Chapter 73
Chapter 73
Bases loaded.
The perfect moment to seal the series.
But conversely, if that chance was wasted, the backlash would hit just as hard.
The Wolves players heading onto the field for defense shared nearly the same thoughts.
‘…We screwed up.’
‘Ha. We should have scored this time for real.’
Under normal circumstances, the players might have felt some regret, but they wouldn’t have been crushed.
The Wolves had a strong winning mentality, and missing a bases-loaded opportunity didn’t mean they were losing the game.
But the pressure of Game 7 of the Korean Series, and the thought of facing Park Si-woo for the remaining innings, tangled their minds.
The Marines’ atmosphere shifted as well.
They had considered losing when it became bases loaded, but when Park Si-woo walked out from the bullpen, their thoughts changed.
‘It’s done now.’
True to that thought, bases loaded was stopped without any runs.
Every player steeled themselves.
“We can do this. Just one run!”
It was Park Si-woo who stood on the mound.
With him there, the Marines could never lose.
It had been proven all season long, and the season was far from over.
Their thoughts quickly translated into action.
Starting with Ha Seo-jin in the bottom of the fourth.
Crack!
Inside the line! Fair! Ha Seo-jin reached second! The Marines seize the opportunity right after a crisis!
The next batter, Rex Graves, had spent the season swinging for home runs, frustrating and thrilling Marines fans in equal measure.
Crack!
Consciously, he rolled the ball toward second base.
Even with slow legs, he couldn’t make it to first safely, but Ha Seo-jin took advantage and reached third.
“Rex! Nice batting! Good good!”
Now it was one out, runner on third.
At that exact moment, both teams’ players had similar thoughts.
‘If that comes in, we lose.’
‘If it goes in, it’s over. Please.’
It was early in the game to think that way, but that was the weight Park Si-woo carried.
The next batter was cleanup hitter Kang Yoon-woo.
Crack!
The first pitch sent a ball flying toward the shallow outfield.
Everyone held their breath, utterly focused.
Ha Seo-jin ran.
The outfielder caught the ball just as Ha Seo-jin left third base.
The timing was nearly simultaneous.
As dust rose, the umpire confidently signaled the result.
“Safe!”
Safe, safe! The Marines break this tense deadlock!
The result prompted Coach Lee Jung-hwan to request a video review immediately.
But the call remained.
Nathan Nash got the final out, ending the inning.
The Wolves’ remaining chances to attack were now five outs.
“One run. We can get at least one. Let’s tie it first and see. The game isn’t over yet. Let’s go, fight!”
After coming this far, conceding one run wasn’t enough to give up.
The Wolves encouraged each other, lifting the mood.
And that mood…
“Strikeout!”
Slowly.
“Strikeout!”
And decisively.
“Strikeout!”
It was all over.
Not many pitches thrown.
Just fourteen.
Bases loaded, no runs, and striking out the bottom of the order to end the fifth inning, Park Si-woo casually spoke to Song Min-seok.
“Feels like I’m warming up now.”
“Really? That’s good.”
The Wolves didn’t know that the conversation alone was a relief.
The pitches that had crushed their morale were thrown before Park Si-woo was fully ready.
Had they heard that, even the last of their determination would have crumbled.
And true to his words, Park Si-woo immediately increased velocity in the next inning.
Whoooosh!
Strike! With a 159 km/h fastball, Park Si-woo takes the count! The speed keeps climbing.
Lucas stepped back slightly to gain time to adjust to the pitch. 108 km/h knuckleball followed by a 159 km/h fastball—it was impossible.
Even when fully conditioned, it was hard to hit Park Si-woo’s pitches.
The batters still carried the fatigue from yesterday’s game.
Crack!
Just making contact under these circumstances was commendable.
But the ball didn’t travel far.
“Out!”
Cha Jae-hoon moved back a few steps and scooped the ball easily, recording the out.
Lucas Ramirez swallowed his frustration, returning to the dugout.
All he could do was toss his bat in exasperation.
“…Fuck.”
“Waaaah!”
Even his curse, meant to drive himself, was drowned out by the Marines’ cheers.
While our offense continued, I closed my eyes briefly and reflected.
Had I ever been this desperate in a game before?
Even in my pro debut, even chasing the first win, even in the bases-loaded relief appearance after the trade, even with records on the line.
I’d never been this desperate.
Crack!
“Out!”
Our team’s hitters weren’t fully in form either.
Scoring a single run felt miraculous.
Getting more than one run seemed unlikely.
But it was fine.
It was a situation I was familiar with.
If we scored, great. If not, it didn’t matter. The game could still end this way.
“Si-woo, time to warm up.”
“Yes.”
Following the pitching coach’s voice, I stepped out of the dugout.
By the time I warmed up, the inning ended.
The score was still 0-1.
As I took the mound, I could see the batter focusing on me from behind Min-seok.
Whether to steel his resolve or hope I faltered, I didn’t know.
Either way, I wouldn’t play into it.
I glanced at Min-seok’s mitt.
Whoooosh!
A light practice pitch, checking all my pitches—knuckleball, hard knuckleball, four-seam fastball, splitter, slider.
This was my last outing of the season.
The result was unknown, but I didn’t want to have regrets.
Whish!
“Strike!”
The batter swung just as the ball passed.
Velocity, 157 km/h.
No outs, bases loaded.
The infield was set.
Even if a run scored, getting the out was the safer choice.
But greed crept in.
If they swung at the first pitch, they were likely trying to put the ball in play.
Using that to get strikeouts…
…Hoo.
Calm down.
I stepped back from the rubber.
I gave my all, and it was 157 km/h.
I’d warmed up, but I wasn’t fully ready.
So I wouldn’t try to stop everything perfectly.
As Cha Jae-hoon had said, there were still many innings left.
Of course, like the opening day, three strikeouts would be ideal.
But throwing here wouldn’t have been possible without the help of my teammates.
Every time I took the mound, they focused and provided reliable support.
So I remained composed.
Crack!
“Foul!”
The slider caught the end of the bat, fouled.
Third pitch, knuckleball, just grazing the high zone.
Crack!
“Foul!”
The batter fought desperately to make contact, fouling again.
After some thought, I chose the last pitch.
Hard knuckleball.
A splitter might induce a swing-and-miss, but the batter expected that.
The recent hard knuckleball hadn’t been used at this timing.
What if it hit?
Hmm… the defense would handle it.
With that thought, I placed three fingers on the ball and threw.
“Strikeout!”
The pitch went right into a dangerous spot.
The batter watched, missing it completely.
Trusting the defense paid off.
The eighth batter prompted the Wolves to pinch-hit, a player optimized for long hits to the outfield.
He was aggressive.
Crack!
“Out!”
An extremely dangerous hitter.
“Out!”
Two outs recorded simultaneously.
Cha Jae-hoon, perfectly handling the line drive, approached, astonished.
“…This isn’t a dream, right?”
“Yes, it isn’t.”
Who would have expected Cha Jae-hoon to pull off such a play at this critical moment?
Looking back, he had been flawless in hitting and fielding throughout the Korean Series.
He wore his signature ‘super play like it’s nothing’ expression, trying to ignore the cameras.
His effort worked perfectly.
“Senior, looking forward to your home run.”
“…Isn’t this enough? And that was just a comment.”
“Cameras are still rolling.”
“…Ah.”