Foreign players who were as happy as NC's first win of the season performed well

It must have been something that I wanted to hear more than anything else. NC`s foreign pitchers, Kyle Hart and Matt Davidson, the core players of other resources, showed their great presence from the opening game.

The NC Dinos, led by head coach Kang In-kwon, beat the Doosan Bears 4-3 under head coach Lee Seung-yeop in the opening game of the 2024 professional baseball KBO League held at Changwon NC Park on the 23rd. With this, NC, which had its first game win, got off to a good start to the season.

It was a brilliant game with foreign players. Hart, who started as a starter, blocked Doosan's batting line-up with a stroke of delight, and Davidson displayed his clutch ability at a crucial moment.

First of all, Hart, who boasts a confident physical condition of 196 centimeters tall and weighs 90 kilograms, is a left-handed pitcher who has played in four Major League Baseball (MLB) games (three starts) and posted 42-47 record with an ERA of 3.72 in 143 games (119 starts) during seven seasons in the Minor League. Based on his diverse pitching and pitching capabilities, Hart is considered to be an advantage of his ability to deal with batters.

Initially, NC's starting pitcher for this season was not Hart but Daniel Castano, another left-handed foreign pitcher. However, Castano, who was suffering from physical strain at the end of the spring camp, failed to increase the number of pitches as planned, and as a result, Hart was given the chance to start the opening game.

Hearts displayed powerful pitching from the top of the first inning. He cooked Jeong Soo-bin with a fly to the second base, and Henry Ramos grounded out to the third base to catch him. Even Yang Eui-ji grounded out to the shortstop to start the game in a good mood.

The first run came in the top of the second inning. He silenced Kim Jae-hwan with a fly to the center field, but got a hit to the right by Yang Seok-hwan. Kang then struck out with three pitches, but gave up a hit to the right to Heo Kyung-min, leading to two outs and runners on the first and third bases. In this situation, Hearts instantly took on two runs, dedicating a timely two-run triple to Park Jun-young. He blocked Kim Dae-han with a fly to the first base, and did not allow any additional runs.

At the top of the third inning, Hearts regained stability. He calmly increased his out count against Jung Soo-bin (left fielder fly), Ramos (center fielder fly), and Yang Eui-ji (three strikeouts). At the top of the fourth inning, Kim Jae-hwan (left fielder fly), Yang Seok-hwan (first baseman fly), and Kang Seung-ho (center fielder fly) were put to sleep, continuing their three-way walk.

He continued to feel stable at the top of the fifth inning. He successively caught Heo Kyung-min (grounded to third base), Park Joon-young (strikes) and Kim Dae-han (pitcher grounded to ground). At the top of the sixth inning, Jung Soo-bin and Ramos were combined with a strikeout and a fly to second base, respectively, and Yang Eui-ji hit a left-handed hit, but Kim Jae-hwan blocked them with a grounder to shortstop.

Hearts took the mound in the top of the seventh inning as well, and led Yang to a strikeout. Kang seemed to be in a crisis by giving up a double over the height of the right field to Kang, but the game ended without allowing any additional runs by inducing Heo Kyung-min and Park Joon-young to hit a grounder to the first base and fly to the second base, respectively.

His final score was five hits, five strikeouts and two runs in seven innings. He threw a total of 91 balls, and his maximum speed was measured to be 148 kilometers. Although he had to step down from 0-2 and postpone his first win of this season to the next opportunity, Hart's hard pitching clearly played an important role in maintaining NC's tight atmosphere throughout the game and into the second half.

Davidson, who drew 54 arches in the big league and 226 balls in the minor league, was also the biggest contributor to the win. He entered the batter's box for the fifth time in the bottom of the ninth inning with the bases loaded with two outs when the two teams were tying 3-3.

He could have been nervous enough as it was a game-winner, but Davidson remained calm. He hit a fastball of 147 kilometers off the first pitch by right-handed pitcher Jeong Cheol-won, and made a walk-off hit that penetrated the gap between the two teams. It was a powerful shot that led NC to its first win of this season and a moment to dispel regret that it had no hit in its previous at-bat.

Hart and Davidson's presence is crucial to NC this year. Among them, Hart has to fill the vacancy of Eric Peddy (Chicago White Sox), the super ace who marked 20-6 with 209 strikeouts and a 2.00 ERA last year.

Davidson's job is also significant. NC has some of the best teaching hitters in the league, including Son A-seop, Park Min-woo, and Park Gun-woo, but lacks long hitters. Davidson should take responsibility for NC's "one shot."

And they made coach Kang In-kwon happy by showing off their strong performances as if they had promised on the day. Attention is focusing on whether the two players will continue to show good performances and lead NC's performance.

Meanwhile, NC's right-hander Lee Yong-chan left a real record of becoming a "0-pitch winning pitcher" for the first time in the KBO league history.

This was the situation. NC called Lee Yong-chan to the mound when right-handed bullpen Ryu Jin-wook got a hit by Huh Kyung-min after two outs in the top of the ninth inning when the game was tying 3-3. Doosan also replaced Lee as pinch runner.

Lee Yong-chan, who is about to face off against the follow-up hitter Park Joon-young, quickly hit a check to first base and caught Lee Yoo-chan. Doosan immediately asked for a video review, but the decision was not reversed. Lee Yong-chan then secured a pleasant victory as NC completed a 4-3 victory with Davidson's walk-off hit in the bottom of the ninth inning.

There have been 24 cases in the KBO league where he threw one ball and became a winning pitcher, but Lee Yong-chan is the first to become a winning pitcher with a "0" pitch. 먹튀검증