“Pitcher Se-woong Park, Batter Baek-ho Kang” The
Korean national team, led by head coach Lee 메이저놀이터 Kang-cheol, completed the World Baseball Classic (WBC) schedule on the 13th and returned to Korea. Korea lost 7-8 to Australia and 4-13 to Japan in the Group B group stage, making the chances of advancing to the quarterfinals slim. It was knocked out in round 1.
Although the water had already been spilled, it was a tournament that left much to be desired, such as the mound, batting line, and game management. In particular, the defeat against Australia, which had been focused on, was shocking, and the defeat against Japan, the ‘old enemy’, was disastrous. It was the first time in 14 years since the WBC in 2009 that I almost suffered a ‘cold game’. One of the few consolations was setting the WBC record for most goals scored in a single match and the performance of some players.
The one who stood out the most on the mound was, of course, Park Se-woong (Lotte Giants). Park Se-woong climbed the mound at the end of the 8th inning, when he was drawn 4-13 in a face-to-face match against Japan on the 10th, in a crisis with 2 outs and bases loaded. In a situation where they had already given 13 points even after 9 players, they took out Park Se-woong’s card to avoid the humiliation of a ‘cold game’. Park Se-woong was in good condition enough to get on the mound as a starter in the evaluation match against the Hanshin Tigers on the 7th and block 2 scoreless innings.
Coach Lee Kang-cheol seemed to have pointed out Park Se-woong as a starting candidate, but in a situation where there was no place to retreat, he had no choice but to take out the Park Se-woong card. And Park Se-woong raised his value on his mound. Park Se-woong got on the mound and escaped the crisis by catching Kazuma Okamoto (Yomiuri Giants) with a floating ball in left field, in danger of getting a ‘cold game’ even if he gave up only one hit and one walk. And in the ninth inning, he showed his potential by catching Shugo Maki (Yokohama DeNA Baystars), Takumu Nakano (Hanshin Tigers), and Tagumi Oshima (Yomiuri Giants) in succession, consolidating 1⅓ innings to 11 pitches.
His activities did not stop there. After getting on the hill in the game against Japan, Park Se-woong took a short break and made a sortie as a starter against the Czech Republic on the 12th. Park Se-woong left a tremendous pitch with 59 pitches, 1 hit, 8 strikeouts and no runs in 4⅔ innings with a fast ball of up to 150 km and a sharp slider. No matter what team his opponent was, it was clear that he had the most impressive performance for the Korean national team.
A reporter from Japan’s ‘Full Count’, who requested anonymity, said, ‘Please select the player who stood out the most among Korean players’ during a conversation with ‘My Daily’ on the 16th, and the pitcher picked Park Se-woong without hesitation. Reporter ‘Full Count’, who watched all the Korean games, said, “Control and pitch were good. In particular, I got the impression that the slider was good in the match against the Czech Republic.” and gave a thumbs up.
Continuing, a reporter belonging to ‘Full Count’ said, “I remember that my performance at the Tokyo Olympics was not very impressive. But this time at the WBC, it was definitely different.” said.