Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 569 - 134: Thunder Rolls Across Kyushu (Part 2)

Seeing that he had gained a lead in ball count, the pitcher Randy Mason and catcher Fujiwara Akira both let out a sigh of relief, but their expressions quickly turned serious again.

Likewise, even though conceding a good ball count was the cost, Lin Guanglai knew well in his heart that such a trade-off was worthwhile:

He is inherently one of the best hitters of inner-corner pitches in all of Nippon Professional Baseball; ordinary inner-corner pitches are practically a feast for him, and even under pressure, he has the ability to send such pitches flying; keeping the current situation is undoubtedly more advantageous for him in the long run.

Seeing Lin Guanglai unmoved, firmly occupying the inner corner space, catcher Fujiwara Akira quickly changed his strategy, subtly moving his glove to the low outer corner and signaling for a slider.

He wanted to use a horizontally moving slider to entice Lin Guanglai into chasing an outer-corner bad pitch; even if Lin Guanglai chose not to swing, this decision could at least disrupt the batting strategy he had just established for inner-corner pitches.

The baseball released quickly; Mason Jie's pitching posture and release point for this slider were very similar to a fastball. Ordinary batters might really be lured by such a stance into chasing a bad pitch; but Lin Guanglai's naturally strong dynamic vision, honed through countless battles in professional baseball, once again guided him to make the right choice.

With only a slight shift forward of his center of gravity, Lin Guanglai stood firmly still the next second, attentively watching the baseball enter the plate and ultimately slide outside the strike zone.

"Ball!"

Unaffected by the deliberately set trap, Lin Guanglai made a perfect choice, reclaiming a point for himself.

After two consecutive pitches of pressure and probing, Randy Mason and Fujiwara Akira, as the pitching-catching duo, once again realized the difficulty in dealing with Lin Guanglai: when Lin Guanglai was adopting a relatively conservative hitting strategy, it was really hard to strike him out using lure ball tactics–by this time, Mason Jie knew he needed to throw more into the strike zone and compete with Lin Guanglai there.

Fujiwara Akira placed his glove again at the inner corner, but compared to the first pitch, this one was positioned higher, almost at Lin Guanglai's armpit level. The thrown baseball was closer to the body, and its speed was even more swift than before–indeed, Hanshin's pitching-catching team still wanted to continue trying to squeeze Lin Guanglai's inner corner space, forcing him into difficult hitting choices.

Lin Guanglai's body finally showed a slight dodge, but his gaze still clung tightly to the incoming ball, displaying no hint of retreat.

Rather than gaining a good ball count, this pitch by Mason Jie aimed more to intimidate the batter; the chief umpire hesitated for a few seconds before ultimately calling it a "Ball."

The cheering in the stands grew more intense; a 2 balls and 1 strike count meant the batter held the advantage in this plate appearance, and the situation seemed to be steadily tilting towards Lin Guanglai's favor.

Mason Jie glanced toward the batting area; Lin Guanglai's gaze remained calmly steady as though it concealed something beneath that serenity, causing him slight apprehension.

After thinking for a while, Mason Jie signaled towards Fujiwara Akira: low outer corner, changeup, aiming to break the stalemate through speed variation.

This time, Lin Guanglai finally swung, but his timing was a little early; when his bat swung, the baseball had yet to reach the predicted hitting point, so he wasn't able to precisely gauge the changeup, hitting it foul and sending it to the stands.

"Whoa——!!!" The stands instantly erupted in a huge gasp, only slowly calming down after the baseball flew into the stands. Expressing slight regret, SoftBank's home fans continued to applaud Lin Guanglai afterwards.

Watching the gradually distant baseball, Lin Guanglai felt a bit of regret within, but he quickly adjusted; he stood outside the batting zone, took a deep breath, and swung his bat forcefully a few times, trying to reclaim his batting feel through this action.

With a 2 balls and 2 strikes count, the advantage fell back into Mason Jie's hands—he just needed one good pitch to strike out Lin Guanglai, greatly alleviating the one-out, bases-loaded crisis.

Hanshin's pitching-catching team faced a dilemma: with luring pitch options proving ineffective, should they continue utilizing the one ball leverage to apply pressure, or simply utilize breaking pitches to settle the score?

This time, Mason Jie contemplated for a longer duration. Only at the end did he slowly lift his head to express his idea to the catcher: forkball, facing the showdown directly.

The pitch was released! Initial trajectory and rotation were almost identical to a fastball!

Facing the incoming ball, Lin Guanglai initially thought it was a fastball and was already readying his swing, yet at the critical moment only inches before the bat initiated, his batting intuition kicked in once more.

The bat, already swung nearly halfway, seemed to halt mid-air, pulled back by an invisible force, stopping abruptly at the last moment.

Soon enough, as expected, the white baseball performed an elevator-like drop upon reaching home plate, disappearing beneath the shadow of the strike zone.

"Ball!"

3 balls and 2 strikes, a full count!!!

The stands fell into a frenzy again, with over forty thousand SoftBank fans in an outburst of post-crisis cheering: At such a critical moment, Lin Guanglai resisted the temptation to swing, and through perfect pitch identification, he returned all the pressure to the pitcher.

On the mound, Mason Jie's breathing noticeably quickened; behind home plate, Fujiwara Akira felt a trace of despair: they'd nearly exhausted their arsenal with fastballs, sliders, forkballs, changeups...yet still failed to take down Lin Guanglai, a duel that placed massive strain on their spirits.

Fujiwara Akira looked up at Lin Guanglai, this 19-year-old boy still fixating on the pitcher, emitting a burning fighting spirit. He clenched his teeth and ultimately gave a catcher's standard answer: low outer corner fastball.

Fujiwara Akira was gambling, betting that after experiencing consecutive trials, Lin Guanglai's nerves, stretched to the limit, might overreact, or that being overly cautious might cause him to miss this pitch; betting even if Lin Guanglai hits the ball, he might not hit the center well; betting even if he hits the center well, he'd likely only make an ordinary base hit.

The duel between a pitcher and batter is inherently a gamble, and confronting a formidable hitter requires a spirit willing to take risks, at least when he shared his idea with Mason Jie afterward, he received a positive response from his counterpart.

On the mound, Mason Jie took a final deep breath, directing all his strength and willpower into this pitch: he had to pitch it right; he also had to believe he could strike out the opponent.

Now!!!

Almost simultaneously as the baseball flew from Mason Jie's hand, Lin Guanglai's body began initiating the forceful bat launch motion: his front foot stepped forward powerfully, his waist acting like a taut bowstring, instantly releasing accumulated power completely; mighty core strength driving body rotation, arms fully extended, the bat slicing through the air with a graceful yet deadly curve, precisely targeting the oncoming white ball!

"Crack————!!!!!"

The crisp sound, which had appeared several times in this series, erupted once more beneath Yahoo Dome's vault! The hit baseball surged upward with astonishing initial velocity, carrying a huge angle towards the dome sky.

Its speed was so great that even the dedicated broadcast camera momentarily lost sight of the baseball; until a moment later, amidst a dance between white waves and yellow flames, the baseball reappeared, then landed atop the stands.

At this moment, the entire land of Kyushu was set ablaze!