CHAPTER 58: CHAPTER 58: A BREAKTHROUGH IN ONE GO

In the player area, seeing their batter’s home run being confiscated, the Kurashiki Commerce players, who had begun to raise their arms high in celebration, instantly fell silent.

Even in professional games, such a high-difficulty catch is very rare; on the Koshien field, it’s something that may not be seen for years — yet their team happened to be the unlucky one; this inevitably made the Kurashiki Commerce players lament the unfairness of the gods.

However happy and joyful they were before, now they were equally deflated — worsening the situation was the fact that after this brilliant catch, the situation on the field immediately turned into 2 outs, with no one on base, which filled the Kurashiki Commerce players with despair, the real feeling of losing the first round becoming increasingly strong...

On the bench of Kurashiki Commerce’s substitute seat, some players even covered their heads with towels, not daring to look at the field; on the other side, the Waseda Jitsugyo player area, not a single person could calmly sit there now, each of them leaning on the railing, nervously waiting for the emergence of the final out.

Kurashiki Commerce’s fifth batter, Uekata Shuma, stepped one foot at a time slowly into the batter’s box to the right of the home plate, standing stationary as the batter coming on after two outs, bearing immense pressure at this moment.

On the pitcher’s mound, Suzuki Kensuke’s heart was now pounding non-stop, looking down at his pitching right hand, the palm already wet.

No matter how mature he is, he’s ultimately just an eighteen-year-old young man — infected by the hot atmosphere of Koshien Stadium, Suzuki Kensuke also realized that his first Summer甲 victory was at hand, his heart unable to calm down.

After pausing for quite a while, waiting for his tense emotions to ease a bit, Suzuki Kensuke wiped his palm sweat dry with his pants and applied some chalk powder to keep it dry.

Once again, he placed his fingers on the surface of the baseball — the stitching was incredibly clear at this moment, almost wanting to merge with his knuckles, just like his determination for victory.

Taking a deep breath, Suzuki Kensuke lifted his front foot, gathering his body’s center of gravity onto the supporting leg behind.

After ensuring body balance, his upper body suddenly twisted backward, gathering all upper body strength to his body’s center.

As the body tightened to the extreme, he swiftly sent his body forward, the power from the lower limbs and hips driving the upper limbs to quickly exert force.

When the right hand holding the baseball was swung to the front of the body, Suzuki Kensuke released the ball from his hand — before the baseball completely left his control, the fingertip gently flicked the seam.

After a whole smooth pitching motion, the baseball flew straight toward the back of the home plate at lightning speed.

Uekata Shuma, waiting with full readiness, meanwhile, did not flinch — facing the incoming ball, he used a downward chop method, resolutely choosing to swing the bat.

"Clang—" Once again, the baseball fiercely collided with the bat, under the action of a huge thrust, the baseball first bounced high off the ground, then just passed under Suzuki Kensuke, who tried to catch the ball in the glove, flying low towards the gap between first and second base.

Faced with this grounder closer to first base, Sugai Natsuki, who originally stood firm at first base, chose to leave the base to intercept the baseball in front; at first unsuccessfully intercepting, Suzuki Kensuke did not stand there in a daze, but rather positioned his glove towards Sugai Natsuki, sprinting madly in the direction of first base.

"Snap." — That’s the sound of the ball being timely intercepted and collected into the glove by Sugai Natsuki.

"Whew" — That’s the sound of the baseball being passed out and slicing through the air.

"Snap" — That’s the sound of the baseball being steadily caught into the glove by Suzuki Kensuke, who was moving to cover first base.

The spectators at the scene didn’t react immediately, plunging the whole of Koshien Stadium into a brief eerie silence.

Eventually, it was Tanaka Shuji in the commentary booth who first reacted:

"First base out, three outs, game over!!!"

"Waseda Real, first Summer甲 victory in four years!!!"

Suddenly, the spectators also realized, and in an instant, applause and cheers came swelling in like a tide, Koshien plunged into uproar and agitation.

The human emotions don’t connect, the 2 to 0 score splits the whole of Koshien in two:

The Waseda Jitsugyo player area on the third base side and the support stands at this moment are immersed in celebration, players one by one rushing from the substitute seat to the field, wildly hugging nearby teammates;

On the first base side, the Kurashiki Commerce player area and support seats are deathly silent, their players seem to have their souls sucked out, sitting there like zombies, some even began to anguish right after the game ended.

Looking at the scene of two worlds, Tanaka Shuji in the commentary booth couldn’t help but sigh:

"Day 3 match 2 of the 92nd tournament, Waseda Real 2:0 Kurashiki Commerce."

"Waseda Industries’ third-year captain, Suzuki Kensuke, 128 pitches of hot dispatch! Complete start to finish shutout victory!"

"On Holy Land Koshien’s pitcher’s mound, in nine innings only hit for 3 hits, struck out 11 times!"

"And Kurashiki Commerce, it’s undeniable their performance was also excellent, they can leave with heads held high — but that’s how games are, there’s only one victor, unfortunately, their summer ends here."

At the beckon of the chief umpire, the celebrating Waseda Jitsugyo players one by one walked near the home plate to stand ready for the post-match ceremony, they are the happiest people in the world right now;

Whereas Kurashiki Commerce players struggled to manage their internal sadness, using nearly a minute to gather — even during the lineup process, some players couldn’t hold back their tears.

Once the teams from both sides were lined up, the chief umpire and the base umpires took off their caps together:

"Game over, the winner is Waseda Industrial School, overall score 2:0."

"Both sides bow in salute!!!"

Standing at the end of the line, Lin Guanglai followed the team, everyone taking off their caps and bending down to bow in gratitude to the opponent.

"Thank you for the match!!!"

After the salute session, players approached each other for hugs and handshakes — at the same time, the air raid siren "Wang—Wang—Wang—" sounded again, marking the official end of this match.

"Now playing is Waseda Industrial School’s school song."

With the broadcast’s announcement, Kurashiki Commerce players retreated to their player area on the first base side, while the Waseda Jitsugyo folks turned to face the outfield: under the gaze of tens of thousands of spectators both on-site and nationwide, they were to sing their school’s anthem.

Not just the players on the field singing loudly, the massive support team on Waseda’s side also joined in, those neutral spectators clapped along with the music’s rhythm.

"In the campus of Waseda standing proud~"

"The solemn attitude of the Changpan Forest~"

"That is the embodiment of our character~"

"The Rice Ear Badge glowing on the hat brim~"

"With ’Remove false and keep true’ as the school motto~"

"Our athletes forever carry this spirit~"

This is a moment of glory, exclusively enjoyed by the victor in the Koshien match.