The Prodigy Who Rejected the Major League Chapter 10

Chapter 10

 

The President’s Cup National High School Baseball Tournament.

The day of our second-round game against Sudeok High fell on a Sunday.

“You’re here.”

Both sides of my parents had come to the ballpark to cheer me on.

It had been years since I’d last seen the whole family gathered like this.

Around this time, before my regression, they had never come together to support me like this.

‘Back then, we were eliminated in the first round.’

Not long after that, I signed with the Phillies and left for the U.S.

Could winning the first round have come back like this…. as a butterfly effect?

If it were this kind of butterfly effect, I’d welcome it anytime.

“Why do you look like that?”

“Hm?”

Seunghye tugged on my cheek, and my voice came out funny.

“You’re totally relaxed… soft and squishy.”

She didn’t stop pulling at my cheek.

I stayed still.

“You’re weird.”

“Hmwha?”

“You weren’t like this before. If I touched your cheek, you’d get annoyed and complain.”

“Do I smell or something?”

“Pffft!”

Seunghye burst out laughing.

“You really are weird.”

She was the one who had been pulling my cheek, and I’m the weird one?

“You two are playing around again. Are you always like this?”

Seunghee noona frowned as if she had witnessed something unbearable.

“Unni.”

“Are we? Always like this?”

Still, I was glad to hear we were ‘always the same.’

“Yeah. Did you fight while I wasn’t around?”

“No?”

If we had fought, would she be pulling my cheeks like this?

“See? That means you’re the same as ever.”

Seunghee noona sat on the opposite side of Seunghye and asked me,

“You’ve had offers come in, right?”

“Yes. I have.”

Father had hinted that a few Major League teams had already reached out.

Before my regression, it had only been the Phillies.

“So, are you going to America?”

“I don’t know.”

I glanced at Seunghye; her lips were tightly pressed together. I had already told her I would stay domestically, but still.

“I’m going to hear the terms first.”

“No call from the BaySuns?”

“The vibe’s a bit strange. Noona, are you investigating me?”

“You interrogate criminals.”

I raised both hands and spread all ten fingers.

Seunghee noona’s eyes widened.

“All?”

“Yes.”

I nodded.

Father had said all ten KBO teams had reached out.

Before, maybe only Incheon, who needing a catcher would have shown interest, and perhaps a team in need of an outfield prospect.

But he said every team had contacted us.

“Right. A right-handed power-hitting outfielder has rare value.”

“Seriously? All of them?”

Even Seunghye, who had been silent, was hearing this for the first time.

“I only heard a little from Father.”

Of course, that didn’t mean all those teams intended to draft me.

Teams further down the order might want me but not be able to get me.

And in Korea, the tradition was to draft a pitcher in the first round whenever possible.

“But you’re still going to the U.S., right?”

“I said I’ll hear the terms first.”

Seunghye pressed her lips together again.

Cute.

“You’re really going to dodge noona’s question and just smile?”

Seunghee glared at me.

“Aren’t you tired?”

“I am. Why are they making us play baseball at dawn?”

To avoid the scorching midday heat in late July and early August, games were scheduled as early as 8 a.m.

“There’s a coffee machine over there. Let’s get some for our parents.”

They must be tired too.

Today as well, Coach had told us to greet the family and acquaintances who had come to cheer from early morning.

“It’s because of their support that you play good baseball,” he had said.

Ever since I returned, I had been thinking he was right.

So I wondered if there was something interesting I could show them.

And come to think of it… there was.

“There’s another surprise today.”

“What kind of surprise can there be at a baseball field?”

“Like the surprise when you played outfield last time?”

“Something like that.”

“What is it?”

Seunghye’s eyes sparkled. I lightly tugged her cheek this time.

“Not telling.”

“Hm?!”

 

***

 

In the Round of 16 against Sudeok High, we were the away team and batted first in the top of the first.

 

1. Yoo Junho – SS
2. Eom Jongyeob – LF
3. Jeong Dongju – DH
4. Song Seongjun – CF
5. Jin Uwon – 3B
6. Jang Sanghyeon – 1B
7. Nam Woojae – RF
8. Choi Minsu – C
9. Kim Minjae – 2B

 

The lineup had changed quite a bit from the first round.

Both table-setters, Park Songchan and Gang Seungju, were out with injuries.

Since I was starting in center field, Choi Minsu wore the catcher’s mask.

Sudeok High’s starting pitcher was the left-hander Ryu Hyeonjung.

A senior. A lefty with an average fastball in the mid-140s (km/h).

Repertoire: four-seam, slider, curve, splitter.

They said he could top out at 150.

But peak velocity didn’t mean much.

Most pitchers touched 150 in the first spring tournament and never did again; that became their ‘max.’

Only a few consistently hit that mark… guys like Moon Seungchan, who had declared for the U.S.

“So, sit on the fastball and slider?”

“Right.”

I nodded to Jeong Dongju.

“But he throws a curve and splitter too.”

True. That’s what the scouting report said.

But you had to read it properly.

The combined usage of his curve and splitter was only 15%. They were mostly show pitches.

“You confident attacking while accounting for four pitches?”

He shook his head.

“Then focus on the four-seam and slider. Okay?”

Honestly, I wasn’t sure why he was asking me.

Didn’t the coaches already say all this?

“You’re the one who went 5-for-5.”

Five at-bats, five hits. Two home runs. Two doubles. One single.

My stat line from the first round.

But still, so what?

“It’s like a jinx thing.”

He said he felt more at ease entering the game after hearing advice from whoever had hit best in the previous game.

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

I nodded, understanding.

You can’t approach baseball players’ superstitions rationally.

‘Shamanism. Totemism.’

Just roll with it.

“But you’re already back?”

It felt like he had just led off, yet Yoo Junho was walking into the dugout.

“I got trash-zone calls from the start.”

Three-pitch strikeout.

Eom Jongyeob also struck out, but at least saw six pitches.

“Slider for the last one, right?”

He nodded.

It was a tough trajectory for a left-handed hitter.

Nine pitches to two batters.

The opposing pitcher was in good condition.

Then Jeong Dongju swung at the first pitch.

I had told him to focus on fastball and slider, but still.

The ball clearly missed the sweet spot. It bounced once.

No way first pitch…

“Huh?”

The bounce shot up higher than expected, clearing the Sudeok shortstop’s head.

“Wow.”

BABIP helped him there.

A frustrating hit for a pitcher.

Jeong Dongju couldn’t hide his excitement at first base.

“Jeong Dongju! Fighting! Nice job!”

A gruff voice made me turn.

A middle-aged man who looked exactly like Dongju was waving both arms.

Couldn’t mistake that for anyone but his father.

“Son! Let’s go!”

I heard my parents’ voices too.

“Song Seongjun! Fighting!”

Seunghye’s parents joined in.

With so few spectators, every voice carried clearly.

“Song Seongjun! Let’s go!”

“Send it flying!”

And the sisters’ high-pitched voices could rival dolphins.

I couldn’t hide my smile as I stepped into the batter’s box.

“What’s with him?”

Unlike Jeongchun High’s catcher in the last game, Sudeok’s catcher wasn’t shy… he spoke first.

“He’s just happy to be playing after a while. Go easy on him.”

I replied sincerely.

“He can make all that noise, but he’s slow. Can’t run.”

I didn’t actually know if Dongju was fast or slow.

But when the pitcher tried to jam me with a first-pitch four-seamer inside, I whipped the bat through like lightning.

The scouting report had said he wasn’t afraid to pitch inside to right-handed batters.

Clang!

Usually, hitting that pitch produced a foul ball.

But the line drive shot out like a clothesline and struck the left-field foul pole.

“Ha. That was fast as hell.”

I heard the Sudeok catcher mutter from behind me.

 

—

 

“Kyaaaaa!”

“Seongjun!”

The sisters’ voices were even higher than before.

I worried they might get vocal nodules at this rate.

Still, it was nice seeing them jump up and down holding hands.

They were so energetic that the parents actually seemed calmer by comparison.

That made me laugh.

 

—

 

┗Song Seongjun homered again in his first at-bat lol he’s insane

┗You went to Mokdong this early?

┗They’re playing in the morning so I had no choice. Woke up at dawn and I’m dying lol

┗You sound like family of the player kekeke…

 

“What are you doing, unni?”

“Me? Nothing. Just checking my phone.”

“Oh.”

“But unni, don’t you think Seongjun’s different?”

“Different?”

“He is. You only come home during breaks, so you wouldn’t know.”

“He seems more affectionate.”

“Right? Normally he hates when your hand even goes near his cheek, but today I kept grabbing it and he didn’t say a thing.”

“He looked like he liked it.”

“Right? See? I told you, he’s weird.”

Would she hate that her boyfriend had become more affectionate?

Seunghye turned her gaze back to the field.

Seunghee quietly raised her phone and snapped a picture of her sister’s side profile.

Click.

“Did you just take my photo?”

“Stay still. I’ll send it to Seongjun.”

“What! Then you should’ve told me first!”

“Then it wouldn’t be natural. Don’t worry… you look good even without trying.”

“What are you saying? Still, take it again.”

“Fine. Seriously.”

Crack!

At that moment, a Sudeok batter sent a ball deep toward left-center.

And before we knew it, Song Seongjun was chasing it down.

“Seongjun!”

“Catch it!”

The sisters shouted together.

Seongjun dove.

And snagged the ball with a diving catch that had nearly split left-center.

“Yes!”

“Song Seongjun! Nice!”

Both sprang to their feet, threw their arms wide…

Smack!

…and exchanged a triumphant high five.

 

—

 

┗He’s really good in the outfield

┗He’s faster than I thought. Great reads too.

┗Aren’t all catchers slow?

┗Go watch MLB. There’s a catcher who steals 20 bases in a season.

┗Bringing up MLB catchers is cheating lol

┗Will he keep playing center this President’s Cup?

┗He has to. Seongun’s whole outfield is injured. Without him, they’d be done already.

 

—

 

The game moved past the middle innings and into the later stages.

“Director Bae Seonggon is using his pitchers awfully aggressively today, isn’t he?”

One KBO scout commented.

“True. Maybe because it’s tight. But at this rate, who’ll pitch the eighth and ninth?”

Another scout nodded.

This year’s Seongun High didn’t have deep pitching resources.

Unlike last year with Park Suseong, there was no clear ace.

And yet they were using pitchers almost like it was a war of attrition?

“Even if they hold through seven… what about eight and nine? What’s Director Bae planning?”

“You think there’s another hidden surprise?”

“No way.”

“Did anyone predict center fielder Song Seongjun?”

“…No way?”

“Hey. Fold that ‘no way’ up and put it away. That’s really impossible.”

The game had been a seesaw all along.

One team scored, the other answered. A lead change, then another.

No big innings. Just one run, maybe two.

The score is creeping up slowly.

8–7.

A ‘Kennedy Score’ in the bottom of the eighth.

Sudeok is trailing by one.

 

┗This game is intense lol

┗Either team winning wouldn’t be weird

┗Seongun is making a pitching change

┗Do they even have anyone left? Kim Hyunsoo already pitched

┗He threw fewer than 40 pitches

┗Holy sh*t… I’m at Mokdong right now

┗Why, wh,y why, Mokdong reporte,r what?

┗Don’t freak out

┗???

┗Why the suspense lol

┗Song Seongjun just came out

┗?????????

┗Pitching change and Song Seongjun went to the mound kekekekekek

┗Holy sh*t, what is this kekek

┗Is this real??

┗It’s real! Don’t curse at me for swearing… I’m so shocked that swearing’s all I’ve got kekek