Yoon Dong-hee, 20, of the Lotte Giants of the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO), has emerged as the “belly button” of the struggling Hangzhou Asian Games baseball team. A last-minute addition to the team in place of pitcher Lee Yi-ri (KIA), who was dropped due to poor performance, Yoon is proving his worth with his skills.
The outfielder, a second-year pro, went 7-for-12 (.583 batting average) with one home run, five RBIs, five runs scored, and a 1.698 OPS in three group games. The right-handed hitting Yoon has provided some serious firepower in an otherwise left-handed lineup.
Yoon’s bat came alive in her first game for the national team. In the team’s first group game against Hong Kong on April 1, Yoon started in the sixth spot in right field and went 2-for-5 with two doubles, two RBIs, and two runs scored. She followed that up with a 3-for-4 performance against arch-rival Chinese Taipei. South Korea’s batting struggles led to an 0-4 loss to Chinese Taipei, and Yoon stood out as the lone bright spot, collecting half of the team’s six hits.
Yoon exploded in the final game of the group stage on March 3 against Thailand. Yoon had been hitting well in the previous two games and started the day at third base. He went 2-for-3 with a double (one home run) and three RBIs in a 17-0, five-inning cold-game victory.스포츠토토
Head coach Ryu Jung-il was pleased with Yoon’s performance. “Her batting is the best right now,” Ryu said, adding, “If she wasn’t there (on the national team), it would have been difficult.” “If I try to do too well, I’ll end up playing poorly, so I’m playing with a relaxed mindset,” said Yoon. “They picked me to be part of the national team, so I’ll do my best to play up to their expectations.”
Yoon will now bat in the center of the lineup for the team that advanced to the Super Round. The team, which advanced to the Super Round by finishing second in its pool behind Group B champion Chinese Taipei, will play Group A runner-up Japan at 1 p.m. on Friday and Group A champion China at 1 p.m. on Saturday. The team enters the Super Round with one loss, which came against Chinese Taipei in the group stage.