This year’s winner of the ‘Daeseon High School Choi Dong-won Award’, which selects the best pitcher in Korean high school baseball, has been decided. The protagonist is Kim Taek-yeon, a third-year right-handed pitcher at Incheon High School who played as the ace of the youth national team.
The Choi Dong-won Memorial Association (Chairman Jo Woo-hyun), which organizes the ‘Choi Dong-won Award’, announced on the day that “Incheon High School Kim Taek-yeon was selected as the winner of the 6th ‘Presidential High School Choi Dong-won Award’.”
For the ‘6th Presidential High School Choi Dong-won Award’, five pitchers who showed the best performance in high school baseball this year, including Jeon Mir (Gyeongbuk High School), Cho Dae-hyun (Gangneung High School), Park Geon-woo (Chungam High School), and Jeong Hee-su (Cheonan CS), were finalists.
The criteria for candidate selection are a total of 5 items, including ‘① 15 or more games pitched ② 50 or more innings pitched ③ 4 or more wins ④ ERA of 2.60 or less ⑤ 55 or more strikeouts.’
Kang Jin-soo, Secretary General of the Memorial Association, said, “We have sent the list of five final candidates to the Professional Baseball Scouting Council. As a result of the vote by scouts from 10 clubs belonging to the council, Taekyeon Kim received an overwhelming vote.”
Kim Taek-yeon, who was selected as a six-time winner, pitched in 13 games in the high school baseball weekend league and national tournament this year and recorded 7 wins, 1 loss, an ERA of 1.13, and 97 strikeouts in 64.1 innings.메이저놀이터
Kim Taek-yeon, who is evaluated as having the best pitch control among high school pitchers, allowed 9 walks and only 1 pitched ball this year. His maximum speed is 152km/h, and his average speed is 140km/h. His aggressive pitching style uses fastballs in the second half of the game, his excellent game management ability and diligent training attitude,
In particular, at this year’s U-18 World Youth Baseball Championship held in Taiwan, he showed his fighting spirit by going on the mound for five consecutive days until the final, winning the team a bronze medal.
He took the mound as a starter in the final against the United States and pitched 7 scoreless innings with 9 strikeouts and a shutout victory. He is evaluated as the player who best demonstrates the ‘Choi Dong-won spirit’ of dedicating himself to the team.
It is said that scouts from 10 professional baseball teams took this into consideration and gave Kim Taek-yeon the highest score among the high school Choi Dong-won Award candidates.
Kim Taek-yeon, who was selected as the winner of the ‘Presidential High School Choi Dong-won Award’, said, “If you are a high school baseball player, this is a moment that everyone has dreamed of at least once. I saw my senior (Yoon) Tae-hyeon win the high school Choi Dong-won Award two years ago when I was a freshman. “I thought it was really cool when I saw it. From then on, I decided, ‘I will definitely receive that award within the remaining two years of high school,’” he said, adding, “That’s why the award now is more valuable and has a special meaning.”
Kim Taek-yeon continued, “I know very well what kind of person Choi Dong-won is. Although I couldn’t see him play baseball in person, I saw him a lot through videos and media. He set records that can’t be made anymore, and is a legendary player by dedicating himself to the team. “I was very impressed by his character,” he said, adding, “It is an honor to receive an award with the name of such a person engraved on it, but at the same time, I feel a sense of responsibility. I will become a great player not only in terms of skills but also in character so as not to discredit senior Choi Dong-won.”
“There are so many great players in high school baseball this year that I thought, ‘It won’t be surprising who gets chosen as the winner,’” said Kim Taek-yeon, who showed humility by saying, “Rather than being conscious of being the Rookie of the Year or a specific record, I can prove myself by working hard at each step.” “I will do my best. There are a lot of expectations for me, and I will prepare well during the coming winter and do my best to live up to those expectations next year,” he said.
The prize money for the ‘Presidential High School Choi Dong-won Award’ is 10 million won. Out of the 10 million won award sponsored by Daesun Casting Co., Ltd., a leading company in Busan, for the development of high school baseball, 5 million won will be provided as a scholarship to the winner, Kim Taek-yeon, and 5 million won will be provided as support for the Incheon High School baseball team at his school.
The ‘6th Presidential High School Choi Dong-won Award’ awards ceremony will be held at the Busan Bank headquarters in Munhyeon-dong at 2:40 pm on October 17th at 2:40 pm along with the ’10th BNK Busan Bank Choi Dong-won Award’ award ceremony, which selects the best pitcher in professional baseball.