Until this season, not many people have been seriously interested in the baseball team. No, not many people were even familiar with the name of the water safe.
This is because there is no dedicated stadium for baseball students, so it is a new team founded in 2015 that rents a temporary baseball stadium on the campus of Busan National University in Yangsan.
As its history is short, it has rarely become famous in high school baseball yet. The best performance in history is only one time to advance to the quarterfinals of the national tournament, and only two players have been on the professional stage so far. Among them, only infielder Kim Young-woong, who currently plays for Samsung, entered the professional league immediately through the draft.
Of course, he won the weekend league with six wins and no losses in the first half of this season, but it was considered an occasional surprise, and it may be natural that Mulgo, who suffered from being eliminated in the second round of the E-Mart Cup, the first national tournament of this year, and being eliminated in the first round of the Golden Lion, was not expected.
However, it was different in this Blue Dragon Flag. He gained momentum by overcoming the 11-1 loss against Masan High School in the round of 16 with a 14-12 miracle come-from-behind victory, and won the quarterfinals after a neck-and-neck race against “baseball prestigious” Chungam High School due to rain.
Many predicted inferiority in the final against Kyungpook High School, a traditional powerhouse that boasts more than 20 national championships, but the water safe did not give up until the end.
Captain Gong Min-seo, the No. 1 batter center fielder, led the lineup with two hits and one RBI in four at-bats, while starter Bae Kang-hyun, who seemed to be shaken by allowing two runs in the first inning, gave up only three earned runs in eight innings to protect the mound.
Thanks to the enthusiastic support of the cheering squad, who left Yangsan, Gyeongsangnam-do, and came to Mokdong Baseball Stadium in Seoul early on, the water safe, which did its best until the end, eventually suffered a 4-1 defeat. However, the players in the water who finished their own miracle were never the supporting players in the finals. The water safe players, who applauded the championship-winning Gyeongbuk High School players, finished their splendid blue dragon flag by lifting their first national runner-up plaque.
Kang Seung-young, head coach of Mulgo, who led the team to its first runner-up, said, “The players gained a lot of confidence in winning the first half of the weekend league, and as I gained experience in the national tournament, I thanked the coach for coming this far after the final.”
Captain Gong Min-seo, who led the team’s batting line throughout the tournament and won the most hits award, said, “I’m happy that my hard sweat has paid off,” adding, “I want to thank the coach and coaches.”
It is not known whether the water safe, which is now about to face the next phoenix waiting, will be able to achieve another miracle. However, as can be seen from captain Gong Min-seo, who is not satisfied with the runner-up in the Blue Dragon Flag and says, “I will do my best in the Bonghwangdaegi until the end,” the minds of the players who gained confidence seem to have changed from before.
In the local community, there is also a public opinion that the water safe players who made Yangsan’s name shine with the runner-up should build a dedicated baseball stadium. I hope the players will be able to stand on a higher stage once again in a better environment than now.