"Strikeout on a missed swing!!! Uchida Saint! His performance today is quite outstanding!"

In the top of the seventh inning, facing the formidable Chiben Gakuen, Uchida Saint, starting today, once again delivered a remarkable performance:

Although he is a soft-throwing pitcher, that doesn't mean Uchida Saint lacks the ability to strike out batters—this inning, after conceding a hit at the start, Uchida Saint immediately increased his speed, launching into a ferocious strikeout mode.

Chiben Gakuen's eighth-batter, Left Fielder Nakao Ryouta, first-batter Second Baseman Ooshima Yuuki, and the key player and main shortstop Ujitani Kira, placed in the ninth spot by their manager Kosaka Shosang to link the top and bottom of the lineup, couldn't gain any advantage against Uchida Saint.

Strikeout! Strikeout!! Strikeout!!!

This inning, Uchida Saint changed his usual style, transforming into a ruthless strikeout machine, directly suppressing Chiben Gakuen's attempt to score—under his intense style, Chiben's batters returned unsuccessfully, without even opportunities to advance bases with bunts or sacrifice flies.

As of now, although the score on the field is just 1-1, no one can deny that Uchida Saint today actually put up a quite exceptional starting performance.

In seven innings, he allowed only one run, except for the run squeezed out in the second inning, the whole match was nearly flawless—a solid quality start;

If not for his outstanding state today, Waseda Jitsugyo might not only be unable to hold the 1-1 draw, but they might also be trailing.

This match, the main problem lies with the lineup:

In the previous three rounds of the tournament, Waseda Jitsugyo's offensive firepower, while not the strongest, was definitely the most stable team—they scored 10, 8, and 10 runs respectively against the strong teams of Imperial Capital, Hanamaki East, and Sakushin Gakuin, who all had ace pitchers, boasting an unmatched average of over 9 runs per game, their biggest winning reliance.

Moreover, according to the data, most of Waseda Jitsugyo's scoring happens in the early part of matches, indicating they are a team that quickly gets into game mode and capitalizes on opportunities—a lot of the times, before opponents fully react, Waseda Jitsugyo's lineup has already seized several runs; once opponents truly get into gear, the score gap is often too large to recover.

However, in today's match, whether it's due to continuous competition causing mental and physical fatigue in players, or because Chiben Gakuen's resistance is too strong, Waseda Jitsugyo's entire lineup shows quite an ordinary state in the two-thirds of the match that has concluded:

The number of hits on the stat sheet isn't small, but many are "ineffective hits," failing to link up the lineup, and teammates in scoring position often can't get hits, repeatedly missing scoring opportunities, leaving many abandoned runners.

"The game has entered the latter part—time is running out for the Senbatsu champion!"

"We must commend Chiben Gakuen's defensive performance today, facing a far superior opponent, all their players performed well—whether it's starting pitcher Ono Yohei or the infield and outfield players, they almost made no mistakes defensively."

"At this stage in the game, I think both sides need someone to step up—the current situation is very fragile, whoever can gain the lead might push the opponent's spirits down in one go!"

In the commentary booth, the commentator is still talking non-stop.

As a fan, he loves the dazzling young talent Lin Guanglai, naturally hoping his team goes further; but as a commentator, today's display by Chiben Gakuen also deeply moved him—one must strive to be fair.

Compared to the commentator with his considerations, Asahi, responsible for the game broadcast, had fewer concerns: Waseda Jitsugyo itself is media darling well-known by the national audience, and the team now has Lin Guanglai, a Koshien star with both skills and image; on the other hand, Chiben Gakuen is neither a public school that can spark local enthusiasm, nor does it have star players to promote—in terms of viewership and newsworthiness, the gap isn't small.

Seizing the time while both sides switched the field, the live broadcast camera stayed fixed on Lin Guanglai, recording all his expressions and actions.

In the footage, running from the right field back to the third base side player's area, Lin Guanglai immediately took off his outfielder glove, and began putting on his batting gear and protective equipment—there was no panicked expression on his face, he even had time to joke with teammates.

However, his actions puzzled many in front of their TVs:

It should be known that in the upcoming bottom of the seventh inning, Waseda Jitsugyo's lineup rotation starts with the seventh-batter Uesugi Yasuyuki, and Lin Guanglai is batting fourth today—there's a total of six players between them—considering Waseda Jitsugyo's current performance today, can this inning really rotate back to him for a chance to bat?

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