Chapter 424 – Episode 416. The Cheater Does Not Hide the Cheat. (2)

‘What? ‘Didn’t you do it alone?’

‘I can always do it alone, but right now it’s a battle for first place.’

Training was nice, but I am a paid professional after all. The current gap between them and Hwasan is 2.5 games. In order to move forward more comfortably, it was important to win this match. There was nothing to be gained by building up one’s pride.

‘Tsk.’

Rossby, with a clear look of annoyance, settled down in a familiar place.

‘It’s a change-up.’

‘Oh! Change-up!’

Throwing a change-up in this situation means throwing it outward and causing a missed swing!

‘Fuck, I can’t believe it’s this easy just knowing the pitch type.’

I didn’t know much about it until now, but after going from not receiving Rossby’s help to receiving it, I realized how much easier it was to play baseball. After Seonghyun does the windup, he throws the ball.

The ball, which was heading toward the center and outside the strike zone, changes its trajectory from the middle and goes outward.

“Ball.”

‘And… If I didn’t know, I would have really wielded it.’

“Useup…”

Yonggi Lee’s sigh is heard. Well, it was worth taking a breather. Because Seonghyun’s changeup was perfect. If he can’t lead the bat with a ball like this, he won’t know what pitch to throw.

“Hey, I heard the changeup doesn’t work.”

“…”

After scratching Lee Yong-gi once, he waits again for Seong-hyeon’s next ball. … With Rossby.

‘It’s two-minded.’

‘Oh, two-seam?’

From my perspective as a right-handed hitter, the two-seam ball is a ball that flows outward. This time, it seemed like he was trying to fool my eyes at a similar speed. Once again, Seonghyun performs a windup. This time, Seonghyun’s pitch goes outward.

“Ball.”

I endured the ball that dazzled my eyes again and the ball count became one strike, two balls.

‘It’s a fastball.’

Hmm… Up until now, he had attacked the zone with a ball that flowed to the outside, so this time it seemed like he was planning to hit the outside with a fastball that did not flow. Considering Seonghyun’s command, there is a high probability that it will be on the outside and low side.

Set the zone on the outside low side and wait for Seong-Hyun’s fourth ball. Soon, Seonghyun did the windup again. And Seonghyeon’s ball, which is thrown, quickly approaches the body from the outside… ?

‘… ‘Huh?’

Perfect!

The missed ball flies into the stands near third base. Foul.

‘Wow, you can stab yourself here.’

I wasn’t expecting it at all. He couldn’t even stop the bat because he was waiting to hit. It was a ball that should have been considered fortunate to have been fouled. As expected, Seonghyun and Lee Yonggi… The favorable count quickly became two strikes, two balls.

‘It’s a cutter.’

‘Fuck, there are so many pitches.’

As expected, Seonghyun. He was like a pitcher who liked playing with his hands. He only throws a ball that curves outward from the main pitch, but here he throws a ball that curves towards his body, which means that this is the deciding ball. If he hadn’t known, he would have been caught dead. However, it was not difficult for him to hit the pitch as long as he knew it.

I guess the reason why I continued to persistently attack the outside was for this ball, right? I calmly wait for Seonghyeon’s ball. And the moment the ball leaves your hand… !

‘It’s outside!’

The ball, which was heading toward the outer borderline, slowly bends and goes into the center. And my bat was already flying towards there.

Perfect!

A batted ball flies quickly and strongly toward left center! However, the launch angle was low.

“Run! Run!”

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

Run toward second base while listening to the coaches and spectators.

‘Stop! I caught the ball!’

‘Write.’

I wanted to run to third base, but unfortunately it was a hit to left-center. No matter how good I am, I can’t run to third base with a ball this fast, so I had no choice but to be satisfied with second base.

‘Ah…, What a waste. I should have taken the initiative right away.’

Maybe it was because it was my first time seeing a cutter today, but I was disappointed that I couldn’t get over it because it hit the inside of the bat more than I expected. Still, the leadoff hitter hits a double. It wasn’t bad from the start.

‘Are you going to run?’

‘I have to run.’

Since it was a no-out, there was a higher chance of scoring a point by stealing third base than by telling the type of pitch. And taking advantage of Seonghyun’s breaking ball, he ran toward third base.

“Safe!”

“Nice!”

Unfortunately, Kim Su-ho struck out, but Ki Ki-joo relaxed and tapped the ball, sending it flying into the outfield.

‘Go!’

“Run!”

The voices of the third base coach and Rossby are heard at the same time. The ball that Ki Sang-ju hit into the outfield was enough to hit home.

Let’s give a quick high-five to Williams, who was watching the home touch, and the weatherman, who was returning to the dugout after hitting an outfield fly, approaches.

“Hey, how did you hit it? Hyun-hyung’s condition doesn’t seem to be any fun today.”

“Why are you asking such a thing? That’s Ji Maeng-ho.”

“I asked for no reason. Ha, wow. He didn’t seem to be in good condition last game, but he’s flying today. The average is now around 148. It won’t be easy.”

“Still, you scored 1 point. We are also Krongs.”

Seeing that the average velocity was around 148, Seonghyun certainly seemed to be in good condition. But we had nothing to lose. Our starter was also the Crongs, who maintain the lead in most wins with an earned run average in the late 2-point range.

Perfect!

“Out!”

Williams’ batted ball gets stuck in the infield and the top of the first inning ends.

“[Sorry. I tried to hit it well…]”

“[It’s okay, kid. If you had hit Seonghyeon ball, you would have been in the major league.]”

“[Thank you for your understanding.]”

The end of the first inning started with Williams’ apology,

“Out!”

“Strike! Out!”

“Strike! Out!”

As everyone expected, the Crongs ended the inning with a three-way strike, maintaining the score at 1 run. Seonghyun and Crongs are in good condition. I had a feeling that this was going to be a difficult game.

“It smells like a pitcher’s battle.”

“Under… I should have played more yesterday. “The batting average will go down so much.”

The same goes for other seniors. Unlike the exciting atmosphere of yesterday, a slightly rigid atmosphere prevails in the dugout.

And then the second inning began. Seong-Hyeon showed his performance against the United States at the Olympics and neatly blocked the batting lineup of Choi Jin-cheol, Woo Kwan-hyung, and Yoon Seong-tae.

“[It’s okay, it’s okay. I will stop it.]”

The good news is that Crongs is also showing the same form he showed in the first episode. The inning ends in the second inning with a three-way strike. If Seonghyun works hard, Crongs also works hard. In the top of the third inning, my at-bat came again, but I was unable to score another run as Kim Su-ho retired with a walk after walking.

“Nice! Well done!”

“Siwoo! The gun was good.”

Although they fell behind by one point, the Hwasan Falcons are slowly coming up with continued hitting.

‘We need to get extra points quickly…’

In such a rushed atmosphere, the game went by quickly.

*

[Jitterbug! Strike! Out! Seonghyeon strikes out Jeong Yun-cheol! Three pitches, three strikes!]

[The ball just was a change-up, right? From a right-handed hitter’s perspective, it is difficult to deal with a changeup that comes in and flows out.]

[Jung Yun-cheol also smiles empty-handedly. The beginning of the 5th inning ends like this.]

[Bottom of the 5th inning, Volcano Falcons attack. Yoon Joong-il goes to bat. First pitch hit! Yoon Joong-il creates a hit! … Burnt motion! Got it! Jeong Yun-cheol catches it himself and goes to second base! Out! …. … The 6th batter, Joong-il Yoon, succeeded in getting on base as the leadoff hitter, but the Crongs ended the 5th inning by throwing out three batters in a row!]

[The bunt failure was fatal, right? In a pitching match like this, basic skills like bunts are important, but it was an inning where the details were a bit disappointing.]

[Yes. The bottom of the 5th inning was disappointing for the Hwasan Falcons, and the game now goes to the top of the 6th.]

Although less than an hour had passed since the game started, the baseball game in Daejeon was already heading into the 6th inning. The speed at which the game progressed indicated what kind of pitches the pitchers of both teams were throwing.

The game started again after about 10 minutes of cleaning time. Seonghyun was still throwing powerful balls.

[In the top of the 6th inning, Baek Jeong-jin is now at bat. … Jitterbug! Looking strikeout! Baek Jeong-jin is unable to move when a fastball hits his body and strikes out.]

[It’s already the 8th strikeout… Although AT Thunders are ahead by 1 point, it will feel like they are being chased.]

[This is the player who solves such problems every time, right? Ji Maeng-ho, who scored the only score of today’s game with a double, a walk, and one run, comes to the plate.]

The match between Seong Hyeon and Ji Maeng-ho, who can be said to be the protagonists of the Olympic gold medal,

-Ji Maeng-ho~! Ji Maengho~! Oooooh! Thunders Ji Maeng-ho! Fly it to the sky!

As Ji Maeng-ho’s cheering song rings out, the atmosphere in the stadium becomes heightened. It’s as if the fans who came to the baseball stadium to watch the game knew that this game would be the most important game of the day.

‘One out. ‘Isn’t it burdensome for you to skip it too?’

‘I’d rather compete. ‘I’d rather get hit than laugh at that bastard.’

And that kind of atmosphere was also known to the volcanic battery. Seonghyeon allowed only two on base today. One double and one walk were all on base against Ji Maeng-ho.

‘Write it. It’s not easy.’

Seonghyeon’s deciding pitch is a changeup that flows outward against right-handed hitters. It was a ball that caused numerous batters to miss swings in the major leagues, but strangely enough, it did not work at all for Ji Maeng-ho. However, it was not easy to get that change-up into the zone. This season, Ji Maeng-ho has already had more than 5 changeups that have cleared the fence.

Considering that pitchers in the league rarely throw changeups to Ji Maeng-ho, it is safe to say that he passed almost all changeups that entered the zone.

However, this change-up was needed to catch Ji Maeng-ho.

‘… Changeup, in the zone?’

That’s why Lee Yong-gi made a decision. AT Thunders is a team that we may meet in the Korean Series in the future. If you wanted to be sure of your stance in the Korean series, you had to check it here.

When Ji Maeng-ho and Seong Hyeon threw a changeup in the first half of the game, the result was a double. But it wasn’t a legitimate hit. Maybe that’s why it seemed like they were skipping all changeups in this game. I don’t know how they only skip the changeup, but I wanted to check Lee Yong-gi.

Can that guy hit a changeup that gets into the zone?

This was correct as I was thinking about the upcoming Korean series. You have to check now to avoid making mistakes in the Korean series. I also thought that Seonghyun’s changeup, which was recognized in the major leagues, would somehow work. Even saying that Seonghyun’s changeup was the best at the Olympics was not enough.

‘Okay. Let’s throw it.’

And Seonghyeon’s permission was given. If he had refused, Lee Yong-gi would have encouraged him to throw another ball, but Battery’s idea worked.

‘I guess you’re thinking the same thing as me, right?’

The pitch that was decided on was an outside changeup. With Seonghyeon’s windup, Ji Maengho’s bat is loaded.

‘Please! I hope it works!’

Lee Yong-gi prays earnestly and holds out his mitt.

[Saint! Throw out the first pitch!]

And Ji Maeng-ho’s bat moved like lightning.

Ta – Aak!

[Awesome hitting sound! The outfielder stopped moving! This batted ball goes to the left wall! Go over the left wall! Ji Maeng-ho’s 3 consecutive home runs! Scores increase again! The main character this time is Ji Maeng-ho!]

[Ah, this score is big.]

The ball that pulls the outside change-up amazingly goes over the left wall. The standard of a home run is that you can tell that the moment the ball is hit, it has gone over the fence.

Seeing that, Lee Yong-gi stood up and placed both hands on his waist.

“Under…, Fuck.”

An expletive flowing softly from Lee Yong-gi’s mouth. But it wasn’t that there was no harvest. There was no way I would ever put a changeup in the zone against Ji Maeng-ho again.

“Wow, shit! Have a good meal~!”

… However, it was still annoying to see Ji Maeng-ho grinning as he stepped on home plate.

*

-AT Thunders! A 2-0 win over the Hwasan Falcons!

… The game, which attracted attention as a battle for first place, turned into a pitcher’s battle. However, the main character was not Seong Hyun, who gave up 2 runs in 8 innings, nor Crongs, who took the honor of winning pitcher with 7 scoreless innings, but Ji Maeng-ho. Ji Maeng-ho was responsible for all the team’s scores on this day with 2 hits in 4 at-bats, 1 home run, 1 walk, 2 runs, and 1 RBI… Meanwhile, Seonghyun pitched well, allowing 2 runs in 8 innings, but suffered defeat as he did not receive help from the batting line.

┗ㅇㅅㅁㅎㅅ

┗ㅇㅅㅁㅎㅅ

┗How are you going to stop Ji Maeng-ho?

┗┗Can I block it with a walk?

┗The preview was intense, as expected of a Korean series haha

┗┗The Korean Series is being previewed by a team that has been to a fall baseball game once in 10 years. Damn it.

┗┗? Which team are you talking about? AT also hasn’t been to a fall baseball game in 10 years? Oh, is that once in 20 years?

┗┗We won haha. Next time ^1999^

┗┗ㅋ They say it’s so cool that they won the championship last year. Look forward to it in the fall.ㅋㅋ

┗┗The two of the M-Chang team are so screwed haha ​​Ji Maeng-hoppal won the championship vs. Seong-hyeon couldn’t even win. ㄹㅇ It’s Jagangducheon.