The Prodigy Who Rejected the Major League Chapter 27

Chapter 27

 

[U-18 Baseball World Cup: Korea 1 : 0 USA]

 

┗Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

┗SSSSSSSSSS

┗Seongjun-ah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

┗Top of the 1st, a home run 

┗Wow, that’s seriously insane 

┗SSSSSSSSSS

┗We’ve found the national team’s No. 3 hitter!!!!!!!!

┗I thought he was late on the timing, and he still sent that over?

┗Yes! I knew you’d come through!!!!

┗No one here on Ayagel doubted Seongjun, right?

┗LMAO

┗Why’s our board so lit these days kekeke

┗Because of Song Seongjun

 

Anyone who went as far as to look up baseball would already know about Song Seongjun’s power. He had previously blasted a high-150s km/h fastball from Moon Seungchan over Mokdong Baseball Stadium in the President’s Cup tournament.

I rounded the bases and stepped on home plate last.

Catcher Andrew looked like he had something to say, but I deliberately ignored him. It didn’t seem right to exchange more words here.

But when I returned to the dugout, I entered like a triumphant general.

With both arms stretched wide.

It was intentional showmanship.

As if to say: “So what if it’s fast? Just because it’s fast doesn’t mean it can’t be hit.”

 

“How did you hit it?”

Yeo Joohyuk, fully geared up in his catcher’s equipment and ready to head out, asked me. I answered:

“He doesn’t locate well inside. Just look for the outside fastball and turn on it. Before the lineup turns over once, it’s either fastball or slider.”

“How can you be so sure?”

He asked back, so I replied with a half-joking jab:

“Coach explained everything. Were you sleeping?”

“Sleeping? No way!”

Yeo Joohyuk snapped back loudly.

“If you weren’t sleeping, then you already know.”

I’d also meant for the people around us to hear that conversation.

After exchanging lineup cards with Team USA, Coach had gathered us.

He told us their pitcher throws very hard, and that his secondary pitches were a slider and a changeup. He also gave general instructions on how to attack him.

However, Coach hadn’t explicitly stated with certainty that the pitcher would stick to only fastballs and sliders before the lineup turned over once. That was probably why Yeo Joohyuk tilted his head in doubt.

The scouting staff had certainly worked hard. But there are over fifteen thousand high school baseball teams in the United States. Just think how many players that means. And the United States is huge. Physically and time-wise, it’s impossible to dig deeply and precisely into a single player.

There couldn’t be more accurate data than what the pitcher showed in this current U-18 World Cup tournament.

The problem was that Gio Shumaker was making his first appearance today.

When a pitcher and batter face each other for the first time,

The batter is at an absolute disadvantage.

Among KBO fans, there’s a common saying: “Our hitters struggle against pitchers they’ve never seen before. They can’t hit them.”

It didn’t come from nowhere.

If even professional players who are paid to play baseball have that issue, High school players would be even more so.

Especially against a tall left-hander throwing mid-to-high 150 km/h fastballs that they’ve never seen in their lives.

 

***

 

Seong Jinseong, who started against the U.S., looked uneasy against the first batter. He issued a walk, clearly nervous.

At times like this, the defense needs to help.

“Yes!”

Playing right field again today, I clenched my right fist.

Shim Jungwoo, a sophomore who had earned the starting shortstop job on the national team, calmly fielded an infield grounder and tossed it to second base, turning a double play.

Although he gave up an infield single to the No. 3 hitter, James Clark, the next batter hit a high fly toward me.

This one? I could catch it with my hands behind my back after taking two or three steps.

“Easy!”

 

In the top of the 2nd inning, leadoff hitter Yeo Eunho worked a full count walk.

“Nice! Yeo Eunho! Well done!”

Shumaker’s fastball had been dancing outside the strike zone, but more importantly, the batter had shown patience and watched the ball well.

Then the manager immediately gave a sign.

The third-base coach, having received it, gestured energetically to Park Geonhee at the plate.

But honestly, there was no need to even confirm what the sign was.

 

┗Ah! Another bunt?

┗We’re leading, and it’s no outs, right?

┗They’re probably trying to avoid a double play

┗Hasn’t it already been proven that a bunt with no outs lowers run expectancy compared to swinging away?

┗Do high school managers know any strategy besides bunting? LOL

┗Didn’t you see the hitters swing in the 1st? The manager just has no confidence in attacking the American pitcher

 

Tap.

Park Geonhee laid down a bunt on the very first pitch.

Shumaker fielded it and immediately threw to second.

The lead runner was forced out at second base.

The bunt attempt failed.

 

┗LMAO

┗Just handed them an out for free LOL

┗Very nicely done. Truly. kekeke

 

So now, with a runner on first and one out donated,

Choi Ilhan stepped in and struck out swinging at a 155 km/h fastball down the middle.

Yeo Joohyuk swung at a high inside pitch and also struck out.

When a scoring opportunity disappears, a crisis tends to follow.

 

In the bottom of the 2nd, Seong Jinseong got the leadoff hitter to ground out to second, but gave up a double to the sixth batter, Blake Mitchell.

Then a defensive error by shortstop Shim Jungwoo created a one-out, runners-on-first-and-third crisis.

The seventh batter, Dylan Fletcher, drove Seong Jinseong’s fastball to right field.

Crack!

The U.S. runner on third, Mitchell, prepared to tag up while tracking the ball.

Meanwhile, third-base coach Steve Stone watched both the ball and the Korean outfielder charging in.

The distance looked a bit borderline, but Coach Stone did not stop Mitchell, who broke for home.

According to the information provided to the Korean team, they had selected four outfielders. By Stone’s standards, none of them had an arm strong enough to earn a passing grade.

And yet…

“Out!”

Huh?

Steve Stone’s eyes widened.

The outfielder’s throw went perfectly into the catcher’s mitt.

Mitchell was comfortably thrown out at home.

From that distance, to place the throw with exactly one bounce, right where the catcher could handle it easily?

Wasn’t that a top-tier Major League–level outfield assist?

According to the scouting information, such a throw should have been impossible.

Gavin Murphy, the eighth batter, grounded out to second, and the U.S. ended the inning scoreless.

Steve Stone looked up at the scoreboard.

[SONG Seongjun RF]

The right fielder was clearly displayed.

He memorized the name and position before returning to the dugout to flip through the roster sheets.

But there was no Song Seongjun listed among the outfielders.

“What?”

Song Seongjun’s name was under…

 

[Catcher.]

SONG Seongjun

YEO Joohyuk

KIM Hyunwoo

 

There he was, at the very top among the three catchers.

“How did I miss this?”

But wait. Why was a catcher playing the outfield?

If it were late in the game, that might make sense.

But from the early innings? Sending a catcher to the outfield?

Why?

Steve Stone couldn’t understand what the Korean manager was thinking.

Two perfectly healthy outfielders were on the bench, yet a catcher was sent to the outfield. What kind of tactic was that?

If anyone was to blame, Steve Stone did bear some responsibility for not verifying properly.

But even then, the manager and other coaches also seemed unaware.

The atmosphere was more like: “When did Korea have an outfielder with that kind of arm?”

So he kept his mouth shut.

Still, the question lingered.

“Did the analysis team not know? Did they not know Korea had an outfielder with an arm like that?”

With an arm that strong, how could they not know?

It made no sense to Steve Stone.

But it had already happened.

All they could do now was be more careful and observant from here on.

 

***

 

After both teams traded chances in the 2nd inning,

In the top of the 3rd, the ninth batter, Heo Juwon, stepped into the left-handed batter’s box as the leadoff hitter.

He remembered the conversation between Song Seongjun and Yeo Joohyuk.

Especially the part about how, before the lineup turned over once, it would be only fastballs and sliders.

Perhaps that stuck out because he was the final batter before the lineup turned over.

“He said the inside command wasn’t great either!”

Heo Juwon had carefully observed the other at-bats in the previous inning.

“Most of the inside fastballs ended up as balls.”

He remembered everything.

Though physically average, he was often told he was clever.

“Strike!”

The first pitch was a 154 km/h outside fastball.

The second pitch was another fastball.

This time it missed badly for a ball.

The third pitch was again a fastball.

“Swing! Strike!”

He thought it was similar to the first pitch and swung… but didn’t even touch it.

“Should I make my swing more compact?”

He had been taught that trying just to poke the ball wouldn’t produce good contact.

But if he kept his normal swing, he might not touch it at all.

“Ball.”

The fourth pitch was a slider.

It looked like it was coming inside before breaking.

Honestly, he couldn’t respond at all.

Fortunately, it was a ball.

If he had half-heartedly swung, he’d definitely have made an out.

Heo Juwon requested time and stepped out.

“Whew…”

Only a sigh came out.

Everything… the pitcher, the pitches, felt unfamiliar.

It was his first time facing a tall left-hander throwing 155 km/h.

“What should I do?”

He could only feel frustrated.

Out of habit, he took a practice swing and glanced toward the dugout.

Song Seongjun was holding a bat, making a motion as if to hit to the opposite field.

“Go the other way…”

In that moment, his thoughts aligned.

Right. First, he had to at least make contact.

Whether the quality of contact was good or bad, that came after.

At a minimum, he had to touch the ball.

(What we elegantly call “putting the ball in play.”)

Whether it was a groundout. A flyout. Or even a lucky bloop over the infield.

Something might happen.

He didn’t have the confidence to crush it like Song Seongjun.

It was what it was… his current ability.

But he didn’t want to give up.

“Fastball. Or slider. One of the two.”

He widened his eyes and focused more than ever.

Shumaker went into his windup and delivered the fifth pitch.

Heo Juwon swung.

He had sat on a fastball… but he was late.

Crack.

The pitch came over the middle, and though the contact was opposite-field and weak, it stayed fair, floating into the outfield.

Knowing Heo Juwon lacked power, the U.S. outfielders were playing shallow.

Left fielder Dylan Fletcher, sprinting toward the foul line, thought he could catch it.

Too far to grab on the run… but with a dive, definitely.

In an instant decision, Fletcher lay out toward the descending ball.

“Heo Juwon swings, he makes contact!”

“To the left! To the left! To the left!”

But the ball dropped a hand’s span farther back than Fletcher had expected.

“The left fielder dives! He misses it! It gets past him!”

The ball rolled deeper into the outfield.

As Fletcher got up and chased it, Heo Juwon never stopped running.

“Heo Juwon rounds second! He’s heading for third!”

“Korea! Leadoff hitter Heo Juwon! He’s in at third!”

“The pitch he hit was a fastball!!157 km/h!”

The scoreboard showed 97.5 miles.

 

┗LOLOL

┗157??? How did he hit that?

┗Nice hit! Heo Juwon! Son of Gunsan! So good!

┗He hit a fastball? Guess there’s at least one more legit hitter on this team!

┗A triple! Love it!

┗Heo Juwon just stamped his name in front of KBO scouts this tournament!

┗Runner on third, no outs! We’re not bunting again, right?

┗Squeeze bunt?

┗Ah! Please no!

┗I’m losing it LMAO

┗Teasing goguma is too fun

┗His reactions are so good kekeke

┗But isn’t our national team manager also a high school coach? Might actually do it 

 

Leadoff batter Oh Sejin stepped in.

Gio Shumaker fired a 158 km/h first pitch.

“Swing! Strike!”

 

┗158??? What even is that speed

 

Second pitch, another swinging strike. 157 km/h.

 

┗Is this American pitcher insane? Is he really 18? Did they bring Randy Johnson?

┗Please, high-level baseball! Just give us a sac fly!

 

But contrary to their hopes, Oh Sejin froze on a slider for strike three.

Then, against Shim Jungwoo, who was geared up for a fastball, the first pitch was a changeup.

Tap.

Shim Jungwoo made contact, but it went straight to shortstop.

American shortstop Aidan Miller even had the composure to glance at runner Heo Juwon on third before throwing to first for the out.

After giving up a triple, Shumaker recorded two outs in just four pitches.

 

┗Wait, how are there already two outs?

┗Did that just evaporate?

┗No runs from no outs, runner on third?

┗Feels very familiar

┗Our team does this all the time, doesn’t it

 

No outs, runner on third,

had become two outs, runner on third.

And then it was my turn.

Again, it was two outs.

The difference this time was that there was a runner on base.

“Song Seongjun… we hope he can show us once again the thrilling swing he displayed in the first inning.”