SEOUL– Two pitches, two swings and two home runs.

Just like that, the Kiwoom Heroes are a win away from reaching the Korean Series, the South Korean baseball championship round.

And it was two sons of former Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) players who delivered those momentous homers Thursday night, as the Heroes beat the LG Twins 6-4 in Game 3 of their best-of-five series.

The Heroes now lead the series 2-1 and can book a spot in the Korean Series with a win Friday.

Im Ji-yeol came off the bench to crush his go-ahead, two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul. New pitcher Yi Jung-yong threw him a fastball, and Im wasted no time, clobbering that pitch and depositing it into the left-center field seats.
Kiwoom fans that had been on the edge of their seats, after a 2-0 deficit became a 3-2 lead and then a 4-3 deficit, erupted, about to blow off the roof of the dome.

Little did they know there was more to come. Before his teammates were done celebrating Im’s homer, Lee Jung-hoo stepped up and jumped on another first-pitch fastball from Yi.

Lee, son of KBO legend Lee Jong-beom, took a slow walk toward first base and admired his majestic shot over the right field wall. Lee then emphatically threw down the bat before beginning his home run trot.

The Heroes were now up 6-4, and they didn’t relinquish that lead, with closer Kim Jae-woong recording a two-out save that included a crucial defensive play in the eighth.

Im had played the hero earlier this postseason, hitting a two-run homer for insurance runs in an 8-4 victory over the KT Wiz in Game 1 of the previous round on Oct. 16. The son of a former KBO player and a current scout, Im Ju-taek, Im Ji-yeol is getting his moments to shine after a largely forgettable regular season.

Im has one career regular season home run in 71 games. He has gone deep twice now in just six games this postseason.

“Nothing has really changed for me from the regular season to the postseason. I’ve been trying to prepare for games the same way,” Im said. “I’ve been trying to stick to the good process, because I believe you have to have that to get results you want.”

Im said he was sitting fastball from Yi, knowing it was the right-hander’s best pitch.

“This was an incredible home run. I will never forget it,” Im said. “I got goose bumps all over my body. It was a great feeling.”

Im said his father rarely talks about baseball with him, so as not to put any added burden on his baseball-playing son. When the father does bring up baseball, he sticks to encouragement and other positive things, the junior Im said.

The senior Im was a member of the 1999 Korean Series-winning Hanwha Eagles. The son said his father wouldn’t let him hear the end of that championship season when he was a boy.

“As far as I know, that team didn’t have a lot of superstars, but they were a really tight team, just like our team now,” Im Ji-yeol said. “Hopefully, we’ll do as well as his team did back then.”

After Im and Lee had given the Heroes a lead, closer Kim locked down the win with a gutsy performance.

He took over from Kim Dong-hyeok, who gave up two straight singles. Moon Bo-gyeong tried to put down a bunt to advance both runners, but instead popped it up toward the mound.

And this was a dream-come-true moment for Kim.

“As soon as the ball went up in the air, I knew I had to dive for the ball, and I was lucky to make the catch,” Kim said with a smile. “It’s always been my dream to make a play like this on a bunt.”

Kim also made a perfect throw to second to nab the lead runner, Chae Eun-seong.

“I’d practiced that throw many times, and I was confident in that play,” Kim said. “I figured the runner would have gone a few steps toward third base, so I made that throw with conviction.”

This was the first two-inning save of Kim’s career, but the moment — with a crucial postseason victory on the line — never fazed the 24-year-old lefty.

“I was only thinking about protecting the lead,” he said. “I wasn’t worried about the runners aboard. I was only going to take one batter at a time.”

Kim checked a couple of boxes from his baseball bucket list, getting a two-out save and making a diving grab on a botched bunt.

The next goal?

“I want to win a championship,” he said. “I’ve won titles in high school but never as a pro. I’d love to do it.”

Source: Yonhap News Agency