Unlike last year's championship-winning Senbatsu, this year's Hyogo is rainy and humid, with unexpected downpours severely affecting the progress of the games—unlike other places in Japan with dome stadiums, Koshien Stadium becomes a mess during the rainy season.

On the third day of the tournament, the rain was so heavy that the day's matches had to be postponed—not a good thing for most of the participating schools, as it means the schedule will be further compressed to ensure the tournament finishes on time, leaving less time for players to rest.

By coincidence, Waseda Jitsugyo gained an additional day of rest after the second day's matches, leaving the team members grateful for their luck—having an extra day to rest and prepare in a single-elimination tournament like Senbatsu, where all matches are completed within two weeks, is a significant advantage.

Taking advantage of today's heavy rain preventing outdoor training, the members of Waseda Jitsugyo gathered in the conference room, where the supervisor, Izumi Minoru, led them in studying their next opponent—the opponent for Waseda's second round is already determined, coming from Kagoshima's Kamimura Gakuen.

Holding a pile of materials, Izumi Minoru scanned the faces of each player in the conference room, nodding in satisfaction—victory is indeed the most effective remedy; any issues or conflicts within the team can be eased by continuously winning matches.

After beating Celestial Principle High School, the atmosphere of the team renewed, with smiles appearing on the players' faces, no longer perpetually worried.

"Ahem—" Izumi Minoru lightly coughed twice, directing the players' attention to himself, first praising their performance in the previous match.

"Everyone did well against Celestial Principle—that's the kind of offense we should display. As defending champions, I hope everyone has confidence in themselves; if we can unleash our potential, we're capable of defeating any opponent."

"Our next opponent from Kagoshima is Kamimura Gakuen, a new team with 14 wins and 1 loss since autumn, a team batting average of .340, and an ERA of 1.35… These numbers are indeed impressive, but I hope everyone isn't intimidated—such data largely reflects regional average discrepancies; their strength isn't as invincible as the numbers suggest."

"However, there is something we must pay extra attention to—Kamimura Gakuen's team is very aggressive with their base-running tactics, having stolen 35 bases across 15 games; the team has many quick hitters, especially their leadoff central fielder Shinna Shinsuke, who runs 50 meters in 5.8 seconds, reaching first base in less than 4 seconds, and is highly inclined to steal."

As he spoke, Izumi Minoru straightened up and sternly emphasized to the players in front of him:

"All infielders, listen up—as long as Shinna Shinsuke is on base, you must, must, must always keep an eye on his position. Even if advancing is required, never let him get on base easily, or our defense will be difficult, understood?"

"Yes! Supervisor!!" The players responded loudly in agreement.

"Also..." Izumi Minoru flipped through his materials, then looked at Lin Guanglai seated at the back of the group, reminding him, "Guanglai, you need to pay more attention to their aggressive base tactics when you're pitching."

Understandingly, Lin Guanglai nodded and replied affirmatively.

Five days later, on March 28, the eighth day of the tournament, the first match between West Tokyo's Waseda Jitsugyo and Kagoshima's Kamimura Gakuen commenced on time.

As predicted before the match, Kamimura Gakuen held a large group of versatile and fast-paced hitters, their rich base-running and batting tactics indeed posed a challenge for Waseda Jitsugyo right from the start, especially with the leadoff hitter Shinna Shinsuke emphasized in the pre-match meeting by Supervisor Izumi; his sprint to first base was exceptionally fast. Even when intercepted at first base, what would be a secure out for others, Shinna Shinsuke often turns it into an opportunity with his swift legs.

Fortunately, Lin Guanglai's defense remained stable, relying on his extremely suppressive pitching to ensure the team didn't concede a run—from these two matches in the tournament, at least in the high school baseball stage, Lin Guanglai's pitching has reached near-perfection, with a terrifying degree of control over the game situation.

Especially from the perspective of commentators and spectators watching with a god's-eye view, Lin Guanglai just standing on the pitcher's mound conveys a unique feeling; his teammates naturally feel secure because they know he will never let them down.

However, compared to the reassuringly stable defense, Waseda's offense wasn't as smooth as in the previous game; or rather, it's the problem the team is facing now—this new Waseda is like a double-edged sword, having bursts of power but lacking stability; compared to consistent hitting chains, the team now relies more on flashes of individual brilliance.

Under such circumstances, the game reached a stalemate as both teams couldn't break through until the top of the eighth inning—

"Eighth batter, right fielder Arai! Beautiful hit! A single pierces through Kamimura's infield defense!!!"

"Ninth batter, third baseman Yoshimi! Beautiful bunt—now his teammate is in scoring position at second base!"

With one out and a runner on second, Lin Guanglai stepped into the batter's box and then—

"A single pierces Kamimura Gakuen's defense! Indeed! This is the power of a superior hitter—even with average state, the defending champions' path forward remains, continuing their fight to defend their title!"

When the umpire announced the end of the game, the Waseda supporters in the Alps Stand all breathed a sigh of relief:

To be honest, the team didn't play well in this match, it could even be described as ugly;

But no matter what, the final result was good—a score of 2-0 allows the team to advance to the third round, as long as they haven't been eliminated, anything is possible!

Later that day, Waseda's third-round opponent emerged:

Tokushima's Naruto High School defeated the championship favorites Sakushin Gakuin 5-4, causing the first major upset of the tournament and successfully meeting Waseda in the next round.

For the defending champions, this tournament, be it weather or luck, has been favorable to them—it seems their luck is quite good?

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