We should know that the top three batters of Waseda Jitsugyo are among the best in all of Japan:

Aside from Matsunaga Kenta who often plays a tactical role, Shinjiro Chongxin with the first bat and Kenshu Yasuda with the third bat are both considered to be of a level that might become professional in the future, attracting attention from the Waseda University baseball team and many professional scouts.

Since they have said so, it proves we can indeed target Ohtani Shohei's pitching from this point.

For this at-bat, Lin Guanglai's strategy for himself was that unless the count reached two strikes and the next pitch forced him to swing, he would let go of all the breaking balls and only go for the fastballs in the strike zone to hit—if he could hit a drive directly, all the better; getting a walk wouldn't hurt either.

On the pitcher's mound, Ohtani Shohei touched the brim of his cap, pressing it down further to shield his eyes from the glaring sunlight.

He took a deep breath, blocking out the noise and clamor of the stadium. Raising his front leg high, he executed a smooth, powerful pitching action, sending the ball towards home plate.

As the baseball shot out of his hand, the eyes of over forty thousand spectators followed the small white ball, tracking its shadow in the air towards home plate.

When the ball was released, Lin Guanglai slightly lifted his front foot, while his upper body began to build up power in his swing—yet as the ball approached, he made no further moves, simply watching the ball sail into Sasaki Takashi's catcher's mitt, with a loud impact.

"Pop."

"Ball!"

Though it was a fastball, the pitch was noticeably off course, Lin Guanglai didn't choose to swing, gaining a slight advantage in the count.

The second pitch, Ohtani Shohei threw a low outside slider, Lin Guanglai still stood motionless, after a slight stride halted all action, letting it pass again—this time, Ohtani Shohei's control was excellent, the baseball landed perfectly on the outside edge of the strike zone.

"Strike!"

After two pitches, the count was 1 ball and 1 strike.

Ohtani Shohei caught the ball returned by Sasaki Takashi from home plate, adjusted his hexagonal cap which had tilted due to pitching, and nodded at the catcher's pitch signal.

With his hand behind his back, Ohtani Shohei's fingers brushed back and forth along the seams of the baseball, constantly adjusting his grip, placing his fingers differently from before.

Pressing his body forward, swinging his arm, fingertips gently flicking the ball—the baseball "swooshed" out from Ohtani Shohei's fingers, drawing a shadowy arc in the air, heading straight for home plate.

Unexpectedly, even after the third pitch at this at-bat, Lin Guanglai stood in the batter's box without swinging—he seemed almost asleep, standing there unmoved, showing no reaction to the pitch.

A murmur of discussion arose from the spectators on the stands, even the commentators in the commentary box expressed their puzzlement:

"Well, it's unclear if it's the burden at play, but Lin Guanglai's offensive drive in this at-bat doesn't seem particularly strong—typically, a batter like him wouldn't let fate be decided by the opposing pitcher and the umpire's calls."

"However, it's also worth praising Hanamaki East's Ohtani Shohei's pitching performance, whether the second pitch slider or the recent fast forkball, both speed and trajectory control were impeccable—perhaps under the pressure of Ohtani's pitching, Lin Guanglai unusually refrained from swinging at three consecutive pitches."

On the pitcher's mound, Ohtani Shohei frowned and then glanced towards Lin Guanglai at home plate—the opponent appeared quite relaxed, seemingly unfathomable in his intentions.

Over the past week, in addition to regular training, Hanamaki East had not been idle. The entire team, from coaching staff to players, continuously analyzed the formidable opponent Waseda Jitsugyo; among them, Lin Guanglai, as Waseda's ace, received special attention.

Reviewing past records, Lin Guanglai should be an aggressive batter—according to ample data samples, he generally swings at strikes and sometimes deliberately swings at balls to avoid walks.

Such a batter, in today's first at-bat, didn't swing at all for three pitches, giving away two strikes which left Ohtani Shohei with a sense of something amiss, though he couldn't pinpoint the source of this feeling.

Disturbed by the opponent's unusual behavior, Ohtani Shohei's control wavered slightly, throwing consecutive balls which brought the count to 3 balls and 2 strikes, a full count.

Seeing the previously accrued count advantage squandered, Ohtani Shohei shook his head vigorously, clearing his mind of all chaotic thoughts.

"No matter the opponent's unforeseen strategies, as long as I strike him out, all problems will naturally be resolved!"

Ohtani Shohei told himself this, then nodded towards Sasaki Takashi: the catcher called for a fastball, targeting the inner corner of the strike zone, Sasaki Takashi's gesture clearly urging him to pitch with full force.

When the baseball shot from the pitcher's hand once again, Lin Guanglai revealed a slight smile on his face—this was the pitch he'd been waiting for!

Loading up on his swing, body rotating, hip thrusting forward, swinging with all his might!

"Clang—!"

At the moment the baseball was struck by the flat swing of the bat, Koshien Stadium erupted in excitement once more.

"The baseball flew out!!! This ball... what's to be said? Doesn't the angle feel a bit low?"

Sakaguchi Yuji was the first to note the condition of the baseball, posing such a query: from the trajectory, the ball Lin Guanglai had just smacked wasn't flying high, although it was going far enough and Koshien's walls weren't particularly high, whether or not it would clear the fence was uncertain.

Under the whole crowd's gaze, the rapidly descending baseball smacked against the outfield wall at Koshien, failing to clear—someone near the outfield bleachers lamented in disappointment for not witnessing a home run in five consecutive at-bats;

Yet soon their attention was drawn back to the field: in the infield nearby, Lin Guanglai was tearing towards second base like a shooting star, sprinting madly forward.

After hitting the home run fence, the baseball bounced back into play, coincidentally letting the Hanamaki East outfielder sprinting in miss the catch; the baseball landed on the grass, further pushed by the rebound force, and rolled further towards the right field foul line.

Takashi Takahashi, guarding right field, could only lower his center of gravity, quickly reverse direction, and sprint again in the direction of the rolling ball—though allowing Lin Guanglai to reach base was inevitable, in such key moments, even a second's gap could mean the difference between scoring or not.

Controlling the ball rolling chaotically on the ground, picking it up with his gloveless right hand, Takashi Takahashi pivoted and tossed the ball to the infield teammate coming to assist; receiving the ball, second baseman Osawa Nagatoshi promptly relayed it to home plate—this move forced Lin Guanglai to stop at third base and be unable to advance further.

Just having completed the defensive task, Takashi Takahashi bent over, placing his hands on his knees, taking deep breaths of fresh air.

Fortunately, Sasaki the supervisor consistently emphasized playing smart during regular defensive training for Hanamaki East players, reminding them to preview the situation, whether attacking or defending, and thinking ahead about what to do next;

Take the recent scenario for instance, if Takashi Takahashi had spent more time assessing the situation after getting the ball, Lin Guanglai might have dashed back to home plate and scored.

Though they thwarted Lin Guanglai from achieving a consecutive five-at-bat home run feat, preventing him from completing an inside-the-park home run; yet Hanamaki East players' faces bore no trace of a smile at this moment:

No outs, runner on third base, Lin Guanglai's first appearance already landed a solid punch against Hanamaki East with his performance.

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