The 78th Golden Lion National High School Baseball Tournament and the Weekend League Wangjung Wang match (co-hosted by Dong-A Ilbo, Sports Dong-A, and the Korea Baseball Softball Association) will kick off.

This year’s competition will take place at Mokdong Stadium and Shinwol Stadium from July 14 to 28. Participants include 57 schools that went through the weekend league in 14 regions nationwide, including Busan High School, last year’s winner. Tickets can be purchased at 10,000 won (8.31 U.S. dollars) for adults and 4,000 won (preferred for senior citizens aged 65 or older and those with disabilities) through on-site sales and interpark reservations. The quarterfinals to the final round will be broadcast live by SPOTV, and all games can be watched on the Korean Baseball Softball Association’s YouTube.

The upcoming event will kick off with a showdown in the first round between Daegu Sangwon High School and Gyeonggi Commercial High School, which will take place at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday at Mokdong Stadium. Attention is also focusing on a showdown between Incheon High School and Busan High School scheduled for Thursday at Mokdong Stadium. Incheon High School, which ranks No. 1 in Seoul and Incheon (4 wins and 1 loss) in the first half of the 2024 High School Baseball Weekend League, and Busan High School, the defending champion of Gyeongsang C (6 wins, 1 loss) are expected to warm up the atmosphere in the early days of the event. Incheon High School, which failed to advance to the quarterfinals last year, will try to win its third championship following 1954 and 1989.

Another favorite, Deoksu High School, is also drawing attention. Deoksu High School, which won E-Mart’s title last month, passed the first round by default. In the second round, it will face the winner of the Dogae High School-Hwaseong Dongtan BC match on April 18. Both Dogae High School and Hwaseong Dongtan BC are in the middle and lower ranks in their respective regions. Some say that Deoksu’s performance is easy, but he should not let down his guard this year, as he fell victim to an unexpected defeat by Incheon High School in the second round last year.

There are many players who will be nominated as professional baseball players this year as well. On the part of pitchers, right-handed Jeon Ju-joo and left-handed ace Jeong Hyeon-woo of Deoksu stand out. On the fielders, Masan Yongma High School infielder Cha Seung-joon and Deoksu High School infielder Park Joon-soon are drawing attention. In the first six games of the weekend league (Gyeongsanggwon A), Cha had a batting average of 0.474 (nine hits in 19 times at bat), four homers, 16 RBIs and Park Joon-soon had a batting average of 0.500 (nine hits in 18 times at bat), five RBIs and five steals in six games.

This year, club teams have almost doubled their participation from last year. A total of 10 teams including Ulsan Technical High School BC, Geoje BC, Cheonan CS, Bundang BC, Miryang BC, EPBC (former Eunpyeong BC), Suncheon Hyocheon BC, Daegu Bukgu SC, Hwaseong Dongtan BC, and Namyangju GK are drawing attention. Unlike last year, when most teams failed to overcome the second round, attention is focusing on what kind of story they will create this year.

BY: 스포츠토토