Chapter 562 – Episode 554. Friend. (4)

Ta – Aak!

When the timing is right, the hitting sound…

However, unlike when I hit the sweet spot exactly, the hand holding the bat rang. The ball was hit by the slight tip of the bat. Still, perhaps because the timing was right, the ball was floating high and flying toward the right wall.

‘Write…’

A right fielder running toward the batted ball. I saw that and ran all the way to first base, and before I knew it, the right fielder was near the fence and checking the location of the batted ball.

-Wow!!!!!

And the cheers of the audience echoed. However, the cheers were smaller than the cheers I usually hear,

“Out!”

The referee raised his fist and declared an out. A fly to right field caught right in front of the fence…

‘I’m not going to take it easy, right? ‘It’s fun.’

In my first at-bat against Wonho, I had no choice but to return to the dugout, swallowing the regret of thinking, ‘If my pitch had been slightly weaker, I could have cleared the fence.’

Of course, that didn’t mean he was downcast. Because I still had more opportunities left. In this game, there were at most three at-bats or at most two at-bats left to face Wonho.

‘Wonho has a good ball today, so maybe two at-bats will meet? Baby, splitting… Okay, smile now. ‘I’ll make you into bamboo in no time.’

*

[Kim Won-ho finishes the second inning with three consecutive hits!]

[From my experience, it seems like Kim Won-ho does well every fall? Didn’t he throw 9 perfect innings against AT’s lineup last fall?]

[You’re right. At that time, Ji Maeng-ho beat Kim Won-ho’s perfect score. The final record was 9 innings and 1 run. Additionally, he recorded a shutout in last year’s semi-playoffs.]

[Haha, this is a record worthy of being named Autumn Man.]

[Yes. Now it’s Crongs on the mound. … Crongs also blocks the attack at the end of the second inning with a triple strike.]

[Both players are still in the second inning, but they are showing good pitching like the aces of both teams.]

[It’s a game with a lot at stake, right?]

[Yes. Ji Maeng-ho’s new home run record, Krongs’ challenge for 20 wins as a starter, and Shilla Triggers’ recapture of third place. There is a lot at stake.]

[Now, in the top of the third inning, the AT Thunders attack. … Strikeout two batters in a row! Kim Won-ho continues his three-way inning! The momentum today is unusual! … Out! … Out! … Out! Crongs! All three batters must be fielded for a ground ball. Both pitchers show perfect pitching, and the game now goes to the 4th inning with one turn in the batting lineup!]

*

‘That bastard is also poisonous. There isn’t a single ball that falls below 150 against the top batting lineup right now? If I run like that, how will I survive later?’

Perhaps because he risked the team’s fate, Wonho’s pitch today was the best I’ve ever seen. However, as a friend, it seems obvious to me that he is overdoing it? No, it was clear that even people who weren’t friends could tell that he was overexerting himself.

Wonho throws as if this inning is his last… As a friend, it was difficult to see Wonho suffering like that.

‘Wonho, I will make you comfortable quickly. If he scores 1–2 points, he will start to relax and start throwing. Anyway, Crongs today is no joke. Hmm… 1 point might be a bit dangerous, so maybe 2 points? Yes, about 2 points would be fine.’

There is only one way to help him. By giving them points like usual, we let them relax. In order to score 2 runs, a runner had to be left on the base, or he had to hit a home run in two consecutive at-bats, but I thought it would be good to have a runner on the base in front of this at-bat to help him out as quickly as possible.

Perfect!

“Out!”

Unfortunately, the number of outs increased as leadoff hitter Suho retired with a ground ball to shortstop. Still, the hitters remaining in front of me are senior Sangju and Williams. Mathematically, it was natural that one of the two would get on base, so I packed the bat and prayed that the one in front of me would get on base.

“Strike! Out!”

‘Fuck!’

Now all I can trust is Williams. It’s been a few seconds since I watched him from the standby batting box. The guy swung the bat strongly from the first pitch.

Perfect!

Williams’ batted ball rolls helplessly toward third base with a sound that makes you feel uncomfortable as soon as you hear it.

‘Oh, look at the fucking ball!’

When I was thinking about returning to the dugout after hitting an ordinary infield ground ball that would put an out even for a middle school student, Gocheok’s artificial turf made its presence felt.

“Huh?!”

The third baseman’s embarrassed sound could be heard through the cheers of the audience all the way to the standby… Williams, who had been glancing at his batted ball as he walked hurriedly to first base, then began running toward first base with all his might.

If the third baseman catches the ball, it’s enough timing to call an out! But unfortunately, the ball had already passed through the third baseman’s crotch, and Williams was exchanging a high five with the first base coach.

‘I’m just saying something if I got out… Anyway, that guy is lucky.’

My turn at bat came with two outs. I headed to the plate, swinging the bat as usual. My head was filled with thoughts of making Wonho comfortable.

‘Did you laugh earlier? Let’s see if you’re still smiling. You were left behind.’

“It’s an automatic intentional decision.”

“… “Eh?”

“It’s an automatic intentional phrase. Why are you suddenly embarrassed? “Not once or twice.”

“Wonho? Me? “Intentional phrase?”

But before he could fire up his fighting spirit, the sound that came out of the catcher’s mouth was that he was going to filter me out. When I looked at Wonho, dumbfounded by the situation where he was skipping me, he motioned for me to quickly go to first base.

“Hey! “Are you scared?”

“…”

When I asked him if he was scared, Wonho frowned and kept gesturing for me to go away…

“Hey! Kim Won… !”

“Ji Maeng-ho. “Don’t provoke the pitcher and walk to first base.”

“Under…”

I wanted to provoke Wonho more, but the umpire was telling me not to do anything unnecessary and to walk to first base.

-Wooooo!!!!

As I trudged towards first base, I heard the booing of the home team’s ace from Silla’s home stadium louder than ever.

Since the time he was trying to set a new home run record, there have been pitchers who threw four balls and walked, but there was no case where an automatic and intentional missed ball was made so blatantly, so the sound of angry boos from the audience was echoing in the dome stadium.

However, Wonho seemed not to care about such things and was clearing the dirt on the mound with his feet as usual.

Not my friend Wonho, but professional Wonho…

‘Ha, yes, you really want to win today’s game, right?’

It was very professional of him to give up a game against me and skip me for the sake of the team. Looking at the expression, it was clear that there was a mixture of dissatisfaction.

Wonho became the team’s ace for only about two years. I felt a little sorry for him because he wasn’t in a position to ignore the director’s strategy and compete with me.

-5th batter, Choi Jin-cheol, Choi Jin-cheol.

And with two outs, the person who came to bat was Choi Jin-cheol, the second-highest hitter in home runs on the team with 19 home runs this season. His batting average was disappointing, but he was a hitter with one home run, so I watched his batting with some expectations.

“Strike! Out!”

… Although the result was obvious. Today, Kim Won-ho was throwing that kind of ball.

‘Read, read, read. Okay, let’s see how long you can throw like that.’

Although I wasn’t scoring well, I wasn’t too worried. Our team’s ace, Crongs, was also throwing a good ball, and it was obvious that if he continued to throw the ball with an over-pace like that, he would soon run out of stamina. And the strongest batting lineup in the league, starting with senior Suho, was not a lineup that would miss such a weak ball.

‘Ha, I tried to make you feel comfortable quickly, but you’re struggling like this… Poor bastard…’

There are 5 innings remaining. There were many opportunities to score.

*

[Two outs, top of the 5th inning. Kim Won-ho records his first walk today.]

[Uhm… Isn’t it good to record a walk like this against a lower-ranking batting lineup? It’s a little disappointing because Kim Won-ho was showing perfect pitch control today without giving a single walk.]

[Baek Jeong-jin, number 9 batter, is at bat. … Full count match! Kim Won-ho’s 63rd pitch! Swing strikeout! Baek Jeong-jin takes a missed swing at Kim Won-ho’s splitter!]

[The splitter was perfect right now, right? Baek Jeong-jin seemed to have hit the hitting point inside the zone thinking he wouldn’t give out two walks in a row, but he completely deceived him.]

[Kim Won-ho showing scoreless innings until the 5th inning! He gave a walk, but he’s still powerful!]

I don’t like games that start with wild cards. He’s the ace of the team, so if he comes out in the first game, he’s forced to pitch later in the next game. In addition, if they lose even one game, there is a high chance that a team that has used two ace-level pitchers will fall in vain in the semi-playoffs.

And Wonho no longer wanted to experience the pain of being eliminated from fall baseball.

The only way to increase your chances of not being eliminated from fall baseball is to be in a higher position during the regular season and to throw as many balls as possible. Since 1st and 2nd place were already decided, the only ranking the team could aim for was 3rd place. And the gap with 3rd place Hyunsung was only 1 game.

3rd place… Although the probability of winning was low, it was still not 0, and my friend Maengho also led the team to victory by starting from 3rd place as a rookie and winning on an upset. I wanted to show Meng Hao that upset win and prove that I am not behind you.

‘If Meng Hao can do it, I can do it too.’

To do so, the minimum rank required is 3rd, which is a rank that can start in a favorable position in the semi-playoffs.

In order to take third place, every match he appeared in was important, and he had to narrow down his chances as much as possible so that he could play comfortably in the matchup a week later. Therefore, he was able to at least show his ugly side by running away from a match with his friend Meng Hao.

Because he was a professional. Still, it’s natural to want to show that you won’t run away from your friends. Wonho came into the dugout after the 5th inning and started calculating his lineup.

‘Because we faced 9 batters this inning, if we end the next inning with a three-way strike, the first batter will be a big hit… Then I can compete to my heart’s content.’

You kill two birds with one stone by winning a competition with a friend and winning a game. When he thought about that, he didn’t even feel the fatigue in his arms.

The top of the 6th inning started with such excitement. From the moment he got up, his body was light, and with every pitch he threw, a threatening ball came out of Wonho’s hand, just like the previous pitches.

[… Strike out! … This batted ball is big! Fence! Catch it from the front! Center fielder Lee Eun-chong! Great defense! … Williams hit! Park Cheol-young saves the day! Park Cheol-young’s fantastic defense! Help Wonho Kim!]

[As expected, Park Cheol-young showed off his defense, right? He had the defensive skills of a regular member of the national team.]

Plus, it helps with defense. It felt like heaven was helping me win a match with Meng Hao. But the problem is Crongs’ helmet… Crongs, who was aiming for his 20th win, was throwing the ball with lights in his eyes with the intention of not giving up even a single point, and the team’s batters were not able to attack Crongs at all.

Crongs, who was throwing powerful balls as a pitcher trying to win 20 games, easily got two outs, and the pitching coach approached Wonho accordingly.

“Wonho, it’s the top of the 7th inning.”

The pitching coach’s words have only one meaning. He asked if he would pitch the next inning. The bullpen was already slowly warming up, so no one would say anything if I decided to stop pitching here. Silla’s coaches also knew that Wonho was running at an over pace.

“… I will throw it.”

However, Wonho did not want to let go of this opportunity. Because his stamina still remains, this game could possibly be his last game against Meng Hao this season. In his friend’s memory, he couldn’t bear to see himself running away into the sand dunes this season.

“Yes, I believe it.”

“Yes. Please believe me.”

And before you know it, it’s three out. Wonho took his glove as usual and walked to the mound.

He looked at Meng Hao walking into the batter’s box, staring at him.