Two days of rainy play… 11-9 victory

Yangsan Mulgeumgo is a relatively new team, founded in 2015. The school itself opened in 2006. It didn’t originally have a baseball team, but after Yangsan Wondong Middle School’s success in winning the Presidential Cup for two years in a row, the school and the local government created a baseball team to stem the outflow of local baseball talent. However, there is no dedicated baseball field or indoor training center, so the team has to borrow training fields from the local community. They also train at a vacant baseball field owned by Pusan National University in Yangsan, but the mound and turf are said to be in poor condition. However, under the leadership of Kang Seung-young, who emphasizes tactical baseball and solid defense, the team has been improving its organizational strength, and coaches such as Choi Geum-kang and Park Jung-joon, who are professionals, have contributed their know-how. Before this season, the team traveled to Pohang, Ulsan, and Daejeon for 26 days and 27 nights to check their skills in practice games. Nevertheless, there were no experts who picked Mulgeumgo as a favorite. They had never made it to the quarterfinals of a national tournament before.안전놀이터

Summer of glorious youth – Quarterfinal game of the 78th Cheongnyonggi National High School Baseball Championship at Mokdong Baseball Stadium in Seoul, South Korea, on April 24. Mulmungo pitcher Seo Bo-han (third from left) celebrates as his teammates rush to the plate after leading the team to an 11-9 victory over baseball’s prestigious Chungam-go. Mulgeum-go advanced to the semifinals with an upset victory over powerhouse Masango in the round of 16 on Nov. 20. /Jung Jae-geun, Sports Chosun reporter

Mulmungo defeated Chungam-go 11-9 in the quarterfinals of the 78th Cheongnyonggi High School Baseball Championship at Mokdong Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals of the national tournament for the first time in its history. “The players were away for more than a week due to the rainy season, and we made it to the quarterfinals, but it will be hard to accept if we lose here,” said Mulmungo head coach Kang Seung-young. “This is the first time this has happened to the players and me, and it was very helpful for us to learn how to control our physical condition by being away for a long time before the season.”

The match was supposed to end on the 22nd, but a sudden rain delay, followed by another rain delay the next day, proved to be the deciding factor. At the time, Chungamgo was trailing 3-7 and rallying to make it 7-7. The bases were loaded. With the game postponed two days due to rain, Mulmungo was able to call on sophomore ace Seo Bo-han, who was unable to pitch due to the mandatory high school rest rule due to his high pitch count. He got out of the jam by getting Chungam-go’s first batter to ground out to first base. With a breath of fresh air, Mulmungo broke the game open in the top of the eighth inning, scoring a run on a wild pitch to put runners on first and third, and then scored on a single to center by Ko Seung-hyun and a double to right by Lee Seung-joo to make it 11-7.

Mulmulgo’s quarterfinal opponent is Seoul Gyeonggi Sanggo, who also reached the quarterfinals of their first national tournament. The other two quarterfinalists are 2020 champion Jang Chung-go and seven-time defending champion Kyungpook National University. The semifinals will begin at 11 a.m. on Nov. 25 and the final at 1 p.m. on Nov. 27. Both will be broadcast live by SPOTV.

Mulgeumgo gave up two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, but with runners on second and third, pitcher Seo Bo-han struck out swinging to end the game. Mulgeum-go won the Gyeongsangnam-do A division in the first half of the weekend league, but was far from a powerhouse. However, in this year’s high school baseball championship, Mulmungo defeated Imhoe 9-2 in the second game and a cold game in the seventh inning, and in the third game, the team came back from a 1-11 deficit against Masango to win a miraculous 14-12 victory. They continued the momentum and turned a gust of wind into a typhoon by defeating the favorite Chungamgo in the quarterfinals.

Dozens of baseball fans crowded around Masan Yongmago ace Jang Hyun-seok for autographs as he exited the baseball field after the quarterfinals. He was the only high school player to represent his country at the Asian Games, and even though his team lost, he deserved the attention. Led by his 155-kilometer fastball, Jang struck out 14 batters while facing 26 in six and two-thirds innings. In every inning, Jang Chung-go’s bats went wide. “I didn’t win the Cheongryonggi, which was my goal, but I played with no regrets,” Jang said. He is currently considering his options between the Major League Baseball and the Korean Professional League.

Jang Chung-go approved of Jang Hyun-seok’s early success in the game. The team took a two-run lead in the first inning against Yongmago sophomore starter Kim Hyun-bin with two hits, including a two-run double by Ryu Hyun-jun in the fourth, and a walk. In the third inning, with runners on first and second, Yongmago brought up Jang Hyun-seok. Jang gave up a run on a single to left to Ryu Hyun-jun, the first batter he faced. But from then on, he shut down the Jangchungo bats perfectly. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Yongmago scored two runs, but Jangchungo brought up their ace, Hwang Jun-seo, to prevent further damage and secure the win. Jangchungo was led by a stellar performance from starter Kim Yoon-ha, who pitched four and two-thirds innings of three-hit ball, striking out eight and walking none with a fastball and changeup that topped out at 145 km/h. The fifth cousin of “Korean Superstar” Park Chan-ho, he pitched 14 and one-third innings of two-run ball in the tournament. “Yoon-ha pitched so well that we didn’t have to send out our main pitcher, Yook Sun-yeop, and saved Hwang Jun-seo’s pitch count,” said Jang Chung-go coach Song Min-soo.

Gyeongbuk High ace Jeon Mir came on in the top of the first inning after starter Dae-Seok walked the first batter. He silenced the Gangneung High bats until the sixth inning, when he gave up five singles and no hits. After taking over at first base in the seventh inning to rest his shoulder, he came back in with runners on first and second in the top of the eighth and stayed on the mound until the top of the ninth. It was a no-hitter through seven and two-thirds innings. Gyeongsangbuk-do took the lead in the second inning on Kim Woo-hyuk’s double with two outs, and made it 3-0 in the sixth inning on a home run to left field by Choi Seong-hwan. Jeon threw 104 pitches on the day and will not be able to pitch until the final on Nov. 27. In high school baseball, players are required to take one day off after throwing 46 to 60 pitches, two days after throwing 61 to 75 pitches, three days after throwing 76 to 90 pitches, and four days after throwing 91 pitches or more. Unless you’re throwing a perfect game or a no-hitter, you can only throw a maximum of 105 pitches. “I knew I was going to throw as many pitches as I could today, so I tried to give it everything I had. Since I can’t stand on the mound, I will try to be more powerful at the plate,” he said. Gyeongbuk High School is a seven-time Cheongnyonggi champion and will return to the top of the standings for the first time in 30 years since 1993, when current Doosan Bears manager Lee Seung-yeop played for the team.