Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 555 - 126

In the batter's box, Lin Guanglai also noticed Mason Jie's subtle adjustment not far away, and he tightened his grip on the bat — he knew that the next pitch was very likely the one he had been waiting for.

The tenser the moment, the less room there is for any mental relaxation; especially since Mason Jie's curveball has a much bigger drop than usual and shifts slightly both vertically and horizontally — one small mistake and it could easily lead to a weak grounder or fly out.

Mason Jie's massive body swung his arm with all his might, gathering all his strength into one point. The white ball left his hand with violent reverse spin, slicing through the air.

The baseball carved an elegant yet deadly arc in the air, curving from Lin Guanglai's inside corner towards the outer corner, the enormous drop truly worthy of its name as the winning pitch.

In that instant, time seemed to stretch infinitely: the thunderous cheers of Hanshin Tigers fans were still audible, laced with some profanities, but Lin Guanglai had no interest in those now, his eyes focused solely on the baseball within his sight!

His body didn't hesitate for a moment, his front foot stepped out swiftly, his waist like a powerful bowstring, instantly unleashing stored energy. The bat he swung felt as if it had been precisely calculated, accurately meeting the curveball that had drawn a line in the air.

Not deceived by the huge movement of the baseball, his eyes were fixed firmly on the center of the ball; then, just as the baseball was about to reach the back of home plate, his bat arrived too!

"Clang---!!!"

A crisp, loud crack exploded above Koshien Stadium!

The precisely and elegantly plotted curveball was violently swatted away by Lin Guanglai, soaring against its original trajectory, flying straight back towards the not-so-tall home run wall of Koshien.

The moment the ball left the bat, Lin Guanglai already knew the result of this hit — to say something Hanshin Tigers players and fans won't like, in terms of home run experience in this stadium, most of their players might not compare to Lin Guanglai!

With an unstoppable momentum, the baseball forcefully passed over Hanshin Tigers' desperately retreating right fielder; then, it slammed into the yellow tide in the left-field stands.

Home run, solo shot to break the ice!!!

After a brief stillness, there was a small yet fierce cheer from the visiting team's fan section; but more prevalent was the silent loss of words from Koshien's fifty thousand home fans.

Many unconsciously clutched their heads, pulling at their hair, faces full of frustration and pain; the deafening boos, the synchronized "curse" chants, the drum-like clapping... all the malice directed at Lin Guanglai was cut clean by this decisive swing.

As Lin Guanglai at home plate watched the baseball fly into the stands, he began his calm round of the bases, while the stands echoed with sporadic boos, though no longer as vehement as before.

As his front foot stepped on home plate, the scoreboard above Koshien's outfield also flickered, adding a number behind the SoftBank Team; with this one-run lead, the balance of victory was slightly tilted.

"Way to go, Guanglai — you've silenced these Hanshin fans!"

"Well done! Mason Jie is no match for you."

Back in the players' area, Lin Guanglai high-fived his teammates with a joyful face, and the seniors in the team affectionately patted his head and back, everyone immersed in joy — after all, this was a go-ahead solo shot in the Japan Series!

Even the usually serious and composed Manager Akiyama gave Lin Guanglai a thumbs-up, praising him for an inning "well done!".

To this, Lin Guanglai responded —

"Manager, this is just the beginning — didn't I tell you earlier this was just the start — just watch outside the dugout, today I'll turn Koshien into a quiet library!"

His earnest stance made Akiyama Koji find it quite amusing; thus he nodded, smilingly replying to his protégé:

"Alright, I'll be watching you perform from the VIP viewing seat outside the dugout."

Removing his batting gloves and stepping back onto the pitcher's mound, the clamor from Koshien's stands was now merely bluster in Lin Guanglai's heart:

Seeing the expressions of those Hanshin fans in the stands when he hit the home run, deep down they were already afraid, they just didn't dare or couldn't admit it.

Of course, some may think Lin Guanglai's solo shot off Mason Jie was just luck, but Lin Guanglai would soon prove with his ultimate dominance on the pitcher's mound —

This was no fluke!

On the pitcher's mound, Lin Guanglai's gaze was cold as he stared directly at the American face entering the batter's box.

The first hitter in the bottom of the second inning was Hanshin's cleanup hitter, Matt Morton, known for his double-digit home runs during his prime with the Chicago Cubs, and currently the record-holder for the most hits in the Nippon Professional Baseball season.

Without superfluous movements, upon receiving the signal from catcher Takeshima Shinya, his entire body swiftly engaged.

The first pitch, a high inside four-seam fastball, clocked at 157 kilometers per hour, precisely nestled at the top of the strike zone, even Morton, the American batter, was forced half a step back, swinging a beat too late.

Strike!

The second pitch was a low outside slider, with a sharp lateral shift, inducing another swing and miss from the batter.

Another strike!

With an absolute advantage of two strikes and no balls, a smile appeared on the face behind Takeshima Shinya's catcher's mask — his fingers fluttering between his legs, he called for the dreaded forkball that all batters feared.

The ball left his hand, its speed and trajectory indistinguishable from a regular fastball, yet its path nose-dived like an amusement park drop ride before reaching home plate, the swing from Morton's bat once again futilely slashed through the air.

Swinging strikeout!!!

Clean, precise, and elegant, the entire process was like a surgical procedure; the boos from the stands were abruptly choked off at the instant of the batter's whiff, as if someone had gripped them by the throat.

Counting the nine-pitch strikeout in the first half of the first inning, this was Lin Guanglai's fourth strikeout of the game; most importantly, it took him only 12 pitches to achieve those 4 strikeouts!

The next to the plate was the fifth batter, Hanshin's newly acquired Dominican import Mauro Gomez, known for his excellent slugging, leading the Central League with 109 RBIs this year; yet his impetuous nature and poor plate discipline also led him to 166 strikeouts, the second most across both leagues.

Against Gomez, Lin Guanglai played it patiently, methodically using fastballs and cutters to nibble at the edges of the strike zone, quickly working the count to one ball and two strikes.

At the crucial moment, he decisively changed the pace, delivering a changeup. Faced with the sudden drop in velocity, Gomez's batting rhythm was completely disrupted — although he made contact, it only resulted in a weak grounder in front of the catcher.

Takeshima Shinya easily scooped up the ball, then threw it perfectly to first base, reaching Lee Dae-ho's glove just before the opposition rushed in.

As for the sixth batter, Furumoto Takakazu, if it were his days with Chunichi or in the Major Leagues, Lin Guanglai would have naturally respected this heavy hitter veteran; but with age, now 37, Furumoto's batting has significantly declined, with a mere .250 batting average and an OPS dropping to a career-low .671 in NPB.

An outside low fastball to get ahead in the count, followed by a slider forcing the opponent to hit it foul, quickly gave Lin Guanglai an advantage with two strikes.

After setting up with two pitches, Takeshima Shinya once again signaled for a forkball — lifting his leg, swinging his arm, channeling all the power from his body into the baseball in his hand!

Moments later—

"Swinging strikeout!!!"

With another three-up, three-down inning, Lin Guanglai did not clench his fist or roar; instead, he calmly turned and walked off the pitcher's mound as if he had just completed a trivial task.

Just like he had reiterated many times today:

"This is merely the beginning!"