Steel Magic made a miraculous comeback from last place to second place, expressing excitement at the PO, stating that it was a magical season.
KT Wiz’s magical journey ended with a second-place finish in the regular season.
KT Wiz earned a dramatic 5-4 walk-off win in the final game of the season (Game 16) against the Doosan Bears of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at KT Wiz Park in Suwon on Tuesday.
KT finished the 144-game campaign on a high note, clinching second place in the regular season. They won 79, drew 3 and lost 62. They also finished with a 10-win, 1-draw, 5-loss advantage over Doosan this season.
The process of earning a direct ticket to the playoffs was also magical. Trailing 1-2 in the bottom of the eighth inning, Bae Ji-dae’s two-run double turned the game around, but in the top of the ninth, Kim Jae-yoon gave up two more runs to cut the deficit to 3-4.
KT didn’t go down without a fight. In the top of the ninth, Hwang Jae-gyun hit a dramatic tying solo home run off Doosan closer Jung Chul-won, and after back-to-back singles by Park Byung-ho and pinch-hitter Lee Ho-yeon, and an automatic walk to Moon Sang-chul, Kang Hyun-woo closed out the game with a game-ending push-button double. It was a moment that clinched second place in the regular season for KT, which had been battling through a rash of injuries in early June.
After the game, KT manager Lee Kang-cheol said, “Today’s game showed that our players had a strong will to finalize the standings. Both the starters and the bullpen kept the game close with minimal runs, and the bats showed great concentration in their chances,” said Lee.
“We had a tough start to the season, finishing in last place, and then we won the last game to clinch second place. “Our players, coaching staff, support staff, 먹튀검증 and front of house have done a great job, and I would like to thank all the Group employees for their interest and support. Most importantly, I would like to thank our fans for their continued support throughout the season. We will do our best to prepare for the postseason and show them a good show.”
After completing all 144 games of the 2023 season, KT will take a honeyed break of about three weeks before starting the first round of the 30-day playoffs (best-of-five).