In the summer, at the training ground of Zhongshan Dongsheng Senior High School, the members of the baseball team were training.
Nanfang Daily reporter Ye Zhiwen photographed
Liang Youwen. Courtesy of respondents
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In the second of the decider, a high-altitude ball flew in, and the 16-year-old guerrilla Wang Renlong instantly started, caught the ball steadily, held it high, and finally helped the Zhongshan baseball team win this difficult victory with a score of 6:4 - at the 15th Games of Guangdong Province just past, the Zhongshan baseball team lifted the first provincial games championship trophy.
Baseball has a special meaning for Zhongshan, which is the hometown of Liang Fuchu, the "father of Chinese baseball". Liang Fuchu's fourth son, Liang Youwen, returned to Zhongshan 11 years ago and taught the children to play baseball hand in hand, hoping to realize his father's lifelong dream of making Chinese baseball catch up with the world's advanced level.
This special article tells the story of this group of baseball teenagers and their ninety coaches' experiences and dreams.
● Southern Daily reporter Guo Dongdong intern Wei Xinghao
Baseball junior
reversion
"Every innings is a new start, just play 0:0"
After 8 years, the Guangdong Provincial Games once again set up a baseball competition, attracting six youth teams from Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhongshan, Zhuhai, Huizhou and Zhaoqing. The competition adopts a single-round robin system and a ranking match, that is, 6 teams play each other one by one, and the top two with the best results enter the final and compete for the championship.
In the first round of the round robin, Zhongshan encountered a strong old rival, Shenzhen. In the first game, Zhongshan took the lead in the state, leading 1:0. However, at the beginning of the second set, the situation on the field suddenly changed.
In less than half an hour, the Shenzhen team adapted to the pitching rhythm of Lin Yujun, the main pitcher of the Zhongshan team, the batsman rate increased significantly, and seized a defensive mistake in Zhongshan, successfully on the base, and scored 7 points in one drum, with a rainbow. The score on the field changed from 1:0 to 1:7, and Zhongshan team fell behind by a large score.
"Mainly there were a few key mistakes, the ball was not caught in front of the face, or the players' hearts were too nervous to let go." Zhou Guangmou, head coach of the Zhongshan baseball team, said that the team has also encountered this situation before, and the morale cannot be raised when the big score is behind. This time, several coaches, Lin Shengxiong, Fan Xiaodong and Deng Enhong have been playing "chicken blood" to the players, encouraging them to play, "every round is a new beginning, just play 0:0."
The Zhongshan team withstood the pressure, starting from defense, innings and rounds, and clenching the score.
In the fourth set, Zhongshan returned a 5:0 to Shenzhen team and successfully reversed the score. In the fifth set, Nakayama scored two more points and won the match with a 12:8 reversal. 'Winning this game is very crucial, we played with confidence and momentum, and laid the psychological advantage for the second encounter in the final." Zhou Guangmou said.
The two sides eventually met again in the final. However, this time, the role of the catcher became the Shenzhen team.
Similar to the first game, the starting pitcher sent by Zhongshan was still The No. 28 Lin Yujun. The difference is that the coaches arranged for him to throw more variable speed balls when throwing good balls in a straight line. "In the first game, we found that the Shenzhen team's playing skills were very solid, and the fastballs were very good, but the shift ball was worse." Zhou Guangmou said that even if the Shenzhen team can play, it will not be able to play a good ball, and there is a high probability that it will be blocked out.
It turned out that Zhongshan's opening tactics were successful, and the variable speed ball did affect the judgment and rhythm of shenzhen team batters.
After Lin Yujun threw three good balls in a row, Shenzhen's first batter was knocked out by three strikes. The two subsequent hitters who appeared on the scene also failed to play the hit, and were banned one after another. Less than eight minutes into the first set, Zhongshan kept a clean sheet on Shenzhen's attack.
Subsequently, the two teams exchanged attacks and defenses, and Zhongshan switched from defense to attack.
Heart war
"What they thought we didn't dare to do, we did"
"At the beginning of the attack, there was no specific tactics, but the order of the bats was exquisite." Zhou Guangmou introduced that the first batsman chose a more flexible player, ran fast, and had a high batting rate. The second batter should play more than usual to ensure that it is safe to base. The third, fourth, and fifth places followed, with a strong ability to hit the bat, helping teammates who had already made base in front of them to score points.
In the case that the first batter, Wang Renlong, was banned and out, Ding Hengyang, who then played, swung his bat for the first time and struck a quick bounce on the earth. Shenzhen's defensive players made a mistake in receiving the ball, and Ding Hengyang struggled to run through the first, second and third bases and returned to home base safely to score the first point. After the sixth batter, Huang Heyi, also played a beautiful bounce to the earth, breaking through the frontal defense of the opposing second baseman, successfully reaching the first base, and also helping the runner Lu Yijun to take another point. The first set ended with a 2-0 lead for Zhongshan.
In the second set, the Shenzhen team, which was behind the score, still did not improve in attack, and the mood of the players also fluctuated somewhat. The pitcher threw "four bad balls" in a row to escort Zhongshan batters Wang Renlong and Ding Hengyang to base. When the batter Lin Yujun played, the first, second and third bases all had Zhongshan's offensive players, and only one person was out, and the probability of scoring was very high. Zhongshan's coaching staff has specially arranged the tactics of grabbing points and hitting for this purpose.
"In baseball, in the case of full base, this tactic is rarely chosen, and it does have some risks. If it goes well, at least one point is scored, but it is also possible to be 'killed' by the other side in a row. Zhou Guangmou said, "We just want to hit each other by surprise, and what they think we don't dare to do, we will do." The opportunity could not be missed, and the Zhongshan coach on the sideline shouted to the players, "Run the base, all run the base."
The words did not fall, and at the moment when the pitcher made the ball, Lin Yujun put the bat in his hand in front of him and hit a touch shot. As the ball slowly rolled into the interior, Third Base's Tan Baoyao and second baseman Wang Renlong quickly ran back to home base. Although Lin Yujun was banned at first base, Tan Baoyao and Wang Renlong teamed up to score 2 points, and Zhongshan led 4:0.
"Our players have a better ability to play bats than Shenzhen, and under normal defensive conditions, we play more hits and have a lead in the score." Zhou Guangmou said, "Everyone usually trains very hard, plays too much with sticks, and bleeds from their hands, but no one has taken leave because of this." ”
Break the game
"Send them the ball, you want the number of outs"
In the third set, the Shenzhen team, which was 0:4 behind, began to adjust its tactics. In the face of Lin Yujun's pitch, they no longer swung the bat with all their strength, but instead reduced some strength, trying to hit the ball to the ground and hit the empty space of the two defenders.
The Shenzhen team played consecutive hits. "Third base is the shortest distance from the batsman, the distance is close, the ball speed is fast, and the third baseman is not easy to pick up." Zhou Guangmou said that they hit between the third baseman and the guerrilla, and the two people were also prone to mistakes in coordination because of unclear responsibility.
Obviously, in response to the adjustment of the Shenzhen team, Zhongshan was not prepared enough, and there were frequent mistakes in receiving the ball and cooperating. Shenzhen scored three consecutive points to chase the score to 3:4. Although Tan Baoyao then slid to the ground and grabbed a point, the initiative of the game seemed to be falling to the Shenzhen team.
Seeing the change in the situation on the court, the Zhongshan coaching staff immediately changed the deployment: the third baseman appropriately defended a few steps back and took two or three steps closer to the direction of the guerrilla. At the same time, it is more difficult to let the pitcher shoot more corners, and the batsman wants to play in the direction of third base.
The effect was immediate, and Zhongshan gradually stabilized the situation. In the fourth and fifth innings that followed, neither side was successful and the game was stuck in a stalemate.
Breaking the deadlock were Ding Hengyang and Lu Yijun, who had played well in the previous innings. In the sixth set, Zhongshan attacked, and Ding Hengyang was the first to hit the ball. He hit a beautiful homer on the first bat and ran straight to second base. He then took advantage of the Shenzhen team's containment ball mistake and successfully saved the base, going up to third base.
The third to play was Lu Yijun, who calmly hit a high ball that crossed the heads of pitchers and second basemen. Ding Hengyang, who was third base, took advantage of the situation to run back to home base and scored the 6th point of zhongshan.
In the seventh set, which was also a tiebreaker, the game went into a white-hot situation. Although the score was 3:6 behind, the Shenzhen relatives and friends on the sidelines were still cheering loudly for the players on the field. Encouraged, the members of the Shenzhen team rubbed their fists and prepared for the last fight.
Shenzhen took the lead in attacking, and hitter Cai Zhenhong came on the second game, he played a high ball that crossed the head of Zhongshan's third baseman, and then Zhongshan made a passing mistake. Cai Zhenhong ran through first and second bases in one breath and reached third base. Duan Dingyong, who then played, hit another hit to help teammate Cai Zhenhong successfully score.
At this time, Zhongshan led Shenzhen by two points 6:4, and Shenzhen was out.
Zhou Guangmou said that in fact, at the beginning of the seventh inning, Zhongshan redeployed his tactics. "We're three points ahead and they need at least six or seven hits to equalize. We send good balls to them, they may play hits, but it is not possible for everyone to play hits, as long as it is a boccia ball and a high ball will definitely make him out. ”
Zhongshan, who leads the score, wants the number of outs.
Eat sure
Wang Renlong held the ball high and the coaches rushed into the field to hug the 16 players
Xie Shijie, who played on the Shenzhen team, played a ground ball and was banned out. Before Li Jianyang came out, the Shenzhen team was 4:6 behind, two out, and there were people in the second and third bases.
In the last shot, Li Jianyang hit a high-flying ball in the infield and flew in the direction of the guerrilla Wang Renlong. "At that time, they were already rushing to home base with all their strength, and as long as we made a mistake, they could run back to home base. The third base run back was 6:5, and the second base run back was 6:6. Zhou Guangmou said that if there is a rush, there are continuous mistakes, and the batters also rush back to home base, shenzhen team can get three points in one round and reverse the score. But as long as the Zhongshan players can catch it steadily, Zhongshan baseball can make history and win the first provincial games gold medal.
"This ball is set!" At that moment, Zhou Guangmou, Lin Shengxiong, Fan Xiaodong and Deng Enhong, four coaches, all stood on the sidelines, holding the iron railing tightly in their hands.
At the moment when the decider read the second, Wang Renlong instantly started, and after catching the high flying ball steadily, he held it high. At that moment, the coaches raised their hands and rushed into the field excitedly, hugging the 16 players. The 17-year-old Lin Yujun was so excited that he threw his gloves into the sky to celebrate, shouting at the camera: "Elder Liang, we are champions!" ”
Liang Youwen, Lin Yujun's first coach, saw the game as an opportunity to help the old coach realize his dream.
Now, the dream has come true. In the meantime, some people "get on the bus" and some people "get off", but there are always people who insist. Lin Yujun practiced baseball for 8 years, while Liang Youwen waited for 11 years.
The 93-year-old Liang Youwen replied in writing to the Southern Daily reporter: In 2007, when he returned to his hometown to engage in training, he hoped day and night that the Zhongshan baseball team could win the first gold medal. When I heard the good news, I was very excited and burst into tears. The echelon construction has finally paid off, and I have never been so excited.
Ninety coaches
Family history
From "Greater Shanghai" to "Little Dongsheng"
Born in Japan in 1925, Liang Youwen, whose ancestral home is Zhongshan, returned to Shanghai with his father Liang Fuchu when he was a child, and later lived in the United States. When the 82-year-old first set foot on the land of his hometown of Zhongshan, he had two sideburns.
Why come back? Because he saw a news from his hometown, related to baseball: on November 8, 2006, the first baseball team in Zhongshan City was born at Dongsheng Senior High School.
Liang Youdeto, former vice chairman of the Chinese Baseball Association, sent teaching materials and books from Beijing, and also told this good news to his fourth brother Liang Youwen, who was far away on the other side of the ocean.
"I've been out there all my life promoting baseball, but I've forgotten my hometown." In April 2007, Liang Youwen, then the head coach of the "Panda" baseball club in San Francisco, came to Zhongshan with his wife to see the nascent baseball team. Seeing the children in his hometown wearing handsome baseball uniforms, Liang Youwen remembered the lifelong wish of his father Liang Fuchu and all the old "Panda Team" members, and could not help but burst into tears.
In 1905, Liang Fuchu, who lived in Yokohama, Japan, established a "Chinese Junior Baseball Team" composed of overseas Chinese children in the local area, and repeatedly swept the local strong teams. In the 1930s, Liang Fuchu returned to Shanghai to promote baseball. In 1939, Liang Youde and others spontaneously formed several baseball teams, and in 1941 they merged to form a team that could compete with foreign teams. In 1942, when it was learned that there were rare animal pandas in Sichuan Province, the team members named the team "Panda Team". In 1945, Liang Fuchu began to personally coach the "Panda Team".
1947 and 1948 were the most glorious periods of the "Panda Team". On the banks of the Huangpu River, the "Panda Team" is invincible in matches with foreign teams such as the United States and the United Kingdom. In 1949, the "Panda Team" hosted the first "Panda Cup" baseball tournament in Shanghai.
After the 1950s, the "Panda Team" was disbanded for some reason. Since then, the veteran players have gone their separate ways. Inheriting the panda spirit and revitalizing the baseball career has become the lifelong wish of the Liang Youwen brothers.
Since 2007, Liang Youwen, as the head coach of the Dongsheng Town baseball team, has taken root in Zhongshan and began to volunteer to coach baseball in primary and secondary schools in Dongsheng Town. He was 82 years old.
From the "Greater Shanghai" on the banks of the Huangpu River in the last century to the current Pearl River Delta town of "Dongsheng", Liang Youwen's dream of baseball revitalization began. But reality is often harsh, and the problems he faces are far greater than he thinks.
starting point
Octogenarian back from the United States back to the serve machine
When I first returned to my hometown, someone asked Liang Youwen how to develop Zhongshan baseball? Liang Youwen said that popularization comes first, "starting from primary schools as soon as possible" as a foundation for echelon construction. In addition, there must be a training pitch.
However, in Zhongshan, where baseball was just emerging at that time, not only did there not have a primary school baseball team, nor did it have a baseball training ground, and even children did not train decent baseball.
"Without a coach, let the school's physical education teacher go to the Guangzhou Institute of Physical Education to learn, learn how much to teach; if there is no field, they will use the football field, and then the football field will be built and built, and they will be trained in the cement field in front of the teaching building; the funds are not tight enough to buy the ball, so they will contact Guangtian and take back the balls they are going to eliminate and practice." Xie Baifang, former principal of Zhongshan Dongsheng Senior High School, took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes, and recalled that during that time, teaching children to play baseball was a meaningless thing to outsiders. Many parents do not even want their children to play baseball, for fear of delaying their children's learning.
At that time, the team did not have a tee machine, and when the players practiced blows, they had to throw the ball manually, and Liang Youwen felt very uncomfortable. In 2007, he quietly bought a tee machine from the United States and gave it to the team. In order to save thousands of yuan in freight, the old man had to "carry" the tee machine from the United States to Zhongshan by himself. When the silver-haired Elder Liang walked out of the Dock of Zhongshan Port with the tee machine, the people who came to pick him up shed tears.
Since the second half of 2007, Liang Youwen and Xie Baifang often visited the principals of primary schools in Dongsheng Town, hoping that primary schools could also form baseball teams so that more children could contact baseball from a young age, but often there was no follow-up. "At that time, everyone knew very little about baseball, and our team couldn't get decent results, so naturally no one looked up to it and supported it." Xie Baifang said.
After the 2008 Beijing Olympics, baseball withdrew from the Olympic program, but Liang Youwen and Xie Baifang chose to continue to insist.
Every day, in the small streets and alleys of Dongsheng Town, Liang Youwen rode the bicycle to the school. Because it is old, the pedals on the road will always make a creaking sound. Listening to it is used to it, but it seems a little kind. Every Monday to Friday, he spends two or three hours teaching his children to practice, and on weekends he takes them to training. This is not easy for an elderly person.
Zhang Ting, a baseball coach at Tongmao Primary School in Dongsheng Town, once trained with Liang Youwen. Every day, she said, Mr. Liang carries an environmentally friendly bag to the training ground, which contains more than a dozen baseballs. Because there was no baseball field in the school at that time, the children could only practice on the basketball court, and every white baseball was dyed the green of the plastic field. "But at that point, it was already good to have the ball."
As the number and intensity of training on baseball teams increases, the ball still doesn't have enough. In the case of limited funds, how to solve the problem of the ball became a piece of Xie Baifang's heart disease at that time. One day, two sacks of baseball popped up at the school gate. "I don't know who sent it until now, and the well-meaning people left only a note that read: Give it to you. I was very touched to see these gifts, at least knowing that someone had been following and supporting us. Xie Baifang recalled this small incident that happened in 2008 and still has a lot of emotions.
Turn
"In the past 12 years, we have not insisted because we have hope, but because we have persevered."
In 2011, with the support of Dongsheng Town government and social enthusiast Feng Xiaolong, Zhongshan Panda Baseball and Softball Club was established in Dongsheng, named its team "Panda Team" and restarted the "Panda Cup" event. Liang Youwen, a member of the old "Panda Team", personally served as the head coach of the team. Since 2011, Dongsheng Town has successfully held seven "Panda Cup" junior baseball games.
"In the past 12 years, we have not insisted because we have hope, but because we have persevered." Xie Baifang said.
"The 'Panda Cup' has strong historical significance, and it is also the beginning of the historical mission of connecting and inheriting Zhongshan baseball and softball with the national baseball and softball." Feng Xiaolong, who is currently a member of the Standing Committee of the Zhongshan Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and chairman of the Zhongshan Baseball and Softball Association, said that it is not only necessary to build the "Panda Cup" into a top brand event for baseball step by step, but also to brainstorm through the summit forum to study and think about ways to make the Zhongshan baseball industry bigger and stronger.
After unremitting efforts, in the Lingnan water town of Dongsheng, baseball finally began to rise to the development strategy of the local government. In 2013, Dongsheng Town proposed the concept of building a "Chinese baseball town". In August of that year, Dongsheng Town officially proposed the "four one projects" to support the development of baseball: cultivating a high-level team, holding a high-standard event, building an international standard competition venue, and cultivating a high value-added industrial chain.
In 2014, the State Council issued the Several Opinions on Accelerating the Development of the Sports Industry and Promoting Sports Consumption to promote the comprehensive development of mass sports and competitive sports. In 2015, the "Medium and Long-term Development Plan for China's Baseball Industry (Draft for Comments)" was issued. In 2016, the International Olympic Committee voted that baseball would return to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after a gap of 12 years... A series of good news has also made more people begin to understand and support Zhongshan baseball.
In December 2016, Zhongshan Shandongsheng hosted the 9th Asian U12 Baseball Championship, attracting teams from Japan, South Korea and other countries. In June 2017, the "China Baseball and Softball High-level Reserve Talent Base" was officially settled in Zhongshan. In August 2017, the State General Administration of Sport announced the first batch of 96 sports and leisure characteristic towns in the country, and "Zhongshan International Baseball Town" was listed among them, becoming one of the five selected projects in Guangdong and the only baseball-themed characteristic town in the country.
aspiration
"Baseball in my hometown has developed, popularized to the whole country, and gone international"
At present, all 20 primary and secondary schools in Dongsheng Town have popularized baseball, forming a baseball sports echelon connecting primary school, junior high school and high school, and the primary school group will organize two inter-school leagues every year. At the same time, Dongsheng also has 12 simple courts and 2 standard baseball stadiums that host international events. There are more than 500 young baseball players in the town, and the number of people participating in baseball every year exceeds 5,000. Feng Xiaolong also revealed that in combination with the construction and development needs of "Zhongshan International Baseball Town", Dongsheng Town is planning to build the Zhongshan International Baseball and Softball Academy as a national baseball and softball high-level reserve talent base.
The success of competitive sports depends on the emergence of a steady stream of talents, and echelon construction is one of the hematopoietic mechanisms. "We will select all the children in Zhongshan, mainly in grades 3 to 5, and select those with good physical fitness and technical foundation to join the panda team." Zhang Zhenrong, head coach of Zhongshan Panda Baseball and Softball Club, introduced that after joining the team, the team will use the weekend and winter and summer vacation time to conduct free training and training, and the players will also have the opportunity to participate in national and international baseball events.
Many of the athletes who won the provincial games this time were among the beneficiaries. 17-year-old Lin Yujun, 17-year-old Tan Baoyao, 18-year-old Yu Xuexin... They are all the first "red pandas" cultivated by Liang Youwen himself, and now they are on the highest podium of the provincial games baseball project. On July 19, the "Panda Team" competed in the national tournament for the first time - the 2018 National Youth Baseball U12 Club Group. They won the championship with a record of total victory.
"Twelve years of sharpening a sword, today's results are the result of everyone working together." Li Liang, deputy director of the Zhongshan Municipal Education and Sports Bureau, said that winning the provincial games championship is only the beginning, and more importantly, it is necessary to send more outstanding athletes to the country and win glory for the country.
Liang Youwen once said that his wish for the rest of his life is to watch the baseball game in his hometown develop step by step, and then take Zhongshan as the birthplace to popularize it throughout the country and eventually go international.