The Korean baseball team could not play the last practice game in Arizona, USA.
The national team participating in the World Baseball Classic (WBC) next month was scheduled to play a practice game against the LG Twins from 12:00 noon local time at the Veterans Memorial Stadium in Kino, Tucson, Arizona, USA on the 27th (Korean time). However, the game at 8:00 in the morning was canceled.
It was because of the rain that fell overnight. After morning outdoor training, the national team replaced the game with afternoon self-training, and after hearing the news of the cancellation before departing for Tucson, LG decided to conduct afternoon training in Scottsdale instead of coming to Tucson, which is a two-hour drive away. KT Wiz, who uses the same place as the national team, and NC Dinos, which is 10 minutes away, also replaced afternoon training and indoor training.
The rain stopped this morning. A little after 8:00 a.m., the clouds cleared and the sun began to rise. However, the daytime game cannot be played just because the sun has risen. A KBO official explained, “Arizona in the US doesn’t usually rain much, so the ground itself drains slowly.”
The practice game between NC and KIA Tigers, which was scheduled to be held on the 22nd, was also canceled when the ground suddenly became a sea of water due to rain that suddenly poured for about 30 minutes before the start time of the game at 1:00 pm. The next day (23rd), the practice game was canceled due to strong winds, so the two teams never faced each other.
Originally, the national team had a strong will to play the game on the 27th somehow. A KBO official joked the day before, “If the rain stops tomorrow, the staff would like to go out and drain the water to play.”
If the match is not played on the 27th, the last practice game is the match against the SSG Futures team on the 3rd after returning to Korea on the 1st of next month. After that, there will be an official evaluation match with NPB teams on the 6th and 7th, and the WBC will start with the match against Australia on the 9th. There are only three games left until the tournament.
However, the Kino Sports Complex, which was used as a training ground by the national team, did not allow the game due to the condition of the ground. 온라인카지노 The official said, “In the United States, ground managers have strong authority. If they do not allow the use of the ground, we cannot play even if the rain stops.”
Except for Go Young-pyo (43 pitches), who threw 3 innings against kt on the 24th, the starting pitchers also had the maximum of 2 innings. Koh Young-pyo and Sohn Joon So-jun (41 pitches on the 25th) are the only pitchers who have exceeded 40 pitches in actual matches. Since he is still far short of the pitch limit of 65 pitches for the WBC qualifying round, he has to increase the number of pitches by making several more appearances.
The national team seeks understanding from the SSG Futures team on the 3rd of next month, and plans to earn as many opportunities as possible by using national pitchers for both mounds. However, the plan is to increase the number of pitches that are still lacking through bullpen pitching to match the tournament. Can the national team, which struggled with strong winds and rain in Arizona, overcome the extreme weather with willpower?