kilometers—just as the baseball flew toward the batter’s inner corner, Matsui Yuuki was already preparing for the next pitch after a full count, but then a surprise visitor appeared on the trajectory between the baseball and the catcher’s mitt—
"Thud——!!!"
The dark bat sliced through the summer sky, striking the baseball at its most fragile spot; as watched by all, the white ball soared into the sky.
With two outs, the runners on base no longer needed to consider the possibility of being tagged out; now they could focus on one thing, which was to run!
"Run—run!" came the intense shouts from the substitute players in the dugout. Under the influence of adrenaline, Yoshimi and Suzuki in the field held their breath, turning their base running into anaerobic exercise.
Yoshimi on third base was the first to run home, and after confirming he stepped on the plate, his sight chased after the baseball.
Under the azure sky, the plain white ball fell like a shooting star and perfectly landed in the left field stands.
The entire stadium erupted instantly.
The crowd in the stands continued to surge, wave after wave of enthusiastic cheers followed the confirmation that the baseball was out of bounds, and Lin Guanglai slowed his pace on the field, changing from sprinting to a light jog.
"Indeed, this is Lin Guanglai’s ability! Matsui threw that ball well, without a single flaw from start to finish; nine out of ten batters wouldn’t hit such a precise inner corner ball..."
"But unfortunately, today he happened to face that one exception!"
"For the defending champions, this three-run homer brings them closer to the semifinals, entering the Summer League final four for the third consecutive year is undoubtedly an impressive achievement."
"But the game isn’t over yet—Tokogakuen Academy still has a chance to turn the tables, with two full innings awaiting them; the summer’s biggest miracle itself still has the opportunity to create a greater miracle!"
As a commentator, wanting to witness a more thrilling and intense game is understandable; but for the Waseda Jitsugyo players on the field, they surely wouldn’t want to give their opponents such a chance.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Tokogakuen Academy began their offense, with the order rotating from the ninth batter; this is undoubtedly the best news for them, meaning that at the very least, they can still face the final match with their strongest hitting lineup.
As the commentator and audience assumed the game was about to get tense again, Lin Guanglai gave his response:
"Strikeout! Strikeout!! Strikeout!!!"
"18! 19! 20!"
The umpire behind home plate and the commentator in the studio simultaneously shouted; the former was fulfilling his duties as a referee, while the latter was counting down to a potential new historic event—yes, with three consecutive strikeouts in the bottom of the eighth inning, Lin Guanglai’s strikeout count in the game has reached 20, putting him at the second place in history.
The top of the ninth inning seemingly lost its flavor, as the hearts of the audience, both present and watching on television, drifted to the bottom of the ninth.
On one hand, they want to see if Tokogakuen Academy can make a final comeback, tying or even snatching the game; on the other hand, Lin Guanglai’s current record of 20 strikeouts means in the upcoming half-inning, he will once again stand at the crossroads of history:
With 2 strikeouts, he will tie with Matsui Yuuki and share the top spot in Summer League history;
With 3 strikeouts, he will surpass Matsui Yuuki and claim the title of strikeout king.
Moreover, if Lin Guanglai truly can secure 3 strikeouts in the bottom of the ninth inning, he will simultaneously become the record holder of spring and summer Koshien’s single-game strikeout records, an unprecedented and hard-to-replicate achievement throughout the ninety-plus years of Koshien’s history.
The top of the ninth inning for Waseda Jitsugyo ended quickly, Matsui Yuuki delivered 1 strikeout in this half-inning, freezing his strikeout tally in the match at 15.
With the sides switching and the pitcher on the mound, Koshien fell into a silence unseen before.
