Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 410 - 57: Super Slugger

The next second, the fastball was thrown—

"Thud——!!!"

The crisp and loud sound of the bat hitting the ball sounded once again. However, this time, Lady Luck did not favor the SoftBank Team and Lin Guanglai—amidst the cheers of the home crowd at Shengong Stadium and Yanjirou’s joyful dance, the baseball flew over the home run wall, landing in the left field stands.

"Vladimir Balentien—his 16th homer of the season. Lin Guanglai’s tricky inside fastball was caught accurately by him and sent straight into the stands with one swing, it was a remarkable hit!"

...

"Yamamoto Tetsuya struck out Yoshimura Yuuki, and also helped the home team Yakult Swallows to secure the victory in this match!"

"Though they launched a comeback in the top of the ninth, the SoftBank Team still encountered a similar narrative as in the previous game against Yokohama DeNA, falling short at the last moment."

"Perhaps it was because the rotation was moved up a day, but in this game, Lin Guanglai seemed out of sorts—his six innings allowing four runs resulted in his second loss of the season..."

In the SoftBank Team’s hotel room, Lin Guanglai’s room was pitch black, with only the replaying game video providing sound and light—in the darkness, lying on the hotel room’s large bed, Lin Guanglai kept dragging the video progress bar, which clearly recorded how he was defeated in this match.

His eyes fixed on the screen were not filled with disappointment or frustration, but rather emotions such as determination and calmness.

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"Coach, shouldn’t we go and comfort Guanglai a little? After all, this is the first time he’s been hit like this in a game, right..."

The morning after the first game against the Yakult Swallows, in the dining area of the hotel where the SoftBank Team was staying, taking the opportunity of eating, Takayama Yuuji expressed his concerns about Lin Guanglai to Akiyama Koji.

Young players are full of talent, have drive, and are willing to work hard—these are qualities unique to players of this age, benefitting the team greatly with no downsides; however, a team relying on young players must also bear the impacts of their limited playing experience, inconsistent performance, and easily fluctuating mentality.

From a capability standpoint, Lin Guanglai is so mature, he hardly seems like a young player: before him, many players had entered the Nippon Professional Baseball’s first team straight out of high school during the opening games, but none had delivered such statistics right at the onset like Lin Guanglai—he integrated into the SoftBank Team’s system seamlessly, as if he did not need to adapt to the new pace of professional baseball at all.

This outstanding performance allowed Lin Guanglai to secure a main position within the SoftBank Team in a very short time, but this also brought an issue—because of his dazzling performance, the coaching staff and many team members subconsciously treated him like a seasoned player in the league for years, overlooking the fact that he was merely a high school graduate, a few months into professional baseball, still a minor.

Although yesterday’s loss was not Lin Guanglai’s first defeat of the season, different from the 0-1 loss against the Chiba Lotte Marines where he performed excellently, only hindered by a silent offense that failed to clinch victory, in this game against Yakult Swallows, he, as the starting pitcher who conceded four runs, should be primarily responsible for the team’s defeat.

Such a tough game situation is a predicament that every pitcher encounters during their career; but for a young prodigy like Lin Guanglai, who became famous at a young age, experiencing barely any setbacks, can he accept this loss with an open and serene mindset? This deeply worries Takayama Yuuji, who is responsible for pitcher coordination.

Young players can find and lose form rapidly—regardless of Lin Guanglai’s exceptional performance in the first two months, yesterday’s game could very well become the turning point in his rookie season, leading to a rapid decline from here onward.

If it really develops along this worst path, it will become even more challenging for Takayama Yuuji, the coach in charge of pitcher rotation scheduling, to manage the situation going forward...

After listening to his pitching coach’s concerns, Akiyama Koji appeared completely unperturbed:

"Yuuji, aren’t your thoughts underestimating Guanglai’s ability to handle pressure a bit too much? After all, he is a professional player..."

"Sigh! You..." seeing his coach and friend displaying such a nonchalant attitude, Takayama Yuuji felt a little upset, "it’s because Guanglai’s role in our team is crucial that I’m so anxious—if he’s crushed by this loss, the team’s records..."

"Rest assured, Yuuji, Guanglai is not that fragile." Akiyama Koji interrupted Takayama Yuuji before he finished his sentence, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and continued, "Don’t treat Guanglai with the usual measures meant for ordinary young athletes just because he’s young."

"In fact, at least in my mind, I’ve regarded Guanglai as a veteran or even a star player for quite a while—you may see him as someone who seems untouched by setbacks, but in reality, this kid’s mental maturity far exceeds what you imagine."

Having said these words, Akiyama Koji stood up from his seat, patted Takayama Yuuji on the shoulder, signaling him to be more at ease.

"If you don’t believe me, you can observe his state during upcoming practices and games—I think your worries will be alleviated by then."

Firmly remembering these words from Akiyama Koji and with some doubts of his own, Takayama Yuuji began observing Lin Guanglai carefully:

Because he had just started the day before, Lin Guanglai had a rest day on the day of the second game against Yakult and wouldn’t take part in practice or the game, but he still followed the team to the evening’s game venue.

At least outwardly, Lin Guanglai didn’t show any abnormal behavior, even sitting on the bench, he was still wholeheartedly cheering for his teammates on the field—especially in the top of the fourth inning, when Imamiya Kenta hit his third home run of the season, helping the SoftBank Team extend the lead to 3-0, Lin Guanglai was thrilled and excitedly joined his teammates to celebrate.

"It seems, there isn’t really anything wrong? Better keep watching and observing..." Takayama Yuuji, standing on the side, witnessed all of this and thought to himself.

In the second battle with Yakult, with ace pitcher Shetsu Shou back on the mound, SoftBank effortlessly defeated the opponent with a total score of 4-0—showing that Balentien’s ability to handle breaking balls wasn’t particularly extraordinary; facing Shetsu Shou, Japan’s top breaking ball pitcher, through four at-bats he was completely overpowered: apart from hitting a single and reaching base twice due to fielding errors, he made no further impact.

Sitting on the substitutes’ bench, Lin Guanglai watched the entire match from the perspective of a spectator, learning much from Shetsu Shou’s approach against Balentien—after all, a single game loss wouldn’t shatter his resolve or leave him in uncertainty, would it?

No pitcher can avoid giving up runs nor can they perform like superhumans in every starting game; Lin Guanglai does not make excuses for his failures, nor does he sink into gloom over a game loss.

On the contrary, what he should do most in such times is to quickly recover from the failure, get back on track, and continue to contribute to the team’s victories:

As a Dual Swordsmanship player, besides participating in the pitching rotation, Lin Guanglai can also make statements with his bat in hand!

But that doesn’t mean he will easily forget the memories of this match: in fact, he’s already looking forward to the remaining two home games against Yakult Swallows in mid-June—according to the current rotation order, Lin Guanglai will be on the mound as the starting pitcher in that series.

He’s already eager to seek revenge against Balentien and the Yakult Swallows!!!

Of course, before that, Lin Guanglai and the SoftBank Team have other tasks to tackle—that is, to take down all opponents standing in their way to win the interleague championship!