57th Golden Lion Full of Drama

The 57th Golden Lion, a baseball championship for high school teams jointly hosted by The Donga Ilbo and the Korea Baseball Association, brews excitement almost every day of the series. Yesterday, Kunsan Vocational High pulled off a dramatic win, and Gwangju Dongsung High and Daejeon High went on to the second round.

● Kunsan Vocational High 5-3 over Kyungnam Vocational High

History repeated itself once again as it did 31 years ago. Kunsan and Kyungnam held each other at the ropes 3-3 until the 12th inning on Saturday. The game was suspended and resumed yesterday. A lucky hit tilted the scales in Kunsan’s favor.

In the top 13th, Lee Jin-young hit a single for Kunsan, with a following sacrifice bunt and walk which loaded up first and second bases. Kim Jae-min`s line drive which bounced off the second baseman`s glove and on into left field, brought Lee Jin-young home.

Chae Hyung-jin also hit a double for Kunsan again, scoring one more for the winning team. Kyungnam`s ace Chung Dae-hoon made a couple of errors due to fatigue, losing the game to Kunsan.

● Daejeon High 7-1 against Wonju High

Wonju`s starting pitcher Hong got off to a very sloppy start, allowing three runs and five walks to Daejeon.

In the fourth, Daejeon also scored two hits off one wild pitch.

Daejeon added two points in the seventh inning with Wonju scoring only one in the bottom of the eighth, to avoid a shutout.

● Gwangju Dongsung 12-2 over Cheju Tourism High School (Called game in 5th)

Gwangju, winner of one of the major championships this year, has continually showed its prowess on the field. The game was a 2-2 draw by the end of the fourth inning, but Gwangju won the called game by scoring ten points on seven hits. The powerful high school slugger Kim Joo-hyung hit a double, which bounced off the left field fence in the 5th inning for Gwangju.

Gwangju starter Han lost two runs on three hits, though relief Kang allowed only one hit and no runs.

jeon@donga.com jaeyuna@donga.com