"Mr. Izumi, let me pitch an inning, please. My arm is almost completely healed—"
"I beg you, coach. If I don't even have the chance to face opponents of this caliber, what's the point of this exchange game?"
Standing in the Waseda Jitsugyo players' rest area, Lin Guanglai surrounded Coach Izumi Minoru, constantly pleading with him to allow him to pitch.
Ever since the autumn tournament semifinals of the National Academy Kugayama, Lin Guanglai had become the "most unwelcome person" in the eyes of the team's coach and pitching coach:
For nearly half a month, all his pitching training was canceled. Even the practice was just some low-intensity, recovery exercises, and only recently, in the last couple of days, returned to normal;
As for making an appearance in official games, that was even more out of the question.
