Seeing the second base hit by Lin Guanglai, cheers erupted from the substitute bench of the first-year students.
No outs, runner on second base — this is a rare scoring opportunity.
Compared to the cheering first-years, the senior members felt a little down:
Just as this half-inning started, the opponent already hit a second base hit, instantly ramping up the defensive pressure;
Fielding players on the pitch must not only focus on the batter but also constantly keep an eye on the second-base runner to prevent them from stealing bases.
"First batter, Ogata Kazuyoshi, left fielder."
With Lin Guanglai on base, the lineup has completed a round; Ogata Kazuyoshi, serving as the leadoff hitter, comes up to bat again.
Ogata Kazuyoshi stepped into the batter's box and immediately assumed a bunting stance.
No doubt, with a runner on second base and no outs, the first-year team opted for the most economical sacrifice bunt strategy to advance Lin Guanglai to third base;
In order to ensure a higher success rate for reaching base, Lin Guanglai also positioned himself in a very aggressive space between second and third base.
For this stance taken by the first-year juniors, Tsuchiya Ryota, being the catcher, felt annoyed, yelling in his mind, "Damn it, you juniors, don't underestimate your seniors!"
After an implicit eye contact with pitcher Suzuki Kensuke, the senior members decided to show the first-year juniors who's boss.
Suzuki Kensuke acted like he was adjusting his pitching stance, then suddenly turned and threw the ball to second baseman Fukasawa Kouta lurking near second base — it was a pickoff attempt!
Fortunately, Lin Guanglai was highly focused and realized the captain's intent the moment he acted, so he quickly dove back to second base, rolling and crawling.
In a split second, dust filled the field — just as Lin Guanglai's hand touched the second base bag, Fukasawa Kouta's glove, holding the baseball, touched his body.
"Phew—" Lin Guanglai got up, dusted off the dirt on his uniform, and let out a long sigh.
In a baseball game, the base is the only haven for base runners;
Leaving the base means the runner is in constant threat of being thrown out
— if a fielding player touches you with the ball before you safely reach or return to a base, the offensive runner is out on a tag.
The pitcher, being the core role of defense, is close to all three bases, so they often observe the field situation and decide whether to issue a pickoff attempt.
This time Lin Guanglai was merely quick to react; if he'd been just a tad slower, his dreams of scoring would have vanished into thin air.
Seeing Suzuki Kensuke turned away, Lin Guanglai resumed his slow horizontal movements, trying to edge away from the second base towards third.
In base running, it's crucial to be bold yet cautious; you absolutely cannot be intimidated by the opponent's defense — sometimes, it's those extra few centimeters of leading distance that can determine whether you score or not.
As Lin Guanglai seemed "unrelenting", Tsuchiya Ryota once again signaled for Suzuki Kensuke to perform another pickoff — the message was simple, to completely deter Lin Guanglai's thoughts of stealing base.
Once more diving back to second, once more covered in dirt — but as soon as the ball returned to Suzuki Kensuke's hand, Lin Guanglai seemed to have learned nothing, pulling away from the base once again, always ready to advance.
Although, according to current rules, the pitcher can theoretically issue unlimited pickoffs, few actually do so — as it greatly affects the viewing experience of the game.
Feeling a tad irritable, Tsuchiya Ryota, squatting to catch behind home plate, signaled for Suzuki Kensuke to pitch normally, leaving the rest to him.
Leg lift, twist, arm swing, the ball was released — a fastball flew right into the inside corner of Ogata Kazuyoshi.
The angle was tricky, so Ogata Kazuyoshi was unable to make contact.
As the baseball landed in the catcher's mitt with a loud "pop", Tsuchiya Ryota immediately took off his protective mask and tossed it onto the ground, then quickly got up and hurled the ball toward second base with a powerful arm swing.
This was an unexpected blow: from home to second base, the straight-line distance is nearly 40 meters, and for an ordinary catcher, it's challenging enough to make the throw, let alone ensuring speed and accuracy;
Yet Tsuchiya Kenta's throw went straight for the second base with a "whoosh", with precise control over the receiving point — had Fukasawa Kouta acted slightly faster, Lin Guanglai might have been unflinchingly tagged out.
This time Lin Guanglai was genuinely startled into a cold sweat — while the previous two pickoffs were merely routine intimidation, this home pickoff showcased their resolve to "absolutely not let you advance your base."
Uesugi brushed off his dirty clothes and spat out the dirt he had just inhaled. For now, Lin Guanglai dared not take any more risks and could only maneuver in a safe spot, a step or two away from second base.
Tsuchiya Ryota saw Lin Guanglai's current "steady" appearance and sneered: "My foolish junior, do you think this is over?"
Immediately, Tsuchiya Ryota sent a signal to pitcher Suzuki Kensuke on the mound—this ball was meant for a sacrifice bunt!
Suzuki Kensuke nodded, then followed the catcher's instructions and pitched the ball.
Indeed, Ogata Kazuyoshi in the batter's box lightly bunted the ball and then sprinted quickly towards first base;
The ball, having lost speed, directly descended and slowly rolled on the infield.
Just as this sacrifice bunt was completed and Lin Guanglai prepared to dash towards third base, something unexpected happened:
Tsuchiya Kenta, who got hold of the baseball, didn't bother with Ogata Kazuyoshi rushing toward first base but held the ball in his hand, facing towards the second-third base direction;
This action put Lin Guanglai in a very awkward position at the moment:
If he rashly advanced to third base, Tsuchiya Ryota holding the ball and the defensive players between second and third base could easily encircle and trap him.
Thus, Lin Guanglai had no choice but to abandon the idea of heading to third base and reluctantly returned to the second base bag.
"Damn! I didn't expect the seniors would rather let Kazuyoshi reach base, facing a no-out, first-and-second scenario; yet they absolutely wouldn't let me go to third base."
Lin Guanglai felt very helpless about this.
Now the situation on the field suddenly became subtle: from the standpoint of the match, the first-year team currently had a big advantage—runners on first and second, no outs, scoring seemed imminent;
But for the seniors, the current situation was actually easier to handle than having runners only on second base with no outs at the beginning:
Because of the runners on first and second base, as long as they intentionally induced a ground ball, they could force runners to get out of base—provided no defensive errors occurred, they could likely get two outs at once, or even a triple play with some luck.
Moreover, as long as they captured two outs, even if Lin Guanglai on second base advanced to third, it wouldn't matter—in a two-out situation, sacrifice bunts and sacrifice flies wouldn't work.
For the seniors, they had countless ways to get the last out.
And they put this into practice—pitcher Suzuki Kensuke on the mound faced first-year team's second batter, Yagaki Kentaro, and threw an average-speed cutter ball:
Despite Yagaki hitting the ball, the grounder aimed towards the gap between second and third base was clearly weak.
—Shortstop Matsunaga Kenta quickly moved forward, scooped the ball into his glove, and then swiftly sent it towards second base in a flash;
Fukasawa Kouta near second base had already been waiting—he received the pitch, lightly tapped the base with his left foot, then quickly made a relay throw—the ball landed steadily in the glove of first baseman Sugai Natsuki who was stepping on first base.
And for the first-year team's offensive players, except for Lin Guanglai who managed to reach third base due to no one guarding him—the rest, whether Ogata Kazuyoshi sprinting from first base to second base or Yagaki Kentaro rushing from home to first base, both were foiled by this resplendent defense.
This was the most common yet classic 6-4-3 double play in baseball:
Shortstop receives the ball and sends it to the second baseman, the second baseman tags the base to get the first runner out, then relays the ball to first base to get the other offensive player who hadn't reached first base.
Although it sounds simple, this double play actually demands a lot from the defensive players:
Any delay in the timing of tagging the base, and they can't get both players out simultaneously, putting the senior team in an unfavorable situation of one out with either first-third or second-third base occupants;
And if an errant throw occurs during the relay, Lin Guanglai could directly score by running back to home plate, while the remaining runners could continue advancing.
For the seniors, this successful double play was greatly morale-boosting: the "atmosphere group" standing in the outfield cheered loudly, praising their infield for the brilliant defense.
For the first-year team, this double play nearly shattered their scoring plan:
Two outs, a runner on third base—unless the next third batter Uesugi Yasuyuki could hit past the captain's pitching, otherwise, it's an almost dead-end situation.
First-year team, in trouble!