CHAPTER 68: CHAPTER 68: ACE ANNIHILATION PLAN

I have to say, Moriyama Junpei truly lived up to his status as the ace pitcher of a championship-level team: ever since he was substituted in during the first inning, aside from the initial unstable mindset that led to a lost point, in the subsequent few innings, although Waseda Jitsugyo managed occasional hits, they couldn’t return to home base to score again.

At Waseda Jitsugyo’s side, after confirming that they couldn’t expand their score advantage for the time being, they immediately chose to adjust their mentality and began to tangle with the opposing pitcher as per their planned strategy.

On the pitcher’s mound, Moriyama Junpei wiped the sweat off his forehead with his forearm, breathing heavily: Waseda Jitsugyo’s batters are truly "annoying," sticking to him like a series of leech plasters; they swing at balls they should hit and even at those they shouldn’t—he barely pitched three innings before his pitch count broke the 70-mark barrier.

Most crucially, whether as a shortstop or a pitcher, Moriyama Junpei must stay fully focused on the ongoing situation from start to finish, not allowing any carelessness—compared to physical fatigue, this mental exhaustion aggravates him even more.

Facing Waseda Jitsugyo’s number eight batter, Kakiwara Yosuke, Moriyama struggled immensely, using nearly ten pitches in total to finally get him out by forcing a ground ball, barely keeping this half-inning at bay.

The top half of the fourth inning ended with the score still unchanged at 8:0.

"No matter what, at least the score didn’t widen any further—let’s see if we can muster a counterattack next!" Returning to his team’s dugout, Moriyama took water from a teammate, thinking to himself while drinking.

However, the upcoming half-inning of Waseda Jitsugyo left Moriyama, resting on the sidelines, utterly astonished:

Up on the pitcher’s mound, Lin Guanglai showcased his excellent competitive state today, showing no fear even when facing Chukyo University’s strongest batter, Izumura Yasuhiko, at the start of this half-inning.

He resolutely and decisively attacked Izumura Yasuhiko’s inside corners, vying for advantageous counts, with the objective of forcing the opponent to concede the outside corner space.

As a power hitter, Izumura Yasuhiko naturally wouldn’t easily concede—but Lin Guanglai’s resolve far exceeded his expectations.

You won’t concede? If you don’t, I’ll keep throwing inside pitches until you’re scared, until you have no choice but to concede!!!

Lin Guanglai’s soft touch and superb ball control talent fully shone at this moment. With two consecutive inside pitches, he precisely positioned the ball in the strike zone’s most uncomfortable spots for the batter, making it difficult for Izumura Yasuhiko to hit or not hit, ultimately forcing him to retreat a step outside, conceding the outside corner space.

Following this was an extremely deceptive outside pitch, directly striking out Chukyo University’s strongest batter Izumura Yasuhiko, who stood watching the ball enter the glove, struck out in place.

Strikeout, strikeout, and more strikeouts!!!

In less than ten minutes throughout the bottom of the fourth inning, Lin Guanglai struck out Chukyo University’s fourth, fifth, and sixth batters one by one.

On the supportive stands of Chukyo University, murmurs of conversation emerged among their supporters:

"Is this pitcher really a freshman? Such ball control skills are just too unfair!"

"And his pitch speed, what’s the speed record for freshmen in the Summer甲 again? I recall it being only 148km/h!"

"I report! Someone’s using hacks, this person’s hacking! I report!"

Moriyama Junpei’s mood was near collapse: their pitcher, from taking the mound to finishing the inning, took less than ten minutes in total; he thought he could have some rest time, but now it’s his turn again—in the first round, he only threw less than 40 pitches; otherwise, with today’s game intensity, even he couldn’t hold up.

Rubbing his aching arm, Moriyama Junpei put on his pitching glove, calling his teammates to the field to defend.

Jogging up to the pitcher’s mound, the opposing batter was already waiting: again it’s Waseda Jitsugyo’s freshman pitcher.

On the commentary booth, Tanaka Shuji, satiated by the spectacle, saw Lin Guanglai standing outside the batter’s box, speaking with anticipation:

"Ah, Waseda Jitsugyo’s Lin Guanglai is stepping up to bat again—he’s contributed a grand slam and a single in his first two at-bats of this match, his batting form today is exceptionally hot, I really anticipate his performance in this at-bat!"

Takumi Tanchisha echoed beside: "Indeed, not only has he contributed a stable defensive performance as a pitcher, but as a batter, Mr. Lin has already knocked in 4 runs. Truly a remarkable player!"

Even Moriyama Junpei found himself a bit uneasy when confronting Lin Guanglai, who had hit a grand slam.

The first pitch, a slider that moved toward the outer corner, with a trace of probing the batter.

Such probing couldn’t fool Lin Guanglai, who let the ball pass—"Pop", Chukyo University’s Izumura Yasuhiko caught the ball, the catch position evidently outside the strike zone.

ball, 0 strikes.

Without any unnecessary adjustments, Lin Guanglai remained standing in the batter’s box, ready for the second pitch.

With a "whoosh," Moriyama Junpei threw the baseball.

From the batter’s perspective, this pitch sat perfectly in the sweet spot, heading directly to the lower central part of the strike zone. Lin Guanglai swung his bat against the incoming ball, stepping forward with his right foot, rotating his body in an attempt to hit the ball.

Unexpected to him, the ball entered the zone much slower than Lin Guanglai anticipated, so much that by the time his swing completed, the baseball had just barely passed through the strike zone, landing in the catcher’s mitt behind home plate.

It was Moriyama Junpei’s signature changeup.

In the batter’s box, after failing to hit, Lin Guanglai licked his lips, evidently dissatisfied with his recent performance.

After the changeup, Moriyama Junpei threw another pitch with excellent quality and tricky angle at the inside corner, hugging the edge of the strike zone into home plate—the count moved to 1 ball, 2 strikes, placing the batter at a disadvantage.

Then Moriyama Junpei threw towards the outside corner, boldly let go by Lin Guanglai, and luckily, the ball landed outside the strike zone.

Thinking from the pitcher’s perspective, Lin Guanglai reckoned Moriyama Junpei would likely make the next pitch the decisive one for this at-bat—very few pitchers would give up the advantage of 2 strikes, placing their hope of striking out a batter on a full count with a 50/50 chance.

On the pitcher’s mound, Moriyama Junpei turned his body, lifting his left leg high, then suddenly thrust forward, hurling the baseball with all his might from his right hand.

"Such fast pitch speed."—this was Lin Guanglai’s initial impression.

"It’s definitely a four-seam fastball!"—this was the instant judgment of his brain.

"This ball is certainly headed into the strike zone!"—this was his judgment on the ball’s landing spot.

Facing the incoming ball, Lin Guanglai slightly lifted his front foot, gathering his body’s center onto his strong back leg; then the back leg erupted with force, the lifted front foot also striding forward, his hips driving his entire body to rotate, his arms pushing the bat forward—

"Clang!"

Upon contact between the bat and the baseball, Lin Guanglai still tightly gripped the bat; he didn’t choose to release the force but continued exerting it, pushing the baseball towards the right.

The crisp sound from the bat striking the baseball made Moriyama Junpei’s heart tremble—with urgency, he turned his body, looking towards right field; silently praying in his heart:

"Please, Ah Liang, catch this ball!"

The soaring baseball nearly blended with the scorching afternoon sun, making it hard for players, commentators, and spectators on-site to discern the white baseball’s position for a moment.

"Right field! Right field! The baseball is flying towards right field!" Tanaka Shuji had a premonition, shouting in disbelief.

Under the gaze of all spectators, under the full coverage of wide-angle cameras, the small white baseball descended from the sky, crossing the boundary line drawn by the field, and flew onto the stands for the second time in this match.

"Crack."

This was the sound of Moriyama Junpei’s heartstrings breaking.