Yang Eui-ji series vs. Kim Jae-ho series

This year’s Korean Series (KS) of professional baseball has a form that is divided into ‘Yanguiji Series’ and ‘Kim Jaeho Series’. NC Dinos catcher Yang Eui-ji (33) and Doosan Bears shortstop Kim Jae-ho (35) are shaking up the fates of the two teams.

Positive will. [연합뉴스]

Doosan, who made the playoffs (PO) with regular season champions NC, was tightly faced with 2 wins and 2 losses through Game 4 of the KS. On the 23rd, the fifth game of KS will be held at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul. Second-leg starter Koo Chang-mo (NC) and Chris Flexen (Doosan) are in a rematch. However, the interest is more focused on Yang Eui-ji and Kim Jae-ho’s ‘KS Best Player Competition (MVP)’. This is an award that the team must win.

Yang Eui-ji showed her strong presence in the fourth game where NC won. He came out as the fourth batter and scored a final RBI and a wedge. As a catcher, he led the pitcher well and produced a scoreless victory (3-0). Even if not, it was believed that this KS would be a “positive consciousness series” from before the beginning. This is because Yang Eui-ji, who was named KS MVP at Doosan in 2016, is competing for the championship trophy with her own team for the first time. Yang Eui-ji is in charge of the lead hitter, catcher and captain in North Carolina. The shoulders are heavy.

As expected, victory and defeat depended on the performance of positive will. I did it right, and I did it if I couldn’t. Until the beginning of the series, he was ‘the one who couldn’t do’. In the first game, the obstruction gave Doosan an excuse to chase. In the second leg, Aaron Altair tried to score a sacrifice fly and was left out at home. In Game 3, he was silent hitless in three at-bats, and because he couldn’t stop the bullpen, Jung-ho Lim’s explosive battle allowed for a radical loss.

A North Carolina official said, “I think Yang Yu-ji was very encouraged during the third game. He noted, “I really couldn’t win this way,” he said. Yang Eui-ji gathered the players in the middle of the third game and held an unusual meeting of the captain’s presidency. He is said to have read a lot, saying, “We’re doing pretty well, so let’s raise the atmosphere so it doesn’t sink.”

Jaeho Kim. [연합뉴스]

The NC players did as the captain asked in the fourth game. Yang Eui-ji also showed better practice with a finishing blow and tight receiver defense. Even after winning the ‘Nongshim Today’s Kang’, which was the protagonist of the final blow, he kept a serious expression instead of a quirky relaxed smile. “It has the greatest meaning in tying the series with 2 wins and 2 losses. I will prepare well for the fifth game ”.

Kim Jae-ho is the best KS hitter for both teams. In games 2 and 3, which Doosan won, he reached the final for two consecutive games, sweeping the Daily MVP and ‘Nongshim Today’s Gang’. The prize money and injuries received so far are worth 4 million won. In the second game, he hit his first home run in 79 games in the postseason.

Kim Jae-ho, who has always been the center of the team’s infield defense, used to leave the attack to a different weapon. In this KS, it started as a ‘solver’. Jose Fernandez, Kim Jae-hwan, Oh Jae-il and Su-Bin Sue, and other left-handed hitters show their presence as one of the few right-handed hitters in Doosan. Even in the fourth game, which was defeated, the pride of the team was saved. Doosan’s three hits against NC came from Kim Jae-ho’s bat. The results of this KS 4 game were a 0.583 batting average (7 hits in 12 at-bats), 6 RBIs and 3 points. He said: “I want to hand over the main character of the game to my juniors. I really just need to win. ”

Reporter Bae Youngeun [email protected]