CHAPTER 361: CHAPTER 13: VETERANS VS. ROOKIES

It’s been a while since spring training began.

Noticing that the first team players had already recovered from their "hibernation" state, Manager Akiyama unveiled his next plans at the right moment.

"Alright, everyone’s been doing pretty well in recent training, and now I have an announcement to make..."

"We’ll slightly reduce the training intensity this afternoon; gather at the No. 1 training field on time tomorrow morning—veterans with more than 3 years in the team and newcomers with 3 years or less will be split into two teams. As for what we’ll be doing, I think most of you probably already understand..."

Just as Manager Akiyama finished speaking, many of the veteran players in the crowd flashed smiles—which Lin Guanglai found somewhat odd, particularly among those veterans over 30 years old and who had been with the team for more than 10 years, smiling the happiest:

"Hahaha, it’s that time of the year again for my favorite red-white match—well, it’s about time to let the newcomers see the level of their seniors."

By contrast, the expressions on the faces of younger players with about one or two years on the team, who had experienced previous red-white matches, weren’t as cheerful—the rookies often suffered crushing defeats in the past red-white matches, as the veteran players of the Softbank Team never held back, showing at least 70-80% of their regular season strength against the newcomers.

However, Lin Guanglai appeared unusually excited: the last serious game he played was back in August at Koshien, which was more than half a year ago. Since he started playing baseball, he had never gone this long without a game!

Unlike many young players who were anxious about being overwhelmed by the veterans, Lin Guanglai was more eager to play a somewhat formal game—his excitement was, however, interpreted as youthful exuberance by the veteran players.

Therefore, they decided to give this standout among newcomers a wake-up call in the red-white match the next day, considering it an early professional-level lesson for him.

The next morning, as all players gathered, the 2013 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks’ red-white match officially began.

"New team members, Red Team; veterans, White Team—both sides salute!"

"Pleased to meet you!"

In this game, Lin Guanglai was placed in the starting pitcher position, expected to pitch about 1 or 2 innings; his opponents were mostly the main players of the Softbank First Team.

For Lin Guanglai, who had just graduated from high school and had been in the professional team for less than half a year, this was indeed a considerable challenge; but it also could be Manager Akiyama Koji’s way of evaluating him—if his preseason performance was good enough, he might directly enter the main rotation lineup in the new season.

On the White Team side, the leadoff hitter was Honda Yuichi wearing number 46, who had been with the team for 7 years and was currently the main second baseman and leadoff hitter for the first team.

Honda Yuichi’s batting ability isn’t particularly strong; his main tool is the bunt. The key to his footing in the first team is his stable defense and Japan’s top-notch base-running ability—a sprint to first base in 3.78 seconds, honored as Steal King twice, and since securing his spot in the first team in his second year, his season stolen bases have never been below 20 times.

Against such a player who’s a significant threat on base, the best solution is to prevent him from reaching base—to achieve that, it’s crucial to ensure suppression on the edges of the strike zone when pitching.

"Yuichi, don’t let us veterans lose face—give the newcomer a little professional shock!"

Standing outside the batting area, Honda Yuichi heard the cheers from his teammates on the White Team from the bench, glanced over at his teammates before stepping forward, setting his batting stance, and directly met Lin Guanglai’s gaze.

Honda Yuichi had witnessed the performance of this young talent during the recent training sessions—to be honest, if Lin Guanglai were given just another year or so to adapt, Honda Yuichi wouldn’t have much confidence in suppressing him; but now, compared to these veterans who had been in professional baseball for many years, Lin Guanglai was still a bit green.

In the catcher’s seat, Yamashita Yoshiro signaled to Lin Guanglai—he was SoftBank’s first pick in 2010, intended to be developed as the team’s future main catcher; but due to the special nature of the catching position, he had been honing his skills in the second team for the past two years, and only officially logged into the first team this season.

On the pitching mound, Lin Guanglai understood the signal, gently placed his right hand on the baseball’s seam, adjusted, and then sent the ball towards home plate.

The baseball sliced through the air, fast and straight, drawing a white trajectory aimed at Honda Yuichi’s inside corner; facing this fastball almost grazing his body, the batter found it hard to react, having to let it pass.

"152km/h, strike!"

"Yeah! Way to go, Guanglai!!!" Although there were no particular expectations for the red-white match’s outcome, when Lin Guanglai threw such a splendid ball in front of his seniors, his teammates still cheered accordingly.

Soon after, the second ball was pitched—a 157km/h fastball flew dead center, and the abrupt speed increase got Honda Yuichi there slightly off guard, thus losing the optimal hitting opportunity.

After two pitches, 0 balls, 2 strikes.

As Lin Guanglai caught the baseball Yamashita Yoshiro returned, he smiled, evidently satisfied with his control state today.

For the next pitch, he decided to strike while the iron was hot, aiming to promptly deal with the extremely threatening Honda on base first, so if he faced power hitters like Nakagawa Seiichi or Matsuda Naohiro next, he wouldn’t be caught in a particularly passive situation.

The third pitch was a fastball aimed at the high zone of the strike zone, benefiting from Lin Guanglai’s excellent control; this pitch’s placement, in his hands, had a high rate of causing batters to swing and miss, making it one of his most reliable pitches.

With a "swish," his arm swung out, and the baseball flew from his fingertips, heading toward the intended spot.

"Thunk!" Having familiarized himself with Lin Guanglai’s pitching rhythm, this time Honda Yuichi swung a bit ahead, managing to narrowly hit the baseball with the bat’s front end; the baseball was heavily smashed onto the ground, then soared high into the air above the infield.

The ball was quite far from the third baseman’s position, and the first to react was Lin Guanglai, who charged down the pitcher’s mound, catching the ball in his glove before it hit the ground a second time, twisted his body, and swung his arm to send the ball to first base.

The baseball and the runner nearly reached first base simultaneously, but the batting coach, acting as the umpire in this game, had already quickly made the call—

"Safe on base!"