Natural Disaster (3)
Thwack!!
Hearing that, Kang Dongho shot back at the caster.
Haha… so was I wrong?
[…]
The caster had no reply.
“Donghwa hyungnim's got some guts too.”
Titans manager Jeong Hyeonho wagged his tongue at Rhinos skipper Andonghwa's aggressive pitching change.
“Total war out there. But even if they win today like this, do they have a future?”
“Who knows… Do they even have time to worry about that? Winning now is what matters.”
Pitching coach Kim Pilseon nodded along. Thinking about it, the Rhinos had no choice but to go all-in today.
“Well, our Yuha's gonna win it all anyway.”
“Yeah, no doubt.”
Thwack!!
“Strike three!”
Jin Yuha's 160 km/h four-seamer clipped the edge of the strike zone, ending the bottom of the third.
“…Hah.”
Song Jeongwoo, who'd scratched out a fighting bunt single in his first at-bat, let out a hollow sigh and trudged back to the dugout with heavy steps.
“Looks like they're choking up to burn pitches and get Yuha out early…”
“They tried that in Game 1 too, and it flopped.”
“Think this one's gonna be the same?”
Not just manager Jeong Hyeonho—everyone in the stadium had the game's flow figured out.
“Everything rides on our lineup scoring before Yuha comes out.”
“The Rhinos'll pull out all the stops on the mound to stop that.”
So then.
“Rhinos bullpen vs. Jin Yuha? What is this, Man vs. Wild?”
“Nah, that's no good… Man wins then.”
“Huh? Yuha's Man, so wouldn't Man winning be great?”
“Oh, I thought Wild was Yuha for a sec. Guy's such a natural disaster.”
“Huh. That tracks.”
Jeong Hyeonho shrugged.
“Doesn't matter if Yuha's Wild. It's all fake anyway.”
Reality was.
“How's a human supposed to beat nature?”
That simple.
Top of the fourth.
Coming off three days' rest, Carl Lower's velocity was down from usual. But.
“…He's in top form today, huh?”
Lower wasn't a velocity guy to begin with. To me, this looked like peak condition for him.
Thwack!!
“Strike three!”
“Ugh… that's a strike? That thing?”
The opponents were groaning naturally—the ball had grazed the black perfectly. Most of Lower's pitches this inning were like that.
“At that level…”
Back before regression, Lower had bragged, “On a good day, I can hit all nine zones.” Not much exaggeration there. Of course.
“Doubt he'll last past the sixth.”
No matter how sharp his stuff, he couldn't go deep. Maybe.
'If he hits a jam first, he might come out even sooner…'
I glanced at Jeong Hanseong, who was suiting up in catcher gear.
“What.”
“Nothin'.”
If any Titan was gonna force that jam, it'd be this guy.
Just a hunch. And my hunches are usually spot on.
How many times had I faced guys choking up to run up my pitch count?
'Can't even count.'
No matter the league's level, facing a dominant ace always boiled down to the same crap.
'Pre-regression, some idiots even picked fights to clear benches on purpose, but that was on them.'
Anyway. I knew better than anyone how to handle batters trying to bleed me dry.
Thwack!!
“Strike!”
Key was getting ahead in the count.
Thwack!!
“Foul!”
They'd given up power anyway. Even hits would be singles. So I attacked the zone aggressively.
Whoosh!!
Next up.
Vroom!!
Two main ways.
Thwack!!
“Swinging strike three!”
First: Bury it where they can't touch it.
- 164 km/h
A jaw-dropping heater.
Thwack!!
“Foul!”
Second: Against aggressive swingers.
Whoosh!!
A pitch they couldn't resist.
Vroom!!
A perfect breaking ball.
Crack!!
“Out!”
Obviously, not anyone could pull it off.
Just me.
Thwack!!
“Strike three!”
Top of the fifth.
Crack!!
Thwack!!
“Strike three!”
Crack!!
Top of the sixth.
Step, step.
Leadoff man Jeong Hanseong walked slowly to the plate.
He was the only Titan with a hit today. But.
- “Nice? Bragging over one lousy single?”
His annoying friend had said that.
'Damn punk… Jealous, then hit it yourself…'
Jeong Hanseong shook his head.
Jin Yuha was the type to actually do it if pushed.
'And smash it hard.'
“Sigh…”
Having a friend that good just meant more sighs. Still.
- “You're leadoff, right? I'll tell you what to do.”
Being buddies with Jin Yuha had its perks.
Whoosh!!
'First pitch outside. Take it.'
Thwack!!
“Strike!”
- “Hitting every pitch is impossible for you anyway.”
Whoosh!!
'Second one's inside. Swing!'
Vroom!!
“Strike!”
The ball barely missed the bat.
0-2. No problem.
- “So make the pitcher come to you.”
Going to plan.
'Ignored outside, chased inside.'
- “What does the pitcher think? You're hunting inside, right?”
A finesse guy like Lower would.
- “He'll throw outside for the kill shot.”
He'd asked if the sharp Rhinos battery might overthink it.
- “Hanseong. Be humble. Objectively, you're not the hitter they need to outsmart.”
Cold truth.
“Tch. Damn jerk.”
“What?”
“Sorry. Zoned out.”
“Heard the Titans' rookies are cocky. Watch it.”
“Ah… yes, sir.”
Brushing off the unexpectedly old-school catcher.
'Yeah, overthink against a high school grad rookie like me?'
Jeong Hanseong locked in.
Whoosh!!
'Outside… outside… outside!'
Pitch came outside, as induced.
- “What pitch? Not a four-seam—you handle those fine, and Lower's heater's meh anyway.”
So.
'Slider!'
Vroom!!
Jeong Hanseong swung on slider timing.
Crack!!
A crisp hit echoed through the park.
“Argh! Won't go!”
Pat-pat!
He gritted his teeth and raced to the bag.
Crack!!
“Time!”
Watching Lower trudge off, Jin Yuha nodded.
“Knew it… My instincts are on fire this year. This is prophecy level.”
Self-fulfilling prophecies still counted.
The third hurler, closer Baek Seunghan, threw the Rhinos' fastest heat. Cute next to Jin Yuha, sure, but still.
Crack!!
His 158 km/h four-seamer turned into an RBI single. After whiffing Baek Jihun and Jeong Suyeong back-to-back, he couldn't get past Kang Gihoo's wall.
“Hah…”
They'd emptied the pen before Yuha exited to keep it scoreless. Failed.
“How many pitches on Yuha?”
“…47.”
Plan to wear him out? Failed too. So.
All plans in the trash.
“Damn it…”
Rhinos manager Andonghwa hung his head in defeat. But.
“…Can't end it here.”
Andonghwa and the Rhinos weren't quitting yet.
“Yuha's not invincible. He's given up runs plenty. And it's four days' rest.”
Four more chances left.
“No more choking up.”
Last year's East champs.
“From now on, we go head-on with Yuha. Our way.”
Time for Rhinos baseball.
“Hanseong. Thanks.”
“…You got it!”
The Rhinos not knowing Yuha's heavy hand in the Titans' run was probably for the best.
If they did, they might've crumbled right there.