Chapter 438 – Episode 430. 1st Place Match. (3)
-AT Thunders! Seize the momentum!
… AT Thunders succeeded in taking the series lead by beating the Hwasan Falcons 3:1. …
┗LOL They caught Kim Min-Jun with a flower snakeㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
┗Ah, first place went over the water.
┗Still, you blocked the fierce warrior. Have a drink
-The fateful second game, who is the starting pitcher?
… AT Thunders announced that Ace Krongs would be the starting player, and Hwasan Falcons announced that Markel would be the starting player, and a match between foreigners between the first and second place teams was concluded.
┗Jeong Cheol-min, what are you doing? Kim Min-jun and Markel fighting for first place? Are you kidding? We need to twist the starting rote and make him 123 starters
┗┗What do you mean by going according to nature?
┗┗Soon-ri says, now is the time to bet
┗┗ㅉㅉ So you will be in last place for the rest of your life
┗┗Is this kid an asshole? The remaining schedule is really tight, so what are you going to do if you screw up and fall to third place?
┗┗Is there a difference between me and Hancheol by about 6 games?
┗┗What does this guy not know? Losing 9 games with 30 games left is baseball. If the schedule is tight, it’s easier to win, and it’s because of fanboys like you that the team has been like this.
*
“What kind of foreigner are these bastards taking as the 5th starter?”
“That’s right. “We have a decent 5th starter.”
“Hey, Junhu threw well yesterday too.”
“Hey, Junhu threw it with a pout.”
Before the game started, I quietly nodded to what my seniors said. Because I sympathized with the comment that Junhu’s pitching yesterday was sharp and the comment that it was absurd that a mercenary pitcher was the 5th starter.
It is said that Markel, Hwasa’s fifth starter, had a record of throwing up to 160 in Japan, but like the fastball mercenaries coming to Korea, his pitch control was not very good, and his velocity was also low. In the KBA league, the average velocity is around 150, and on days when he is scratched, he throws well, but on days when he falls apart, he falls apart helplessly. The average ERA was fluctuating between 3.6 and 7, and seeing our team’s 4th starter, Park Jun-hyung, fluctuating between late 3 runs and our 5th starter, Lim Jun-hu, fluctuating between mid to late 4 runs, made me a little envious of Hwasan’s starters. Br〉
‘If I played against Jun-hyung or Jun-hoo, I would definitely hit at least one home run per game, but it’s a shame…’
It was the same not only for the starters, but also for the bullpen. Still, it was fortunate that the hitters did well. If I had gone to a team other than AT, I felt like I could have had an on-base percentage of 800. There are cases where my team’s performance goes up because I rob my team’s pitchers, and there are cases when my performance goes down because I struggle with other teams’ batting lineup…
‘… Of course, it’s important to be satisfied with the present.’
Choi Jin-cheol, who has surpassed 30 home runs, Ki Ki-joo, who has a batting average of around .304 and over 20 home runs, and Kim Su-ho, who has an on-base percentage of around .403, has not had a home run since returning from injury but is in the low to mid-.300 range. Even Woo Kwan-hyung, who has a batting average of. I was lucky to play in a batting lineup of this quality.
“Thank you, seniors.”
“What? Why is this guy acting like this all of a sudden? “Did I eat something wrong?”
“The schedule is tight these days.”
“Shouldn’t I tell the coach and take him out of today’s lineup?”
“… Just saying thank you once makes people look like weirdos.”
“Okay, stop chatting and gather around! Let’s give it a try and then go into the game.”
“Yes!”
If we win today’s game, we are now 2.5 games behind. It is a common belief in the baseball world that it usually takes about a month to overturn a three-game deficit, but considering the remaining schedule, this game was really important. Moreover, even the starters are Crongs. I wanted to win today’s game and step on the volcano guys who kept following me without knowing the topic.
*
“Fuck! Fuck!”
Crongs goes down the mound while swearing loudly.
“Jumma has a bad temper. “I can’t throw it, and I’m crying?”
“That’s right.”
As Seongtae Yoon said, Crongs definitely had a bad temper. At a time when first place is important, you can’t even finish the 5th inning and give up 4 runs and get off the mound and get angry.
Well, it wasn’t that I didn’t understand. It wasn’t often during the season that Crongs had a bad pitch like this. Even the best pitchers are bound to get robbed 3–4 times during the season, but that happened today. He looked unusual, giving a walk in the first inning, but eventually suffered a comeback in the top of the fourth inning with two walks and three runs.
‘If this is the case, is it now 4:3? Write, it’s not easy.’
I thought the batters had done enough to help Crongs with the three runs in the bottom of the third inning, but I was a little resentful of Crongs, who suffered a reversal as soon as he gave up a score. In particular, our team’s bullpen was weak, so it seemed like today’s game was actually going to be difficult.
“Please play good defense!”
The new pitcher is long relief pitcher Won Jae-hyun, who is playing a key role in the team. His average ERA was in the mid-4 range, so it’s hard to say it was a good performance. In fact, except for Kim Yun-ho, the closer, and Se-ho Kang, the setup man, everyone had an ERA in the 4-5 range, so no matter who came out, it was there.
‘Please, let’s just block it for one inning.’
Perfect!
And as expected, Won Jae-hyeon allows a double from the first pitch, making the situation 1 out and 2 bases.
“Base on balls!”
And then the walk that followed. 1st and 2nd base were filled at once.
‘Focus on the infield.’
In that situation, Jeong Yun-cheol signaled that he would induce a ground ball. The standard ball combination is to induce a double play with a two-seamer on 1st and 2nd bases with 1 out. As the innings got longer, I pulled up my concentration and focused on Won Jae-hyeon’s next ball.
-Kim Seung-sik! Seungsik Kim! Seungsik Kim!
Won Jae-hyeon’s next ball is thrown with the Hwasan fans chanting the batter’s name, as if they want an extra point.
Perfect!
“Short!”
A batted ball heading toward the shortstop with a cheerful sound! But the batting was quite fast. As soon as I entered second base, Seongtae Yoon rushed towards the batted ball like an animal.
‘Did you catch it?!’
Seongtae Yoon, who had fallen, gets up and takes the ball out of his glove.
‘As expected, Seongtae hyung! ‘Did you catch that?’
Crazy athleticism! As expected, it was a dive worthy of Yoon Seong-tae, who has the second-best athleticism on the team after me. In the first place, shortstop was a position that could not be played with even the most athletic ability, but Seongtae Yoon was a player worthy of being called a tool guy, as he was the shortstop that coaches cherished among such shortstops.
‘I have to do at least this much! Good!’
And toward me…
‘Fuck! Seongtae hyung!’
The ball thrown by Seongtae Yoon flies high into the sky. He instinctively jumped and stretched out his arms to catch the ball, but there was already a runner on first base sliding underneath me. If this happens, it’s too late for second base.
‘The batter is just before reaching first base.’
At that time, before I can even turn my head to check the batter, Rossby tells me the batter’s location.
‘If you do this, you’ll be on first base… !’
The batter and runner were taking a short step to first base. As soon as I landed on the ground, I took the ball out of my glove and quickly threw it to first base.
“Oh my…”
And the sigh of Yun Seong-tae is heard.
“… “You know this is because of you, right?”
“… “I’m sorry.”
Choi Jin-cheol jumped high and caught the ball, but my throw was high, so I couldn’t put the batter and runner out. If it weren’t for Choi Jin-cheol’s height, he wouldn’t have been able to catch my throw…
The hit that should have ended in a double play was immediately filled by all runners.
“Are you okay! Are you okay! 1 point blocked! If it wasn’t for Seongtae, I would have escaped.”
After calling time, Jeong Yun-cheol, who came to the mound and gathered the infielders, looked at Yun Seong-tae and comforted him, but Seong-tae did not look bright. He was honestly right. The moment the batted ball hit, I thought it was definitely a hit.
“… “I’m sorry.”
Yoon Seong-tae offers an apology to Won Jae-hyeon and Jeong Yun-cheol with a gloomy expression.
“… I’m sorry too.”
I also took advantage of the atmosphere and offered an apology. If it weren’t for Jincheol, there would have been a disaster.
“No, good job. The batting was fast. “If it wasn’t for Seongtae, I would have given it 1 point.”
“Under…”
Jeong Yun-cheol comforting the infielders and Won Jae-hyeon sighing.
“Sir, I’m sorry I didn’t catch you. You can just give the score and go, so feel free to throw. “I will turn the situation around.”
“… Would you say something like that in this situation?”
“Hey, what should I do then? “It has passed.”
“… Crazy guy.”
Still, Won Jae-hyun’s expression seems to have lightened slightly at my words.
“I’m going to play forward defense this time. Let’s stop it properly. Okay?”
“Yes.”
“Jaehyun. “You should also concentrate and throw.”
“… I understand.”
After appeasing the infielders and pitchers, Jeong Yun-cheol returns to home plate. Although his performance continued to decline, the way he comforted the players made him seem like a veteran.
The sign that came out after Jeong Yun-cheol calmed down the situation and went down was a forward defense sign. As it was an important game, it was a strategy that showed the coach’s will not to give up even a single point.
‘Hehe, I won’t miss it this time.’
At bat is Hwasan’s 9th batter, Han Seong-jin. Although he was a good third baseman, he wasn’t a very good batting player. He was quick on his feet, so when he got a ground ball, he had to make a quick choice.
‘Let’s stop here. Because Joo-yeop is dangerous.’
The next batter is No. 1 batter Kim Joo-yeop. Even in the first year of his transfer, he was playing a leading role in the Volcanoes, recording a batting average of around .300, so there was a high possibility that he would give up many runs if he went to Kim Joo-yeop.
“Ball.”
Won Jae-hyeon must have been aware of this fact, as his body exerted strength and his helmet came off significantly. And the second ball thrown.
“Strike!”
This time, the ball goes into the center and a strike is declared. If it had caught me, the ball would have hit the parking lot.
However, perhaps the batter was not confident in his hitting, or there was a waiting sign, and the batter just watched the ball.
“Strike!”
He missed the bat on the third ball and the ball count immediately changed to his advantage.
‘The best is strikeouts…’
Hoping for a strikeout, we focus on the match between the batter and the pitcher. And the fourth ball was thrown.
Damn!
A line drive batted ball flies toward me. It was a bit of a hit ball that I was a bit unsure whether I would have been able to catch if it had been someone else, but it was a ball that I could have easily caught. I quickly rushed towards the batted ball.
Phut! And the feel of the ball in the glove. I just tried to close the glove.
‘Hey! ‘Don’t grab it!’
At that time, I unknowingly dropped the ball when I heard Rossby’s shout.