Chunkyum in Busan, Ju Taejun in Masan...Dragging from the front and pushing from the back to the quarterfinals.

Jul 12, 2024

Busan High School Cheon Gyeom and Masan Yongma High School Joo Tae-jun's hard work. Shin Wol-dong = Reporter Jung Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com

Busan High School and Masan Yongma High School, the prestigious baseball schools in Busan and Changwon, advanced to the quarterfinals of Cheongryonggi High School Baseball.

The round of 16 match of the 79th Cheongryonggi National High School Baseball Championship (co-hosted by Chosun Ilbo, Sports Chosun, and Korea Baseball Softball Association) was held at Shinwol Baseball Stadium in Seoul on the 12th.

Busan High School faced Gyeongnam High School, its biggest rival in the region, first. Busan High School ace Kim Jung-yeop pitched scorelessly until the fifth inning, and Busan High School, which accumulated scores from the first inning, led 6-0 until the fifth inning.

However, when starter Kim Jung-yeop went down from the mound in the sixth inning, Gyeongnam High School immediately scored four runs and chased 6-4. Both teams were scoreless in the seventh inning. In the top of the eighth inning, when Gyeongnam High School created a scoring chance with one out and second base with a wild pitch, Busan High School coach Park Gye-won pitched another ace, Cheon Gye-gyeom.

Chunkyum's pitch to keep the victory

In the second round against Seoul Convention High School on the 8th, Cheon Gyeom pitched well with three hits, five strikeouts, and one run with no outs in four ⅔ innings, leading his team to an 11-2 cold victory. With only 57 pitches, he was able to take the mound at an important moment in the game on the 11th.

Cheon Gyeom handled his first opponent, No. 4 hitter Kang Ji-hyun, with a fly ball to center field, and struck out No. 5 Jung Eun-sung to end the inning neatly.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Busan High School scored two more points with Ahn Ji-won's timely hit and Lee Won-joon's sacrifice hit, widening the gap to 8-4.

Four points is a gap that can be reversed at any time in high school baseball. Cheon Gyeom, who also took the mound in the ninth inning, allowed consecutive hits and faced a crisis of first and second bases with no outs, but handled the three batters who followed with missteps and kept the 8-4 victory without losing a point. The number of pitches is 25.

Busan High School Cheon-gyeom cheers after keeping Gyeongnam High School's attack scoreless in the top of the ninth inning.

This year, Cheon-gyeom has a 1.80 ERA with three wins and no losses with 35 ⅓ innings in 13 games. Based on his stable ball control, he raised his maximum fastball speed to 149 kilometers. It is also encouraging that there are no walks at all in the last five games.

The 79th Blue Dragon Open National High School Championship match between Masan Yongmago and Bukilgo held at Shinwol Baseball Stadium in Seoul on the 11th. Joo Tae-joon of Masan Yongmago took the mound as a starting pitcher.

The next player to introduce is left-hander Joo Tae-joon of Masan Yongma High School. He started the round of 16 against Bukil High School and pitched eight ⅓ innings, allowing six hits and two runs with no outs. Amid Joo Tae-joon's performance, Masan Yongmago advanced to the quarterfinals by beating Bukil High School 4-2.

Joo Tae-joon overwhelmed the opponents by striking out the first, second, and third batters in a row from the first inning. He allowed only two hits until the sixth inning. He also scored as many as seven strikeouts to completely block Bukil High School's batters.

Joo Tae-joon, who faced a crisis in the seventh inning with a 4-0 lead, gave up a two-run timely hit with the bases loaded with two outs, but struck out the next batter to prevent additional runs.

Joo Tae-joon, who handled three batters with a mistake in the eighth inning, also took the mound in the ninth inning and took one out before turning over the mound due to the limit on the number of pitches per day. Throughout the 104 pitches, Joo Tae-joon put all his energy into it.

with all his might

Ju Tae-jun's 104th hole

Joo Tae-joon, who took a year off due to elbow injury and surgery last year, has been throwing the ball again since April this year. Until this day, he has played 37 ⅓ in 10 games, recording 4 wins, 1 loss, and a 2.37 ERA. He also started in the first ⅓ against Gangwon High School on the 5th and pitched well with two runs in five innings.

His average fastball speed is around 130 kilometers, but he is overwhelming the opponent's batters with breaking balls as his main weapon.

Busan High School will face Gangneung High School on the 12th to advance to the semifinals. On the 13th, the quarterfinals between Masan Yongmago and Jangchung High School are scheduled. The venue is Mokdong Baseball Stadium.

cjg@sportschosun.com