Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 339 - 191: Record Changes Hands

In the bottom of the ninth, first up was the third batter, second-year right fielder Yuta Uekusa, and the fourth batter, third-year left fielder Shouta Yamaguchi, but neither could last long—facing the fully matured Lin Guanglai, they couldn’t even put up a fight.

"The 21st time—just 1 more to tie! 2 to surpass!"

"The 22nd time! It’s a tie! Lin Guanglai! Now both the spring and summer Koshien single-match strikeout records belong to him!"

"The last batter, the only chance—can the Monster of Heisei, the child prodigy of Tokyo, seize the opportunity to become the one standing above all?"

Mizuumi Shouta, second-year, right-handed pitcher and batter, is the starting central fielder and fifth batter for Tokogakuen Academy—he’s the third batter in the bottom of the ninth.

Pressure, at this moment, surged in like a tide from all directions.

To be honest, throughout this game, Mizuumi Shouta lacked confidence: he faced Lin Guanglai three times and struck out three times, two of which were humiliating called strikeouts, unable to even swing the bat.

But now, even if he didn’t want to go up, he had to force himself—two outs in the bottom of the ninth and a 3-run deficit meant that as the team’s last hope, Mizuumi Shouta had to step up, at least hitting a single to keep the team’s momentum going.

Before entering the batter’s box, Mizuumi Shouta kept adjusting his breathing, trying to calm his mind at this crucial moment—fortunately, Koshien was relatively quiet now, with not too much noise affecting the players’ performance.

He slightly bowed towards the chief umpire as a sign of respect, then Mizuumi Shouta walked forward with a stride and set his stance in the left batter’s box.

As soon as "Play Ball" was announced, Lin Guanglai quickly closed his glove, made a slight adjustment, and then threw the ball.

Mizuumi Shouta decided to watch a few more pitches, so he didn’t swing at this one; besides, to be honest, it was hard to swing at it—the baseball flew rapidly towards him, its imposing momentum even spurring a subconscious dodging instinct.

"Pop."

"Strike."

The baseball precisely caught the inside corner for a strike, adding a strike to Lin Guanglai’s tally, leaving Mizuumi Shouta with little option.

Receiving a new ball from the catcher, bending down to pat it with non-slip chalk, massaging his somewhat heavy shoulder a bit, he then stood ready on the pitcher’s mound again.

With more strikeouts, Lin Guanglai’s pitch count for the whole game naturally increased; consequently, his speed inevitably dropped, floating around 150 km/h.

For some high school pitchers who heavily rely on speed and lack control, losing speed is like losing an arm, but it didn’t greatly affect Lin Guanglai: not only is his control exceptionally good, the best among the "Three Major Pitchers," but even his current minimum speed of around 150 km/h is already a limit many high school pitchers can’t reach even after three years.

After adjusting, the second pitch was thrown, aiming for a high inside position that’s easiest to cause a swinging miss. Although Mizuumi Shouta made contact with the white ball, he only hit a foul ball.

With a perfect scenario of 0 balls and 2 strikes, Lin Guanglai naturally wouldn’t foolishly face his opponent head-on; Waseda Jitsugyo’s catcher-pitcher combination showed great patience, laying out two consecutive balls, and under the pressure of the hanging Sword of Damocles, Mizuumi Shouta couldn’t resist and swung at a slider sliding to the outer edge, consequently missing the ball.

"The 23rd!!!"

The main umpire hadn’t even finished signaling with his arm when the announcer declared the results of this at-bat. The long-quiet Koshien crowd instantly erupted, cheering and applauding as if a volcano had burst.

The camera panned to the stands above, where excitement from having witnessed history was evident on every face except those in Tokogakuen Academy’s Alps Stand. They cheered and jumped as if they themselves had achieved the feat.

In the batting area on the sidelines, Matsui Yuuki pursed his lips tightly, gazing silently at the center of the field:

He was next in the lineup as the sixth batter, and next up to bat—but, it’s over, everything is over.

The miracle journey of Matsui Yuuki and Tokogakuen Academy has ended, marking the close of their summer.

At this moment, Matsui Yuuki feels drawn into a swamp, with some unknown force pulling him down; a mixture of regret and powerlessness swiftly engulfing him, causing him to sway under the scorching sun.

He collapsed to the ground, and as the chief umpire declared the end of the game, scorching tears streamed down; his shoulders trembled continuously, lacking the strength to support his already collapsed body.

Seeing Matsui Yuuki reduced to tears, his third-year senior and catching partner Uekawa Ikuma helped him stand up, continuously comforting his junior:

"Yuuki, stop crying—you’ve given your all in this game, no, in this entire tournament. If anyone should apologize for this loss, it should be us seniors leading the way."

"The game is over, let’s walk together now, don’t let our opponents see a laughingstock—our last high school summer ending in this way, I have no regrets as a senior..."

Shrill sirens swept across the sky of Koshien, signaling the end of the first match of this semi-quarterfinal: the biggest dark horse of this summer, Tokogakuen Academy, and the miracle-making Matsui Yuuki, failed to stop the defending champions from advancing to the semi-finals.

Thanks to a three-run homer in the top of the eighth, the nationally acclaimed genius Lin Guanglai still leads his team, launching a powerful charge toward becoming the seventh consecutive summer league champion in history.

After the post-match greetings, the defeated Tokogakuen Academy players retreated to the side, leaving the field’s center to today’s victors, who will stand here singing their school anthem;

On the other hand, the third-year players from Tokogakuen Academy began taking bags from their gear to collect soil as a keepsake, marking their three years in Takayama, but Matsui Yuuki declined the same invitation; he wants to demonstrate his resolve to return next year in this way.

In the post-match interview, the usually reticent Matsui Yuuki directly expressed his ambition to the camera: "I will rebuild my lower half to finish the game all by myself and then come back. Playing baseball at Koshien is extremely enjoyable—it’s for this reason I must enhance my skills; my goal for next year is championship victory!"

Conversely, Lin Guanglai also declared his determination to win: "This summer is my last chance in my high school career—this time, I’m seizing the moment and will fully support the team to defend the champion’s honor!"

"This summer, I will definitely leave with the Summer League victory flag!"