“I struck out while thinking of the ‘Oh, must-win Korea’ that the students recorded.”

The South Korean women’s national baseball team defeated Indonesia 21-3 on Sunday (July 27) at the 2023 Asian Cup (BFA) in Hong Kong.

After the game, head coach Yang Sang-moon said, “We didn’t score in the first two innings. But the pitcher Kim Bomi (34), who didn’t give up a run in the clutch, was crucial.”

In the bottom of the second inning, with runners on second and third, Kim calmly threw two strikes in quick succession in a one-strike, three-ball unfavorable count to get a swinging strikeout and end the inning with no outs. Not giving up a lead allowed the team to explode for 14 runs in the top of the third inning.

“Before I left for the tournament, my students and fellow teachers gave me a cheer. It was ‘Oh Pilseung Korea’,” she said. Kim is a physical education teacher 안전놀이터 at Dunsan Middle School in Daejeon. During the week, she teaches at her school, and during the week, she throws the ball on the mound for the Korean national baseball team.

She’s a 10-year veteran of the teaching profession. The students know that he is a member of the women’s national baseball team. They even look up articles about him to get them interested in the sport. “Some kids come in asking me to teach them how to play baseball, and I teach them how to play catch like they can’t win,” Kim said.

Kim is also the most experienced pitcher on the team. He first donned the Korean flag in 2015, and in what may be his last appearance at the Asian Cup, he pitched three innings of one-run ball with one strikeout to earn the win.

After the game, Kim said, “In the second inning, when I was shaky, I thought of the ‘Oh Pilseung Korea’ that my students gave me. They cheered me on and wished me well, and when I got back, I threw with more focus so I wouldn’t be embarrassed, and I think I did a good job.” Kim laughed.

South Korea struggled against Indonesia in the early going. They looked like they were going to score a lot of runs against the underdogs, but were held scoreless in the first and second innings. “I thought that if I could just hold on until the third inning, the batting lineup would take over,” Kim said, “and they did, scoring 14 runs in the third inning.

Finally, Kim thanked her students, who must have watched her pitch from Korea, saying, “See? This is what a teacher looks like! Thank you!”