CHAPTER 71: CHAPTER 71: FATHER’S LAST WISH

Generally speaking, the focus of the program "Hot Battle Koshien" is usually on the teams that lose the matches—after all, compared to the winners, the stories of the "losers" often resonate more emotionally with the audience; but in today’s program, the match between Waseda Jitsugyo and Chukyo University was a rare case where both sides had significant coverage.

Apart from television programs, starting the day after this second-round match ended, a series of authoritative print media focused on high school baseball such as Asahi Shimbun, Daily Sports, Sports Hochi, Tokyo Chunichi Sports, while reporting on other matches also paid more attention to Waseda Jitsugyo.

"25 hits and 21 points, Waseda Jitsugyo shatters Chukyo’s dream of consecutive championships"

"Grand slam victory, freshman opens the door to the third round"

"Araki returns! Equals Kiyohara! Freshman ace aims for tournament victory"

"Waseda Real in full swing—what are the odds in Tokyo civil war?"

The impact brought by the combination of a freshman student and two home runs was really significant—after the matches on the eighth day of the tournament, Waseda Real caused quite a stir in the entire high school baseball community, and its characteristics as a media darling were fully displayed; as the key player in the victory, Lin Guanglai naturally received a lot of attention, with media praises pouring in for a while.

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Hyogo Prefecture Nishinomiya City, Kantou Number One hotel.

"Akira, why are you still reading reports about that freshman from Waseda Jitsugyo—you’ve read them so many times since this morning." Shibazawa Aimi looked at his teammate who was seriously reading the newspaper and couldn’t help but ask.

Miyashita Akira put down the newspaper in his hands and smiled somewhat embarrassedly: "Anyway, training is over, so in my spare time, I should study our opponent in the next round more, right?"

Shibazawa Aimi waved his hand, puzzled: "But think about it Akira, our match with Waseda Jitsugyo is the day after tomorrow—altogether just two days of rest, I think it’s unlikely that this freshman will be used initially again; since that’s the case, what’s the point of studying him?"

"Better safe than sorry—preparing more is always correct." Miyashita Akira did not agree with his teammate’s idea and refuted him; then he stood up from the tatami and said to Shibazawa Aimi beside him:

"I’m going to go swing the bat again now, are you coming, Aimi?"

"I’m coming, coming, if you’re going, I definitely can’t not go!"

Looking at the backs of the two leaving, Kantou Number One’s ace pitcher Shirai Keiichi exclaimed:

"Akira is really hardworking—ever since that incident two years ago, he seems to have been like this, right?"

The teammate beside him agreed: "Yeah, ever since that incident, no matter how hard or exhausting the training is every day, after dinner at night he swings the bat five hundred times alone, rain or shine."

Seeing his team’s ace batter in this state, Shirai Keiichi, as a pitcher, jumped up and said with clenched fists:

"Alright! Since Akira is so hardworking, as the main pitcher, I can’t fall behind! We have to win the match the day after tomorrow! For Akira, and for Kantou Number One’s baseball club to enter the Summer甲 top eight for the first time in its 83 years of establishment!"

"Oh yes!!!" Shirai Keiichi’s inspiring words incited an echo of enthusiasm among the surrounding teammates.

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"Huh... huh... huh..."

Miyashita Akira bent over, resting his hands on his knees, continuously panting heavily—having just completed the daily training of swinging the bat 500 times, his exhausted body warned him.

This habit began two years ago—in the summer of 2008, Kantou Number One succeeded in entering Summer甲 that year; even though Miyashita Akira, who had just started high school, couldn’t make it to the first team, he was still happy for his seniors.

Joyful, he followed the large group from the field back to school, but the first person he saw wasn’t his father who usually picked him up, but his mother, who was in tears accompanied by the baseball team’s teacher—from his mother’s mouth, Miyashita Akira learned that his father had been diagnosed by doctors with end-stage liver cancer symptoms, not long left to live.

That summer, Miyashita Akira did not go to Koshien with the large team to support the team, but stayed at home and accompanied his father on the final journey of his life.

Miyashita Akira’s father, Miyashita Masahiko, was a former professional player with the Yokohama Ocean Whales (now Yokohama DeNa BayStars); under his companionship and guidance, Miyashita Akira began strict baseball training from an early age—as a player from the Showa era, naturally, Miyashita Masahiko admired the Spartan-like educational methods depicted in the manga "Star of the Giants," which led to several conflicts between father and son.

But when Miyashita Akira stood at the sick bed, looking at the previously strong father’s weak appearance, he suddenly felt some regret—regret why he hadn’t worked harder himself, perhaps then he could have made his father see him standing in Koshien Stadium before he left.

That summer, Miyashita Akira lost his father forever; it was also from then, he dedicated a hundred times more effort than others in every training, and after the daily routine training, he added extra training.

Finally, in the last year of his high school baseball career, he and his teammates went through all kinds of hardships and overcame all difficulties to come to the stage of Koshien.

Before heading off to Koshien, Miyashita Akira even went to the cemetery alone and said some words to his father lying quietly in the graveyard.

Seeing those media reports, his first reaction was one of dissatisfaction: these media seemed to think that Waseda Jitsugyo reaching the top eight was a foregone conclusion, completely disregarding a bit of Kantou Number One’s feelings.

But Miyashita Akira didn’t say anything, he planned to respond with his performance in the match—

"Compared to everyone, I am the one who wants to win more, because I have an obligation to win the game—I carry not only the expectations of my teammates; Dad, please watch carefully from the heavens, watch how your son becomes your pride."

Taking out his phone from his pocket, Miyashita Akira found a message from his mother:

[Mom]: Akira, the day after tomorrow’s match, Mom will also come to the site to cheer for you! Remember not to force yourself too much, no matter what, you always are Dad and Mom’s pride.

"Great, now there’s another reason to win."

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Waseda Industries hotel.

With one day left until the start of the third-round match, due to all future matches being back-to-back, today’s training is likely to be the last regular training for Waseda Jitsugyo’s Koshien journey this time.

The players’ condition is getting better and better, which makes Izumi Minoru very satisfied—in a single-elimination tournament system, having the team peak at the right time is crucial, and now is just right, giving him great confidence.

After blowing the whistle for assembly, Izumi Minoru routinely announced the starting lineup for tomorrow’s match—except for the regular rotation of pitchers, the starters remained largely unchanged.

Lin Guanglai’s performance was good, but ultimately, he is still a freshman who hasn’t fully developed; whether for the team or his future, Izumi Minoru had to use him sparingly.

If nothing unexpected happens, Waseda Jitsugyo’s subsequent matches will likely continue this double pitcher rotation strategy, thus having a significant physical reserve advantage in the latter half of the matches.

However, unfortunately, the unexpected did happen.