It was NC Dinos" Kim Hyung-jun, 23, who broke a one-run deadlock in the seventh inning and became the fall baseball home run king.

Kim hit a solo home run off SSG"s Moon Seung-won in the seventh inning of the second game of the 2023 KBO League Semifinals (best-of-three) at SSG Landers Field in Incheon, South Korea, to lift the Dinos to a 7-3 victory. It was Yen"s only home run of the game, and the decisive "one hit wonder" that broke a 4-3 tie going into the seventh inning.

Kim Hyung-jun battled Moon Seung-won on a full count and then pulled a 127-kilometer-per-hour changeup on the eighth pitch for a 125-meter solo home run. Moon Seung-won took the mound in the fourth inning and didn"t allow a single hit until the seventh inning, but he quickly fell apart after allowing a hit to the next batter after the home run.

"Kim Hyung-joon"s home run in the eighth inning was the decisive moment that sealed the victory," said NC coach Kang Myung-hwon to reporters after the game, adding that the three runs scored after the home run were the reason for the victory. "I felt like I was throwing cold water on the team by failing to bunt in my previous at-bat, but I"m glad I hit a home run at a crucial moment," said Kim.

 

Kim Hyung-joon has been wearing the starting catcher"s mask this year in place of Park Se-hyuk because he has "good momentum" (coach Kang In-hwa) in fall baseball. He has lived up to Kang"s expectations, hitting three home runs in three games, including two in the first game of the wild-card series against the Doosan Bears on Sept. 19. Kim is carrying the momentum from his gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games into the postseason.

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