"Thud."

"Batter out, offensive and defensive switch!"

With this call from the first base umpire, the regular time for the nine-inning game ended—the entire Shengong Stadium, which was boiling like hot water one second, quickly went quiet the next.

On the scoreboard above the outfield, the score of 1:1 seemed completely frozen in time, unable to move forward at all.

Yoshinaga Kentarou stood on the pitcher's mound, gasping for air—he was definitely the most exhausted person in the entire Nihon University team during this game, suppressing Waseda Jitsugyo's entire lineup almost single-handedly, flawless except for that solo homer.

Slowly walking down from the pitcher's mound, slowly heading back to the player's area on the first base side, and slowly sitting on his seat—Yoshinaga Kentarou was indeed exhausted now, even the short distance jogging back from the field to the player's area was a drain on his stamina.

But he also knew he had to grit his teeth and keep going—the team needed him, his teammates needed him, and the supporters who braved the scorching sun to cheer for them needed him. The pitcher's mound on the sacred mountain of Koshien was calling out to him.

To achieve this goal, Yoshinaga Kentarou willingly burned himself out, even if it meant achieving nothing in his future baseball career—he didn't care about the future, he just wanted to win right now!

Back in the dugout, Yoshinaga Kentarou took the water handed over by his teammate, rinsed his mouth symbolically before putting the bottle aside, and started putting on his batting gear—he was the leadoff hitter for the first inning of the extra game.

Standing in the batter's box, Yoshinaga Kentarou recalled what Ogura Quanyou had said to him before he went up—basically, Ogura hoped he would focus all his energy on defense, and his batting could just make a symbolic swing, scoring hits wasn't his job.

If it was before, Yoshinaga Kentarou might have done that, but after deciding to burn himself in this summer, he planned to do something different:

He wanted to try and hit a single off Lin Guanglai!

This wasn't a rash decision but a choice made after careful consideration:

Firstly, Nihon University's strategy in this game strictly adhered to the wheel consumption tactic, Lin Guanglai's pitch count after nine innings was conservatively estimated to be over 130, and he couldn't slack off while batting like Yoshinaga, having to go all out in every at-bat.

Secondly, when facing a nine-hole hitter who was weak in batting, the defense players might unconsciously relax, thinking this out would be easy to achieve; it happens in normal times, and even more so when they are physically and mentally exhausted.

Yoshinaga Kentarou wanted to seize this opportunity—even if the worst outcome was being struck out by the opponent, he wouldn't lose anything, so he might as well give it a try.

After three pitches, the count was 2 balls and 1 strike, slightly favoring the batter.

Just from the content of these three pitches, Yoshinaga Kentarou could tell that Lin Guanglai's condition might not be much better than his.

Facing the fourth pitch thrown shortly afterward, Yoshinaga Kentarou in the batter's box started his attack: His swinging motion didn't have the same flowing beauty as Lin Guanglai's, and his level meant he couldn't help the team with long drives like Lin Guanglai—but Yoshinaga Kentarou wanted to prove that even in the batter's box, he could contribute to the team.

"Clang!"

The swung bat hit the baseball precisely, sending it toward the gap between second and third base—this sudden strike clearly took Waseda Jitsugyo's defense by surprise, the baseball pierced through the gaps until being stopped at right field.

By the time it was thrown to first base, it was already too late. Sato Ken, who got the ball, had to pass it to second base to prevent the opponent's advancement.

When Yoshinaga Kentarou reached first base, a huge cheer erupted from the first base player's area beside him: None of them had expected their ace to give them such a big surprise the moment he was up—they now had a chance to retake the lead.

However, the celebration didn't last long before it abruptly stopped—

"Batter out, offensive and defensive switch!"

The cheers and gasps from the Shengong Stadium stands flooded into the field once more like a tidal wave, making Yoshinaga Kentarou spaced out for a while at third base until his teammates reminded him to return to the first base side player's area.

After hitting that single, his teammates gave their all to send him to third base, but ultimately failed to hit that decisive single—In this half-inning, Lin Guanglai didn't allow a second person to hit a single.

Even though his teammates were still comforting him, believing that such opportunities would come again, Yoshinaga Kentarou had a faint premonition: this might be their last chance in the entire game.

Collecting his mood and leaving the regret of not scoring behind, Yoshinaga Kentarou knew the biggest challenge was still ahead: In the extra innings, Waseda Jitsugyo just needed to score one point to end the game.

At the start of this inning, Nihon University's team was fiercely countered by Waseda Jitsugyo: After much effort, Yoshinaga and his teammates managed to jointly deal with the third batter Kenshu Yasuda, blocking the opponent at first base.

Having eliminated Kenshu Yasuda, Yoshinaga Kentarou didn't even need to look, he just needed to hear the lively music and cheers from the third base side stands to know the opponent he would face next.

Lin Guanglai, still Lin Guanglai—as long as he wanted to go to Koshien, this was the opponent he must fight and defeat.

Patting his face, Yoshinaga Kentarou revitalized himself, feeling as if his lost strength was flowing back into his body—come on! The biggest opponent on my dream path! This time, the one who wins the game will be me!

The first pitch, an outside low slider with large lateral movement, didn't fool Lin Guanglai to swing, and he chose not to hit.

1 ball, 0 strikes.

The second pitch, an all-out fastball straight at the batter's inside corner, though slightly slower than during peak times, the sharp angle still caused Lin Guanglai not to swing.

1 ball, 1 strike.

The third pitch, the high fastball that many batters hate, which often creates high swing-and-miss rates, though a bit off-predicted trajectory, Suzuki Takahiro successfully framed it to the umpire, and it was counted as a strike.

1 ball, 2 strikes.

Fourth and fifth pitches, with the leeway of 2 balls, Yoshinaga Kentarou steadied himself to maneuver with the batter, two breaking balls judged as balls by the umpire, one fouled off by Lin Guanglai, reducing his count advantage continuously.

2 balls, 2 strikes.

This familiar scenario reminded Yoshinaga Kentarou of the sixth inning—similar circumstances, last time he ignored his catcher's advice and chose stability, resulting in the next batter hitting a home run;

This time, Yoshinaga Kentarou also glanced at his catcher partner: Behind home base, Suzuki Takahiro placed his thick, heavy glove at the center of the strike zone, conveying his thoughts through gestures:

This pitch, just be yourself, Kentarou—let's have a showdown with the opponent!

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