Jang Hyeon-seok of Masan Yongma High School held 47 pitches in 3⅓ innings in the match against Gwangju Jinheung High School in the 토토사이트 78th Blue Dragon National Baseball Championship held on the 19th at Mok-dong Baseball Stadium in Seoul, With 1 hit, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts and no runs, he showed a pitch of ‘masterpiece’.
Jang Hyun-seok is attracting the most attention among the players to be selected for this year’s KBO draft. Jang Hyun-seok, who is evaluated as a high-quality ball with a speed of 150 km/h as well as a breaking ball, is highly likely to wear the uniform of the Hanwha Eagles, who have the first overall pick, if he participates in the KBO rookie draft.
However, Jang Hyun-seok has not yet decided on his career path. This is because major league clubs are very interested in Jang Hyun-seok. Before the suspension was declared due to rain the previous day (18th), as well as when the game resumed on the 19th, scouts from KBO and major league clubs visited the field to see Jang Hyun-seok.
Jang Hyun-seok, who was on the mound at the end of the second inning, trailing 0-1 the previous day (18th), with two outs loaded, struck out the first batter, Park Seong-ha, and made a clean start. And in the 3rd inning, Kim Ho-jin – Kim Jae-min – Lee Joo-hyun tied up the center batting line, and in the 4th inning Park Kyu-seung – Shin Seong-joong – Kim Si-wan’s lower batting line was tied tightly and showed a ‘perfect fight’. In particular, striking out four batters in a row after one out in the third inning was truly a ‘masterpiece’.
The day before, it rained quite a bit in the morning in the metropolitan area, and the game between Yongma High School and Jinheung High School was declared suspended after waiting for more than 1 hour and 30 minutes. Then, at 8:00 am on the 19th, the game resumed with 2 outs 1st and 2nd base at the beginning of the 5th inning, with Yongmago trailing 0-1, and Jang Hyun-seok stood on the mound for two days in a row following the previous day. Could it be because he took a short break and climbed the mound due to an unexpected variable? Jang Hyun-seok’s pitching was a little different from the previous day.
Jang Hyun-seok gave up a walk to lead hitter Ryu Si-woo at the end of the 5th inning, ending an uneasy start, and was attacked by Kang Joo-hyung, the follow-up hitter, and allowed a double to left field. 2nd and 3rd bases are in danger of losing points. Here, Jang Hyun-seok’s true value was revealed. When the fastball did not go as planned, Jang Hyun-seok continued his pitching by increasing the proportion of breaking balls.
Hyun-seok Jang sighed as he struck out a looking strikeout by throwing a slider that formed toward his body at Park Seong-ha, the second hitter of Jinheung High School, in a crisis on second and third base. Afterwards, Kim Ho-jin threw three balls in a row and shook, then put two breaking balls into the strike zone and played a 3B-2S full count match, and through the sixth pitch, the second baseman caught a floating ball. And after a 2B-2S match with follow-up hitter Kim Jae-min, the third baseman made a ground ball and finished the inning without conceding.
Jang Hyun-seok, who escaped a big crisis based on the pitch of the ‘overwhelming’, showed a howling and roaring ceremony in the process of coming down from the mound. And on that day, Yongmago made a dramatic tie after 2 outs in the top of the 9th inning, and in the top of the 10th inning, Son Yul-gi swept 3 RBIs and doubles with 2 bases loaded, winning a thrilling 4-1 come-from-behind victory and advancing to the round of 16.
After the game, Jang Hyun-seok had time to explain. It was because of what happened the day before (the 18th). Jang Hyun-seok, who came to the mound in the 2nd bases loaded crisis, did something that could be suspected as a ‘balk’. At this time, shouts of ‘balk!’ came from all over Mokdong Stadium, but the referees did not declare Jang Hyun-seok balk. And while Jang Hyun-seok finished the inning and went down the mound, he put his finger to his mouth and held a ‘shh’ ceremony meaning ‘be quiet’, and this action drew a lot of attention.
Jang Hyun-seok, who met with reporters after the round of 32 match against Jinheung High School, cautiously opened the door, saying, “It is really ridiculous to do to the coach (Jinheung High School Kim In-ho) as it was mentioned in the article.” It was bad. I was just listening, but even the moment I went down the mound, it was so bad that I asked the players on the bench to be quiet.”
After Jang Hyun-seok was declared suspended the day before, Yongma High School coach Jin Min-soo and Jinheung High School coach Kim In-ho visited and apologized. He said, “After the article about the provocation came out, I went to director Kim In-ho with our coach and said, ‘I’m sorry. It wasn’t like that (provocation).’ It seems,” he explained.
Talent is enough to be used immediately on the professional stage, but Jang Hyun-seok, who is still in his third year of high school, learned and felt a lot through this job. He said, “I didn’t hold a ceremony until last year, but since this year’s final season, I think I’m going to express it if it’s good, if it’s bad, it’s bad. Yesterday (18th) was my own expression, but it was misunderstood. In the future, ‘I can’t do this.’ felt a lot,” he said.
With the victory on this day, Yongmago got a ticket to the round of 16, and it is expected that we will continue to see Jang Hyun-seok throwing from the blue dragon. He said, “Today’s game started quickly and it was physically difficult. I felt that the rotation of the fastball was low, so I tried to catch up with pitching.” I have never been selected as a starter, but I want to try it once,” he smiled.
