"Unbelievable, unbelievable—dear audience, I can hardly believe my eyes!"
Tanaka Shuji, the announcer, was utterly shocked witnessing the second home run fly into the stands. His voice was raised several octaves as words of praise poured out one after another:
"First-year student Lin Guanglai!"
"Amazing! Absolutely amazing!"
"A new record! This is a new record in the 92-year history of the Summer Koshien!"
"A genius, an absolute genius!"
In the over ninety-year history of the Summer Koshien, countless genius players have emerged. But since the education system reform in 1948, only 14 players have ever hit a home run at Koshien Stadium as a freshman—today, Lin Guanglai became the 15th;
If we narrow down the criteria to "hitting two home runs as a freshman," before Lin, only one person has achieved this—a phenomenon in 1983, Masumi Kuwata, who, along with Kazuhiko Kiyohara, led PL Academy to the championship as freshmen and established PL's reign.
