Incheon High School ‘ace’메이저사이트 pitcher Kim Taek-yeon led the team to the finals of the Presidential Cup National High School Baseball Championship after 19 years. Kim Taek-yeon, who kept the mound until he hit the pitch limit of 105 pitches, showed off his true worth with nine strikeouts. It was a day for Kim Taek-yeon, who proved his qualifications as a ‘draft changer’ enough to create an atmosphere worthy of challenging the overall ranking with pitching that day.
On August 12, Incheon High School played Gyeongbuk High School in the semi-finals of the Presidential Cup held at Mokdong Stadium in Seoul and won 3-2. Incheon High School is scheduled to play the presidential cup final against Gunsan Sangil High School at 1:00 pm on the 14th at Mokdong Stadium.
Both teams finished the first inning without scoring, and the second inning started to score. In the beginning of the second inning, Gyeongbuk High School had a chance to go 2nd and 3rd base with Lee Seung-hyun and Jung Hee-chan’s consecutive hits and Ahn Jung-hwan’s sacrifice bunt against Incheon High School starting pitcher Park Sang-hyun.
Incheon High’s bench put ‘Ace’ Taek-Yeon Kim on the mound as soon as the crisis came. Kim Taek-yeon recorded a wild fight against Park Hyeon-hoo and allowed an early run. However, Kim Taek-yeon prevented additional runs by striking out Park Hyun-hoo and Park Gun-woo in a row.
Incheon High School, which started a counterattack, created a chance at the end of the second inning when Lim Kyu-young, the lead hitter, went on base with a right-handed hit. Lim Kyu-young, who advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt, boldly attempted to steal third base after two outs. A tie was scored as the opposing catcher threw an error on third base.
After Kim Taek-yeon blocked the start of the 3rd inning with a tripartite, Incheon High took a 2-1 lead at the end of the 3rd inning with a solo home run by lead hitter Park Jae-hyeon.
However, Incheon High allowed a tie with a defensive error in the top of the 5th inning. After one run in the top of the 5th inning, Park Kun-woo reached base with a triple in the right middle, and second baseman Lim Gyu-young, who started forward defense, made a catch error when follow-up hitter Kim Se-hoon hit a ground ball and conceded a run.
The up-and-down flow continued. At the end of the 5th inning, Incheon High got a chance to get 1 out and 3rd base with Lee Woo-jun’s double hit to left-middle, Lee Yu-chan’s sacrifice fly ball. Park Jae-hyun, who hit a home run in the previous at-bat, hit a timely hit with a one-run turnaround to the left, bringing the lead back to 3-2 by one point.
Kim Taek-yeon, who climbed the mound in the top of the ninth inning while playing long innings, caught lead hitter Jeong Hee-chan with a fly ball from second baseman, then struck out follow-up hitter Ahn Jung-hwan on a swing. Kim Taek-yeon, who had a pitch limit of 105, handed the ball to Jung Ju-young and went down the mound. Kim Taek-yeon showed off the best pitching, combining precise control with 74 strikes out of 105 pitches, as well as nine strikeouts.
On August 9, Kim Taek-yeon went on the mound in the quarterfinal match against Yushin High School, throwing 75 pitches, 2 hits, 7 strikeouts and 2 walks in 6.1 innings. After a two-day break, he climbed the mound on the 12th and led the team to the finals with 105 pitches, 4 hits, 9 strikeouts, 1 walk and 1 run in 7.1 innings. It was the result of proving that he had enough value not only as a bullpen pitcher but also as a starter.
Coach Kye-beom of Incheon High School said, “(Kim) Taek-yeon threw a lot during this tournament and worked hard, so the team was able to advance to the finals. Now that I can’t appear in the finals and I have to go to the youth team and do well, I’m going to take care of it. Due to the management of the tournament, Taecyeon was used as a relief pitcher, but even if he started as a starting pitcher, he would be able to fill his role. He sees no reason to limit himself to being a closer when he goes pro. As a starting pitcher, he has enough stamina to throw the ball.”
Kim Taek-yeon, who finished his pitching in the Presidential Cup, met with reporters after advancing to the final and said, “When the team reversed, I threw with all my might to keep the atmosphere. When he went to the mound in the ninth inning, he had only nine pitches left, and he tried to block it by throwing all the pitches with strikes. Still, he struck out on the 105th pitch and made two outs, so I am happy that he helped the team win.”
Kim Taek-yeon solidified his position in the upcoming rookie draft through his appearance in the Presidential Cup. Taek-Yeon Kim appeared in 13 games in this year’s official tournament and showed his appearance as a complete pitcher with both pitch and control, with an average ERA of 1.13, 97 strikeouts and 10 strikeouts, and a WHIP of 0.66. He is the atmosphere that solidified the ‘TOP 2’ system along with Jangchung High School pitcher Hwang Jun-seo. At the competition site that day, there was even a half-serious, half-joke half-talk, saying, “I could become Han Taek-yeon (Hanhwa + Kim Taek-yeon) like this.”
Kim Taek-yeon said, “After throwing 75 pitches and resting for two days, I climbed the mound and threw 105 pitches, so I definitely felt fatigued. Still, thanks to the help of his teammates with good defense, he was able to play long innings. The opponent was a strong team, so I concentrated on throwing the ball into the corner of the strike zone. It’s not that I don’t have greed for future starting pitchers, so I wanted to show my strengths better in this situation. Now I will go to the youth team and prepare well to show better pitching.”