Three times was too much...Today, it's Choi Won-tae, not Pon-tae, and there's a hole in the mesh infield.

Oct 24, 2025

Three times was too much...Today, it's Choi Won-tae, not Pon-tae, and there's a hole in the mesh infield.
The 5th PO match between Samsung and Hanwha held at Hanwha Life Ball Park in Daejeon on the 24th. Samsung starter Choi Won-tae finished the second inning with a clean three-and-out. Daejeon = Song Jeong-heon Reporter's songs@sportschosun.com/2025.10.24/



Three times was too much...Today, it's Choi Won-tae, not Pon-tae, and there's a hole in the mesh infield.
The match between Samsung and Hanwha in Game 5 of the PO held at Hanwha Life Ball Park in Daejeon on the 24th, and Samsung's Choi Won-tae is replaced in the bottom of the 4th inning, shaking hands with Kang Min-ho. Daejeon = Reporter's wook@sportschosun.com/2025.10.24/
Three times was too much...Today, it's Choi Won-tae, not Pon-tae, and there's a hole in the mesh infield.
The match between Samsung and Hanwha in Game 5 of the PO held at Hanwha Life Ball Park in Daejeon on the 24th, and Samsung's Choi Won-tae is replaced in the bottom of the 4th inning, shaking hands with Kang Min-ho. Daejeon = Reporter's wook@sportschosun.com/2025.10.24/
From 'Ugly Duck' to 'Autumn Swan' was born again. But was the third too much. He did not become a savior for the Samsung Lions, who were on the brink of a cliff.

Samsung's Choi Won-tae started Game 5 of the professional baseball playoffs against the Hanwha Eagles at Hanwha Life Ball Park on the 24th. However, he was replaced after allowing five runs (three earned) in three ⅓ innings.

Choi Won-tae's transformation is one of the biggest twists in this fall baseball. Until last year, the fall baseball record reached an ERA of 9.89 without a win.




In the first round of the wild card (WC) against the NC Dinos, even when he failed to catch an out count and was replaced after a walk, he was sarcastically criticized for saying, `The autumn original has come without fail this year.'

However, in the first round of the semi-playoff against SSG Landers, he started and pitched a life-long game of 8K without allowing six innings. In the second playoff game against Hanwha, he also showed a complete change by pitching seven innings with one run.

My shoulders were too heavy. Both teams started again in Game 5 of the playoffs, which was pushed to the end. The movements of Samsung fielders in the 11th game of fall baseball were exhausting. The swing and footwork seemed to have become dull.




Three times was too much...Today, it's Choi Won-tae, not Pon-tae, and there's a hole in the mesh infield.
The match between Samsung and Hanwha in Game 5 of the PO held at Hanwha Life Ball Park in Daejeon on the 24th, and Choi Won-tae, with one out and runners on the first and third bases, is regretful after allowing Chae Eun-sung a two-run double in the bottom of the third inning. Daejeon = Reporter's wook@sportschosun.com/2025.10.24/
Even the opponent was 'The Devil King'Ponce. He is a monster pitcher who has won four times this year, had a one-point ERA for the first time in 15 years since 2010 Ryu Hyun-jin, and 252 strikeouts for the season. He is also likely to win the MVP award of the season. It was clearly too much for Choi Won-tae.

It was the first crisis since the end of the first inning. Earlier, Samsung missed a full base chance with two outs, which dampened the flow.

Hanwha's first batter Son Ah-seop's hit next to the second baseman, Liberato's walk, and Moon Hyun-bin's sacrifice bunt made it 1 out and 2nd and 3rd bases.




He then allowed Noh Si-hwan to make a timely RBI in front of left field. Samsung catcher Kang Min-ho demanded a high-fast ball, but he pushed it lower toward the strike zone, leading to a timely hit.

Chae Eun-sung also hit a sacrifice fly. It was not a very safe hit, but the shoulders of Samsung left fielder Kim Tae-hoon were disappointing. Kim Tae-hoon is another star of this fall's baseball, but it is regrettable that the existing left fielder Kim Heon-gon's dash defense is good.

Three times was too much...Today, it's Choi Won-tae, not Pon-tae, and there's a hole in the mesh infield.
The match between Samsung and Hanwha in Game 5 of the PO held at Hanwha Life Ball Park in Daejeon on the 24th, and Samsung's Choi Won-tae was replaced in the bottom of the 4th inning, and was welcomed by Koo Ja-wook and Won Tae-in. Daejeon = Reporter's wook@sportschosun.com/2025.10.24/
Samsung took advantage of Hanwha's successive defensive mistakes in the top of the second inning to catch up with one point. Lee Jae-hyun's exquisite sliding was also outstanding in the not-out situation. In the bottom of the second inning, Choi Won-tae retired Choi Jae-hoon, Shim Woo-joon, and Son Ah-seop.

However, Ponce repeatedly silenced Samsung's batters by increasing his unique kick change-up ratio on an overwhelming fastball in the mid-150km range. Immediately after the loss, he caught first baseman Kim Ji-chan as a check, and in the top of the fourth inning, he changed the flow by adding an out count to Diaz's direct hitters.

At the end of the third inning, there was another crisis. After one out, Hanwha Moon Hyun-bin's double on the left-field line, Roh Si-hwan's heavy hit, and Chae Eun-sung's RBI double on the right-field line followed.

At this time, second baseman Ryu Ji-hyuk's error came out during Samsung's relay play, and even Noh Si-hwan homered and gave up one more point. It was an even more regrettable error considering Ryu Ji-hyuk, the leader of the net infield as a veteran.

Three times was too much...Today, it's Choi Won-tae, not Pon-tae, and there's a hole in the mesh infield.
Samsung's starting pitcher Choi Won-tae, who gave up two runs in the bottom of the first inning at Hanwha Life Ball Park in Daejeon on the 24th. Daejeon = Song Jeong-heon Reporter's songs@sportschosun.com/2025.10.24/
Ha Joo-seok stepped down with a straight hit to shortstop, but the score widened to 5-1 when Samsung shortstop Lee Jae-hyun made an error again when Kim Tae-yeon's tricky ground ball to shortstop.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Choi Won-tae grounded out Shim Woo-joon, the first batter, to third base. The number of pitches is 60. Samsung's bench decided that turning points were needed here, so it lowered Choi Won-tae and put in Lee Seung-min to make changes.

Three times it didn't go your way. However, it is meaningful enough for Choi Won-tae and Samsung in autumn.

Samsung's catcher Kang Min-ho, coach Choi Il-eon, and captain Koo Ja-wook rushed to welcome and encourage Choi Won-tae. Will '7 Billion Pitchers' be reborn as a real 'Autumn Hero' next year.





This article was translated by Naver AI translator.