It was more than expected.
Ahn Chi-young,메이저놀이터 a professional baseball player at KT, started as the ninth hitter and right fielder in the home game against Doosan in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League held at KT Wiz Park in Suwon on the 3rd. He went 1-for-3 with 1 RBI and 1 run. He reported the first RBI in his professional debut and became the protagonist of the final. He also showed off Lake Bi. Contributed to a 13-3 win.
After going through Bukil High School, he joined KT in the 2nd 6th round in 2017 with the 51st rank. The time I stayed in Group 1 was short. He had a batting average of 0.167 (3 hits in 18 at bats) in 21 games in 2017 and a batting average of 0.167 (1 hits in 6 at bats) in 5 games in 2019. His last appearance for the first team was against Lotte on 14 August 2019. He went 1-for-3 at the time.
He worked hard to get back into the first team. Last year, before finishing camp, he changed his position from infielder to outfielder. He played in 26 games in the 2nd Division Futures League this year and performed well with a batting average of 0.324 (23 hits in 71 at-bats) and 12 RBIs. It received good reviews and was finally called up on the 3rd. Following his start, he produced hits and RBIs.
He recorded a sacrifice fly to right field with one out and bases loaded in the second inning. It led to the final blow. In the 4th inning, with no runners out, he went on base with a ball that fit his body and succeeded in scoring. In the 6th inning, the 2 outs and 1 baser hit a heavy hit. The defense was also stable. In the 4th inning, he played a big game with 1 out, 2nd and 3rd base. He ran forward to catch Kim Min-hyeok’s batted ball and fell down. He was on the verge of allowing two runs if he missed, but allowed only one run on a sacrifice fly. In the 5th inning, Kim Dae-han, the lead hitter, also caught the ball while keeping an eye on it until the end.
Ahn Chi-young said, “It’s been a while, so I was excited and happy. It was fun playing baseball in a place with a lot of fans after a long time,” he said. “I wasn’t nervous. ‘Let’s try our best. I came in with the thought of ‘let’s make good use of this opportunity.’”
“I’m glad I finished safely without any mistakes in defense. He got a lot of help from talking with Future Steam coaches. Thanks to that, I gained confidence,” he said. “(When Kim Min-hyeok hit the ball in the 4th inning) Coach Park Jeong-hwan was able to catch the ball because he was well positioned to defend. Rather than saying I did well, I want to thank the coach.”
You have to survive the outfield competition. Ahn Chi-young said, “Of course, there is greed. I feel like I want to occupy a place,” he said. “In order to do that, I have to work hard and do well. I will try harder,” he said vigorously.
Finally, I thought of my family. Ahn Chi-young said, “I heard about the call-up for the 1st team on the 2nd and called. He liked it a lot” and “Thank you for always watching over me and supporting me. I will try hard in the future,” he said.
