Chapter 314 – Episode 312. One Step to Victory. (2)

“Now it’s just one game. If you win just one game, you can become the main character. Think about all the hardships you’ve gone through so far. And think about the past when a team that couldn’t even play fall baseball was teased as a team that would fall anyway. This one game changes everything. And let’s shake off all of our hardships in this one game. UG? Of course, it’s a strong opponent. Because we have advanced to the Korean Series every year for the past five years. But we are not weak either. You guys are strong. So do your best. And leave no strength to return.”

Before the game starts, coach Lee Soo-hyun’s words spread throughout the locker room. Each player listened to the coach with a stern expression and nodded his head.

“Is everyone ready?”

“Yes!”

“I’m ready!”

“Invincible!”

“AT!”

“Let’s go! Let’s go and win and go to Jamsil!”

“Yes!”

“Let’s go!”

Game 7 of the Korean Series, a game where the championship is at stake. The team members were each shouting loudly, as if trying to forget the tension. And I…

‘I’m not as nervous as I thought.’

I felt something calm. If my condition was the same as yesterday, I wouldn’t have been this calm, but today I was in the best condition, so I wasn’t that nervous. If I was in the mood I was in right now, I felt like I could hit a home run every time I went out at bat.

“Meng Hao, how are you feeling?”

“Do you want to leave right now?”

“Still, just be patient.”

“Yes. “Please prepare a lot of food on the table.”

“Yes, look forward to it.”

My location today is number 4. Since I had adjusted the zero point yesterday, I said I wanted to play in the most familiar position I had been in throughout the season, and coach Lee Soo-hyun readily accepted my request. The position of the number 4 hitter is here again.

I wanted to show it properly for the fans who came to Incheon.

‘Surely they won’t skip it just because they hit one yesterday?’

Feeling a little anxious, I left the locker room and entered the dugout to see a crowd full of fans who had come to watch the game. Of course, since they were watching from the away dugout, they were all home fans who came to support UG. As I came out of the dugout to see how many of our fans had come, I heard cheers as if they had seen me.

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

‘A lot of our fans came too.’

Third base was clearly occupied by our fans. When I waved my hand at the fans once, the cheers got louder again.

-Wow!!!

-Ji Maeng-ho! Fighting!

-Meng Hao Oppa! Be sure to win today!

When I hear the fans’ cheers, the desire to win surges back into my heart. One last game where the championship was at stake. No matter what the outcome of the game was, it was clear that fans of both teams would go home crying. The losing side cried tears of sadness, and the winning side cried tears of joy. If possible, I hope our fans shed tears of joy.

And I wanted to make it that way. Because that’s the repayment we can give to the fans who supported us for a year.

“Let’s sort it out. It’s the national anthem.”

As I was gathering my thoughts after seeing the fans, Seongtae Yoon approached me.

“Okay.”

“Aren’t you nervous?”

“What’s there to be nervous about? “It’s just one game anyway.”

“I am shaking to death.”

“Then there is a special medicine.”

“What is it?”

“Junhyung, did you come to your senses with this?”

“What? Ah…, Cumming? Is this okay? Done. Chiara.”

“If you get hit, you’ll come to your senses. Kabbi.”

While I was chatting with Seongtae Yoon, the national anthem rang out, and the national anthem ended while I was singing along with my eyes closed.

“Wow, this is short.”

It was clear that Yoon Seong-tae looked very nervous. I saw him muttering to himself. And then the game started, and today’s number one batter, Kim Joo-yeop, walked to the plate with his bat. UG’s starting pitcher today is foreign pitcher Benjamin.

Benjamin was a left-handed pitcher with a height of nearly 2 meters and an unusual form with a high RBI. However, unlike his height, he was not a fire bowler type but a traditional finesse pitcher type pitcher, so he was the optimal opponent for me to face. Of course, it will be difficult for left-handed hitters to deal with.

-Kim Joo-yeop! Kim Joo-yeop! Kim Joo-yeop!

-Send a hit, Kim Joo-yeop! Give a hit, Kim Joo-yeop! Kim Joo-yeop of AT!

The match started with Kim Joo-yeop’s cheering song ringing out.

Perfect!

Kim Joo-yeop hit the ball after a five-pitch match, but his high-flying ball could not escape UG’s net-like outfield defense.

‘Well, I expected that left-handed hitters would be difficult to deal with. But if it’s Suho senior or Sangju senior…’

And then Kim Soo-ho’s at-bat,

“Strike out!”

Kim Su-ho retired with a strikeout after a close battle that lasted until 8 pitches.

“It was a waste.”

“I should have hit you, I’m sorry.”

“How about the ball?”

“Does it look over-faced? If you throw like that, the longest you have to throw is 3 innings. Well, it’s natural since it’s the last game.”

“I understand.”

As Kim Soo-ho said, Benjamin’s pitch from the stand-by batting box definitely gave the impression that he didn’t think about pace control. However,

Ta – yep!

The weatherman’s bat pushed Benjamin’s ball to the finish line, putting the runner on base with two outs. And the choice of UG battery with 2 outs and 1st base…

“It’s an automatic intentional decision.”

“Tch.”

Of course, it was an intentional statement. Even if they were willing to compete with me, the UG dugout’s intention to not compete when the bases were empty was clearly revealed.

‘Senior Jincheol, please show me one!’

Choi Jin-cheol’s current number of home runs in the Korean Series is 3. Since he was hitting a home run every two games, I watched Choi Jin-cheol’s at bat, desperately hoping that he would hit a home run in this game as well.

“Base on balls!”

However, Benjamin also seemed to have no intention of competing with Jin-cheol Choi, a right-handed hitter, and gave him as many pitching runs as possible, and Seong-tae Yoon’s turn at bat approached.

‘Ha, is Seongtae here? I don’t have many expectations. Yes, if you take it easy from the beginning, it won’t be fun. Mr. Rossby, please tell me the type of pitch.’

‘Sinker.’

‘Okay. Seongtae hyung, it’s a sinker.’

Looking at Yoon Seong-tae’s clearly frozen expression, I don’t know if he saw my sign, but I sent it anyway, and with 2 outs and bases loaded, Benjamin threw the ball with a windup. Benjamin’s sinker bends like a snake toward Yoon Seong-tae’s body.

Dang!

And Seongtae Yoon succeeded in hitting the ball. Of course, the batted ball ended up stuck in the infield.

‘Look at the swinging tail.’

While running to third base on an ordinary shortstop’s ground ball, the third base coach suddenly turned his arm and shouted.

“Ji Maeng-ho! Run!”

“Huh?!”

‘The second baseman missed it! Run all the way home!’

After listening to Rossby’s story, I felt like I could immediately understand what was going on. I increased my speed and ran around third base to home. As the weather pole slides into the groove, dust swirls around.

‘Ball, where?’

‘The second baseman caught it!’

As if what Rossby said was true, Baek Kyung-ho was taking a stance and making a catching motion. The remaining distance is about 7~8 m. It was a very difficult distance to return to third base.

‘Can I survive?’

That thought passes through my head for a moment. It was clear that if we were out here, the atmosphere would become cold. But…,

‘Fuck, what could there be?’

I decided to run. Baek Kyung-ho takes off his force mask and turns his mitt towards me, covering the home plate. And the second baseman’s throw goes exactly to where Baek Kyung-ho’s mitt is. Baek Kyung-ho’s body gets closer and closer.

“Get out of the way!”

Puck! There was a dull sound and shock came throughout my body. And the base had spike marks engraved in dirt.

‘Oh, it fucking hurts. I think I’ve hit the groove for now.’

When I came to my senses and woke up, Baek Kyung-ho was lying on the home plate, and the ball was sticking out of the mitt.

“The ball came out, right?”

“… Safe!”

‘Phew, I almost got screwed.’

If it had been a little late or if Baek Kyung-ho had caught the ball properly, he would have been out. It’s literally a narrow gap.

“Mr. Kyungho, are you okay?”

I walked forward and spoke to Baek Kyung-ho, who was lying on the floor, to gently tease him, but Baek Kyung-ho did not respond.

‘… ‘Huh?’

“Mr. Kyungho? Senior. Senior, stop pretending to be sick and get up. Uh…”

“Ugh. City… Feet, this… Between… Bird…, Ugh.”

Baek Kyung-ho, who only makes groaning noises.

“Guyungho! Kyeong-ho! Hey! Get out of the way!”

UG players and trainers come running after seeing Baek Kyung-ho like that. And the sound of boos from the audience echoing throughout the literature.

‘I didn’t mean to do this…’

I really didn’t mean to hurt anyone. It was a fair home game, but I felt a little uneasy.

“Meng Hao, let’s go in first.”

“I’m sorry.”

I followed the hand of the weatherman who came into the home first, but I was a little worried.

“Hey. As you know, it was a legitimate home win. Songgu headed in that direction. Kyungho did his job, and you did yours. So don’t…”

The path to the dugout. Ki Ki-joo, who was hearing boos from UG fans, seemed worried about me and started doing something similar.

“Why do you say the obvious?”

Of course, there was no need for that.

“… Well, don’t use it… Uh, okay. Were you not paying attention? Well, how many catchers were carried away after colliding with you? It’s worth getting used to. Come to think of it, I think one person was taken away from the WBC as well…”

“Well, I guess it was like that back then. Anyway, you don’t have to worry. “I’m fine.”

“Okay, you’re not in any pain, right?”

“If I get hit and hurt this much, I should retire.”

It was true that Baek Kyung-ho was pitiful, but pity was pity, and the game was a game.

“Meng Hao, are you hurt?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“Yes, security was taken away, and although I have to say this, I’m glad you weren’t hurt. Trainer, please check his condition.”

“All right. Meng Hao, this way. “You don’t hear tinnitus or anything like that, right?”

“It sounds like a ghost…”

“It seems like you have the spirit to joke. The pupils are also normal. I think this is okay?”

After a brief inspection in the dugout, the game resumed and the catcher’s name on the electronic display board was changed.

Perfect!

“Out!”

And the inning ended in a chaotic atmosphere.

‘Well, I made a mistake, and it would be a bit disappointing if it only resulted in 2 points.’

It was even more disappointing because it was a mistake made by UG, which has the best defense in the country.

‘I should use this opportunity even more…’

If someone made a mistake today, I thought it would be the trembling Yoon Seong-tae, but I was not expecting a mistake from UG at all.

‘If you think like that, you look like a thief.’

It was disappointing in the top of the first inning that we couldn’t score more points, but thanks to the 2 points we gained through errors, we felt like we were getting closer to winning.