The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 42

Team Over Individual (5)

Two outs, runner on first.

Only one hit against their top hitters so far. Not bad. Actually, pretty good. And now, cleanup hitter Han Min-joon steps up to the plate.

He was the ace who led Baekwon High School to the third round. Just pitched a no-hitter in the last game.

That was only three days ago, so his shoulder must be in terrible condition. As a fellow pitcher, how could I not know? Even throwing just 80 pitches makes my shoulder heavy the next day. Let alone 147?

But even so, his natural talent is different.

Unlike Jinwoo himself, that Han Min-joon was chosen by the god of baseball. Even if he were to step onto the mound right now, a tired Han Min-joon would probably be a better pitcher than a fresh Lee Jinwoo.

Lee Jinwoo shook his head.

An Byeong-yeong, who somehow became his closest friend, always said that.

‘You overthink things too much.’

Jo Yoo-jin, wearing his catcher’s mask, pounded his mitt.

He might be full of anxiety when he’s at the plate, but at least when he’s sitting behind home plate like that, he’s more reliable than anyone else.

First pitch, a curveball.

It was the pitch he taught An Byeong-yeong the grip for.

Six months.

That’s how long it took for An Byeong-yeong to be able to distinguish between a ball and a strike with his curveball. For reference, Jinwoo, who taught him the curve, still can’t throw a curve as well as An Byeong-yeong after six months, even after four years of learning it.

Set position.

The ball left Lee Jinwoo’s hand.

It’s just a 90km/h curveball. Han Min-joon probably recognized it as a curve the moment it left his hand.

His bat didn’t come out.

-Thwack!!

“Strike!”

First pitch strike.

Lucky. It went in a little lower than I intended, but that actually fooled him.

Ball count 0-1.

Second pitch.

Another curveball here? This time, a similar one but a little lower, to make it fall out of the zone? Of course, that would be the best if it works. But there’s no way I can have that kind of video game-like control. If I throw something similar to the last one and it goes in, it’s a guaranteed long hit this time.

A slider that just barely misses the zone here.

If nothing else, I’m pretty confident in my slider. It’s the pitch I’ve been working on the longest. Normally, I’d throw a fastball here and use the slider as a finisher, but the opponent is who they are. A fastball around 130km/h, and one that doesn’t hit the corners, would be asking to get hammered.

The feeling of the ball leaving my fingertips is excellent.

Perfectly scratched. A slider that breaks away from the middle of the zone from a left-handed batter’s perspective. He has no choice but to swing.

-Whoosh!!!

“Strike!”

Yes!!

With that, the ball count is quickly 0-2.

I felt An Byeong-yeong’s gaze on me from the bullpen. I can’t help but hate that guy. Of course, the biggest flaw is that I can’t expect others to feel the same way.

I remember the ridiculous confession he was spouting yesterday. Is it because graduation is coming up? But I made it clear. Don’t go around hitting on girls and stay a jerk until the end. Just like how Jeong-hoon *hyung* [older brother or male friend] stayed a jerk until the end so we could all rally together, you have to stay that way too.

Of course, I was surprised to see the shocked look on his face as he repeated, ‘Me, Kim Jeong-hoon?’ That bastard. I knew he was shameless, but I didn’t know he didn’t even realize he was the jerk of our class.

Lee Jinwoo shook his head again.

Now is not the time to be thinking about An Byeong-yeong. Han Min-joon adjusted his stance at the plate.

In fact, 0-2 is an extremely favorable count for the pitcher. The batter has no choice but to swing at almost any pitch, and the pitcher has three chances to fool the batter.

The problem is that Jinwoo himself doesn’t have a finishing pitch to use in this situation. He’s already used up all the pitches he normally uses as finishers.

Here, I have no choice but to throw a slider that breaks out of the zone, which felt the best today.

Of course, with a course that breaks away a little more than before.

Third pitch.

Not a set position. A windup. A bit of a bluff to completely finish the batter with this full-force pitch and end the inning. Hoping that the feeling of his pitch being a head-on battle is conveyed even a little more.

The baseball left his hand.

The intended course was a course that broke away a little more than the second pitch. But the place where the ball flew was a course that was a little more concentrated than that.

The ace who pitched a no-hitter in the last game, throwing 147 pitches, swung his bat.

-Clang!!

A fast hit barely missed the shortstop’s glove. A center-right hit that was slightly biased to the right. The first base runner ran. And the one who caught the ball the fastest was Kyung-seok, the right fielder.

First base? It’s already too late. The first base runner was already past second base and heading towards third. Kyung-seok quickly stepped up and threw the ball towards third base.

A direct throw.

It was a choice that he could make because he was usually quite confident in his shoulder. If it had gone as intended, he might have been able to barely get the out.

But the reality flowed a little differently from what he thought. The throw was a little too high. And Jin-cheol, the third baseman of Joongang High, did not smoothly receive that slightly high throw. A defensive mistake that occasionally occurs in high school baseball. It was enough of a mistake for the first base runner to go to second and the third base runner to go all the way home.

1:0

Kyung-seok, who attempted a direct throw, and Jin-cheol, who failed to receive the ball. Whose fault was it more? I don’t know. However, what is certain is that Kyung-seok is a sophomore and Jin-cheol is a senior. Kyung-seok’s face hardened.

“It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s still just one point. One out. Let’s catch them calmly.”

Lee Jinwoo shouted at Kyung-seok.

Do I feel frustrated and like my insides are burning? Of course, I do.

I want to run over there right now and yell at them for such a terrible defense. But I’m holding back. He wasn’t Choi Soo-won. Not even An Byeong-yeong. Lee Jinwoo was just an extremely ordinary pitcher who desperately needed the help of his defense.

The game continued.

***

Han Min-joon’s insides were boiling.

He wanted to pitch.

Of course, many people said it. That high school baseball is just a stepping stone to becoming a professional and that this is just a showcase. That there’s no need to wear out your shoulder here. But it’s only natural to get angry when you lose, even when playing board games with friends. Let alone a national tournament. Of course, I want to win.

But it was impossible.

Was it the right choice to graduate from middle school and study in Seoul after all? The stories in comics and novels were just dreams. Half of the teammates who had raised the team to the national level together in the first grade had already given up baseball, and the rest were just continuing to play baseball.

If anything, it was fortunate that Joongang High today was not a strong team on a national level either.

And that their ace, Choi Soo-won, was not on the mound. Does that mean they don’t even need to send out their ace against us? Maybe so.

But it’s okay. That carelessness will be the weapon that defeats them.

Third round.

If we can just get past today’s game. Han Min-joon himself can pitch again in the fourth round. The possibility still exists.

1:0

One out, runner on second.

Choi Soo-won steps up to the plate.

He’s a sophomore who’s attracting attention from all over the country. His contribution was significant in winning both of the previous two games by a cold game [mercy rule]. As a pitcher, and as a batter.

A walk-off walk with bases loaded. But even that tactic was a reasonable one for the batter.

‘If it were me······’

I would have been able to compete enough.

Jong-yeon, who was on the mound, threw the ball far away.

It was an intentional walk. Since there was already a record of him hitting a ball that was missed during an intentional walk in the weekend league, such a mistake did not occur.

One out, runners on first and second.

-Clang!!

And Jo Gyu-hyeok, the fourth hitter who boasts the hottest bat in this national tournament, hit a long hit that brought all the runners home.

2:1

The game is not over yet.

***

July.

The sun had passed its zenith, but the temperature still showed no signs of dropping. Thanks to the high humidity, the feels like temperature was close to 35 degrees Celsius. The uniforms were soaked with sweat, and when you squeezed them after the inning, drops of sweat would drip down.

Top of the 4th inning.

Lee Jinwoo was still on the mound. Of course, it wasn’t because he had pitched a perfect shutout. The only inning he finished without giving up a run was the 2nd. 1 run in the 1st inning, and 2 runs in the 3rd inning. The reason he was still in this position was because the opposing team’s runs were greater than his, and because the team was trying not to use Choi Soo-won and An Byeong-yeong as much as possible.

Lee Jinwoo shook his head.

Even in a situation where I feel like I’m going crazy from the heat, I have so many *japnyum* [雜念, 잡념: idle thoughts; stray thoughts; random thoughts; wandering thoughts].

Two outs, runners on 1st and 3rd.

The score is 5:3

And at the plate is Han Min-joon, who had recorded hits in two consecutive at-bats.

He *meotdeureojige* [멋들어지게: stylishly; elegantly; gracefully] raised his bat at the plate. Anyone could see that he was material to go pro.

‘So, I’ve thrown 78 pitches so far? 79 pitches?’

I don’t know. Maybe it was over 80. My head under the hat was *tteugeun tteugeun* [뜨끈뜨끈: hot; heated].

But there’s still strength left in my grip.

As *kkadaroopge* [까다롭게: 까다롭게: 까다롭다 (to be picky; to be fussy; to be 까다롭다 (to be picky; to be fussy; to be fastidious)] as possible.

Even if I give up a walk, it doesn’t matter. Here, I’ll attack the outside course as much as possible.

First pitch, fastball.

-Thwack!!

It was way off. But Jo Yoo-jin caught the ball excellently.

Second pitch. With the feeling of *bakgetdaneun teureo* [박겠다는 틀어: 박다 (to drive; to hammer; to ram; to thrust; to sink) + 틀어 (twist)] inside a little, just a little, than the first pitch.

-Clang!!!

Damn it, it was too *mollida* [몰렸다: 몰리다 (to be driven; to be pushed; to be cornered)].

But thankfully. The high fly ball goes out of the third base foul line.

1-1.

Third pitch.

Slider.

-Whoosh!!

Han Min-joon’s bat *hwijeoeotda* [휘저었다: stir] the air.

It was a very well-scratched ball with a subtle course. It would have been better if this kind of ball had come out with two strikes.

Ball count 1-2.

Fourth and fifth pitches. Ball, and foul.

2-2.

The count was still favorable. I threw a light pick-off throw and prepared the sixth ball.

Who was it? Anyway, someone famous said that fastballs are talent and changeups are effort. That’s *gaesori* [개소리: nonsense; bullshit].

I’ve really worked hard at baseball so far. I can be sure of that. Even if I were to be born again, I wouldn’t be able to work harder than this.

Innate hardware isn’t the only talent. Acquiring software is also an area of talent. But if hardware is an insurmountable barrier, the ability to acquire software is an area that can be filled to some extent with time and effort. That’s why I’ve honed my lacking talent for a very long time.

No matter how hard I try, I can’t stick a 150km/h fastball into the strike zone. No matter how hard I try, I can’t adjust the drop of a curveball or learn the knack of throwing it freely across the strike and ball zones.

Just one thing.

A curveball that can be stuck into the strike zone with a high probability.

A 2-2 count.

It was a slow curveball with a slightly high course.

The timing was slightly off. But Han Min-joon was able to adjust his posture with his innate talent. He knew through the drop of the curveballs that Jinwoo had thrown earlier. That this ball was definitely going to pass through the zone.

That’s why he calmly swung his bat at the incoming ball.

!?

But the trajectory of the slow ball flying in at a high course was different from what Han Min-joon had expected. It was only natural. Because it was also different from the drop that Lee Jinwoo himself, who threw the ball, had thought.

-Whoosh

“Strike!!!”

Lee Jinwoo, who struck out the first strikeout of today’s game, raised both hands high on the mound.

As if he had done a no-hitter.

Is my head messed up because it’s too hot?

Tears welled up in Jinwoo’s eyes.

‘Yes.’

Yes, at least in the last moment, he won against true talent. Even if it was a *siltu* [실투: bad throw].

Isn’t that the beauty of baseball?

4 innings, 3 runs.

88 pitches.

Lee Jinwoo came down from the mound.

And in the bottom of the 4th inning.

No outs, bases loaded.

Choi Soo-won came to the plate.

5:3

The next hitter is Jo Gyu-hyeok, who had recorded long hits in two consecutive at-bats in the previous inning.

A walk-off walk?

Yes, Choi Soo-won is a threatening hitter. But he was a hitter who had only walked in the last three games without even getting a proper hit. On the other hand, Jo Gyu-hyeok is a hitter who has recorded 2 home runs in the previous game and is currently emerging as a candidate for the home run king of the tournament.

Giving up one more point here with a walk-off walk and giving the home run king a no-out bases loaded at-bat? If he hits a home run, it’s a cold game as it is? The coach of Baekwon High could not choose that at all.

And as a result, the talent that can only be described as unreasonable finally swung his bat at Mokdong Stadium.

-Clang!!!

9:3

“Ah, I should have gone to study in Seoul after all······.”

-There is no individual greater than the team.

Han Min-joon, who recorded a 147-pitch no-hitter against the semi-final team in the last game, once again realized that it was a proposition that could never be broken.