Chapter 8. The Roles of Sheep and Wolves
Games without spectators were always boring.
Even if it was only a practice game, I liked those moments when dozens of people came to watch the field and cheered for us.
In that sense, playing baseball for an unpopular team was always the worst.
Other than the parents of players from both teams, nobody came to watch our games.
Maybe there were around forty people in total from both sides.
For rivalry games in other regions, I heard local newspapers, sports reporters, and even some students from the schools came out to cheer.
We got none of that.
“Quite a lot of parents came this year. It seems everyone is looking forward to our games.”
This was considered a lot?
Anyone could see there were barely ten people on our side.
In other words, only about half as many parents as there were members of our baseball team had shown up.
And every single one of them had worried expressions on their faces.
Well, even when the parents went to the principal’s office and protested against shutting down the club, nothing changed.
We could only keep getting pushed aside by the prestigious soccer team.
And they knew it themselves.
Even if their kids wanted to escape this school, there weren’t many other places they could go.
“Our first goal this year is to earn our first victory. We’ll take things one step at a time and move toward winning the championship. That will become our record for this year, and it will restore the baseball club’s standing within the school.”
Coach Park Seong-hyeon spoke with authority.
We had trained throughout the entire offseason, but the players still looked tense.
Watching them, I let out a small sigh.
At the very least, shouldn’t they avoid losing before the game even started?
“Of course, the team we’re facing today finished second in last year’s weekend league, so winning may be difficult. But we have to make the impossible possible.”
His words only made the other players shrink even more.
A few weak responses came back.
As the starting pitcher for today’s game and the team captain, it was about time for me to say something.
We had suffered through hell all winter.
If we lost the psychological battle before the game even began, there was no helping us.
That was when Yoon Jae-jun spoke beside me.
“Seong... I did some analysis of my own...”
The fighting spirit he had shown when we first met was nowhere to be seen, but he was still a fairly promising catcher.
He was pretty good at calling pitches and acting as a leader behind the plate.
Of course, since I had pushed him aside, he had more or less volunteered to become the team’s second-in-command.
“What is it?”
“Bundang Yatap High’s batting lineup has really blossomed this year, right?”
I had heard about it too.
Their first through sixth hitters were all considered part of a dynamite lineup.
Last year, their fourth through sixth hitters had all been power-hitting second-years who terrified opposing teams.
This year, those three had become seniors, while hitters who had completely dominated middle-school baseball had taken over the first through third spots.
In other words, they had built an absurdly powerful lineup.
They were planning to use that lineup to defeat Jeil High...
And they probably would.
This was the year Bundang Yatap High reached its peak.
“So?”
“I think you should rely mainly on your slider. Hitters are usually weak against breaking balls from pitchers they’ve never seen before. If you make a mistake with a fastball against those guys, there’s a high chance it’ll immediately turn into a home run.”
That was actually a pretty solid analysis for a high school student.
But it wasn’t the correct answer.
I needed to revive this stiff, nervous team and show them that we could do it too.
In other words, I needed to smash their loser mentality to pieces.
“That’s what you do in peacetime. Right now, we’re at war.”
Yoon Jae-jun stared at me as if I were talking nonsense.
Well, maybe it was because he still hadn’t properly watched me play.
He had only seen tiny glimpses of what I could actually do.
He still couldn’t judge just how good the pitcher throwing to him really was.
“Just follow my pitching today.”
I had nothing more to say to Yoon Jae-jun.
But I had plenty to say to the rest of the players.
“They said the other team has some of the best hitters in high school baseball right now, didn’t they?”
“Yes!”
Everyone answered when their captain asked.
Unfortunately, their voices were barely louder than mosquitoes.
“Now it’s time to decide who’s the sheep and who’s the wolf. I’ll win this game for you.”
I didn’t bother saying anything more.
These guys were probably more used to believing what they saw with their own eyes.
And in the end, proving it through skill was the right answer.
Only thirty spectators?
We could increase that number little by little from now on.
Scouts, reporters, students from our own school—
I could bring all of them here with my own strength.
As if responding to my smile, the players seemed to regain some energy and began heading onto the field.
Starting now, Saeum High would change because of me.
“Play ball!”
The first game of the first-half weekend league of my third year of high school began.
Our Gyeonggi-Seoul division consisted of seven teams in total, with each team playing one game against every other team.
We needed to finish first to earn a chance to participate in the National Championship.
Rather than simply winning the weekend league, my real goal was to reach that championship.
If I made it there and performed well, I could instantly emerge as a dark horse for a first-round draft pick.
We were the home team and would bat second.
Our lineup was simple.
Saeum High Lineup
Starting Pitcher: Choi Seong
1st Batter: Geum Tae-sang — Left Fielder
2nd Batter: Park Ja-geun — Right Fielder
3rd Batter: Kwon Geon-woo — Center Fielder
4th Batter: Choi Seong — Starting Pitcher
5th Batter: Yoon Jae-jun — Catcher
6th Batter: Park Byeong-gyu — First Baseman
7th Batter: Kim Gyeong-taek — Second Baseman
8th Batter: Kim Jeong-tae — Shortstop
9th Batter: Yoo Ji-seong — Third Baseman
Now that spring weather was just beginning, who had the advantage—hitters or pitchers?
There was plenty of debate about it in baseball circles, but personally, I thought hitters had the advantage.
A pitcher’s body required far more moving parts and mechanisms to properly adjust.
I thought about that while making my warm-up pitches.
This game would be simple.
Instead of using a modern power-hitting number-two setup, we had gone with a traditional batting order.
Fast players with good contact skills were placed at the top, while players capable of hitting home runs filled the heart of the order.
—146 km/h.
My four-seam fastball slammed right into the center of the strike zone.
The batter let out a sigh.
He was their leadoff hitter.
Probably that famous freshman I had heard about.
Yoon Jae-jun called for a slider on the second pitch.
He wanted me to start mixing in breaking balls?
Not happening.
He kept asking for sliders in different locations, but I shook my head every time.
Eventually, every sign Yoon Jae-jun gave me became a four-seam fastball.
Now he was finally becoming somewhat useful.
At least he was beginning to understand what pitch I wanted.
—145 km/h.
Another fast four-seam landed inside the strike zone.
The opposing batter clicked his tongue.
He was probably surprised by how much faster it was than he expected.
Either way, he had just moved up from middle school to high school.
It was only right to give him a proper initiation ceremony.
This was probably his first official plate appearance, after all.
So I gave him a fairly warm welcome.
“Strikeout!”
He tried to swing at the final pitch.
Too bad.
The four-seam fastball had flown well outside the strike zone.
Step. Step.
The rookie trudged back toward the dugout.
