After a day and a half of rest, the final game day of the Japan-USA High School Baseball Friendship Tournament has arrived—the Japanese National Team’s only freshman player, Lin Guanglai, will start on the mound for this game.
The weather today is somewhat poor, with fine, dense rain making the field a bit slippery: Lin Guanglai stands on the pitcher’s mound, constantly using his cleats to stir up the dirt around the mound—in such weather, pitchers must be extra cautious; if a slip happens during a pitch, the pain from an injury is not welcome.
Moreover, on this kind of field, special situations that wouldn’t occur in clear weather can easily happen during ground ball defense, something the Japan High School Representative needs to be mindful of.
As the umpire signals for the batter to enter and announces the start of the game, Lin Guanglai on the pitcher’s mound smoothly moves his body forward into a pitching motion.
In the first pitch of the first at-bat, Lin Guanglai delivers a fastball at 148 km/h—even surpassing his previous fastest speed.
The baseball squeezes into the inside corner for Team USA’s batter, wedged between his arms, bat, and the strike zone, flying into the catcher’s glove behind home plate; the placement is so precise that the batter can’t even swing, only watching the ball pass through the strike zone.
For the second pitch that followed, Izumura Yasuhiko signaled for an outside-breaking ball, which Lin Guanglai understood and accurately delivered to the catcher’s desired location.
"Clang!" Team USA’s batter Kiel swings the bat, hitting the ball out—but he couldn’t muster much power, and the baseball slowly rolls toward third base.
Seeing the slow speed of the ball, Nagakoshi Seiji, who was initially at third base, promptly runs up to meet the ball, quickly snatching it into his glove; gripping the baseball’s seams firmly, he swings his arm and throws it toward first base—
There, his old partner Maezono Hideaki was already prepared, catching the incoming baseball securely in his large first baseman’s glove.
"Out!" The umpire’s call sounds from behind first base simultaneously.
Seeing the team easily get the first out of the top half of the inning, Lin Guanglai’s infield and outfield teammates behind him all shout:
"Good pitch, good pitch!"
"Great pitcher! Great pitching!"
"One out, everyone, stay focused!"
On the baseball field, constantly reminding teammates of the situation and maintaining communication is a constantly emphasized fundamental from the start of learning baseball.
The second batter for Team USA, Martin, is somewhat different from the heavy-hitting American-style batter typically imagined; this player is skilled at fouling off pitches and consuming the pitcher’s pitch count.
From the start of the at-bat, he clings to Lin Guanglai like an adhesive plaster—after a back-and-forth, Lin Guanglai has thrown 7 pitches just to Martin. The coaching staff’s pitching limit for each pitcher is only 80 pitches.
The inability to resolve a batter is extremely draining on a pitcher’s stamina and focus—"I can’t continue to tangle with this person, I must quickly find a way to resolve him." Lin Guanglai places his hand behind his back, his eyes fixed on the batter, and his brain starts brainstorming.
Behind home plate, Izumura Yasuhiko stretches his right hand between his legs, signaling toward the pitcher’s mound with several hand gestures—Lin Guanglai shakes his head, refusing the pitch selection; Izumura Yasuhiko has to keep seeking the pitcher’s opinion, going through several different signals before getting the pitcher’s nod.
After confirming the type of pitch, Lin Guanglai hides his hand behind the pitching glove, adjusting the seams continually; behind home plate, Izumura Yasuhiko also assumes the catching stance.
With a swoosh, the baseball shoots out from Lin Guanglai’s hand, flying straight toward home plate—facing the incoming ball, Team USA’s batter Martin also chooses to swing the bat.
However, he hits nothing: the baseball only passes through the strike zone and into home plate after Martin’s arms and bat extend along a straight line.
This changeup completely deceives the batter, causing Martin to miss his final strike, stricken out by Lin Guanglai.
"Oh, oh, oh, Guanglai, well done! Great pitching!" On the Japan High School Representative’s side, the players on the field give thumbs-ups, loudly praising their pitcher’s performance; in the dugout, the players who aren’t playing in this game are even more excited, waving towels and whistling.
Meanwhile, as the player directly involved, Lin Guanglai simply bends down and claps some sweat-soaked hand chalk onto his hands, maintaining a composed demeanor as if he’s merely accomplished something ordinary.
Top half of the first inning, two outs, bases empty.
Lin Guanglai turns to the infield from the pitcher’s mound, gesturing with two fingers to his nearby teammates, indicating the current situation:
"Two outs, focus on getting the nearest out."
"Yes—!!!" His teammates uniformly echo in response.
Gently nodding to acknowledge his understanding, Lin Guanglai turns his body back to observe the batter for this lineup—a black batter standing in the left batter’s box has given the Japan Team considerable pressure over these past few days, Smith, who due to his excellent performances in the previous two days, has been placed in the number three spot by the coach today.
At the start of the at-bat, Smith showcases the dominating and aggressive power of American hitters to Lin Guanglai: the 146 km/h fastball pitched by Lin Guanglai is hit foul—knocked by Smith’s swing, the baseball flies straight to the far back of the stadium sta...
Having a fastball caught like that right off the bat is not good news for Lin Guanglai—a fastball is a pitcher’s lifeline; if the fastballs lose their threat, no matter how many types of breaking balls he has, they’re of no use.
If the mountain doesn’t come to me, I’ll go to the mountain—even though the first fastball was nearly hit into a strong hit, he still firmly chooses another fastball for Smith on the second pitch.
The baseball, like a meteor, shot from his fingertips, then accurately cuts through the outer high corner of the strike zone before entering the catcher’s glove behind home plate.
With a loud "bang," the count for this at-bat instantly becomes 0-2.
With two strikes in hand, Lin Guanglai is relieved—after using two ambiguous balls close to the plate to tempt Smith into swinging without success, Lin Guanglai uses a low outside forkball to make the batter swing and miss.
Three outs, inning change.
In his first appearance in the United States, Lin Guanglai presents Team USA with a swift, three-up, three-down shutdown.