"It's here!"

In the outfield stands, Seiomi Koutaro's expression tightened, obviously filled with anticipation for the upcoming duel; the spectators surrounding him and throughout the entire Koshien stadium were the same, many hurriedly turning on their recording devices, eager to capture this moment as a keepsake.

Before the finals began, under the bombardment of overwhelming media publicity, the "Lin Guanglai vs. Kawakami Ryohi's" strongest pitcher-hitter duel had already whetted the audience's appetite. As they saw this great showdown was about to unfold, all the spectators were boiling with excitement, afraid to blink lest they miss any spectacular detail.

On the pitcher's mound, Lin Guanglai had his hands behind his back, constantly communicating signals with the crouched catcher, Uesugi Yasuyuki, taking quite some time to roughly establish his approach.

Under the collective gaze of tens of thousands of pairs of eyes, Lin Guanglai activated—

Fastball, full power!

The baseball shot out from Lin Guanglai's hand, instantly turning into a streaking shadow flying towards home plate—chasing the ultimate speed, Lin Guanglai even sacrificed control for this pitch, and the baseball's entry into the plate was exceptionally sweet.

For Kawakami Ryohi, standing in the right-hand batter's box, as soon as Lin Guanglai initiated his pitch, he too started his own buildup, preparing to swing; seeing such a sweet pitch, Kawakami Ryohi boldly and heroically wielded his bat, pouring all his strength into it, swinging at a rapid speed, aiming for a deep long hit to the outfield.

"Clap."

The baseball passed under the bat and flew into the catcher's glove behind home plate.

"Ohhhhhhhhh—"

A massive cheer erupted from the stands, but Kawakami Ryohi knew it wasn't for him; he slightly looked up at the scoreboard in the outfield, curious about how fast the ball really was, for despite keeping his eye on the ball and swinging with full force, he still couldn't catch up—this phenomenon could only mean one thing, that the sheer speed of the pitch made the ball visually appear to change trajectory, deceiving him.

Even though he was prepared in his mind, when Kawakami Ryohi actually saw that number, his heart couldn't help but surge, as though he had been hit with a great impact:

154 km/h!!!

"Oh my god! What is this!? What is this! I can't believe my eyes!" Even the veteran commentators were startled by the speed of this pitch. Once they recovered from the shock, their overwhelming emotions burst forth into words of praise:

"Lin Guanglai! 154 km/h! After pitching a 152 km/h fastball in the semifinals, he has once again set a new fastest speed record on Koshien's final stage—now, the record for the fastest pitch in this tournament belongs to him! Plus, he is just steps away from breaking the national high school record for fastest pitch in Japan's history!"

Feeling the tidal wave-like pressure from all directions on the field, Kawakami Ryohi stepped back from the batter's box with his right foot, slowly closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

He continually gave himself psychological prompts, assuring himself that it's only the disadvantage of one good pitch—don't worry about the audience's cheers, don't dwell on that last at-bat, even Lin Guanglai can't throw such fast pitches every time, as long as he performs well in the upcoming bat, the victory can still be his.

After completing this mental preparation, he adjusted his mindset, cleared his mind of complicated thoughts, took a step forward into the right batter's box, and once again got ready for the hitting stance.

"Play Ball!" The home plate umpire pointed his right hand towards the pitcher's mound, once again announcing the game to start.

In the next few pitches, Kawakami Ryohi indeed showcased his strength as one of the top hitters in the tournament, promptly adjusting from the impact of the first pitch, he fiercely contended with Lin Guanglai for several pitches, even catching up to a 150 km/h inside corner fastball, narrowly missing a long hit within the boundary.

After four pitches, the count was 2 balls and 2 strikes—at least from the recent one or two pitches, as a batter, Kawakami Ryohi had gradually adapted to Lin Guanglai's pitching rhythm.

Kawakami Ryohi bounced a few steps in place, slightly easing his tense muscles; however, his gaze never left the pitcher's mound, constantly exerting silent pressure on Lin Guanglai—believing he had mastered the hitting rhythm, he was very confident about this at-bat.

"Come into the strike zone, let's settle this in a straightforward duel—don't disappoint me, Lin..."

Nodding his head several times towards Uesugi Yasuyuki, finally confirming the pitching sequence for this round, Lin Guanglai took decisive action, swiftly throwing the baseball towards home plate.

In Kawakami Ryohi's view, this pitch perfectly aligned with his hitting preference, this type of semi-high pitch, entering around the waist, is his strong suit and easiest for him to hit a home run.

The instinct of a strong hitter couldn't let this opportunity pass, as soon as his brain received the signal that "this pitch is hittable," his entire body instantly powered up and twisted, driving the metal bat in his hands outwards.

However, as the bat swung forward to collide with the baseball in the air above home plate, Kawakami Ryohi felt something amiss—just a moment before entering the strike zone, the whole baseball suddenly seemed to lose the force propelling its movement, rapidly dropping towards the lower part of the strike zone.

At this point, it was impossible to retract the bat—the swing had already gone more than halfway through, plus the force Kawakami Ryohi himself had invested into this hit compelled him to complete the entire swing.

"Clap."

The baseball directly hit the ground, firmly pressed down by the prepared Uesugi Yasuyuki with his reversed glove to prevent any bounce that might result in a pass ball; afraid this could trigger the uncaught third strike rule, after confirming the baseball lost momentum, Uesugi Yasuyuki immediately took the ball out of the catcher's mitt with his right hand and tagged Kawakami Ryohi before he could run to first base—only then was his turn fully finalized.

"Strike! Batter, struck out!!!" The home plate umpire made an exaggerated call, and instantly, the forty thousand spectators in Koshien were buzzing.

Waseda Jitsugyo's ace struck out Mitsuhoshi's third batter, this at-bat had no intentional passes, no avoidance, only a straightforward head-on encounter.

The two top high school players in Japan today presented the spectators with a thrilling back-and-forth duel, elevating the atmosphere of this match to an even higher level.

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