"Jintaro, take it easy... The game has come this far, and no matter what happens in this half-inning, you can retire guilt-free as the one among us who completed the mission."
In the semi-final against Yamanashi's Kofu, Lin Guanglai could rest assured and keep a low profile; but against a strong opponent like Mitsuhoshi Academy, Osaka Tsubaki couldn't afford any complacency: their ace pitcher had started and completed three games in four days, with a total pitch count of over 350 balls—had it not been for their luck in drawing a bye in the first round, they might not have had enough pitching reserves to handle the games.
At this stage of the game, whether Osaka Tsubaki could maintain the 0-0 score largely depended on the performance of Fujinami Jintaro—after all, he was set to face Waseda Jitsugyo's second, third, and fourth batters in this half-inning, which meant he would inevitably have a direct showdown with Lin Guanglai.
