At the very front of the stands, a giant maroon support banner marked with the words "Aiming for Consecutive Titles" in white paint displayed the supporters' great confidence in and well-wishes for the team.

Waseda Industries not only boasts a powerful team, but their support group is also one of the best in the country: with these wholeheartedly supportive fans silently assisting from behind, the players of Waseda Jitsugyo often perform beyond their abilities in major tournaments.

On the other side of the field, Teikyo Junior & Senior High School's support group was not to be outdone: whether it was the design of Teikyo's white and black-striped uniforms or their primary support color of yellow, they both closely resembled the well-known Nihon Professional Baseball team, the Hanshin Tigers—it just so happens that Koshien Stadium is the home ground of the Hanshin Tigers, making this an unusual advantage.

Although Teikyo Junior & Senior High School had fewer supporters than Waseda Jitsugyo in terms of numbers, the momentum they created was by no means small, and there was even a faint sense of rivalry between them.

Before the game even started, the support groups on both sides had already begun competing: with one song after another of instrumental music, neutral spectators could hardly keep up.

As the time approached one in the afternoon, with a shout of "Line up!" from the chief umpire, the Waseda Jitsugyo players, standing on both sides of the field, moved forward in unison and shouted facing the Teikyo players.

"Ya-sa---!!!"

"Please give us your support!!!"

In this game, Teikyo Junior & Senior High School would attack first, and Waseda Industries would play defense.

Lin Guanglai stood firmly on the pitcher's mound, repeatedly patting talcum powder into his palm before doing a pre-game warm-up pitch with Uesugi Yasuyuki.

The familiar, piercing air raid siren sounded once again, marking the official start of this summer's competitions from this moment.

"Woooo—woooo—woooo—"

On a hot summer afternoon, under the ear-splitting sound of the siren, the highlight of this first round Summer League match commenced, with Waseda representing West Tokyo and competing against Teikyo Junior & Senior High School representing East Tokyo.

Teikyo's lead-off batter was their main central fielder, Mizukami Shikou, a right-hand pitcher, and batter with average hitting abilities but extremely fast base-running speed, so his offense mainly relied on bunting to get on base.

As the game just got underway, Lin Guanglai did not start by pitching with full force; the early stage of the game was primarily about finding his rhythm and pitching feel while probing the opponent's offensive intentions—a strategy knowing full well that his performance over the past year has made him a target for opponents who would increasingly study him in-depth; thus, adapting to circumstances becomes all the more crucial.

If he were a starting pitcher for a professional baseball team, he could naturally start the game by striking out one opponent after another and then leave the mound after five or six innings. However, Koshien is not just about one inning or even just one match—winning the Summer League requires playing six games over 14 days, so properly managing his stamina is something he needs to consider as well.

The first pitch was thrown with a motion, a high inside fastball, a spot most batters would choose to leave alone, making it perfect for testing opponents.

"Clang!"

Mizukami Shikou's swing was extremely decisive, without the slightest hesitation, sending the bat toward the incoming ball. After the baseball and bat collided, it soared high in the air, eventually landing in front of the Waseda Jitsugyo player's area on the first base side.

This foul ball was counted as a strike, making it 0 balls, 1 strike.

"Swinging at such a pitch–seems like their offensive intent is strong today. This mentality can be utilized." With one pitch as a probe, Lin Guanglai quickly understood the situation.

Given their eagerness to swing, it seemed unwise to rely on fastballs alone; seeing Uesugi Yasuyuki's signal, Lin Guanglai shook his head several times until the signal strategy was changed a few times before he nodded in agreement.

He leaned forward, swung his arm, and pitched the ball.

The baseball shot out from his hand at an extremely fast initial speed, aiming for the lower middle area of Mizukami Shikou's strike zone.

The pitch was very direct with high velocity, leaving Mizukami Shikou with a very short time to decide; his body instinctively responded to this pitch—accumulating energy, drawing the bat, twisting his body, and swinging with all his might!

Just before it was about to collide with the matte black metal bat, the white ball suddenly dropped gently downward, not only fooling the batter into missing the swing but also firmly hitting the lower edge of the strike zone.

The fast forkball was extremely deceptive. By the time Mizukami Shikou realized it, he had already swung past halfway and could not retract in time.

Applause erupted in Koshien Stadium—indeed, even the supporters of Teikyo had to admit that the quality of this fast forkball was outstanding, deserving of praise.

The count reached 0 balls and 2 strikes: in this pitcher-batter duel, the pitcher had the absolute advantage—with countless ways for Waseda's pitcher-catcher combination to create outs.

Having successfully pressured Mizukami Shikou with the first two inside pitches, Lin Guanglai had opened the space on the outside corner with his pitching, and his next ball was aimed low on the outside corner.

"Clang!"

Determined to reach the ball, Mizukami Shikou stretched his grip with the bat forcibly toward the outside corner, accidentally managing to make contact with the ball.

Of course, he only barely reached it—forcing the swing prevented him from fully completing a power movement, resulting in a weak grounder slowly rolling toward third base.

Egami Kenji, guarding third base, quickly moved forward to catch the ball; after a brief adjustment, he swung his arm, throwing toward first base—no matter how you looked at it, this should have been a straightforward out.

Unexpectedly, during the throw, Egami Kenji somehow made a gigantic angle error in his release—launching a wild throw!!!

The baseball zipped just over the head of Hagiyama Mitsuo, flying straight out of the infield;

Mizukami Shikou, originally thinking he'd surely be out, saw this and quickly sped up his base-running, sprinting past first base; then checking the situation, he found the opponents still retrieving the ball, so he continued accelerating, dashing toward second base and even toward third.

By the time Hagiyama Mitsuo retrieved the ball and was prepared to return it, Mizukami Shikou had already safely reached third base—if Hagiyama Mitsuo hadn't promptly returned the ball to Uesugi Yasuyuki at home plate, Mizukami Shikou might have tried using his swift legs to score a point for his team.

However, given the current situation, Teikyo had already profited significantly: what was once a situation of certain out became, due to the opponent's error, effectively a triple, boosting Teikyo's confidence in facing the ensuing innings.

As the ball was returned to Lin Guanglai, the game paused—Waseda called a time-out.

Egami Kenji, standing by third base with a face full of guilt, walked to the pitcher's mound, just about to apologize when Lin Guanglai stopped him with an outstretched hand.

"Everyone, what's done is done, no words at this time can change it—so there's no need for apologies."

"We're a team, an integral whole; anything that happens should be borne together."

"With the situation as it is, just make sure the ensuing defense is solid. The game has just begun, and even if we haven't conceded any runs yet, giving some up wouldn't be a disaster anyway—when it's our turn to attack, we'll just win those points back!"

The purpose of this time-out was primarily to give teammates some moments to adjust their feelings of annoyance and self-blame—as dwelling on this blunder throughout the rest of the match would only lead to more errors.

Once teammates returned to their defensive stands, Lin Guanglai refocused on the batter:

Facing a no-outs situation with a runner on third, conceding a run was almost inevitable—the priority now was to minimize potential losses, getting the most hitters out possible with the least cost.

Firmly locking his stare on Abbe Kentaro, Teikyo's left-handed second batter, Lin Guanglai resolved to first take an out from this sophomore batter.

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