His reputation as a ‘master of reversals’ has not gone anywhere.
Gunsan Commercial High School (former Gunsan Commercial High School) baseball alumni who switched to humanities came together and achieved a dramatic comeback, winning the high school alumni baseball tournament for the second straight time. With this win, we were able to deliver 30 million won in prize money to juniors at our alma mater. In last year’s inaugural competition, the entire prize money of 30 million won was given, and a whopping 60 million won was given as a gift over the next two years.
In the final of the 2023 No Brand Cup High School Alumni Baseball Tournament (7 regular innings) held at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on the 28th, Gunsan Sangil High School defeated Daegu Sangil High School, led by ‘Yangshin’ Yang Jun-hyuk, 9-8 after an 8th inning overtime, and won 2 years. Climbed to the top in succession.
Gunsan Sangwon High School, the winning school, will receive a scholarship of 30 million won, and Daegu Sangwon High School, the runner-up school, will receive a scholarship of 15 million won. 7 million won will also be given to the team tied for third place. The fruits of the sweat of seniors are passed on to juniors and used for student baseball players.
The winning members of the first competition continued to show off their prowess this year. Starting pitcher Moon Yong-du, in his late 40s, threw a whopping 127 pitches. He took charge of the mound with 12 hits, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts, and 7 runs (3 earned) in 6.1 innings, putting 90 of them in the strike zone.
Moon Yong-doo, who was on the starting mound in the previous four games and led Gunsan Sangil High School to victory in all of them, won the tournament’s Outstanding Pitcher Award with 15 runs (9 earned), 22 strikeouts, and an ERA of 3.63 in 22.1 innings in 5 games. After the game, Moon Yong-doo said, “I’ve thrown more than 80 in a game, but I’ve never thrown more than 100,” and laughed, “I don’t think my arm will go up the next day.”
He added, “It gave me strength because I pitched for my alma mater along with my seniors and juniors. My son will enter the first year of Gunsan Commercial High School next year. Since my father did this, I hope my son can play baseball with a little more confidence.”
In the batting lineup, Cha Jung-guk hit hard with 2 hits in 4 at-bats, 1 walk, 1 RBI, 2 stolen bases, and Lee Woo-in went 4-for-4 with 2 hits, 2 RBIs, 2 stolen bases, and 2 runs. Cha Jung-guk, who recorded a batting average of 0.571 (8 hits in 14 at-bats), 1 home run, 6 RBI, and 3 stolen bases in 5 games throughout the tournament, was selected as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player (MVP).
In a game where the game was coming from behind, Gunsan Sangil High School was down 5-6 with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, but Lee Woo-in’s tying double and Choi Ji-won’s one RBI hit turned the game around to 7-6.안전놀이터
They were unable to save 1 run in the top of the 7th inning and went into an overtime game, but were able to score 1 run in the top of the 8th inning and put an end to the comeback in the bottom of the 8th inning. With the bases loaded and no outs, Moon Yong-doo’s sacrifice fly balanced the score at 8-8, and Choi Ji-won once again sent a batted ball to the outfield to become the hero with the walk-off sacrifice fly.
Daegu Sangwon High School lost unfortunately, but Yang Jun-hyuk’s batting was still fierce. With a batting average of 0.688 (11 hits in 16 at-bats), 3 home runs, and 14 RBIs in 6 games in this tournament, he won three awards for batting, RBI, and home runs.
Former Jeonbuk Provincial Council member Lee Seong-il, who was one of the leading figures in the comeback during his time at Gunsan Commercial High School, said after the victory ceremony, “Gunsan citizens enjoy baseball on a regular basis and are very interested in it,” and added, “Gunsan Commercial High School reached the finals, creating solidarity among alumni and citizens.” He was happy, saying, “Consciousness and public awareness have also been heightened.” He added, “By winning the President’s Cup this year, we were able to publicize the name of the school that switched to the humanities, and baseball gave us hope that we could do it in difficult times due to COVID-19.”
The high school alumni baseball tournament has been held with the support of Shinsegae Group since last year with the goals of expanding the base of baseball as a recreational sport, promoting friendship among graduates of alma mater, and supporting the baseball team. About 40 schools across the country participated in this year’s competition.
It is a positive evaluation that alumni’s interest in and affection for their alma mater and the local community has increased significantly through this competition. KBSA Chairman Lee Jong-hoon said, “The No Brand Cup high school alumni baseball competition is a venue for strengthening harmony between seniors and juniors of alumni,” and added, “We will continue to work with Shinsegae Group to develop amateur baseball.”