Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 395 - 44: Furious Outburst

Hiroshima, Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium Hiroshima.

The huge billboard standing behind the outfield stands clearly and unmistakably presents the current situation on the field:

Top of the ninth inning, two outs, runners on second and third base, home team Hiroshima Toyo Carp leading 2-0 against visiting team SoftBank Hawks, now standing in the batter’s box ready to hit is—

"Seventh spot, pinch hitter, Yanagida Yuuki."

Yanagida Yuuki, under the watchful eyes of his hometown folks, stands in the Mazda Stadium he dreamed about countless times during his childhood. The fate of the SoftBank Team now rests in his hands.

On second and third bases are Nakagawa Seiichi and pinch hitter Yoshimura Yuuki, both are quick runners—this means that as long as Yanagida Yuuki can hit a single, he could at least bring one run for the team; if the baseball falls deeper, he might even tie the score; thinking more boldly, if he can hit a home run, he would be the hero single-handedly turning the game around.

In the players’ area, Lin Guanglai is also closely watching the situation on the field. He didn’t play in this game, having spent the entire game watching from the bench.

Manager Akiyama Koji had his reasons for such arrangements:

According to the interleague rules, when teams from the Central League and Pacific League play, the game rules are determined by the league of the home team—thus, during these two games at the Mazda Stadium with the Hiroshima Carp, both pitchers must bat according to Central League rules, and there is no designated hitter position.

In the first game of the series yesterday, Lin Guanglai had appeared as the starting right fielder for defense and batting. The reason he was not the starter today was that he would be pitching and hitting in the upcoming away game against the Hanshin Tigers; considering his match state, he wasn’t played today.

"Hoo—" A deep breath expelled the distractions in his mind, Yanagida Yuuki focused his attention on the pitcher’s mound not far away, where Hiroshima Carp’s foreign closer Kam Mickolio stands, with an average speed of 150 km/h and max speed of 157 km/h, skilled at breaking balls like sliders and changeups.

If this were earlier in the season, against a closer relying mainly on fastballs, Yanagida Yuuki might have felt slightly intimidated, but this year was completely different—because these foreign pitchers’ speed and quality were not even as good as some junior players in his own team.

While in the players’ dormitory, Yanagida Yuuki often trained in batting duels against Lin Guanglai—not saying he could always hit such pitches, but at least mentally, he has some advantage.

The fastballs that were once hard to see clearly, now even their deep red seams are faintly visible. Locking on the baseball flying towards home plate, Yanagida Yuuki swung his bat vigorously, hitting the ball dead center, resulting in a sharp, crisp batting sound.

"Whack!!!"

The baseball soared rapidly into the air, stirring up the main audience at Mazda Stadium who wore expressions of extreme alarm—the crisp and sweet sound of Yanagida Yuuki’s bat hitting was a sign of trouble to many experienced fans. Just hearing it could make them feel something was amiss.

Even the SoftBank Team players on the bench thought the same, with many springing up from their seats, fixating their gaze in the direction of the baseball, seemingly ready to rush onto the field to celebrate any moment.

But the next moment, SoftBank’s players fell silent, replaced by the deafening cheers from the home fans.

"Fred Lewis!!! Oh oh oh—he caught it in the glove just before the baseball was about to leave the field!!!"

"An absolutely brilliant home run snatch! This defensive play will definitely make it into the season’s highlight reel of fantastic plays!!!"

"This defensive play saved Hiroshima Toyo Carp! Also, it sent their opponents straight into the abyss!"

"The SoftBank Team has faced a five-game losing streak recently, and now suffered two losses at the start of the interleague series—Manager Akiyama Koji ought to think hard about why the team, despite topping the Pacific League in batting firepower, keeps losing games..."

The home crowd’s cheers persisted, while in the players’ tunnel, Lin Guanglai was comforting Yanagida Yuuki, whose walk-off home run was just snatched:

"Brother Yuuki, don’t be sad... By rights, you should have hit that ball out; it being caught in the end was purely because that foreign player has explosive physical qualities, switch any other outfielder and it wouldn’t have been caught..."

Though he spoke along these lines, Lin Guanglai knew that such excuses couldn’t truly comfort Yanagida Yuuki, especially given his immense pressure in this series against Hiroshima:

Facing his hometown team, Yanagida Yuuki was dropped from the starting lineup after five hitless at-bats in the first game; even today, as a pinch hitter, he didn’t perform well. For him, who finally secured his spot in the team this season, his recent performance threatened his starting position, making it hard not to feel despondent.

The moment all SoftBank players entered the guest locker room, with a "click," the door was locked.

The next moment, Manager Akiyama Koji’s roar echoed:

"Tell me, are you even professional players? Do you deserve to wear this uniform and represent this team in the game?"

"What did I tell you before the interleague started? I said we are fighting for victory, that I want to see your fighting spirit and determination in every game—so what was the result? Was this how you demonstrated your ’determination’ to me?"

"In the two series against Hiroshima, one game 7-1, one 2-0, let alone the score gap, your on-field performance disgusted me even more!"

"Look at your performance in these two games, does it look like a professional player? Honestly, you played worse than high school students!"

"It seems some of you don’t take my words as a supervisor seriously? Am I too gentle before, or are some of you in your rebellious phase? If you don’t want to play, you can just tell me right now, and you’d not have to go to Osaka and can go straight to the second team in Nishiku instead!"

"For some of you, the upcoming games against Hanshin Tigers will be your last chance I give you — if you can’t present a decent performance, then after returning from Hyogo, just go to the second team for report."

Having been harshly scolded, the SoftBank players felt somewhat disoriented—their impression of Manager Akiyama was always that of a taciturn person who preferred demonstrating his responsibility through actions; seeing him this furious today, even veteran players of the team never witnessed it before.

This indicates how immense the pressure he has been facing lately, as the leader and primary person responsible for the team’s poor record.

For the mentor who led him into professional baseball and who always held him to high standards and demands, Lin Guanglai harbors deep respect; because of this, he inwardly resolved, in the series against Hanshin Tigers, he must help the team secure victory.

Lin Guanglai was confident because the place they were about to go was called—

Hanshin Koshien Stadium.