episode_0240

“Good job.”

“Sir, now come to your senses and throw.”

“Spirit, spirit… . what? “Is it okay for the youngest to say something like that to the senior?”

“It looks like you’ve come to your senses from what you’re saying. Just pitch 5 innings. “I will take care of your victory.”

After recovering 3 runs in 1 inning, Park Jun-hyung’s dead expression turned into a look that was acceptable. Seeing him talking back, he seemed to have come to his senses.

“Starting from episode 2, let’s go with a new mindset! From now on, the game starts again. Everyone gather together!”

Director Lee Soo-hyun’s words to approach with the mindset of starting over. We chanted slogans under Coach Lee Soo-hyun’s canopy and went out to the stadium again. Could it be that such a series of processes helped stabilize Park Jun-hyung’s mentality? Park Jun-hyung showed a completely different side in the second episode.

“Strike~! out!”

“center!”

“My ball!”

“now! There is one left. Let’s grab just one!”

“Second!”

With two outs, the ball rolled towards me, and this time I handled it without any trouble. The throw goes straight in even though Choi Jin-cheol only has his arms outstretched. It was neat, I thought.

‘I heard it was because of the irregular bounce earlier.’

“Let’s just do it this way.”

Park Jun-hyung’s blunt voice was heard, but it was not that sincere. What can I say? Does he seem like a whining child? I was a little surprised to see someone old enough to do this, but I figured it was because he was a pitcher.

‘It’s not like a day or two that pitchers are like brats. As an adult, I have to endure it.’

Compared to other pitchers who throw blank balls when they say things don’t work out the way they want, or who have a mental breakdown while throwing a ball and end up walking a lot, Park Jun-hyung, who complains verbally, was a nobleman.

And the opposing pitcher, Kennett, was the type of player who walked a lot when he was mentally upset. I could feel the feeling of not trusting the defense.

A walk to leadoff hitter Seongtae Yoon, a strikeout to Yuncheol Jeong, the next hitter, and a walk to Jeongjin Baek, the ninth hitter. There was a hint of determination not to put the ball into the ground.

‘Well, it has to be that way? To be honest, if I had been on a top-ranked team, I could have caught my triple at third base.’

If the team had a solid defense or the outfielder’s arms were a little better, they would have been able to snipe me from third base. Perhaps Kennet’s mind was filled with such thoughts.

Damn!

Unfortunately, the first batter, Kim Joo-yeop, touched the first pitch of Kennett, whose pitch count was increasing, resulting in a double play.

“ah! Joo-yeop! “Look at the ball!”

“sorry.”

“Oh my, it’s shaking. Are you touching it?”

With batting coach Lee Ki-cheol whining, our offense ended in the bottom of the second inning. But one thing was certain: Kennett was shaken.

*

[At the top of the third inning, JT Gold Eyes’ offense ended scoreless, and the score was still 3:3. Now, the AT Thunders attack in the bottom of the third inning.]

[Kennett needs to be careful this inning. This inning, AT’s batting lineup is quite scary.]

[That’s right. This inning’s attack started with second batter Kim Su-ho. After that, Ki Ki-joo, Ji Maeng-ho, and Choi Jin-cheol are waiting. The batting line, which is leading AT’s excitement this season, has returned to full strength after a long time, right?]

[you’re right. AT’s batting lineup seemed to have slowed down a bit as Ji Maeng-ho was unable to play for the past 10 games due to disciplinary action, but Ji Maeng-ho, who returned, proved his batting ability by hitting a triple in his first at-bat. We need to be careful now that the batting line has made a turn.]

A complete AT batting lineup that already showed its destructive power in the bottom of the first inning. JT’s starting pitcher Kennett couldn’t help but be concerned about the batting lineup.

Kim Soo-ho, who has an excellent line vision and the power to pass Jamsil at any time, and Ki Ki-joo, who shows gap power based on his contact skills that worked in the majors. And Choi Jin-cheol, who has the power to be the home run king several times.

Among them, the most problematic one was Ji Maeng-ho, the monster god. Even though we are approaching the middle of August, the batting average is .400 and the on-base percentage is .500. And Ji Maeng-ho, who has already hit 45 home runs. Ji Maeng-ho’s triple in the first inning completely changed the flow.

Kennett took advantage of that experience and threw the ball as carefully as possible.

[The fifth ball thrown to Kim Su-ho is also called a ball, and the lead hitter walks.]

Another word for throwing carefully is to throw more balls. Kim Soo-ho calmly walked to first base, filtering Kennett’s ball.

[Now it’s Gyeonggi Joo’s turn at bat. In fact, Ji Maeng-ho is performing like a monster, but Ki Ki-ju Ki is also performing very well in his first year back, right?]

[you’re right. His batting average is currently over .305 and he has hit 18 home runs, letting baseball fans know that he is in good health. There must have been some help from Ki Ki-ju in Ji Maeng-ho’s performance.]

[In addition, Choi Jin-cheol is currently ranked second in home runs. It would probably be no exaggeration to say that they are one of the strongest cleanup trios in KBA League history.]

[you’re right. It’s called the umbrella effect. The synergy of the three players works really well together, making AT a strong team like it is now.]

He feels reassured that his next hitter is Ji Maeng-ho. Ki Ki-ju stepped into the batter’s box, feeling a sense of security that is unknown to those who have never experienced it.

‘Meng Hao looks to be in good condition today, so let’s take it easy. lightly. Even if you can’t hit it, Meng Hao will solve it.’

Of course, the fact that the next batter was Ji Maeng-ho was not necessarily a good thing. There was also one downside to having Ji Maeng-ho as the next batter.

‘If you hit another double, they’ll tell you that you left first base empty. ‘As light as possible.’

When he hit a double, first base was empty, so he had to listen to Ji Maeng-ho’s complaints for a while. If he hit a double, there was a 99% chance that Ji Maeng-ho would receive an intentional walk or a similar walk, so he had to accept Ji Maeng-ho’s complaints about not being able to swing the bat in the dugout.

Gyeonggi-ju missed Ji Maeng-ho’s complaints while he was away, but it was true that he didn’t want to hear it when he came back, so he decided to bat as lightly as possible.

“strike!”

‘Good, it’s not too difficult for me as expected.’

However, even after hearing such complaints, the big advantage of not being able to give up on Ji Maeng-ho’s batting in front was that he did not avoid competing against himself like he does now. Kennett, who has had a difficult game so far, throws a strike from the first pitch? Ki Ki-ju, who caught the fact that the game was going to be against him, finished preparing to play a similar ball.

and,

Perfect!

A compact swing with no concern for home runs or doubles. Although he has already hit 18 home runs this season and has been recognized for his excellent gap power, he was not at all conscious of long hits, and the ball created by his simple swing passed exquisitely between the first and second basemen.

“stop!”

Due to a short hit due to weather warning, the situation is safe with no outs and 1st and 2nd bases. And Ji Maeng-ho came to bat.

[Now Ji Maeng-ho, the number 4 hitter, comes in. Batting average: .401, 3 ri. The on-base percentage is .502.2. The slugging percentage is 90%. He has 45 home runs. Wow, that’s a really scary record.]

[I was a pitcher during my active years, but if I faced a batter like this, I think I would have walked him. haha.]

Ji Maeng-ho is achieving great results even though 2/3 of the season has passed.

[I’m curious about Kennett’s choice.]

[But you can’t skip it. Ji Maeng-ho’s next batter is Choi Jin-cheol.]

The reason why Ji Maeng-ho could not be easily overlooked was because the batter lurking behind Ji Maeng-ho was Choi Jin-cheol, who is currently ranked second in home runs. Facing Ji Maeng-ho with 1st and 2nd bases out and facing Choi Jin-cheol with bases loaded and no outs. Although it was more pressure to deal with Ji Maeng-ho, it was still true that it was scary to skip Ji Maeng-ho.

Therefore, the only thing a pitcher can do is to pitch as hard as possible for the batter to hit. The only way a pitcher could do this was to fight outside the zone with the mindset that he could walk.

And if you lose control for a moment in such a stressful situation,

Ta – evil!

[I hit it! Ji Maengho! It’s big! This batted ball is a wall! It hits and falls.]

I had no choice but to allow Ji Maeng-ho to strike.

[A clean double hit into left-center! Ji Maeng-ho, all the way to third base? It doesn’t go all the way to third base. Both runners go home! The score is now 5:3! With this double, he scores 4 RBIs in just his second at-bat.]

[If Ji Maeng-ho was the main force, he could have easily reached third base, but he stops at second base? There is no need to overdo it.]

We gave up 5 points in 3 innings. He was in a situation where he was somehow holding on mentally, but Kennett’s heart was shaken by the double he allowed to Ji Maeng-ho. And for the pitcher on the mound, a moment of inattention like that can have disastrous results.

[Choi Jin-cheol’s batted ball! Jump over the fence! homer! Choi Jin-cheol hit another home run after five games!]

Ji Maeng-ho and Choi Jin-cheol, who quietly signaled the sign from second base, combined their unique strength to hit a large home run that went over Jamsil’s fence, leaving the score at 4 points. Choi Jin-cheol hits a home run and proudly steps on home plate. Second base runner Ji Maeng-ho accepted Choi Jin-cheol.

“Sir, it was great!”

“I liked you better. But it’s really amazing. thanks.”

Choi Jin-cheol’s thank you was a small voice that only Ji Maeng-ho could hear because it was not good for other people to hear it.

“Hey, what? I feel comfortable only when my senior plays well. “That way you won’t be able to reject me.”

Ji Maeng-ho responds in a low voice accordingly.

“So you stopped at second base?”

Choi Jin-cheol asked Ji Maeng-ho whether he stopped at second base to give him the sign of the death. It was good that Maeng-ho gave the autograph at second base, but he did not want to sacrifice his junior’s record to get the autograph.

Choi Jin-cheol is also a slugger who won the home run title four times. It would have been nice to have help, but even without it, there was no major problem, so I was worried that Ji Maeng-ho might have sacrificed himself for me. Although there may not seem to be much difference between doubles and triples, it is even more so when you look at records such as OPS and slugging percentage, and the difference is visible.

“That’s not true. Well, I hit a triple in my first at-bat. If possible, I should aim for it too.”

“huh? “What?”

“Cycling hit. Cycling hit in return game. “Isn’t it cool?”

Of course, Ji Maeng-ho was not the type of player at all to sacrifice his own records for the team.