Lee Han-rim, 18, who is regarded as a big catching talent, led Cheongryonggi to a national championship that even Park Kyung-wan couldn’t achieve.
Jeonju High School, led by head coach Changhoon Joo, won the 79th Cheongryonggi High School Baseball Championship and the weekend league championship with a 14-5 victory over Masan Yongma High School in the finals at Mokdong Stadium in Seoul on Nov. 16.
Jeonju, which reached the Cheongryonggi final for the first time since its founding in 1977, is back at the top of the national tournament after 39 years since winning the 1985 Golden Lion title. The team erased the disappointment of finishing runner-up in the 2022 Presidential Baseball Tournament and runner-up in the E-Mart Baseball National High School Baseball Tournament in April.
The star of the victory was Lee Han-rim, who started at No. 4 catcher and went 2-for-5 with a home run, three RBIs and two runs scored.
Lee made it 3-1 in the top of the first inning when he doubled down the left field line with two outs and scored on Seo’s double down the left field line.
The icing on the cake came in the third inning.
With runners on second and third in the top of the fourth inning with a 6-1 lead, he hit a three-run shot to left field off Yongmago’s Park Chan-young. It was the game-winning hit.
Lee then followed that up with a two-run single to left field in the top of the fifth inning to complete his multi-hit performance on the big stage of the finals.
After batting 3-for-8 (7-for-22) with two home runs, 10 RBIs, a .636 slugging percentage, a .464 OPS, and a 1.100 on-base percentage in six games for the Cheongnyonggi, Lee was named MVP, 메이저사이트 beating out his friend Jung Woo-ju, the top pick in the 2025 KBO Rookie Draft.
“I was so disappointed that I didn’t win the E-Mart Bae, but this time I was lucky to make it to the final and I’m very happy to win,” Lee said to the press after the game. ”I’ve been to four finals since my freshman year until this one, and I was runner-up in all of them. I told the girls, ‘Let’s just win today,’ and we got lucky,” he said of his emotional victory.
When asked how he hit the home run in the final, he said, “My bat hasn’t been hitting lately, but my coach told me to relax. I thought I would hit an outfield fly, so I hit it lightly, and luckily the ball went over the fence.” ‘I thought I wouldn’t get the home run award because there were many players who hit one home run, so I’m very happy that I finally got it,’ he smiled.
Lee Han-rim also had a perfect partnership with ace Jung Woo-ju on defense to help the team win the title.
“I think I’ve improved a lot because (Lee) sits as a catcher and guides me well and blocks well,” Jung Woo-ju said after the game. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have been able to throw like this,” he said in praise of his friend.
“In the first inning, Lee Si-hoo was inexperienced because he was a freshman, so he was shaky, but Jung Woo-ju blocked him so well that he didn’t give up any runs, and I think that was the biggest factor in our victory. I’ve been working with Jung Woo-ju and the other pitchers who pitched today. They told me to trust me and throw confidently,” Lee said.
Lee’s role model is Jeonju’s alumnus, KBO League legendary catcher Park Kyung-wan. “He’s a legendary player, so there are many things I want to emulate. I think I’m similar to him in that I’m a home run catcher. I didn’t have any home runs in my first and second years, but after I hit one in the weekend league this year, I’ve been hitting them ever since.”
Jeonju will take part in the 58th Presidential High School Baseball Tournament in Pohang from the 23rd of this month with the momentum of victory.
“We won the Cheongryonggi, so we will win the rest of the tournament,” said Lee Han-rim.