First Taegeuk Mark (10)
Crack!
This ball is snagged by the shortstop! Three outs! The game heads to the bottom of the second.
Liu Fei walked Lee Hajun, but he’s settling in with real composure now.
An off-speed pitch that drifted away outside. Even Woo Jaechun, a hitter with remarkable patience, couldn’t help but offer at it and could only manage a weak grounder.
Liu Fei had surrendered a shocking three runs in the top of the first without recording a single out. Yet after that, even as he looked a little rattled, he was managing to keep the Korean lineup in check.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
The players in the Taiwanese dugout applauded their ace as he held the line.
Pop!
“Strike three!”
Outside fastball! Oh Yeongju records his fifth strikeout of the day!
At a hundred and fifty-eight kilometers an hour, that pitch would be tough to hit even if it came right down the middle.
While Taiwan’s ace was barely hanging on, Korea’s ace Oh Yeongju was proving exactly why he ranked among the very best pitchers in the Korean professional league, putting his full presence on display.
Crack!
He pulled that one hard! But shortstop Lee Hajun was waiting.
“Out!”
A beautiful piece of hitting against a changeup that had drifted a little too far over the plate. Yet Hajun snared the ball deep in the infield with a backhand and threw the runner out at first with that powerful arm of his.
Nine players moving as one—that’s the Korean defense! We head to the top of the third.
Would love to see some more runs this inning.
The pitcher on the mound was breathing fire with his right arm, and even when the Taiwanese hitters managed solid contact, the national team’s fielders were waiting for nearly every ball. One more run would make the game significantly easier for Korea.
Crack!
This one’s high down the right-field line!
The entire Korean dugout rose as one.
Foul ball.
“Damn.”
“So close.”
“Nice swing!”
Ahn Eunwoo, who had already tasted success in the Super Round, got a hold of one of Liu Fei’s mistakes, but his timing was just a fraction early and he couldn’t keep the ball inside the foul pole.
Pop!
“Strike three!”
A strikeout right after the foul home run. Liu Fei set down both Kim Jongbeom and Ahn Eunwoo on strikes and closed out the top of the third.
Crack!
“Out!”
A weak pop fly to third. The Taiwanese hitters looked like they were struggling just to put the ball into the outfield against Oh Yeongju.
“Nice pitching!”
“His stuff is absolutely filthy today.”
“Hajun, that cover was clean just now.”
“Yes, sir.”
Hajun, who had turned in another steady defensive inning, tapped gloves with second baseman Cha Seongmin.
Oh Yeongju shut down the bottom of the third as well. Taiwan’s hitters simply could not square anything up on the barrel of the bat.
One ace grinding it out. The other dominating. That dynamic didn’t change in the fourth either.
Crack!
This one clears the second baseman’s head for a base hit!
Ah, Lee Hajun has been incredible today!
A runner who makes the other team’s head hurt just stepped on base.
Top of the fifth, one out. Lee Hajun drove Liu Fei’s inside off-speed pitch into a single.
I can see it clearly now.
Liu Fei’s fastball today wasn’t much different from usual, but his command of the breaking stuff was definitely off. The left-handed ace standing on the mound right now looked like a lower-level version of the Taiwanese pitcher Hajun had imagined. Across three plate appearances, Hajun had reached base every time and was making life miserable for the opposing pitcher.
“Safe!”
Pickoff throws came in one after another. But Lee Hajun was not the kind of runner who would be rattled by a left-hander’s pickoff moves.
At the plate stood Woo Jaechun, a hitter who thrived on situational baseball.
He’s going!
Pop!
“Strike!”
Woo Jaechun swung through a low pitch. With an extra run potentially fatal, even Taiwan’s catcher—who desperately wanted to keep the runner from reaching scoring position—didn’t dare attempt a throw.
Lee Hajun steals second!
He took off on the changeup timing! You can only call that animal instinct.
Perfect.
He had maintained a generous lead even against the pickoff attempts. If they had come with a truly sharp throw this time, he might have been caught. But that never happened, and with the batter’s swing and the slow changeup working in his favor, Hajun settled onto second without trouble.
Crack!
He pulled it!
The instant the ball left the bat, Hajun broke for third. Woo Jaechun had crushed a changeup that hung just a little too much.
Oh no!
But the opposing second baseman tumbled and still managed to glove it.
“Out!”
Hajun, who had already been thinking about scoring, had to stop at third.
That ball is snagged just barely—two outs!
Taiwan’s infield defense is rock solid too.
These days, Taiwan’s national baseball team was no longer an underdog that needed an upset to beat Korea. Korea had often struggled when Taiwan’s best pitchers took the mound in the past, but one of the biggest changes of a different order entirely was this defense.
Hajun swallowed hard.
A three-run lead. At the plate stood Kim Jongbeom, who had already homered in the first. Their starting pitcher was still dominating. And yet, strangely, Hajun’s instincts were telling him that a run needed to score right now.
Crack!
That’s well struck!
In a moment that felt somehow critical, Hajun clenched his fist as he watched the ball leave the bat.
“Huh?”
Kim Jongbeom had cleanly gone the other way on an outside fastball, living up to his reputation. The right fielder charged in and made a sliding catch on the line drive.
A well-hit ball… is caught!
Ah, that was such a good swing, and it still finds leather.
Liu Fei clapped and celebrated as if he had just escaped death.
“……”
The walk back to the bench felt heavy for Hajun.
Pop!
“Strike three!”
Strikeout! Oh Yeongju records his tenth strikeout of the game!
“Hmm.”
Was I just imagining things?
The word “reliable” fit him perfectly.
Crack!
A routine grounder to third followed.
This one to the third baseman.
Ohhhhh!
Third baseman Kim Jongbeom charged forward trying to glove the ball, but it skipped past him.
It gets through! An error puts a runner on first with one out.
Ah, that’s a really disappointing play.
Looking furious with himself, Kim Jongbeom smacked his own innocent glove.
Our guys need to lock in even more.
A gold medal was on the line, and the opponent was Taiwan—the same team that had pushed them to a one-run game even in the preliminaries. The pitcher had to turn this error into a non-event. The hitters had to turn it into an opportunity. The battle continued.
Pop!
“Strike three!”
High heat! Eleventh strikeout, and that’s two outs!
A strikeout show rarely seen even in the league. Oh Yeongju’s fastball was breathing fire.
We’re good!
Hajun felt a wave of relief. Today’s Oh Yeongju was operating at a level that made him wonder how he would even approach him if they met in the league.
Crack!
That’s well hit—this ball is…
Huh?
Hajun’s eyes flicked instinctively toward left field. A slider that caught too much of the middle against a left-handed batter. The danger became reality.
Right-field wall… it’s gone…… Wei Yan’s two-run homer cuts the lead to one.
Probably should have challenged him with the fastball there. Really unfortunate.
A three-run lead that had looked enormous, then small, had now been cut by two-thirds.
Hajun swallowed hard. A restless tension began to ripple through the Korean national team.
Crack!
It clears the pitcher’s head!
The ball took a high hop and sailed over Oh Yeongju. But Hajun appeared in a flash, fielded it barehanded, and fired to first.
“Out!”
Out! Lee Hajun with another spectacular play!
We are not losing this.
Whether they held this lead to the end or stretched it further, somehow they would win.
The starters’ duel stretched into the sixth. Six innings, eight strikeouts, three runs allowed. Six innings, thirteen strikeouts, two runs allowed. Liu Fei had allowed eleven baserunners while Oh Yeongju had allowed only three, yet the score sat at 2–3. It felt distinctly unfair.
The game shifted into a bullpen battle.
Crack!
This one is not coming back! Park Jinhyeok’s home run!
When Park Jinhyeok’s solo shot left the yard, the Korean dugout erupted.
Crack!
In front of the center fielder! It drops for a hit.
Trusted arm Im Ohyeok followed a wild pitch with a run-scoring single, and the lead was back to a single run at 4–3.
Crack!
This one goes deep… but not deep enough—two outs, yet the runner from third walks home.
Pinch-hitter Kim Seonghee’s sacrifice fly pushed Korea’s lead back to two.
Two-run lead!
Next up were Park Haein and Hong Jongyeon. They had successfully handed the game to the setup man and the closer.
Hajun, who had collected two hits and a walk across four plate appearances, simply wanted the remaining six outs to vanish as quickly as possible.
But then…
Pop!
This pitch gets away……
That was an all-out fastball!
Even Hajun, watching from shortstop, couldn’t help but drop his head for a moment. Park Haein of the Kings, who had clenched his fist thinking he had the strikeout, grabbed his face with both hands.
Two outs, then bases loaded with two outs.
Hajun swallowed hard. Nothing was going according to plan. Bottom of the eighth: Korea 5, Taiwan 3. Four outs suddenly looked like far too many.
Pitching change! Manager Park Seongrae is bringing in Hong Jongyeon.
Korea’s closer Hong Jongyeon took the mound to handle four outs. He was the pitcher who had recorded the most four- and five-out saves in the league.
Pop!
“Strike!”
His confident fastball drew two consecutive swings from the batter.
Good—no balls, two strikes!
The stuff is really sharp……
In a bases-loaded, two-out situation where not being tense was impossible, Hong Jongyeon fired another outside fastball.
Crack!
He had intended a high fastball up and away, but the pitch came in a little lower. Even so, the batter’s bat was pushed back.
And yet.
No!
Hajun could barely believe this was real. The first-base umpire spread both arms. The softly pushed—no, jammed—ball ignored the diving first baseman’s glove and skipped over the bag.
Fair ball!
……
Taiwan’s runners sprinted for home.
“Ahhhh! No way!”
Two college girls sitting in the Korean cheering section, which had gone dead silent, covered their faces and burst into tears, unable to watch.
The runners from third and second scored easily to tie the game. The runner from first was already bearing down on home, ready to cut Korea’s throat halfway, and right fielder Song Junhyeong had already thrown desperately toward the plate.
No……
Catcher Kim Jongin, guarding home plate, was certain the throw’s speed and trajectory would never get the runner. Even a clean, easy throw straight to him would have been a challenge.
“Huh?”
“……”
But the throw never reached home. Shortstop Lee Hajun had cut it off in between.
Lee Hajun cuts off the throw!
Uwaaaaaaah!
In Kim Jongin’s eyes, Hajun’s face looked impossibly calm for the situation. The moment shortstop Lee Hajun caught the throw, he ripped the ball from his glove and fired it to Kim Jongin.
He had thrown with everything he had, yet to Hajun’s eyes the throw looked painfully slow. On the receiving end, though, they saw hope.
The instant he caught it, Kim Jongin spun and tagged the runner charging home with every ounce of strength left in his body.
“……”
And the runner regretted it. Regretted it again. Why had he come in standing instead of sliding? He wanted to kill the version of himself from a few seconds earlier.
“Out!”