Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 335 - 188: The Advancing Generation Z

Thursday, August 9, 2012, the second day of the 94th Nationwide High School Baseball Championship Tournament.

Even though less than 24 hours have passed since yesterday’s opening ceremony, it wasn’t until now, while waiting to enter through the player’s tunnel, that Matsui Yuuki truly felt it:

Oh, so this isn’t a dream, I’m actually at Koshien!

Especially the moment he walked out of the tunnel, the scorching midday sun blanketing him, with crowds moving all around the green stands, the feeling intensified.

Arriving in the players’ area and putting down his bag, Matsui Yuuki took out his pitcher’s glove—despite regular maintenance, having been used for six or seven years, it inevitably showed some signs of wear and tear.

This glove was bought for nearly seventy thousand yen when his parents took him to the largest sports store in Yokohama after he first joined the hardball little league team. It wasn’t cheap.

Over the years, this left-handed glove has accompanied him to numerous places and has stood with him shoulder to shoulder defeating countless opponents. As he grew older and his skills improved, the glove fit his hand more snugly, just like an extension of his hands.

One could say this glove has been the witness of Matsui Yuuki’s baseball career so far and has accompanied him through long, dark nights. And now, their story has a new Chapter: yes, the next games we’ll play will be at Koshien.

"Come on, old friend—let’s give the audience a little surprise." Having said that, Matsui Yuuki picked up the glove and slipped his right hand inside it.

Hmm, still feels the same.

Calling over the catcher to join him in the bullpen to warm up, under the golden sunlight, Matsui Yuuki felt he was in excellent shape.

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"Number seven, pitcher, Matsui-kun."

"Number seven, pitcher, Matsui-kun."

The Koshien broadcast echoed as the commentator tasked with live coverage began explaining the situation to the viewers watching the match:

"We’re now in the bottom of the fifth inning, with Tokogakuen Academy on the offense—next up to bat is their ace pitcher, Matsui Yuuki."

"There’s no denying that Matsui’s performance today has been exceptional. As the starting pitcher, up to now in five innings, he’s already delivered 11 strikeouts!"

"Standing at only 174 cm, Matsui might not have outstanding physical attributes, yet he possesses incredible strikeout abilities. Truly one of the top pitchers in the tournament—it’s fair to say that Tokogakuen Academy’s current 2-0 lead is largely thanks to his superb performance!"

"But now it’s not his pitching ability that’s being tested—the current situation on the field is one out with players on first and third bases. I wonder if Tokogakuen’s manager Nozaki Yasuyuki has a tactic prepared? If it were me, I might have Matsui execute a bunt, sacrificing the out to send the runner on third, Sakamoto, home, further extending the lead..."

No sooner had he begun to say this than the substitute right-handed pitcher, Inouchi Kota from Ehime representative Imabari Nishi High School, released the ball from the mound.

Wasting no time, the commentator quickly refocused on the game: "Let’s see what happens here!"

Although a pitcher, being placed in the seventh spot in the lineup is enough to show that Matsui Yuuki is not just any pitcher who swings a few times for show, regardless of whether he can hit the ball or not; he has some hitting capability.

In his hands, a silvery-white metal bat gleamed under the sunlight as he fixated on the incoming ball. Quickly adjusting, Matsui Yuuki decisively swung the bat.

"Clang—!!!"

The clear sound of the bat making contact was like a bolt of silver lightning streaking across the Koshien sky. The ball soared high after being struck, and spectators trying to track its path were blinded by the dazzling light.

But inside the commentary booth, with no such issue, everything on the monitor was clear: the ball, after reaching its apex, began to rapidly descend yet didn’t cease its forward journey—in moments, the outfielders at Imabari Nishi begrudgingly stopped within the park’s deepest barriers, aware that no matter how fast they ran, they couldn’t prevent what was happening:

"Matsui Yuuki! A home run in the bottom of the fifth inning! Tokogakuen Academy! Another three runs added!"

"The score is now 5-0! Tokogakuen Academy is edging ever closer to their first Koshien victory in five years!"

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Top of the ninth inning, two outs, with the score 7:0, Tokogakuen Academy leads.

Judging by the current score, the game’s outcome seems all but settled. Facing the formidably performing Matsui Yuuki, who dares to claim that Imabari Nishi’s hitters can score seven runs in one inning?

However, compared to the volcanic eruption from several innings earlier, Koshien now stood in silence: the audience in the stands all held their breath, afraid of disrupting the players on the field.

The one responsible for this change was still Matsui Yuuki on the pitcher’s mound, though at this moment compared to earlier innings, he indeed felt some fatigue setting in.

Logically, at this phase of the game, whether to protect the ace or to consider future matches, it would be time to substitute the player; yet at least from the footage, Tokogakuen Academy’s manager Nozaki Yasuyuki did not appear to have such intentions.

Clearly, not only was he not inclined towards this idea, but neither were Matsui Yuuki on the mound, the spectators in the stadium, nor those watching from in front of their TVs.

In the studio, though separated by thick glass from the pitch, the commentator couldn’t help but lower his voice:

"Now we’re in the top of the ninth inning, two outs, with a full count of 3-2—no matter the outcome of this next pitch, after today’s game, all of Japan will surely know about Tokogakuen’s Matsui Yuuki!"

"As the starting pitcher for nine innings, facing 31 batters, he’s thrown 138 pitches and allowed only 2 hits with 3 walks—and the number of batters who met their match with a strikeout is..."

"21."

"Now, Matsui has broken the record set by Urawa Academy’s Sakamoto Yataro of 19 strikeouts in a single game from the 82nd Summer League in 2000, and is just one step away from the all-time Koshien tournament inning strikeout record of 22 set by Lin Guanglai in the spring of 2011."

Matsui Yuuki made his move; he had consecutively thrown three fastballs in this plate appearance, and now appeared to do the same once more—the ball left his left fingertips, headed straight for the center of the plate.

Imabari Nishi’s batter swung—only to find he hit nothing.

"Outside slider! Successfully fooled the batter! Matsui Yuuki has done it! 22 strikeouts in a single game—he now holds the Summer Koshien strikeout king title!"

"Lin Guanglai, Fujinami Jintaro, Ohtani Shohei... and now Matsui Yuuki—the players of Generation Z are challenging the future of baseball; high school baseball is absolutely fantastic!!!"