Chapters 240 – 238. Comeback. (3)

“Good job.”

“Senior, wake up now and throw it.”

“Spirit, spirit… What? Is the youngest supposed to say that to a senior?”

“Looking at what you’re saying, it seems like you’ve come to your senses. Just throw up to 5 innings. I will take care of the victory for you.”

After recovering 3 runs in 1 inning, Park Joon-hyeong’s expression, which had been dead, was quite acceptable. Seeing him talking back to him, he seems to have come to his senses.

“From episode 2, let’s go with a new mind! From now on, the game started anew. Gather everyone!”

Director Lee Soo-hyun said, “Go with the mindset of a fresh start.” We shouted slogans under coach Lee Soo-hyun’s lead and went out to the stadium again. Could it be that such a series of processes stabilized Park Jun-hyung’s mentality? Park Joon-hyung showed a completely different side in the second episode.

“Strike! Out!”

“Center!”

“My ball!”

“Now! One left. Let’s catch one!”

“Second!”

In the two-out situation, the ball rolled toward me, and this time I handled the ball without any difficulty. A throw that goes in even though Choi Jin-cheol is only stretching his arm. Even I thought it was neat.

‘As expected, it was because of the irregular bound earlier.’

“Just do something like this.”

I heard Park Jun-hyung’s curt voice, but it wasn’t that sincere. What can I say? I wonder if he is like a child complaining. It was a little dumbfounded to see someone old enough to do this, but I thought it was because he was a pitcher.

‘It’s not even a day or two that pitchers are like kids. As an adult, I have to put up with it.’

Compared to other pitchers who throw beanballs saying that they can’t do it as they please, and throw the ball, their mentality explodes on their own, and only walks, Park Joon-hyung, who complains with words, was a nobleman.

And the opposing pitcher, Kennett, was the type of player who would walk excessively when his mentality exploded. I could feel the momentum that he couldn’t trust the defense.

Yoon Seong-tae, the lead batter, walked, the next hitter, Jeong Yun-cheol, struck out, and Baek Jeong-jin, the ninth hitter, walked. It showed a willingness not to put the ball into the ground.

‘What, can I not do that? Honestly, I could have caught my triple from third base if it was a top-tier team.’

If the team had a solid defense or the outfielder’s shoulder was a little better, they could have sniped me from third base. It seemed that Kennett’s head was full of such thoughts.

Deep!

Unfortunately, however, the first pitcher Kim Joo-yeop hit Kennett’s first pitch, and the result was a double play.

“Ah! Joo-yeop! Look at the ball!”

“Sorry.”

“Oh, it’s shaking. Do you touch it?”

With the whining of hitting coach Lee Ki-cheol, our offense ended in the bottom of the second inning. But one thing was certain: Kennett was faltering.

*

[In the beginning of the 3rd inning, JT Gold Eyes’ attack ended scoreless, and the score was still 3:3. At the end of the 3rd inning, AT Thunders attack now.]

[Kennet should be careful this inning. This inning, AT’s batting line is pretty scary.]

[That’s right. The start of this inning’s attack is Kim Soo-ho, the second batter. After that, Gi Sang-ju, Ji Maeng-ho, and Choi Jin-cheol are waiting. The other line, which is leading the excitement of AT this season, has returned as a full lineup after a long time, right?]

[You’re right. During the last 10 games, as Ji Maeng-ho couldn’t play due to punishment, AT’s batting line seemed to have slowed down slightly, but Ji Maeng-ho, who returned, proved his hitting feeling by hitting a triple from the first at-bat? You need to be careful about the other line turning around.]

A complete AT lineup that already showed destructive power at the end of the first inning. JT’s starting pitcher Kennett couldn’t help but care about the batting line.

Kim Soo-ho, who has an excellent pioneering eye and the power to pass Jamsil at any time, and Ki Sang-joo, who shows gap power based on his contact ability that worked in the majors. And Choi Jin-cheol, who has the power of being the home run king several times.

Among them, the most problematic was Ji Maeng-ho, a monster newcomer. He’s running towards the middle of August, but he’s still batting .400 and an on-base percentage of .500. And Ji Maeng-ho, who has already hit 45 home runs. In the first inning, Ji Maeng-ho’s triple hit completely changed the flow.

Kennett used that experience to throw the ball as carefully as possible.

[The fifth ball thrown to Kim Su-ho is also declared a ball, and the lead batter walks.]

Another word for careful throwing is to increase the number of balls. Kim Soo-ho calmly passed Kennett’s ball and walked to first base.

[Now the weatherman at bat. In fact, Ji Maeng-ho is performing like a monster, but Ki Sang-joo is also performing very well in his first year of return, right?]

[You’re right. With his batting average currently hovering above 3.5 and hitting 18 home runs, he’s letting baseball fans know that he’s perfectly fine. Obviously, Ji Maeng-ho’s performance must have been helped by such a player.]

[In addition, Choi Jin-cheol, who is currently second in home runs. It’s probably not an exaggeration to say that they are one of the strongest cleanup trios in KBA league history.]

[You’re right. It’s called the umbrella effect. It can be seen that the synergy of the three players is really good, and AT has become a strong team as it is now.]

The reassurance that his next hitter is Ji Maeng-ho. Feeling that reassurance that people who have never experienced it do not know, Ki Sang-ju entered the plate.

‘Maengho looks good today, so let’s run it lightly. Lightly. Even if I can’t hit it, the fierce tiger will solve it.’

Of course, the fact that the next hitter was Ji Maeng-ho was not necessarily a good thing. There was also one downside when the next hitter was Ji Maeng-ho.

‘Because if I hit a double again, they’ll say that I left first base empty. As lightly as possible.’

Right away, when I hit a double, the first base was empty, so I had to listen to Ji Maeng-ho’s complaints for a while. He had to accept Ji Maeng-ho’s complaint that he couldn’t swing the bat in the dugout, because if he hit a double, there was a 99% chance Ji Maeng-ho would get an intentional hit or a similar walk.

Although Ji Maeng-ho missed that grumbling while he was gone, the weather manager decided to turn the bat as lightly as possible since it was true that he didn’t want to hear it when he came back.

“Strike!”

‘Okay, it’s not too difficult for me.’

However, the great advantage of not being able to give up the bat in front of Maeng-Ho Ji, even after hearing such complaints, was that he did not avoid the game against himself as he does now. Kennett, who had a difficult match so far, throws a strike from the first pitch? He caught the fact that he was going to win and finished preparing to go to a similar ball.

And,

Right!

A compact swing that is completely unaware of home runs or doubles. Even though he has already hit 18 homers this season and has been recognized for his excellent gap power, the batted ball created by a simple swing without being conscious of long hits exquisitely passed between the first and second basemen.

“Stop!”

With the short hit of the weather warning, the situation is safe on 1st and 2nd base. And Ji Maeng-ho stepped into the plate.

[Now hitter 4, Maeng-Ho Ji, enters. He batted 4.1 and 3 Lee. His on-base percentage is .502.2. His slugging percentage is 90.5. He has 45 home runs. Hey, that’s a really scary record.]

[I was also a pitcher during my active career, but if I met a hitter like this, I think I would have walked unconditionally. Haha.]

Ji Maeng-ho is posting amazing results even after 2/3 of the season has passed.

[I’m curious about Kennet’s choice.]

[But you can’t skip it. Because Ji Maeng-ho’s next hitter is Choi Jin-cheol.]

The reason why Maeng-Ho Ji could not be easily missed was that the hitter lurking behind Maeng-Ho Ji was Choi Jin-cheol, who was currently second in home runs. Against Ji Maeng-ho at the 1st and 2nd bases, and against Choi Jin-cheol at the top of the base. Dealing with Ji Maeng-ho was more pressure, but it was true that it was scary to skip Ji Maeng-ho.

Therefore, the only thing a pitcher can do is to pitch as hard as possible for batters to hit. The only way a pitcher could do it was to play out of the zone with the mindset that it was okay to walk.

And if you lose control for a moment in such a situation of pressure,

Ta-evil!

[I hit it! Ji Maeng-ho! Big! This hit is a wall! It hits and falls.]

I had no choice but to allow Ji Maeng-ho a blow.

[A neat double through the middle left! Ji Maeng-ho, up to third base? It doesn’t go all the way to third base. Both runners home! Now the score is 5:3! With this double, I get 4 RBIs in my second at-bat.]

[I think Maeng-Ho Ji could have reached 3rd base with his main efforts, but he stopped at 2nd base? There is no need to overdo it.]

A situation where I gave 5 points in 3 times. It was a situation where he was holding onto his mental somehow, but Kennett’s heart was shaken by the double hit allowed to Maeng-Ho Ji. And for a pitcher on the mound, such a moment of carelessness is bound to produce disastrous results.

[Choi Jin-cheol’s batted ball! Go over the fence! Homer! Choi Jin-cheol, who started the home run four again in five games!]

Ji Maeng-ho, who secretly gave the sign at second base, and Choi Jin-cheol’s unique power combined to hit a large home run that went over the fence in Jamsil, and the score was 4 points. Choi Jin-cheol proudly steps on the home plate after hitting a home run. Second base runner Ji Maeng-ho accepted Choi Jin-cheol.

“Senior was good!”

“You were better. But it’s really amazing. Thanks.”

Choi Jin-cheol’s thanks was a small voice that only Ji Maeng-ho could hear because there was nothing good about it being heard by others.

“Ah, what is it? It’s comfortable for me when the sunbaenim hits well. That way you won’t miss me.”

Ji Maeng-ho responded in a low voice.

“Is that why you stopped at second base?”

Choi Jin-cheol asked Ji Maeng-ho if he had stopped at second base to tell him the cause of death. It was good for Maeng Ho to give the autograph at second base, but he didn’t want to get an autograph at the expense of his junior’s record, so he could say that.

Choi Jin-cheol is also a hard hitter who won the home run title 4 times. It would have been nice if there was help, but there was no big problem without it, so I was worried if Ji Maeng-ho had sacrificed himself for himself. Even though there seems to be no difference between doubles and triples, it was all the more so because the differences were visible when looking at records such as OPS and slugging percentage.

“That’s not it. Well, I hit a triple in my first at-bat. If possible, I should try it too.”

“Huh? What?”

“Cycling hit. Cycling hit in the return match. Isn’t it cool?”

Of course, Ji Maeng-ho was never one of those players who would sacrifice his records for his team.