CHAPTER 66: CHAPTER 66: PITCHING CHANGE

As the baseball took off from home plate, soaring through the center of the entire Koshien Stadium and landing on the stands, Tanaka Shuji at the commentary booth could no longer control the passion bursting from his heart. With the loudest voice his throat could muster, he shouted:

"Lin Guanglai!"

"First-year! Koshien debut!"

"First at-bat! First swing!"

"Grand slam!!!"

On the first base side, in Waseda Jitsugyo’s Alps Stand.

The baseball team members sitting at the front of the cheer squad were all left agape: their faces were filled with disbelief, and even the megaphones they had prepared to cheer for Lin Guanglai fell to the ground.

Yagaki Kentaro couldn’t believe his eyes, muttering dazedly, "Kazuyoshi, can you hit me... Am I really not dreaming?"

Beside him, Ogata Kazuyoshi, wearing a similar astonished expression, exclaimed, "Guanglai, Guanglai is just amazing... This is, this is a home run at Koshien... and a grand slam..."

In the center of the field, seeing the baseball fly out of the park, Lin Guanglai slowed his sprint. Then, raising his left fist in celebration, he circled the infield amid the cheers of the entire audience.

Encouraged by the fervent atmosphere brought by the home run, not a single spectator could remain seated; they waved their supports fervently, creating a tremendous commotion, drenching the whole of Koshien in the heat of summer.

Even Akane Kujo in the stands was swept up in the atmosphere, cheering loudly for her beloved brother. She was grateful she had just switched her camera to video mode—she was eager to edit this footage and even felt the urge to leave the stadium immediately.

"Tap!"

As Lin Guanglai set foot on home plate again, four Waseda Jitsugyo batters had successively returned home—the score had now become 7:0.

Before Lin Guanglai could react, Tsuchiya Ryota, waiting by home plate, pulled him over and ruffled his hair vigorously with his hand: "Hahaha, Guanglai, you certainly live up to being my junior, the one I’ve got my eyes on! You punk! A grand slam! We’re all green with envy!!!"

The surrounding seniors nodded like pecking chicks—clearly, the grand slam had shocked them too much, something many of them didn’t even dare to dream about.

Witnessing this grand slam, it wasn’t just the spectators in the stands who were speechless; the players on the Chukyo University side were equally stunned.

From the moment the ball was confirmed to have flown out of the park, Asano Fumuya on the pitcher’s mound seemed to have had his soul completely drained: his legs could no longer support his body’s weight, as he collapsed limply on the mound; his face wore a world-weary expression, devoid of anything but despair.

In the Chukyo University lineup on the third base side, Ohtake Toshiyuki felt a deep regret: he shouldn’t have hesitated, he should have replaced the pitcher immediately after losing two runs.

Falling behind by two runs was no big deal; replacing the pitcher earlier might have led to some complaints from Asano Fumuya but would have had no lasting impact on his future;

But look at Asano Fumuya on the pitcher’s mound now—after getting blasted with that grand slam, this scene might haunt him for life; can he expect such a dispirited Asano Fumuya to shoulder the pitcher’s responsibility after Moriyama Junpei graduates next year? Or, to put it another way, will Asano Fumuya have the courage to stand on the pitcher’s mound again?

At this moment, Ohtake Toshiyuki felt guilty, feeling he had ruined a player’s career due to his indecisiveness—this was utterly unacceptable for an educator.

With a gesture towards the umpire on the field, Ohtake Toshiyuki indicated he wanted to change pitchers: sending Moriyama Junpei from shortstop to the mound, and substituting Fukushima Daigang for Asano Fumuya; the original first baseman, Kawamoto Yu, moved to shortstop.

Walking back to the lineup from the mound, Asano Fumuya’s last emotional string snapped, tears gushing down like a torrential rain, repeatedly saying "I’m sorry" to his teammates.

Ohtake Toshiyuki put his arms around the heartbroken Asano Fumuya, gently patting his back: "Fumuya, please don’t—it’s my fault, I should have acted sooner, don’t blame yourself, the responsibility is mine alone..."

Asano Fumuya continued to cry, apologizing to Ohtake Toshiyuki between sobs: "Coach... I’m sorry, boohoo, I promised to send you off with the champion’s flag... it’s all, all my fault..."

Ohtake Toshiyuki said nothing, just continuously comforting the devastated Asano Fumuya.

On the field, Moriyama Junpei took the glove handed to him by his teammates, walking slowly to the mound—he hadn’t expected to be called so early.

The good news: he didn’t have to face a bases-loaded situation;

The bad news: Waseda Jitsugyo’s batting lineup was in unstoppable form.

With the batting order reset, Shigetsugu Shinzuke came up to bat again for the second time in this game—Coach Izumi Minoru signaled him with a "battle" sign from the sidelines, meaning for Shigetsugu Shinzuke to engage the opposing pitcher for a while.

Understanding the signal, Shigetsugu Shinzuke hit every ball Moriyama Junpei threw into the strike zone foul; after fouling off seven or eight pitches, Shigetsugu Shinzuke gathered enough information and eventually caught a mediocre fastball from Moriyama Junpei, striking a through ball towards the 1-2 base area, successfully reaching first base.

As he handed over his protective gear to a teammate, Shigetsugu Shinzuke also passed back all the information he collected on Moriyama Junpei’s pitches, enabling his upcoming teammates to have a clearer mindset.

With two crisp hits, Manabe Kenta and Kenshu Yasuda, batting second and third respectively, also landed consecutive base hits—the crucial point was that Yasuda hit towards Right Field, providing the not-so-slow Shigetsugu Shinzuke ample space to run back to home plate.

The score reached 8:0.

"They’re going wild, going wild, Waseda Jitsugyo’s lineup has completely gone wild—against Chukyo University, who are keen to defend the title, the prestigious West Tokyo school is about to end any suspense in the game in just one half-inning!"

Even the ace Moriyama Junpei was momentarily bewildered by Waseda Jitsugyo’s fiery lineup; but soon, with his rich competition experience, he regained his composure.

Facing Waseda Jitsugyo’s strongest batter, Onoda Shunsuke, Moriyama Junpei used a high-quality curveball to induce a towering fly ball—sailing slowly towards Center Field, Iwatsuki Youma in Center Field was waiting comfortably and caught the ball.

Three batters were out, ending the first half of the inning, and both teams switched places.

For Chukyo University, this nightmarish opening finally came to an end.