A high school student in the older brothers' competition 'Lotte Man' Kim Tae-hyun's hard pitching'23 Under-23'Choi Tae-won-ho lost 1-2 to Japan

Sep 15, 2024

A high school student in the older brothers' competition 'Lotte Man' Kim Tae-hyun's hard pitching'23 Under-23'Choi Tae-won-ho lost 1-2 to Japan
The match between Ansan Industrial High School and Gwangju Jeil High School in the round of 16 at the 79th Blue Dragon Open National High School Championship was held at Mokdong Baseball Stadium in Seoul on the 11th. Kim Tae-hyun of Gwangju Il High School is catching his breath. Mokdong = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com/2024.07.11/
A high school student in the older brothers' competition 'Lotte Man' Kim Tae-hyun's hard pitching'23 Under-23'Choi Tae-won-ho lost 1-2 to Japan
Kim Tae-hyun standing with his uncle at the national team site. Photo courtesy = Lotte Giants
The U-23 national baseball team, led by head coach Choi Tae-won (Kyung Hee University), finished the tournament in sixth place, losing 1-2 to Japan in the final game of the 5th World Baseball Championship Super Round.

Korea can only advance to the bronze medal match if it beats Japan. In a desperate situation, Kim Tae-hyun of Gwangju Il High School took the starting mound. He is the only high school student who participated in this national team.

He got the first run in the top of the second inning. No. 7 Kim Doo-hyun (Kia Tigers) scored the first point with a sacrifice fly in the first and third bases with one out made by consecutive hits by No. 5 Ryu Hyun-joon (Doosan Bears) and No. 6 Choi Sung-min (kt Wiz).

Starter Kim Tae-hyun blocked the Japanese lineup with no hits by striking out four until the fourth inning, but he handed over the mound to Song Jae-young (Lotte Giants) by giving up a hit and a walk after getting the runner on base with an infield error in the bottom of the fifth inning. Kim Tae-hyun's pitching performance was one hit, five walks, four strikeouts and two runs in four innings, and his earned run was zero.

A high school student in the older brothers' competition 'Lotte Man' Kim Tae-hyun's hard pitching'23 Under-23'Choi Tae-won-ho lost 1-2 to Japan
The mother of Gwangju Jeil High School Kim Tae-hyun, who was selected by Lotte as the fourth overall pick in the 2025 KBO draft held at Lotte Hotel World Seoul on the 11th, poses with general manager Park Joon-hyuk. Jamsil = Reporter Heo Sang-wook wook@sportschosun.com /2024.09.11/
Song Jae-young, who was on the verge of loading the bases with no outs, gave up a hit to the right, and the game returned to 1-1 origin. With the bases loaded with no outs, Song Jae-young took a breather by handling No. 1 Yamada with a fly ball, but the third baseman came home on Ura's infield ground ball, eventually allowing Japan to turn the tables. After that, he struck out Murakami on three pitches to overcome the crisis.

In the last attack in the top of the seventh inning, No. 7 Kim Doo-hyun attempted a squeeze bunt with one out and third base opportunity obtained by leadoff hitter Ryu Hyun-joon's left-hand double and No. 6 Choi Sung-min's sacrifice bunt, but third base runner Jung An-seok (Hanwha Eagles) was ruled out at home. After a long video review, the centrifugal was maintained and eventually gradually lost to Japan.

South Korea, which recorded one win and four losses in the 5th World Baseball Championship (under 23) Super Round, unfortunately finished the tournament in sixth place. Meanwhile, the national team will return home on Monday 16th (Monday) at 15:10 OZ360.





lunarfly@sportschosun.com