"I wanted to get my first win quickly."
NC Dinos captain Park Min-woo gave manager Lee Ho-jun a pleasant first victory. In the second game of the 2025 professional baseball season against the Kia Tigers held at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field on the 23rd, he recorded 3 hits and 2 RBIs in 5 at-bats, leading the team to a 5-4 victory. NC avenged the loss from the previous day, and manager Lee Ho-jun secured his debut win.
As the leadoff hitter, he had a hot bat starting from the first inning. He pulled the first pitch from Yang Hyeon-jong for a double to right-center field. With one out and runners on second and third, he made a bid to score on Son Ah-seob's foul fly to shortstop but was tagged out by Park Chan-ho's accurate throw. It was a disappointing moment as he missed the team's opportunity for a first score.
Park Min-woo said, "I only play when I can do so 100% safely. Although I was out, if I had been safe, it would have been a sacrifice fly by the shortstop. I thought it was important for us to take control of the game early since we lost disappointing yesterday. I was going to run if Chan-ho made a difficult catch. I still feel like I was safe," he smiled.
The third at-bat in the fourth inning shone. With a tight score of 2-2, during the two out, runners on first and second, he battled Yang Hyeon-jong to a full count before hitting a triple that rolled past the right fielder. The runners scored, successfully extending the lead to 4-2. Ultimately, the team won 5-4, making it the winning hit. In the ninth inning, he also reached base with a hit but was tagged out while attempting to steal second.
With the bullpen holding the line at 1 run allowed for a narrow victory, two things were prepared to celebrate the first win: bottled water and a bouquet. Immediately after manager Lee Ho-jun's winning interview, they showered him with water and presented him with the bouquet. "I wanted to quickly get the manager his first win. It's important to win the first game of the regular season. I hoped he could rest comfortably tomorrow (for the first win celebration) even if he catches a cold. Although today was a tough game, I'm really happy that we won," he said.
He also explained the moment of his winning hit, saying, "I struck out in my previous at-bat. I'm not the type who usually does guess hitting, but I tried it today. However, the pitches kept coming in the opposite way. In the fourth at-bat, I said to just hit the ball. I was lucky. It felt like the goddess of fortune was on my side."
Finally, as the captain, he shared the harvest from the opening game. "We keep meeting teams ranked 1st, 2nd, and 3rd from the start of the season. I wondered if there was some kind of grudge against us. However, our pitchers pitched well yesterday and today, making for a close game. Since we are now 1 win and 1 loss against the strongest KIA, we have gained tremendous confidence," he emphasized.
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