*This content was translated by AI.View Original
They refused to give up until the very end, even after suffering the setback of their starting pitcher being hit by a batted ball and heading to the hospital. The Ulsan Whales, who have been making waves since their inaugural season, advanced to the finals of the 2026 Ulsan-KBO Fall League with a dramatic walk-off comeback victory in the bottom of the 9th inning.
The Ulsan Whales defeated KIA 2-1 to advance to the finals, thanks to Kim Seong-gyun's sacrifice fly to center field for one run in the bottom of the 9th inning during the 2026 Ulsan-KBO Fall League semifinal held at Ulsan Munsu Baseball Stadium on the 30th.
The thread of a tightly contested game that had lasted nearly three hours was finally pulled in the bottom of the 9th inning, with Ulsan trailing 0-1. With one out, shortstop Cha Sang-hyun's throw to first base on Kim Su-in's grounder went high, allowing the batter to reach base. Pinch runner Choi Jae-young successfully stole second base, and Park Moon-soon drew a walk, setting up runners on first and second with one out. Following this, Park Je-beom hit a line drive through the hole at second base for an RBI single, tying the game 1-1. In the ensuing chance with runners on first and third and one out, pinch hitter Kim Seong-gyun swung his bat widely; although the ball was caught by the center fielder's glove, it could not prevent the runner from third base from reaching home plate.
The dominant pitching of the Japanese one-two punch laid the foundation for the comeback victory. Starter Okada Akitaake displayed powerful pitching with a top speed of 150 km/h, but he was immediately replaced after his finger was hit by the ball on Hwang Dae-in's RBI hit in the 4th inning. His line score was 3⅓ innings pitched, 2 hits allowed, no walks or strikeouts, 3 strikeouts, and 1 run allowed. Fortunately, a hospital examination revealed no signs of fracture.
Naga Taishi, who took the mound next, pitched brilliantly for 5⅔ innings with 3 hits allowed, no walks or strikeouts, 8 strikeouts, and scoreless, earning the win. On the offensive side, leadoff hitter Park Moon-soon swung a hot bat with 3 hits in 4 at-bats and 1 run scored, while Kim Seo-won also contributed with 2 hits in 4 at-bats.
KIA struggled throughout the game with an unresponsive lineup. Leadoff hitter Gwak Dong-hyo recorded 2 hits in 4 at-bats, and Hwang Dae-in hit a go-ahead RBI single, but the team managed only 5 hits overall. The strong pitching of starting pitcher Yoon Young-cheol was encouraging.
Yoon Young-cheol, who underwent left elbow ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction surgery (Tommy John surgery) last year and returned in August this year, pitched brilliantly for 5⅔ innings with 6 hits allowed, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts, and scoreless. Although his top speed was only 142 km/h, he demonstrated precise control, throwing 64 strikes out of a total of 90 pitches to dominate the Ulsan lineup. In particular, utilizing corner work on both sides, he threw four-seam fastballs (46 pitches), changeups (18 pitches), sliders (10 pitches), curves (8 pitches), and cutters (8 pitches), drawing whiffs from batters in every inning.
This game was a matchup between Ulsan, who finished second in the preliminary round, and KIA, who finished third. Ulsan is a newly established citizen-owned team that secured first place in the Southern League of the KBO Futures League, which they participated in for the first time this year, and advanced to the championship series. In this tournament as well, they recorded 5 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss in 8 preliminary games to advance to the semifinals in second place.
KIA secured their spot in the semifinals in third place by defeating Samsung Lions 7-3 on the final day of the preliminary round. The winner of this game will compete for the championship against Long Beach Coast, a team from the American independent league alliance that defeated LG Twins 4-2 in the previous semifinal, at the same venue at 2 p.m. on the 31st.
On this day, Ulsan set their batting order as Park Moon-soon (second baseman) - Shin Jun-woo (shortstop) - Kim Seo-won (right fielder) - Ha Jae-hoon (designated hitter) - Ye Jin-won (left fielder) - Noh Kang-min (first baseman) - Kim Si-wan (center fielder) - Song Hyeon-jun (catcher) - Bae Young-bin (third baseman). The starting pitcher was Okada Akitaake, who came from the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of Japanese professional baseball.
Facing them, KIA arranged their lineup as Gwak Dong-hyo (center fielder) - Park Heon (right fielder) - Park Sang-jun (first baseman) - Hwang Dae-in (designated hitter) - Lee Young-jae (left fielder) - Shin Myung-seung (catcher) - Cha Sang-hyun (shortstop) - Hwang Seok-min (second baseman) - Park Jong-hyeok (third baseman). The starting pitcher was left-handed Yoon Young-cheol.
The early stages of the game featured strong pitching from both teams' starters. Okada started off well by striking out the last batter in the top of the 1st inning with a fastball that dropped low on the outside corner for a whiff. In the top of the 2nd inning, after striking out leadoff hitter Hwang Dae-in with a whiff, he recorded a triple play with Lee Young-jae's grounder to third base and Shin Myung-seung's bunt in front of the pitcher.
They remained steady despite defensive errors. In the top of the 3rd inning, leadoff hitter Cha Sang-hyun reached base on an error by the shortstop while fielding a batted ball, but Hwang Seok-min's bunt attempt resulted in a foul fly to the catcher. Following this, Okada retired Park Jong-hyeok with a grounder to second base and struck out Gwak Dong-hyo looking, maintaining his scoreless streak through the 3rd inning.
Yoon Young-cheol handled a bases-loaded crisis with one out in the bottom of the 1st inning by recording Ye Jin-won on a fly ball to shortstop and Noh Kang-min on a grounder to shortstop, before shutting down the 2nd and 3rd innings with three consecutive outs. In the bottom of the 6th inning, he also struck out Noh Kang-min with a whiff in a bases-loaded crisis with one out, and relief pitcher Jang Jae-hyeok, who entered with two outs and runners on second and third, struck out Kim Si-wan to finish his appearance scoreless.
KIA was the team that broke the tight balance. In the top of the 4th inning, leadoff hitter Park Heon lifted a low pitch on the inside corner from Okada for a line drive single to right field. Park Heon advanced to third base taking advantage of a pickoff throw and a wild pitch, and scored on Hwang Dae-in's RBI hit to center field. Hwang Dae-in's hard-hit ball bounced off Okada's hand and deflected toward the center fielder. KIA took a 1-0 lead.
An unexpected setback also struck Ulsan. Okada, whose finger was hit by Hwang Dae-in's batted ball, could not continue pitching and was replaced by Naga Taishi (27). According to an official from the Ulsan team, Okada moved to a nearby hospital for a detailed examination to determine the exact nature of his injury.
The tight one-run game continued thereafter. For Ulsan, the chance in the bottom of the 6th inning was the most regrettable. With one out, Ha Jae-hoon and Ye Jin-won hit consecutive line drives to right field to put runners on first and third. Yoon Young-cheol struck out Noh Kang-min with a whiff, but Ye Jin-won successfully stole second base, setting up runners on second and third with two outs, and Yoon Young-cheol was eventually removed from the game. However, relief pitcher Jang Jae-hyeok struck out Kim Si-wan with a whiff, maintaining the tight 1-0 balance.
With this, Ulsan, who had reached first place in the Southern League of the KBO Futures League in their inaugural season, also succeeded in advancing to the finals of the Fall League. They will compete for the championship against Long Beach Coast, a team from the American independent league alliance with an 11-game unbeaten record (9 wins, 2 draws), at the same venue at 2 p.m. on the 31st.
<© STARNEWS. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution allowed.>
*This content was translated by AI.View Original
![[Official] 'Final A hopes dashed' Pohang parts ways with Manager Park Tae-ha... Kim Seong-jae interim regime begins from the Jeju match on the 1st](https://image.starnewskorea.com/cdn-cgi/image/f=avif,w=1200,h=800,fit=cover,g=face/21/2026/10/2026103016581699991_1.jpg)
