I didn’t see the result of winning. However, for a month in July, Mulgeum High School’s baseball team was the pride of Yangsan, a small provincial city with a population of 350,000. It is called ‘Miracle’ and because he wrote a page of youth together with everyone, there was no regret in the last word of captain Gong Min-seo (18). In the final of the 78th Cheongryonggi National High School Baseball Championship and Weekend League Wangjungwangjeon held at Mokdong Baseball Stadium in Seoul on the 27th, Mul Vault lost to Gyeongbuk High School 1-4 and stayed in second place.
Contrary to the fact that he showed concentration in the scoring position throughout the tournament, it was difficult to score a single point in the final. 먹튀검증 Against Gyeongbuk High School starter Lee Seung-heon, he had a chance to score in every inning except for the 5th, but the batters at the water safe could not stand the last breaking ball. Kang Seung-yeong, coach of the water safe, whom we met after the runner-up, pointed out the defeat, saying, “We were always strong against chances in this tournament, but maybe we were nervous because it was the final, so we couldn’t score.” Still, “But I think this part is also okay. There are only three juniors (Gong Min-seo, Kang Do-gyeong, and Ko Seung-hyun) among the fielders, and the rest are in the lower grades. I think it will be,” he said in a general review.
Although Gyeongbuk High School couldn’t overcome the concentrated hits in the early stages, Kang-Hyeon Bae, a freshman in the third grade at Water Safe High School, took responsibility until the end with 7 hits, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts and 4 runs (3 earned) in 8 innings (102 pitches). As he repeated the number of pitches, he found stability and infused the game with tension until the end.
Coach Kang Seung-young said, “(Bae) Kang-hyeon is the player I always thought was the ace of the team. He seemed a little nervous at the beginning, but he finished the game well by completing the game as much as he believed in it.” I don’t know if he will make it, but I think he’s a player with the potential to go pro, so I hope you’ll look forward to it in the future.”
The water safe in this tournament was called the Miracle Team. In the round of 16 against Masango, he lost 1-11 until the 3rd inning, but scored a metallurgical score and eventually won 14-12. In the quarterfinals, they defeated Choongam High School, a candidate for the championship, 11-9 despite the bad news of a suspended game, and advanced to the semifinals for the first time since its founding. In the semifinals, they also enjoyed the joy of advancing to the finals of the national competition by winning 13-5 against Gyeonggi Commercial High School, which advanced to the semifinals for the first time since its founding.
In this way, the water vault stepped on the final stage of the national competition after 8 years of establishment. The previous best performance was the 8th round of the 2020 Association Janggi (now E-Mart Bae). At the center of it was the 3rd grade captain Gong Min-seo. Gong Min-seo, whose main position is center fielder, won the most hits award in this tournament with a batting average of 0.571 (12 hits in 21 bats), 8 RBIs, 7 runs and 2 steals in 5 games. Not only that, but due to poor team circumstances, he appeared on the mound in the quarterfinals against Chungam High School (no hits, no strikeouts, two walks, no runs in ⅓ innings).
Because he poured everything in unsparingly, there was no regret left on the captain’s face after the runner-up. Gong Min-seo laughed, “I think it was a really good memory. I think July 2023 will be the most memorable summer in my life.” There’s only a waiting list left, but the juniors have next year. I hope they gain confidence through this tournament and win next year.”
It was also the captain’s job to take care of the members who were sad about the runner-up. Gong Min-seo said, “There were some members who cried after the end, but he said, ‘Tears shouldn’t end today. We have to learn something through those tears.’ This defeat is a process for us to move forward. It was never a loss, so let’s not be intimidated and go out confidently.”
Although it finished as the runner-up, the water safe’s propaganda in the national competition was like a miracle for Yangsan, a small provincial town with a population of 350,000. For this reason, many Yangsan city officials, including 100 water safe students and players’ families, Yangsan local lawmaker Yoon Young-seok (Yangsan Gap), member of the National Assembly Kim Doo-gwan (Yangsan B), KBO President Heo Gu-yeon, and Yangsan Mayor Na Dong-yeon visited the Mok-dong Baseball Stadium. .
It is a water safe that has been a miracle itself since the founding of the baseball team. In 2013 and 2014, Wondong Middle School in Yangsan won the Presidential Cup National Middle School Baseball Championship for two consecutive years. President Heo Gu-yeon and Yangsan Mayor Na Dong-yeon joined forces to lead the founding of the Wondong Middle School baseball team in 2011, and as it achieved results in two years, the birth of the first high school baseball team in Yangsan in 2015 was also able to gain momentum.
Eight years later, in the 21st century, a high school baseball team that was founded less than 10 years ago reached the finals of the national championship for the first time. The good performance of this tournament is expected to inspire baseball fever not only in Yangsan City but also in other small cities in the province. Before professional baseball existed in the past, high school baseball played a role in informing the region.
Just as Wondong Middle School, which was about to close, succeeded in becoming self-reliant as a school specializing in physical education, high school baseball can be a way to revitalize the region in a situation where small provincial towns are losing their power due to the increasing concentration of the metropolitan area. Encouraged by the publicity of the water safe, Yangsan City is reviewing the construction of a baseball-only baseball field and women’s national baseball training ground by joining forces with President Heo Gu-yeon.
The water vault baseball team, which achieved a miracle, hoped that the results of this tournament would serve as hope for other local high school baseball teams, not just a one-time event. Captain Gong Min-seo said, “Not only our school students, but also many people from Yangsan City visited the stadium. It would have been better if we had shown ourselves winning in front of them. I hope you will cheer me on,” he said with strength.
Coach Kang Seung-young also said, “I don’t feel sorry for the runner-up in this tournament. I hope that the achievements of Water Vault will serve as an opportunity for new schools like us to become a team that can cause trouble if we do our best without giving up. We are proud of that. remains,” he said.