Perfect Agent [EN]: Chapter 93

Tryouts (3)

Tension hung in the air between Lee Joo-hyuk on the mound and the batter in the box.

The catcher couldn’t give aggressive signals because he didn’t know what kind of player Lee Joo-hyuk was.

Lee Joo-hyuk had to judge and decide everything on his own.

Fortunately, the first batter he faced was a right-hander, which was less daunting.

It was a situation where the batter didn’t know the pitcher, and the pitcher didn’t know the batter.

Even the most daring batter wouldn’t likely be aggressively targeting the first pitch in this situation.

‘Of course, the first pitch is a fastball.’

Lee Joo-hyuk focused only on the strike zone and threw the ball with all his might.

Thwack!

“Strike!”

The umpire stretched his arm to the right and shouted the call loudly.

‘Nice. It went in right where I wanted it to.’

He succeeded with the first-pitch strike, which he considered the most important thing above all else.

The speed wasn’t that fast, at 141 km/h [approximately 88 mph], but the location was so good that the batter didn’t even think about swinging the bat.

0 balls, 1 strike.

He needed to get a strike with the fastball on the second pitch as well.

‘Let’s be confident this time too!’

Lee Joo-hyuk’s eyes were fixed on the strike zone.

Thwack!

“Strike!”

Again, it was a strike.

The batter didn’t show any movement, as if he was planning to wait again.

The speed was 142 km/h [approximately 88 mph].

A little faster than the first pitch.

0 balls, 2 strikes.

He succeeded in creating the most advantageous situation for the pitcher.

Now was the time to throw the finishing pitch.

Since it was a right-handed batter, it was time to throw a slider.

‘If I do it like in practice throws, I might even get a strikeout.’

Lee Joo-hyuk carefully changed his grip inside his glove.

Would the finishing pitch really work in a real game?

Oh Seok-hoon and Park Seong-joo also couldn’t hit well when they first faced Lee Joo-hyuk’s slider.

Lee Joo-hyuk threw the slider, putting a lot of spin on it with his middle finger.

Whoosh-

The batter, feeling rushed due to the unfavorable ball count, swung his bat when the ball looked like a strike.

“Strikeout!”

The batter’s bat didn’t hit the ball, and the ball went slightly outside and into the catcher’s glove.

He got the first batter out in just three pitches.

First strikeout!

Lee Joo-hyuk clenched his fist without realizing it.

‘Don’t get carried away. It’s just the beginning.’

He tried hard to maintain his composure, but he couldn’t easily control the feeling that he was about to fly away.

After getting the strikeout, he felt a little more relaxed on the mound, as if the tension had been relieved.

In the meantime, the second batter to face entered the batter’s box.

This time it was a left-handed batter.

Instead of being large, he had a lithe body that made it seem like his legs wouldn’t be visible when he ran.

The moment Lee Joo-hyuk lifted his leg to throw the ball, the batter gripped the bat short.

‘Gasp.’

It looked like he was going to bunt.

It was difficult to make changes in a situation where he had already started the pitching motion.

Inevitably, he had no choice but to throw the ball as he had initially planned.

The batter cleanly hit the ball, as if he had bunted once or twice before.

The ball, with its speed moderately reduced, rolled towards third base.

The batter was running towards first base with all his might.

As soon as Lee Joo-hyuk finished his pitching motion, he checked the positions of his teammates.

The third baseman was too far away to catch the ball because he wasn’t defending against a bunt.

‘It looks like I’ll be the fastest to catch it.’

Lee Joo-hyuk ran towards the rolling ball himself.

And as soon as he caught the ball, he looked at the first baseman, but the runner was already almost at first base.

“Safe!”

After hesitating, he couldn’t throw the ball.

The possibility of getting him out was slim, and if he made a bad throw in a hurry, it would create a worse situation.

In the end, he allowed an infield hit to the second batter.

‘Why didn’t I think of this?’

He shouldn’t have missed it when he predicted that the batter would be fast.

The situation might have been different if he had mentioned the possibility of a bunt to the infielders even once.

The game continued without stopping, so he couldn’t keep blaming himself forever.

Lee Joo-hyuk went back to the mound.

“Hoo- Hoo- Hoo-“

He was out of breath because he had just run with all his might.

While he was slowly catching his breath, the third batter stood in the batter’s box.

This time it was also a left-handed batter.

Unlike the previous player, this player had a large build.

Moreover, there was a fast runner behind him.

He was taking a long lead, as if he would run to second base at any moment.

‘I should check him once.’

Lee Joo-hyuk glanced at the runner on first base and quickly turned his body to throw the ball to the first baseman.

“Safe!”

The agile runner’s speed in returning to first base was also unusual.

After checking him once, the lead was reduced a little.

Now he could focus on the batter.

As before, he threw the fastball with all his might.

The batter swung his bat as if he had been waiting.

Tick!

The ball hit the lower part of the bat and bounced towards the shortstop.

‘If there are no errors, it’s a double play course!’

The runner on first base was gritting his teeth and running towards second base with all his might.

The shortstop calmly caught the ball and threw it to the second baseman, who was stepping on second base.

“Out!”

The second baseman threw the ball with all his might towards the first baseman, who was stepping on first base.

“Out!”

Both the second base umpire and the first base umpire stretched out their fists and declared the out.

He got two outs in an instant.

“Yes!”

Lee Joo-hyuk shouted and clapped his glove and right hand together.

He didn’t forget to take off his hat and show his gratitude to the infielders who had provided stable defense as he returned to the dugout.

It was an action he had always wanted to try.

He succeeded in preventing any runs in the first inning. The number of pitches wasn’t too high considering he had allowed a hit.

Soon after, Lee Joo-hyuk had to go to the mound to pitch the second inning.

Looking at the lineup, most of the batters in this inning were scheduled to be left-handed.

It was a situation he really wanted to avoid.

‘Oh well. Let’s just focus on my pitching.’

Since it was his second time on the mound, he felt much more psychologically relaxed than the first time.

Lee Joo-hyuk, standing on the mound, threw the fastball with all his might as soon as he confirmed the catcher’s signal.

But,

Clang!

The batter swung his bat as if he had been waiting.

It was a clean single that fell in front of the right fielder.

‘I don’t think my fastball control was that bad?’

Lee Joo-hyuk was puzzled, but he didn’t show any change in expression.

No outs, runner on first.

“Hoo-“

He took a deep breath and prepared for the showdown with the next batter.

Thwack!

“Ball.”

The fastball flew high, perhaps because he had put too much force into his shoulder.

‘If I do it slowly, it’ll be okay.’

He barely calmed his pounding heart and stepped on the pitching plate again.

He gripped the fastball as he had signaled with the catcher this time as well.

And he threw the ball with more force than ever before.

Crack-

The moment the ball hit the bat, a cheerful sound rang out.

Lee Joo-hyuk’s head turned towards the flying ball.

‘Please go outside, please.’

Contrary to Lee Joo-hyuk’s earnest wish, the batted ball went over the fence in fair territory.

The first base umpire, who had watched the ball until the end, twirled his finger.

“It’s a home run…….”

Lee Joo-hyuk stood frozen in place for a moment.

He had been prepared for it, but when he actually experienced being hit by a home run, he felt empty.

He tried to pull himself together with the thought of starting anew, but as the fastball was easily attacked in the subsequent game, Lee Joo-hyuk faced another crisis.

Fortunately, with the help of the fielders, he was able to minimize the runs and barely finish.

2 innings, 6 hits allowed, 3 runs given up.

That’s how the second test ended.

* * *

I was waiting with Lee Joo-hyuk for the results to come out.

Based on the abilities confirmed in today’s test game, each team would recruit the necessary players.

It was easy to see how nervous Lee Joo-hyuk was by looking at his trembling hands.

Seeing him right next to me made me feel nervous too.

After a while,

“The results are out. Please check!”

The official’s loud voice was heard.

“Joo-hyuk, shall we go check together?”

Lee Joo-hyuk jumped up and then sat back down as if he was falling.

“I’m too nervous to look. Could you go and let me know?”

“Okay. I’ll be right back.”

I ran towards the board where the results were recorded.

Other players were also checking to see if their names were there.

The players who confirmed their names shouted with joy, and those who didn’t quietly left the place.

As the players in front of me left one by one, it was finally my turn.

“Lee…… Joo.”

I confirmed the Lee surname and was about to move on to the next one.

……It’s not there.

Just in case, I looked again, but it definitely wasn’t there.

For a moment, my mind went blank.

I tried hard to hide my expression and approached Lee Joo-hyuk.

He seemed to have already noticed, whether I tried to hide it or not.

“It didn’t work out?”

“……Yes.”

It was so hard to utter that short word.

“Oh- I see.”

“Try again. If you prepare like this, you’ll be able to pass next year.”

“No. I’m okay now.”

“What? What do you mean you’re okay?”

“I was satisfied enough just to have thrown the ball on the mound today. It was really fun.”

Seeing the corners of Lee Joo-hyuk’s mouth turn up, it didn’t seem like a lie.

“Still, isn’t it too bad to give up here?”

“I guess I’ve been running really hard. I don’t have any regrets anymore. And I’m not that young for a player anymore.”

“Still…….”

“I may not have been as flashy as other players, but I achieved my dream today.”

“…….”

“Hyun-woo, thank you so much for letting me dream and helping me achieve my dream.”

Lee Joo-hyuk suddenly bowed deeply to me.

“I didn’t do anything……. You’ve worked hard.”

I patted Lee Joo-hyuk on the shoulder.

“Let’s go eat something delicious. It must have been hard to control your diet all this time.”

“Yes.”

Lee Joo-hyuk smiled brightly and nodded.

I left the stadium where the tryout was held with Lee Joo-hyuk.