When It's Time to Run (3)
Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!
"Batter number two! Kim Yuntae!"
Lee Hajun had reached base as the leadoff man and stolen second successfully. The voices of the Hawks fans, hungry for the first run of the game, were growing louder by the second.
[He took off on the very first pitch. Lee Hajun is truly aggressive.]
[Tae Minho should have been more aware of Lee Hajun's speed and held him tighter. He got far too complacent. This makes Manager Park Taesik's job a whole lot easier.]
Crack—!
Number-two hitter Kim Yuntae laid down a bunt.
"Out!"
The ball rolled toward third faster than expected, but the Warriors infield never even considered throwing for Lee Hajun.
[They calmly throw to first for the out. One down. The Hawks already have a chance to take the lead in the first inning.]
[That was close. Without Lee Hajun's speed, they could easily have challenged him at third.]
I'll run whenever I can.
Hajun was already eyeing home. The Warriors infield was playing in. If Park Jinhyeok—who had real power—sent one into the outfield, the advance would be meaningless. But if it was a ground ball, they would do everything possible to cut down the runner at the plate.
That was how tight today's starting pitching matchup was expected to be. Tae Minho came with a pitch low in the zone.
CRACK—!
The instant Park Jinhyeok swung, every eye locked on. The man trying to score and the men trying to stop him. But baseball never flows the way anyone prepares for.
[He got it! Park Jinhyeok!]
"Wooooaaahhh!"
The moment the ball left the bat, the crowd at Hawks Park rose as one and stared toward the left-field wall. The ball kept climbing, stretching deep into the outfield. Yet left fielder Chae Yongbin settled under it well before the warning track and squeezed it cleanly.
[Chae Yongbin makes the catch. In the meantime Lee Hajun tags and scores. The Daejeon Hawks take the first run of the game!]
[For a second it looked like it might leave the park, but it must have caught the inner half of the bat.]
The hope of a home run. The disappointment of a fly ball. And still the quiet satisfaction that at least it had been a sacrifice fly. In the span of a few seconds the Hawks fans rode every emotion, then raised their light sticks and celebrated the run.
"Nice! Nice!"
"Great steal!"
Hajun high-fived his way into the dugout.
"……"
"Ah—!"
He had barely sat down with a drink, ready to watch the rest of the inning, when he had to stand right back up. Manager Park Taesik was walking toward him.
"Well done. Keep doing exactly that."
"Sir?"
One short line, and the manager turned and left. The teammates nearby had tensed for a longer speech, then relaxed with a collective yeah, that tracks. Park Taesik was still young for a skipper, but he was never the big-brother type of leader.
"Thank you, sir!"
Of course Hajun answered with full respect. This was the man who had given him the starting job last time and today had handed him the leadoff spot—an enormous opportunity.
"Funny. You hit a walk-off homer and he barely blinked, but one hit and a steal and he comes over like that?"
Once the manager was gone, Jin Yeongil leaned in from the side.
"The skipper lights up more when you give him the exact play he wants."
"Hey! Hyung!"
Yeongil had tried to keep his voice low, but it carried. Park Jisu, sitting close enough to hear, answered. Today he was starting at third in place of designated hitter Park Jinhyeok.
"Hajun batting leadoff and playing shortstop—solid defense, getting on base, stealing, scoring. That's exactly the kind of player the manager needs right now."
"Ah……"
It didn't take Hajun long to understand. Every team builds a plan to win and constructs the lineup around it. Right now the Hawks—and Manager Park Taesik—desperately needed someone who could hit leadoff and hold down shortstop with stability. Lee Hajun had been chosen as that man.
Hmm……
Only a little while ago he had been worrying about survival. Now people were placing expectations on him. He still didn't know how high those expectations ran, but he had no choice except to meet them—and right now he believed he could.
"Strike three! You're out!"
Thud.
Watching cleanup hitter Kim Dongseong go down swinging, Hajun rose from the bench. Time to take the field and protect the infield as shortstop.
[Top of the sixth, one out, runners on first and second. At the plate, number-five hitter Guk Byeongcheol!]
On the mound, Yu Seungjin calmly exchanged signs. He had always been a man who grew stronger in crisis.
CRACK—!
Guk Byeongcheol, a home-run hitter who would leave his mark on league history—yet still wearing the label of an empty power threat. He swung thinking fastball away; the ball caught the bottom of the bat. Face tight with urgency, he sprinted for first.
A weak infield grounder. For Hawks veteran second baseman Ji Gyeongjun it was far too easy.
"Out!"
Ji Gyeongjun flipped to shortstop Lee Hajun for the second out.
"Out!"
Hajun stepped on second and fired to first in one motion, completing the double play for the third out.
[Clean double play. Yu Seungjin escapes the jam!]
[Hahaha, classic Yu Seungjin. That was masterful pitching—perfect setup.]
After getting two outs he had dropped a changeup away. For Guk Byeongcheol, swinging through empty air would actually have been the better result.
"Yu Seungjin! Yu Seungjin! Yu Seungjin!"
Everyone assumed six innings would be his limit. The home fans poured genuine gratitude and cheers onto their ace for the brilliant outing.
[Bottom of the sixth, one out. At the plate, Lee Hajun, already with two hits today.]
In the bottom of the second, Hawks second baseman Ji Gyeongjun had gone deep for a solo shot. In the top of the fourth, Warriors' Ryan had answered with one of his own. Both starters—Yu Seungjin and Tae Minho—had allowed a homer yet still delivered the quality pitching everyone expected.
[Ninety-two pitches. This will probably be Tae Minho's last inning as well.]
[Exactly. From the Warriors' side, trailing and sliding into a bullpen battle isn't ideal, but…]
"If we score here, things get a lot more comfortable."
"Yes, sir."
Manager Park Taesik was a little disappointed it was already one out, yet he still pinned his hopes on the top of the order coming up.
"Everyone! We can score this inning! This is the moment we need your voices!"
The cheer leader called for the Hawks fans to dig deeper. Even though they led in a pitchers' duel, the Warriors had put more runners on base, and the energy in the park had grown a touch sluggish.
"Lee Hajun, fighting!"
"Show us again!"
Hajun stepped into the box listening to the sudden jump in decibels from the stands. One home run aside, the Hawks lineup had barely managed to reach against Warriors starter Tae Minho.
He completely owned me last time.
Two at-bats, two singles. But the second hit had been an infield single after he barely nicked a diving changeup. If Warriors shortstop Kwak Jaewoo had taken one extra step, even Hajun's legs couldn't have saved that weak grounder.
Changeups really are tough.
A faint frown on his face, Hajun set himself and watched the pitcher.
Pop—!
"Strike!"
Pop—!
"Ball!"
Excellent fastball. Still not quite Park Haein level. The standard for a starter's stuff and a closer's stuff had to be different, of course.
One strike, one ball. The count that decided whether the pitcher would seize control. Proven ace Tae Minho delivered.
"Strike!"
"Tsk."
Hajun swung through a fastball in on the hands.
Too eager.
He glanced at the catcher's mitt location and simply shook his head. Swallowing the frustration, he reset his stance.
[Tae Minho has the advantage now.]
[Lee Hajun has been carrying the Hawks lineup all day. Can they stop his momentum here…]
Tae Minho prepared to throw. With the count one ball and two strikes, there was no need for long deliberation. Catcher Lee Gyuho set his mitt a little low and away.
Pop!
"Ball!"
"……"
A picture-perfect diving changeup. Hajun flinched, but the bat never left his shoulder.
I can see it now—things I never used to see.
He settled back into his stance with quiet ease.
Pop—!
"Ball!"
[Ball! Lee Hajun lays off the inside fastball.]
[Excellent eye, as always.]
Both the confident changeup and the fastball had been nullified. Walking this runner would create a real headache. For good reason, Tae Minho and Lee Gyuho took extra time exchanging signs.
[Full count. What will they throw?]
"Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Hit! Lee! Hajun!"
The Hawks fans hammered their light sticks until they nearly shattered, roaring for him. Tae Minho delivered the pitch—exactly the location Lee Gyuho wanted.
CRACK—!
[He got it!]
A cutter jammed hard inside. For years that pitch had shattered countless bats. Hajun's bat stayed whole.
[Base hit over the second baseman!]
The crack of palms and light sticks never stopped. Even after the ball landed fair, the play was still alive.
[Woo Jaechun throws to second!]
Hajun's ball had dropped between center and right, just ambiguous enough to make the extra base worth the risk.
"Safe!"
[Safe at second! Safe at second! With one out, Lee Hajun turns it into a double!]
[Hahaha, he's been incredible today.]
Hajun clenched his fist in celebration. Truthfully, the play at second hadn't even been that close.
"Lee Hajun! Lee Hajun! Lee Hajun!"
A game that had felt stifling even while leading. Now a clean hit and pure speed blew the tension wide open. The Hawks fans sang and cheered as if the run had already scored.
Whether the young player out there was a brief shooting star or the start of a legend, none of the Hawks fans cared in that moment.