March 30, 2011, the 8th day of the tournament.
Hanshin Koshien Stadium.
First match of the day, Second Round.
Waseda Real (Tokyo) VS Luzheng Society (Osaka).
Even though the game started early, the attention it attracted was massive — apart from cheering squads from both schools’ hometowns, a large number of neutral fans also chose to start their day early to watch the match.
Looking around, more than half of the seats at Koshien were already filled — even though it was a Wednesday workday, the number of spectators was still considerable; conservatively estimated, the attendance had reached over thirty thousand.
There were many reasons for this phenomenon:
First, both Waseda Industries and Luzheng Society are very strong teams with nationally renowned star players — such a high-profile match was something most fans of Takayama couldn’t afford to miss;
Moreover, the main storyline of Tokyo vs Osaka also played a role: as the largest two metropolitan areas in Japan, and the regions with the highest level of baseball, the battle between Tokyo and Osaka high schools, to some extent, means a confrontation between two major local groups, naturally attracting countless attention.
The television staff responsible for broadcasting the game couldn’t contain their excitement upon seeing the constantly soaring viewership numbers — just this one match was quickly approaching the combined viewership of several matches over the past few days — if there were always such high-profile matches, their year-end bonuses would be assured.
Honestly, if it weren’t for the fact that the Senbatsu High School Baseball Tournament schedule was pre-determined, this heavyweight showdown would undoubtedly have been placed during primetime for the third match.
On the ground inside Koshien Stadium, players from both sides were engaged in pre-game warm-ups.
On the third base side where Luzheng Society was located, Hai Bu Dadao was swinging a metal baseball bat while chatting with his good friend, the team’s main shortstop, Ishijima Gen.
"Gen, do you think we should listen to the coach’s advice and abandon the pride of power hitting, opting instead for the bunting strategy to secure the win?"
As the lead-off batter for the team, Hai Bu Dadao felt slightly confused.
In this game, Luzheng Society was taking the offensive first — initially, they had planned for all team members to give Lin Guanglai a hard time; however, the words of their coach from the previous day kept echoing in Hai Bu Dadao’s ears, causing him some dilemma.
Sitting a bit further away, stretching his muscles and preparing for the match, Ishijima Gen heard his friend’s words, looked up and met his gaze with a serious expression:
"What, are you lacking confidence in yourself? Or are you afraid even before facing him, Dadao?"
Hai Bu Dadao quickly shook his head and murmured, "That’s not what I mean, I just think the coach makes some sense too... Wouldn’t it be great to secure the win steadily? Plus, our senior also reminded us before..."
He was interrupted before he could finish his sentence.
Ishijima Gen stood up, patted off the dust on him, and addressed Hai Bu Dadao with a stern tone he had never seen before:
"If that’s how you think, Dadao, then go ahead — but don’t blame me for looking down on you."
"No matter what you think, I’m definitely going to face Lin Guanglai head-on."
"What does winning a game by bunting even mean? What significance does it hold?"
"Rather than sneaking a victory in such a cowardly way, I’d rather face off against the opponent with dignity!"
"Moreover, although our senior reminded us to be careful, if we abandon the pride of being power hitters, will he really be happy for us?"
"Dadao, we are ’power-hitting Luzheng’! Have a little faith in yourself — we’ve already taken down Fujinami from Tongying, today, Lin Guanglai will be next!"
A silence followed.
Moments later, Hai Bu Dadao seemed to have made some kind of decision; he raised his head and, with equally determined eyes, looked at his teammate and said:
"Yeah! You’re right! I’ll listen to you, Gen!"
"Let’s use our powerful, fierce swings to take down every pitcher that stands in our way,"
"and conquer them all!!!"
Soon after, with the players completing their pre-game greetings, the match officially began amid the buzzing sound of the air-raid siren.
Lin Guanglai stood on the pitcher’s mound, his expression not as serious as expected, but rather relaxed — for some reason, he felt exceptionally good today.
However, for Hai Bu Dadao in the batting area, Lin Guanglai’s expression seemed like a sign of disrespect toward the Luzheng Society batters — even though the game had started, he still wore an unserious smirk.
"Laugh, laugh — I’ll soon hit your ball out, and see if you’ll still be laughing!" Hai Bu Dadao thought to himself, stepping forward into the left batter’s box on the right side of home plate, ready for the swing.
"Play Ball!" With both sides ready, the home plate umpire decisively signaled the start of play.
"Swish—" The moment after the word left his mouth, a ball was immediately released by Lin Guanglai from his hand, heading with extreme speed towards the top edge of Hai Bu Dadao’s strike zone.
"Clang!!!" As the first batter up, Hai Bu Dadao showed his resolve, decisively choosing to swing the bat and pull the ball away.
The baseball was hit foul, flying into the stands behind the first base side, causing many to exclaim and scramble for it.
"Oh? Such a strong desire to swing?" Lin Guanglai thought as he received a new baseball from the catcher.
The first pitch was a high and inside fastball, a spot that’s very likely to induce a swing and miss; normally, unless the batting count was two strikes, most batters wouldn’t choose to swing at such a pitch — as the lead-off for Luzheng Society, Lin Guanglai expected Hai Bu Dadao to observe a bit more.
With such a strong willingness to swing, the pitch strategy had to be adjusted; therefore, after throwing the first ball, Lin Guanglai took his time to discuss pitch selection with Uesugi Yasuyuki, while letting the batter hang for a bit, cooling his touch.
Raise the leg, gather strength, swing the arm, flick the ball — with a fluid pitching motion completed, the second ball flew from Lin Guanglai’s hand again, still a fastball, and still high and inside.
But this time, he used full strength!
The first ball almost turned into a long hit, so when faced with a similar pitch, Hai Bu Dadao naturally didn’t let it pass. Without hesitation, he decisively swung the bat again.
"Snap." The sound of the baseball colliding with the catcher’s glove was huge.
The bat swung by Hai Bu Dadao hit nothing.
The speed of 150 km/h displayed on the Koshien Stadium outfield scoreboard instantly ignited the entire stadium’s atmosphere.
"Another fireball! Another fastball over 150 km/h! It’s incredible!"
"How do you even hit that? It’s tough for Luzheng Society!"
Standing at home plate, Hai Bu Dadao naturally saw the number — it clouded his newly risen spirits once again.
"Can we really overpower such a pitcher head-on? Should I listen to the coach and try bunting?" His mind was once again conflicted.
Hesitating, catching wind of Lin Guanglai’s third pitch, his focus clearly scattered, allowing the ball to fly through the strike zone without any reaction.
It wasn’t until the umpire’s "strike three, you’re out" call reached his ears that Hai Bu Dadao awakened from his thoughts.
Oh, I struck out.