How on earth did Hanwha bring such a pitcher, 29 consecutive innings of unearned ace

May 04, 2025

How on earth did Hanwha bring such a pitcher, 29 consecutive innings of unearned ace
Hanwha Ponce roars after finishing a scoreless pitch in the bottom of the sixth inning at Gwangju KIA Champions Field on the 4th. Gwangju = Reporter's book@sportschosun.com/2025.05.04/



It shakes but doesn't collapse. Cody Ponce is not behind in the league's strongest ace match.

Hanwha Eagles Ponce is making sure to serve as the team's first starter. Ponce started in an away game against the KIA Tigers at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on the 4th and became the winning pitcher with two hits, five strikeouts, two walks and one run (non-earned) in seven innings.

The match was a showdown between Ponce and KIA James Nail. A match against Nail, who maintains the No. 1 ERA in the league, is at stake. Although he was an enemy, Ponce overcame many crises on his own.




Ponce, who overcame the first crisis by inducing a double play against Kim Do-young in the bottom of the first inning with one out and a runner on first base, was shaken in the bottom of the second inning by sending leadoff hitter Choi Hyung-woo out with a grounder to the first base, and then sending the runner home with a pitch clock violation and wild pitch. It's the moment when they allowed the first point.

However, Ponce, who passed the second inning without any more runs even after receiving an additional hit, showed excellent pitching until the seventh inning as a result. In the fourth inning, there was a mistake in sending a runner to second base with a balk, but it did not lead to a score. Rather, the chasing side were KIA hitters who couldn't run away even though they scored the first point.

How on earth did Hanwha bring such a pitcher, 29 consecutive innings of unearned ace
In the match between Hanwha and KIA held at Gwangju KIA Champions Field on the 4th, Hanwha won 3-1 and won six consecutive games. Director Kim Kyung-moon and Ponce share the joy of victory.Gwangju = Reporter's book@sportschosun.com/2025.05.04/
On this day, Ponce was responsible for seven innings with 101 pitches, so he couldn't decide the real match against Nail (one run in seven innings), but as a result, Ponce laughed. Immediately after Ponce pitched until the end of the seventh inning, Hanwha turned around 3-1 with two runs in the top of the eighth inning, and dramatically created a winning pitcher requirement. Hanwha, which showed its hindsight, won 3-1 over KIA, which had its nails at the forefront.




Ponce continued his unearned streak of 29 innings. Since allowing four runs in six innings against Doosan on April 9, he has been unearned in 29 consecutive innings, including the last inning against Doosan. In the last four games, he pitched seven innings, and the only run he lost was one run due to wild pitches. Even that was recorded as a non-visit.

Ponce's season performance shows that he has six quality starts out of eight games, six wins, no losses, and a 1.70.8 ERA without losing, and rather, he shows stronger crisis management ability as he learns about league hitters.

How on earth did Hanwha bring such a pitcher, 29 consecutive innings of unearned ace
Hanwha Ponce roars after pitching in the bottom of the fifth inning at Gwangju KIA Champions Field on the 4th. Gwangju = Reporter's book@sportschosun.com/2025.05.04/
Hanwha, which has a strong first-choice Ponce, also enjoys the fun of starting baseball. With Ponce at the center, Weiss, Ryu Hyun-jin, Um Sang-baek and Moon Dong-ju are steadily increasing their chances of winning with high mound.




Hanwha's starting pitchers have an ERA of 3.23, ranking second in the league after KT (2.83), and QS+ ranks first in the league with nine times. Hanwha's strong baseball with top starting pitchers at the forefront. Ponce is at the center of it.



This article was translated by Naver AI translator.