Kang Baek-ho, the first overall pick in last year's Korea Baseball Organization rookie draft, hit the first home run of the league's 2018 season on Saturday.
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In this file photo taken on March 13, 2018, Kang Baek-ho of the KT Wiz hits an RBI grounder in a Korea Baseball Organization preseason game against the Samsung Lions at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, 45 kilometers south of Seoul. (Yonhap) |
The 18-year-old left fielder for the KT Wiz hit a solo shot off Hector Noesi of the Kia Tigers in the top of the third inning at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Gwangju, 330 kilometers south of Seoul. This was Kang's first career KBO at-bat.
Facing a 20-game winner from last season, Kang worked the count to full before jumping on the sixth pitch of the at-bat and sending it over the left field wall. The left fielder batted eighth.
The solo blast cut KT's deficit to 2-1.
Kang is the second KBO rookie to go deep in his first career at-bat on the Opening Day, following Cho Kyung-hwan of the Lotte Giants in 1988.
(Yonhap)
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