Everything clicks for KT Wiz in run to 1st Korean Series title

You know something is going right for your team when a backup infielder with one regular season home run goes deep in the title-clinching game.

Be it an unexpected homer, excellent starting pitching, shutdown bullpen or steady defense: virtually everything went the way of the KT Wiz in their run to the maiden Korean Series title this month.

The Wiz defeated the Doosan Bears 8-4 to complete a four-game sweep of the South Korean baseball championship series on Thursday.

No. 8 hitter Shin Bon-ki was the source of the unlikely home run in the clincher. Shin was in the lineup only because Park Kyung-su had been ruled out for season with a calf injury sustained in Wednesday’s game. And Shin showed no nerves in his first career Korean Series start.

And that was the running theme for the rest of the Wiz. They were playing in their first Korean Series as a franchise, and only two players had prior experience at this stage with other teams. But to a man, they played with the kind of poise and aplomb of veterans who’d been there and done that.

The Wiz made Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) history with their pitching. They’re the first team to have four different starting pitchers win a game apiece in a four-game Korean Series sweep.