Chapter 290 – Episode 288. Ji Maeng-Ho vs Joo Seung-Cheol. (3)
Game 3 came in with the determination to win unconditionally and took the lead by hitting a grand slam in the top of the first inning, but Radette was not defeated by one hit.
“Out!”
“Out!”
‘Sseu-eup, double play here?’
The top of the first inning ended when Jeong Yun-cheol hit a double play, and Han-cheol started the chase from the bottom of the first inning. The batter who ignited the fire was Joo Seung-cheol, who was showing his best batting skills from the first game.
Perfect!
-Wow!!
-Joo Seung-cheol! Joo Seung-cheol!
Kim Jung-hyun’s walk and stolen base. Joo Seung-cheol’s double made up for one point, and Lee Yong-gi hit consecutive hits, narrowing the score to two points. Jang Yoon ended the bottom of the first inning by getting outs on the 5th and 6th hits, but the excitement of the home run with the bases loaded had already subsided.
“It’s definitely not easy…”
“Is it still the same season?”
Unlike us, who lost a lot of points and couldn’t catch up right away, Hancheol immediately caught up by 2 points even after giving up 4 points. As an AT member, it’s not my place to say this, but it was a concentration that helped me understand why Hancheol has reigned as a strong team in the league.
“Are you okay! Are you okay! Let’s run away right away!”
Although the weather forecast encouraged the players,
“Out!”
“Strike! Out!”
“Strike! Out!”
Our attack in the beginning of the second inning ended in a three-way strike by Radette, who came to his senses. The good news was that Jang Yoon also came to his senses and ended the bottom of the second inning without allowing any runs. In the top of the third inning, Ki Ki-joo, the leadoff hitter of the inning, spoke to me just before he went to bat.
“Meng Hao. We have to do it.”
“Yes. Senior, please just get on base. “I will take care of it.”
“Yes, I believe it. “I will try my best.”
“Yes.”
Ki Ki-ju, who headed to the plate with a determined expression, kicked up Radette’s third ball, and the batted ball passed between the second baseman and the shortstop.
– Weather warning! Weather warning! Weather warning!
‘Okay, now is it my car?’
“Courage hyung, high level.”
“Are you here?”
I saw enough of Radette’s balls in my first at-bat, so I didn’t need to see anymore. I waited for Radette’s first pitch with the mindset that I would hit the first pitch as long as it was in the zone.
‘It’s a sinker.’
‘Sinker? Okay.’
His sinker looked pretty good today. He used a variety of pitches, including a sinker, slider, and change-up. Radette was a pitcher who was good at throwing breaking balls so that the winning shot was different in each game. Radette’s winning shot today was a sinker. The ball that caught Jeong Yun-cheol in a double play was also a sinker, and most batters today were caught with a sinker.
‘You got 150 in the first episode, right?’
I kept the sinker’s velocity in mind and waited for his first pitch. And Radette making a pitching motion.
‘It came.’
I swung the bat in response to the guy’s sinker bending toward my body,
Perfect!
‘You got it right!’
A properly pulled swing. It was a clean double hit to left field, so as I was getting ready to run,
Pak!
“Huh?!”
I heard a sound that I shouldn’t have heard. Third baseman Park Joong-ki, who was right on the line, caught my batted ball with an absurd jump. A super catch like you only see in games.
“Out!”
And a white ball flies to first base right before your eyes. Ki Ki-joo, who was heading to second base, failed to return to first base and was just putting his hands on his hips with a devastated expression.
“And… Fuck. “Is this caught?”
There were only three double plays I hit during the season. But that kind of double play occurs in this game. It was absurd. It was a perfect line drive hit, but to catch it…
“Wow, if it wasn’t for Joong-ki, I would have missed it, right? It must be a pity. What are you doing? “I’m not going to the dugout.”
Fuck… Without even being able to refute Lee Yong-gi’s words, I had no choice but to return to the dugout.
“Ha, Joong-ki’s defense wasn’t that good.”
Gi Ki-ju, who was a runner on first base, also muttered as if he was disappointed.
“… “I’m sorry.”
“I was unlucky. Lucky. This is not a batted ball that can be caught. Wow, I should have watched a little bit before running.”
A deep sense of regret oozed out of the weatherman’s tone.
‘Ha, maybe I should have waited. Mr. Rossby, what should I do?’
‘You call that a question? Anyway, you could be out by sending the ball into the ground. I just had no luck. So, didn’t I tell you over and over again to hit a home run?’
Is home run the only answer? No matter how well you hit the ball, there was always a risk of being caught by a fielder unless you went over the fence. Like a fielder’s just batting when a super play came out.
“Oh! Hit it! Ah…”
While under mind control, Choi Jin-cheol’s batted ball flew high, but ultimately failed to pass the Jamsil wall and sank into the right fielder’s glove. So, our attack in the top of the third inning started well with Ki Ki-joo getting on base as the leadoff hitter, but it ended after three batters, and I had no choice but to pack my glove and go to the ground.
*
Perfect!
[Joo Seung-cheol’s hit! Exquisitely passes the shortstop height! Joo Seung-cheol records 2 hits in 2 at-bats!]
Ta-ah!
[Lee Yong-gi’s hit is big! High! But you get caught! The walls of Jamsil are still thick!]
[It looked like it would be a batting battle with both teams scoring in the first inning, but like good pitchers, it ended up being a pitching battle.]
The game, which was expected to be a batting contest, unexpectedly turned into a pitcher’s battle, with Radette giving up 4 runs and Jang Yoon giving up 2 runs in the first inning alone. At the end of the fourth inning, the score difference between both teams remained at 2 points, and fans were waiting for a shot to break the balance.
And in the top of the 5th inning, Kim Soo-ho reached base and Ji Maeng-ho came to bat with 2 outs and 1st base. Ji Maeng-ho, who hit a double play while at bat, tried to pass the ball as much as possible,
Ta – Aak!
[Is this batted ball big?]
Ji Maeng-ho’s batted ball flew high toward right field. If it had been in any other stadium, the ball could have been a home run. However, Hancheol’s right fielder Kim Jeong-hyun, who was leaning against the fence, reached out and caught Ji Maeng-ho’s batted ball.
[After all, it’s not easy to push past Jamsil, right?]
[Still, it was near the foul line, but it was sent all the way there. Ji Maeng-ho’s power is amazing.]
It was in the 6th inning, when the starting pitchers were losing strength, that the atmosphere of Game 3, which had maintained a streak of 0, changed.
“Out!”
“Out!”
At a time when Choi Jin-cheol and Woo Kwan-hyung were out in succession and everyone was preparing for defense, 7th batter Yoon Seong-tae suddenly hit a home run.
[Yoon Seong-tae! This batted ball! Go over the wall on the right! Score 5:2! AT Thunders ahead by 3 points!]
“Wow, Seongtae!”
“How about Seongtaeham?”
“Bitch, don’t use bad dialect.”
The defense started in a good mood in the bottom of the 6th inning, but AT’s starting pitcher Jang Yoon also lost strength.
[Joo Seung-cheol’s double! 3 hits in 3 at-bats today! Ah, Jang Yoon is coming down from the mound.]
Starting with leadoff hitter Joo Seung-cheol’s double, Han-cheol’s batting line began to fire by forcing starting pitcher Jang Yoon,
[Park Joong-ki’s 2 RBI hits at the right time! Score 5:5! Now the game comes to a starting point.]
[You are showing good performance today both in defense and attack?]
In the bottom of the 6th inning, Hancheol turned the game around.
“Now! Let’s focus! “You haven’t lost yet!”
“We’ve tied the score, now let’s turn it around!”
The 7th inning started with both AT’s players and Hancheol’s players concentrating, and the score remained tied with neither team scoring a point. And in the top of the 8th inning,
[The leadoff hitter this inning is Ji Maeng-ho. From AT’s point of view, it seems important to score points in this inning because it is a good batting order consisting of Ji Maeng-ho, Choi Jin-cheol and Woo Kwan-hyung.]
[You’re right. In fact, this inning is the best inning to score points.]
[Uh? Closer Jeong Tae-hwan comes on the mound. Director Park Dae-hoon gave a strong performance.]
[This is the best pitching finish from the bullpen against a strong batting order. If it were during the season, he would not have made this choice, but since today’s game is a game, coach Park Dae-hoon is doing his best.]
In order to prevent AT’s batting line consisting of Ji Maeng-ho, Choi Jin-cheol and Woo Gwan-hyung, Hancheol’s manager Park Dae-hoon threw a strong pitch.
“Taehwan. Be prepared for 2 innings. “Understand, right?”
“Yes, director. Just leave it to me.”
“Yes, I believe it.”
*
‘They’re releasing Jeong Tae-hwan here? Has it been so long? Was the last time we saw each other in July? Was it August?’
The last game against Hancheol was in August. It felt like it had been quite a long time since I competed with Jung Tae-hwan since we didn’t have any chance to meet each other after that because of the Asian Games.
‘The problem is that I have to score points here…’
If we didn’t score in this inning, considering the batting order for the next inning, it seemed difficult to score, and considering our bullpen, it seemed like we should have a lead of at least one point.
After Tae-Hwan Jeong shook his head several times, the first pitch was decided.
‘It’s a fastball.’
‘Fastball? Confirm.’
There is an old saying in the baseball world. The adage was, ‘Aim for the first pitch of the changed pitcher.’ Jeong Tae-hwan, the closer who appeared in the 8th episode. The reason why I brought up Jeong Tae-hwan is that I want to block our batting lineup starting with me. You’ll definitely want to seize the momentum.
And I haven’t been able to produce a hit in two consecutive at-bats.
‘You want to throw it into the zone.’
Although I was silent for two consecutive at-bats, my condition today wasn’t that bad. That’s why I decided to bet on his first pitch.
‘Come!’
Jeong Tae-hwan does a windup and the ball soon leaves his hand. The trajectory is outward. And below. After meeting his ball from the front on an out-low course that was hitting well, I put all my strength into it.
Ta-ah!
This time, the ball was aimed properly at the left wall. He seemed a bit out of range, so he threw the bat and ran to first base. And as soon as he got near the first base, a shout rang out.
-Wow!!
-Ji Maeng-ho! Ji Maengho! Ji Maengho!
Shouts chanting my name.
‘Wow, this is it.’
I raised my hand towards the fans, responded to their cheers, and then began walking around the ground in silence. The score is now 6:5. This one shot was sure to be a dagger for the Hancheol guys who started the game in the 8th episode.
“What is a home run?!”
“Wow, he’s aiming for the first pitch there!”
“Seniors, let’s catch today’s game!”
*
[Game over! Finisher Park Jin-hyuk protected the two-point lead and the AT Thunders won. There is now one game left until the playoffs! AT Thunders take the upper hand!]
In the closely contested third game, it was Ji Maeng-ho’s single home run that ultimately decided the course of the game. In the top of the 8th inning, thanks to Ji Maeng-ho’s solo home run, the AT Thunders continued to target Hancheol’s closer Jeong Tae-hwan and were eventually able to score one more run in the top of the 9th inning.
Hancheol also attacked Joo Seungcheol, recording 4 hits in 4 at-bats, but he was unable to turn the game around.
-[Jun PO] 2 hits in 4 at-bats, 2 home runs! Ji Maeng-ho leads AT to victory!
… On this day, Ji Maeng-ho led the team to victory by hitting two home runs in the top of the first inning and the top of the eighth inning. Hancheol Grizzlies’ third batter Joo Seung-cheol also performed well with 4 hits in 4 at-bats, but was unable to prevent the team from losing. …
ㄴㅇㅅㅁㅎㅅ
ㄴJi Maeng-ho is crazyㄷㄷㄷ
ㄴJoo Seung-cheol is no joke haha
Yes, hit 4 hits in 4 at-bats~ After all, baseball is a home run~
-[Jun PO] The first game was Ji Maeng-ho, the second game was Joo Seung-cheol, and the third game was Ji Maeng-ho. So what about Game 4?
… Intense semi-playoffs. What caught the attention of fans was the fiery bats of both teams’ key hitters. AT Thunders’ No. 4 hitter Ji Maeng-ho has 5 hits in 8 at bats, including two intentional throws, and 3 home runs, while Hancheol Grizzlies’ No. 3 hitter Joo Seung-cheol has 9 at-bats, 7 hits, and 2 home runs. In Game 4 of the semi-playoffs, baseball fans’ attention is focused on who will be the hitter who will lead the team to victory…
ㄴBoth players are amazingㄷㄷ
Look at ㄴ’s grades, are they human grades?
ㄴI’m in full form just because it’s fall.
ㄴ’Juji’ Daejeon’s heart feels grandㄷㄷ
-[Jun PO] What will be the starters for both teams in Game 4? Seungyoon Na VS Junhyung Park!
… AT selected Park Jun-hyung as the starter, and Han-cheol selected Na Seung-yoon as the starter. AT coach Lee Soo-hyun predicted an all-out fight for one win…
ㄴㅅㅂ Isn’t Park Jun-hyung Hancheol’s fucking house?
ㄴ ㅅㅂ Why is it Na Seungyoon? Can’t we just post Patrick? It’s worth resting for 3 days and coming back.
ㄴTomorrow is a 100% strike battle.