For Waseda Jitsugyo, the first half of the inning went remarkably smoothly: with stable batting performance and the aid of base-stealing tactics, they took the lead first, temporarily leading Musashi Hill 2-0.
As Fukasawa Kouta, batting seventh, was out at first base by Musashi Hill's infield defense, the teams switched offense and defense—Lin Guanglai's turn to take the mound came.
When Lin Guanglai stepped onto the field and began warming up pitches with starting catcher Tsuchiya Ryota, the commentator assigned to this game at the TV station pulled out prepared materials to introduce to the viewers watching the game: "Today's starting pitcher for Waseda Real is Lin Guanglai, a newcomer who just entered high school this year, right-handed pitcher, left-handed batter, with a previously fastest pitch of 130 km/h..."
Seeing such an unusually young face, whether it was the audience in front of the TV or at the scene, and even the team members of Musashi High School, were all drawn to Lin Guanglai's appearance:
On one hand, Lin Guanglai's physical condition was indeed extraordinarily outstanding: nearly 190 cm in height with well-proportioned muscle lines that were hard to believe for a first-year high school student, and his appearance was very handsome and eye-catching;
On the other hand, even in ordinary public school teams, few first-year newcomers make it to the starting lineup, let alone in a prestigious school like Waseda Industries;
And moreover, Lin Guanglai's position was as the team's defensive core pitcher—this inevitably raised doubts: can such a rookie who just entered the high school baseball scene withstand the pressure of being a starting pitcher? Even those familiar with Lin Guanglai questioned whether Izumi Minoru's actions were too hasty in promoting talent.
As for Lin Guanglai, who was warming up, from the moment he stepped onto the mound, the pre-game tension disappeared—his only goal now was to send every batter appearing before him back to where they came from!
"First batter, shortstop, Okuyama."
With the broadcast announcement, Musashi Hill's first batter stepped into the batter's box.
After finalizing the pitch for the first ball with Tsuchiya Ryota, Lin Guanglai took a deep breath, lifted one foot off the ground, concentrated all his strength in his waist and lower body, stepped forward, and threw with his core strength driving his arm.
The baseball "swished" straight toward home plate, and this ball had such a straightforward angle that Musashi Hill's leadoff hitter Okuyama had no reason not to swing—yet the next second, it was the sound of the ball hitting the catcher's mitt that was heard with a "pop."
"Strike!" With the batter swinging and missing, the umpire raised his arm with a fist, signaling a strike call.
Musashi Hill's leadoff hitter displayed a clearly puzzled expression: how could it be that the ball aimed directly at his sweet spot wasn't hit? To solve his confusion, he looked up at the scoreboard displaying the pitch speed.
And when he saw the pitch speed of this first-year pitcher from Waseda Industries, Okuyama's eyes widened—this...could this really be the speed a first-year achieves??? No, is this really a fifteen-year-old???
Echoing around the stadium were the astonished gasps of the audience—"145 km/h!!! Unbelievable!!! My goodness, is this really a first-year player?" The commentator's exclamation echoed the thoughts of every spectator.
This was the pitching strategy prearranged by Lin Guanglai and Tsuchiya Kenta: with the first pitch of the game, throw a fastball aiming straight at the center to openly intimidate the batter and shatter his mindset—give up! Even if I throw straight down the strike zone, you can't keep up with my speed!
Musashi Hill's leadoff hitter Okuyama was clearly affected by the first pitch—against the noticeably slower second ball, he made no response at all, letting the ball fly into Tsuchiya Ryota's mitt.
"No balls, two strikes." It wasn't until the umpire's call that Okuyama snapped back to reality—he slowly walked out of the batter's box, adjusted his helmet, and wiped the sweat off his forehead with his jersey.
Once his emotions gradually stabilized, he picked up the bat and stepped back into the batter's box—
"It seems this first-year is a traditional fastball pitcher Takayama, and it's not possible for his speed to maintain this level with every pitch, so next I'll just focus on exhausting his pitch count; even if I strike out, I have to gather more information for my teammates." Recovering from his shock, Okuyama thought to himself.
The first two pitches thrown were fastballs; on the mound, Lin Guanglai and Tsuchiya Ryota finished communicating, secretly moved his grip behind the glove, and quickly threw the ball.
Faced with the third pitch coming in at a high trajectory, Musashi Hill's Okuyama naturally assumed that fastball pitcher Lin Guanglai had obviously made a control error—after all, this is common in high school baseball:
Pitchers with excellent control are rare in high school, and this also applies to local strong teams; those with good control usually lack speed, and pitches without speed are practically giving away points—in Takayama pitchers, mistakes and wild pitches are everyday occurrences.
But as the baseball flew into the home plate area, Okuyama realized something was off: the high trajectory ball dropped suddenly like a dive into the strike zone—this was a curveball!
Realizing this, Okuyama hurriedly swung, but it was too late—with a "pop" sound, the baseball landed in Tsuchiya Ryota's mitt for the third time.
"Strikeout! Three outs!" As the umpire raised his arm for the third time, a loud buzz echoed through Hachioji City Stadium — the audience was shocked by Lin Guanglai.
Lin Guanglai on the pitcher's mound was also very excited: This was the first strikeout of his high school baseball career!
Returning to his team's dugout, Okuyama felt very ashamed — as the lead-off batter, a third-year student like himself was struck out effortlessly by a freshman rookie.
He shook his head at his teammates on the bench, indicating he had no strategy — he originally thought this freshman was the traditional fastball-type pitcher, but didn't expect the third pitch to be a breaking ball, and the key was that the breaking ball's trajectory was very precise — how could he provide feedback on that!
Against Musashi Hill's second batter Nakamura, Lin Guanglai repeated his strategy: a fast straight pitch thrown with all his strength, a slightly slower straight pitch, paired with an elusive breaking ball angle. Batter Nakamura couldn't withstand such a pattern — with three smooth balls, Lin Guanglai struck him out as well.
Two batters, six pitches, two strikeouts.
The atmosphere in the stadium was getting more intense, and the music played by the brass band became increasingly stirring: Lin Guanglai's exclusive cheer song very aptly began to play — 'The Real Folk Blues,' the ending song of his favorite anime 'Cowboy Bebop.'
Turning his gaze towards Musashi High School's third batter Shimizu, Lin Guanglai appeared serious.
— As long as he could also deal with this third batter with just three pitches, he could achieve the 'perfect inning': the so-called 'perfect inning' is striking out three batters with only nine pitches.
Although this is not a unique achievement, for Lin Guanglai who is just a first-year student, if he could strike out three third-year batters with only nine pitches, it would undoubtedly be a validation of his abilities.
After simply signaling to the catcher, Lin Guanglai quickly threw the first ball — repeating his strategy, an identical fast straight pitch.
As a strong third batter, Shimizu naturally had some skills — unlike the previous two batters who could only watch as the baseball entered the catcher's glove, Shimizu at least managed to follow this pitch — however, Lin Guanglai's pitch speed was indeed too fast, and the ball was pulled out of bounds by Shimizu.
According to baseball game rules, until there are two strikes, any balls hit out of bounds by the batter are considered strikes — so the current situation on the field is 0 balls, 1 strike.
The crowd gasped in astonishment once more — the speed of this ball was even faster, reaching 146 km/h, exceeding the first ball Lin Guanglai pitched in the entire game.
Although this ball counted as a strike, Shimizu's successful swing reminded Lin Guanglai: the opponent's strong batter could at least react to the fast straight pitch — thus, Lin Guanglai decided to slightly change his pitching strategy for this round.
Casually changing the grip of the ball, Lin Guanglai threw the second ball of this round — the speed was still fast, but compared to the fast straight pitch, this ball precisely cut into Shimizu's inner corner as a left-handed batter.
Facing the cutter continuously cutting into his inner corner, Shimizu wanted to swing the bat to hit the incoming ball — but the control of this ball's trajectory made him extremely uncomfortable, and to chase this ball, his batting posture completely collapsed.
Although he barely managed to touch the incoming ball, Shimizu couldn't muster any power onto it. If the ball hadn't landed slightly faster, he might have been caught out directly by the catcher.
0 balls, 2 strikes. Perfect inning, only one strike away.
Third ball.
On the pitcher's mound, Lin Guanglai adjusted his cap, took a deep breath, and without any hesitation, decisively threw the final ball — he didn't even communicate with Tsuchiya-senpai, the catcher, about the pitching coordination, because he trusted Tsuchiya-senpai to understand his intentions.
Driven by magnetic force, the small baseball continuously moved towards home plate — facing the incoming ball, strong batter Shimizu didn't choose to let it go, he filled his body with force and swung the bat fiercely;
— Yet, right in front of home plate, the baseball's trajectory suddenly changed: the magnetic force propelling the baseball upward seemed to suddenly vanish, and under the influence of gravity, the baseball instantly plunged downwards.
After releasing the ball, Lin Guanglai gave a thumbs up in the direction of the bench where the captain was seated — the third ball was none other than Suzuki Kensuke's signature forkball.
The TV commentary was filled with continuous praise, and the cheers of the spectators rose and fell, while the music of the cheer song on the stands became even more enthusiastic.
Lin Guanglai's debut in Takayama's career, perfect inning, achieved!
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