Chapter 614 – Episode 601. The World’s Strongest. (5)

[… Trout’s hit! A runner is on base with one out. … Tucker’s batted ball! It falls in front of right field… Back-to-back hits by Trout and Tucker after one out. A situation of 1 out, 1st and 2nd bases is created. Now, the player who comes to bat is the number 4 hitter.]

[Ah… Judge, who won the American League home run title and MVP with 56 home runs last season, must be very careful of one home run. Judge is a player who can hit a home run at any time.]

-Fuck, Jang Woo-joo was a fairy. Damn Woo-sung, that bastard can’t last 2 innings

┗ㄹㅇ I cursed so much, but he was pitching well. Jang Woo-joo, how did you stop this guy for 2 innings?

-Please Woosung, let’s just stop this inning…

-Jung Woo-sung didn’t throw well at first? I think you threw well at the Olympics?

┗It was time to turn 35.

┗┗Honestly, Under has done well in everything he has thrown so far.

-It’s definitely a big impact from last season’s injury… If it had been, I would have definitely blocked it for at least one lap.

┗Honestly, it’s difficult. The opponents are also major veterans, so there isn’t a player who hasn’t played against Jung Woo-sung… Maybe he’ll come to Korea next year?

┗┗Let’s stop and cheerㅡ

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Jung Woo-sung, who came up with one out and caught three out counts in a row, began to falter as he was hit by consecutive hits from Trout and Tucker.

Considering the reputation of the batters, it was not strange at all for them to get consecutive hits, but with a 2:1 lead, the people watching the finals could not even think about such a situation.

A complicated feeling of wanting someone to stop you while swearing… Like ordinary baseball fans who criticize Jung Woo-sung like shaking reeds and then cheer again, the people watching the WBC finals were in front of the TV.

‘Under… ‘Is it Jersey here?’

And like those people, Jung Woo-sung was also shaken. Betts-Trout-Tucker-Judge. Even if there was only one player on a team, it was difficult because of that hitter, but are these hitters coming in succession?

‘I’m going crazy, really.’

Jang Woo-joo, who had no major experience, threw the ball without much thought, but Jung Woo-sung, who felt it deeply while facing these batters directly, felt the intimidation of each one like a mountain. He somehow got Betts out, but the next batter was Trout.

While he was slightly distracted, Trout lifted the ball, and Tucker did not miss the moment of shaking. And the next batter is Judge, last year’s AL MVP and home run king. It felt like the hand holding the ball was shaking.

But I had to overcome it. Because Jung Woo-sung also fully knew how the score was protected and how it was obtained. That’s why Jung Woo-sung grabbed the rosin bag tightly and smeared his hands with rosin powder to hide his trembling hands.

‘Whoa, let’s focus.’

The catcher’s visible sign is a two-seamer going outside. He is the one who helped him get to where he is now, and the one who always saved him from situations like this. At the catcher’s sign that matched his thoughts, Jung Woo-sung nodded and prepared to throw the first pitch against Judge.

And after a brief pause, he stretched out his legs, rotated his body, and using that force, stretched out his arms and threw the ball as if he had thrown it tens of thousands of times.

It feels like the stitches are being scraped properly… Jung Woo-sung knew. Now, this ball boasts the best movement of the day and will bend inside the strike zone.

‘Fuck…’

… And if a two-seamer aimed at the outside goes inside, to a right-handed batter, the ball is just as good as the middle of the middle.

During the short time the ball flew, Jung Woo-sung prayed earnestly that the judge would watch the ball,

Ta – Aak!

The American League MVP’s bat was not that easy. And Jung Woo-sung was able to know the destination of this hit even without looking behind him.

[Ah…]

[I passed.]

[Ah… Judge’s batted ball goes over the fence… Score 4:2. America leads the way.]

[After all, Judge is a Jersey player.]

A missed throw caused by the desire to throw too well. If I had thrown it comfortably like usual…, Such regrets stirred Jung Woo-sung’s mind and brought him to tears, but he couldn’t show that on his mound, so he pulled his hat down and covered his face.

Then, the sound of someone calling time and walking to the mound can be heard. With my vision obscured by my hat, I glance towards where the sound came from and see the director.

‘Is my role over here now? Because Olson and Seager hit left-handed… But who is behind it? Wonho? Jaehyun? Under… If only Hyun-hyung had been able to throw today, I would have gone down with peace of mind…’

Just when Jung Woo-sung was thinking that his role was up to this point, he heard the voice of director Joo Hyeong-jin.

“Woosung.”

“… Yes.”

“What do you think?”

“… “I’m sorry.”

“No, nothing like that. “Can you throw more?”

However, the content in the director’s voice was different from what he expected. The coach said that he would believe in himself and let him throw more.

“… “If you trust me, I’ll throw more.”

“Is it okay for a boy to cry and scream because he hit a home run?”

“… Of course not. “I got some sweat in my eyes.”

“I believe.”

“… I understand.”

Although he was not a hitter, when Jung Woo-sung was playing baseball, all baseball players of Jung Woo-sung’s age looked up to Joo Hyung-jin, who played in the major leagues. Jung Woo-sung also developed a dream after seeing Joo Hyeong-jin, and as soon as he graduated from high school, he entered the major league.

Moreover, when he was playing in the minor league, Joo Hyung-jin, who came to see him without even knowing him, bought him a meal and gave him various advice, was more than just a senior that Jung Woo-sung admired.

And in this important situation, Joo Hyung-jin patted his shoulder and said the word ‘I trust’.

‘Okay. The director believes in me, so I have to do it. Even if I die today, I die on the mound.’

… That one word was enough to ignite Jung Woo-sung’s failing heart.

[… Strike out Olson! … Seager’s batted ball! Second baseman! Catch it! Throw to first base while falling! Out! South Korea’s second baseman catches an important out count! Ji Maengho! Korea hits a home run but moves on without giving up any more runs!]

[Wow, I really liked Jung Woo-sung. He could have hit a home run and collapsed, but he blocked it really well, like a veteran. And he deserves a 2-point comeback, right? There are 4 innings left, so we need to focus!]

*

Perfect!

The bat makes an unpleasant sound and the ball flies far away.

‘Fuck.’

The batted ball flew high into the outfield, but the result was obvious even without looking.

-Wow!

The crowd let out cheers as the ball flew high, but it was difficult for me to hear their cheers as I had already figured out the result by hand.

-Ahh…

And the batted ball is caught by the right fielder. Although it went farther than expected, Trilling’s fastball was more powerful than expected. So much so that I felt lucky that he threw a curveball in the last at-bat. Honestly, I thought the major leagues would be a mess as long as Mr. Rossby was around, but the world was a big place. There was a pitcher like that… His fastball was heavier and more powerful than any other fastball he had hit so far.

So much so that you can see why he became the pitcher who won the AL Cy Young Award.

‘… Ha, yes, the kid who got the Cy Young should throw this much.’

And I was a little grateful. Thanks to you, it gave me motivation to practice until I broke his head.

But regardless of that, I wanted to win now. Now, this game is not just one game, but a game where Korea’s first WBC championship is at stake… It was difficult as it is now.

‘Mr. Rossby, this won’t work either.’

‘Huh?’

‘Please tell me the location from the next at-bat. I think I can pass it only if I know it clearly.’

‘Hehe, yes. In competitions like this, you have to win to get more money. With that, we take the models on a cruise for two months during the off-season. Hehe.’

‘… I think Soyoung’s money will be enough for that, right?’

‘Shut up. You can’t even call a bastard who takes a woman’s money a man.’

… It seems like they are sniping at me for receiving pocket money from Soyoung. Anyway, Mr. Rossby accepted my suggestion without much fuss. Your country could end up in second place, but you accepted my offer. He was, after all, a man without any sense of patriotism.

Well, it was a good thing for me. Well, the original contract was to tell me the location, so there was no reason to refuse.

‘See you next time at bat. ‘You son of a bitch.’

So I returned to the dugout, promising to get my next at-bat, and our attack in the top of the 6th inning ended with a three-way strike again.

And then the bottom of the 6th inning began.

“Out!”

“Strike~! Out!”

“Strike~! Out!”

I don’t know why, but Jung Woo-sung, who had been pitching shitty balls in the last inning, seemed to suddenly wake up and ended the inning by blocking America’s lower-order batting lineup of Riley, Lutchman, and Sean with a three-way strike.

But trilling was trilling. He didn’t care about the batting line that suffered a triple strike, and blocked our attack in the top of the 7th inning, giving up only one hit, showing that he was still like a wall.

Still, what was slightly encouraging was that in the top of the third inning, the record of 12 consecutive batters after my home run was broken by Sangju senior. There were no more opportunities as Yonggi struck out, but it was meaningful that a batter other than me had the first hit.

‘Okay. Now that I’ve thrown over 70 pitches, it’s time to start shaking.’

The number of innings he recorded last year was around 224. Although he was a pitcher with proven physical strength, it was clear that his physical strength was slowly declining under the pressure of the finals and throwing his best at each pitch.

“Out!”

“Out!”

“Base on balls!”

“Strike! Out!”

And then Jung Woo-sung’s great pitching. America’s top batting lineup returned, but Jung Woo-sung did his best to throw the ball as if there was nothing left behind and closed out the 7th inning with only one batter on base.

‘Are there two innings left? If Suho hadn’t been left out, I would have looked forward to it. After all, Seongtae is the lead batsman.’

It would have been nice if senior Joo-tae suddenly got on base, but the probability of that happening was slim, so if things continued like this, there was a high probability that he would go out in the 9th inning. In that case, the important thing is the batting line that leads to me and Seungcheol. 2 points was a little tight, but it still wasn’t out of the question. Si-woo and Kang Han-beom were also hitters with room to spare.

“Fighting Seongtae Yoon!”

“Seongtae! “I showed you!”

‘Tsk, it’s going to be hard to get out of this inning, so maybe I’m training with Mr. Rossby?’

When I was watching Seongtae’s at-bat while wondering how I could score 2 runs,

Ta – Aak!

An unexpected and clear hitting sound rang out from the ground… ?

“… Huh?”