Chapter 538 – Episode 530. Ace Killer. (5)

[… Kim Soo-ho’s batted ball slowly went to the shortstop, and the shortstop Kim Sang-jun looked at second base and was out at first base. First base runner Baek Jeong-jin sends Kim Soo-ho to second base for an advanced hit. Now the situation becomes 1 out, 2nd base.]

[Because the hitting speed was slow, it did not result in a double play.]

-Kim Soo-ho, look at this bastard taking a walk. If you’re losing, you should run until the end.

┗Kim Su-ho is 35 years old. Be grateful to see third base at that age haha

┗Honestly, I’m almost guaranteed to win, but getting injured is even worse.

Kim Soo-ho’s base hit following Baek Jeong-jin’s walk. Until then, no AT fans thought the 5-0 score gap would be overturned. However,

[Gyeonggi-ju picks the ball in a full count situation. Now it’s 1 out, 1st and 2nd bases.]

-Uh, is this going to bat for the fierce tiger?

┗Oh, shit, if Kim Soo-ho had played, it would have been a close game, but it sucks.

When the second batter’s subsequent walk resulted in one out, first and second bases, the hearts of fans who were thinking about defeat in a corner of their hearts began to pound again. 1st and 2nd base situation. If Williams, the third batter, did not hit a double play, Ji Maeng-ho could come to the plate with two runners down even if he was out.

And that fact was also known to Meng Hao, who was waiting for just one opportunity in a situation where the scent of defeat was strong. No, all AT Thunders players, including Meng Hao, knew that fact. The team’s coach, Lee Soo-hyun, also.

‘Are Se-ho and Jin-hyuk using a card that will definitely block the first inning? But those two threw the game yesterday too. We’ve already almost confirmed first place, so there’s no need to push yourself too hard. Today’s game is a game that will be thrown away from the beginning anyway… It would be better to put all the winning teams in tomorrow’s match between Bellingham and Choi Jung-hoon…’

1st and 2nd base situation. If Williams cannot get on base, even if Meng Hao hits a home run, the game will be down by two runs. He threw the ball yesterday, and it was too much of a gamble to put up a sure win by 2 points when he was likely to pitch tomorrow as well. In a situation where first place was already almost confirmed with a lot of wins, the 3-fight card was a card that there was no need to worry about in the first place.

“Director.”

And at that time, just before going to bat, Meng Hao called out to Manager Lee Soo-hyun, who was contemplating with his arms crossed.

“Huh?”

“Jinhyuk sunbae and Seho hyung, please prepare. “I’ll follow along this inning.”

Meng Hao’s words that he will follow in this at-bat. And the look in your eyes that gives you more confidence than your words,

“… Yes.”

Director Lee Soo-hyun, who was pondering, had no choice but to make a decision. Because to director Lee Soo-hyun, Ji Maeng-ho was someone who could not help but be trusted.

Ji Maeng-ho’s back was too arrogant to be involved in pitcher management, which is the manager’s exclusive authority, to be considered a mere player, but Ji Maeng-ho’s back as he walked to the standby batting box was such a trustworthy appearance that it made it impossible to even think of such things.

As always, bringing victory to the team.

“Coach Jang.”

“Yes, director.”

“Let’s get Jinhyuk ready.”

“I understand.”

[There’s a new pitcher warming up in AT’s bullpen? Isn’t this what Park Jin-hyuk looks like?]

[Park Jin-hyuk is one of AT’s reliable men, so preparing here means that he will follow suit in this inning, right? The batting order is actually good. It’s a batting lineup that runs from Williams, Ji Maeng-ho, and Choi Jin-cheol on first and second base with one out and one out, right? Make your bet here.]

[Now, Williams’ at-bat. … Williams perseveres! He gets a walk! And now the situation is 1 out and bases loaded. Here, Ji Maeng-ho, the best hitter in the league, comes to the plate.]

With one out and the bases loaded, Ji Maeng-ho came to the plate.

*

“Senior, my Arte Jegu is shaking so much, shouldn’t I change it?”

“… Just concentrate.”

“Yes.”

Although the lead was 5 points, Hyunsung’s starting catcher Park Jung-hyun must have sensed that the situation was not good, and his tone toward me was cold. Still, since we played together on the national team for a period of time, we were usually greeted warmly, but looking at things like this, it seems like things are definitely turning around.

And my role as the number 4 hitter is to completely change this trend. Looking at Park Jung-hyun’s answer, it seemed like he was going to go to Arte until the 6th episode. Even though my control got a little worse, my velocity was still the same.

The decision to keep Arte, who still throws a 150 sinker, on the mound was not a bad decision, rather than using a pitcher with poor pitch control but good pitch control against me. The conclusion among the KBA teams was that a pitcher with pitch-type pitching would be better to deal with me unless he has the same pitch control as Seong-Hyeon, and is Arte’s pitch in South America? North and Central America? Anyway, as expected from that area, he was pretty decent.

In addition, although Hyunsung’s sure-to-win teammate Lee Jun-ho’s pitching was significant, seeing him not pitching in this situation suggests that he may have been using it more because his pitching control had deteriorated. There was a high possibility that they would rather have me walk due to lack of control here. No matter how threatening I was, I couldn’t just throw out an intentional throw with the bases loaded.

To be honest, I feel bad about it, but of course the reason I don’t do that is largely thanks to Moon Ki-taek. When I was a rookie, I did that shit in the Korean series, got criticized, and was fired as a director, which had a big impact. Probably, there won’t be an intentional throw with the bases loaded until I get to the majors.

‘Well, if you think that way, should I be thankful to Ki-taek?’

From what I heard from Jia, it seems like she’s being re-evaluated among fans.

‘What is the first pitch?’

‘It’s a sinker.’

‘Okay. First, I’ll have to watch the first pitch. Will I win or will I end up outside the zone?’

“Ball.”

After waiting, Arte’s first pitch was thrown deep into the body. It was a position where I almost got hit. Perhaps because the bases were loaded, his ball control was shaking.

‘Sseu-eup, you can’t do this.’

And for me, this situation was not very good. If you wait, you can get 1 point, but what you need now is a shot to change the atmosphere. To do that, a long hit was needed. As expected, in the current situation, Arte is more picky than Lee Jun-ho, Hyunsung’s sure-to-win team.

Looking at Arte’s control of the ball, I had a strong feeling that if he waited for a good ball, the game would end with only one push point. In that case, the only way left is to push out even a bad ball with force.

‘It’s a cutter.’

‘Okay.’

Arte’s pitching pattern was simple. For a right-handed hitter, a sinker on the inside and a cutter on the outside. And a four-seamer in the middle. He was the kind of pitcher who split the zone into three types of fastballs.

The reason why it worked so well even though it was such a simple type was because his pitching tunnel was good, and all three pitches were fastballs with a speed approaching the mid to upper 140s, so it was largely impossible to tell them apart until they arrived in the zone. In addition, the change-up he occasionally throws was also a blessing in disguise.

However, as he is such a simple pitcher, if you know the type of pitch in advance like I do, the destination of his ball is obvious.

‘It’s a cutter, so go outside this time.’

However, because the guy’s control was shaky, he set his batting timing as late as possible, intending to swing the bat after checking the final location of the ball to some extent. So he finished all preparations and waited for the guy to pitch, and Arte also started making pitching movements as if he had completed all preparations.

And then the guy’s second ball that was thrown.

‘We were cornered!’

I felt like his cutter was slightly pushed to the center.

Perfect!

I was confused by the ball being thrown in a different location than I expected, so I swung the bat quickly, but I didn’t feel like I got the perfect timing, perhaps because I was batting slightly late. All I can do here is just push the ball against the grain!

-Wow!!!

Fortunately, even though it was a hit, I was able to push it away with force, and the hit flew through right-center.

After throwing the bat, I quickly started running towards first base.

‘Are you going to pass? Fuck, it might be difficult because it’s Jamsil…’

If it were a small stadium, it seemed like it would have been possible to overcome it even if pushed with force, but Jamsil was wide as expected. The batted ball cut through right-center and fell, and Yang Ji-hyuk, who quickly judged the point of the fall, caught the ball near where it fell and prevented the batted ball from rolling any further.

When Yang Ji-hyuk caught the ball, my position was already near second base.

‘First, I scored 3 points… !’

‘Third base!’

Mr. Rossby calls for third base. Although Yang Ji-hyuk had the best defensive range and batted ball judgment in the country, his arm was at the bottom of the league, so he could not hit a ball well enough to go to third base…

But I stopped at second base.

‘What are you doing? ‘I don’t go to third base.’

Mr. Rossby speaks in a dissatisfied voice. Under normal circumstances, the correct decision would have been to go to third base as Rossby said. If I had played all the way to third base, I would have had one out and one on third base, and my slugging percentage would have gone up a little.

But the current situation was a little special. My double brought home Williams, the runner on first base, and scored three runs, but two more runs were needed to tie the game. If you somehow manage to get home after going to third base, you may be able to catch up by 1 point, but the attack may end there.

In that situation, if I was standing on second base, it was possible to score two runs at once. Choi Jin-cheol with 14 home runs and Yoon Seong-tae with 10 home runs. It was worth expecting that either of them would have the power to overcome Jamsil, and if I could help them a little, I could sufficiently increase that probability.

‘Please tell me the type of pitch.’

The pitcher who came on the mound to replace Arte, who hit a double, was Lee Jun-ho, Hyunsung’s sure-to-win pitcher. Although the pitch was quite good, it was a fastball and slider to pitch type. It was the best situation. Anyway, Lee Jun-ho’s winning shot is a slider. If you aim well at the slider…

‘… Isn’t it a shame to do this?’

‘Doing useless things.’

Mr. Rossby seemed unhappy that I didn’t get on base for the team, but I’m the one playing baseball anyway.

‘It’s a fastball.’

Mr. Rossby had no choice but to obediently tell me the type of pitch.

‘Okay. Senior, fastball!’

Perfect!

‘Oh, this is a foul. Kavi. Mr. Rossby, what about the next ball?’

‘It’s a fastball again.’

In that way, I continued to teach pitches to batters,

“Out!”

Jincheol senior hit a big outfield fly and was called out,

Ta – Aak!

Seongtae-hyung, who came to the plate with two outs, kicked up Lee Jun-ho’s slider at the exact right time, and the batted ball flew beautifully through the Jamsil sky just as I intended.

‘Okay, let’s try again.’