Mokpo City Little Baseball Team Wins 1st Hampyeong Cheonji Hanwoo Youth Baseball Tournament

A Precious Gift Achieved in Baseball Wasteland with the 'First Victory'

Mokpo City Little Baseball Team participated in the '1st Hampyeong Cheonji Hanwoo Cup Youth Baseball Tournament' and won the championship by winning all matches. (Photo by Reader)

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Seo Young-seo] The Mokpo City Little Baseball Team (Chairman Park Jae-gang, Manager Kim Sang-hoon) participated in the first national tournament of the second half of the year, the ‘1st Hampyeong Cheonji Hanwoo Cup Youth Baseball Tournament,’ held from the 12th to the 14th, and enjoyed the joy of victory by winning all matches.

This tournament, held at Hampyeong Baseball Stadium and Youth Baseball Field located in Daedong-myeon, Hampyeong-gun, to foster baseball hopefuls nationwide, featured about 400 players participating in U16 (8 teams), U13 (6 teams), and U12 (3 teams) categories.

The Mokpo City Little Baseball Team, in their first game against Sinjonggil Baseball Academy, relied on a stable pitching staff including starter Hwang In-cheol, relief pitcher Kim Ji-ho, and closer Jo Han-i, along with experienced catcher management and solid infield and outfield defense. Although they allowed 4 hits and 2 runs, they hit 10 hits to secure a decisive 12:2 victory. With this win, Mokpo Little advanced directly to the semifinals without going through the loser's bracket.

The next day’s game was against Gwangju Metropolitan City Nam-gu Little Baseball Team, who had won a close match in extra innings against HBC the previous day. Thanks to starter Jo Han-i’s strong pitching, allowing only 1 run in 3 innings, and a total of 12 hits including all starters reaching base, Mokpo Little defeated Nam-gu Little 11:7 to advance to the finals.

The final day’s championship game against SDF Dongtan Team was expected to be a fierce battle, but it was canceled due to rain from the morning. Due to the tight schedule of youth tournaments, the winner was decided by a draw upon rain cancellation. Both team managers agreed to the draw, and Mokpo Little won the championship 5:4.

At the subsequent awards ceremony, Nam Gwan-min, who recorded hits and reached base in every at-bat, received the Most Valuable Player award, and the winning team’s manager Kim Sang-hoon received the Best Manager award.

This victory by the baseball hopefuls representing Mokpo is even more touching as it is the result of the sweat they shed while moving between nearby baseball fields without a proper dedicated stadium until now.

Manager Kim Sang-hoon said, “Since the completion of the Mokpo Little Baseball Stadium on April 18, we have been very happy to have our own training space and have worked really hard with the kids.” He promised even greater achievements in the future as the best infrastructure, including artificial turf and expansion of auxiliary facilities, is planned.

Jo Sang-gi, chairman of the Mokpo City Little Baseball Team Parents’ Association, said, “The first championship our players achieved in the heat is a pride of Mokpo,” adding, “Under the devoted guidance of Manager Kim Sang-hoon and coaches Lee Young-hoon and Kim Eun-sung, this result was created purely by the passion of the manager and the children who love baseball in a true baseball desert where there is not a single school nurturing baseball in elementary, middle, or high school.”

He also said, “We will do our best to create an environment where our baseball team players can freely practice,” encouraging the players and coaching staff.

The manager, coaches, and proud players (10 members) who led the 1st Hampyeong Cheonji Hanwoo Cup to its first championship are as follows:

Mokpo City Little Baseball Team Manager (Kim Sang-hoon), Coaches (Lee Young-hoon, Kim Eun-sung), two first-year middle school students (Baek Chang-hyun and Jo Jun-woong from Seji Middle School), two sixth graders (Nam Gwan-min from Aehyang Elementary School, Jo Han-i (captain) from Mokpo Affiliated Elementary School of Gwangju National University of Education), four fifth graders (Kim Ji-ho from Iro Elementary School, Choi Jung-il and Hong Sung-min from Baekryun Elementary School, Hwang In-cheol from Oryong Elementary School), two fourth graders (Park Ji-an from Mokpo Dong Elementary School, Kim Hyun-jun from Seohae Elementary School)

Representing Mokpo, the Mokpo City Little Baseball Team was founded in 2014 and previously won the Jeolla League championship in 2016 and placed third in a national tournament. There are a total of 26 baseball hopefuls, including 10 players in the competitive team and 16 in the hobby team, who are working hard.

Meanwhile, all participants, including players, coaching staff, and accompanying parents, underwent COVID-19 PCR testing before participating in this national tournament. The tournament was held without spectators, strictly following quarantine rules such as tracking entrants and checking temperatures at every game.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.