The President's Cup Quarterfinals End in a Dramatic Turnaround
The tide had finally turned.
Just like Choi Seungtaek had said in the top of the seventh.
Thwack!
"First base!"
Kim Min-jae’s ground ball rolled along the dirt with a lazy spin.
The shortstop from Han-gok High sprinted over, but the ball was too soft from the start, so the runner beat the throw and slid safely into first.
"Safe!"
"Damn."
Lee Tae-yang bit his lip hard.
Playing against the third batter of Suseok High and now the sixth had confirmed it: the top-ranked team’s hitters were going for fastballs with reckless abandon.
Han-gok High’s lineup had clearly decided to stop worrying about the splitter.
So if I just throw the splitter…
He couldn’t.
Lee Tae-yang had figured it out in a heartbeat. The sophomore catcher had kept sending the fastball signal first, and only after multiple refusals did he finally flash the splitter.
His younger teammate was reluctant to catch it.
"Strike!"
Just barely two strikes on two fastballs.
But the timing was already shifting toward the fastball.
"Hoo…"
Still, he went ahead and tried one more splitter.
Click. Click.
Click.
"Hoo…"
The sophomore catcher from Han-gok High was visibly tense, his mitt trembling.
Whoosh.
Thwack!
"Ugh!"
"Got him!"
Lee Tae-yang unleashed a high-level splitter, but the catcher couldn’t handle the sharp break. The ball slipped under the mitt and hit the ground.
"Run! Run!"
Kim Min-jae, who had been on first, darted to second.
Kim Min-hyuk, batting seventh, charged toward first. With one out, runners on second and third, Han-gok High finally loaded the bases in the top of the seventh.
The answer is clear.
Lee Tae-yang rubbed up the rosin and took a breath.
Click.
Bottom of the order, so I’ll just overwhelm them with fastballs. No thinking about what’s behind me.
He had faced a difficult situation because of the catcher, but he still wasn’t shaken.
Whoosh.
Thwack!
The radar gun flashed 154 km/h on the fastball, and even in the seventh inning he was throwing with a strong shoulder.
On that overwhelming pitch, Im Do-young swung and popped up, ending up with a double play. Han-gok High breathed a sigh of relief and escaped the danger.
"Tough luck. Really tough."
Choi Seungtaek muttered to himself.
"Why not just pound them with fastballs? How are they supposed to do it?"
"There are two ways left for the other side."
"Two ways?"
The two juniors—second and third batters—were waiting beside Seungtaek and talking it over.
"One, go with fastballs all the way until the end."
"That’s the simplest approach."
"Brute force, but if you have the stuff, it works. Can you hit it?"
"We’ll give it a try."
"What’s the other option?"
Choi Seungtaek asked while putting on his catcher gear.
"Two, throw everything higher than usual."
"Higher?"
"Yeah. You’re throwing your fastball low and your splitter even lower, right? So they’re getting lots of ground balls, which is powerful, but the catchers have trouble handling them."
"Exactly. That’s why they’ve been getting shelled since the sixth."
"So if I throw both the fastball and the splitter higher, the catcher can actually catch them. The downside is it’ll be a little more hittable, but since I have two pitches I can fight back with."
"Hah…"
"That’s the opportunity."
Choi Seungtaek stood up and lifted his mask.
"Don’t sigh. We’re throwing hard too. Did they get any hits off first base?"
"One walk."
"Seventy-two, huh. The perfect swing is gone. Come on, let’s go."
"Yes, senior!"
Choi Seungtaek threw in a spicy curse and headed into the field, while Kim Jin-ho, the second batter, grabbed his glove and followed him in.
* * *
Choi Seungtaek’s turn came in the top of the eighth.
One out, runners on the corners—perfect situation.
As soon as the eighth inning started, Na Min-ho crushed a fastball and came up with a leadoff single. Lee Tae-yang immediately changed his strategy.
Following Choi Seungtaek’s advice, he began throwing everything higher, and that change finally let the catcher handle the splitter.
With the adjustment, Seo Gi-hyun was struck out, but the Han-gok High second and third batters, who had been tipped off, started hammering the splitter instead and loaded the bases again.
Choi Seungtaek stepped into the box.
[Lee Tae-yang: A Grade Prospect, Condition: Tired.]
[Pitches: FB, Preferred Splitter: Splitter]
Good. He’s tired. The fastball dropped from early 150s to late 140s. Even tired, he’s still throwing that hard. What a maniac.
Choi Seungtaek timed his fastball exactly like he had against Kang Taepoong.
Kang Taepoong is the same, but I have to beat this guy first to face the next one.
The System’s vision gave him Lee Tae-yang’s new trajectory.
The ball is noticeably higher now. Easier to pull.
Choi Seungtaek looked at the sophomore catcher. The second-year was still flashing signals from the dugout.
Is he going to pass me? Bases loaded, one out—passing would be a double play.
He prayed inside his heart for the catch to hold.
In a situation where both sides were desperate, the stronger heart always won. Lee Tae-yang, a high-schooler, didn’t have the steel heart that a pro would show. Pros were still panicking in these moments. He didn’t think Lee Tae-yang would throw a perfect pitch.
He’s on the edge of the cliff. He has to swing.
Lee Tae-yang ignored the signal from the dugout.
He had watched his own team’s attack. For some reason, Han-gok High was completely shut down by Kang Taepoong’s stuff. Most of them were striking out in five pitches or less, and the ones that made contact were hitting ground balls.
He realized the truth: if even one run scored, they lost.
In that light, Lee Tae-yang could never choose to pass on Choi Seungtaek.
No, he couldn’t accept it.
Passing? Not a chance. Too humiliating.
Lee Tae-yang gripped the rosin bag tight again.
"Hoo…"
The white rosin dust flew into the air, and where the smoke cleared, Choi Seungtaek stood.
Click. Click.
Click.
Whoosh.
Thwack!
"Strike!"
The ball is really high. The splitter is coming right into the zone.
Even the drop from up high was sharp.
But that means the fastball is rising too.
Click.
Wait, the signs have been too honest since the beginning. First pitch fastball, second pitch changeup. That’s too much.
Choi Seungtaek had already decoded the sophomore catcher’s signal system.
If I didn’t know, I would have been hit, but now that I do, he’s going to have to take it.
"Hey, Han-gok catcher. I know you’re tense, but change your signal system."
"What?"
"This pitch is a fastball."
"Huh?"
Whoosh.
Thwack!
Thwack!
— Choi Seungtaek’s ball goes deep!
— Finally, Choi Seungtaek has hit Lee Tae-yang!
— The ball clears the fence! Choi Seungtaek doesn’t stop swinging against Lee Tae-yang either! Seoul Suseok High, breaking the silence and taking the lead first!
Choi Seungtaek’s swing was clean and powerful.
He felt the sweet spot but something felt off, so he dropped the bat and sprinted to first.
The runners on second and third scored. Choi Seungtaek rounded second. Score: 2-0. In the eighth inning, the balance finally broke.
Still one out with runners on second and third, the crisis at Gwangju Hana High was not over.
Han Bang-man stepped into the box as the fifth batter.
"Haa…"
Relatively easier than facing Choi Seungtaek, but Han-gok High decided to fill first base.
Lee Tae-yang followed the manager’s instructions this time. His face was grim.
He had sensed it: they were going to lose in the semifinals.
* * *
"It looks like it’s almost decided."
"Not yet. You don’t know until the finals."
Scouts were recalculating the value of Choi Seungtaek.
Offensive catcher Ha Seung-yoon versus defensive catcher Choi Seungtaek.
Both were top prospects, but the scouts were seeing the gap with Ha Seung-yoon narrow down with every appearance of Choi Seungtaek.
Even an unknown team was here, and the more desperate the team for a catcher, the steeper the evaluation of Choi Seungtaek rose.
Defense is backup-catcher level, and he can hit? Then he’s better than Ha Seung-yoon?
His cumulative numbers were still overwhelming Ha Seung-yoon’s, but in the President’s Cup his hitting had been insane.
Now all that remained was whether he would look good against the most talented prospect, Go Tae-san, and then he would be ranked higher than Ha Seung-yoon.
The scouts sitting in the stands near home were all feeling the same thing: they were jotting down Choi Seungtaek’s numbers, and their pens were trembling.
Especially the scouts from Gangnam Parrots and Ulsan Egrets, who needed catchers badly, were overwhelmed.
Damn, that means third round. Hoo… Are other teams raising catchers this high too?
What round? Catcher is important but… I have to pick a pitcher too…
An unknown team’s scout was there as well, and he saw other clubs starting to seriously think about it.
Glancing sideways, one scout changed the round from 3 to 2 for Choi Seungtaek.
Maniacs. Fine, let’s see who dies.
The unknown scout changed the 4 to 2 for himself.
They were desperate for a catcher too.