Chapter 13 – Episode 13. Vs Seongnam Vocational High School (2)
“Now. Concentrate. Let’s get one out! Can you?”
At the end of the 6th inning, with a 4:3 lead, Hanche High School’s ace Kim Won-ho, who had been fighting hard, was in danger of 2nd and 3rd base, and the manager came up and summoned all the infielders.
“Especially the beasts. To focus Okay?”
“Yes!”
Well, since I’ve gone 2 hits and 1 RBI in 3 at-bats so far, I’m doing pretty well.
‘The coach is only thinking about hitting himself even though he’s having a meeting.’
What did Rossby say? Did I hear something wrong that a man without team spirit said this? I immediately checked to see if what I was hearing was correct.
‘Why?’
‘Heh. Excellent. Remember that there are more important things than winning or losing. Even more so for amateurs like this.’
Then it is.
“Did everyone understand me?”
“Yes!”
As the manager stepped off the mound, Wonho uttered one last word.
“Then believe me and throw it. Request.”
“Wonho hyung, don’t worry and give it to me!”
“Seniors. Trust me and let me compete!”
The shortstop and third baseman responded to Wonho’s words.
‘I guess that guy didn’t succeed too.’
‘Are you Wonho? Why?’
How could the first draft give such an evaluation to a good right-handed pitcher who throws a top speed of 150km/h against a promising prospect?
‘The moment the pitcher believes in the defense. That pitcher is finished. If you’re a pitcher, you should think about striking out. Doesn’t that mean he’ll leave it to chance the moment he sends the ball to the ground?’
‘What are you talking about? Then how can I strike out every at-bat when I throw with faith in the fielder?’
‘I thought I had grown up, but I didn’t. Well, it’s a monkey’s comprehension, so I’ll have to understand.’
‘Stop yelling and explain.’
‘You explained earlier. 이 빡대가리 새끼야. As long as I sent the ball into the field, it is not strange no matter what happens. Pitchers have to suppress that as much as possible.’
Well…. It was a theory I had heard. It seems that Sabermatrix has also dealt with this kind of content.
‘By the way, when you died, wasn’t there something like a saber matrix? How do you know so well?’
Apparently, as far as I know, Rossby died in the 60’s.
‘It’s ignorant, but there was such a thing even before I died.’
‘Okay? It must have been in the very beginning, though, right?’
‘I don’t know until then. It’s a baby monkey.’
“Maengho. Aren’t you going back?”
When I came to my senses after talking with Rossby, all the other juniors were back to their seats.
“Go for it, Sasha.”
“Boy. I get it.”
I just flirted around, but Wonho seemed to think I was staying until the end to cheer him on. This guy isn’t even a bad guy.
‘Why? Are you sorry?’
‘It can’t be.’
‘You bastard.’
‘Would only you do it?’
Was it because he got along too well with Rossby? I didn’t feel any regret.
‘It’s hard to blame others.’
‘Isn’t it because the teacher is good that the student learns this well?’
‘Yeah, that’s a good attitudehehe.’
The game resumed when I returned to my defensive position. In a two-out situation and there was no base for runners to advance, Kim Won-ho winded up and spread the ball as it was.
Fain!
The catcher’s mitt made a loud noise as the ball thrown by Kim Won-ho was sucked in.
“Strike!”
Kim Won-ho’s all-out effort earned the referee a strike call.
‘Oh, I think it came out around 150?’
I couldn’t check it properly because there was no restraint on the electronic signboard, but the speed I felt seemed to be about that much. Obviously, since the scouts were gathered, it seemed that he threw the ball with the highest velocity in a critical situation.
Seongnam Vocational High School’s hitter was immobilized by Kim Won-ho’s all-out pitch, as if he thought this inning was his last.
When the catcher gave the slider sign, Kim Won-ho shook his head. It is a pitcher’s instinct to throw the ball with the most confidence in a crisis situation. As long as the manager doesn’t directly sign it, Kim Won-ho will probably finish this inning with a fastball.
The coach is not the type to get involved in ball combinations.
‘My BQ (baseball IQ) doesn’t decrease.’
‘I’ve played baseball for several years, but if I don’t know this, I’ll have to quit.’
‘Then the other person must know that too, right?’
Unless you are a chimpanzee who only plays baseball by force, even a high school player can understand this. That means….
‘Okay. I’m sure the other person knows.’
It is standard to ask for a breaking ball in a one-strike situation. Shaking his head there meant that he would throw a fastball. The opponent hitter would know that, and Kim Won-ho would know that too.
A match between a hitter aiming for a fastball and a pitcher throwing a fastball. A situation in which power and power are bound to collide. Besides, the opposing batsman is a left-handed hitter. There was a high probability that they would come my way.
‘Concentrate.’
‘All right.’
Wonho Kim winds up again and the ball leaves his hand. The ball seemed to be sucked into the mitt at high speed.
Fuck!
With a cheerful sound, the hit ball quickly rolled toward me. Between 2nd and 1st. It feels like the world is moving slowly. I instinctively jumped and stretched out my glove.
‘Did I get caught?!’
Widely.
‘Ugh.’
The glove hits the ball and the ball falls down. As I got up, I picked up the ball that had fallen to the ground and quickly threw it toward first base. Perhaps because of Rossby’s experience of throwing to first base thousands, maybe tens of thousands of times, his posture broke and the first baseman couldn’t see properly, but I was confident that I had thrown correctly.
Fain!
I heard the ball go into the first base mitt. Because he fell again while throwing the ball, he could not see the situation and was waiting for a call from the first base referee.
“Out!!”
The first base umpire announces an out in a loud voice.
“Nice!”
“What is defense?!”
The cheers of the teammates heard along with the declaration of an out. Wonho, who was coming in for first base cover, approached me and reached out his hand.
“Hey! What is the defense Are you crazy?”
I grabbed Wonho’s hand and stood up straight.
“How was it?”
“Fuck, I thought it would break through. I thought it would be good to just block it.”
It was a rare sight to see Wonho so excited. No, because I didn’t go to the match, did I never see it?
“If you’re grateful, buy me some food.”
“Just talk.”
I got up, gave a high-five with my glove, and went into the dugout. For some reason, the coach came forward and talked to me.
“It was good defense.”
“Oh, thank you.”
I couldn’t see his eyes because he was wearing sunglasses, but it was a sincere compliment. What is this human doing? I thought he hated me.
Well, if I win this match, the Golden Lion is guaranteed, so is that so?
Hanchego was a typical weak team, and it was a team that did not achieve great results in the national competition. The best record is around 4. However, this year’s reaction was not too strange as they are aiming for the championship with Kim Won-ho, the national ace, at the center.
Humanity is the manager of a team anyway.
‘Or see if my wife is doing well these days.’
‘What kind of small grain is that?’
Hehe, isn’t that obvious? Because you satisfy your wife, the family is comfortable, and because the family is comfortable, you can relax in your heart.’
‘Well. Maybe so. By the way, how was my defense?’
‘If it were me, I would have caught it in one go. Still not enough I would have missed it if it wasn’t for the damn thing because the exit velocity was slow.’
‘I thought it was pretty fast.’
‘Yeah, at least it’s high school level.’
‘All right.’
As Rossby said, at this level, it should have been enough. Had it not been for Rossby’s experience, I would have missed it. The defense needs more practice.
*
“Maengho. A room please.”
Top of the 8th inning, 2 outs. Kim Won-ho, who blocked Seongnam Vocational High School with 3 runs until the 7th inning, came up to me and talked to me before entering the plate.
Perhaps Wonho will be replaced from the next inning? Other pitchers on our team are at a level that cannot be said to be good even with empty words. The 1-point difference seemed uneasy.
I smiled at Wonho and went to bat. When I entered the plate, I saw Han Yeongjun sweating profusely on the mound.
‘Then please.’
Rosby moved into a familiar position before I could finish my sentence. The position where the pitcher’s glove is clearly visible.
‘The ball to aim for is the slider. Do you understand?’
‘Yes.’
Slider. The slider thrown by left-handed pitcher Han Yeong-joon is bent toward me as a right-handed hitter. If you don’t expect it, it’s a ball that leads to a miss, but if you expect it, it’s easy to allow a long hit.
The question is when to throw the slider, but I aimed for the slider in all three at-bats today, and the result was 2 hits in 3 at-bats, including a double. It was clear that they wouldn’t give me a slider easily.
“Aren’t you going to throw the slider now?”
I decided to stimulate the catcher.
“I just focus on the game.”
Look at this The catcher’s voice was filled with irritation.
“Well, all the sliders you brag about got hit, but aren’t you scared?”
“Hey. Stop talking and focus on the game.”
When I was about to provoke a little more, the referee intervened. Since I’m a student, it was a little disappointing that judges generally don’t tolerate trash talk.
“Oh, sorry.”
I quickly apologized and turned my head back to Han Yeongjun. Han Yeongjun shook his head and refused the catcher’s autograph.
‘What do you mean? How’s the grip?’
‘The grip is four-seam.’
After all, do you want to throw a fast ball? It was a ball that was only in the early to mid-140km/h, but Han Young-Jun’s four-seam had good deception and was heavy, so it was a bit tricky. Well, it wasn’t to the point where I couldn’t hit it.
Han Yeong-joon nodded his head with a disapproving expression. It was like a high school student not being able to put on a poker face. In this way, even without Rossby, he was good enough to know the type of pitch.
‘It must be a slider, right?’
‘Okay. I’m not blind The catcher asked for a low ball.’
‘All right.’
It must be a low ball falling into the bound castle. You don’t need to wield it.
Han Young-Jun’s ball flew low outside as expected. I didn’t even flinch when I saw the ball.
“Cheek.”
“Isn’t it cute to throw a slider right away after being stimulated once?”
“Hey.”
“It’s self-talk. Soliloquy.”
The four-seam came very close to me this time, as if I was angry at the mockery disguised as my self-talk.
“Ouch! What are you doing!”
I already knew that they were aiming for the body, so I exaggeratedly stepped back and looked at the referee pretending to be surprised.
“Isn’t this a threat? It’s too close.”
“Cheek. It was a flawless ball.”
As the umpire finished speaking, a mocking smile was visible under the catcher’s mask.
“All right.”
If you scratch it once, it throws a threat right away. It was cute. He also showed an exaggerated fear, so he’ll probably put one inside his body zone this time too. I can’t give him any more balls, so I’ll throw a confident fastball on my first pitch.
‘Heh. Pretty good for a monkey. It’s the body side again.’
Did baseball get too easy after sharing Rossby’s experience? I don’t know if it’s especially because I’m a high school student, but I felt like I could read all of Battery’s thoughts. I was a little closer to the plate than when I got the ball the previous time.
Fain!
Again, I waited without swinging the bat. The ball seemed to creep in vaguely on the perimeter of the strike zone. A ball that can be a strike or a ball at the discretion of the referee.
However, the referee seemed to have judged that I was closer to my body, probably because I fell exaggeratedly and because I was closer to the plate than before.
“Cheek.”
“Yes? A ball?! I came in correctly….”
“So you’re saying I was wrong?”
“No. I don’t mean that.”
The referee was also strict with the catcher.
“Tsk tsk, your control is messed up.”
“This bird….”
As I clicked my tongue and mocked him, the Seongnam Vocational High School catcher swallowed his curse inwardly. The catcher, who is supposed to stabilize the pitcher, is shaking like this. It is still far away. Far away
Then, when I saw the third base coach, a waiting sign came out. It must mean watching one in a three-ball. If I was an average player, after waiting for three balls in a row, it would have been natural for me to wait one more time.
But, I have Rossby.
‘The catcher’s mitt is in the middle. The type of pitch is a slider.’
It seemed that the battery’s desire to strike somehow reached this point. As I played Yeongjun Han’s slider in my head, I set the timing and focused all my mind on Yeongjun Han’s body movements.
I could see the ball leave Han Young-jun’s hand and it seemed to fly out of John’s. But I swung the bat without hesitation because I knew this ball was a slider.
Aww!
A satisfying swing. From hip turn to follow swing. The ball goes high and disappears quickly. I watched the ball fly away, threw the bat lightly, and ran slowly toward first base. Even without watching to the end, the home run was obvious.
“Wow!”
“Hanchego! Hanchego!”
“Ji Maeng-ho! Ji Maeng-ho! Ji Maeng-ho!”
“Crazy! How many home runs!”
He raised his arm once towards the noisy dugout and naturally stepped on the home base. And share a high five with the standby hitter.
The pleasure that I couldn’t feel in any sex starts from my toes and goes up to my head.
Also, baseball is the best.
