"If I go to Hanwha PS, I will give birth in Korea." I cried about my mother...18K Ponce awaits 'lucky daughter' due in October
"If I go to Hanwha PS, I will give birth in Korea." I cried about my mother...18K Ponce awaits 'lucky daughter' due in October
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There are many reasons why Cody Ponce (31), a "all-time" foreign pitcher of Hanwha Eagles, throws well, but family strength cannot be left out. As his wife Emma, who lives with him in Korea, became pregnant with her first daughter, Ponce's bright face became brighter.메이저놀이터
In Game 1 of the doubleheader against SSG Landers at Hanwha Life Ball Park in Daejeon on the 17th, Ponce led Hanwha to a 1-0 victory with a strong pitching of eight innings, two hits, one walk and 18 strikeouts. Ponce, who lowered his ERA to 1.48 by winning his eighth game of the season, also increased his strikeouts to 93. Pitcher Triple Crown Face, ranking first in all three categories.
Above all, he struck out 18 strikeouts. He recorded the most strikeouts in a single game in the KBO League history, which came in 34 years since Haitai Sun Dong-yeol played in a match against Mudeung (Gwangju) on June 19, 1991. At the time, Sun pitched as many as 13 innings until overtime. The most strikeouts in the nine-inning regular season were 17 achieved by Hanwha Ryu Hyun-jin during nine innings against Cheongju LG on May 11, 2010, which Ponce broke with 18 strikeouts in eight innings.
When he struck out Ryan McBroom, the first batter in the eighth inning, Ponce, who tied Ryu's record of 17 strikeouts, became emotional. He wiped away the tears flowing on the mound with both hands, and sat down for a moment to recover his emotions.
After the game, Ponce said, "My emotions came up all at once because I thought of my mother. I felt like my mother was with me today. It would have been nice if I had watched it in person from the stands…I felt my mother was watching in my heart," he said, adding that he choked up at the thought of his mother, who died of brain cancer in 2017.
Ponce struck out the next batter Choi Joon-woo, setting a new record of 18 strikeouts in regular innings. Ahn Sang-hyun, the next batter, gave a hit to the right, breaking the no-hitter, and Jeong Joon-jae, who was on the verge of hitting the first and third bases, but allowed Shin to fly to left field to finish the game without allowing even a single in eight innings. He threw 113 pitches through the eighth inning, and did not take the mound in the ninth inning.
Ponce bowed 90 degrees to the cheers of his home fans, which filled the 17,000 seats, and hugged his wife Emma after the game. He also took a photo with the baseball stadium in the background. Hayley Brook, wife of another foreign pitcher Ryan Weiss, took a photo for her. At this time, Ponce posed to touch his wife's stomach for a reason. Emma was pregnant with her daughter as her first baby.
Ponce said, "I couldn't do all this without my wife. My wife is pregnant with my daughter, and I'm really grateful. I feel a little more responsible in that. I feel like she's bringing me all the luck."
The baby is due in October. If Hanwha plays baseball by then in autumn, chances are high that it will see the blessing of a new life in Korea. "I'm not sure yet, but I think my wife will give birth in Korea. If we play in the postseason, we will be a playoff baby," Ponce said with a bright smile.
Hanwha, which has 28 wins and 17 losses (.622) with two long wins following eight consecutive wins and 12 consecutive wins, is in second place by a one-game gap with first-place LG (29 wins and 16 losses and .644) and third-place Lotte (27 wins, 18 losses and 2 draws and .600). LG, Hanwha, and Lotte, ranked first and third, are forming the "3rd round" with a winning rate of around 60%, while the remaining seven teams are only having a winning rate of less than 50%. Excluding the 10th-ranked Kiwoom, six teams from fourth to ninth are in a grand mixed race for only one game.
The gap between the third-place Lotte Giants and the fourth-place team has widened to five games, and Hanwha seems to be in the stable position for fall baseball. Unfortunately, "starter baseball" centered on Ponce is strong. It is not easy to fall down. If Hanwha continues the current trend, Ponce's daughter will be the first in Korea to see the world.