After the match with East Asia Academy ended, the entire Waseda Industries Baseball Club gathered in the club room the afternoon they returned to school to watch the final match of the quarterfinals, featuring Waseda University's match against Soka High School.
If we speak solely of both teams' strengths on paper, Soka High School is undoubtedly much stronger—they represented the West Tokyo Region in the Summer Koshien in 2007 and advanced to the second round;
Whereas for their opponent, Waseda University, making it to the semifinals of the West Tokyo Conference this year was already their best performance since the club was founded.
Regarding whom Waseda Real's next opponent would be, Tsuchiya Ryota had a disagreement with Onoda Shunsuke—
Tsuchiya Ryota believed that, given Soka's strength, even if their batting was completely off, they could still find other ways to win the game;
While Onoda, on the other hand, supported the view of an "underdog victory," firmly believing that Waseda University could make history.
For this, the two even made a bet—the loser would replace the other for a week's worth of baseball club duties.
At the start of the game, the situation indeed unfolded as the paper analysis suggested: Soka High School launched an aggressive offense right from the start, forcing Waseda University to defend passively.
Seeing this, Tsuchiya Ryota, feeling confident in his victory, teased Onoda Shunsuke:
"Ah, the feeling of not having to clean is just fantastic—you know what, Shunsuke, if you flatter me a bit, maybe I'll go easy on you and cut your duty down to three days instead of a week."
Onoda Shunsuke rolled his eyes, ignoring Tsuchiya Ryota's smugness.
The saying "persistent attacks without success must lead to punishment" applies to any sport—as Soka High School's relentless offense pushed Waseda University to the brink, their defense didn't concede a single point and instead seized on the opponent's mistakes to strike back.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, relying on the opponent's mistakes and the synergy among their offensive players, Waseda University came from behind to lead 1-0.
This time, it was Onoda's turn to retaliate: "Ah, some people just love to pop the champagne early—after playing baseball for so many years, don't you know it only starts at two outs in the bottom of the ninth? Never mind, I'll be merciful too, five days it is."
Tsuchiya Ryota wouldn't let himself stew in silence; he immediately retorted, "Don't argue, don't argue, just don't argue—the game isn't over, keep watching."
However, the grand reversal Tsuchiya Ryota imagined never happened—instead, relying on solid defense and seizing opportunities, Waseda University stifled Soka High School, continuing their journey of making school history.
In the activity room, Onoda launched a full verbal assault on Tsuchiya Ryota, who had lost yet another bet and adopted a "not listening, not listening" stance, decisively choosing silence; the others around laughed uproariously at their antics.
Everything that just happened here was captured by the Asahi Shimbun's camera crew responsible for Takayama coverage.
As Japan's most watched amateur sports event, every summer major news media and magazines launch high school baseball sections, filming and producing a series of related content for Japan's audience.
As one of Japan's largest news media outlets, with Tokyo as its headquarters, Asahi naturally pays extra attention to related events in the Tokyo Region—
In addition to the usual post-game interviews, through active communication with school officials, Asahi sends production crews into schools to explore the stories behind the games: from meals, sleep, and training content to classroom, family, and friends' stories, even documenting students' bath routines.
Initially, Waseda Real wasn't their favored filming subject: ever since the nationwide "handkerchief craze" gradually waned after 2006, like those once championship teams, Waseda Real inevitably fell into a slump:
In 2007, defeated in the third round of the tournament, setting the worst record of the century; in 2008, they lost badly in the finals; in 2009, they were swept out by East Asia Academy 10-0 after six innings in the fourth round.
During Waseda Real's downturn, in terms of achievements, Nihon University was undeniably the king of the West Tokyo Region;
Moreover, they had an ace pitcher like Yamazaki Fuyuki, who carried great sensationalism.
As a result, most media initially focused attention on Nihon University; although they didn't neglect Waseda Real, they certainly weren't very attentive.
But as the tournament progressed, the media gradually caught on:
You must know that audiences don't only love underdog victories; they also enjoy the resurgence of traditional powerhouses—
Moreover, this famous team about to make a grand comeback is the very team of the "Handkerchief Prince" who once captivated all of Japan.
And, the deeper the analysis, the more pleasantly surprised the media became with the team: the strong lineup of senior players, solid fielding defense already hinted at the traits of a strong team;
The first few rounds of matches, whether winning by a large margin or reversing the disadvantage through a wave of eruption, the displayed game content was also very exciting;
What thrilled the production crew the most was the fresh face of Lin Guanglai:
Just starting school and he could already be a starting pitcher for a famous Tokyo team, with a top speed exceeding 140km/h, and importantly, he looked very decent—simply a godsend treasure boy!
The reporter responsible for the coverage felt they had come to the right place this time.
After watching the match between Waseda University and Soka, at the strong request of the covering reporter, Suzuki Kensuke and Lin Guanglai led the filming team around the venue—for which Tsuchiya Ryota, with jealousy in his tone, commented, "Looking handsome is great, huh."
Although Waseda Industrial's baseball club already has a history of over a hundred years, the field where players now train daily was actually only built after 2004.
The official name of Waseda Real's baseball field is the "Sadaharu Oh Memorial Stadium." As the name suggests, it was to commemorate the famous alum of Waseda Industries, the legendary Japanese baseball player Sadaharu Oh.
The stadium's facilities are excellent, surrounded by 30-meter-high outer walls;
The pitcher's bullpen is spacious, enough for five pitchers to practice pitching simultaneously;
Moreover, the entire field is meticulously maintained: whether it's the infield, outfield, or pitcher's mound, there are basically no weeds, and the soil is turned very loose
—these tasks are usually completed by the baseball club members to cultivate their hard-working capability.
Afterward, with Suzuki Kensuke and Lin Guanglai leading, the production team headed to a nearby park.
Standing in the center of the park's large lawn, Suzuki Kensuke shyly told the camera: "This is where our members like to come the most."
"Because training is tough, so when we rest, we like coming here—other strong schools nearby like practicing on this lawn, but we don't favor it."
"So what do you do here?" The covering reporter asked with a puzzled look.
Sharing a knowing look with Lin Guanglai, the two burst out laughing: "We prefer playing soccer or rugby on this lawn, hahahahahaha..."
...
After a day of coverage, standing at the park entrance, the covering reporter posed a question to the "one old one young" of the baseball club:
"Mr. Suzuki, Mr. Lin, one last question for today: what kind of achievements do you hope to achieve this summer?"
Suzuki Kensuke thought for a while and cautiously replied, "Uh... ideally, first defeat the remaining two opponents, and then head to Koshien..."
The covering reporter then shifted their gaze to Lin Guanglai next to him.
Gazing directly at the camera, Lin Guanglai still had a smile on his face: "My goal, huh... hmm..."
"Nationwide dominance."