Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 557 - 127: Silent Koshien (Part 2)

The third pitch, a low outside changeup, Lin Guanglai once again accurately let it pass—ball!

At the same time, the count reached two balls and one strike.

On the mound, Mason Jie took a deep breath. He knew that he must pitch into the strike zone next to regain the advantage and control of the confrontation.

After discussing with the catcher, they targeted the high inside corner—a location rarely attacked by batters when leading in the count.

Just as Mason Jie released the baseball, a cold light flashed in Lin Guanglai's eyes. Without any hesitation, his body swung fiercely at the oncoming ball!

"Crack!!!"

The pitch-black bat head collided perfectly with the baseball, producing a crisp, pleasant cracking sound; the white baseball shot straight and violently towards right field with almost an imperceptible speed, like a bullet.

Right fielder Furumoto Takakazu was desperately tracking the trajectory of the ball, but the increasing age and massive exhaustion of the game made his legs feel like they were filled with lead, unable to catch up; in the end, he could only watch the baseball fly into the stands once more from the side of the home run wall.

The two-run homer in the top of the seventh inning brought the score to 5:0!

As Lin Guanglai hit the ball and it flew into the stands again, Koshien finally fell into a deathly silence devoid of any calls, sighs, or curses... If not for the faint sound of breathing, one might have thought they were sitting amongst a pile of the dead.

The Hanshin Tigers fans in the home crowd, they were exhausted.

The deep mental fatigue felt like a heavy lead block weighing on the heart of every home team fan—the pre-game sustained anticipation of regaining Japan's Number One, the continuous confrontation with the SoftBank during the game, ultimately resulted in a complete defeat—a player they hated the most, at their most beloved field, ruthlessly crushed their hope and dignity time and again.

The yellow sea at Koshien began to recede.

People were no longer angry, no longer roaring, and they no longer felt disappointed; they merely stood up from their seats with heads bowed and silently headed towards the exit. Through this process, no one communicated or looked back—almost everyone emanated an aura warning others to keep their distance.

By the time Lin Guanglai leisurely returned to home plate to score and finished celebrating with his teammates, the previously packed and crowded Koshien stands had become sparse—a series of empty seats resembling hideous scars.

Those still remaining in the stadium, aside from the SoftBank fans who traveled with their team and were now ecstatic, were those die-hard loyalists who swore to accompany their main team to the very end, possessing remarkably resilient psychological endurance.

In the broadcast studio, the commentators supporting SoftBank smiled at this seemingly in-the-bag game, feeling extreme satisfaction; it wasn't until Lin Guanglai stepped onto the mound again that they seemed to remember something and promptly informed the viewers:

"All the SoftBank-supporting viewers, before the bottom of the seventh inning begins, there's a record we need to introduce to you..."

"According to the data I have on hand, prior to the start of today's game, the single-game strikeout record in a Japanese Series since professional data was kept is jointly held by the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks' Kodama Komei in 1999 and the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters' Yu Darvish in 2007, with 14 strikeouts in one game."

"It's worth mentioning that so far in this game, player Lin Guanglai has already struck out 12—this number means that if he manages to get 3 more strikeouts before stepping down from the mound, he will surpass these two legendary predecessors and claim this honor alone..."

"Considering how the Hanshin Tigers' batters haven't posed him much problem today, this is almost a foregone conclusion!"

Against the backdrop of the Hyogo night sky and Koshien Stadium lights, Lin Guanglai's tall and upright figure stood out like a beacon in the dark; his expression remained unchanged, as calm as ever.

Koshien had sunk into silence, the bustle in the stands was no more; at this moment, Lin Guanglai's only opponents were the batter before him and that looming threshold named "historical record".

The Hanshin Tigers' offensive began from the later part of the heart of their batting order, with the fifth batter, Gomez, trudging into the batter's box, Lin Guanglai didn't even bother to observe much, promptly throwing the ball after receiving Takeshima Shinya's signal.

The first pitch, a low outside cutter, the baseball almost scraped the lower edge of the strike zone horizontally as it moved, leaving Gomez helpless—swing and miss, strike!

Next, an inside high-speed fastball, at 162 km/h, with a forceful tail-end speed and presence, it surged at Gomez's body, forcing him to retreat a few steps and let it pass—still a strike!

Leading the count with two strikes, Takeshima Shinya resorted to the seasoned strategy again, opting for that overwhelmingly effective forkball: the white ball headed straight home, Gomez didn't even dare bet on it ending outside the zone; but when he chose to swing, the outcome was already fated—

"Swing and miss for a strikeout! The 13th strikeout!! Lin Guanglai is just 2 strikeouts away from a new record!!!"

The sixth batter, Furumoto Takakazu, perhaps taking the field with the determination to salvage the last shred of dignity for this prestigious team, but this so-called honorable dignity seemed so frail in the face of absolute power.

As the game progressed, Lin Guanglai's feel for pitching became increasingly exceptional, whether it was the fierce and swift fastball or the machinesque precision of his breaking ball, Furumoto Takakazu in the batter's box found it impossible to cope.

The outside fastball first established the count lead, consecutive inner corner sliders were fouled out by the opponent, after leveraging three balls with stance and probing, Takeshima Shinya firmly positioned his catcher's glove in the high inside corner with the sign—fastball!

"Whoosh!"

The clean and clear empty swing sound was deafening in the now silent Koshien Stadium!

"Swing and miss for the strikeout! The 14th!! Just...just one more to go!!!" The commentator's voice quivered slightly, turning his gaze towards the batter about to step up:

38-year-old Fujiwara Akira, recognized by many as a nice guy throughout Nippon Professional Baseball, brandished his bat and took his stand in the batter's box.

The first pitch, high outside fastball! Almost simultaneously as the catcher's signal was given, Lin Guanglai's pitch surged towards home—at 164 km/h, the baseball spinning mightily, flying into Fujiwara Akira's strike zone before he even had time to react.

Strike! Still a strike!

The second pitch, an inside forkball, this time Fujiwara Akira chose to swing, but his bat hit nothing but air.

"Just one more strike left!!!" The commentator nearly gritted his teeth while saying this—like many viewers in front of the television, he could hardly wait to witness the birth of new history!

The final pitch, Takeshima Shinya's glove was set low and outside for Fujiwara Akira, calling for an outside slider from Lin Guanglai. The baseball flew, then sliced horizontally across the edge of the strike zone, landing in the broad, solid catcher's mitt.

Fujiwara Akira made no reaction.

"Strikeout looking! The 15th!! A brand-new history is born!!!"

"In the great Hanshin Koshien, silence reigns at this moment—Lin Guanglai has completely conquered this baseball shrine on the pinnacle stage of the Japan Series!!!"