On The Rise As A Catcher [EN]: Chapter 258

Hong Daeseong had been showing inconsistent performance recently, but today he was on fire.

-Bang!

-Strike!

“Wow…….”

The first pitch was a fastball right down the middle.

The speed reached 154km/h.

Phoenix’s leadoff hitter, Kang Youngho, swung at the second fastball, but his bat broke, resulting in a ground ball.

“Whew, great ball, great.”

Kim Younghoon crossed his arms and smiled.

Hong Daeseong took his stance to face the second batter.

Hong Daeseong’s gaze was fixed on Kim Younghoon.

First pitch, strike. Second pitch, also a strike.

Third pitch, a slider, resulted in a swing and a miss strikeout.

Song Seokhyun barely caught the ball that dropped sharply.

“Ball…… amazing.”

Song Seokhyun burst into a hearty laugh.

It wasn’t just Song Seokhyun who was impressed by Hong Daeseong’s pitching; the Goat players and coaches were too.

“Feels like he’s pitching the best game of his life today?”

The pitching coach responded to Ham Sunghoon’s words.

“Daeseong is usually so-so, but today he’s different. Seems like he’s really found his groove.”

“I guess he has some extra motivation.”

Ham Sunghoon’s eyes were on Kim Younghoon on the opposite bench.

He was completely shutting down Lee Jiseong, Seol Jinil, and Kim Inhwan from the first inning.

“Showing that lazy genius what a real genius looks like is the best medicine.”

“It seems like all my hard work teaching him has been for nothing…… huh.”

“At that age, competitiveness is the best motivation.”

“But, Manager.”

“Yes, what is it?”

“You seem to be in a good mood today. Do you know how many consecutive losses we’ll have if we lose today?”

“I know, I know. But still…….”

Ham Sunghoon grinned.

“How can I not be happy watching baseball like this?”

Hong Daeseong struck out the next batter as well.

Hong Daeseong glanced at Kim Younghoon as if to show off before heading off the mound.

“How cute.”

Kim Younghoon nodded.

The next batter was Song Seokhyun.

The stadium quickly fell silent.

The showdown between the best pitcher and hitter of the era.

The battle between the pitcher known as a god and the unprecedented genius hitter.

The commentators and announcers also quieted down.

-Thud.

Kim Younghoon threw the rosin bag on the ground.

Song Seokhyun, standing at the plate, gripped his bat a little shorter and swayed slightly.

The first pitch was a fastball on the outside.

A picture-perfect ball that landed on the lower outside corner of the zone.

-Strike!

[Kim Younghoon gets a strike with a fastball on the first pitch. 0-1]

[No hitter can swing at a pitch like that on the first pitch. A pitch that comes in that fast, low, and accurate won’t produce a good hit even if you connect, and it’s more likely to just add to the out count.]

Song Seokhyun exhaled.

He had forgotten for a moment.

Kim Younghoon’s right-handed pitching boasts pinpoint control.

He was so focused on the curveball that he forgot about the most common but most powerful, well-controlled fastball.

Kim Younghoon took his pitching stance as soon as he received the ball.

He had no intention of giving the batter time to think.

Especially if that batter was Song Seokhyun.

Kim Younghoon’s second pitch was a curveball.

The curveball that Song Seokhyun had been waiting for.

-Bang.

-Strike!

[Two strikes! Song Seokhyun can’t move an inch.]

[That was a slow curveball, wasn’t it? An 88km/h Arirang curve [a very slow, looping curveball], a slow curveball. When a 145km/h fastball is followed by an 88km/h curveball, it’s very difficult for the hitter to time it.]

[No balls, two strikes. Song Seokhyun is still helpless against Kim Younghoon.]

Song Seokhyun stepped away from the plate for a moment.

He can’t hit the slow curveball that occasionally comes in unless he’s looking for it.

He had initially decided to ignore the slow curveball altogether, but being struck out without even swinging his bat left him feeling deflated.

“Is he waiting for the curveball……?”

Kim Younghoon smiled.

If he didn’t react to the fastball or the slow curveball, then the only thing left is the curveball.

As soon as Song Seokhyun stepped back into the batter’s box, Kim Younghoon pitched without hesitation.

A low ball on the outside.

Song Seokhyun swung short and concise.

The ball reached the bat, then hooked downward as if someone was pulling it from below.

The bat only grazed the ball and failed to hit it.

-Bang!

-Strike! Out!

[Strikeout! Song Seokhyun strikes out on three pitches! Swing and a miss strikeout! Song Seokhyun is retired with three pitches. Even the great Song Seokhyun is weak against a pitcher he’s never seen before.]

[It’s not about being a pitcher he’s never seen before, it’s about it being Kim Younghoon. With this, Goat is on the verge of their fourth consecutive loss today. They were swept by the Astros in their last game.]

Song Seokhyun returned to the bench.

Forkball.

The third pitch was a forkball.

It was one of the breaking balls that Song Seokhyun was most confident in, but in a no-ball, two-strike situation, the afterimage of the low fastball he faced on the first pitch prevented him from picking out the forkball.

He keeps forgetting.

When Kim Younghoon throws with his right hand, he can throw all pitches above A-grade.

The quality of his pitches is so good that you can’t hit them unless you have a plan, but the problem is that he has too many pitches to have a plan.

“He even made me pull out the forkball. Whew, that young kid is scary, scary.”

Kim Younghoon shook his head.

The next batter, Yoo Sunho, was out on a fly ball, and Kim Wook struck out.

In the bottom of the 2nd inning, Hong Daeseong gave up a walk but immediately ended the inning with a double play and a strikeout.

Both teams kept the game scoreless through the 3rd inning.

Top of the 4th, Goat’s attack.

The batter is Lee Jiseong.

Kim Younghoon was pitching a perfect game through the 3rd inning.

“We’ve gone through the order once. Now we need to do it right, don’t we?”

The Goat players’ eyes changed at Yoo Sunho’s words.

The Counterattack of the Rising Catcher (2)

Top of the 4th, Lee Jiseong’s at-bat.

Kim Younghoon’s first pitch was a fastball on the outside.

It was a ball that was far outside, but Lee Jiseong swung.

Clang!

[Second baseman, the second baseman catches it and throws to first. Out at first. Kim Younghoon gets an out count on the first pitch. Still a perfect game.]

[He shouldn’t have touched that pitch. It seems like he was too hasty. It’s hard to get a good hit even if you hit a well-placed ball like that.]

Kim Younghoon adjusted his cap.

“They’re going to come out aggressively……?”

The next batter is Seol Jinil.

Kim Younghoon threw the ball right down the middle from the first pitch.

Seol Jinil, who likes first pitches, couldn’t miss a ball in the middle.

Clang!

As soon as Seol Jinil swung, he made a sound of “Oh.”

There was no satisfying sound or thrilling feeling.

The ball left the infield but floated high in the sky before landing in the right fielder’s glove.

-Out!

[Out. Kim Younghoon gets two out counts with two pitches. He’s showing very economical pitching.]

[Seol Jinil missed that one. He shouldn’t have missed that pitch, but he missed a mistake pitch.]

Seol Jinil shook his head and returned to the bench.

Yoo Sunho grabbed Seol Jinil and asked.

“Why couldn’t you hit that?”

“I’m sure I hit it right, but the ball just went up in the air.”

“Oh, you 답답이 [a frustrating person]. Wasn’t that a complete mistake pitch?”

“I’m sure I hit it right…….”

Two consecutive first-pitch outs.

Kim Inhwan hunched over and took a breath.

Excitement is forbidden.

He has to watch the ball for a long time and wait.

As he calmed his mind and waited for the ball, Kim Younghoon threw the ball right away.

This time, the ball was also concentrated in the zone.

Kim Inhwan swung without realizing it.

“……?”

Clang!

[Shortstop! The shortstop catches it and throws to first! Out at first! Another first-pitch out! A rare record of three consecutive first-pitch outs.]

[Ah, that’s too bad?] [With this, the perfect game is completed through the 4th inning. Kim Younghoon seems to have really found his groove today.]

Kim Inhwan returned to the bench with a blank look on his face.

Song Seokhyun grabbed Kim Inhwan and asked.

“Hyung [older brother/male friend], what was that just now?”

“Cutter. No, slider? Anyway, something like that.”

“Cutter?”

“It suddenly hooked in, so there was no answer.”

Song Seokhyun looked at Kim Younghoon returning to the bench.

The pitching pattern has changed.

Bottom of the 4th.

Phoenix’s offense was thoroughly blocked by Hong Daeseong’s great pitching.

Even Kyung Soo-in, who had served as the national team’s fourth hitter, couldn’t handle Hong Daeseong’s fastballs exceeding 150km/h and his vertically curving slider.

He struck out once and went hitless.

Top of the 5th, Song Seokhyun’s at-bat.

Kim Younghoon stuck the ball close to his body from the first pitch.

Clang!

-Strike!

“…….”

Song Seokhyun took a step back.

It hooked into his body just now.

Sinking fastball.

If he had hit that ball just now, it would have been a ground ball for sure.

“Ha.”

Song Seokhyun shook his head.

From orthodox pitches like curveballs and changeups to ground ball pitches like cutters and sinkers.

Kim Younghoon’s second pitch was an outside cutter.

Song Seokhyun made contact with the ball, but it was a foul.

The third pitch was a curveball.

“Hmph!”

Song Seokhyun momentarily held his breath and twisted his waist.

The ball hit the end of the bat and went straight to third base, resulting in a foul.

The next pitch was a curveball that dropped sharply.

“……Ha.”

Song Seokhyun was about to swing but stopped, and the ball slipped under the zone.

-Ball.

[2-2. Song Seokhyun picks out the curveball.]

[It’s breathtaking. The two players’ battle is really tense.]

Song Seokhyun swallowed hard.

The angle of the high-angle curveball he just saw was unbelievably large.

He only held back because it was a breaking ball timing based on the count, but his body was already twitching to react.

The next pitch was a high fastball.

Song Seokhyun’s bat grazed the bottom of the ball.

-Strike! Out!

[Strikeout! Kim Younghoon continues his perfect game by striking out even Song Seokhyun.]

[That fastball coming in high after the curveball. You can’t help but be fooled even if you know it.]

[Song Seokhyun is sighing. What can you do? The ball is that good.]

The next batters, Yoo Sunho and Kim Wook, faced a total of five pitches.

The two players were both out on ground balls in front of the shortstop.

“Let’s not give him a perfect game, okay? Guys. Let’s give it a try.”

“Yes.”