CHAPTER 85: CHAPTER 85: A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY

After successfully reaching first base, Lin Guanglai was not satisfied with the current advantage—he continuously distanced himself from the base and returned, constantly pressuring Nakagawa Ryosuke on the pitcher’s mound.

In baseball games, it’s not over once you reach a base; a runner standing on a base can completely interfere with the opponent’s pitcher-catcher duo by leaving or stealing bases, thus preventing the pitcher from concentrating on resolving the batter, creating advancement opportunities while easing the pressure on his own batter.

Nakagawa Ryosuke kept glancing sideways at Lin Guanglai on first base, clearly wary of him; after all, if he managed to steal second, with no outs, Narita High School would find themselves on the brink.

With a swift move, Nakagawa Ryosuke made a timing play, turning sideways to throw the ball towards first base.

Fortunately, Lin Guanglai’s attention was highly focused, and before the ball flew into the first baseman Kaneko Yuuta’s glove, he dived to the ground and placed his right hand on the first base bag.

Dirt rose in clouds on the infield as Lin Guanglai confirmed that his foot was firmly on the base, then slowly got up from the ground, dusting off the black dirt from his body.

As Nakagawa Ryosuke turned back towards the batter, Lin Guanglai once again ventured off first base as if nothing had happened, taking two big steps toward second base.

Kondo Tomoya, crouched behind home plate, noticed Lin’s movement and called for an outside pitch—just in case Lin Guanglai dared to steal a base, as a catcher, he was confident he could tag him out at second base.

As Nakagawa Ryosuke lifted his front foot, readying to pitch, Lin Guanglai, already a third of the way towards second, seized the moment and broke into a sprint towards the second base bag.

Stealing base!

Receiving the ball from his own pitcher, Kondo Tomoya, who was prepared for this, leaped up from the ground and flung his arm to send the ball to second base.

The throw was fast but a little high—the shortstop Mukai Yuji, who ran to second to receive it, had to jump to catch it to prevent the ball from flying over his head.

Despite quickly swinging down for the tag, Lin Guanglai’s leading leg had already touched the second base bag with a slide.

"Safe!" announced the second base umpire.

Kondo Tomoya slapped his thigh hard, clearly dissatisfied with his throw, and then gave a thumbs-up to praise Mukai’s excellent catch—if the ball had gotten past him allowing Lin Guanglai to move to third base, it would’ve been much bigger trouble.

Now with no outs and a man on second, it looked like an excellent chance for Waseda Jitsugyo to decide the game.

Faced with such an exciting situation, the spectators in the stands began chattering animatedly:

"Being tall and having long legs is great, you have an advantage both running and reaching bases."

"Look at his position now, he’s almost a quarter of the distance off the base, isn’t he? Aren’t they afraid he’ll get picked off?"

"Waseda should just bunt steadily and advance the runner, right? As long as the bunt isn’t terrible, they can easily bring the batter home."

"I think they should go for a solid hit—the pitcher is surely under a lot of pressure now, don’t give him time to recover."

As the outcome was about to be decided in this half-inning, the audience at Koshien Stadium went into a frenzy, each with their own opinion—suddenly, the stadium was completely enveloped in noise.

In the sky, the scorching noonday sun relentlessly baked every living thing outdoors, including the players on the field.

Nakagawa Ryosuke could feel the dehydration and shoulder pain, having started on the mound for two consecutive days reaching nearly 300 pitches—even after enduring grueling physical training for three years, this intensity was taking a toll.

Narita’s manager Ooshima Jishin called for a timeout and sent a messenger to the infield to relay instructions to the players on the field:

Under Ooshima Jishin’s command, Narita’s three outfielders positioned themselves more forward than usual, reducing the throw distance while also mitigating the damage a medium-range hit from Waseda might cause.

After completing the defense setup, Narita’s third-year pitcher-catcher duo had another exchange about their pitch-calling strategy—in this situation, even a slightly strong grounder could allow Lin Guanglai to return to home base; they urgently needed to eliminate a batter to alleviate the immense defensive pressure.

Unable to see what was behind him, Nakagawa Ryosuke simply stopped worrying about Lin Guanglai, turned to focus entirely on Chongxin Shen Zhong at home plate, concentrating on handling the batter in front of him.

To prevent the opponent from having a chance at a bunt, Nakagawa Ryosuke went all out—even in this tenth inning extended game, he could still deliver tricky fastballs at 135 km/h, leaving Chongxin Shen Zhong with no room to play for a sacrifice hit.

After a back-and-forth, the count was two balls and two strikes, and without an option for a bunt, Chongxin Shen Zhong had no choice but to hit the ball conventionally—facing Nakagawa Ryosuke’s slider, not being fully prepared, Chongxin Shen Zhong made a weak contact, the baseball wobbling up high and not even leaving the infield before being caught by the second baseman Ooki Ryouta.

Due to the infield pop fly, Lin Guanglai could only retreat back to second base, unable to advance.

With 1 out and a man on second, the situation on the field improved significantly for Narita High School.

The next batter up, Matsunaga Kenta, took over the role Chongxin Shen Zhong failed to complete, using a sacrifice bunt to send Lin Guanglai to third base, although he himself was thrown out at first by Narita.

With 2 outs and a man on third, all the pressure fell on the third batter Kenshu Yasuda.

Just one hit and Waseda Jitsugyo could advance to the semifinals after four years; but if he got out, this game would endlessly continue until a winner was decided, or there would be a rematch the next day after fifteen innings.

Before stepping into the batter’s box, Kenshu Yasuda, under the watchful eyes of the live and television audience, made an unexpected move:

He threw his bat to the side, then got on the ground and did several push-ups next to the batter’s box; after completing the set, he stood up again, dusted off the dirt from his hands, picked up his bat, and entered the batter’s box, preparing his stance, eyes fixed on the pitcher.

"Hahaha, hahaha—" The audience burst into laughter at his actions.

In such a tense moment, Kenshu Yasuda’s unexpected move slightly eased the suffocating tension that was permeating Koshien Stadium.

"Hahaha, we can see that before entering the batter’s box, Yasuda did a few push-ups—I wonder if this action will bring luck to him and to Waseda Jitsugyo?"