Chapter 298 – Episode 296. Spear VS Shield. (1)

Perfect!

“My ball! My ball!”

As Jang Yoon raises his hand high, the batted ball rises high and approaches me. An infield fly that is easy to catch. When I felt the hard baseball in my glove, I was declared out. Three outs with this. As Jang Yoon clearly has a lot of fall baseball experience, he looked to be in very good condition today.

“Nice.”

Jang Yoon says hello to me who caught the last out count.

“It was an easy ball. What. “More than that, your ball looks good today, doesn’t it?”

“Is that what you think too? So what do you think it will be like when you step up to the plate? “Can you hit it?”

“… “If it were me, I would have hit it, right?”

Still, I couldn’t lie to my senior, so I answered the truth, and Jang Yoon smiled and opened his mouth.

“Then hit a home run. Under… It’s been a year since I came, but you’re not bullying me, right? Let’s go easily like the day before yesterday. “Easily.”

“… “I will try my best.”

Jang Yoon was throwing the ball with a calm expression, but he seemed to be worried that he was still scoreless. Of course, I wanted to score points and ease Jang Yoon’s shoulders, but I had no choice because baseball is not a sport I can play alone.

And then, in the bottom of the 4th inning, Hyunseong’s mercenary pitcher Cares came out sharp and caught leadoff hitter Kim Su-ho and Gi Ki-joo, and before I knew it, it was my turn to bat.

‘Sseu-eup, as expected, today I…’

I was thinking like that for a moment

“Base on balls!”

Perhaps because it was two outs, no good pitches were thrown to me, so I had no choice but to get on base by walking.

“Ha, fuck, I fucking skipped it.”

“Meng Hao, are you going to run?”

“I have to run.”

In this situation, the silver bullet is a steal. I had no choice but to go to second base and tell Choi Jin-cheol the type of pitch. In the previous at-bat, even though it was notified, a bad hit was made, but Choi Jin-cheol still had one shot, so this was the only way to score.

‘It’s a slider.’

‘Okay.’

I waited for the ball like that and as soon as I got a grip on the breaking ball, I ran to second base. Park Jung-hyun, embarrassed, threw the ball straight to second base,

“Safe!”

The result is, of course, three leaves. And then he makes eye contact with Choi Jin-cheol.

‘Please, Meng Hao!’

‘Please just leave it to me.’

I immediately responded to the earnest eyes of Choi Jin-cheol, who completely trusted my sign throughout the season. Because being first was important.

‘Mr. Rossby!’

‘It’s a forkball.’

‘It’s a forkball! ‘Senior!’

Choi Jin-cheol, who received my autograph, nodded his head with a stern expression,

“Huh?!”

“I fell in!”

Cares’ forkball unexpectedly fell out.

‘I can’t run like this… !’

If the ball fell behind the catcher, and he didn’t run to third base, it would be too obvious, so he cried and ran to third base, and the situation became 2 outs and 3rd base.

‘With this, one strike, three balls…’

“Base on balls!”

And Choi Jin-cheol, who showed off his best batting ability in the last game, did not get a good ball, and he immediately ended up with 2 outs and 1st and 3rd bases.

-Yoon Seongtae! Seongtae Yoon! Seongtae Yoon!

The batter who came in at that opportunity was Seongtae Yoon.

‘Ha, I’m so fucking anxious. If only senior Gwan Hyung had been there…’

Seongtae Yun also showed good batting skills by hitting in the first and second games, but compared to Gwanhyeong Woo, it was inevitable that he lacked weight.

‘Now that I think about it, Senior Kwan Hyeong must be watching from the stadium right now. I miss you. ‘I miss you.’

Watching Seongtae Yoon swing, it seemed impossible to hit. I missed Woo Gwan-hyung today.

Perfect!

‘Well then, how did you play two games well?’

The result was an outfield fly. Hyunseong’s center fielder, Yang Jihyeok, easily caught Yoon Seongtae’s batted ball. Three outs with this. In the end, the game went on without scoring even in the fourth inning.

“Kids! Gather together. Now it’s the 6th time. 6 times. This inning will probably be the last for Cares. If you don’t score here, you have to face Hyunseong’s sure victory team. “You know, right?”

In the bottom of the 6th inning, just before the attack began, hitting coach Lee Ki-cheol called together the batters and explained the importance of this attack. Although Lee Ki-cheol was an annoying person, he had quite a bit of coaching ability, and what he just said wasn’t wrong.

After the 6th episode, there was a high probability that Hyeonseong would emerge victorious. Hyunsung is a sure-to-win team that has never been able to come out as the score gap has widened over the past two games.

Lee Jun-ho, who uses a heavy fastball, slider, and splitter, and has the lowest run rate among successive runners in the league, and Shin Dong-hyun, a sidearm pitcher who throws at an average speed in the upper 140s and up to 154 km/h. Kwon Yul, a left-handed setup man who throws fast balls in the mid-150s.

And even Go Young-hwan, the best closer in the league, with an ERA of 0.93 and 51 saves this season. In particular, Ko Young-hwan was the best pitcher in the league, so much so that he announced his intention to advance to the major leagues after this season.

The reason why Hyunseong is considered to be the best pitching team in the league along with UG is because of this sure-to-win team. In particular, this Pilseungjo team was evaluated as being ahead of UG. The average quality of the bullpens, including the chase group and long relief, was higher in UG, but experts evaluated that Pilseungjoo’s quality was more realistic.

‘If the score remains tied until the 7th inning, Hyunsung’s sure-to-win team will be activated. No, even in the 6th inning, there is a high probability that he will pitch right away if he gets into scoring range.’

When I looked around, everyone’s expressions were quite stern, as if they were thinking the same thing as me.

“But the good news is that our batting order is good this time. “Because we can start with Joo-yeop.”

The good batting order was good news. If I can stand at bat this inning, I will see Cares’ ball three times today alone. As long as I didn’t miss it, I felt like I could throw the ball over the fence.

“Also, Kwan-hyung also came to see me today. Shouldn’t I show my good side in front of Kwan-hyung? Let’s play without being ashamed of the number 10 on our helmets. Okay?”

And there was one more important reason to win today’s game. Woo Kwan-hyung, who decided to have surgery after the Korean Series ended, came to the stadium. We couldn’t come to Daegu because it was far away, but today’s game was held in Jamsil, so Woo Gwan-hyung came to watch our game even though he was sick. Thinking of Woo Kwan-hyung like that, I really wanted to win today’s game.

“Invincible!”

“AT!”

“Joo-yeop, show me one!”

“Yes.”

After the meeting, Kim Joo-yeop, who had strengthened his resolve, went to bat with a solemn expression. And the match that follows.

Perfect!

Kim Joo-yeop’s batted ball rolls toward the shortstop.

“Out!”

‘Under…, Then that’s right.’

It was good to raise morale through the meeting, but the result was out. But it was also a result that was somewhat expected. In reality, it is not a baseball cartoon, so a player who couldn’t hit couldn’t get on base just by remembering an injured senior.

“… “I’m sorry.”

“Are you okay. Bastard. Straighten your shoulders.”

Choi Jin-cheol pats the downcast Kim Joo-yeop on the shoulder and comforts him. I turned my eyes to see Kim Su-ho standing at bat. I wasn’t expecting much from Kim Joo-yeop, but Kim Soo-ho is a different story.

As there is an old saying in baseball that there is no slump in the eye, the most consistent hitter in our batting lineup, except for me, was none other than Kim Su-ho. Since I didn’t get on base in the previous two at-bats today, this was probably the right time to get on base. And the timing when you have to get on base!

I watch Kim Soo-ho’s at-bat with a nervous heart. One, two, three. Kim Soo-ho’s bat pushed away Cares’ ball, resulting in several fouls, and Kim Soo-ho watched Cares’ last ball in a full count situation.

And the result is,

“Base on balls!”

Walk.

‘This is it! As expected, senior Suho! I believed it… !’

I quickly grabbed my bat and walked to the waiting box. It would be nice if the weather forecast gave up a point here, but a double hit wasn’t bad as long as it didn’t result in a double play. If I hit a clumsy double and first base becomes empty, it was clear that they would skip me.

Considering that I already received a walk that looked like an intentional walk today, if that situation ever came up, it was definitely an intentional walk.

‘Senior Sangju, please do it in moderation. If you’re going to hit it, just hit a home run.’

Home runs are the best, but I wasn’t expecting much since it was a weather week when I couldn’t hit a home run in fall baseball.

‘Tsk, Sangju senior doesn’t have a bad batting sense, but strangely, he’s not hitting home runs.’

That disappointment was short-lived as Cares’ bat was swung on the fourth ball.

Perfect!

And the weather warning batting ball was high. Although the ball flew far, it was too much to pass Jamsil. The right fielder easily catches the batted ball and the ball is passed to the second baseman. Simple out.

‘Is these two outs?’

Two outs, first base, all you need is one extra hit. I steeled myself and went to bat. Fortunately, there was no pitcher replacement because it was not the scoring zone.

‘But the curry I’m used to now is probably better.’

“Hoya, let’s go cheaply. “We’ll take it today.”

“Just give me a good ball.”

‘It’s a fastball.’

Is the first pitch a fastball? Cares’ fastball, which had been hovering around 150 since the beginning of the game, was now down to the mid-140s. If it’s that fastball…

Ta – Aak!

‘Fuck, was that fast?’

I aimed from the first pitch, but the result was a foul. It seemed like the bat was a little fast.

“The swing is brutal.”

“So be careful.”

Hyunseong’s battery must have sensed something about my swing and began to play very cautiously.

“Ball.”

“Ball.”

‘It shouldn’t be like this.’

With two outs, if this is the mood, you’re going to throw out as many bad balls as possible, filter them out, and compete with Choi Jin-cheol, right? There was a need to bring in a catcher.

‘It’s a curve.’

‘As expected.’

Here, throwing my favorite curveball means not putting it in the zone and passing it off as a walk.

‘I have to swing here and make people feel like I’m in bad shape!’

Whoa!

My bat swings wildly, cutting through the wind.

“Strike!”

‘Please, don’t notice.’

With this, two strikes, two balls. It was a count I wanted to bet on. Lee Yong-gi noticed this situation and filtered me out, but if it was Park Jung-hyun… !

‘It’s a slider.’

Slider. If it curves towards the body, it means that it will compete, and if it curves outward, it means that it will not compete! I created a hitting zone near my body and waited for the guy’s fifth ball. And…,

‘It has arrived!’

His slider curved toward his body.

Ta – Aak!

The moment I hit the guy’s ball, I withdrew one hand and continued the swing to the end. A batted ball that feels right in the hand. The batted ball flies toward the fence. With two outs, Su-ho Kim had already started running, and I also ran toward first base without even having time to appreciate the hit.

“Please, move on. “Go over.”

If it had been Mad Cats Park, it would have been nothing to see, but since it was Jamsil, I felt anxious for a moment.

-Wow!

-Ji Maeng-ho! Ji Maengho! Ji Maengho!

Shouts began to sound as if Jamsil was about to leave.

‘Fuck! This is it!’

“Mengho!!!”

The third base coach looks at me, raises his arms and shouts my name. It looked like he was about to hug me, so I dodged it and stepped on the groove, and Kim Su-ho, who was waiting with my bat, gave me his fist. When I hit his fist with his and received the bat, Kim Soo-ho said calmly.

“Good.”

A short word. But I could feel the sweetness in that short sentence. This level of restraint in a two-run first move…

‘It’s kind of cool.’

“Nice to get on base.”

Like Kim Su-ho, I answered calmly and went into the dugout together to enjoy my teammates’ congratulations with my whole body.

“Hey, this guy hit a home run, but he’s not doing much today, is he?”

“It’s obvious, right? I hit a home run. Who would say that they are happy to breathe?”

“… Why is this kid unlucky to hit a home run?”

Puck!

“Evil! Why are you hitting me?”

I got hit on his helmet again, but it didn’t feel too bad.

‘2:0 with this.’

And Cares, who had been pitching well until the bottom of the 6th inning, came down from the mound, and Lee Jun-ho, one of Hyunsung’s sure-to-win teams, came up from the mound. Although we were two points behind, it was the natural choice since it was the last time we lost this game and there was no time to save a pitcher.

‘Now all that’s left is to trust the pitchers.’