‘Crazy again’ Park Geon-woo, leader in defeating KT with a home run

 NC Dinos' veteran outfielder Park Geon-woo (33) completely shattered the perception that he was 'weak in the fall' in the third game of the playoffs against KT Wiz.

NC won 3-2 against KT in the second game of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO postseason playoffs (best of 5) held at Suwon KT Wiz Park on the 31st. NC, which won games 1 and 2, had only one win left to advance to the Korean Series.

The nucleus of the NC batting line that day was Park Geon-woo. Park Geon-woo gave a perfect performance with 3 hits in 4 at-bats, 1 home run, 2 RBI, and 1 run.

In particular, he took the lead in taking the lead by hitting an out-of-park two-run gun against opposing starting pitcher Wes Benjamin in the first inning, and the pitching staff kept this score, completing NC's victory.

Until this postseason, Park Geon-woo had the image of being weak in fall baseball.

His batting average of only 0.042 (1 hit in 24 at-bats) in 6 games of the 2018 Korean Series (KS) while he was a member of the Doosan Bears played a role in creating this image.

Until last year, his overall postseason (PS) batting average was poor at 0.206 (41 hits in 199 at-bats).

However, in 2022, they changed into NC uniforms and looked completely different on their first fall stage this year.

In five games, including the wild card game, semi-playoff, and first game of the playoff, Park Geon-woo's batting average reached 0.400 (8 hits in 20 at-bats).

In particular, in the second game of the semi-playoffs against SSG Landers, he led the team to a 7-3 victory with 3 hits in 5 at-bats, 2 RBIs, and 1 run, and was named Daily MVP.

Park Geon-woo, who spoke about his sense of responsibility as a veteran at the time, continued his good feelings in the playoffs.

In the first game, he contributed to a 9-5 victory with Altoran's performance of 1 hit and 2 RBIs in 4 at-bats, and on this day, despite playing with cold symptoms, he hit a home run from Benjamin early in the game.

It was the second postseason home run in six years since 2017 during the Doosan era.

In his second at-bat in the third inning, he hit a single with one out and first base, putting pressure on Benjamin.

He was retired by a fly ball to center field in the 5th inning, but completed a 3-hit game with a double against KT's Pilseungjo Park Young-hyun in the 8th inning.

Thanks to Park Geon-woo's performance, NC succeeded in winning 6 consecutive postseason games. If they win the third game to be held on November 2nd, they can head to Jamsil, where regular first place LG Twins is waiting.

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