Bugil High of Cheonan Sinks “Leviathan” Incheon High

The Golden Lion glittering with golden colors was indeed full of reversals and ups and downs. The 58th Golden Lion pennant tournament--a nationwide senior high school baseball tournament--boasting both tradition and authority, drew its splendid curtains in Dongdaemun stadium on June 24. The tournament began with the come-from-behind victory of Inchang High of Guri against Kyungnam High in the opening game. In the second game, which was the biggest match in the tournament, an eventful affair happened. A semi-finalist in the Presidential pennant tournament, Bugil High of Cheonan, beat Incheon High.

-- Bugil High Wins 6-1 Over Incheon High

Pro baseball’s Hanhwa Eagles’ head coach Yoo Seung-an must be beside himself with joy. Bugil High’s righty Yoo Won-sang is his first son, who was a one-man force in the game both on the mound and at the plate. After watching the game, scouts from eight pro baseball teams said in chorus, “he is only a junior now, but he will be Hanhwa’s top choice in the rookie draft next pro baseball season.”

Yoo walked to the mound to relieve starter Hong Sung-yong, who pitched fine with five strikeouts, three hits and one run allowed in the bottom of sixth inning. Bugil High was in a dangerous situation of one out with a runner on first base despite leading the game by 3-1. Yoo easily closed out the inning by inducing a double play. The batter rolled the ball to the shortstop and the runner from the first base was run down. In the following inning, Yoo came up to bat with two outs and a runner on first base and slammed the ball for a 115-meter two-run homer. He played the leading part in the victory of Bugil High. He was on mound until eighth inning, facing eight batters in the process. He struck out four of them while allowing only one hit and no runs. His fastball reached 147km/h.

On the other hand, Incheon High went with their ace, Kim Sung-hoon, who won five victories in the Presidential pennant tournament, standing in as a right fielder. Incheon’s starter Yang Gwang-yul gave up five runs (three earned) and six hits and nine walks until the second out in the seventh inning. Their dream for the double crown in this season has shattered too early.

-- Inchang High Wins 8-4 Over Kyungnam High

Inchang High, the newborn team of the 2000 season, crushed Kyungnam High, the winner of the Phoenix pennant last year and six-time winner of the Golden Lion pennant.

The fifth batter and first baseman Lee Seul-gi was the hero of the victory. Inchang was chased hard by a 3-3 score in the fifth inning when Lee hit what turned out to be a critical double with a runner on first thanks to Park Seung-hyun’s hit with no outs. After that, he stole the third base and scored. In addition, as the first batter in the seventh inning when Incheon was leading the game by 5-3, he hit the first home run of the tournament.

Relief pitcher Han Seung-hun, who took the mound after one out in fourth inning with the score 3-2, became the game-winning pitcher with a record of seven strikeouts, six hits and two runs (one earned) allowed in five and 2/3 innings.

Hwan Soo Zang Jong-Seok Kim zangpabo@donga.com kjs0123@donga.com