On The Rise As A Catcher [EN]: Chapter 245

Trying to hit even breaking balls would be a nightmare.

He knew he could hit as well as Song Seok-hyun if he used such a bat, but he couldn’t bring himself to handle such a monstrous bat.

But it didn’t matter.

For some reason, holding this bat made him feel secure.

It felt like he could send any ball over the fence as long as he made contact with this bat.

Jeong Dong-gyu had a brief dream.

Throwing away nicknames like Grasshopper, Paper Doll, and Event Doll, and winning a Gold Glove as a power-hitting second baseman—a sweet dream.

“Hey! You need to get out there!”

“Yes? Yes, yes, yes. Sorry.”

Jeong Dong-gyu hurriedly headed to the plate.

When did he get out?

Why did he get out so quickly?

Jeong Dong-gyu shook his head to snap out of his delusion.

Before he could catch his breath, the pitcher and catcher had finished exchanging signals.

As Jeong Dong-gyu prepared to hit, he felt something was off.

It was heavy.

Strangely heavy.

He turned his head to check the bat and was startled.

He was supposed to switch bats, but he had brought Song Seok-hyun’s bat with him!

He urgently called for a timeout and reached out his hand, but the umpire wouldn’t grant a timeout since the pitcher had already started his motion.

With a dazed look, Jeong Dong-gyu hastily swung the bat.

The bat felt so sluggish.

The bat that usually whipped around like a whip now felt like swinging an iron bar.

The pitcher had already thrown the ball, but the bat was still moving at a snail’s pace.

He needed to at least make contact, but the bat was giving him so much trouble that he was about to lose his mind.

Fortunately, he was standing at the plate, dazed from the coach’s urging, further away from the plate than usual.

The pitch thrown inside was like a fastball to the batter, to Jeong Dong-gyu.

He barely managed to make contact with the ball, fighting off the urge to lose his balance.

Bang!

The sound was so explosive, like fireworks going off, that he was surprised himself.

Even after hitting the ball, the bat’s momentum caused him to spin and stagger.

Jeong Dong-gyu adjusted his turned helmet, steadied his swaying body, and only after stepping into the batter’s box with a clear mind did he realize something was wrong.

“…Where’s the ball?”

Was it a flyout? A foul?

As he searched for the ball with a strange feeling, a tremendous roar struck Jeong Dong-gyu’s ears.

“Wowwwwwwwwwwwww!”

“Home run! Waaaaaah!”

Panic.

It was utter panic.

Only after following the players’ gazes beyond the fence could Jeong Dong-gyu see the crowd swarming to catch his ball.

“Run! Run!”

Only after hearing the coach’s words did Jeong Dong-gyu run to first base.

Home run.

Home run?

Him?

Jeong Dong-gyu didn’t feel real even after stepping on first, second, and third base and returning home.

Only after feeling the weight of Song Seok-hyun’s black bat on the ground did his mind clear as if waking from a dream.

“Wowwwwwwwww!”

Belatedly, Jeong Dong-gyu shouted and ran back to the bench.

The players embraced him.

Kim Jeong-ryul was even teary-eyed, holding Jeong Dong-gyu tightly and refusing to let go.

The announcer said, seemingly overwhelmed with emotion.

“A miraculous event has occurred! Jeong Dong-gyu has hit a two-run home run! Today is truly a strange day. Unexpected batters are hitting home runs left and right. And they’re two-run home runs.”

“If this happens… well, it’s hard to say, but they say the Korean Series championship is ordained by heaven, right? It seems like the goddess of fortune is smiling on the Goats today. With Kim In-hwan, Choi Jae-wan, and even Song Seok-hyun absent, unexpected players are showing their best performance today. And it’s in Game 7 of the Korean Series! This can only be seen as heaven’s help!”

Pegasus fans chose either silence, curses, or sighs.

The Pegasus bench was also filled with heavy silence.

Oh Gyu-ok gave up a hit to the next batter, Jeong Young-soo.

There were no pitchers left to replace him.

Oh Gyu-ok struck out leadoff hitter Lee Ji-sung, ending the dreadful ninth inning.

Oh Gyu-ok trudged back to the bench like a wet puppy.

Instead of words, he simply patted the players on the shoulders and tapped their butts.

The Pegasus players didn’t even have the leeway [or mental space] to comfort Oh Gyu-ok.

Bottom of the ninth.

The Pegasus’s attack.

The Pegasus had one chance, and the Goats had one crisis.

“The game is not over yet. A one-point difference. The Pegasus only needs one home run to tie the game. It’s still a nail-biting match.”

“The Pegasus must get at least one person on base. They need to bring the momentum somehow.”

“The Pegasus’s attack is led by fifth batter Kim Seong-hyun. A batter who combines accuracy and power is stepping up to the plate.”

“With Kim Seong-hyun, we can expect both getting on base and a home run.”

Kim Jeong-ryul muttered with his eyes closed.

The times he resented God flashed through his mind like a slideshow.

The time has come now.

The game changed when Song Seok-hyun came in.

The season where they can’t help but win has come.

If God is helping him, there’s nothing to fear.

If they lose here, that’s also baseball.

“Hoo.”

Kim Seong-hyun took a breath.

Kim Jeong-ryul’s pitching today is the best he’s ever seen.

Dropping sinkers, soaring curves, fading sliders, and occasional changeups mixed in.

He needs to target one pitch for sure.

If he only targets the sinker, thinking they’re good at inducing ground balls, he’ll get burned by curves, sliders, and changeups.

Still, the first pitch is a sinker.

If it’s a curve, he’ll brace for a ground ball and just try to make contact with a downswing.

Kim Jeong-ryul threw the rosin bag on the ground.

The rosin powder flew in the wind.

“Ha.”

Kim Jeong-ryul straightened his hat and stepped on the mound.

His baseball career’s ending depends on three outs.

The first pitch is a sinker.

Kim Seong-hyun aggressively swings at the first pitch.

Clack!

-Foul.

A foul ball heading towards third base.

Kim Seong-hyun took a step out of the batter’s box and shook his head.

He knew it was a sinker, but it dropped more than he thought.

Then he has no choice but to swing even more extremely upwards.

The more he does that, the more vulnerable he becomes to soaring curves, but there’s no pitcher who will keep throwing high-course curves.

Whack!

Strike!

“The second pitch was a curve, a curve. A curve that’s stuck in the upper part of the strike zone.”

“That curve is really amazing every time I see it. How does that kind of movement come out?”

Kim Seong-hyun took a breath.

Sinker, then curve.

He can’t help but get fooled even though he knows it.

How can he do anything when they show him that kind of sinker?

Kim Jeong-ryul got into position.

Kim Jeong-ryul nodded at Seo Il-hyuk’s sign.

Kim Seong-hyun expected the third pitch to be a sinker.

If it’s a sinker that’s hard to hit squarely even when you know it’s coming, there’s a high possibility they’ll throw it again.

How textbook and tricky is the combination of a high-course curve followed by a sinker?

Kim Jeong-ryul’s pitch is coming in low.

Kim Seong-hyun responded with a golf swing as if he had expected it.

Thwack!

With a refreshing sound, the ball flew into the sky.

The ball that flew high into the sky landed right in the second baseman’s glove.

Infield fly out.

“Kim Jeong-ryul makes an infield fly out with a changeup.”

“The changeup is paying off. He doesn’t throw it often, but it always does its job.”

Kim Seong-hyun dropped his head.

So this is the pitch Kim Wook got fooled by.

How can you distinguish between a sinker and a changeup?

After Kim Seong-hyun, catcher Jeong Yong-wook came up to bat.

Jeong Yong-wook gripped the bat short and stood close to the plate.

In the end, the deciding pitch is a low-course pitch.

Whether it’s a sinker or a changeup, the deciding pitch comes in low.

Then, unlike the previous batter, he’ll abandon low pitches.

Before throwing the deciding pitch, a high-course curve will definitely come.

Curve before the deciding pitch, aim for the curve.

Kim Jeong-ryul threw the first pitch.

Whack!

Strike!

A sinker inside.

It was a sharp and precise pitch that he couldn’t have hit even if he knew it was coming.

It’s a shame, but he’ll forget about it.

The more important the game, the more he needs to stick to his own pace.

“Jeong Yong-wook is crouching down.”

“It’s clear he’s aiming for a low-course pitch. He has no choice but to do that to hit a sinker like that.”

Kim Jeong-ryul’s second pitch was a sinker outside.

Strike!

“Two strikes! Jeong Yong-wook is just watching.”

“There’s nothing he can do. How can he hit a ball that comes in so low and well?”

Jeong Yong-wook’s mind went blank.

Two consecutive low pitches.

Why didn’t the curve come? What’s going on?

Jeong Yong-wook briefly stepped out of the batter’s box, looked at the pitcher, and then turned his head back.

Only then did he see Seo Il-hyuk.

Backup catcher Seo Il-hyuk.

He hadn’t paid any attention to Seo Il-hyuk because Song Seok-hyun was out.

Since this guy is also a catcher, he must be as good at mind games as he is.

Since they showed the previous batters a high-course curve, they might not give him any curves at all since he’s a catcher and good at reading pitches.

As soon as he reached this point, Jeong Yong-wook closed his eyes.

Sinker? Curve? What is it? What are they aiming for?

Jeong Yong-wook stepped back into the batter’s box.

The first answer you pick on a test is most likely the right one.

The same goes for the batter’s box.

The first feeling is most likely correct.

Kim Jeong-ryul’s third pitch was a low-course pitch outside.

Jeong Yong-wook pulled the ball with all his might.

Whoosh!

The bat cut through the air.

Slider.

A slider that was as textbook as it could be.

Jeong Yong-wook glanced at Seo Il-hyuk once and then dragged his bat back to the bench.

“Two outs! Two outs! Now one out left. The winner of today will be decided with one out!”

“Kim Hyung-woo is a shortstop, but he’s a hitter who hits better than most hitters. The Goats shouldn’t let their guard down easily.”

“Bottom of the ninth, two outs. The final winner of this season will be decided by Kim Jeong-ryul’s pitch.”

The Goats players grabbed each other’s hands.

The Goats fans in the stands clasped their hands together.

Chairman Kim Myung-jin clenched his fists tightly, his lips trembling.

The moment the Pegasus fans shouted, ‘Please, please.’

Kim Jeong-ryul threw the first pitch.

Catcher to Stardom

Korean Series Game 7 (14)

Shortstop Kim Hyung-woo’s nickname was .300 Shortstop.

It was a nickname given to him because he had a knack for hitting despite being a shortstop.

He didn’t have long-hitting power, but it wasn’t common for a shortstop to have an OPS [On-Base Plus Slugging, a sabermetric baseball statistic] of over 0.8.

A hitter who wasn’t inferior to most hitters in terms of contact.

Kim Hyung-woo came in aiming for the first-pitch sinker.

The sinker had come in every at-bat.

Then he had to aim for the sinker.

Kim Hyung-woo lightly pushed the bat, thinking of only breaking through the infield, without being greedy, looking at the low pitch coming in on the first pitch.

Clack!