episode_0296

“What’s going on with the guys today?”

Heading into the first playoff game after a tough season, facing Choi Junghoon, Hyunseong’s ace and the best left-handed pitcher in the country, I knew today’s game wouldn’t be easy. Except for Ladd, there was no better pitcher than Choi Junghoon in Hancheol.

However, right now, the game was unfolding in a completely unexpected direction. Starting off with Kim Juyeop’s home run and Choi Jincheol’s three-run shot in the first inning, we scored four runs early on, and in the second inning, we added two more runs against Choi Junghoon. Even though I backed off for an outfield fly.

“How long has it been since we won a game by this kind of margin even if I didn’t perform well? Feels like it’s been ages.”

Moreover, today’s starting pitcher, Krongs, kept Hyunseong’s batters scoreless until the third inning. By the time a new pitcher came in the fourth inning, the score was 6-0. In essence, the game was practically over at that point.

“Mangho, have you faced Park Jaehoon a lot?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s just play as usual. Forget the previous at-bat, okay?”

Replacing Choi Junghoon, who struggled for 1.2 innings, Hyunseong’s new pitcher was Park Jaehoon, the fifth starter. After striking out one batter remaining in the second inning, he finished the third inning by retiring the 8th, 9th, and 1st batters with strikeouts, showing good pitching. But from the fourth inning onwards, he seemed to be faltering.

“Seeing him walk Suho sunbae, it seems like his control isn’t as sharp as usual.”

Park Jaehoon excelled more in control and various off-speed pitches rather than velocity. Seeing him give a straight walk to Kim Suho indicated that he wasn’t in top form. Perhaps his sudden appearance and the all-out effort in the previous inning to put out the fire had taken a toll.

Thud!

– Gisangju! Gisangju! Gisangju!

Gisangju, who recorded two hitless at-bats today, hits a single, putting runners on first and second with no outs.

“Great. Let’s widen the lead by ten points and relax.”

– Jimangho! Jimangho! Jimangho!

– Jimangho~! Jimangho~! Oh oh oh oh! Thunder’s Jimangho! Send it flying to the sky!

I could hear the voices of fans calling out to me. Even coming all the way to Daegu, such cheers were heartwarming. For the sake of those fans, I wanted to make a score this time at bat.

“My average speed is around 143, right? With this speed, I can react anywhere.”

“Hoya, back to get out again?”

“I got you once, what’s wrong.”

“Being cheeky, huh?”

“I’ve surpassed your height since middle school, sir.”

As I stepped up to the plate, Park Junghyun greeted me warmly. He seemed pleased, probably because he caught me with a bunt earlier.

“Why are you so happy when you’re being beaten? Well, he’s always been cheerful.”

“It’s a slider.”

“Oh, a slider from the first pitch. Nothing new.”

In reality, the slider was one of the pitches that came to me most frequently. I was wary of throwing fastballs, and I couldn’t throw curveballs or changeups, leaving me with the national favorite, the slider.

With Kim Suho on second base and Gisangju on first, they were almost glued to the bases, anticipating a potential line-drive out. The defensive alignment was shifted to the left, and the outfielders were positioned far back, ready to catch my power hit.

It was almost always the same scene when I stepped up to bat, but I was a bit more concerned about the game against Hyunseong. Yang Jihyeok’s defensive range was unbelievable. It was him who stole my hit in the second at-bat.

“A little nervous.”

“Just clear this small ballpark, what’s there to worry about?”

“I wish I felt the same way.”

After giving a curt reply to Rosby, I waited for the pitcher’s ball.

“Ball.”

The ball flowed outward from the pitcher’s hand. If it had come inside, I would have swung, but today, I decided to watch its trajectory. The slider I saw from the batter’s box didn’t seem much different from the one I faced before.

“Okay. Confirming the trajectory.”

Even after that, I aimed for the pitcher’s balls, but the second and third ones flew outside, and before I knew it, the count was three balls.

“It’s a slider.”

“A slider….”

With runners on first and second base, my next batter was Choi Jin-cheol, who had showcased exceptional hitting with a home run and a double today.

“This one’s definitely coming in.”

I waited with strong conviction for his slider. And as the fourth ball was thrown…

“If it’s in this spot…!”

A slider that broke towards the body. I swung my bat according to the timing of his slider.

“…Huh?”

However, the slider didn’t break as expected.

Thunk!

“Damn it!”

As the ominous sound of contact echoed, the ball rolled towards third base. What should have been a slider hitting inside the zone turned into a 130 km/h crapball that didn’t break, catching me off guard as my bat missed its mark, anticipating the slider’s trajectory.

“Run!”

Having faced such situations during the season, I dashed to first base without hesitation.

“Out!”

“The third baseman tagged third base!”

Kim Su-ho, who was on second base, was forced out. Five steps to first base.

“He’s throwing!”

Rossby signaled the third baseman’s throw. With all my might, I stretched my foot towards the base, and at the same time, a cheerful sound came from the first baseman’s mitt.

“Safe, right?”

“Safe!”

“Out!”

Both I and the first base coach, along with Hyun-seong, the first baseman, shouted simultaneously. Checking the feel of my step and the sound I heard, it was almost a tie. We looked towards the first base umpire.

“……”

The first base umpire hesitated for a moment before finally making a call.

“Out!”

“What? That’s an out?”

“Video! Video!”

The first base coach immediately signaled for a video review to the manager, and Coach Lee Soo-hyun came out to request the video review.

“Wow, damn. This didn’t break.”

Such pitches had come a few times during the season, but to throw such a crapball in the postseason without even pitching two innings, it was completely unexpected.

“What? What kind of pitch did you hit?”

“You thought it was a slider….”

“A slider? Tsk, Maeng-ho, you shouldn’t be hitting like that on a 3-0 count.”

“I’ll take care of that myself.”

“…Huh? Oh, right. You should handle that yourself. It’s your own hitting style.”

The first base coach quickly moved past trying to give hitting advice and waited for the decision. After several seconds, the umpire wearing a headset raised his arms and shouted.

“Safe!”

“Phew… Well, it’s not the worst outcome.”

If I had hesitated even a bit after hitting the ball or if my legs had been slower, it would have been a potential double play. Whether to consider it unfortunate that the ball didn’t break or fortunate that it didn’t turn into a double play, I pondered. At that moment, Choi Jin-cheol, who had been showcasing exceptional hitting today, stepped up to the plate.

“But Jin-cheol senior’s hitting well today.”

Now, all that’s left is to trust Choi Jin-cheol.

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

Like the fans chanting Choi Jin-cheol’s name right now, I silently prayed for him to make up for my mistake. And as the pitch was thrown…

Crack!

The sound of the ball splitting was heard as Choi Jin-cheol’s hit disappeared far into the distance.

“Wow, what was that?”

An incredible hit that elicited an involuntary exclamation. The ball swiftly cleared the fence, and cheers erupted from the stands.

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

“What’s gotten into Jin-cheol hyung today?”

“I know, right? Wow, I thought we were screwed when he made a mistake.”

First Section:

Upon seeing the ball hit by the leadoff batter, Choi Jin-cheol, I was quite surprised. Indeed, today Choi Jin-cheol had three runs batted in and one double among his two hits. He had already racked up seven RBIs.

“Wasn’t the most RBIs in a postseason game 9?”

“If Jin-cheol senior’s condition is like today, we might have a hard time.”

“Sigh, I need to hit a home run soon. My power hasn’t shown up.”

“You should step up your game.”

“What are you saying? Today’s the guy with no hits.”

“…What’s so funny about that story?”

As casual chatter continued between teammates, Choi Jin-cheol, who strolled leisurely around the field, stepped on home plate. His demeanor was akin to a general leading troops. While I disliked having the spotlight stolen from me during games, Choi Jin-cheol had clearly earned it with the performance he displayed today.

“Senior, congratulations on the multi-home run!”

“Yeah, Jun-fl, take a break since you’ve worked hard. Hyung will handle the fielding.”

It felt reassuring. Furthermore, Park Jae-hoon was also preparing to come off the mound. It was only the fourth inning, and he was already the third pitcher. With a nine-run difference, today’s game had completely shifted. I had anticipated a tough match given the weak opponent and the intense pitchers, so the unexpected outcome left me slightly bewildered.

“Well, there are days like this. How come I always perform well?”

Knowing that if Choi Jin-cheol continued to excel, the pressure on me would surely decrease, his performance was a positive development for me as well.

“Alright! Let’s finish this game!”

“He’s excited. Really excited.”

“Hyung, what good stuff did you bring today? Let’s eat together.”

“Is it because of the food? It went well.”

Entering the dugout with seniors and receiving enthusiastic congratulations from teammates, I glanced at the stands and noticed that the number of fans in blue uniforms had significantly decreased since the start of the game. Some of Hyeonseong’s fans had left the stadium due to the widening score gap after the fourth inning.

“Well, they probably came here thinking Hyeonseong would win no matter what, so that’s not unreasonable.”

Compared to Hyeonseong, who had already brought in their third pitcher, our starting pitcher, Crongs, had been delivering solid pitches so far, so there was no need to worry. As the newly substituted pitcher took the mound in the bottom of the fourth inning, Crongs maintained his focus throughout our long offensive innings, which extended until the sixth inning.

By the end of the sixth inning, the score was 12:1.

“Let Crongs pitch until here. It might be better to conserve his energy just in case.”

“Is Jun-hu ready?”

“Yes. He’s been warming up since the last inning.”

Second Section:

Having replaced Crongs, who had been pitching well, Jun-hu took the mound unexpectedly cleanly in the seventh inning.

“Strike! Out!”

“Out!”

“Out!”

Jun-hu managed the seventh inning cleanly, unlike his usual self.

“The ball feels good today?”

“My girlfriend came. Hehe. Gotta show a good performance.”

“Girlfriend? You got a girlfriend?”

He got a girlfriend without us knowing. It was slightly annoying that he didn’t tell us sooner. We’ve been out with a few girls together before. Well, we didn’t have time to talk about such things while preparing for fall baseball.

“Yeah. Met her when I went to the Asian Games. A girl from Daegu. Met her at the bar you introduced me to back then.”

Was it that bar I introduced him to? Well, I did often hang out there when in Daegu. It helped clear up some misunderstandings about Crongs too.

“She’s pretty and nice.”

“I’m not particularly interested in that.”

No wonder he pitched well today. With a big lead in the score, his girlfriend present, he couldn’t afford to pitch poorly.

“Mang-ho, there are two innings left. What are you going to do?”

At that moment, the head coach asked for my opinion. The point difference was significant, so he must be planning to give the starters some rest for stamina management. Hyunseong had already utilized pinch hitters and substitute fielders due to the widened score gap, so it seemed fine for me to take a break here.

“Yes, I’ll rest.”

“Got it. Junhu, get ready to pitch three innings today. Okay?”

“Understood! Leave it to me!”

Junhu responded confidently to the instruction to pitch three innings, perhaps wanting to show a cool image in front of his girlfriend.

‘I really don’t want to see this. Should I tell his girlfriend about how he whined at the club? …No, forget it. Ugh, I’m too soft-hearted.’

Despite feeling slightly annoyed by his behavior, I decided to be lenient and sat on the bench, watching the game unfold. The already tilted match proceeded smoothly.

“Great job!”

“Let’s shut them out and go celebrate!”

“Good work!”

“Jincheol, an interview today!”

“Okay.”

The final score when the game ended was 13:1. With the explosive batting performance and Crongs and Junhu combining for nine innings with only one run allowed, a comfortable victory marked the end of the first game. During the playoffs, I felt like I should have done something to win, but securing a victory so easily left me feeling strange yet happy.

“Well, days like these happen too. Great, the bus is here. Please take care of the remaining games, seniors!”