The Cheong Wa Dae Monsters avenged last season’s cold loss against Chungam High School.
According to JTBC, the 49th episode of the entertainment program “Strongest Baseball,” which aired on the 17th, featured the first game of a two-game series between the Monsters and Chungam High School.
Last year, the Monsters suffered their first and only cold loss since the team’s inception. For them, Chungam-go remains a nightmare. On the other hand, Chung-Ang was more confident than ever as they faced the Monsters for the second year in a row for the first time in the history of baseball. Chungamgo coach Lee Young-bok had already predicted a defeat for the Monsters before the game.
Coach Kim Sung-geun gave the Monsters a stinging rebuke by reviewing their last match against Gyeongbuk High School, and shared the results of Chungamgo’s power analysis with the players to strengthen their will to win. The Monsters took the advice to heart, became more awake, and maximized their fighting power.
To celebrate the first game between the Monsters and ChungamGo, actress Onara, a huge fan of the game, performed a special poem. Onara, who has been to every Gikwan game except for the first one, said she spent two months working on this one. “The unscripted drama that you guys write every week energizes my tired life, and in a way, inspires me. I’m honored to be able to throw out my first pitch on ‘Strongest Baseball’. It’s just one ball, but I’ve prepared a lot,” he said.
In particular, the last comment was a parody of what commentator Kim Sun-woo said during the opening ceremony last season, and the broadcasters laughed at the sense of Onara, a fan of ‘Cheong Wa Dae Baseball’. Onara received a standing ovation as she delivered the perfect introductions and quotes.
Lee Dae-eun took the mound to start the game, and her ace-like pitching kept the batters at bay. This was complemented by Hoseobi’s defense in the infield, 안전사이트 which took a lot of pressure off his shoulders. In the bottom of the second inning, Park Jae-wook, the “RBI machine,” opened the scoring, and in the bottom of the third inning, Park and Choi Soo-hyun added a run apiece on push balls. Kim Moon-ho added an RBI single to make it 4-0.
The Monsters were in control of the game, but a sudden finger injury to their ace Lee Dae-eun put them on the ropes. Shin Jae-young was substituted before he could warm up, causing some anxiety, but he impressed both the Monsters and Chung-Ang Go with his ‘spicy’ pitching. The Chungam Go batters, who were eagerly anticipating Shin’s appearance at the start of the game, were unable to score a single run until the seventh inning.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Monsters scored two more runs on back-to-back infield singles by Choi Soo-hyun and Kim Moon-ho, followed by an RBI double by Park Yong-taek to make it 8-1, raising hopes for a cold game win. In the bottom of the eighth, part-timer Ko Young-woo’s first hit of the year and longtime slugger Lee Hong-gu’s first hit of the season brought the cold game win within reach, but the team was unable to capitalize on the opportunity.
Oh Joo-won, who has an ERA in the low 0s, followed Shin Jae-young and shut down the Chung-Ang batters to end the game 8-1.