CHAPTER 79: CHAPTER 79: ACE VS ACE

Wednesday, August 18, 2010.

Day 12, Game 1, Waseda Real (West Tokyo) vs Narita (Chiba).

The game hasn’t started yet, but the TV program host has already begun the pregame warm-up session.

The large screen next to the host displays images of the two star players who are the focus of both teams:

Under the Waseda Real’s label on the left side of the screen, is a photo of Lin Guanglai pitching—his handsome features, coupled with his tall physique and powerful pitching pose, exude a sense of beauty; his puffed cheeks when exerting force add a touch of cuteness;

Under the Narita label on the right side of the screen is Narita’s ace, Nakagawa Ryosuke, standing on the pitcher’s mound roaring—in the photo, Nakagawa’s face is fierce as he strikes out opposing batters, expressing his emotions with a loud roar.

In the photos, one ace is a freshman, the other a junior; one is dynamic, the other static, vividly presenting a scene of fierce rivalry, unwilling to yield.

Waseda Real’s players, carrying their bags, line up in order as they come out of the player tunnel, walking into Koshien Stadium—they quickly head into the third-base side players’ area, taking out their gear to begin pregame warm-ups.

Due to it being a weekday and the first game, the flow of people inside Koshien Stadium is not much right now, with large sections of seats unoccupied except for fan supporters from both sides—compared to previous Waseda Real games, today’s audience numbers are notably lower.

The official theme song of this Summer甲 tournament, "One More Step," plays over the stadium’s broadcast.

On the field, Hanshin Horticulture staff are performing pregame maintenance on the playing area; on the sidelines, players from both sides who have already arrived are warming up by playing catch with teammates.

As time approaches 11:30, at the head umpire’s call, Waseda Real players leave the player rest area, take their positions outside the third-base line, and then dash towards home plate.

"Salute!"

"Please guide us well!"

Lin Guanglai looks up at his directly opposite opponent—it is Narita’s ace pitcher, Nakagawa Ryosuke, who is also looking at him.

"Dear viewers, what we are now broadcasting is the 92nd National High School Baseball Championship, Day 12, Game 1, quarterfinal between West Tokyo representative Waseda Real and Chiba representative Narita High School."

"The winner of this match will become the first team of this tournament to advance to the final four."

"On the first-base side, Chiba Representative, Narita High School."

"On the third-base side, West Tokyo Representative, Waseda Real."

In the commentary booth, Tanaka Shuji begins his work in coordination with the footage being shown on screen.

After the pregame salute ceremony, Narita’s players run back to the dugout, while Waseda Real’s players jog to their respective defensive positions on the field—both teams’ starting lineups remain unchanged from before.

Having warmed up by pitching a few balls, Lin Guanglai signaled the umpire that he’s ready; simultaneously, Narita’s leadoff batter steps into the batter’s box.

"Top of the first inning, Narita on offense, the batter up is leadoff hitter, second baseman, Ooki Ryouta."

Seeing Narita’s batter prepared, the umpire points towards the pitcher’s mound and loudly shouts, "Play Ball!"

Then, for the first time today, an air raid siren sounds over Koshien—amidst the piercing, prolonged siren, Lin Guanglai throws the first pitch of the game.

A fastball speeding at 145 km/h heads toward the inner low corner of the batter, the close proximity to the body scares Ooki Ryouta near home plate into dodging out of the batter’s box, letting the ball pass.

"Ball."—In the opening stage, Lin Guanglai still needs to adjust his feel for the ball, so this pitch didn’t perfectly slot into the corner of the strike zone like previous games;

However, his initial courage to pressure the batter’s inside corner was rewarded; Ooki Ryouta dared not carelessly approach home plate again.

The next pitch was a high outside corner fastball, a pitch difficult for most batters, so Ooki Ryouta opted not to swing—but he wasn’t so lucky this time, the baseball precisely passed through the strike zone into Tsuchiya Ryota’s glove.

"Strike."

In subsequent pitches, Lin Guanglai and Tsuchiya Ryota continued to pressure the batter by manipulating space—after 2 balls and 3 strikes, and with a bit of effort, Narita’s leadoff batter Ooki Ryouta was struck out.

Standing outside the dugout, Izumi Minoru was very pleased with how this at-bat was handled, giving a thumbs-up towards the pitcher’s mound.

Before the match, Waseda Real’s team had thoroughly researched Narita’s games, gaining a deep understanding of their playstyle:

This Narita team is essentially Nakagawa Ryosuke’s one-man team: the defense is pitcher-led, and the pitcher’s performance dictates the game’s direction—from the regional tournament, Nakagawa pitched complete games nearly every time; his record of 61 strikeouts in the regional tournament and 28 in the first three games of this Summer甲 is remarkable.

Compared to their consistently performing pitcher, Narita’s batting lineup is explosive but lacks stamina—if the leadoff hitter gets a hit, Narita is likely to mount a swift offense;

But without the leadoff hitter reaching base, Narita’s offense becomes sluggish and stalled.

Therefore, getting rid of Ooki Ryouta, the leadoff hitter, was a significant relief for Waseda Real.

The following batters’ performance also met Waseda Real’s pregame expectations—Lin Guanglai struck out one and induced a ground ball to make Narita’s batters go three up, three down, ending the top half of the first inning.

Three outs, sides change.

Back in the dugout, Waseda Real’s top-of-the-order hitters quickly donned their gear, eager to break the deadlock for the team—being ninth in the order, Lin Guanglai didn’t do the same; he leaned on the dugout railing, looking at Nakagawa Ryosuke warming up on the field.

Back on the tournament’s opening day, Lin Guanglai recognized Narita’s ace—in the face of Wisdom Wakayama’s strong lineup, he struck out 14 batters, allowing just one run, consistently sending batters back to the bench empty-handed.

Since then, Lin Guanglai had been looking forward to a chance to face him—and now, that opportunity has come.

Bottom of the first inning, starting pitcher Nakagawa Ryosuke goes all out from his debut: not only is his control superb, but the key is the near negligible speed difference between his fastball and slider—a rare capability at the high school competition level.

Faced with Nakagawa’s highly refined fastballs and sliders, Waseda Real’s batters find it challenging to cope—not to mention going three up, three down, Nakagawa even solves three batters with just six pitches, leaving them no chance to wear him down.

Nakagawa Ryosuke walks off the mound expressionlessly, as if completing something utterly natural.

For the content displayed in this inning, Tanaka Shuji quips on the commentary table:

"In the first inning, both pitchers offered us brilliant performances—both three up, three down, what’s tough is it’s hurting the lineup players from both sides."

Seated beside him, Takumi Tanchisha nods in agreement: "Indeed, it’s evident both pitchers are in excellent form today, the ensuing game is entirely foreseeable."

"Truly an ace vs. ace showdown!"