NC Dinos infielder Oh Young-soo hit his first postseason home run since his debut, wiping away the disappointment of the semi-playoffs.
NC succeeded in dominating the series by winning 9-5 in the first game against KT Wiz in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO Playoffs held at Suwon KT Wiz Park on the 30th.카지노사이트
The probability of the team winning the first game of the past KBO playoffs (based on best-of-five series, excluding the two major leagues in 1999-2000, 1995, 2008, and 2021) reaching the Korean Series is 78.1% (25/32). This is why NC, which secured the first win, felt much lighter.
Oh Young-soo, who started as the seventh hitter and first baseman, also contributed to the team’s victory. Oh Young-soo recorded 3 hits (1 home run) and 2 RBI in 5 at-bats, hitting the most hits in the team along with Son A-seop and Kwon Hee-dong.
On this day, the NC team consisted of Son Ah-seop (designated hitter) – Park Min-woo (second baseman) – Park Geon-woo (right fielder) – Martin (center fielder) – Kwon Hee-dong (left fielder) – Seo Ho-cheol (third baseman) – Oh Young-soo (first baseman) – Kim Hyeong-jun (catcher) – Kim Joo-won With the lineup organized in order of (shortstop), NC coach Kang In-kwon’s winning move was to place Oh Young-soo at number 7.
Before the game, Coach Kang said, “The starting lineup is formed by comprehensively judging the coaches’ opinions based on the players’ current condition and the opposing team’s and pitcher’s records.” He added, “Oh Young-soo showed good performance against the KT pitchers. The offense is better.” “I felt the need to become more active, so Oh Young-soo stepped up as first baseman,” he explained.
In fact, Oh Young-soo appeared in all three semi-playoff games against SSG Landers, but did not show much performance, recording only 1 hit in 7 at-bats, a batting average of 0.143, and 1 walk. This is why Oh Young-soo was not at ease even as the team was on the rise.
Nevertheless, the head coach gave Oh Young-soo another opportunity in the first game of the playoffs. Oh Young-soo, who did not want to betray his trust any longer, swung the bat as hard as he could from his first at-bat. In the top of the second inning, he came out as the lead hitter and hit KT starter William Cuevas’ 149km/h fastball on a full count, drawing a solo arch that went over the left wall. Oh Young-soo’s first postseason home run since his debut.
This was not the end of Oh Young-soo’s activities. In the top of the 5th inning, he came out as the lead hitter and achieved multiple hits by hitting a single, and in the top of the 9th inning, he completed a 3-hit game by hitting a timely hit with 1 RBI. From the team’s perspective, Oh Young-soo’s RBI definitely solidified the victory.
This is the head coach who trusted and hired Oh Young-soo, a person who was as happy as the player. After the game, Manager Kang In-kwon praised him, saying, “He showed as good as expected. I am looking forward to future games even more. When I saw him at bat in the first game today, I could see that he had found a little more composure.” didn’t
Oh Young-soo, who met with reporters after the game, said, “It was good that the team had good results during the postseason, but on the other hand, I felt uneasy because my individual performance was poor. I hope I can help the team at least a little through today’s game. “Now that this has come to an end, I will continue to work hard to continue in a good mood,” he said with a sigh of relief.
Oh Young-soo, who did not forget to mention coach Kang In-kwon, said, “What the coach always tells me is to be confident in my swing. I felt a lot of regret because it seemed like he had a lot of faith in me, but I hope that I can alleviate some of that with today’s game.” He expressed his gratitude.
Why was NC, which was inferior in the regular season with 6 wins and 10 losses, clearly taking the lead from the first game of the series? Oh Young-soo said, “It seemed like the players didn’t really think about the opponent’s record, and I didn’t really pay attention to that either. I think I focused my analysis more on Cuevas, who I had to face right away.”
Oh Young-soo, who recovered the home run situation in the top of the second inning, said, “I never faced Cuevas during the season, so I only heard what the opposing pitcher was like, but I was lucky and saw the ball well at the plate, so I think I had a good result.” I heard that Cuevas was good and that he throws a lot of sweeper-type sliders, so I think I thought about that while batting. The coach said that Cuevas’ velocity was faster than I expected, and he came in with more fastballs early in the game than I thought, so he had a concise pitch. “We talked about hitting with a swing,” he said.
Oh Young-soo said, “Rather than aiming for the course, I felt like I was in good condition when I was at bat, so I picked Cuevas’ changeup on the 5th pitch in my first at-bat with a ball count of 2-2, and then I gained some confidence and swung (at the 6th pitch). “I think we got good results as it led to a home run,” he added.
In the case of pitcher Kim Min, whom he met in the top of the 9th inning, Oh Young-soo said he was able to analyze it to some extent because he had previously served in the military with the Sangmu baseball team. Oh Young-soo said, “I served in the military at Sangmu with Kim Min, and during the Blue and White Battle, he threw a lot of curveballs and sliders at me. I didn’t react well at that time and was only thinking, but I think I hit a slider.”
Not only in today’s game, but also throughout the postseason, there are times when Do Tae-hoon starts first, or when Oh Young-soo is included in the lineup. Wouldn’t this part be burdensome? Oh Young-soo reflected, “(Do) Tae-hoon often goes on defense first, so I think I prepare according to the situation. In the first game, I was going to start first, so I was thinking of targeting Cuevas’ fast balls.”
Oh Young-soo also said, “I have never been upset about Platoon. I have to be honest and admit that Tae-hoon’s defense is better. In fact, since it was the first game and Pedi came out, I knew Tae-hoon would go first, but I was told that I would be the starter. “When I heard about it, I think I thought, ‘I need to do really well today,’” he said.
NC’s upward trend, which recorded 5 consecutive wins from the wild card game to the first game of the playoffs, is still ongoing. Oh Young-soo said, “The team atmosphere is good every game. Seniors (Son) Ah-seop, (Park) Min-woo, (Park) Geon-woo, and (Kwon) Hee-dong are all very good.” He added, “Thanks to the veteran seniors who lead us well, we are able to help young people.” “The players seem to be following their older brothers by just working hard and doing whatever they want on the field. Since the seniors are doing so well, I think the younger players are doing the same,” he said with a smile.