Everyone was nervous, but I believed in it…The Manly Leadership of a Competitive Tough Guy
“If we change the finish now and it fails, we’ll lose both practicality and rationale.”
Despite everyone’s misgivings, the coach had faith in his players, and they responded. Head coach Kang In-hwon’s mature leadership is creating miracles this fall.
The NC Dinos are in the playoffs. The fourth-place team in the regular season, NC swept the Doosan Bears in the wild-card matchup and then shut out SSG Landers in three games to advance to the semifinals. They now face the second-place team from the regular season, KT Wiz.
What has stood out most about this semi-playoff series is NC’s mound play. They’ve been using pitchers who are in good shape and it’s paid off. Kim Young-kyu, Ryu Jin-wook, Lim Jung-ho, Lee Jae-hak, 온라인카지노 and others lived up to the expectations of the bench. The mound was the difference between NC’s victory and SSG’s in all three games.
In particular, the coach’s reliance on closer Lee Yong-chan was evident. Lee Yong-chan has been NC’s unquestioned closer this season, but his form has been poor since the end of the regular season. In October alone, he had two three-run games and a monthly ERA of 12.00.
In the wild-card game against Doosan, he took the mound with a comfortable lead, but was shaky, giving up three runs in the ninth inning. In the first game of the semifinals, Yong-chan gave up a two-run homer to Ha Jae-hoon in the bottom of the ninth inning with a 4-1 lead.
However, a mound visit from the pitching coach kept him in the game, and he finished the first game without allowing another run.
There was a lot of anxiety about Yong-chan’s back-to-back runs. There was a lot of anxiety about Yong-chan’s back-to-back losses. However, the coach emphasized his unwavering trust. In an interview ahead of the second leg of the semi-finals, Kang said, “Changing the finisher now doesn’t mean the result will be good. If we do that and fail, we’ll lose both practicality and rationale. I’m going to trust Lee Yong-chan a little more,” he said firmly.
And coach Kang Shin-ho kept Lee Yong-chan for the second and third games. He pitched in every game. There could not have been a stronger message of support for Yong-chan.
On the 25th, Yong-chan pitched the third game and responded with his most reliable pitching since October. With a slim one-run lead, he struck out Ha Jae-hoon, Park Sung-sung, and Kim Sung-hyun in a perfect triple play to secure the final out of the game. Lee Yong-chan has now transformed from an unreliable card to a reliable one. This is thanks to the manager’s unwavering trust and determination.