Baejae High School returned to competition 45 days after a controversy over cheers widely seen as disparaging the May 18 pro-democracy uprising, only to be eliminated in the first round of the year's final national tournament, ending its season.
The team lost 5-8 to Incheon High on Wednesday at Mokdong Baseball Stadium in Seoul's Yangcheon-gu in the opening round of the 54th Bonghwang Tournament national high school baseball championship.
The controversy erupted at the same tournament in June, when Baejae High's supporters directed chants at Gwangju Illo High that were widely condemned as mocking the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement. The school was initially handed a six-month competition ban, which was later reduced to one month on appeal. Even so, preparing fully for competition during the suspension was far from easy.
According to Yonhap, the Baejae High players lined up facing the stands before the game and removed their caps in a bow to the crowd. They also kept organized cheering to a minimum throughout the match. While Incheon High's players chanted slogans and clapped to rally their teammates, Baejae High's bench offered only brief, quiet encouragement — words like "hit" and "let's go" — even during their own at-bats.
Team captain Ko Hyeon-seok said he had urged his teammates to be especially careful before the game. "I told the players beforehand that we should be cautious," he said. "I asked them not to say anything inappropriate toward the other team, and to do their best in their own roles since we came here to win."
Ko, who started as the cleanup hitter and left fielder, drove in a run with an RBI single to right field in the bottom of the first inning to tie the game at 1-1, then added a center-field single in the seventh, finishing 2-for-5 with one RBI and one run scored. The team played with a noticeably different demeanor, but Baejae High could not hold on as Incheon High repeatedly retook the lead.
Speaking to reporters after the game, Ko said the team had faced difficult circumstances. "There were a lot of tough situations, both personally and for the team as a whole — we weren't able to practice much," he said. "I thought the only thing we could do for the people who still cheered for us despite everything was to win, so we prepared really hard and gave everything in the game. I'm truly sorry and apologetic that we lost."
For the third-year players, Wednesday's game may have been their last in high school baseball.
"There were third-year pitchers who didn't get to take the mound," Ko said. "For them to pitch, we needed to win — and we couldn't do that." He said he was deeply disappointed.
Earlier, during the suspension, the Baejae High players traveled to Gwangju Illo High on July 6 to deliver a personal apology and visited the May 18 National Cemetery.
"We didn't know whether they would accept our apology, so we tried our best to show how sincerely we reflected on what happened," Ko said. "Gwangju Illo High said warm things to our players and their parents. We are truly sorry to the Gwangju Illo players and the people of Gwangju — and also grateful."
He added: "I haven't even lived 20 years yet, but before becoming an adult I learned a great deal about how a single word or action can grow this big and cause harm to others."
betterj@heraldcorp.com
