Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 601 - 148: Bandit Lineup? Sorry, I’m a Cop! (Part 2)

The first pitch is still a strong high-pressure fastball, heading straight for the inside corner of the batter. For the previous two contact hitters with average power, they would probably not choose to clash head-on; however, Mejia, a product of the American baseball system, chose to swing decisively.

With a crisp "thwack," the baseball was centered by his bat and flew off into the stands on the third-base side—it was true that Mejia made solid contact, but Lin Guanglai's heavy ball quality suppressed the subsequent force, preventing him from fully transmitting his body's strength, thus unable to hit the ball into the field, wasting a good pitch advantage.

With a good pitch in hand, Lin Guanglai's confidence grew considerably: no longer facing the batter head-on with the aggression shown against the previous contact hitters, Lin Guanglai showed considerable respect to this South American slugger, teaming up with Takeshima Shinya to begin "tormenting" him with a combination of various breaking balls.

Once again, his arm swung outward, and that forkball-seam ball that had just shocked the world appeared in everyone's vision again; the result was naturally the same as before: Mejia, whose discipline at the plate was already mediocre, was tricked by this pitch as well, missing the swing and becoming the third out of the half-inning.

As the home plate umpire made the strikeout gesture, Lin Guanglai excitedly jumped a few times in place on the pitcher's mound, then quickly jogged down from the mound—the first half-inning of the season opener had resulted in three strikeouts, delivering a clean sweep to the opponent, a good start indeed.

With the defensive task basically completed, it's time to focus on offense!

Compared to Seibu, whose batting lineup was overwhelmed by Lin Guanglai's solo effort, SoftBank's offensive momentum proceeded smoothly: although Nakagawa Seiichi struck out to start the game, Honda Yuichi and Yanagida Yuuki quickly followed up with a hit and a walk respectively, swiftly setting up for Lin Guanglai a scoring opportunity with one out and runners on first and second.

On the Seibu Lions side, today's starting pitcher was their top ace Kikuchi Yuusei, whose performance today was actually quite outstanding, as evidenced by the strikeout against Nakagawa Seiichi from the first pitch elimination.

But the reason he's facing a predicament with runners in scoring position now is largely due to his teammates' errors—

In the batter's box, Lin Guanglai recalled the points emphasized by the coaching staff during the pre-game meeting and looked towards the direction of the Seibu Lions' infield at shortstop: there, the player selected by Seibu in 2014, Sosuke Genda, was waiting vigilantly.

The shortstop position is indeed the Achilles' heel of the Seibu Lions now!

As the recognized star position in the infield, a team's fate for an entire season largely depends on the strength of their shortstop:

Top-tier athletic ability, strong arm strength, precise passing ability, quick reflexes and decision-making, calm psychological qualities, and leadership... Anyone who can carve out a niche in the most difficult-to-defend and ball-heavy disaster zone of the infield is undoubtedly the standout member of each team. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

And as for the Seibu Lions, the team that once developed Japan's strongest historical shortstop Matsui Jatou, they fell into a prolonged crisis after their former star shortstop Nakajima Hiroyuki left to join the Oakland Athletics:

For many years, they have been attempting to find the destined star for the shortstop position at nomination meetings, but none have managed to secure their position in the end—such frequent changes of shortstops earned them the nickname "Tokorozawa Guerrilla Squad."

Judging from Sosuke Genda's performance over the past two seasons, his best-suited defensive position would likely still be second base, his placement at shortstop is somewhat forced— and as an opponent, the vast area between second and third base will be Lin Guanglai's primary target for offensive strikes.

On the mound, Kikuchi Yuusei communicated with Tanaka Ginjiro about the pitch and quickly threw the ball over; Lin Guanglai, already formulating a strategy, let the ball pass, showing no panic even if it was judged a strike.

The pitching and batter were locked in a stalemate for a while, with the count rising until it reached 2 balls and 2 strikes, a situation slightly favoring the pitcher.

For the decisive pitch, Kikuchi Yuusei and Tanaka Ginjiro ultimately chose a change-up, and Lin Guanglai's reaction proved this was a wise decision: Lin Guanglai was somewhat deceived by the pitch trajectory, ignoring the change in speed—judging by his swing, he would undoubtedly miss and strike out.

However, years of practice and strengthening his body's core played a crucial role at this moment, despite his swing being initiated and impossible to withdraw, Lin Guanglai chose to adapt it into a hitting stance using his extraordinarily strong adjustment capability, forcefully hitting a powerful opposite-field ball aimed precisely at Sosuke Genda's shortstop zone.

Watching the fast line-drive ball rapidly closing in, Sosuke Genda felt some amount of panic, leading to a slight miscalculation of the incoming ball's height; and in shortstop defense, even the slightest error often results in extremely severe consequences.

Just like that, the baseball soared over his head, landing directly near the third-base line—a location that likewise puts the left fielder in a difficult position, demanding intensive effort and attention to field the ball.

While Kuriyama Takashi in left field ran continuously toward the incoming ball, the two runners on base had already begun advancing; by the time the baseball was returned to the infield, only Lin Guanglai was left standing at third base on the field.

"Lin Guanglai, the first hit of the new season is a remarkably beautiful triple, even when pressured by Kikuchi Yuusei, he forcefully broke through Seibu's infield defense with this hit—it's simply individual capability!" The commentator remarked with admiration while the forty thousand plus audience at the Yahoo Dome simultaneously erupted in applause and cheers.

This is only the first inning, yet the home team SoftBank has already secured a 2-run lead—based on the current situation, it seems this might turn out to be an easy win?!

As SoftBank had three outs and both sides switched again, the score remained at 2:0.

While neutral spectators and Seibu fans hoped the visiting Seibu Lions would demonstrate their "Mountain Bandit Batting Line" prowess, quickly closing and even tying the score, the upcoming scenario would only lead to immense disappointment:

Even facing Seibu Lions' strongest long-distance hitting central lineup, made up of Nakamura Gouya, Asamura Eitou, and Hotaka Yamakawa, they still failed to gain any advantage from Lin Guanglai.

Originally praised by Seibu-supportive media as the "Mountain Bandit Batting Line" for its aggressive, fierce attacking style, akin to mountain bandits raiding brutal and savage and maneuvering against opposing pitchers at will;

Yet today before Lin Guanglai, these "wild bandits" suddenly turned law-abiding citizens; not to mention imposing consecutive long hits and precise punishment on opposing pitchers, even landing a single hit became a luxurious aspiration—ending three innings of play, Lin Guanglai sent nine up nine down, reviewing Seibu's entire lineup smoothly without allowing anyone to successfully step onto the first base bag.

Observing the discouraged faces of opponents around third base, Lin Guanglai in the SoftBank player zone on the first-base side suddenly recalled an old movie he watched—

I heard you're the cemetery line that pursues zones against pitchers? I heard you're good at batting?

"But sorry, I'm a cop!!!"