"Strike! You're out!"
With the umpire's declaration, the bottom of the sixth inning came to an end.
Sugaya Kaito glanced up at the scoreboard above Hachioji City Stadium, the bloody score pierced his heart like a sharp knife—Waseda Real 6:0 Musashi Hill.
Watching Lin Guanglai walk off the pitcher's mound, Sugaya Kaito couldn't help but feel envious: it was this first-year pitcher who faced the senior batters of their team and allowed only two hits over six innings.
Young, talented, and already a starter on a renowned team in his first year—just these few keywords meant that this first-year pitcher was destined to become a star at Koshien;
Meanwhile, the members of Musashi Hill were merely supporting characters in the protagonist's story—perhaps someday Lin Guanglai would become a legendary professional player, and Sugaya Kaito could look back on just a couple of moments on a TV program as the starting point of that legend, he thought self-mockingly.
Looking around at his teammates, each of them had their heads down, and the entire Musashi High School dugout was engulfed in a low-pressure atmosphere, with some even softly sobbing.
Trailing by six runs at the end of six innings, having only managed two hits—it's no wonder his teammates were feeling down; even Sugaya Kaito himself felt ashamed: as the team captain and defensive anchor pitcher, he was thoroughly defeated by Waseda's lineup.
If he could, Sugaya Kaito wanted to find a lonely place right now, lie down, and have a good cry—but he couldn't.
As the team's captain, ace, and pitcher, if he showed fear or hesitation in front of his teammates, everyone would waver, and the game would be as good as over.
Suppressing his chaotic thoughts, Sugaya Kaito gathered his teammates together, forming them into a circle, and shouted with all his might:
"Listen, everyone—we're far enough along in this game that we shouldn't think about the score anymore."
"Since it's our last summer, let's give it our all to extend it a bit—let's aim to play a full 9 innings in this game, okay? I don't want us seniors to leave with regrets!"
"In this next half-inning, I promise you, I won't let any more runs score—let's maintain this 6-run difference, and try to scratch a run off that first-year pitcher, alright?"
With that said, Sugaya Kaito gathered everyone from Musashi Hill into a circle, interlocking hands and raising them upward together:
"Musashi Hill, fighting!!"
-----------------
"Number 9, pitcher, Mr. Lin."
With the broadcast announcement, Lin Guanglai stepped into the batter's box to hit—but with training focused on improving his hitting ability, his hitting level was at least above average within the entire team;
The reason he was still placed ninth in the batting order when pitching was primarily to conserve his energy and to act as a bridge to connect the lineup.
Standing in the batter's box, Lin Guanglai symbolically swung the bat twice and then got into his hitting stance, his eyes fixed intently on Musashi Hill's pitcher—in a game, putting pressure is not just something pitchers do to batters; conversely, as a batter, you must constantly use body language and hitting skills to apply pressure on the pitcher, forcing them to lose control, even causing a wild pitch.
Sugaya Kaito was in fine form at the top of the seventh inning, first getting Waseda's seventh batter, second baseman Fukasawa Kouta, out with a ground ball play; then striking out their eighth batter, Kakiwara Yosuke, by changing pitch tempo.
Even as an opponent, Lin Guanglai still felt that this pitcher's performance in this half-inning was commendable—the only flaw was using too many pitches to get batters out.
"Dun-duh-duh-duh, duh, dun-duh-duh—duh, dun-duh—"
The passionate tune of "The Real Folk Blues" played again, grand and stirring, still sending hearts racing.
Faced with the incoming pitch from the pitcher's mound, Lin Guanglai swung the bat with all his might— the kinetic energy accumulated from the body's rotation and leg push gave the bat tremendous power, hitting the lower side of the ball with exceptional accuracy, and the swing angle with the ground was exceptionally perfect—
With a loud "clang—", Lin Guanglai tossed the bat to the ground—having hit the ball, he didn't rush to run the bases, because the tactile sensation transmitted through the bat seemed to have already declared the outcome:
With huge speed, the baseball soared over the central field stands, leaving Musashi Hill's outfielders staring in awe.
With Lin Guanglai's home run flying into the stands, the score moved to 7:0—for Musashi High School, for Sugaya Kaito, that score meant that if they couldn't score in the following inning, the bottom of the seventh would be the final inning of their high school baseball careers.
-----------------
In the bottom of the seventh inning, with a runner on third and two outs, Waseda Real 7:0 Musashi Hill.
3 balls, 2 strikes.
At this moment, Sugaya Kaito's mind was clear of everything else, with all his concentration fixed on Lin Guanglai at the pitcher's mound, focusing on the baseball in his hands.
The previous batters had given their all to get their runner to third base—this was their best chance of the game!
Just one base hit would ensure that Musashi Hill's summer would not end—yet the premise of all that was hitting the ball.
In the batter's box, Sugaya Kaito gripped the bat tightly, his eyes locked onto Lin Guanglai's pitching hand—determined, he resolved to give it his all on this final swing.
Lin Guanglai pitched, and facing the ball, Sugaya Kaito swung the bat with full force.
—"Hit it!!!"
Even through the batting glove and years of calluses formed through training, Sugaya Kaito could clearly feel the solid contact on the bat—there was no time to notice the direction of the baseball, Sugaya Kaito immediately dropped the bat and sprinted toward first base with all his strength.
"Faster, faster, as long as I get to first base, our summer doesn't end! I need to be faster!!!"
The 27.43 meters from home to first base covered a path he'd ran countless times over three years, but it had never felt as long as today.
Just as his foot was about to touch first base, the ball he had hit landed perfectly in Waseda's first baseman's glove.
Rushing too fast caused Sugaya Kaito to slip and lose balance, crashing heavily to the ground.
Dust flew up instantly, and with the umpire's "out" call at first base, he lay on the ground exhausted, unwilling to get up for a long time.
Musashi Hill's summer, their summer, his summer, was over.
-----------------
Under the referee's direction, the players of Waseda and Musashi Hill lined up facing each other. The umpire then announced the result:
"Waseda Real 7:0 Musashi Hill, 7 innings official game."
"The winner, Waseda Industrial School."
As the umpire's words fell, players from both teams removed their caps, bowed to each other, and thanked each other for such an exciting match: "Thank you for a good game!"
Watching Lin Guanglai head to the stands with his teammates to thank their supporters, Sugaya Kaito couldn't help but feel a sense of loss, thinking, "Being a first-year... it's great!"
Afterward, as captain, he led his team to the stands as well—despite losing the game, many Musashi Hill fans still cheered for them; Sugaya Kaito even saw his little siblings, sobbing as they cheered for him with the surrounding adults:
"We'll cheer for everyone again next year!"
"Next summer, let's strive together again!"
"Big brother, you're the best...sob sob!!!"
With Sugaya Kaito leading, the entire Musashi Hill baseball team bowed to thank their supportive fans—as they lowered their heads, memories of the past three years flooded back, Sugaya Kaito tightly embraced the catcher he had worked with for three years, letting the warm tears fall:
"I really... really wish... to play baseball with everyone again..."
-----------------
Collecting himself and packing up the game equipment, Sugaya Kaito, like usual, led his teammates off the field.
Before entering the players' tunnel, he turned back, gazing deeply at the entire field, as if to imprint every corner in his memory.
Then, Sugaya Kaito turned around and slowly walked into the players' tunnel.
The passionate dreams of his high school years ended here; what lay ahead was a new chapter titled "reality".