Jeon Woo-ju, the best pitcher in high school, will pitch in the final.
The Jeonju baseball team, led by head coach Joo Chang-hoon, will face Duksugo in the final of the 2024 Shinsegae E-Mart Bae National High School Baseball Tournament at SSG Landers Field in Incheon, South Korea, on April 22.
Jeonju's starting pitcher for the final is 'Ace' Jung Woo-ju. The hard-throwing pitcher, one of the biggest names in this year's rookie draft, did not pitch in the semifinals against Gyeongbuk High School. Unlike Duksugo, who exhausted their main pitchers and were unable to make the final due to pitch count issues, Jung will take the mound in the final. In the semifinals, another ace, Lee Homin, pitched eight innings of one-run ball with 105 pitches and 12 strikeouts.
"I told him before the semifinals, 'I want you to throw 105 pitches today, and I want you to throw them all,'" said Joo Chang-hoon, the head coach of Jeonju. Both Lee and Jeong have a lot of faith in me. I also told Jung Woo-woo today, 'Don't get out after two strikes and make it easy for yourself.' I want him to finish with 105," Lee smiled. That's how much faith and trust he has in his ace pitchers.
Jung Woo-ju's shoulder was not feeling well before the semifinals. "I told him not to play catch because he wasn't feeling well, and he didn't warm up. I prepared from the beginning without playing. Today, 스포츠토토 he said he was in good shape, so we're going to trust him from the start and try to overpower him."
Despite being the alma mater of great players such as Park Kyung-wan, Kim Won-hyung, Choi Hyung-woo, and Park Jung-kwon, Jeonju has only won one national title, the 1985 Golden Lion. The desire to win is high.
"We've been practicing since February, and our opponents have been telling us that Jeonju is too strong," says coach Joo Chang-hoon. We didn't feel it at all, but I think the players gained confidence as we beat Gyeonggi Sanggo and Busan Go, who were the favorites to win the tournament, and came up with difficult wins." "We thought this was the right time to win the title and have been preparing for this season since November last year. We left for training camp as soon as we got back from vacation, and we trained even when others were resting. We started training early and prepared well in order to get results from the first year, and I'm happy that it seems to be paying off," he said.
