Chapter 11
11. Right-Handed Submarine
The Golden Lion Tournament final.
The stadium was packed with far more spectators than usual.
It was the top of the first inning, and Cheongryong High School was currently batting.
Seo Ji-tae smiled from the bullpen as he looked at the large crowd for the first time in a while.
This is how it should be. Baseball is better with a big crowd.
Unlike him, the other Cheongryong players were feeling the pressure of the championship game.
Even the third-years were nervous.
“What are you doing, Senior? Let’s go out there, crush them, then have a team dinner.”
“Uh… Yeah…”
Kang Tae-ho glanced at the hand inside his glove and followed him out.
And so, the championship game began.
Their opponent was Chungdeok High School, one of the strongest championship favorites in the tournament.
From the bullpen, Seo Ji-tae looked at a huge hitter lightly swinging his bat.
“Kwon Geon-woo. I’ve heard of him.”
The heart of Chungdeok High School’s lineup was third-year cleanup hitter Kwon Geon-woo.
In the future, he would become a natural power hitter who won the KBO home run title in his mid-twenties.
Someone who would become the KBO home run king was obviously one of the very best hitters in high school baseball.
He was the heart of Chungdeok High School’s powerful offense.
Their entire cleanup trio was considered one of the best lineups in high school baseball.
But against Seo Ji-tae, that did not matter.
“Out!”
With the umpire’s call, Seo Ji-tae easily finished the bottom of the first inning.
The matchup everyone had been waiting for came in the bottom of the second.
Seo Ji-tae and Kwon Geon-woo finally faced each other for the first time.
Kwon Geon-woo stepped heavily into the right-handed batter’s box.
“Hm?”
Then Kwon Geon-woo did something surprising.
He pointed his bat toward the outfield fence.
It was a declaration of war.
“Oh? You dare?”
He had no intention of backing down against the left-handed fireballer.
It was exactly the attitude expected from a future home run king.
Power against power.
But Seo Ji-tae only looked him over with a smile.
“But I never heard that you reached the Major Leagues in the future. You only played around in the KBO. Home run king? So what?”
Seo Ji-tae had no intention of feeling pressured by some future KBO home run champion.
He simply needed to throw an overwhelming fastball down the middle and crush him with pure power.
First pitch.
A 154 km/h rising fastball flew straight through the middle of the strike zone.
Kwon Geon-woo swung violently.
“Oh?”
For the first time, Seo Ji-tae smiled after seeing someone make solid contact.
With a heavy impact sound, the ball flew hard backward and struck the net.
Foul.
Kwon Geon-woo had shown the bat speed and strength needed to foul off a 150 km/h fastball.
“Good! Send it over the fence!”
Cheers erupted from the Chungdeok dugout.
Seo Ji-tae nodded.
“You’re definitely different from the small fry.”
He entered his windup.
The fastball shot forward like lightning.
Second pitch.
The bat made contact.
But this time, the direction was different.
The ball had arrived with the same fastball timing, yet the contact weakly pushed it off to the side.
“!”
Kwon Geon-woo’s expression changed.
His contact had started getting pushed backward.
Sorry, but I’m still adjusting the feel of my left hand.
Seo Ji-tae quickly threw the third pitch.
This time, a high fastball.
The radar gun displayed 154 km/h.
“Hup!”
Kwon Geon-woo swung with everything he had at the point where he expected the ball to drop.
But because of the optical illusion created by the rising fastball, his bat cut uselessly underneath it.
Kwon Geon-woo’s face twisted.
Seo Ji-tae smiled.
A perfect swinging strikeout.
Seo Ji-tae’s overwhelming power had casually crushed the heart of Chungdeok High School.
Cheongryong took control of the momentum.
Then they scored one run in the third inning and took the lead.
But the first crack in Seo Ji-tae’s perfect game appeared in the bottom of the fourth.
“Hm?”
Seo Ji-tae frowned after throwing the pitch.
The problem was not on the mound.
It was behind home plate.
Catcher Kang Tae-ho failed to catch Seo Ji-tae’s curveball.
The ball rolled all the way to the backstop, allowing the batter to reach first.
An uncaught third strike.
Seo Ji-tae had recorded a strikeout, yet the hitter still reached base.
“…What the hell is that senior doing?”
Seo Ji-tae clicked his tongue in irritation.
Fortunately, he finished the inning without allowing a run.
Back in the dugout.
“Is something wrong with your hand?”
Seo Ji-tae asked Kang Tae-ho.
“No.”
Kang Tae-ho simply denied it.
Seo Ji-tae crossed his arms.
“If you make another mistake, I’m telling them to replace you.”
“I know, I know. It was just a mistake. Seriously.”
Kang Tae-ho desperately hid his injury.
And in the bottom of the fourth, the wound finally burst open.
Kang Tae-ho’s pain became worse.
Seo Ji-tae had not allowed a single hit.
Yet because of repeated catching errors from the catcher, he suddenly found himself in a no-out situation with runners on first and second.
It became a situation where the coach, catcher, and pitcher had to gather on the mound.
Seo Ji-tae’s face twisted.
“What exactly are you trying to do right now?”
The stands stirred.
Cheers erupted from Chungdeok High School’s dugout.
No outs.
Runners on first and second.
And Chungdeok High School’s cleanup hitter, Kwon Geon-woo, was coming to the plate again.
Kang Tae-ho quickly removed his mask and ran to the mound.
His face was twisted with sweat and pain.
“Hey, Ji-tae. Should we just intentionally walk Kwon Geon-woo?”
“…I’m asking what the hell you’re doing.”
Seo Ji-tae did not even pretend to listen.
He pointed his chin toward Kwon Geon-woo, who was swinging his bat sharply near the batter’s box.
Seo Ji-tae had already completely crushed him in the first matchup.
This time, he wanted to toy with him using breaking balls.
“Senior, show me the hand inside your glove.”
“What?”
“Why can’t you catch the ball properly? You weren’t this bad before.”
Seo Ji-tae suddenly grabbed Kang Tae-ho’s wrist.
And finally, the injury was exposed.
“I knew it. If you can’t catch properly, leave the game. You’re just causing trouble.”
“Even if I’m injured, I’m still helping the team.”
“That is causing trouble, Senior. Switch with someone else.”
Seo Ji-tae did not hold back even against his senior.
“Playing through an injury only works as an excuse if you can still catch properly. Let’s replace you before you become the reason we lose.”
“But…”
“Coach, change the catcher.”
Seo Ji-tae looked directly at Head Coach Choi Dong-il and declared it.
Even the coach was speechless after seeing Kang Tae-ho’s hand.
“You idiot. You’re the captain. If you had told me, I would’ve prepared another catcher.”
“B-But Coach, no one else can catch his pitches properly.”
Kang Tae-ho wanted to stay in the game until the end because he was approaching the professional draft.
But Seo Ji-tae had no obligation to care about that.
“Coach, change the catcher. You don’t want to lose from here, right?”
“Tae-ho does have a point… Your pitches are difficult to catch, so finding someone who can handle them…”
“There is someone. A catcher who has practiced with me.”
“Who? Tell me quickly.”
“Lee Jin-woo. My classmate.”
At Seo Ji-tae’s words, Kang Tae-ho and Choi Dong-il froze.
“A-Are you insane? We have other senior catchers!”
A catcher change in the bottom of the fourth inning of a championship game, with no outs and runners on first and second.
Choi Dong-il shouted in disbelief.
“What kind of nonsense are you saying? How is a freshman supposed to catch your pitches in this situation?”
