Cody Ponce (31), a new foreign pitcher recruited by the Hanwha Eagles in the professional baseball league, pitched well in his first game. 바카라

In a practice game against the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Japanese pro baseball league held at Nishijaki Stadium in Okinawa, Japan on Sunday, Ponce allowed one hit, one walk, two strikeouts and no run in three innings. The Hanwha Eagles lost 2-4, but Ponce was pleased with his quality pitching. 

Ponce allowed Chiba Lotte No. 1 hitter Koshiro Wada to get on base with an infield single to second base in the first inning, but managed to grab his first out count with the help of catcher Choi Jae-hoon to stop him from stealing second base. He then grounded out Raito Ikeda to second and struck out Shogo Nakamura with a changeup to end the first inning. 

In the second inning, he hit a fly ball to center field and induced Aito Takeda to hit a pop fly to second base. However, due to strong winds, second baseman An Chi-hong missed the falling ball point, and the runner went out due to an error. Ponce, who hit the next batter Ishigaki with a fly ball to left field, gave a walk after a full count match with Kenta Chattani, leading to a crisis with runners on the first and second bases with two outs. However, he induced Kuto Ueda to ground out to the third base to overcome the crisis of scoring rights. 

In the third inning, he grounded out Ryusei Miyazaki. He calmly followed the ball that was missed toward the first base line, and although it was a dynamic game, he threw it to the first base accurately. Then, he grounded out Wada to the second base at the first pitch, and struck out Ikeda by swinging on a large curveball, ending the game with three outs. He pitched just 40 pitches in three innings, which was very efficient.

His breaking balls were powerful, including fastballs with speeds of up to 152 km per hour falling from 198 centimeters tall and 115 kilograms, large curveballs, and changeups falling like a fork ball. Since the first Australian spring camp, breaking balls have been widely praised, and they were for practical use. His ball control, which allowed him to catch strikes with breaking balls even at disadvantageous ball count, was also impressive. He also had fast sliding steps and smooth defense movements after pitching. 

Ponce is Hanwha's ambitious project to recruit new foreign players in the Korean pro baseball league by meeting the 1 million U.S. dollar cap. With its right-hander power feature that sprays fast balls up to 157 kilometers per hour, Ponce is recognized for its simple pitching form, stamina and ability to throw breaking balls. Over the past three years, he has ample experience in Asian baseball while playing in the Japanese pro baseball league. As long as he does not get sick, he is expected to become a strong one-two punch for Hanwha along with Ryu Hyun-jin, as he played no-hitter games when he was with the Nippon Ham Fighters in 2022. 

In a practice game against the Hanshin Tigers' second division on Sunday (April 22), Hanwha had an intense initiation ceremony as its new foreign batter Esteban Floral hit a come-from-behind three-run homer. Foncé also got off to a good start by pitching three scoreless innings, raising expectations. 

However, Hanwha lost to Chiba Lotte 2-4. Bae Dong-hyun, the second pitcher after Ponce, collapsed by allowing five hits (two homers) and four runs in the first ⅓ innings, but the rest of the relief pitchers including Sung Ji-hoon (1st ⅓), Park Bu-seong (1st ⅓ inning), Han Seung-hyuk (1st inning), Kim Do-bin (1st inning), and Jung Woo-joo (1st inning) pitched well without allowing any runs. Rookie Jung Woo-joo of the first round made a strong impression by throwing out three left-handed hitters with nine balls in the ninth inning. 

In the batting lineup, No. 4 hitter Noh Si-hwan broke his team's scoreless silence. In the top of the seventh inning, he hit a high ball from outside off Chiba Lotte right-hander Futaki Kota to score a solo shot over the right fence. Following the game against Hanshin on the previous day, he hit homeruns in two consecutive games. Chae Eun-seong, Kim Tae-yeon, Lee Jae-won and Lee Do-yoon also had hits one by one.