Not only Lin Guanglai's teammates were startled by Ohtani Shohei's astounding pitch speed—the audience at the scene was even more so.
The stadium was filled with a cacophony of cheers and shouts from the crowd, and Lin Guanglai, standing at the heart of attention, could feel the waves of noise surging at him from all angles, bringing along immense pressure, as well as soaring adrenaline.
At this moment, Lin Guanglai's heart was ablaze—his instincts told him that now was the time to engage Ohtani in a "real man's duel," competing with pitch speed;
Yet years of experience taught him that the hotter his heart burned, the calmer his mind should remain: in terms of fastball speed, at least for now, he couldn't yet throw such consistently high-velocity fireballs;
His strength lay in his control ability, rarely matched by other pitchers of the same age—what he should do now is to solve the forthcoming third hitter just like he eliminated the previous two, with his rich combination of pitch types.
After confirming the pitch signal with Uesugi Yasuyuki, crouched behind home plate, Lin Guanglai glanced at the opposing batter, roughly confirming his pitching strategy in his mind.
Accompanied by the "whoosh" of his arm, the baseball flew off his fingertips, journeying in a straightforward trajectory straight into Uesugi's catcher's mitt—without any twists or turns, this was a straightforward four-seam fastball.
"Strike One!" the umpire emphatically declared from the baseline.
Feeling little joy, Lin Guanglai quickly refocused on the game as he caught the ball returned by Uesugi.
The second pitch was a curveball—its trajectory was almost the complete opposite of the first straight pitch. From Lin Guanglai's hand, it seemed to fly upward—viewed from the baseline batter's perspective, it undoubtedly appeared to be a bad pitch, so he chose not to swing.
However, just as the baseball was approaching home plate, its path suddenly plummeted rapidly toward the strike zone—the opposing batter, who had given up the swing, scrambled to hit the incoming ball but couldn't react in time, and the ball once again settled snugly in Uesugi's glove.
"Strike Two!" The umpire's enthusiastic voice echoed from behind home plate—second strike!
Receiving the returned ball from the catcher again, Lin Guanglai, without any excess motion, quickly pitched his third ball.
The initial velocity of this pitch was fierce, shooting toward home plate like a cannonball—the batter at home plate, with all his strength, tried to hit this fastball with everything he had.
However, in reality, just as the bat was about to meet the baseball, the two just barely missed each other and went their separate ways.
The rapidly spinning baseball kept descending until it fell out of the strike zone, then with a "pop," landed in the catcher's mitt—this was a textbook cutter.
"Strike, Out!"
"Ha ah!"
With the umpire announcing the third batter out, Lin Guanglai tensed every muscle and clenched his fists, letting out an excited shout.
The more immense the pressure, the stronger Lin Guanglai's desire to win became.
Much like Ohtani Shohei, he had also struck out three consecutive batters in his own way; this not only reinvigorated the disheartened spirits of his teammates but simultaneously conveyed to the opponents:
The game has only just begun; who will win or lose remains unknown!
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With the third person tagged out at first base, the bottom of the eighth inning concluded.
So far, the score remained 0-0.
Both Lin Guanglai and Ohtani Shohei showcased remarkable performances—the match had almost turned into a pitching showcase, each side dispatching the opponents' batters one by one in their unique ways.
Leaving the pitcher's mound, Lin Guanglai grabbed a towel handed to him from the bench, wiping the sweat off his face haphazardly—the effects of continuous pitching were now manifesting:
Lin Guanglai could clearly feel his stamina depleting steadily, with his shoulders and arms starting to show signs of fatigue.
Admittedly, this game's nature was just a minor contest among middle schoolers, and winning or losing wasn't that significant—at least, that's how it seemed before the game.
But as the game reached this point of intense competition, Lin Guanglai didn't want to play the role of the one who needed comforting after the defeat.
He urged his teammates to push forward, "Next up, we have to hit Ohtani's pitches to score!"
Yet the outcome was rather cruel—even at the bottom of the ninth, Ohtani Shohei's pitching remained fluid, his fastball speed diminished but still formidable.
With one strikeout and a deliberate groundball, this genius player from Iwate casually eliminated the first two batters.
Next up was Lin Guanglai's turn at bat, as the team's eighth batter—not because he was poor at batting; on the contrary, Lin Guanglai had considerable talent in hitting.
The main reason for his lower batting order was the significant time needed to hone his pitching control skills, leaving relatively less time for batting practice.
Stepping into the batter's box, gripping the bat firmly, Lin Guanglai once again faced Ohtani Shohei—in the previous pitching duels, neither had gained much advantage over the other: any balls hit were either grounders fielded by the infield or high flies caught by outfielders.
Lin Guanglai fixated on Ohtani Shohei, trying to predict the pitch type from his delivery.
However—
"Strike, Out!"
"Change sides!"
As the umpire announced loudly, the top of the ninth inning ended just like that. Even towards the game's end, Ohtani's pitches were still powerful and swift; the sheer speed and aggressiveness left Lin Guanglai struggling to keep up.
No time to lament, Lin Guanglai hurriedly returned to the team's dugout, grabbed his glove, and walked back up to the pitcher's mound—as Ohtani Shohei of the opposing team was now the batter for the bottom of the ninth inning.
Hesitation leads to defeat, so facing Ohtani in the batter's box, Lin Guanglai made a slight adjustment and delivered the pitch directly.
Gathering strength, aiming the ball, releasing—Lin Guanglai's actions were fluid, as the power from his lower body, waist, abdomen, and arms combined to send the pristine baseball flying like a silver arrow, with a strong spin and tail speed, straight into the catcher's mitt, producing a loud "bang" sound.
"Strike!"
——This was a fastball over 140km/h! Ohtani in the batter's box had no way to deal with it.
Without much pause, Lin Guanglai received the ball from catcher Uesugi, confirming the signal before throwing again.
The side effects of consecutive pitching were showing again—the release point of this pitch wasn't completely controlled, and the ball was slightly high, leading Ohtani Shohei to pass on it.
"Ball."
Lin Guanglai wasn't too upset about it—after all, in baseball games, it's normal for pitchers to throw balls; no matter how good a pitcher is, they can't ensure every pitch lands accurately in the strike zone. The important thing is ensuring the next pitch is a strike.
This time, Lin Guanglai slightly slowed his pitching rhythm—often a change in a pitcher's rhythm can affect the hitter's striking tempo, thus gaining an advantage for the pitcher.
Facing the left-handed Ohtani, Lin Guanglai chose to target his inside corner with a cutter ball.
Relying on eight innings of accumulated experience, it was apparent Ohtani Shohei had grasped Lin Guanglai's pitching habits, and without hesitation, swung at the coming ball.
——Unfortunately, the angle of the pitch was very tricky, just catching the low inside corner, so Ohtani didn't hit the ball.
Seeing Ohtani's missed swing at home plate, Lin Guanglai excitedly roared—only one more strike and he could return the favor with a strikeout, emotion flooding out entirely at that moment.
Standing on the pitching mound, Lin Guanglai rubbed his sore shoulder, taking a deep breath amidst the cheers and shouts of the audience.
He lifted his left leg, slightly bent it, turned his body slightly backward, then drove from his legs, firmly stepping his left foot onto the mound, then exerting force, rotating, and flipping the ball with his fingers—
This was a four-seam fastball faster than the first pitch, with better ball quality and greater power—at such a critical moment, Lin Guanglai chose the most thrilling confrontation mode: he would face Ohtani with speed.
Facing the ball that was like a cannonball, Ohtani Shohei in the batter's box didn't panic, his eyes locked on the ball, core tightened, body extended backward to accumulate power, right foot gently lifted forward, then initiated the bat swing, channeling all of his amassed strength into the striking bat.
"Bang~"
The trajectory of the baseball and the metal bat met perfectly, producing a melodious impact sound—the baseball struck fiercely by the bat instantly changed direction, flying toward the ballpark—
The baseball flew over the pitcher's mound, over the infield, over the outfield, and then out of the park, completely disappearing from sight.
Ohtani Shohei, with a walk-off home run!
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With mixed emotions, players from both teams lined up facing each other, removing their hats to salute the opponent——no matter win or lose, etiquette on the field is always necessary.
After the post-game ceremony, Lin Guanglai didn't follow the team back to the player rest area; he walked towards the Iwate Team, wanting to greet Ohtani Shohei.
"Ohtani."
Hearing the call from nearby, Ohtani Shohei turned around.
"Mr. Lin, hello! Is there something you need?" The boy with a baby face very politely returned the greeting to Lin Guanglai.
"Congratulations on winning the game. Your performance today impressed me. Both your pitching and batting were very strong."
Though losing the game, Lin Guanglai wasn't the kind of person who couldn't take a loss—after all, if you don't acknowledge the opponent's strength, doesn't that make you look even worse for losing to them?
Hearing such praise from his opponent, Ohtani Shohei showed a bit of bashfulness, "No, it was my teammates who were more exceptional today—Mr. Lin, you and your teammates are all very strong. If it weren't for my teammates' steady defense today, we probably couldn't have lasted until the end."
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Lin Guanglai took off his cap and handed it to Ohtani: "I heard you'll stay at Hanamaki East in Iwate Prefecture. I hope we can meet again at Koshien in the future."
Receiving the cap, Ohtani also handed his cap to Lin Guanglai, nodded, and replied, "Definitely."
After nodding to salute his opponent, Lin Guanglai prepared to return to the team. Suddenly, he seemed to think of something, turning again to Ohtani Shohei:
"Also, if we meet again next time, I will definitely defeat you!"
After speaking, without giving Ohtani a chance to respond, Lin Guanglai quickly returned to his team, leaving the field to today's star.
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On the bus returning, Lin Guanglai lay listlessly on the seat at the far end, deeply overcome with a sense of loss.
Even though it wasn't Koshien or Japan's Number One series, after losing the game, he still felt very discontent.
Lin Guanglai reviewed today's match, if the pitching was evenly matched, comparatively a fifty-fifty situation; the batting was a complete zero score:
——Facing Ohtani, at most, he could only hit some powerful ground balls; while Ohtani facing him hit an incredibly beautiful walk-off home run.
Playing with the swapped cap, Lin Guanglai suddenly noticed a line of text on the inside brim of Ohtani's cap, flipping it over, reading each word aloud:
"Start from Iwate, become Japan's Number One."
Lin Guanglai covered his face with the cap, then lay sprawled on the seat, trying to immerse himself in the darkness.
"Completely outmatched," he muttered to himself.