Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 445 - 75: Strike While the Iron Is Hot, Rapid Battle for Advancement! (Part 2)

"Yuuki is indeed starting to look more and more like a professional player... Seeing you like this, I, as your senior, can rest assured. The special care I gave you in the past few years was not in vain!" Looking at the junior who promised him so earnestly, Kohkubo also felt very comforted. After thinking for a moment, he shared his thoughts:

"How about this, Yuuki, how about we make a deal?"

"A deal?"

"Yes, you're wearing the No. 44 jersey now, right—this season you've hit 11 home runs in official matches, so let's make a deal based on your home runs..." Kohkubo Yuuki paused, then continued, "Next season, if you hit 15 home runs, I'll make sure the team gives you my No. 9 jersey, what do you think?"

"Really, Senior Kohkubo!" Upon hearing these words, Yanagida Yuuki's eyes lit up, unable to conceal his excitement.

Kohkubo Yuuki nodded emphatically and replied, "Of course, why would I deceive you? As long as you hit over 15 home runs next year, the No. 9 jersey will be yours forever!"

"So, keep up the effort, Yuuki. I have high expectations for you!" Kohkubo patted Yanagida Yuuki on the shoulder, speaking to him earnestly.

Then, he turned his eyes to Lin Guanglai standing behind Yanagida.

"Player Lin Guanglai, is it? This is our first meeting, right?" Kohkubo, with a warm expression, extended his hand in Lin Guanglai's direction, "You played magnificently today. Every at-bat was a hit, not to mention the two home runs. You practically educated Seibu's pitchers all by yourself."

"Indeed, a talented and capable player like you should come to SoftBank—trust me, when the negotiations after this season conclude, there's definitely a lucrative new contract waiting for you."

Also giving Lin Guanglai's shoulder a firm pat, Kohkubo Yuuki slightly tilted his head back, locking eyes with the tall Lin Guanglai and said, "In the games to come, whether it's against Seibu or Rakuten, or in the next years' matches, this team will rely on your performance!"

"I hope one day to see you lead this team to win the Pacific League championship and hoist Japan's Number One trophy!"

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"Hello to all the viewers in front of the TV, welcome to watch the second game of the first round of the 2013 Pacific League Climax Series—the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, with home advantage, achieved an 11-1 landslide victory over the visiting Seibu in yesterday's first clash, leading the series with a head start."

"Today's commentators are still me, Takeshita Yohei; and beside me are also the same partners as yesterday at the same time, Ito Kei and Kohkubo Yuuki."

"In today's second match of the series, will SoftBank win another game at home, sweeping Seibu 2-0 and advancing to the final round of the Climax Series; or will Seibu mount a last-ditch comeback, tie the series, and leave the suspense for tomorrow with an exhilarating match that concludes their season—as viewers, let's wait and see!"

As Takeshita Yohei finished the opening remarks, the match at the center of the field officially started: With Lin Guanglai placed in the third position as an insurance, and still participating as a batter in this game, SoftBank sent out the 34-year-old, experienced veteran pitcher Fanzu Kazuhiro—since Oonari Kenji was out for the season due to an injury, he is now SoftBank's most reliable innings eater.

With a shortage of starting pitcher resources, Koji Akiyama made several preparations for this second game against Seibu: If Fanzu Kazuhiro could stabilize the situation, it would be ideal; but if his suppression in the first few innings was average, he would turn Fanzu into a "fake starter" and timely switch to long relievers from the bullpen for a bullpen game against Seibu's batters—young players like Iwasaki Sho and Chika Huangda, who have emerged this season, are eager and ready to go!

On the stage of the Climax Series, a pitcher's hard skills are undoubtedly important, but sometimes rich experience can also compensate for some ability deficiencies and play a critical role for the team; not to mention, before joining SoftBank, Fanzu Kazuhiro served in the Seibu Team for more than a decade and is well-acquainted with the habits of many of their batters.

Facing his former team, SoftBank's starter Fanzu Kazuhiro performed quite well in the opening phase, giving up a four-ball walk to Geman at the first pitch but quickly deceiving the second batter Kataoka Jidai with a breaking ball and seizing the opportunity to execute a double play.

Afterward, the third batter Kuriyama Takashi also couldn't gain any advantage from him; a ground ball hit towards third base was easily caught by Matsuda Naohiro, securing the last out needed for this inning.

As sides switched, in this win-or-go-home game, Seibu's manager Watanabe Hisashi finally chose to entrust the responsibility to Makita Kazuhiko, who performed outstandingly this season—Makita Kazuhiko started in 26 official games this season, posting an 8-9 record, which isn't impressive, but his 2.60 ERA stands fourth in the league, only behind Tanaka Masahiro's 1.27, Kaneko Chiharu's 2.01, and Lin Guanglai.

Even though a submarine pitcher's speed ceiling is low, they're naturally countered by left-handed batters, their mechanics are tiring, and they find it hard to pitch long innings, Watanabe Hisashi could only choose to believe in his disciple at such a time, hoping he could use his own strength to suppress SoftBank's batters and earn a lifeline for the team.

However, such hopes were utterly dashed just in the first half-inning of this game:

Leading batter Lin Guanglai hit a single to right field, successfully getting on base;

Second batter Imamiya Kenta executed the tactical plan strictly, placing a sacrifice bunt toward the pitcher mound, helping Lin Guanglai advance to second base;

The third batter Hasegawa Yu, the Pacific League batting champion this season, faced an outside corner fastball from Makita Kazuhiko and drove the ball to left field with a double, successfully bringing Lin Guanglai home—SoftBank 1-0 Seibu.

Fourth batter Nakagawa Seiichi hit a grounder to third and was out;

Fifth batter Matsuda Naohiro drew four-ball walk to get on base;

As the sixth batter Yanagida Yuuki entered the batter's box, he purposely glanced towards the Yahoo Dome studio's direction—Kohkubo Yuuki was watching this game from there.

The next second, with a single swing, Seibu's infield defense was penetrated straight through by him, he advanced to second base while adding another run for SoftBank.

In the bottom of the first inning, SoftBank led 2-0, but as the match progressed, the fans at the scene, the commentators, and the viewers in front of their TVs realized that this was just the beginning—

2 runs, 2 runs, 1 run, 3 runs, 5 runs... In the first five and a half innings, not only did the SoftBank Team not concede a single run, but they also continually expanded their lead with their smooth, mercury-like offensive operations.

In the blink of an eye, the score gap for this match had already reached 13-0.

Before this second game began, even the most optimistic SoftBank fans mostly thought this match wouldn't be easy and would certainly be a bloody battle.

But at this moment, they simply stared dumbfounded at the enormous score difference on the Eagle's Vision scoreboard, feeling somewhat incredulous, as if it was just a dream;

While on the other end of the field, in Seibu's player area, a deathly silence had long settled in—no one showed even a hint of a smile, nor could anyone utter even a small sound.

"Although baseball is a sport full of miracles, where you can never say it's over until the last inning is done—look at the expressions on the Seibu players' faces right now. I'd say even the players themselves don't believe they can achieve a comeback, do they?"

"For Seibu, this defeat is destined to take a long time to digest during the offseason and might even affect their preparations for the next season;"

"But for the home team SoftBank, we must admit their team showed superb competitive condition during the Climax Series stage—I wonder if Rakuten's players are watching. I think even the unbeaten Tanaka wouldn't have an easy time facing this lineup..."

Before Takeshita Yohei could finish his sentence, Tanaka Masahiro had already turned off the TV and then fell into deep thought.