Chapter 31
31. First, Just Throw the Ball Inside the Square
Lee Jin-woo was nervous.
He took a deep breath while surrounded by KBO legends.
Of course, this boy was nervous just like the other players.
But there was one difference.
He had someone he could rely on.
Lee Jin-woo looked at Seo Ji-tae.
“There’s only one thing I have to do.”
Lee Jin-woo’s eyes sharpened.
And then the fastball show began.
Yeah, this is what you call a fastball!
Lee Jin-woo smiled as he caught the laser-like pitch in his mitt.
There was only one sign.
One finger again.
Seo Ji-tae’s rising fastball slammed fiercely into the mitt.
The fourth pitch.
The fifth.
The sixth.
Every single one was a fastball.
Even the location was the same, right through the middle of the strike zone.
The expressions of the people watching slowly began to change.
“Why is he only throwing fastballs?”
“Is he doing that on purpose? He’s only throwing fastballs, so hit one!”
From an outsider’s point of view, it was a strange sight.
But the members of Invincible Baseball Team fell one after another before Seo Ji-tae’s fastball.
“That’s fast.”
157 km/h.
Each time the speed appeared, the officials were shocked all over again.
“What kind of velocity is that?”
“He can keep throwing that?”
“Without even mixing in breaking balls?”
“No, more importantly, why is he only throwing fastballs?”
Before they knew it, the inning ended.
Then came the next inning.
Seo Yoon-dong, the cleanup hitter, stepped in with a puzzled expression.
“What is he doing? Is he intentionally throwing nothing but fastballs?”
Lee Jin-woo lifted his catcher’s mask.
The nervousness from the beginning was already gone.
“I just trust my pitcher.”
“What?”
“A catcher’s job is to call pitches that fit his pitcher.”
“But you’ve only called fastballs.”
“And nobody has hit one properly.”
“!”
Seo Yoon-dong’s mouth opened slightly.
These boys were not even adults, yet they were challenging former KBO monsters with nothing but fastballs.
“Then I’ll just have to send one flying.”
Seo Yoon-dong was a home run hitter.
Lee Jin-woo felt slightly nervous, but he quickly shook his head.
Ji-tae can handle him.
Lee Jin-woo’s sign did not change.
Fastball.
Seo Ji-tae was the same.
A high leg kick, followed by his three-quarter delivery.
The ball shot out like a whip and collided with Seo Yoon-dong’s bat.
Contact.
Unfortunately, it became a deep foul ball that looked like it might have been a home run.
Even so, Lee Jin-woo asked for another fastball.
Because that was what Seo Ji-tae wanted.
Seo Yoon-dong made contact with the second pitch as well.
But the ball was pushed backward into the stands.
Lee Jin-woo noticed the difference and smiled.
He’s getting overpowered. Even Senior Seo Yoon-dong!
A thrill ran through him.
A legend he had only seen in baseball news was now standing against him and Seo Ji-tae.
Two strikes.
Fastball again.
Seo Ji-tae’s motion became slightly faster.
Then his rising fastball exploded forward.
Even faster than before!
Seo Yoon-dong quickly adjusted his timing and swung.
At that instant, Lee Jin-woo’s mitt caught the laser.
“Strikeout!”
The umpire made the call.
Seo Yoon-dong’s body finished its swing as his face showed disbelief.
[158 km/h]
Only a 1 km/h difference.
But it was enough to overpower the batter.
Seo Yoon-dong struck out.
Lee Jin-woo felt excited after catching such an incredible pitch.
The next batter was the same.
The pitch after that was the same too.
Even when the hitters knew what pitch was coming, they could not match the timing.
“Why can’t I hit it?”
The players of Invincible Baseball Team were retired, but they had once been elite players.
Yet they could not hit even one pitch from this young kid?
And he was only using one type of pitch.
Lee Jin-woo remembered something Seo Ji-tae had once said during practice.
[People talk about magic pitches, but an overwhelming fastball is worth just as much as any magic pitch.]
That’s right. A powerful fastball is practically a magic pitch from a baseball manga!
Seo Ji-tae threw only fastballs, but he divided them between high fastballs and pitches through the middle.
Occasionally he threw a ball outside the zone, but it was not intentional.
Seo Ji-tae was human too.
Sometimes his aim was simply off.
“Why can’t we hit it?”
The members of Invincible Baseball Team grew angry and swung harder.
But if simply swinging harder was enough to hit Seo Ji-tae’s pitches, he would never have made it to America.
Then, when almost every batter had already become a victim,
Tok.
At last, someone made contact with the fastball nobody had been able to touch.
It was their long-awaited chance after spending the entire game swinging through air.
However, the bat head could not overcome the force of the pitch.
It was pushed backward.
The ball failed to carry.
It dropped weakly onto the dirt.
A ground ball right in front of the pitcher.
The hitter lowered his head.
Seo Ji-tae calmly walked forward a few steps.
He stretched out his glove and easily picked up the rolling ball.
He did not even look toward first base.
He simply took the ball from his glove and casually tossed it toward Lee Jin-woo.
Out.
Another inning ended.
The Invincible Baseball Team players, the producer, and the writers all stared at Seo Ji-tae with the same expression.
Lee Jin-woo removed his catcher’s mask.
You really are amazing.
Skill.
As always, Seo Ji-tae proved his words through his ability.
Compared to him, I’m still lacking... but I’ll definitely catch up!
The timid expression Lee Jin-woo had shown when he first joined the national team was now completely gone.
Seo Ji-tae and Lee Jin-woo had proven themselves.
The Team A game could only be described with two words.
Shock and terror.
The producer, writers, players, and spectators could only stare with their mouths open.
