Chapter 352 – Episode 344. Korea’s Best Pitcher. (3)
[Three batters struck out in a row! It’s Seonghyeon, after all! In the top of the second inning, Seonghyun turns around the batting lineup consisting of Ji Maeng-ho, Choi Jin-cheol and Yoon Seong-tae with just a strikeout!]
[Ji Maeng-ho uses a fastball, Choi Jin-cheol uses a change-up, and Yoon Seong-tae uses a curve. Seonghyun is truly showing why he is Seonghyun today, right?]
[You’re right. Seonghyun shows off his strength. The game now moves on to the bottom of the second inning.]
[Lee Yong-gi’s hit! Hwasa’s new 4th hitter, Lee Yong-gi, gets his first hit of the day against the Crongs! With this, the lead hitter gets on base.]
[McD’s batted ball! Second baseman! Ji Maeng-ho tosses to second base! Out! Seongtae Yoon’s throw to first base! The AT Thunders create a standard 4-6-3 double play! Crongs is laughing!]
[Cronx has not been able to show the same performance as last year with 2 wins and 2 losses in 5 games this season, but looking at him throwing today, he seems to have come back to life, right?]
[Cronx scores two outs at once! The sixth batter, Yeon Sang-hyun, comes into the batter’s box. … 3-ball hit! This hit is high. The center fielder easily catches this ball. In the bottom of the second inning, Crongs also showed scoreless pitching against three batters!]
[Hey, both teams are showing a high-quality pitching game, right? Sunghyun and Crongs. As it is a highly anticipated matchup of starters, they are showing a tight performance.]
The second series of the season between the 1st place team Hwasan Falcons and the 3rd place team AT Thunders. The first game of the series, in which the aces of both teams faced each other, turned out to be a fierce pitching battle as fans expected. In the first and second innings, both teams’ starters, Seonghyun and Krongs, finished the second inning with only six batters facing them.
The tense pitching battle between the two continued until the batting order went through one round. In the third inning, both teams’ first to ninth batters all came to bat, but no batter stepped on second base.
[Cronx! It looks like he is not inferior to Seonghyeon! In the bottom of the 3rd inning, the AT Thunders’ Krongs ends the Hwasan Falcons’ attack with a three-way throw!]
And then the top of the 4th inning started.
[AT’s leadoff hitter is No. 1 hitter Jeong Hwi-cheol.]
[Jung Hwi-cheol joined AT as a reported player, and in last year’s Futures League, he showed a batting average of mid-to-high .300, which was unusual, but he has now taken over the position of AT’s starting center fielder.]
[He took over the starting position due to the injuries of Woo Gwan-hyung and mercenary hitter Williams, but it is his ability to fill the void left by players missing due to injuries, right?]
[You’re right. Young players like this need to seize such opportunities well, because opportunities only come to those who are prepared, right? And Jeong Hwi-cheol is a player who prepared consistently. From what I’ve heard, many officials say that his training attitude is very good, and he is a typical No. 1 hitter type player with excellent contact, base running, and defensive skills.]
[Jitterbug! One strike! … Jeong Hwi-cheol, you hit it! The hit is a ground ball in front of the shortstop, and shortstop Kim Seung-sik comfortably catches the out. One out.]
[Well, Jeong Hwi-cheol is also a player with a promising future, but Seong-hyeon’s skill shines. It still seems difficult to deal with Seonghyun. Your swing form has completely collapsed now, right? Jeong Hwi-cheol looked like he was aiming for a fastball, but now he’s completely lost his hitting timing due to the curve.]
[Seonghyun hits 10 batters in a row. Now Kim Soo-ho is at bat.]
First hitter Jeong Hwi-cheol retired with a ground ball to shortstop due to Seong Hyeon’s skillful pitching, and second hitter Kim Su-ho came to the plate.
[It is no exaggeration to say that Kim Su-ho is the player who sees the most balls in Korea. In his NV days, he was a player who aimed for long hits, but when he moved to AT, which has a large home stadium, he tried to change his style to seeing as many balls as possible. Over the past three years since moving to AT, he has gotten 280 walks while striking out 240, which is a big hit. 1.17 is very good.]
After moving to AT, the commentator, who predicted that the game would be prolonged due to Kim Su-ho’s batting style that focuses on the starting pitch rather than slugging power, began to explain Kim Su-ho’s records as usual. It was already a widely known fact in the baseball world that Kim Su-ho sees 3 to 4 balls unless it is a tolerable miss.
[So you were trying to change your style to suit the stadium?]
[You’re right. Especially last year, he only struck out 93 batters while walking 113 batters. Last year, he had a batting average of .302.5 and an on-base percentage of .404.8. The batting gap was also significant, right? He also won the Third Base Golden Glove Award. In addition, he has a very good ball strike ratio this season with 21 walks and 13 strikeouts…]
Perfect!
While the commentator was comfortably reading the records, thinking that this match would last for a long time, Kim Soo-ho’s bat swung like a thunderbolt.
[Uh?! Suho Kim’s first pitch hit! This batted ball is in the infield… ! Exit! Kim Su-ho’s hit in front of right field! AT Thunders on base for the first time today!]
[… This ball appears to be a two-seam ball, but Kim Su-ho aimed it well.]
While the commentator was dumbfounded by Kim Soo-ho’s batting, which was contrary to what he had explained, the AT Thunders’ dugout was heating up as he got on base for the first time.
“Nice! Kim Soo-ho! It was good!”
Unlike before the game, where they had promised to watch the game for as long as possible, when the batter took a turn, hitting coach Lee Ki-cheol, who judged that there was no benefit in fighting with Seong Hyun and Lee Yong-gi’s battery, demanded a quick game from the batters, and Kim Soo-ho hit the first pitch and got on base. The changed strategy was successful.
‘Whoa, Lee Ki-cheol’s personality may be shit, but he has skills.’
When Maeng-ho, who hates Lee Ki-cheol, was also acknowledging Lee Ki-cheol’s coaching, which he judged quickly and hit the mark, Lee Ki-cheol came up to Maeng-ho’s side.
“Meng Hao.”
“Yes, coach.”
“You probably know that our batting stance has changed once we get to bat. There is a high possibility that they will not give you a good ball in the beginning.”
“… “I will take care of that.”
“Yes, I believe it.”
“Eh.”
Maeng-ho, who responded half-heartedly to Lee Ki-cheol’s advice, pushed away Lee Ki-cheol’s hand that tried to put his arm around his shoulder and walked to the standby batter’s box.
‘You bastard, don’t pretend to trust me. Fuck, I still believe this way when I was in high school.’
In that way, Ji Maeng-ho headed to the stand-by batting box with his anger toward Lee Ki-cheol fully charged.
*
Perfect!
“Oh, Sangju senior!”
A blow that makes you sigh. Kim Soo-ho got on base and seemed to be bringing good momentum, but Ki Ki-joo hit the second ball and retreated with an infield fly.
“Hey, isn’t Hyun’s condition today a joke?”
“I know. You don’t have to show it with your body like that.”
“… Sorry.”
Ki Ki-joo, who hit an infield fly, returns to the dugout with a word of apology.
‘Whoa, yes. You’re used to it. What should I do?’
The good news is that the weatherman didn’t hit a base hit? If I had sent Kim Soo-ho to second base, no matter how talented he was, he would have definitely missed me, so he would have been better off on first base than on second base with two outs.
“Is the strikeout machine here?”
“What is a strikeout machine? “You’re not proud of being lucky enough to catch one, are you?”
“Okay, let’s see how long I can smile.”
“Please pay attention now. “If you hit a home run and bow your head, you won’t be able to see it anymore.”
“This guy doesn’t want to say a word.”
Lee Yong-gi laughs, and the batting box is suddenly filled with silence.
‘Fastball.’
And Rossby’s voice is heard. Have we already finished exchanging autographs?
“Ball.”
Seonghyun’s first pitch was a ball that went deep into the body. As Lee Ki-cheol said, he didn’t give a good ball from the first pitch.
‘If the first pitch is an inside ball, are you planning a game outside the box?’
Even though he’s on first base anyway, it feels like he’s not going to throw the ball into the zone because there’s a runner on base? I think Seonghyeon would throw it. My mind is complicated.
‘When your head is complicated like this, it’s best to empty your head.’
At times like this, I always engrave the words Rossby tells me deep in my heart and clear my head.
‘It’s a change-up.’
‘Okay.’
Seonghyun’s changeup. Unlike pitchers, I’ve met so far, the angle was large and sharp, so I was taken aback when I first saw that ball, but now it’s different. As he trains in the imagery with Rossby, the trajectory becomes familiar to the eye. In addition, although it is said to have a large angle and is sharp, the fundamental is a changeup, so it is a pitch that can be seen and responded to sufficiently.
‘Come.’
Seonghyun’s feet are lifted, and his arms are swung in the same form as before. The trajectory seems to ignore the laws of physics, as the ball slowly approaches my body and at some point runs away. His arms were stretched out in line with the trajectory.
Perfect!
‘Tsk.’
The heavy feeling that comes from not hitting the center of the bat travels up the palm of your hand. But there was no time to dwell on that pain. As long as the batted ball heads toward the outfield, it just runs toward first base. After finishing hitting, he throws the bat and runs toward first base, and right before his eyes, he sees the right fielder chasing after my batted ball.
“Get out, get out… !”
A batted ball continues to curve to the right and the right fielder chases after the batted ball. Kim Su-ho, who started running the moment he was hit with two outs, had already reached near third base. If you miss it, you get 1 RBI!
And as if my prayers had reached him, the batted ball passed the right fielder’s glove and fell to the ground.
-Wow!!!!
-Ji Maeng-ho! Ji Maengho! Ji Maengho!
As I arrived at second base, feeling the shouts of my name ringing out for the first time in a long time, the stadium vibrated once again.
-Kim Su-ho! Kim Soo-ho! Kim Soo-ho!
And the main character is Kim Soo-ho. He didn’t even have to look at home. While I was running, Kim Su-ho ran all the way home and succeeded in scoring.
“This is it!”
As I unconsciously pumped my fist and roared in the joy of scoring one point against Seonghyun, I felt the eyes of the volcanic beasts standing around me looking at me.
‘Well, what should I do?’
As I made eye contact with each of the volcanic beasts looking at me, I made eye contact with Lee Yong-gi, who was shaking his head. I made a V shape with my fingers towards Lee Yong-gi, and he let out a deep sigh.
‘This is it, fuck.’
Did see Lee Yong-gi, so proud, just because he struck out once, make me laugh? Someone who knows that I’m strong at changeups can’t believe I’m offering a changeup here.
‘Hyung, aren’t you looking at me too much?’
Lee Yong-gi must have sensed my gaze and puts on his catcher’s mask with a wry smile. And Choi Jin-cheol comes in at bat. I quickly erased the joy I had just felt at the plate and focused on the game again.
‘An RBI is an RBI, and you have to do what you have to do. Mr. Rossby?’
‘Curve.’
‘Okay.’
And taking advantage of the curve of the first pitch, he ran straight to third base. The feeling of the glove as soon as you touch the third base.
“Safe!”
As I stand up and shake off the dirt, I make eye contact with Seonghyun. He seemed embarrassed by me stealing third base on the first pitch. To create that kind of expression on Seonghyun’s face, who is famous for being expressionless on the mound. For the first time in a long time, my lower body started to tingle.
‘How can I run all the way to home?’
Slowly widening the lead width. I feel Seonghyun, a left-handed pitcher, glancing at me. It means feeling pressure.
‘It’s a fastball grip.’
‘Okay.’
But even if I’m feeling pressured, there’s no way the pitcher can catch me. Because if it was a fastball grip, he was getting ready to go back anyway. Also, he’s a left-handed pitcher? He was confident that he would not be caught even if he was checked 100 times.
“Safe!”
Like now.
“Hey, I need to focus on batting. “It’s Choi Jin-cheol.”
And the second ball was thrown towards Choi Jin-cheol.
Ta – Aak!
Choi Jin-cheol’s batted ball cut through the sky of Daejeon Stadium and flew near the fence.