Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 337 - 190: Opening Heaven’s Gate with One Swing

"Swing and miss, strikeout! Oh—Lin Guanglai! That’s his 17th strikeout of this game!"

"It’s absolutely insane, dear viewers, this game is just too crazy—I simply don’t know how to describe this match with words; but there’s one thing I’m certain of, and that is many years from now, today’s game will surely be a classic battle that countless Takayama fans will watch over and over again!"

After expressing this awe, the commentator in the broadcast studio for this game simply collapsed into his chair, fanning his face continually—even though the air conditioning in the broadcast room was set very low, it couldn’t cool the fire burning in his heart at this moment.

As a high school baseball commentator, seeing such a brilliant duel in one’s lifetime can be considered regret-free!

On the monitor in front of him, the live broadcast camera was sweeping over the players on the sidelines one by one. Whether it was Waseda Jitsugyo or Tokogakuen Academy, their players showed no signs of fatigue, although sweat was constantly dripping from their heads, their eyes were bright and focused, staring intently at the giant screen above the outfield stands.

Following the players’ gaze, the large black scoreboard towering in the outfield showed the current game status:

With Lin Guanglai delivering his 17th strikeout of the game, the bottom half of the seventh inning has officially ended—after seven innings, neither side has managed to break through the opposing pitcher’s defense, and the score remains 0:0.

The key point worth noting is the performance of the two pitchers: as of now, after seven innings, Matsui Yuuki has maintained his consistent "strikeout machine" status, with 13 strikeouts, just 2 away from the "minimum quota" for this tournament;

Meanwhile, Lin Guanglai, who in previous games didn’t stand out much, is seemingly firing on all cylinders in this one, perhaps influenced by various external factors before the game. He has displayed the absolute strength of a Takayama ace, firmly suppressing the hitters of Tokogakuen Academy.

Generally speaking, a pitcher duel between ace pitchers tends to be extremely bland—in the already somewhat uninteresting baseball games, viewers always prefer to see the kind of battle where it’s one hit after another, both sides rolling out home runs, even though it’s unfriendly to the pitchers; even Major League Baseball in the United States has been altering rules in recent years to encourage offense.

But clearly, this quarterfinal matchup at Koshien is anything but dull, and it shines brilliantly due to the outstanding performances of both pitchers.

Before the top half of the eighth inning began, in the Waseda Jitsugyo players’ area, Lin Guanglai gathered his teammates together to cheer each other on.

"At the end of that last half-inning, what state the opposing pitcher was in, everyone could see—I know we’ve not been hitting well in this game, but now, please erase all the previous innings from your mind!"

"There are only two and a half innings left until the end of the game, I wish we could finish it within regulation time, and I believe we have the ability to make that happen!"

"Come on, everyone, this is the final summer, let’s make our last sprint starting from this half-inning!"

The players on both sides quickly completed the field switch, Matsui Yuuki once again stepping onto the pitcher’s mound, but this time his steps were much heavier.

As the game progressed, Matsui Yuuki could feel his arm getting increasingly heavy—indeed, pitching on back-to-back days was stretching him too thin at this point.

After yesterday’s game, Matsui Yuuki tried many ways to ensure as much recovery for today as possible: besides the usual bath and massage, he even sought a hyperbaric oxygen chamber with the supervisor’s help—but at this stage, these treatments weren’t providing any solace anymore.

This half-inning, Waseda Jitsugyo’s lineup begins with the ninth batter, and although his stamina is indeed fading, Matsui Yuuki still believes in himself, that he can secure three outs before reaching his physical limit.

Facing sophomore Yagaki Kentaro, Matsui Yuuki didn’t make any adjustments, he quickly threw a ball, a precise inside fastball, clearly confident in the generally modest hitting ability of Yagaki, knowing he couldn’t chase such a tricky inside pitch.

As he had predicted, the batter let the pitch go by, adding a strike to the count; however, this strike wasn’t given for free, at least Yagaki Kentaro noticed something amiss with the fastball.

kilometers—that’s right, this fastball had a velocity of only 131 km/h, considered a strike solely due to its precise control.

Which indicates just how much Matsui Yuuki’s stamina has diminished after continued pitching—a more seasoned batter than Yagaki, who primarily excels in defense, would likely have knocked it out of the park.

Once Yagaki Kentaro realized the opposition pitcher’s state was depleting rapidly, he adopted a grinding tactic, patiently engaging Matsui Yuuki in a drawn-out contest—after a 7-pitch battle, he successfully seized the opportunity during the opponent’s slowdown, driving the ball past the defenses between first and second base.

With the leadoff batter getting a hit, Waseda Jitsugyo’s small ball strategy now had room to unfold:

With unwavering determination, Yagaki Kentaro laid down a bunt, quickly advancing the runner to second base;

Kenji Egami followed suit, continuing to advance the runner with another small ball bunt.