Chapter 176: Chapter 65: The Collective Counterattack
"Saa---!!!" With nine consecutive strikeouts against Nihon University’s three batters, pitching a perfect half inning as a counterattack, Lin Guanglai on the pitcher’s mound was also exceptionally excited, raising his arms and roaring loudly - such a stance was quite rare for him.
Being intentionally walked twice consecutively in the batting order, anyone would have a hard time feeling good; similarly, besides the simmering anger within Lin Guanglai himself, other players from Waseda Jitsugyo also felt extremely indignant:
This intentional walking of Lin Guanglai by Nihon University was, to some extent, a provocation against the late batting order hitters - in the eyes of these players on the field, Nihon University was banking on the fact that Waseda Jitsugyo’s lower batting lineup had average strength, intending to maintain the current score gap through this kind of "menu" strategy.
Of course, this anger was only buried deep within the heart of Waseda Jitsugyo’s players, not expressed outright - problems on the field should be resolved on the field, since Nihon University chose this approach, they must be made to pay the price on the field; otherwise, this kind of anger would just be powerless fury of the weak.
In the top half of the fourth inning, Waseda Jitsugyo’s batting order rotated starting from the sixth position, Kentaro Yagaki.
Standing in the batter’s box, Kentaro Yagaki’s expression was very serious, glaring fiercely at the pitcher mound where his namesake, Nihon University’s pitcher, stood - in the previous at bat, he was lured by the opponent’s throw, swinging a miss and being struck out.
Perhaps it was precisely because of his performance in the first at bat that Nihon University dared to use the intentional walk tactic on Lin Guanglai so recklessly without any worries - at least, in Yagaki’s own view, it was like this.
For this reason, Kentaro Yagaki decided to fight back from the start of this at bat: he wanted to show Nihon University’s pitcher that anyone who underestimated him, Kentaro Yagaki, would have to pay the price - after all, he was once a player selected for Japan’s National Youth Team during his middle school years!
On the pitcher’s mound, Kenta Yoshinaga moved - his front leg lifted high, then his entire body pressed downward, propelling his arm to throw the ball towards home plate.
"Clang---!"
Responding to him was Kentaro Yagaki’s decisive and resolute swing, and the crisp sound of the bat colliding with the baseball.
The baseball flew swiftly outwards, piercing through Nihon University’s infield defense like an arrow; Hiroki Shimizu at the shortstop position tried to dive and catch it, but was too late, as the baseball slipped past towards the outfield.
Although Nihon University handled the ball at a high level and quickly, by the time the baseball was relayed back to the infield, Kentaro Yagaki was already on first base.
Following Yagaki was Yasuyuki Uesugi in the seventh position.
With no outs and a runner on first base, Nihon University, known for their high defensive skill and rich game experience, naturally wanted to grab a double play to maximize their benefits; hence, during pitching, the duo of Kenta Yoshinaga and Takahiro Suzuki intentionally increased the proportion of enticing pitches, attempting to make Yasuyuki Uesugi hit a weak ground ball.
But Yasuyuki Uesugi did not fall for it.
Facing the aggressive Nihon University, Yasuyuki Uesugi steadied his mindset, actively and patiently maneuvered against Kenta Yoshinaga, spoiling many good pitch opportunities - after battling back and forth for a total of 7 pitches, he seized the chance during Yoshinaga’s unstable control, selected a four-ball, and advanced to base through a walk.
The continuous battle caused fluctuations in both Yoshinaga’s mindset and stamina.
In this game, Minoru Izumi’s supervising strategy was very successful, with less than four innings, Kenta Yoshinaga’s pitch count was already approaching the 70-pitch boundary.
It’s known that until now in this Senbatsu High School Baseball Tournament, Nihon University’s Yoshinaga is definitely one of the most hardworking players:
Apart from being substituted out with a lead against Gakugawa Hokuto in the quarterfinals, Yoshinaga had complete game throws in the previous two matches with pitch counts of 189 balls and 125 balls respectively;
Up until this half inning, his pitch count in this Senbatsu Tournament had exceeded 450 balls - this is an extremely horrifying number, even for professional level pitchers, after experiencing such intense consecutive pitching, it would cause considerable damage to the arm.
The Waseda Jitsugyo players stepping into the batter’s box could feel that Yoshinaga Kenta now was like a precarious building, just a step away from a collapse.
"Ball!"
"Batter advances to base."
Hearing the umpire’s declaration from behind, Kenji Egami in the eighth position tossed his bat to the ground, then jogged up to first base.
With runners on first and second bases, Yoshinaga Kenta issued another walk, filling the bases.
Bases loaded, no outs, trailing 0:3 - for Nihon University’s Shengong champion, they were at their most precarious moment.
On the edge of the field, beside Ogura Quanyou, Nihon University’s baseball club director, 61-year-old Shiraiyo expressed his concern to his team’s supervisor:
"Quanyou, Kenta clearly can’t hold on anymore - should we..."
"No!" Before Shiraiyo could even finish his words, he was completely denied by Ogura Quanyou: "We can’t change the pitcher."
"Leaving aside Nakano’s level can’t handle this kind of game, Kenta, as the team’s ace pitcher, should have this kind of awareness - the predicament created by himself should be cleaned up by himself!"
"We can lose this game, but it must be a valuable loss - if Kenta can grow through this game, then losing to Waseda Jitsugyo is no big deal."
"Otherwise, with his current mindset, when summer comes, it would make things difficult for other teammates..."
Having experienced the baseball craze as a Showa man, Ogura Quanyou’s coaching philosophy naturally deeply influenced by traditional thinking - in the traditional ideology of Japanese baseball, once choosing to wear the team’s number 1 jersey, one must assume the corresponding responsibility of an ace pitcher, no matter what happens, should not come down from the pitcher’s mound, but continue to pitch, until oneself is completely burned out...
Since the team’s main supervisor said so, as the director, Shiraiyo refrained from further comments; he just watched the pitcher mound’s Yoshinaga with somewhat worried eyes, his heart filled with unstoppable concern.
In Shiraiyo’s concerned gaze, Kenta Yoshinaga seemed to have recovered from the predicament, and in the showdown with Waseda Jitsugyo’s ninth batter, Ken Sato, he smiled last, using a slider to strike out the opponent.
However, just as Shiraiyo was about to breathe a sigh of relief, the subsequent game made him realize that that strikeout was just a flash before dying.
Hits, walks, walks.
Facing Waseda’s top three batters, Kenta Yoshinaga’s pitching feel had a big problem, either completely unable to control inside the strike zone, forcefully trying inside would turn into sweet spot balls easier to hit than usual practice.
Being consecutively hit and issued walks made the already unfavorable situation for Nihon University worsen - counting this recent walk, they conceded another 3 runs in this half inning, the score gap widened to as much as 6 runs.
Moreover, the situation on the field was still one out, bases loaded.
The next batter up was named Lin Guanglai.
Koshien grew increasingly quiet, the spectators’ eyes uniformly turned towards Nihon University’s player zone on the first base side:
They all wanted to know whether, in this at-bat, facing a bases-loaded situation, Nihon University would continue to choose the intentional walk tactic?
Until Lin Guanglai was ready, standing in the batter’s box with his batting stance prepared, Nihon University’s supervisor Ogura Quanyou had yet to make any gestures.
Facing the gaze from Kenta Yoshinaga on the pitcher’s mound, Ogura Quanyou merely nodded slightly, indicating that the strategy for this at-bat was up to his own decision.
Only then did the spectators inside the stadium react - there was no indication, no signal for an intentional four-ball walk.
The pitching and batting showdown they had anticipated the whole game was finally about to take place at this moment!