The Prodigy Who Rejected the Major League Chapter 14

Chapter 14

 

Two days after our narrow 4–3 semifinal win over Dongshin High, we were back at Mokdong Baseball Stadium.

This time, we faced the prestigious Seoul powerhouse, Heesoo High, in the President’s Cup final.

The game was set for 10 a.m… an attempt to avoid the worst of the summer heat.

“Over here~! Over here!”

In the stands, Seunghee was waving both arms wildly to get my attention. Right beside her, Seunghye gave a cool little one-handed wave.

Seunghee’s voice was so high-pitched that people nearby turned to look.

“Unni, stop it. Everyone’s staring.”

Seunghye poked her in the side. Unfortunately, she hit a ticklish spot.

Seunghee shrieked and squirmed in laughter.

That only drew more attention.

And somehow, I became collateral damage.

“Oh! It’s Song Seongjun!”

“Please do great again today!”

“Win the championship!”

Men around my dad’s age politely asked if they could take pictures. I didn’t know where to look.

Maybe because it was the final, the infield stands were packed.

The older gentlemen gathered together said they were alumni from the general alumni association.

Near our cheering section, current Seongwoon High students were preparing simple chants.

Players’ parents were all there as well.

It felt like a proper final… crowded, buzzing.

“Uncle told me this would be our first President’s Cup title attempt in 42 years,” Seunghye said.

“That long?”

“Yeah! So I really hope you win today. You’ve never won a championship in high school, right?”

Had I not?

Three years and no titles?

My memory was fuzzy.

The only championships I clearly remembered were two World Series titles.

Two female students passing by spotted me and rushed over.

“Hello, sunbae-nim!”

Oh. Uh.

Judging by their uniforms, they were underclassmen from our school.

After taking a photo…

“Please win today! Fighting!”

“Yeah. Fighting.”

I gave them a thumbs-up.

“Fighting?”

Seunghee immediately copied me, clenching both fists cutely and mimicking the pose.

That wasn’t how I did it, was it?

“Knock it off, you menace.”

Seunghye jabbed her again.

“Kyahahahaha!”

People stared again.

 

***

 

“Did you hear? Our school hasn’t won the President’s Cup in over 40 years.”

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who’d heard.

After greeting our parents and acquaintances, everyone was saying the same thing.

“Yeah, one of the uncles said that. So I told him…”

“What?”

“Believe this time. As long as we’re ahead by the 7th, we’ve got Song Seongjun after that.”

He looked at me.

“Me?”

“Yeah, you.”

“Please take care of it today.”

Aside from the 8th inning appearances in two proper games, excluding the cold-game win in the quarterfinals and the chaotic Round of 32… that was it.

And yet the mood was like: just hold the lead until Seongjun comes in.

“Why are you all like this? I’ve only thrown in two official games.”

Was I burdened by that expectation?

Not really.

“Two games are enough! You have to come in late. The way 155 feels is insane. Hitters don’t know. You have to catch it to understand. They absolutely can’t hit it.”

At some point, Choi Minsu had become a fanatic for my fastball.

“There’s no such thing as ‘absolutely can’t.’ Leave it over the plate, and it gets crushed.”

“Where?”

“Yeah, where’d you get shelled like that?”

Hyunsoo popped up beside him.

“Where else… the Major!… I mean, that’s just how it goes.”

“Major? That’s a place where they hit 160 over the fence. Guess your pitch would be junk there.”

It wasn’t junk.

But if it caught too many plates, it got hammered.

That’s why, once I was past thirty, I learned the two-seamer.

In the majors, movement couldn’t be pretty.

It had to be nasty.

“Sunbae, you’re really going to the majors?”

“MLB? Not yet?”

“You’re still choosing between Korea and the U.S.?”

“You’re still thinking it over? Isn’t it four million from the Dodgers?”

“I don’t really know. I left it to the agency.”

“Oh? That’s way too relaxed, sunbae.”

“With his level? He can go wherever he wants. I’m the one sweating.”

“You’re still always projected in the draft, sunbae.”

Minsu had enough tact not to specify mid-to-late rounds.

“By the way, have you finished warming up? You’re starting today, aren’t you?”

“I am. That’s why I came to find my starting catcher. Instead of catching my pitches, you’re gossiping with Seongjun?”

“Me? Never! Let’s go, sunbae!”

Minsu shoved Hyunsoo forward.

Bold kid.

Only a sophomore, and already solid defensively. He’d be a good catcher.

I had no idea what kind of career he’d had in my previous life. I hadn’t cared much about people back then.

This time, I told myself again, I wouldn’t live that way.

 

 * * *

 

The final began with us batting first.

 

[“Heesoo High’s starting pitcher is Kim Min.”]

[“A sophomore. Some thought ace Kim Jangyeon might start, but Coach Woo Taegun chose Kim Min.”]

 

Maybe a variation strategy… to disrupt our rhythm early.

Or maybe the classic method our coach loved: test with one pitcher, then insert the real starter at the right time.

Kim Min, though a sophomore, had logged plenty of innings in the tournament and clearly trusted.

But today, that choice didn’t pay off.

Leadoff hitter Yoo Junho lined a 2–2 pitch into center.

Our coach immediately signaled a sacrifice bunt to Eom Jongyeob.

After twenty years of American baseball, high school baseball felt completely different.

They ran a lot.

And they bunted… a lot.

Even in the top of the first.

Trading an out for one run.

But Kim Min couldn’t even give away that free out.

He couldn’t throw a pitch good enough for an obvious bunt attempt, so he walked him.

First and second.

The coach signaled another bunt.

This time, the runners advanced to second and third.

A slow infield grounder or even an outfield fly would score a run.

[ “Bunt laid down! Third baseman fields!!! throws out the batter.]

With two runners now in scoring position, Jeong Dongju stepped in.

Then my first at-bat of the final.

“Ball.”

The first pitch was tight inside.

[144 km/h]

If that’s 144, then second pitch outside slider?

Too obvious.

Which made it textbook.

Good eyesight was a blessing.

The second pitch…

Outside.

And I could see the red dot clearly.

Slider.

But that location… was he trying to steal a strike?

Or induce a swing?

Crack!

I swung.

The contact didn’t feel good.

‘That felt off.’

Flat slider from a high schooler.

Was I too confident?

I jogged toward first.

It still seemed deep enough for a sac fly.

[“High fly ball to right!”]

[“Right fielder drifting back!”]

Yoo Junho on third and Eom Jongyeop on second both got ready to tag.

The moment the right fielder caught the ball, their breaks would be decided.

From the stands to both dugouts, everyone thought the same thing…

A high fly ball.

A ball that the right fielder would catch.

At worst, I figured it was deep enough for the runner on third to score easily.

Hitting coach Hwang Taeho seemed to think the same.

“If only the launch angle had been a little lower, that would’ve been a home run.”

I was already feeling a bit disappointed…

But the right fielder kept drifting back.

“Huh? Huh?”

People in the stands started murmuring.

“Huh~? Huh~? Huh~?!”

And then…

The ball cleared the right-field fence at Mokdong Baseball Stadium.

[It’s a home run!]

[This one’s gone!]

[That launch angle was really high, wasn’t it?]

Song Seongjun’s sixth home run of the tournament! Seongwoon High School takes a 3–0 lead in the top of the first inning!

When I returned to the dugout after stepping on home plate, it was chaos.

Even I had to admit… it looked kind of ridiculous.

“Hey, you crazy bastard!”

“How the hell did that go over?!”

“You’re a monster! That power’s insane!”

“I barely even hit it.”

“You barely hit it, and it still went out?!”

“If it barely clears the fence, does that mean it’s not a home run? Is that a rule now?”

They kept thumping my helmet noisily.

“Hey! Stop it! My head’s starting to ring!”

 

***

 

But before we could savor the three-run blast, Heesu High struck back in the bottom of the first.

It began with a hit from leadoff batter Kim Mingyu.

The first baseman, second baseman, and right fielder all chased it, but the ball dropped right between them.

After retiring the second batter on a fly ball, Hyun-soo gave up a hit to the third batter, putting runners on first and second.

We were up by three. What was the hurry?

Hyunsoo tried a surprise pickoff at second, but the throw sailed, and both runners advanced a base.

He struck out Heesu’s cleanup hitter, Son Saeyoung, and got two strikes on the next batter.

Then Yoo Seungjin delivered a timely hit.

Two runs scored.

 

3–2.

 

Perhaps energized by the early run support, Heesu’s starting pitcher, who had thrown 24 pitches in the first inning alone, looked completely different in the second and third. He induced a fly ball and five grounders, striking out two batters across two straight scoreless innings.

Then came the bottom of the third.

Hyunsoo mishandled the leadoff hitter’s surprise bunt twice… turning it into a single.

Heesu’s coach immediately called for a sacrifice bunt, trading an out for a runner on second.

Then came a routine grounder from the third batter, Kim Jinseok.

An error at shortstop.

What should have been two outs with a runner on second became one out with runners on first and second.

[It was a routine grounder to short. Yoo Junho missed it.]

Was it the tense atmosphere?

Hyunsoo then allowed a clean single to center by Son Saeyoung, whom he had struck out earlier.

 

***

 

[Son Sae-young swings at the third pitch! A single to center!]

I charged in and fielded the ball.

The instant I secured it, I checked the runners.

[The runner from the second round’s third! He’s heading home! Home!]

There was no play at the plate.

The runner who had started on first was just crossing second base.

He wasn’t slowing down at all.

He was clearly going for third.

My body was already lined up toward third.

I fired.

The throw reached the third baseman’s glove ahead of the runner.

“Out!”

The third-base umpire punched the air with an uppercut motion.

[The runner from first is out at third!]

 

[That’s the second out!]

[With two outs, a runner remains on first!]

[I thought he’d throw home, but there was no chance on that play!]

[Center fielder Song Seong-jun made the right decision going to third!]

“Seongjun!”

On the mound, Kim Hyunsoo waved both arms wildly in thanks.

So I raised my voice and shouted back:

“Hyunsoo! Bear down!”

The score was tied 3–3, but that out at third was enough to steady the team’s shaken mood.

And maybe because of that…

Crack!

[The runner goes! Yoo Seungjin swings!]

The runner on first took off, and Yoo Seungjin, who had already driven in two in the first inning, made solid contact.

A line drive that looked dangerous to anyone watching.

[Yoo Junho! Leaping catch!

Junho threw his body into the air and snagged it.

[Shortstop Yoo Jun-ho makes up for his earlier error with a brilliant defensive play!]

[Three outs! End of the third, tied 3–3!]

[Seongwoon High School! Back-to-back defensive gems from center fielder Song Seongjun and shortstop Yoo Junho stop the momentum!]