Choi Won-tae, who led the KIA sweep series in 290 days, “It was an honor to play well with senior Yang Hyeon-jong”
Kiwoom Heroes pitcher Choi Won-tae contributed greatly to the team’s victory with 8 scoreless innings and perfect pitches. Amid Choi Won-tae’s strong fight, Kiwoom achieved a series sweep against the KIA Tigers in 290 days with Lee Jung-hoo’s ending home run in an extra game.
Choi Won-tae started against Gocheok KIA on April 16 and contributed to the team’s 2-0 victory with 4 hits, 5 strikeouts, 1 walk and no runs in 8 innings.
On this day, Choi Won-tae played a luxury pitcher match with KIA starter Yang Hyeon-jong. Choi Won-tae, who started off cleanly with double-strike judo in the top of the 1st inning, blocked it with no runs through consecutive hit-outs until the 1st out and 2nd base crisis in the top of the 3rd inning through a tripartite retreat in the top of the 2nd inning.안전놀이터
Choi Won-tae’s stable pitching continued. Choi Won-tae, who finished the inning with a double stroke at the beginning of the 4th inning, achieved a quality start with consecutive ground balls induction at the beginning of the 6th inning from a crisis with 1 company and 2nd base. Choi Won-tae, who continued the efficient number of pitches, climbed the mound in the beginning of the 7th and 8th innings and blocked the KIA lineup with no runs.
Since Choi Won-tae threw only 82 pitches until the 8th inning, Choi Won-tae was in a situation to aim for a complete pitch, but Kiwoom’s bench put finisher Kim Jae-woong on the mound at the beginning of the 9th inning. On this day, Choi Won-tae recorded 63 strikes out of a total of 82 pitches. Centered on two-seam fastballs (25) with a maximum speed of 150 km/h, he mixed sliders (23), four-seam fastballs (14), curves (11), and changeups (9) to perfectly dominate the KIA lineup.
Kiwoom led the match to overtime with Choi Won-tae’s perfect pitch. And at the end of the 10th inning, Lee Jung-hoo’s two-run homer with one out on first base succeeded in achieving four consecutive wins. In addition, Kiwoom achieved a series sweep against KIA in 290 days. The previous record was the Gocheok series sweep on June 28-30, 2022.
After the game, Choi Won-tae said, “In the last pitch, I threw a lot of fastballs, and the two-seam fastball didn’t have much effect. He threw a lot of two-seam today and saw a good effect by reducing the number of pitches. His use of the changeup as a deciding ball was also effective. Personally, it is a great honor to play a good game with senior Yang Hyeon-jong. He didn’t have any greed for a complete game. I trusted (Kim) Jae-woong and the team was on a winning streak, so I thought the team victory was more important than personal greed.”
