For the players of Hanamaki East who are defending on the field, they can keenly feel the changes happening to the Waseda Jitsugyo players as the offense, beginning with the non-stop strikeout that allowed Lin Guanglai to run back to home plate and score.

Simply put, they have become more aggressive in their attacks - this aggression refers not only to the batters' aggression in the batting area but also applies to the baserunners.

Waseda Jitsugyo has clearly accelerated the rhythm and aggressiveness of their baserunning. As long as they make contact with the ball, whether it's a foul or in play, a base hit or a weak grounder, or even a high fly ball that doesn't go far, their batters will sprint towards first base with exaggerated ferocity, often ignoring the risk of injury for the sake of gaining those fractions of a second.

Near first base, Hanamaki East's manager Sasaki You furrowed his brow, evidently worried about this phenomenon - Waseda Jitsugyo's strategy of applying pressure in various ways during their offense precisely hits one of Hanamaki East's weaknesses.

Even though Hanamaki East has an extraordinary ace pitcher like Ohtani Shohei, it is impossible for him to strike out every batter throughout the entire game - once the ball is hit, the defensive players need to participate in the play.

Coincidentally, the defensive skills of Hanamaki East's fielders are somewhat average, to put it mildly;

To be frank, without Ohtani Shohei on the mound ensuring enough suppression, the individual abilities of the fielders alone are even below the average level of all participating teams in this Summer League.

Since the start of the summer season, including the six games of the Iwate Conference and the first-round match at Koshien a week ago, Hanamaki East has had defensive errors in almost every game, resulting in losing quite a few points.

This fact caught the attention of Waseda Jitsugyo's coaching staff, and today's baserunning strategy was specifically implemented to target their opponents' somewhat immature defense.

Imagine, when an infielder intercepts the ball hit by the opposing batter, ready to make the throw towards first base to complete the out, and just as he looks up, he sees the batter barreling towards first base and the baserunners itching to advance - in this moment, as long as the defensive player gets nervous, his body will become tense; once the body is tense, the throwing motion will falter; and once the throwing motion falters, a wild throw can occur, leading to errors.

This is why Sasaki You chooses to start the sophomore Ohtani Shohei as the pitcher, as proven in the previous first-round match against Yamanashi Gakuin: compared to the finesse pitcher Kohara Daiki, the power pitcher Ohtani Shohei has a stronger strikeout capability and less reliance on teammates; when paired with him, the fielders have fewer opportunities to handle the ball, naturally reducing the likelihood of mistakes.

Oftentimes, a defensive error caused by a wild throw results in greater damage than a base hit by the opposing batter - after all, a base hit usually only helps the opponent advance one or two bases; whereas a wild throw not only turns a single into a double or triple but also negatively affects the entire team's mentality, further influencing the subsequent game.

Obviously, Hanamaki East's players on the field are now influenced by Waseda Jitsugyo's pressure - after Yagaki Kentaro safely reached base by non-stop strikeout, the players' mindset inevitably shifted.

First, Ohtani Shohei walked Uesugi Yasuyuki on a four-ball walk while facing the seventh batter, followed by an error from second baseman Osawa Nagayuki who failed to grasp the grounder, allowing the ball to slip out of the glove - fortunately, the ball didn't penetrate the infield, otherwise, the 0:1 score difference would have continued to expand.

But this mistake harmed Hanamaki East significantly, making the situation unacceptable: one out with bases loaded, the team's margin for error has descended into negative infinity.

Over at Waseda Jitsugyo, fully understanding the idea that greed knows no bounds, Izumi Minoru still signaled to Egami Kenji in the batting area - for this ball, he wanted his player to use a sacrifice bunt to steadily score, aiming to expand the advantage first.

"End of the top half of the second inning! In this inning, Lin Guanglai continues demonstrating his unwavering determination to pursue continuous victories, and the Senbatsu champion showcases their rich tactical reserves and high strategic proficiency - facing Waseda Jitsugyo's pressure, Hanamaki East has committed some forced errors."

"The score has come to 2:0, aligning with the pre-game predictions, with Waseda Industries seemingly maintaining dominance."

Sakaguchi Yuji, sitting at the commentary desk, looked at the screen in front of him reflecting Ohtani Shohei in the waiting area, feeling a hint of excitement in his heart:

"Bottom of the second inning, leading off for Hanamaki East is their ace, Ohtani Shohei - with two geniuses switching places, let's see how this confrontation unfolds."

Feeling the heat rising around him, Ohtani Shohei took a deep breath and stepped into the left batting area beside home plate - having hit a triple under Lin Guanglai, he knew he needed to respond in kind.

The chief umpire behind him pointed to the pitcher's mound with his right hand: "Play Ball!"

As soon as he spoke, the baseball was pitched by Lin Guanglai, with an incredibly swift speed heading directly towards the outside corner.

Ohtani Shohei had just begun the swinging motion, only to find that the ball's angle was quite tricky, completely squeezing the angle of his swing. If he swung hastily, the entire batting stance would fall apart - after a brief thought, he decided to let the ball pass.

"Pop."

"Strike!"

The count went to 0 balls and 1 strike.

After receiving the ball back from Uesugi Yasuyuki and returning it to the mound, Lin Guanglai restarted after a moment's pause - this pitch's target was still Ohtani Shohei's outside corner.

Another strike.

As somebody who once hit a home run against him, Lin Guanglai certainly wouldn't neglect studying Ohtani Shohei's batting habits - if tricky inside pitches can squeeze most high school-level batters, Ohtani Shohei definitely isn't among them; those inside pitches that often cause batters to hit fly balls play right into Ohtani Shohei's hands, getting blasted out of the park.

Therefore, when calling pitches, Lin Guanglai and Uesugi Yasuyuki as a duo try not to tangle too much with Ohtani Shohei on inside pitches, instead opting for outside and high-position pitches more likely to create a swing and miss.

Holding the absolute advantage with two strikes, Lin Guanglai slowed the tempo of his pitching, patiently engaging Ohtani Shohei in a duel - after some back-and-forth, with a count of 2 balls and 2 strikes, Lin Guanglai signaled to Uesugi Yasuyuki at home plate with his eyes:

This next pitch, decide the duel!

"Whoosh-" With a flick of the arm, the baseball was thrown, and this pitch's direction was evidently aimed at Ohtani Shohei's inside corner!

Ohtani Shohei's expression tightened, and he resolutely swung his bat.

"Clang-!!!" The baseball was struck by the black-coated bat, flying deep into the outfield.

Unlike the excitedly shouting audience, as the involved party, Ohtani Shohei's face showed a slightly bitter smile.

A moment later—

"Plop."

The baseball safely landed in the glove of central fielder Kenshu Yasuda.

On the pitcher's mound, Lin Guanglai gave a slight smile - he was very pleased with his performance.

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