"In the more than 80-year long history of the Koshien tournament in spring, the record for the most strikeouts in a single game was set by PL Academy's player, Toda Yasuji, with 21 strikeouts in the first round of the 35th tournament in Showa 38 (1963)."

"Since then, this record has hung like a jewel on a crown, unreachable by a host of monster pitchers including Kuwata Masumi, Jiangchuan Zhuo, Matsuzaka Daisuke, and Yu Darvish."

"The most recent close performance was the 20 strikeouts record achieved by Imperial Capital's player Ohtani Adori at the 2007 tournament."

"But who would have thought, audience friends, who would have thought? Today, 48 years later, there is once again a chance to seize the jewel from the crown——"

"Now, Lin Guanglai has tied Toda's record of 21 strikeouts, and Waseda Jitsugyo is just one out away from winning this matchup against Luzheng Society."

"Can he do it?"

The commentary at the scene was transmitted into thousands of households across Japan through the national broadcast——If the television station staff could display the ratings of this match in the form of a chart, the peak would probably pierce the sky.

The last out of the entire match, a showdown that could set a new record in decades, with the ace batter facing the ace pitcher of the defending side, is there a more thrilling and romantic storyline than this——a storyline that seems to occur only in novels and manga, but is unfolding in reality at this moment.

In the batter's box, Ishijima Gen is silently cheering himself on, constantly boosting his confidence——If anyone is most unwilling to accept this outcome from the entire match, it's definitely him.

In this match, Lin Guanglai has only allowed two hits from Luzheng Society so far——one of which was contributed by Ishijima Gen.

Even though it was agreed before the match to have a direct showdown with Lin Guanglai to decide the winner, in the end, under the pressure of the situation, Luzheng Society abandoned the so-called pride of a strong team, trying to "steal" victory through small hits;

The most crucial part is that even after doing so, they still couldn't turn around the disadvantaged score, but instead contributed to the opponent pitcher's great performance——This made Ishijima Gen even more unwilling to accept.

He could completely foresee how the various major media in Takayama would blow up this match and praise the genius on the pitcher's mound after the match ends; while Luzheng Society would become the biggest backdrop in 83 years of the Senbatsu High School Baseball Tournament, mentioned numerous times in future reviews.

Just when Ishijima Gen felt the match was about to end in futility, perhaps his prayers were heard by the heavens, giving him this last chance to face Lin Guanglai directly——This time, Ishijima Gen determined in his heart, he will absolutely not evade again, he wants to hit the ball hard, he wants to ruin this grand performance every spectator wants to see!

The chief umpire points towards the pitcher's mound, as the sound of "Play Ball" falls, a fast straight ball immediately comes rushing in——this ball almost grazes past Ishijima Gen's elbow as it enters the plate, leaving him with no means to handle it.

"Pop."

"Strike."

Applause thundered through the stands of Koshien.

The inside pitch just now had a very tricky trajectory——to maintain such high control over the baseball in the top of the ninth inning and to pitch it so precisely into the batter's inside corner, this level of talent alone was enough to make scouts from various professional teams present write extra lines in their reports.

Sure enough, Lin Guanglai cares very much about this record——If he wasn't aiming to set a record, he could have utilized Ishijima Gen's eagerness to swing to force a ground ball and steadily secure the out.

With the first ball successfully gaining a strike count, Lin Guanglai didn't hold back, and the second pitch was still a fastball, but now aimed at the most difficult inside high corner for the batter.

Ishijima Gen reacted this time, and his swing was very decisive.

"Bang!!!"

With a piercing collision sound, the baseball flew high and fell directly towards the area behind home plate.

This time, Uesugi Yasuyuki, catching behind the plate, didn't even look at it, showing no intention of catching the ball——clearly, the entire Waseda Jitsugyo team is united, wanting to help Lin Guanglai complete this record, and along with him, to enter the annals of history as a new milestone.

"Foul."

The cheers from the stands grew louder and louder.

With one strike, one foul, Lin Guanglai had accumulated two strikes in hand, and if he secured one more strike, he would complete his 22nd strikeout of the match, thus winning the game.

Ishijima Gen stepped out of the batter's box after signaling the chief umpire, needing to adjust his mindset slightly; after taking several deep breaths, Ishijima Gen let out a loud shout and then stepped back into the batter's box, holding up his bat high in a striking stance.

The third pitch, it looked like Lin Guanglai wanted to end the game directly, throwing his full strength into an exceptionally fast straight ball——this ball shot rapidly and aggressively towards Ishijima Gen's outside corner, making it hard for him to handle.

In an absolute disadvantageous count of 0 and 2, Ishijima Gen dared not gamble on the possibility of a bad ball and could only attempt to fend it off by barely tipping the baseball into foul territory.

Still 0 balls and 2 strikes.

The fourth pitch, affected by the fatigue, Lin Guanglai's control wavered, throwing a curveball that veered significantly, which Ishijima Gen easily watched pass by.

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