In Seaside Stadium, the game between Waseda Industries and Keio University was still ongoing.

Lin Guanglai's powerful home run not only pierced through the Keio defense but also dealt a significant blow to the morale of the Keio players, causing fluctuations in the state of their pitcher, Miyamori Shun.

In the bottom of the second inning, marked by Lin Guanglai's home run, the hot batting lineup of Waseda Jitsugyo once again showcased their prowess, securing 3 runs in a single inning, and early on, they established a lead on the field.

Subsequently, the offensives of both teams gradually calmed down, and for a long time, though the scene seemed lively, neither side was able to change the score again — until the end of the seventh inning, the score remained unchanged at 3:0.

It was at this moment that Mr. Izumi glanced at Tanaka Justice, who was a bit restless on the bench, and shouted to him:

"Justice, get ready to warm up now — you'll be closing the game for the next two innings."

Recently, Tanaka Justice has performed quite well in daily training, and although his pitching skills still appeared somewhat immature, he was considered outstanding among his peers. With the intention of boosting the pitching strength of the team, Mr. Izumi didn't mind giving him some experience in such a situation during the game.

However, this decision seemed to upset the Keio players:

Having their lineup shut down for seven whole innings already made the Keio players somewhat frustrated, and now, just as the game was about to end, Waseda Jitsugyo sent in their freshman pitcher to close — this made the Keio players feel somewhat underestimated by their opponents, so they vowed to show their rivals a thing or two.

With this back-and-forth, the initially low morale of Keio University suddenly soared again; and the substitute pitcher, Tanaka Justice, became the target of their anger.

In the top of the eighth inning, the Keio lineup, which had been silent the entire game, finally showed their fangs:

Tanaka Justice is relatively decent among players of his age, but the starting batters from Keio were all elite players who had been honing their skills in the competitive Kanagawa Region for over two years.

As soon as the half-inning began, Keio hit consecutive singles in their first three at-bats, and before Tanaka Justice could find his footing in the game, he realized that all three bases were loaded, and no outs had been recorded — at this point in the game, conceding runs was inevitable; the only question was whether the loss would be big or small.

In the catcher's box, Watanabe Taku, who started the game as catcher, called for an outside pitch — with his relatively rich game experience, he knew how to mitigate damage, so he chose the safest outside pitch, hoping to induce an infield grounder and possibly grab a double play, thereby keeping any loss within the team's manageable range even if a single was given up in the infield.

But as a first-year rookie, what Tanaka Justice lacked most was the ability and mentality to handle various situations.

At such a crucial moment, it was no surprise that Tanaka Justice made a pitching error, with the ball far from Watanabe Taku's desired location — naturally, the batter wouldn't let such an opportunity slip by.

With a swing, the ball was hit to the area between the infield and outfield, directly targeting the weakest point in Waseda Real's defensive formation.

By the time Lin Guanglai in right field got the ball and planned to throw it home, hoping to catch a batter, he realized that besides the batter who had just hit a single, the other Keio players had already returned home plate.

"Wahahahahahaha!!!"

The cheerful shouts of Keio's players echoed from their dugout.

They had every reason to be happy: after being suppressed by Waseda for almost the entire game, they suddenly seized an opportunity to tie the score, and they still had plenty of chances to try and take the lead — how could that not be exciting?

In the stadium stands, the murmured discussions of the audience could be heard — although Tanaka Justice on the pitcher's mound couldn't make out the exact content of their conversation, it was easy to guess they were complaining about Mr. Izumi's decision to change pitchers and his own poor performance as a freshman.

Waseda Jitsugyo called for a long timeout.

Besides the infield players, Lin Guanglai also deliberately ran up from his right-field position to the pitcher's mound.

Watanabe Taku spoke first: "Justice, my bad, it was my mistake to assume too much with the pitch call just now. The opponent must have been prepared for it, so it's entirely my fault."

As the starting catcher today, Watanabe Taku used this method to help relieve the pressure on his own pitcher, taking full responsibility for the runs lost onto himself alone.

Other teammates also reflected on their own mistakes in the previous at-bats, admitting that the tied score was due to them being too relaxed and underestimating the opponent rather than the pitcher's fault.

After everyone else had spoken, Lin Guanglai also said:

"Justice, relax — if you're really nervous, just take a few deep breaths."

"The starting pitcher position of this team is definitely going to be handed over to you in the future — if you keep thinking like this, how can you become the cornerstone of the team's defense?"

"Forget everything that just happened, Justice — breaking it down is something for after the game, focus all your attention on the batter!"

"Think of your first-year teammates, as the only selected player among first-years, you must have the resolve to carry the expectations of your peers who can't play and stand on the mound to pitch for the entire team."

After saying these words, Lin Guanglai gently patted his junior on the shoulder, then jogged back to his defensive position in right field.

In the stands, Miyata Shinku shook his head in the corner — he also once served as a high school team's overseer, naturally understanding Mr. Izumi's intent at this moment; however, understanding doesn't mean agreeing. At least if he were on the field, he would probably opt to bring in the second-year pitcher, Yagami Continuation, which would be more secure.

Young players, especially young pitchers, are like this; their performance on the field is too unstable, closely related to their state on that day:

When in good form, they often play dominantly, with feats like striking out ten or twenty in a game being normal; however, when not in form, they can flounder, failing to control pitches and having their pitching quality decline significantly.

In high school amateur games, this may not matter much; but if they reach professional baseball, a lackluster performance in one game could potentially ruin a player's entire future career.

The need to pay dues is inevitable for young players — even Hall of Fame-grade pitchers inevitably face slumps and experiences getting hit hard by a hot lineup during their career.

However, whether one can immediately bounce back after being attacked by an opponent, and whether one can rise again after a slump, is the key factor determining a player's career success.

Miyata Shinku once again glanced toward right field — in this aspect, Lin Guanglai seems not at all like a rookie player.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.