Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 538 - 118: Coronation at Home Field (Part 2)

After expressing some sympathy for the opponent in his heart, Lin Guanglai took his glove and headed to the pitcher’s mound on their home field. As he felt the familiar and solid texture from beneath his feet, his gaze became sharper—pushing for the 20th win, Lin Guanglai is serious!

Unfortunately, Rakuten’s batters were about to suffer!

Faced with the firing power of Lin Guanglai, Shimauchi Hiroaki, Fujita Kazuya, Okajima Gourou, the first three batters of Rakuten Team tried to resist with all their might but still couldn’t hold out for long—Lin Guanglai used his precise control and aggressive pitch strategy to deliver a clean sweep for Rakuten, quickly ending the top half of the first inning.

As the game entered the bottom half of the first inning with SoftBank Team’s home-field attack, Yahoo Dome was instantly engulfed by chants of "Attack, Attack!"

After a season of back-and-forth practice between the first and second teams, Matsui Yuuki’s control was considerably better compared to when the two teams first faced off at the start of the season; but if one were to start against top batters from strong teams, such control wasn’t quite enough.

At least for the experienced lead-off Nakamura Akira, Matsui Yuuki’s weaker control was something he exploited to the fullest: after tussling over several pitches with the opponent, Nakamura Akira earned a walk with four balls, easily advancing to first base.

Suddenly, the pressure mounted on Matsui Yuuki: Nakamura Akira wasn’t slow, whether it’s a sacrifice bunt or hit-and-run tactic, it would put great pressure on Rakuten’s defense.

Next up was SoftBank’s second hitter Imamiya Kenta. As per usual, once he’s on stage, he posed in a bunting stance as if still aiding Nakamura Akira’s advance.

But when Matsui Yuuki threw the ball, Imamiya Kenta suddenly withdrew his bat, successfully fooling Rakuten’s defense while indirectly unsettling Matsui Yuuki’s mindset, making him feel more troubled.

Leading in the count after selecting pitches, Imamiya Kenta then waited for a high fastball and without hesitation swung his bat to hit a strong line drive, resulting in runners on first and second, with no outs—a perfect setup.

This small tactical change was one of Akiyama Koji’s experiments during practice matches: since winning the championship, SoftBank Team rarely used the bunt advancement strategy as frequently as before; even for players traditionally holding tactical positions, Akiyama Koji asked them to hit normally.

For the SoftBank lineup that made waves during official matches, their main lineup members were certainly studied extensively, and in short-term decisive tournaments, it’s highly likely they would be locked down by the opponent; if it really came to that, it might be those players in tactical positions ignored by opposing data teams who become the key to reversing the match outcome.

When the third batter of the day, Yanagida Yuuki, stepped into the batting area, a sizable applause and cheers erupted from the stands in Yahoo Dome—as the main player who performed a walk-off catch in the championship match, Yanagida Yuuki’s popularity among SoftBank fans increased notably; especially since he also looks quite handsome and is fairly robust, attracting quite a number of die-hard fans’ admiration.

For Yanagida Yuuki, who is still wearing the number 44 jersey this season, the upcoming at-bat was quite significant: as of now this season, he’s produced a record-best one-season performance with 14 home runs, just one short of the 15 home runs number he agreed on last season with Kohkubo Yuuki—in subsequent games as the main central fielder, he’s likely to rest, meaning this at-bat might be his best chance to inherit the legendary number 9 jersey!

The first pitch from Matsui Yuuki was an outside ball, of course not enough to deceive Yanagida Yuuki, who stood there motionlessly without any reaction.

The second, a fastball inside, faced with the opponent’s aggressive threat, Yanagida Yuuki chose to avoid the edge for now, slightly retreating as the ball entered the strike zone, a strike.

The third pitch, after two consecutive fastballs exceeding 150 km/h, Matsui Yuuki threw a changeup, wanting to disrupt Yanagida Yuuki’s batting rhythm by creating a speed differential; however, the pitch was too slow, and the control of displacement was off.

In an unexpected twist, the baseball happened to fall right near Yanagida Yuuki’s belt—and such a ball no batter could ignore.

In an instant, Yanagida Yuuki’s body released like a spring compressed to its limit, his swing was as fast as lightning, crisp and clean.

Accompanied by a sharp "crack," the baseball was like a white laser, directly shot towards the stands in left field.

Yanagida Yuuki, season’s 15th homer, leading three-run shot in the top half!!!!

After almost negligible silence, Yahoo Dome erupted with a destructive wave of sound. Surrounded by cheering from the crowd, Yanagida Yuuki was visibly thrilled, throwing the bat towards the side of the field, and then clenched his fists, roaring as he ran.

Even after returning from the field, that excitement within him lingered in his chest, unable to dissipate for a long time.

In the center of the broadcast cameras, on the pitcher’s mound, Matsui Yuuki still showed a somewhat bewildered expression; after enduring a season of brutal attacks, that youthful arrogance from the start of the season was long gone, and he finally realized how terrifying Lin Guanglai’s performance from last season was, the huge gap between him and Lin.

Yanagida Yuuki’s three-run shot seemed to shatter Rakuten Team’s will to resist; in the ensuing game, SoftBank Team’s players showed no intention of holding back, with their waves of attack reaching one peak after another.

Throughout the process, several pitchers from Rakuten Team starting and bullpen consecutively stepped up, but none could halt the progress of SoftBank’s army; the score on Eagle’s Vision kept rising, from the starting 3-0, to 4 runs, 5 runs, 6 runs...

With such strong firepower support, the score on the field reached a terrifying 8-0—seeing Lin Guanglai’s win was almost certain, Akiyama Koji waved broadly to substitute him, no longer exhausting his precious arms.

This match, Lin Guanglai pitched six innings as a starter, giving up just one hit, striking out nine while conceding no runs; when he waved to the fans in the stands, he was met with nearly a minute of continuous applause.

The final score of this match settled at 9-2, with SoftBank Team players delivering a grand victory for their home fans.

And when the final whistle of the match blew again, the home players, as a few days ago, crazily rushed to the pitcher’s mound, starting to play human pyramid stacking; subsequently, the entire SoftBank team, under the leadership of their manager and captain, holding victory flags, circled the field, warmly interacting with home fans.

With signing balls in their hands, they threw them to the nearby stands; with each baseball falling, waves of screams and scuffles from fans ensued.

When the field circling session ended, and players returned to the private locker room, an even grander, unreserved champagne party finally took place.

"Pop! Pop! Pop!"

Dozens of bottles of champagne simultaneously opened, the golden liquid poured down like torrential rain on everyone, the music was turned up to the maximum; some sprayed streamers everywhere, while others jumped onto benches to dance impromptu.

Tonight belongs to the victors.