Chapter 163 – Episode 161. Weakness? (4)

[In the beginning of the 8th inning, Maeng-Ho Ji, who scored 2 RBIs today, is entering the plate. Ji Maeng-ho’s performance today was 1 hit in 3 at-bats and a walk.]

[Hey, another chance like this goes to Ji Maeng-ho. In the crucial situation of a 2:2 tie and 2 outs loaded, he is the most devastating hitter so far this season. No matter how strong the bullpen is, this match will not be easy, right?]

[Here, UG makes a pitcher change. One of the best setup men in the league, Donghyun Jang, is off the mound. The pitcher who comes up is No. 65, Yoon Joong-hwan.]

[The UG puts precipitation? Take down Jang Dong-hyeon and say Yoon Joong-hwan…. The confrontation between the two players in yesterday’s game ended in a sand dune…. It seems that some conclusion has been made inside the team.]

After receiving the ball, Yoon Joong-hwan walked to the mound.

‘Under…. I listened to the explanation, but can I really stop Ji Maeng-ho?’

As Yoon Joong-hwan walked to the mound, his mind was complicated. On the day of the game against the AT Thunders, Yoon Joong-hwan, who was suddenly called up from Ganghwa, was told by the coaches that he had to deal with Ji Maeng-ho as soon as he came up.

The first timeheheard that, Yoon Joong-hwan felt embarrassed.

‘I have to go out with one point against the best hitter in the first team right now? Even in a critical situation?’

The mound that went up like that. I managed to get two strikes against Ji Maeng-ho, but in the end, I let the ball hit me.

-“Sorry. Director”

– “No, good job. Too bad, it was too bad. Just throw it like you normally would. It doesn’t matter if you give me a walk. Just throw your ball.”

And the first-team manager’s praiseheheard after 12 years of joining the club. Yoon Joong-hwan’s heart grew hot.

‘Yes, the coach also said, let’s throw my ball. Junghwan Yoon. This is my last chance.’

And aside from the director’s words, there were many things on Yoon Joong-hwan’s shoulders.

‘Yes, Eun-ah, Jin-young. Dad will do his best… !’

His wife, who first proposed to him, who had been living in the 2nd Army for 12 years, and his son, who had just begun to walk. Even for his family, this pressure had to be endured.

Perhaps this was his last chance as a professional baseball player. Even though he is a pitcher who throws in the mid-150s, he has not been able to get a zero point, so he has been playing around with only the second team. For the sake of his family, this opportunity could not be missed.

Ji Maeng-ho, who is standing at the plate, glares at himself with hot eyes. Those eyes…. According to his teammates, he seemed to know what pitch to throw. Those eyes were staring at him.

‘Still…. It has nothing to do with me. Because I only have a direct purchase….’

That fastball that you can’t control on your own. That fastball that sometimes flies straight and sometimes curves to the right. Because of that unpredictable ball, he repeatedly spent 12 years in the first team and was kicked out, but now it was different. Both the coach and the power analysis team were asking for the ball that was out of control for them.

‘Yes, I could have caught it yesterday if I had been alert. Let’s do it!’

“Aaaaagh!”

As Ji Maeng-ho stood at bat, Yun Joong-hwan let out a loud voice as if trying to ease the burden on him.

“Why is that bastard like that?”

“Having a habit of talking to seniors.”

“Ah, were you a senior? Sorry. But it’s strange to suddenly scream from the mound.”

“… Concentrate on the game.”

Baek Kyung-ho, the catcher of UG Overlords, was about to say a word to Ji Maeng-ho, who speaks indiscriminately, but shut his mouth. If he had a normal personality, he would have gnawed until the end of his at-bat, but it was because the coaches had a strict order not to talk to Ji Maeng-ho.

‘Is this bastard really talking to the catcher to figure out the ball combination?’

I couldn’t believe it, but according to the coaches, it was very likely. That’s why Baek Kyung-ho had no choice but to kill his personality and follow the coaches’ words.

‘Yeah, I wonder what the coaches are thinking.’

The trust Baek Kyung-ho had in the UG coaches was great. To the point where he kills his own personality. It was thanks to those coaches that made UG a strong team with few MVP-level players.

And Baek Kyung-ho signed an autograph. He’s the same sign as yesterday. A fastball in the middle. I couldn’t believe it when I first asked him to sign an autograph, but in yesterday’s match between Yoon Joong-hwan and Ji Maeng-ho, Baek Kyung-ho also felt something strange.

It was because Ji Maeng-ho, who never swung the ball against Webb, swung wrong at Yoon Joong-hwan’s ball.

‘Okay, let’s go again today.’

2:2, 2 out with bases loaded. Yoon Joong-hwan winds up.

“Cheek.”

“Good ball! With confidence, one by one like now!”

“I think it was good that he was a meter away from the strike zone.”

Baek Kyung-ho consciously ignored Ji Maeng-ho’s sarcasm.

‘Yeah, this kind of ball doesn’t come out, right? However, we only have one ball to throw anyway. Put it in the middle of the critically ill!’

Again, Yoon Joong-hwan winds up. Yoon Joong-hwan’s ball seemed to escape outside the right-handed hitter, then it twisted like a snake and landed in the low strike zone on the outside foot. No, actually he didn’t stick to the strike zone. But Baek Kyung-ho is a veteran catcher.

‘A ball like this… !’

Baek Kyung-ho’s meat worked its magic. Using only his wrist, he exquisitely pulls up the mitt.

“……. Strike!”

“Yes?! Is this?! Under….”

“Are you dissatisfied?”

“… No.”

A valuable strike obtained through framing. This ball thrown by Yoon Joong-hwan was a ball that could never be hit by any other hitter. Giving a strike to the pitcher who threw the ball was the greatest reward in Baek Kyung-ho’s life as a catcher.

“Good night! Good! Let’s go for one more!”

“… What the. Anyone looking at it would think it was an Olympic final.”

“Have you been to the Olympics?”

“Have you been there?”

“I’ve been going since you were a snuffer, son of a bitch.”

“If that’s enough, why don’t you pass the position on to your junior now?”

“This dog….”

It was almost dry. Be patient, be patient There’s nothing to be gained by talking to this bastard. Trying to induce the ball by shaking me, the catcher? There’s no way. Besides, in fact, even Baek Kyung-ho did not know where Yoon Joong-hwan’s ball would go. However, the situation is still tied. We have to be careful because Ji Maeng-ho’s at-bat could come back one more at-bat.

‘Let’s go again, seriously ill!’

The demand was the same as always. A fastball in the middle. And Yoon Joong-hwan, who got used to the lead, threw the ball at a fast tempo.

“Uh?”

With Ji Maeng-ho’s panicked voice, the ball soars into the sky and enters the zone. Trajectory unique to an underhand pitcher. During the game, Yoon Joong-hwan’s pitching form changed.

“Strike!”

‘This… Do you feel good? What difference did it make?’

Yoon Joong-hwan, who subconsciously lowered his arm angle than usual, did not notice that his arm angle went down, but he could instinctively notice that this ball suited him better.

‘151km/h? Are you slower than before? What difference did it make?’

‘Blessed man, the octagonal sword has gone down.’

‘Okay? My baby, how do you try to put a strike. ‘

There is no way that a pitching form that suddenly changed during a game will become the first pitch. Ji Maeng-ho laughed inwardly at Yoon Joong-hwan acting stupidly.

‘He’s still a bad kid, but there’s no way the next ball will come in. Let’s wait for this at-bat.’

Anyway, behind him, there was an outstanding lineup leading to Ki Sang-ju and Choi Jin-cheol. RBI was greedy, but he didn’t have to overdo it. Before entering the at-bat, hitting coach Lee Ki-cheol said something similar.

‘Listening to that bastard hurts my pride, but…. Well, he was a good baseball player.’

Thinking of putting himself on the bench in high school, he wanted to run and break his head with a bat even now, but hitting coach Lee Gi-chul was a pretty good coach. In the first place, one of the reasons why Maeng-Ho Ji, who was a fairly good shortstop in the middle school league, went to Hanche High School where there was nothing, was Ki-cheol Lee’s target.

And now. Like Lee Ki-cheol said, there was no reason not to wait. The opponent is a pitcher with poor control only for fast speed. Even if he was driven to two strikes, he didn’t have to worry at all.

‘It must be a fastball in the middle anyway, right?’

‘Okay. How can a junky pitcher who can’t even pitch in the middle play for the first team? You really know the level of this country.’

‘Iknow, right…. I have to go to the majors soon. Why are there so many cubs who can’t stick even where the catcher asks….’

And without even having to share his autograph, Yoon Joong-hwan poses again. A much faster tempo than the usual pitching tempo. That tempo led to Ji Maeng-ho’s swing.

Widely!

A batted ball that flies behind the catcher and hits the net.

‘Fuck, that was dangerous. Are you suddenly fucking me in the middle?’

Hehe, with a flustered tail. It’s a fastball again.’

‘Oh, the speed… !’

Again, the ball flies at a fast tempo. This time in the strike zone! It was a bit late to put out the bat, but at least to kick it… !

Maengho made a swing following the trajectory of the ball bending toward his body. Whoa! Just listening to it, you can hear the sound of the wind breaking through. And the fact that the bat split the wind….

“Swing strike! Out!”

“Aaaaa!”

The bent ball that Yoon Joong-hwan had thrown so far came into the zone without breaking this time. Right in the middle of what the catcher asked for.

‘Yeah! Jinyoung! Dad… ! Dad did it!’

Yoon Joong-hwan’s cry contained the resentment he had held for 12 years.

[Strike out with a swing! Yoon Joong-hwan catches the crisis of the bases loaded with 2 companies with a wonderful strikeout! Yoon Joong-hwan roars! Yoon Joong-hwan, who has always raised fans’ expectations as an unfinished prospect, proves his potential by blocking Ji Maeng-ho, the best hitter in the league at this point!]

[It took a really long time, Yoon Joong-hwan. If he continues to play like he does now, he could probably be the best pitcher in the league. The ball thrown by Yoon Joong-hwan has that much potential.]

“Ah! Fuck!”

Damn, the bat collided with the fierce tiger’s thigh and cracked like Styrofoam.

Hehe, you stupid bastard, can’t you even hit the ball in the middle now?’

‘Ah! This is against the rules! That bastard, the next time we meet… !’

‘Ugly, ugly.’

‘Write… !’

[Ji Maeng-ho breaks the bat in two.]

[Oh, it must be difficult to break it like that with tolerable force, but strength is really good. Well, Ji Maeng-ho will gain a lot from this strikeout. I’m still a young player.]

[The 2:2 tie situation remains, and now the game continues at the bottom of the 8th inning, with UG Overlords attacking.]

In the bottom of the 8th inning, UG’s attack was fierce, as the popular belief in the baseball world is that opportunity comes after crisis. The AT Thunders’ pitcher also managed to get two outs, but in the end, two runners were let out, and batter Koo Jin-mo became the batter at bat.

[Uh, uh. Goo Jin-mo’s batted ball, batted ball! We pass! Reversal three run!!! The sound of boat horns announcing UG’s victory fills the Munhak Stadium!]

[As expected, Gu Jin-mo! And it can also be called UG Overlords. It seems that the will of the players that they cannot lose in a row to AT has been transmitted to this point.]

At the end of the 8th inning, the AT Thunders, who had a come-from-behind three runs, shared a 1 win and 1 loss with the UG Overlords, and the series was headed for the final game.

*

“Coach, the timing for the fierce tiger doesn’t seem right at all, right?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm, it’s Yoon Joong-hwan…. I saw it a lot in the 2nd group, but I don’t think it was that much. Are you sure you received the energy of the first-team stadium?”

“It seems that UG has definitely prepared for Ji Maeng-ho.”

“Well, that doesn’t mean you can’t use Yoon Joong-hwan as your starting pitcher. It’s not that Maengho’s condition is bad.”

In fact, today Maeng-Ho Ji scored 2 RBIs with 1 hit in 4 at-bats. And he wasn’t too bad with one walk. Except for the at-bats in which Yoon Jung-hwan struck out, all of the at-bats that were retreated by beomta were caught in front of the fence. If UG was a team like Charlotte or Hwasan, who had weaknesses in defense, the batting style would not be strange even if it was 4 hits in 4 at-bats.

“Yes. Well, the fierce tiger batting was good since high school.”

“Ah, this coach was the head coach of Mengho High School, right? What did you do when the timing wasn’t right like this?”

“I do not know. It’s the first time I’ve seen a fierce tiger like this.”

“Then there is only one answer. He doesn’t need to ruin the feeling of hitting by pairing a player with good hitting feeling with a pitcher with bad timing. Anyway, I think I only use it against Ji Maeng-ho, but tomorrow I’ll have to make a pinch hit.”

There was no need to ruin the feeling of hitting the player bombing the league. One hit anyway. Director Lee Soo-hyun’s idea of ​​how to destroy Yoon Joong-hwan was simple.