Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 398 - 47: The Protagonist Takes the Stage

The fact proved that Akiyama Koji’s worry was a bit unnecessary: facing the resounding boos within Koshien Stadium, Lin Guanglai not only didn’t panic, he seemed even more energized.

To be honest, Lin Guanglai has been in professional baseball for nearly two months now. During these two months, he gradually secured a starting position with the SoftBank Team, and his skills earned him the coach’s attention and the respect of his teammates.

The stories and experiences of suppression by coaches, rejection from teammates, and young players struggling in the farm team, Lin Guanglai hadn’t encountered any of these; even when competing with other Pacific League teams and playing away games, other teams’ fans mostly just cheered for their home team and rarely put pressure on the visiting team.

Such a smooth experience is naturally what countless people dream of, but somehow, maybe it was the rebellious spirit of an 18-year-old, Lin Guanglai always wanted to experience those "exclusive" professional baseball scenes he had seen on TV.

So, when the Tigers’ fans at Koshien couldn’t wait to jump out and play the role of the first "big villain," Lin Guanglai just laughed.

Yes, yes! This is the scene he had always anticipated: facing the overwhelming boos from the away crowds, stepping up as the team’s starting pitcher, and then performing so well that the entire stadium becomes as quiet as a library—such scenes he had imagined countless times!

Now, the filming location is set, the plot is ready, and even the villains are prepared—just the entry of the leading man is left for the grand play to commence.

Amidst the boos, Lin Guanglai, with his glove in hand, jogged up to the pitcher’s mound and started his warm-up pitches before the formal game.

Returning to the pitcher’s mound at Koshien after more than half a year, Lin Guanglai was still the same Lin Guanglai, except now he’s no longer the ace of Waseda Jitsugyo who could make the whole audience cheer for him; now, he’s a player of the SoftBank Team, the target of the home fans’ boos.

What Lin Guanglai needs to do next is to use his solid skills and excellent performance to make the noisy Tigers’ fans shut their mouths.

Taking a deep breath, he nodded at Hosokawa Kei who was crouching at home plate, adjusted slightly, and pitched the ball towards home plate.

"Ball."

Just stepping up to the mound and pitching, his body and touch hadn’t fully warmed up, Lin Guanglai didn’t control this ball well, it was easily taken by Hanshin’s batter.

Hanshin Tigers’ first batter, Nishikawa Gou, is a switch hitter. His nickname, "Speed Star," highlights his characteristics, especially his long-distance sprinting speed. Nishikawa Gou only takes 11.12 seconds to sprint from home plate to third base, and he also holds the Nippon Professional Baseball record for a 3.54-second sprint to first base.

So during the pre-game meeting, Manager Akiyama specifically reminded Lin Guanglai to be careful, Nishikawa Gou might choose to bunt when under pressure, as his speed can indeed support him doing so.

"Boo——!!!" Just throwing one bad ball, Hanshin fans’ boos rang out again, trying to further disturb Lin Guanglai’s mindset while pitching.

For other young pitchers with average mental states, they might indeed be scared by this, and then subsequently lose control, getting hit out the field by Hanshin batters; but for Lin Guanglai, Koshien is like his second home—would anyone feel nervous at their own home?

Swish, swish!

Two successive pitches, two consecutive good balls, were seamlessly sent into Hosokawa Kei’s glove behind the strike zone by Lin Guanglai.

This process took less than five minutes, and the game’s rhythm was back in SoftBank Team’s and Lin Guanglai’s hands.

As Lin Guanglai seized the momentum and pitched another ball towards home plate, in the left batter’s box, Nishikawa Gou, who had been pretending to bat normally in the last second, instantly turned his bat sideways, pushing it towards the incoming baseball.

"Thud!"

Luckily, Lin Guanglai on the pitcher’s mound was prepared, and the moment the baseball was bunted, he rushed off the mound; quickly picked up the ball from the ground, and seeing Nishikawa Gou’s running speed like he was flying on the ground, Lin Guanglai dared not make too many adjustments, roughly confirmed the seam position, and threw the ball towards Lahai’er at first base.

"Out!"

"Phew——" Seeing the first base umpire’s gesture for out, Lin Guanglai finally breathed a slight sigh of relief—Nishikawa Gou, worthy of being a two-time Pacific League stolen base king, his speed is indeed undeniable, had he been even slightly slower, he would have succeeded in getting on base.

After dealing with the Hanshin Tigers’ leadoff batter, up next was their second batter, Yamada Maeda—their role in the Hanshin Tigers was as the executor of the second-batter bunting strategy.

SoftBank’s scouting report on him also indicated that besides being "adept at bunting," his independent offensive capability was relatively weak, even far below the Nippon Professional Baseball average. In five years with the team, he has never hit a home run, and his average hit rate for mainstream pitch types was generally less than .250.

With no runners on base, Yamada Maeda couldn’t stir up much, being fairly easily dismissed by Lin Guanglai, securing his first strikeout as a professional player at Koshien.

Compared to Yamada Maeda, whom he had just struck out, Lin Guanglai was more concerned about the next batter, and this was also the biggest test he would face this inning.

"Carry the dreams, fly high!"

"Display your sharp swing!"

"At this moment, you are the hero, Toriyama Kei!"

"Blast it out—To—ri—ya—ma—!"

Before the batter even stepped onto the field, cheers from the Koshien stands started to resonate: Hanshin’s number one star, third batter Toriyama Kei, he has arrived!

The four-time Best Nine awardee, with exquisite bat control skills, and the top-tier pitch selection ability in Nippon Professional Baseball... all these qualities make Toriyama Kei a nightmare for countless pitchers.

Even though statistics show he doesn’t have many home runs, and his hit count is considered on the lower side among batters of his caliber, in baseball, a sport heavily reliant on data analysis, Toriyama Kei is one of the rare exceptions.

Adhering to the notion of not chasing bad balls to establish his own strike zone, even in regular batting practice if a feeder pitcher throws a bad ball, Toriyama Kei never compromises; and during official matches, for those pitches the chief umpire judges as strikes but he deems as balls, he resolutely does not swing. This persistence has bestowed him with pitch selection eyes comparable to an instrument.

Facing a batter of such caliber, Lin Guanglai knew that "baiting" bad balls would be completely ineffective against Toriyama Kei; to tackle this opponent, one must engage him in a head-on fight within the strike zone.

Coincidentally, speaking of direct confrontations, Lin Guanglai hasn’t really lost much in that aspect.