The World Baseball Classic (WBC) baseball team warmed up lightly.
On the 17th (Korean time), the baseball team led by coach Lee Kang-cheol won a practice game against the NC Dinos at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Arizona, USA, 8-2. The national team, convened on the 15th, checked their condition with their first practice game following their own training on the 16th. The game was reduced to 7 innings instead of 9 innings according to agreement between the two sides. The national team operated the mound by entrusting one pitcher with one inning, and if the planned number of pitches (20-25 pitches) was not filled, the team had to face more batters regardless of the out count.
The starting lineup for the national team was Lee Jung-hoo (center fielder) Oh Ji-hwan (shortstop) Choi Jeong (third baseman) Park Byeong-ho (designated hitter) Kim Hyeon-soo (left fielder) Na Seong-beom (right fielder) Kang Baek-ho (1st baseman) Lee Ji-young (catcher) Kim Hye-seong (2nd baseman). NC, who became the team’s first sparring partner, is Seok-Hyun Han (Left fielder) Seong-Wook Kim (Center fielder) Tae-Hoon Do (3rd baseman) Young-Soo Oh (1st baseman) Hyung-Jun Yoon (DH) Joo-Won Kim (Shortstop) Ho-Cheol Seo (2nd baseman) Jang-Han Oh (Right fielder) Joong-Yeol Ahn ( catcher) followed. Most of the key players, including Park Min-woo and Park Se-hyeok, were left out, and 1.5 military-level players stepped on the ground.
At the end of the second inning, the team’s lead hitter Kim Hyun-soo went on base, and after a run, Kang Baek-ho fired a superior two-run home run against NC’s second pitcher Song Myung-ki. At the end of the third inning, Choi Jeong, who came out as the lead batter, scored an extra run with a left-handed home run. Afterwards, the opponent’s right fielder tied up an error and a wild throw to create a safe third base chance, and Na Seong-beom’s timely hit made it 4-0. At the end of the 4th inning, he tied 4 hits and added 2 runs. With the score 5-0, Park Byeong-ho scored an RBI with a lucky hit that hit the ball irregularly in front of the second baseman, and pinch hitter Park Kun-woo scored the 7th run with a huge double that passed the center fielder.
NC scored the first goal in the top of the 5th inning. Seo Ho-cheol was responsible for one RBI double against Jung Woo-young with the national team’s right-handed sidearm at first base. Chun Jae-hwan’s right-handed hit and Ahn Joong-yeol’s hit hit the ball to get a one-out chance, followed by Han Seok-hyun’s first-base grounder바카라, 2-7. In the last attack at the end of the 7th inning, the national team was responsible for the 8th goal with a timely hit by Park Hae-min.
The national team operated the mound as planned. Kim Gwang-hyun, who started as the first pitcher, was in a crisis with 2 hits and 1 out, 1st and 3rd base, but Oh Young-soo and Yoon Hyeong-jun were each treated as a hit and did not concede. In the second inning, Ko Young-pyo gave up no runs against five batters, including two strikeouts on swings. Koh Young-pyo quickly filled the three out counts and faced two more batters due to the small number of pitches. In the third inning, Jeong Cheol-won blocked five batters with one hit, and Won Tae-in, who took the mound in the fourth inning, did not concede a run against six batters.
Among the pitchers of the national team, Jung Woo-young, who appeared in the mound in the 5th inning, was in the worst condition. After sending out a runner due to an error by the shortstop after one out, it was Ok’s tip that he allowed 2 runs by reaching base for three consecutive batters (double base → hit → hit ball). Lee Eui-ri (6th inning) and Go Woo-seok (7th inning) finished their first appearance without conceding a run. The national team is scheduled to play the second practice game against the KIA Tigers on the 20th.