Chapter 585 – Episode 577. Click. (3)

Perfect!

-Lee Yong-gi! Lee Yonggi! Use it!

It was a wasted first inning as neither team could score, but in the top of the second inning, Lee Yong-gi, who came out as the leadoff hitter, made an exquisite hit in front of right field, and it felt a little bitter.

‘Write it. It smells like a lot of scoring… It would be nice if you could at least give me a bunt. Well, you’re not going to try to squeeze out a run from a mercenary’s at-bat, right? The starter isn’t even Krongs.’

However, contrary to my thoughts, Moon Ki-taek seemed to be senile and was instructing the mercenary hitter to bunt. As I was preparing for the series, I heard that although McD was a hitter who stole 22 bases, he was not a hitter who was strong at bunting, so is this an incomprehensible choice?

‘What? You’re the leadoff hitter in the top of the second inning, but you’re only aiming for one run? ‘Are you an asshole?’

In the first place, a bunt pinch hit was used in yesterday’s game, so a bunt here made no sense.

The coach probably thought that was strange as well, so the defensive shift was a half-shift with the burst in mind.

Although I knew probabilistically and rationally that it wasn’t a bunt, I still couldn’t help but be conscious of the batter with 22 stolen bases, so I chose the method. I knew that Lee Yong-gi, who has a good BQ, would run at any time if there was even a slight gap, so I waited with that in mind for the first pitch match.

“Oh!”

McD didn’t put the bat down, and we moved to block the bunt. Shortstop Seongtae goes toward second base to cover second base, and I go toward first base.

“Ball.”

However, when Jang Yoon-do saw McD bunt, he stole the ball to make it as difficult as possible for him to bunt, and the result was a ball.

‘Sseuup, no matter how I look at it, it looks like a hookah… ‘Isn’t it just the ball count that’s trying to kill me?’

“Senior! Let’s just give it a bunt and let’s go. Anyway, the next batters are no big deal!”

Hyunseong must have been aware of that, too, as he took a few steps forward to hand over the ball and shouted loudly. By the way, such a provocation… It was nice to see that I learned a lot from who I watched.

“Ball.”

But it didn’t have much effect. The same situation as before is repeated, two balls… To be honest, I didn’t understand why pitchers were doing this when they could just bunt, but I couldn’t say anything in this situation, so I maintained tension and looked at Hyunseong’s fingers.

The defensive position delivered this time is a shift in which only first baseman Jincheol is slightly prepared for a bunt. McD was still preparing to bunt, but he decided that since the ball count was in the batter’s favor, the possibility of a bunt was reduced.

And as expected, McD takes a batting stance as he prepares to throw the ball. As soon as he sees his batting stance, senior Jincheol steps back.

Perfect!

‘Fuck! After all, it was just a hookah.’

The batted ball was already over my height, and Lee Yong-gi, confident of a hit, was running toward second base. Right fielder Baek Jeong-jin quickly ran forward and tried to catch the ball, but the ball had already touched the ground and the result was 1st and 2nd base with no outs. It seemed like it was going to be tough, but eventually a crisis came.

“Senior. If a bunt comes up again this time, I’ll just give it a go and go.”

“… “I’m sorry.”

In such a crisis situation, Hyunseong visited the mound and the infielders gathered together, but there was nothing we could do. Because the future progress was obvious.

Tak!

The batter’s bunt followed as if it were natural.

“First base!”

Perhaps after eating and only practicing bunts, 6th batter Yoon Joong-il’s bunt was headed for senior Jincheol, and Hyunseong, who judged that 3rd base was too late, called 1st base.

“Out!”

I caught Senior Jincheol’s throw when I reached first base and got one out. However, the runners had already comfortably reached second and third base.

‘Wow, I got hit. This is why we should have scored first.’

Since it was 0-0, I could understand Jang Yoon’s desire not to send a runner into scoring position, but the result was the worst.

Perfect!

“Back home! Back home!”

“Three leaves!”

“Three leaves!”

And as if luck favored Hwasan, 7th batter Kim Hyeong-gun’s batted ball exquisitely fell between the shortstop and left fielder, bringing the score to 2:0.

2 points given up while being almost fooled by Moon Ki-taek’s bunt antics… Fortunately, after that, Jang Yoon also came to his senses and got the 8th and 9th batters out, and the Hwasan attack ended with only 2 runs scored in the top of the 2nd inning.

“Out!”

“Base on balls!”

“Strike! Out!”

“Out!”

The bottom of the second inning started with the 6th batter, Seongtae-hyung. Although Hyunseong got on base with a walk, the bottom of the second inning ended without scoring any points.

“Out!”

“Out!”

“Strike! Out!”

Fortunately, the end of the third inning came as Jang Yoon, who came to his senses, blocked the top of the third inning with a three-way throw.

“Good! “It’s the top batting lineup, so let’s turn the tables!”

“Looking at that guy walking today, it’s nothing special!”

“Fighting, Suho!”

Still, thanks to starting with senior Suho, the number one hitter, the dugout was lively, unlike the moment before when the score was a bit gloomy. I hope that I too will join in that atmosphere and support senior Suho for a moment.

Perfect!

-Wow!!!

The atmosphere began to heat up as Suho senior made a hit that penetrated between the second baseman and the shortstop.

‘Okay, as long as it’s not a double play, I’ll have a chance too.’

Perfect!

And then Sangju senior’s consecutive hits came out. In an instant, a situation was created with no outs and runners on first and second base,

“Third base!”

Williams’ batted ball headed toward right field and became an ordinary fly, but senior Suho ran to third base, giving me the opportunity to hit first and third base with one out.

‘I wonder what to do now.’

1 out, 1st and 3rd bases. If they had left me behind, Jincheol, who had one hit, could have been hit with the bases loaded, and an even bigger crisis could have occurred, and it was a burdensome situation to face him on 1st and 3rd bases with one out.

As he stepped into the batter’s box, it was a moment to think about what choice Moon Ki-taek would make. The familiar sound telling me to take a step to first base was not heard. Moon Ki-taek chose to face me in the easy choice.

“Oh? “I thought you would skip it, why?”

“Who do you think is good? “Can you touch Tiny’s ball?”

“Then please don’t skip anything today.”

“Okay. “If you make a double play this time, I won’t filter you.”

“That’s it.”

Well, it wasn’t an incomprehensible choice. It’s not like I hit a home run every time, and Moon Ki-taek had a history of constantly filtering me out when I was a rookie and getting harshly scolded by the hitters behind me. Moreover, today’s game was bound to be completely ruined on a day when the bases were loaded and Tinier gave up many runs, so it was the right choice here.

‘Still, I have to do what I have to do. Mr. Rossby!’

‘It’s a slider.’

‘Oh, a slider from the first pitch?’

Volcano Battery’s choice against me is the slider, which is a breaking ball from the first pitch. Since it was obvious that I was going to throw the ball to check the liver anyway, I chose to wait,

“Ball.”

“Good.”

Tinier’s slider fell below the zone and the ball was called. Lee Yong-gi doesn’t seem to be that disappointed, so he throws the ball to Tinie without saying anything.

‘Yes, throwing a strike from the first pitch is burdensome. In this case, when the ball count is high, it looks like they are planning to just let it go.’

From the first pitch, you can feel that the intention is to make the game as difficult as possible. If he was a pitcher with good ball control, he would have won by pulling it out to the outside, but since Tinier wasn’t good enough to put it in the zone and take it away, I didn’t really care.

‘That guy is clearly visible when you take out his cheeks, so I skipped his cheeks… Still, if it becomes advantageous, you will throw it with the intention of throwing it away, right? Then I guess I’ll have to try flirting a little bit. Mr. Rossby, what about the next ball?’

‘It’s a fastball.’

‘Fastball, check.’

Perfect!

‘Sweet, I’m a little late.’

Tinier’s second ball unexpectedly hit towards the body instead of the outside, and as he reacted slightly late to the ball, the result was a foul that touched the net near the first base stands. The speed confirmed through the electronic display board was 161.2 km/h.

‘Baby, you’re fast.’

What I felt after fouling the guy’s ball was that if I were to make a bad count and try to trick him, I could get out. Maybe it was because I hadn’t met a fastball pitcher so far, but I was thinking too lightly.

‘I just have to hit it right away. There is too little time to judge. What about the next ball?’

‘Yet… It’s a slider.’

Slider… To be honest, it was difficult to get the timing right for the slider. Because the slider was a ball that had a high chance of becoming a ball. However, since I just hit a fastball, if I don’t react here, there is a high possibility that Lee Yong-gi will think that I am aiming for a fastball, and then when the count is up, there is a high chance that he will get away with a slider.

‘If this happens…, If something similar comes up, I’ll just hit it.’

And Tinier’s third ball was thrown. I felt his ball coming to the outside, and I swung the bat according to the timing of his slider.

Perfect!

‘Shit, it’s a bit far?’

The guy’s ball flew further out than expected… The moment I was hit by the bat, I felt it hit the top, and the batted ball flew toward right field.

‘Foul?’

It didn’t look like it was going to be a home run, so I prayed for a foul, but looking at the direction of the hit, it wasn’t a foul. The moment I decided that, all I could do was run toward first base. Senior Sangju was also watching to see what my hit would be between first and second base.

‘Sweet, if you do this, no matter how bad it is, I’ll give you 1 point.’

The worst that can happen here is an outfield fly. However, the batted ball went further than I expected.

… Until the fence is hit.

-Wow!!!

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

“Run! Run!”

It might be difficult to hit third base because there was a resident senior, but it was enough to get to second base! I increased my speed and ran to second base, and when the ball reached the second baseman, Sangju senior returned to third base and hit a double.

‘Ah, Kabbi. If it were literature, it would have been a home run.’

It’s a shame it wasn’t a home run, but it was still a double that made up for one point. It hit the top of the bat, but it seemed like it hit at the right time than I thought.

– Choi Jin-cheol! Choi Jin-cheol! Choi Jin-cheol!

And at the plate, senior Jincheol, who had missed his opportunity in his first at-bat, comes into the lineup. I’m on second base and the batter is senior Jincheol? Then there is only one thing I will do.

‘Mr. Rossby?’

‘It’s a slider.’

‘Senior! Slider!’

Since he was a two-pitch type pitcher, it didn’t have much of an effect, but the difference between knowing and hitting without knowing was big,

“Ball.”

“Ball.”

Senior Jincheol, who was receiving my signal, succeeded in picking out two balls in a row.

And Tinie’s third ball…

‘Senior! It’s a fastball!’

Ta – Aak!

Senior Jincheol’s batted ball made a cheerful sound and then flew toward the wall to his left. Hitting a ball at the right time!

-Waaaaa!!!!!

– Choi Jin-cheol! Choi Jin-cheol! Choi Jin-cheol!

‘Kitaek, try hitting a bunt and be damned. We will pass by.’

The score is now 4:2. It was enough to show the dignity of the team that used Jamsil as its home and hit the most home runs.