Chapter 674 – Episode 661. Kang Han-Beom vs. Choi Jin-Cheol!

[…] ] … The AT Thunders’ attack comes to an end in the top of the 6th inning as Jang Kyu-seong gets three consecutive batters out!]

Charlotte’s trusted ace Swanson left after allowing 5 runs in 4.2 innings, and Jang Kyu-seong, a sure-to-win pitcher, came to the mound. And Jang Kyu-sung, as expected from the manager, recorded no runs in 1.1 innings, and the first wild card game between AT and Charlotte entered a brief lull.

However, the 6th inning is a critical inning for all starting pitchers. Bellingham also could not avoid that difficult time.

[At the bottom of the 6th inning, Charlotte’s leadoff hitter is number 2 hitter Park Hyun-seop. … A hit in front of right field! Charlotte also counterattacks by successfully getting the leadoff hitter on base. And at bat, Goodwin is the number 3 hitter. … This ball is hit high! Far! … But he is caught in front of the fence. Meanwhile, the runner on first base goes to second base. And Kang Han-beom comes to bat in scoring position with one out.]

Crisis with one out and second base in the 6th inning. And at the plate is Kang Han-beom, who today went 2-for-2, had 2 hits, 2 runs, and 2 RBIs… AT manager Lee Soo-hyun also knew well that today’s Kang Han-beom is giving off a force that overwhelms the pitcher just by stepping into the batter’s box.

‘Kang Han Beom is dangerous today…’

Lee Soo-hyun is also a legendary hitter. Not replacing the pitcher against a batter in that state was nothing short of arrogance, and Lee Soo-hyun stormed out of the dugout.

“I will replace the pitcher with Park Jin-hyuk.”

In this situation, the pitcher chosen by Lee Soo-hyun is Park Jin-hyuk, who has played a great role as a pitcher by coming out at any time in crisis situations since last year. Now that he was a veteran player and had finishing experience, Park Jin-hyuk was the coach’s best choice in this situation.

However, the best move does not always lead to the best result.

Ta – Aak!

[Kang Hanbeom! Strong Beom! Strong Beom! Jump over the fence again! Charlotte’s number 4 hitter! Gudo (球都) Busan’s deficit Kang Han-beom brings this game back to square one! Score 5:5!]

[Hey, this is Kang Han-beom! Really, what can I say? This is Kang Han Beom.]

With Kang Han-beom’s one shot, the game was instantly tied. Coach Lee Soo-hyun sighed inwardly, but he didn’t show it outwardly because he knew well that the game wasn’t over yet.

‘Are you okay. We still have the advantage.’

There is only one reason why director Lee Soo-hyun thinks so. He is the best batting line in the league.

Now that Ace Swanson has been dropped, all that’s left for the AT Thunders is to batter their opponents.

And just as coach Lee Soo-hyun thought, AT Thunders started firing again from the 7th inning.

[…] ] … Leading batter Kim Su-ho gets on base! AT’s spearhead Kim Su-ho succeeds in getting on base once again! … Baek Jeong-jin’s batted ball! Ah! Center fielder catches it! Center fielder Park Hyun-seop’s super catch! And at the plate, Gigi Joo. I recorded 1 hit in 3 at-bats today.]

Situation with 1 out and 1st base, Ki Ki-joo comes to bat. The batter behind Ki Ki-joo is Ji Maeng-ho, the best batter in the league. If Ki Ki-joo got on base, it was natural that Ji Maeng-ho would be skipped, and in that case, the situation would change to a bases-loaded game with one out. And that too in front of Choi Jin-cheol, who is showing off his best batting skills today.

Charlotte’s battery wanted to avoid that situation, so she put the ball into the zone as much as possible,

Perfect!

… Ki Ki-ju was not the type of batter to miss such a ball.

[Watch out for the weather! It falls in front of right field! Kim Su-ho reaches third base! 1 out, 1st, 3rd base! And Ji Maeng-ho comes to bat!]

[I guess we’ll skip it here, right? Ji Maeng-ho in the regular season is a scary enough hitter, but Ji Maeng-ho in fall baseball is an even scarier hitter, right? So far, Ji Maeng-ho has experienced a total of three fall baseball games, including the semi-playoffs, playoffs, and Korean Series in 2023. The Korean Series was held in 2024 and 2025, and the batting average never fell below .500 in any series.]

[I’m curious about the choice of the Charlotte dugout. Ah, here we are again skipping Ji Maeng-ho. Ji Maeng-ho, looks dissatisfied?]

[From Ji Maeng-ho’s perspective, it has no choice but to be like that. However, he probably isn’t too worried. Today, Choi Jin-cheol is showing off his superb batting skills.]

As the commentary said, Meng Hao also had a dissatisfied expression on his face, but was somehow filled with anticipation.

Although he receives help from Rossby, Meng Hao is also a hitter who has reached a certain level. There was no way such a batter could not recognize Choi Jin-cheol’s batting skills today.

‘Jincheol is trustworthy today.’

Therefore, even if he could not deliver the pitch from second base, Maengho trusted Choi Jin-cheol.

And it was not only Meng Ho who believed in Choi Jin-cheol.

-Isn’t Jincheol in good form today? Do you think he will do something?
┗Ah, my heart flutters, you son of a bitch

┗ㅋㅋ I don’t think I can play because I filled my quota today

┗┗But something feels different today.

-Seongji) Jincheol-type left wall.

-Choi Jin-cheol seems to have a bit of his old force, but it’s scary…

People watching the game also thought that Choi Jin-cheol would do something.

Some might call that a feeling, but the fact that baseball fans who watched at least 100 games, as many as 144 games (all the team’s games), and even other teams’ games felt that way was no different from a statistic.

Perfect!

And just like that feeling, and according to the statistics, Choi Jin-cheol’s bat was swung lightly.

[Sharp hitting ball! It passes by the third baseman! Fair ball! Fair ball! Runner on third base goes home! The runner on second base also goes home! And Ji Maeng-ho, the runner on first base, stops at third base! Choi Jin-cheol’s timely hit once again! If Kang Han Beom hits! Choi Jin-cheol responds! Score 7:5!]

[The captains of both teams are on fire at the plate today.]

[Yes. AT’s Choi Jin-cheol and Charlotte’s Kang Han-Beom-do. He is showing a strike truly worthy of the captain’s dignity.]

With Kang Han-beom and Choi Jin-cheol, two friends of the same age playing side by side, the score difference was maintained at a balance of 2 points, but the atmosphere of the game could not be considered tense.

Looking at the aspects of the game, the pattern of AT scoring first, and then Charlotte chasing was repeated, and it was natural that the psychological exhaustion was greater on the chasing side. Moreover, if you concede a point again as soon as you chase it…

Perfect!

[Yun Seong-tae’s batted ball is high! Ah, it’s a bit of an ambiguous location, isn’t it? Grab left field! Runners run! At home! Three leaves! Third base runner Ji Maeng-ho shows off his incredible base running play!]

[The distance of the hit was ambiguous, and left fielder Jeong Soo-yeol’s throw was good, but the runner was Ji Maeng-ho. In fact, if you want to catch Ji Maeng-ho at home, you have to catch the ball in a position where the infielder can catch it.]

[Now the score is 8:5! AT gets one more point!]

… Even the slightest balance was bound to collapse.

This is the first score difference of 3 points since the first inning. They were able to catch up with Kang Han-beom’s home run in the first inning, but Charlotte’s batting order in the bottom of the seventh inning started with the eighth batter…,

[Kang Se-ho ends the inning with a three-way throw!]

… Charlotte failed to produce results in the next attack. Charlotte’s pitchers worked hard to block AT’s attack in the top of the 8th inning, but it was difficult to regain the momentum once lost.

… Unless it’s Kang Han-beom’s home run.

However,

“Out!”

“Strike! Out!”

Before Kang Han-beom went to bat, the count of two outs had already gone up,

“Intentional Work!”

Kang Han-beom’s fourth at-bat, which all Charlotte fans hoped would change the mood, ended with an automatic, intentional walk, just like Charlotte did with Ji Maeng-ho.

[Ah, an automatic intentional phrase appears here.]

[Intentional throw with no runners after 2 outs. It’s not an easy decision. Ji Maeng-ho is the only player in the league who receives an automatic intentional throw in this situation, but today, Kang Han-beom showed a performance that is not as enviable as Ji Maeng-ho, right? This means that AT’s dugout is also aware of Kang Han Beom.]

[And here we replace the player. AT Thunders’ closer Kim Yun-ho comes on the mound. Now there are 4 out counts remaining.]

[It’s raining. From automatic intentional throws to finishing pitches. After all, he didn’t get the title of manager who won 3 consecutive Korean Series games for nothing, right?]

[Charlotte will also replace Kang Han-beom with pinch runner Lee Sang-hyeon. Now the situation is 2 outs and 1 base.]

‘Ha, is this where it ends?’

And Kang Han-beom, who was returning to the dugout, could instinctively feel it. Today’s game ends here. Today’s game was a game he was leading. Even if he scored in this inning, the result would have been obvious as long as he was not confident.

[… This is how the game ends! AT Thunders wins the first game, leaving hope for the semi-playoffs.]

So the first game ended with Kang Han-beom not able to turn it over as expected.

‘… How can Meng Hao endure this?’

Kang Kang-beom’s performance today was 3 hits and 2 home runs in 3 at-bats. He did the best a batsman can, but there was nothing he could do when he let the ball slip away like this. And I felt that Ji Maeng-ho, who faced this situation every game, was amazing.

But respect for enemies ends here.

‘It won’t set tomorrow.’

So Kang Han-beom packed his bags, vowing to win tomorrow…,

[Then let’s meet Jincheol Choi, the daily MVP of the first wild card game! Hello!]

“Hello. This is Choi Jin-cheol, the AT Thunders captain.”

[First of all, how was today’s game?]

“I’m so happy that I won. “I will prepare well tomorrow and do my best to advance to the semi-playoffs.”

[… Lastly, please say something.]

“Umm… Meng Hao received 3 intentional throws today, and his pride was hurt a lot. I will say this in advance to Charlotte and the teams we will face in the future. Behind Meng Hao is Choi Jin-cheol.”

… The first wild card match ended with Choi Jin-cheol letting the world know that he was still alive.