Professional baseball player KODI Ponce (31) set a new personal record for the most pitches thrown and led Hanwha to its 11th consecutive win.
On the 10th, Ponce started in the game against the Kiwoom Heroes at the Seoul Gocheok Sky Dome in the '2025 Shinhan Bank SOL Bank KBO League,' recording a victory with 6 innings, 3 hits allowed (1 home run), 2 walks, 9 strikeouts, and 1 earned run.
After allowing a hit to lead-off batter Song Seong-mun in the bottom of the first inning, Ponce walked Yasiel Puig, putting him in a first and second base jam with no outs. However, he struck out Lee Joo-hyung and induced a ground ball from Choi Joo-hwan to get the runner at second base. With two outs and runners on first and third, he struck out Ruben Cardenas to escape the jam.
In the second inning, Ponce caught lead-off batter Kim Tae-jin with a fly ball to left field and struck out Lim Byeong-wook. He allowed a hit to Kim Jae-hyun but struck out Seo Yoo-shin to finish the inning without any major challenges. In the third inning, after issuing a walk to Puig with one out, he handled Lee Joo-hyung and Choi Joo-hwan both with ground outs, preventing any runs.
Ponce, who combined two strikeouts to retire the side in the fourth inning cleanly, quickly recorded two outs in the fifth. However, he allowed a solo home run to Song Seong-mun, marking his first earned run of the day. Puig was caught with a line drive to first base. In the sixth, he struck out both Lee Joo-hyung and Choi Joo-hwan, while Cardenas was caught with a fly ball to center field, perfectly subduing the Kiwoom middle order.
Recording 110 pitches, Ponce handed the mound over to Park Sang-won in the seventh inning, with Hanwha ahead 5-1, marking the end of his appearance. He surpassed his previous record of 109 pitches set on the 27th of last month against KT. He threw a fastball (59 pitches), changeup (19 pitches), slider (13 pitches), curve (11 pitches), and cutter (8 pitches), with his fastball reaching a top speed of 156 km/h.
Thanks to Ponce's outstanding performance, Hanwha achieved its 11th consecutive win for the first time in 33 years since the Binggrae era in 1992. This is only the second time in history that Hanwha has recorded 11 consecutive wins. Ponce has now recorded his 7th win of the season, tying for the lead in wins with Park Se-woong (Lotte, 7 wins).
After the game, Ponce noted, “I am really happy to continue the team’s 11-game winning streak. Thanks to the support from the players early in the game, it was easy to navigate through the match. I appreciate the relief pitchers who took responsibility alongside the field players for the remaining innings.”
Setting a new record for most pitches thrown in a single game, Ponce remarked, “I think it was the last time I threw over 110 pitches when I recorded a no-hitter in Japan. After a long time throwing 110 pitches, I always want to contribute to the team, even if it’s just for another inning on the mound.”
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