Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 372 - 22: The Meaning of Dual Swordsmanship

In the bottom of the first inning, the SoftBank Team’s first three batting attempts were fruitless.

Just like Lin Guanglai, Nakamoto Ango, who also made his debut as a rookie starter, performed quite well in the opening stages. Facing the first three batters of the SoftBank Team, he demonstrated the high caliber of a top college graduate player:

Against Honda Yuichi, who is known for his batting and running skills, he used a high inside fastball to lure the batter into swinging, causing Honda Yuichi to hit a fly ball to right field, which was caught for an out;

When facing Imamiya Kenta, Nakamoto Ango repeated the strategy, using a high breaking ball to force another flyout;

With two outs in hand, Nakamoto Ango relaxed more, using an inside fastball to suppress Nakagawa Seiichi’s swing, resulting in a ground ball toward second base that was neatly collected and thrown to first base by Rakuten’s second baseman, Fujita Kazuya, for a force out.

Three outs, sides exchanged, the two rookie starting pitchers seemed to secretly compete with each other, both achieving a perfect three-up, three-down to start their professional careers on a high note.

However, for Nakamoto Ango, the only slight blemish might be not getting his first career strikeout.

With the player exchanges completed on the field, Lin Guanglai stepped back onto the pitcher’s mound amid cheers from the crowd; only this time, his expression was somewhat serious—for good reason, as the Rakuten Team’s cleanup hitter was renowned, leaving him little room for complacency.

Andrew Jones, who once served for over a decade with MLB’s Atlanta Braves and was a crucial member of the ’90s "Tomahawk Team"; 5-time All-Star, 1 Silver Slugger, 10 consecutive Gold Gloves, with a Major League career totaling 434 home runs, and during his peak in 2005, he won two batting titles, undoubtedly a borderline Hall of Fame player.

A moment later——

"Four balls! Batter walks to first base!"

Jones tossed the bat aside and jogged to first base, leaving half of his back viewed by Lin Guanglai as he watched.

Exhaling deeply, Lin Guanglai picked up the rosin bag from the ground and dusted his hands a few times, drying his pitching hand and calming his emotional fluctuations.

As an experienced former Major League star batter, Jones’ physical prowess may have declined compared to his younger days, but his game-reading ability and understanding of the umpire’s strike zone were crucial this time—facing a 3-2 full count, against Lin Guanglai’s fastball that was targeted at the inner-corner edge, he astonishingly resisted the urge to swing—a move entirely unexpected by Lin Guanglai.

Moreover, it was clear that compared to their earlier batting lineup, Rakuten’s middle lineup had stronger batting abilities and adapted to the pitcher’s speed quicker; and with the rhythmic pace of official games being much faster than preseason warmups, under so many factors working together, Rakuten’s center batters also managed to seize an opportunity, turning the situation into two runners on second and third with two outs.

Facing the subsequent Rakuten’s eight-hole batter Shima Keihiro, the breaking ball Lin Guanglai threw was perfectly caught by the opponent’s bat, turning into a powerful ground ball rolling towards the pitcher’s mound—the speed was indeed too fast, and even though Lin Guanglai’s brain reacted immediately, his left hand to the ground was still slightly slow, letting the baseball pierce through the infield from the pitcher’s mound, also sending Andrew Jones from third base back home.

"In the bottom of the second inning, Shima Keihiro leads with a 1-point infield hit—Lin still seemed a bit too eager, trying to outmatch in the strike zone, it might have worked with Takayama, but this is professional baseball after all—indeed, that’s the plight of young players!"

"Welcome to professional baseball, young man!"

On the sidelines, Koji Akiyama, who witnessed this scene with a serious expression, turned to the pitching coach Guo Taiyuan beside him and said, "It’s just as I thought, he’s still too young, Taiyuan, do you think promoting him as the opening starter was too hasty? Perhaps letting him develop slowly would be better..."

Guo Taiyuan’s expression was also serious, yet his view on this matter somewhat differed—at least in his perspective, losing that 1 point wasn’t entirely bad for Lin Guanglai.

"How can a pitcher improve without bearing pressure—as an outstanding player, he has to take on what others cannot endure; these are experiences he must personally go through."

Though he quickly struck out Rakuten’s ninth batter, right fielder Makita Akihisa, Lin Guanglai’s face still didn’t look pleasant; as a pitcher putting his own team at a disadvantage, how could his mood possibly be good.

However, the veteran starting players appeared optimistic, and on the way back to the dugout, each of them made sure to comfort Lin Guanglai, telling him not to worry about conceding that 1 point, vowing they would help Lin Guanglai make up for it.

Forcing a smile in response to each of the veterans, staring directly at the celebrating Rakuten players opposite him, Lin Guanglai clenched his fist, silently vowing in his heart:

"I absolutely won’t allow any more runs!"

"And also, don’t get too happy too soon—my influence isn’t limited to just the pitcher’s mound!"

In the bottom of the second inning, the SoftBank Team’s offense still showed no improvement: compared to Lin Guanglai, Nakamoto Ango, as a college graduate, had four more years of intense games and training, achieving higher completion—facing SoftBank’s 4-5-6 batters, like in the top of the first inning, he wasn’t thinking of chasing strikeouts but continually created pop flies or groundouts with pitch variations, rather effortlessly eliminating SoftBank batters who hadn’t fully hit their stride.

In the top of the third inning, after conceding 1 point, Lin Guanglai unleashed, showing the 40,000 SoftBank spectators on site why he’s deemed the top high school baseball player — consecutive three strikeouts, mirroring the complete replica of the top of the first inning, with Rakuten’s batters having no answer against him.

As the game entered the bottom of the third inning, the dormant SoftBank batters finally woke up: the seventh batter, Hasegawa Yu, hit the team’s first strong line drive, piercing through Rakuten’s infield into left field.

The eighth batter, Hosokawa Kei, grounded out softly, although it didn’t become a hit, it allowed Hasegawa on first to advance to second base—now, with someone in the scoring position, it was Lin Guanglai’s turn to bat as the ninth batter!

With the entrance song "Touch" playing again and amid applause from the crowd, Lin Guanglai stepped into the batter’s box, striking a batting pose.

On the pitcher’s mound, Nakamoto Ango also grew stern—being newcomers who joined the professional league the same year, he and Lin Guanglai were direct competitors and naturally didn’t want to lose to each other in this duel.

On the pitcher’s mound, Nakamoto Ango threw his arm fiercely, with the baseball turning into a blurred shadow, forcefully flying toward Lin Guanglai’s inside corner;

In the batter’s box, Lin Guanglai likewise decisively swung the bat, rotating his body fully to snap in the direction of the incoming ball.

"Thunk!!!"

The moment the baseball connected with the bat, a smile broke across Lin Guanglai’s face—he knew this was the very essence of what he pursued in his Dual Swordsmanship journey!