Full bases, one out, Lin Guanglai steps up to bat.

On the first base stands, supporters from Koushing Academy watch the towering figure walking toward the home plate, and nearly everyone's face is covered with a bitter expression — the saying goes, "The hemp rope always breaks at its weakest point; misfortune always finds the unfortunate," and this seems to be the case here.

Among the spectators on site, quite a few sharply feel that perhaps this upcoming at-bat will become the decisive moment in this game.

The air is ablaze — not just from the weather growing hotter toward noon, but also from the hearts of all the nearly fifty thousand people present in Koshien Stadium, including players from both sides.

Before this final, Akita Kyoyoshi had an ERA of only 0.38 in this tournament, ranking first among all pitchers, even surpassing Lin Guanglai; however, in this game, he has already conceded 3 runs and now faces the life-and-death moments with full bases — the oppressive heat and immense pressure leave him nearly breathless, he takes several deep breaths standing on the pitcher's mound, barely calming his racing heart.

Seeing that his ace is not in the best condition, Nakai Sonoki from Koushing Academy promptly calls a long timeout, not only to let the players ease up but also to buy himself time to think of a strategy.

The 3:0 lagging score and full bases situation have become reality, unavoidable, and now, as the coach of the trailing team, Nakai Sonoki needs to consider another problem:

For this next at-bat, what strategy should be used against Lin Guanglai?

From Nakai Sonoki's personal view, if not considering any subjective factors, the most rational solution is to intentionally walk Lin Guanglai directly, giving away one run to eliminate the most threatening batter; otherwise, given the base speed of Waseda Jitsugyo's players, even if Lin Guanglai hits a single, this swing could at least send back two baserunners.

However, this way of avoiding direct confrontation is still a short-term fix that doesn't address the root of the problem. If the batting order behind Lin Guanglai performs well, the result might even be worse than letting Lin Guanglai hit.

Though baseball is a sport heavily reliant on data, in sports competitions, the most important factor is always the people on the field — choosing to intentionally walk and let the ace pitcher continue facing the pressure of full bases, Nakai Sonoki has to worry if Akita Kyoyoshi can hold up.

After hesitating for a while, he ultimately leaves the decision to the player himself.

"Kyoyoshi, handle this at-bat as you see fit — whether it's facing him directly or intentionally walking, the whole team stands behind you in support!"

The latter half of the sentence is what the messenger relayed from his teammates from the bench to convey to him.

Listening silently to the instructions issued by the messenger, Akita Kyoyoshi could feel the mixed emotions within: there's helplessness regarding the situation, but more significantly, there's trust from the supervisor and teammates towards him as the ace — and it's by feeling these contained emotions that his inner tension eased considerably.

After discussing with Matsuboto Kenji for a long time, the pitcher-catcher duo from Koushing barely devised a strategy; although still not entirely confident, at this point, they decided to put forth their best effort and leave the rest to fate.

Standing in the batter's box, Lin Guanglai's gaze was fixed on the pitcher's mound at Akita Kyoyoshi. With full bases, his goal for each swing was aiming for a two-base hit or even a home run, which could start from second base.

In the predicament, Akita Kyoyoshi, already standing on the edge of the cliff, indeed had an outburst, determined to ignite himself; he consecutively threw three high-quality balls, indeed using the speed difference and changes in the angle of entry to grant him an advantageous position —

After three balls, it's one ball, two strikes, an absolute advantage for the pitcher.

In the box, Lin Guanglai swung emptily several times, quite dissatisfied with his previous miss:

Akita Kyoyoshi exploited Lin Guanglai's urgency to open the game for his team as the fourth batter, throwing two consecutive fastballs over 140 km/h, then suddenly followed with a much slower breaking ball, though perfectly located, Lin Guanglai was deceived by the ball's path, failing to track it all the way before choosing to swing, ultimately leading to an empty swing.

With a slight reflection on his mentality just now, Lin Guanglai took several deep breaths at the same spot and once again assumed the posture for a powerful hit.

The scenario of one ball, two strikes, although disadvantageous for him, also placed pressure on the opposing pitcher dealing with full bases; in this mutual exchange, it's uncertain which side bears more pressure.

But one thing is certain: if Akita Kyoyoshi indeed strikes out Lin Guanglai in this at-bat, resolving the crisis, it would definitely be a huge boost to Koushing Academy's morale, which was already sinking — perhaps with this revived spirit, they could launch a counterattack from adverse conditions.

Therefore, as the team's captain, recognized by all as the strongest batter, Lin Guanglai knew his responsibility — he must eliminate all potential threats in this phase.

From the moment Akita Kyoyoshi starts, Lin Guanglai's eyes never leave the baseball in his hand; the pristine ball dashes out of the opponent's hand as his body subconsciously prepares to swing.

"The path is straight, is it a fastball — no, don't rush, let the ball come in closer before hitting…"

In his mind, he simply assessed the incoming ball, and Lin Guanglai's intuition told him, although the ball's path appeared straightforward, it was undoubtedly not that simple.

Indeed, just as the baseball approached the home plate, its path changed, starting to drop to the lower part of the strike zone.

"Now!!!"

Finally awaiting the ball he desired, Lin Guanglai's entire body suddenly exploded with power, swinging full speed to meet the incoming ball.

"Thunk—!!!"

On the pitcher's mound, seeing Lin Guanglai precisely hitting the ball, Akita Kyoyoshi instinctively shut his eyes — the consequence of a breaking ball being perfectly hit by a strong batter, as a pitcher, he couldn't be clearer.

No need for him to say a word, the audience at Koshien had already provided their answer.

"Woah woah woah woah woah woah woah woah woah—!!!"

"A 126 km/h breaking ball — this ball is hit! It's flying high! It's flying fast!"

"Ah ah ah ah ah— it's out, it's out! Koushing's outfielders can't catch up!"

"Grand slam! The Koshien decisive grand slam! Lin Guanglai, he's truly too strong!!!"

"With this grand slam as the milestone! Lin Guanglai! He ushers Koshien's tournament RBI record into the era of 20s!"

"This game, the outcome is probably decided!"

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