"Excluding 35 Hanwha members → Train to Kiwoom for just 400 million won" An Chi-hong signaled a revival of his former team, with two doubles and five runs on base' [the site of a war]

*This content was translated by AI.

Everything was perfect. The only thing missing was victory. An Chi-hong (36, Kiwoom Heroes), who played for Hanwha Eagles until last year, showed off a scary batting feeling against his old team in his new team.

Ahn Chi-hong started as the second designated hitter in the opening game of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League against the Kiwoom Heroes at Hanwha Life Ball Park in Daejeon on the 28th, and played an active role with two hits and three walks in three at-bats.

An Chi-hong, who signed a contract with Hanwha for up to 7.2 billion won for 4+2 years in 2023, moved to Kiwoom after completing the last season without even completing his first four-year contract.

He hit a batting average of .300 in his first year, but remained in a batting average of 0.172 in 66 games last year and was not included in the 35 protected players. Kiwoom selected An Chi-hong in the first round of the second draft and was able to recruit a veteran infielder for a transfer fee of 400 million won.

Kiwoom formed the lineup with Lee Ju-hyung (center fielder), An Chi-hong (designated hitter), Trenton Brooks (first baseman), Choi Joo-hwan (third baseman), Eo Jun-seo (striker), Kim Gun-hee (catcher), Lim Ji-yeol (left fielder), Park Han-gyeol (second baseman), and Lee Hyung-jong (right fielder).

Before the game, coach Seol Jong-jin said before the game, "The player I look forward to is An Chi-hong. I saw a pretty good performance in the exhibition game. He said, "I'm looking forward to it because I'm doing well in the lineup."

It wasn't an unexpected expectation. An Chi-hong hit a batting average of 0.341 (14 hits in 41 at-bats) with two home runs, 10 RBIs and seven runs in 10 games during the exhibition game, and continued that scary feeling from the opening game.

Opponent starter Wilkel Hernandez struck out Lee Joo-hyung by spraying an ever-changing two-seam fastball from the first inning, but An Chi-hong started the game in a good mood with a large double that hit the left-center fence on the body's two-seam.

In the top of the fifth inning, when the team was chasing 2-3, he drew a walk with two outs and second base, and then sprinted all the way on Trenton Brooks' double to score a come-from-behind score.

In the seventh inning, he hit Yoon San-heum's low control fastball and hit a large double once again. Lee Hyung-jong, who made it to third base on An Chi-hong's double, homered with Brooks' hit, shaking off Hanwha's pursuit.

An Chi-hong, who also drew a walk in the eighth inning, calmly drew a walk as the leadoff batter in the top of the 11th inning. An Chi-hong, who went to third base with a walk by Brooks and Eo Jun-seo, scored a come-from-behind score when Park Chan-hyuk made a timely hit and later scored Oh Sun-jin to take the lead 9-7. In the bottom of the 11th inning, Yuto Kanakubo shook and eventually lost the game, but An Chi-hong showed everything he could against his former team.

The loss after four hours and 17 minutes of bloodshed was painful, but Kiwoom, which has been at the bottom for three consecutive years and is trying to turn the tables, confirmed the possibility of the batting line's rise, including An Chi-hong.

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*This content was translated by AI.