Chapter 580 – Episode 572. Korea’s Best Pitcher. (5)

“Strike! Out!”

After a 7-pitch match, the referee called a strikeout. Suho senior shakes his head and returns to the dugout.

“Suho, how was it?”

“It’s still the same?”

Senior Suho’s response to Lee Ki-cheol’s words remains the same. Even from the dugout, Seonghyun’s pitching today was not much different from what he showed in the first game of the playoffs. However, unlike the first game of the playoffs where the velocity fluctuated between 140 and 145, the velocity of the ball thrown to senior Suho was around 144 to 147, marking the mid-140s.

It was not difficult to guess why the velocity was 1-2 mph higher than in the first game of the playoffs. This is because our batting lineup is stronger than Silla’s, so we want to warm up from the beginning. If we had let our guard down from the beginning and kept throwing velocity in the low 140s, we could have done something with our batting lineup, but today’s game didn’t look easy either.

Perfect!

And just as I expected, the sound of a missed ball coming from the ground is heard. The batted ball rolled into the infield, resulting in two outs. Now that it was Williams’ turn to bat, I picked up my bat and headed to the waiting box.

However, the waiting time at the standby batting box did not take long. As Williams caught Seong-Hyeon’s three balls, the batted ball flew into the outfield, and he easily caught Williams’ batted ball, which was already waiting at the point of the fall.

In the bottom of the first inning, 11 balls were removed from the top batting lineup. It was disappointing, but it wasn’t bad. Because I was able to check the condition of the ball that Seonghyun was throwing from the dugout or standby at bat.

‘Well, I’m not as sharp or sharp as usual. Is this your usual Seonghyun? Then, there is no one who can score points except me… Fuck, if I had known it would be like this, I would have asked for number 1 or 2.’

The top of the second inning went into the second inning with some regrets about the batting order.

“Strike! Out!”

Fortunately, as confirmed in the top of the first inning, Crongs also showed good pitching in the top of the first inning, striking out the opposing team’s fourth hitter Lee Yong-gi, along with a three-way error, so it felt like today would be a pitcher’s battle. . And that type of pitching match was exactly the structure I liked.

All I have to do is give 1 or 2 points.

If it was a batting game, I had to try to score as many points as possible, but in a pitching game like this, I felt at ease because I only had to score 1 or 2 runs, whether it was a home run or a walk, and then coming home with consecutive stolen bases.

Perfect!

“Out!”

“Strike! Out!”

And the ending of Crongs’s three-letter attack that puts your mind at ease. Before the game started, it seemed like he got a little excited by the fact that he was facing Seonghyun, a major league pitcher, but fortunately, he didn’t seem to be throwing the ball in a state of excitement.

‘Yes, if you want to go to the major leagues, you have to at least show Seonghyun that you can win. Longs, my brother will help you this time.’

Since we had a close relationship with him over the past two and a half years, I felt like we needed to help him in this game for the sake of him, who is aiming to advance to the major leagues.

“Then, I will come back.”

“Ji Maeng-ho fighting!”

As I leave the dugout with my bat, I hear my name being shouted from behind. After raising my fist to my colleagues, I walked to the plate.

‘Mr. Rossby, are you ready?’

‘Hmph, take care of yourself.’

Mr. Rossby is also the same as usual… Now all that’s left is to destroy the opposing pitcher.

‘Good. Let’s stick together.’

*

“It’s been a while?”

“Yeah, it’s been a while.”

When Maeng Ho came into the batter’s box and spoke to him in a friendly manner, Lee Yong-gi, who was wearing a catcher’s mask, gave a cursory answer.

‘I don’t think this kid is very nervous?’

If it had been a regular season, he would have welcomed me warmly, but there was only one reason why Lee Yong-gi gave a rough answer unlike usual.

Even though he was a veteran catcher and the best catcher in Korea, he was nervous about this situation. Of course, he was not nervous about the Korean Series because he was Lee Yong-gi, who had won once in three times.

The tension that comes from knowing that the batter standing in front of you is Ji Maeng-ho… A vicious energy was radiating from Ji Meng-ho’s body, as if no matter where he asked for the ball, he would pass it over.

‘Whoa… Let’s calm down. Still, traps were laid throughout the second half of the season. … But, will it work?’

And there is added tension whether the strategy used throughout the second half of the season will work.

In the second half of the season, the Hwasan Falcons always used the method of having the coach give a sign when dealing with Ji Meng-ho.

The reason was simple. Ji Maeng-ho is currently the world’s highest-level geth hitter. And as with all Guess hitters, data was essential to predict what pitch the pitcher would throw.

Data such as what ball is thrown on the first pitch, what ball is thrown on a full count, what ball is thrown on a one-two, two-two, and one-three. Guess hitting without such data was not Guess hitting but just gambling, and baseball was not an easy sport to hit .400 and hit 70 home runs just by gambling.

However, coach Moon Ki-taek’s obvious ball combination ruined Ji Maeng-ho and the AT Thunders’ data throughout the second half of the season, so it was clear that even the Guess hitting that he boasted about would be difficult. Because this ball formulation was a completely different ball formulation.

As long as that memory is embedded in the guy’s mind, this strategy will definitely work. No, it had to go through.

‘… But, why doesn’t it seem like it will work?’

It’s an operation that must work at all costs… Why do I feel this way? A feeling as if my instincts, having sat behind home plate all my life, were warning me.

Lee Yong-gi tried to ignore that feeling and exchanged hand signals with Seong-hyeon.

‘Hyung, the first pitch is a change-up?’

‘Okay. Let’s take a look at the outside changeup.’

‘Okay. Then, at least one person will be left out of the zone.’

The first pitch chosen by the battery was Seonghyun’s circle changeup, which can be said to be his statement piece. It was a circle changeup that was also called a nightmare for right-handed hitters because it was a ball that came into the zone like a fastball and then flowed out.

Moreover, when facing Ji Maeng-ho in the second half of the season, he never threw a breaking ball from the first pitch, so it was a pitch that Ji Maeng-ho could never predict.

And Seonghyun’s changeup was thrown. As soon as Lee Yong-gi saw the ball leave Seong-hyeon’s hand, he thought, ‘That’s it!’ His form was so perfect that even he, who had been catching the ball for two years, couldn’t tell whether it was a changeup or a fastball.

“Ball.”

But you can see the results. If it was a fastball, it would have been inside the zone, but Ji Maeng-ho seemed to know it and blocked Seong-hyun’s first pitch.

‘Sweet, did you skip it because you thought it was just a ball? If the umpire was lenient at this level, he could have received a strike call…’

There was a possibility that he could have predicted and filtered out the first-pitch changeup, but then all the strategies he had used to deal with Ji Maeng-ho throughout the second half of the season would have been in vain, so Lee Yong-gi tried to erase that thought from his mind.

‘Courage, how about a cutter this time?’

‘I was thinking that too. First, let’s check Maengho’s condition today, right? ‘To the same location as before.’

‘Okay.’

And the selected ball is a cutter thrown to the same location as before. However, unlike the change-up, which curves outward, this ball had a trajectory that entered the zone, so we were able to check the guy’s condition today with this ball.

‘If you hit this ball, your condition is good. If you don’t hit it, your hitting is so bad that you just abandon the borderline.’

If it were another pitcher, it would not have been possible to use this method because he did not have the control to throw to a similar position, but only Seonghyun, who has been recognized for his control in the major leagues, can use this method.

“Strike!”

And Ji Maeng-ho’s bat did not move once again, resulting in a strike.

‘It’s okay! I caught this ball… !’

Lee Yong-gi, who checked Ji Maeng-ho’s condition, was inwardly pleased and glanced at Ji Maeng-ho. However, contrary to his expectations, Ji Maeng-ho’s expression was very calm.

‘… ‘Huh?’

However, that appearance was different from the Ji Meng Hao he knew and had analyzed. At a time when he wasn’t very good at hitting, to the point where he missed curveballs or changeups, it was Ji Maeng-ho who got completely annoyed when he hit an unexpected ball or made a mistake.

In other words, that means there is no problem with the condition.

‘Then… Are you really aiming for a winning shot?’

Aim for a winning shot. If it were an average hitter, it would definitely have been nonsense. There is a clear reason why a winning shot is called a winning shot. However, it made sense if the batter was Ji Maeng-ho. Because it was Ji Maeng-ho who had the best get-hitting ability in the world.

Of course, even Ji Maeng-ho does not usually aim for winning shots. First, in order to throw a winning shot, you had to get two strikes, and two strikes was a count that carried a high risk of getting out even for Ji Maeng-ho.

Considering all of this, there is only one reason why Ji Maeng-ho is waiting for a winning shot.

‘… Did it work? ‘Operation?’

The guy was now deciding that the winning shot was easier to hit. The fact that I was now seeing results against this guy with the obvious ball combination throughout the second half of the season made me feel like all the tension I had felt earlier was dissipating.

‘Good. Is it okay if it’s like this? Changeup, cutter. Breaking ball, modified fastball. Outside, outside. To throw the obvious ball here…’

Lee Yong-gi’s head begins to spin quickly. The obvious ball combination here is the side of the body that has never been thrown. Plus, it’s easy to count…

‘Hyung, I think the two-seam pitch will be okay?’

‘Two-seam? Body? ‘Wouldn’t it be a little dangerous?’

‘With the mindset that it doesn’t matter if it’s the cheek, go a little deeper.’

‘Okay.’

“Ball.”

Ji Maeng-ho did not bat on the third ball, and the ball thrown by Seong-hyeon was ruled a ball, and the count became two balls and one strike. Perfect timing to throw a winning shot. Originally, he had to throw a winning shot with two strikes and get a strikeout, but it wasn’t a bad idea to aim for a winning shot at this timing to induce a base hit.

‘Here, the ball that Ji Maeng-ho couldn’t think of is… Hmm… Curve? A curve would be nice. If you get a strike with a curve, you can strike out with a better ball the next time. Anyway, I didn’t hit that well against curveballs in the second half…’

The ball Lee Yong-gi requested was a curveball that hit the outside corner. Seonghyeon also slightly nodded his head at that sign.

‘Curve… ‘It’s not bad, right?’

If it was the obvious ball combination shown in the second half, it would be a ball that was completely unpredictable… In addition, considering that in the second half of the season, when Ji Maeng-ho faced a curveball, unlike usual when he hit a flying home run, he sometimes hit a hit, this number was enough to induce a hit or increase the strike count by one. 〈 Br〉

… If Ji Maeng-ho was a batsman who swung the bat based on real data.

Ta-ah!

“… Huh?”

Just like that, the move that I thought was perfect disappeared over the fence.

[Let’s go! Ji Maengho! In Game 1 of the Korean Series, the batter who scores first is once again Ji Maeng-ho!]

[Hey, you were aiming perfectly, right? It was an incredible curve that fell low on the outside, and I pulled it off perfectly like I was aiming for. Wow, it was a ball I didn’t expect at all, but Ji Maeng-ho seemed to know and hit it. That’s a truly diabolical prediction ability. It’s amazing. Ji Maengho!]

‘Wow, when I hit it alone, I miss a few curves, and it comes straight into the curve. Damn. I’m tired of the basics, really.’

… With the image of Ji Maeng-ho circling the base with a smile.