高校野球 (Kokoyakyu)

It's been a couple of weeks, but now all spring taikais are done.  So lets span the nation and see what happened!

Wouldn't you know it, two strong teams in Hokkai and Hokushou drew each other in the first round.  And the game was a barn burner at the bookends of the game.  Hokushou jumped ahead 8-5 in the first three innings, leading 9-5 heading into the final third.  That's when Hokkai outscored Hokushou 7-2, scoring the sayonara run in the bottom of the 9th.  After a surprising struggle against Asahikawa Nishi (winning 10-8), they were matched with a Sapporo Nichidai squad who was hitting their stride.  Not enough though as Hokkai would score the go-ahead run in the 8th to win 3-2.

On the other side Sapporo Dai-ichi cruised through their games, having no trouble with Bushuukan and Sapproro Ryuukoku.

The final was closely contested as Hokkai and Sapporo Dai-ichi traded a run in the 3rd.  But in the 7th, Matsumoto comes through with a bases-loaded single which proves to be the difference in the game as Hokkai wins their 10th spring title.

Tohoku was the last super-regional to start and last to finish.

Starting with prefectural play, in Aomori, I'm surprised there were only 22 teams involved... I hope this isn't really the case in the summer...  Anyways, Kousei Gakuin did indeed lap the field, outscoring their opponents 30-8 to the title.  Sei-ai and Hirosaki Higashi join them to the super-regionals.

Honjyou and Meiou did indeed meet with Honjyou winning 4-3.  However, they were dispatched by Oomagari 6-1and that was that.  Akita Shougyou fared a little better, struggling against Akita Chuo before defeating aforementioned Oomagari 8-1 in 7 innings to reach the finals.

But the tournament belonged to up-and-coming Oodate Houmei.  Though they had a close one against Akita Minami to start, they averaged a margin of victory of 4 runs for just their 2nd ever title (Their first one was 33 years ago).  And in a local battle, Oomagari Kougyou defeats Oomagari 6-2 to take the 3rd and final spot.

In Iwate, one team who has not gotten respect at all, though it was fairly deserved is Ichinoseki Gakuin.  Passed up on bids to senbatsu, they've surely now playing with a chip on their shoulder.

And it showed.  Defeating their first 3 opponents by a combined score of 14-2, they continued taking out their frustrations on poor Morioka Dai-san... to the tune of 21-1 in just 5 innings!  So they've reached the finals and are going to at least make the super-regional.  Still, they'd have to get through Hanamaki Higashi.

Or not.  After a rather surprising 2-0 win over Morioka Shiritsu, Moriokadai Fuzoku jumped on Yamane scoring 3 in the 2nd and defeated Hanamaki Higashi 5-2!  And then they go on to add disappointment to Ichinoseki Gakuin, defeating them 8-3 for their 4th title.  Hanamaki Higashi had no trouble with Morioka Dai-san, winning 9-2 to take the last spot.

Sakata Minami and Nichidai Yamagata did indeed breeze through to the semis and squared off against each other in the Yamagata prefecturals.  And it was a matter of who could hold out the longest.   Turns out that was Nichidai Yamagata as they outscore Sakata Minami 6-2 in the final 2 innings to reach the final.

But it wouldn't be Yonezawa Chuo they'd be facing.  They were upset by Yamamoto Gakuen 4-3.  They in turn faced Tsuruoka Higashi and gave them a good run for their money, only falling by one run 6-5.

In the final, Nichidai Yamagata did not go to starter Iino who pitched the Sakata Minami game.  As a result, they were down 9-4 after 4 and that was the final score giving them just their 3rd ever spring title.  Yamamoto Gakuen would get a further reality check in the 3rd place game, losing 10-3.

In Miyagi, Sendai Ikuei held their end of the bracket, advancing to the finals though not in convincing fashion culminating in a 3-1 squeaker over Sendai Dai-san.  Rifu though struggled against Tohoku Koudai winning 6-5 before being mercy-ruled by Touryou 9-0.  That made Sendai Ikuei's 20th title that much easier as they won 6-1.  Meanwhile Rifu's struggles continued, but they managed a 5-4 win to reach the super-regionals.

Looking at Fukushima's bracket, the combined Sousou Fukushima team got a seed!  It's strange to see such a team get one, but the combined Futaba-Haramachi-Souma Nougyou did get one but lost to Asaka 1-0 in the first game.

But the tournament belonged to Seikou Gakuin who was unchallenged every stop of the way for their 3rd straight and 5th overall spring title. Soushi would take 2nd and Gakkou Houjin Ishikawa edging Wakamatsu Shougyou for the last spot.

When the super-regional bracket was drawn, the (actual) strong teams were rather spread out.  However, Moriokadai Fuzoku and Hanamaki Higashi were placed in the same quadrant, and wouldn't you know it, they faced off against each other again.  Once again, Sasaki-kantoku did not start ace Ootani, and once again Yamane was shelled.  However Hanamaki's offense came out this time around, but it wasn't enough as they fell once again 10-9.

Their opponent in the semifinal would be Sendai Ikuei who had no trouble with their prior 2 games.  Anticipating the matchup, Morioka sent out ace Deguchi to start the game.  The offense helped him out jumping out to an 8-0 lead early!  But immediately thereafter, Sendai Ikuei chipped away and chipped away until by the middle of the 9th, they had an 11-8 lead and won 11-9!

On the other side, Seikou Gakuin had an easy bracket, including defeating Gakkou Houjin Ishikawa once again.  They would play Kousei Gakuin, who once again on the big stage encountered close games, denying Ichinoseki Gakuin 2-1 in the quarterfinals.

Seikou Gakuin actually held a 1-0 lead going into the 9th before Tamura tied the game with a solo homerun!  However, Jyouma in relief couldn't hold the tie and in the first extra frame, loaded the bases before Nagai delivered the sayonara single.

In the final, Sendai Ikuei played catchup the entire game, falling behind 4-0 before catching up to 4-3 only to fall behind again 8-3 before rallying to within 2 in the 8th inning.  That's as close as they would get as Seikou Gakuin claims their 2nd (and 2nd overall) spring title!

Really, despite Saitama Sakae's defeat of Yokohama Hayato in the quarterfinals, they were the odd team in the foursome.  They did have a chance in the 1st to get ahead of Takasaki Kendai, but couldn't score and instead Kendai jumps out to a 3-0 lead and 4-0 victory.

In the other semi, Kanto Dai-ichi slowly built a 5-1 lead only to have it completely wiped out in the 9th inning.  Still, they managed to keep it at a tie which allowed Yoshie to be the hero in the bottom of the 9th.

Kanto Dai-ichi though couldn't stop Kendai in the final, as they could only muster just one run in the 9th, giving Kendai a 4-1 victory and their first ever spring title!

I was expecting Nihon Bunri to take the title, and after their 2nd win in the super-regionals, an 8-1 win against Seiryou, it seemed to be a matter of time.  Iinstead, Toyama Dai-ichi gave them a shock, scoring 4 in the 3rd to take a 4-1 lead, then 5 more in the 7th to win 9-6!

Meanwhile, while Chikyuu Kankyou managed to defeat Niigata Meikun in the first game, unknown Sabae defeated them soundly 10-2 as Urushido did not make an appearance.  They then denied an all-Toyama final as they outlasted Fujikoshi Kougyou 8-5 in 13 innings.

However, it wouldn't prevent Toyama from taking the title as Toyama Dai-ichi led wire-to-wire, taking their first ever title with a 7-1 win!

In the short Tokai super-regional, all 4 number one seeds would have advanced had not Aichi Sangyoudai Kougyou scored 3 in the bottom of the 9th to defeat Shizuoka 11-10.

So in the semis it would be Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou (Gifu 1) vs. Touhou (Aichi 1), and Kinkidai Tousen (Mie 1) vs. Aichi Sangyoudai Kougyou (Aichi 2).

From these 4 teams, the inside track belonged to Kengifushou.  Indeed, they dispatched Touhou with little problem while Kinkidai Tousen played catch-up the entire game, finally taking the lead in the 8th, winning 8-7.

The final started out interestingly enough as Kengifushou led 3-0, only to see Kinkidai take a 5-3 lead before the game leveled at 5.  However, just one inning later, Kengifushou doubled their run total and separated themselves for their 4th title, winning 12-7.

Well, the Kinki regional went pretty much as expected.  In the first round, despite Toba's dominating performance, all they could manage was a close 3-1 loss to Chiben Gakuen.  Not bad, but not great.  Hieizan couldn't keep up with Houtoku Gakuen, but at least rallied from 4-0 down to tie it up before eventually losing 7-4.  On the other half, Touyoudai Himeji appears to have a ways to go still as they were mercy-ruled 7-0 by Osaka Touin.

The only surprise was Chiben Wakayama.  Facing off against the Hyogo #3 seed Akashi, they were unceremoniously ousted as Akashi led wire-to-wire in a 7-2 win.

Akashi's euphoria wouldn't last though, as they had to turn around and play Osaka Touin.  Still, against the offensive powerhouse, they managed to lose by the margin of 4-1. Their opponent in the final would be Chiben Gakuen, though not without some difficulty.  Sadotomo's HR in the 6th tied the game at 2 which would stand into extras.  In the 11th, Chiben finally broke through with 5 runs to advance.

However, against Fujinami in the finals, Chiben Gakuen had no answer.  In fact, even with just a 4-0 lead, they passed the ball to reliever Sawada who closed it out, giving Osaka Touin just their 2nd spring super-regional title.

Finally!  One of the teams I root for, Onomichi, makes progress!  They defeate Yonago Higashi 7-0, and edge out Yanai Gakuen 1-0 to reach the super-regional final!

Their opponent would be neighboring Kurashiki Kougyou, as they had no problems with Kurayoshi Sougyou Sangyou and senbatsu participant Tottori Jyouhoku.

Sadly for my boys by the water, the history of Kurashiki Kougyou was just too much as they lost 7-3, giving them only their 2nd spring super-regional title as well (their only other one was 37 years ago).

So, all spring taikais are done, and there don't really seem to be any new "contenders" that appeared since the last update.  Osaka Touin continues to look strong, Chiben Gakuen still is missing something to push them over the top.  Takasaki Kenkoudai Fukushi, if they can stick to their game plan has a shot, and the loss of Kousei Gakuin to Seikou Gakuin raises questions if they can continue their strong runs in the summer.

And even as I write this, I check up and realize that Okinawa has already started their Natsu Koushien qualifying!  Guess those posts will start coming fast and furious now!

Since games are generally played during the weekends, I'll post an update after weekend play.

Starting in the Kinki region, Chiben Wakayama does win the tournament, but again not as dominating with a 10-5 win over Wakayama Shougyou.  Osaka Touin is in the finals against Osaka Shoudai Sakai, but they had to survive a 5-4 game over Riseisha to get there.  Again, it underscores the importance of their other pitchers to hold games as I doubt Fujinami will be able to last in the summer heat.

Tenri and Chiben Gakuen did meet in the Nara semis, though oddly Chiben Gakuen struggled in a 9-8 win over Heijyou.  But they annihiliated Tenri 13-4 and then struggled again versus Naradai Fuzoku, winning 2-1 in the final.

And in Kyoto, Kita-Kuwada joined a familiar cast of Toba, Fukuchiyama Seibi and Ryuukokudai Heian in the best 4.  Toba would cruise to the title, defeating Fukuchiyama Seibi 9-1.

Shizuoka finally wrapped up Tokai prefectural play as the namesake school defeated Seisei 5-1.

Hokushinetsu prefectural play is also completed.  Nihon Bunri did indeed reach the finals, and did play Niigata Meikun, and won handily.  Seiryou edged out Yuugakukan 6-5, and had no issues in the finals against Kanazawa Shougyou.  And in Nagano, Chikyuu Kankyou defeated Matsushou Gakuen 4-2 in the first round game.  And with no other competition on their side of the bracket, reached the finals.  They played Saku Chousei, who had a much harder path, defeating Tokyo Shidai Shiojiri and Nagano Nichidai.  The game was all knotted up at 2 before Saku Chousei scored 9 in the 8th to blow it wide open.

I did forget to mention the representatives for host prefecture Saitama for the Kanto taikais, and much like Fukui, all the seeded teams lost.  Nanryou wins their first ever spring title (and first ever bid to the spring super-regional) in a contested battle with Saitama Sakae.  Kasukabe Higashi and Kawaguchi rounded out the bids.  Right now, they're in the best 4.

Teikyou's only competition in their quadrant was a matchup with upstart Takasaki Kenkoudai Fukushi.  Their defense and pitching limited Teikyou to just one run, which was amazing in and of itself.  But they managed to score the equalizer in the 9th and win 3-1 in the 10th.  They'll face Saitama Sakae, who found an answer to Yokohama Hayato when teams like Yokohama and Keiou couldn't.    Speaking of Yokohama, they couldn't stop Sakushin Gakuin, losing 5-1 in the quarterfinals.  And finally, Kanto Dai-ichi continued their low-scoring ways, defeating Maebashi Ikuei and Matsudo Kokusai 2-1 and 4-1 respectively.

Outside of Akita, who had started play back on the 10th, all other prefectures except for Iwate started prefectural play last Thursday.  Starting with Akita, their prefectural draw is out, and former Koushien participants Meiou and Akita are on the opposite sides of the bracket.  Honjyou, who have had rather bad luck at Koushien, will have to get past Yokote Jyounan to setup a matchup with Meiou.

In other play, Seikou Gakuin still has to play their first game, but they're probably the favorites to advance out of the prefecture.  In Miyagi, there was a fairly big upset as Tohoku lost to Tohoku Koudai 7-5.  That opens the door for Rifu and Sendai Ikuei to challenge for the title.  Yamagata's draw saw Nichidai Yamagata and Sakata Minami on the same side of the bracket.  Don't be surprised if the winner will face Yonezawa Chuo in the final.  Finally, in Aomori, Kousei Gakuin is cruising to the finals.

So, about 2 weeks later and there has been more progress in the spring taikais.  Let's see if there's more indications on who might be a contender.

Starting with the warmer climate and heading north (because tournaments start earlier down there), Kamimura Gakuen wound up defeating Okinawa Shougaku, just.  A 2-1 win followed by a 3-0 win over Kumamoto Kougyou (who is a contender to reach Koushien annually) means that they win the spring tournament, but doesn't instill confidence for the summer.

Shikoku's tournament is so small, it actually is held over one weekend.  In it, Naruto dominated the first two games, even defeating mercy-ruling Kochi 7-0.  But an embarrassing 6-2 loss to Meitoiku Gijyuku means that there may not be a contender here either.

In Chuugoku, the spring tournament is weird in that all prefectures get one representative except for the host, which gets 4.  4!  This time around it's Tottori who is the beneficiary.  Tottori Jyouhoku, who not long ago reached Senbatsu, was thoroughly white-washed by Yazu 15-5.  They would defeat unknown Kurayoshi Sougou Sangyou 4-2 to be the top representative.  Rounding out the 4 would be Yonago Higashi.  Kanzei apparently is unable to fully reload from last fall as they stumble late, losing a 9-8 barnburner to Kurshiki Kougyou in the Okayama final.  Meanwhile, Shimane would be won by Hamada, who hasn't been heard from for the good part of a decade.  It helped that Iwamichisuikan and Kaisei had to face each other in the first round.  Similarly in Hiroshima, Onomichi never had to face Jyosuikan or Kouryou as they too were in the same quadrant.  Finally, Hayatomo may have been a one-hit wonder as they lose in their very first game.  And so it was that established Yanai Gakuen and Iwakuni faced off with Yanai Gakuen earning the last spot.  Chuugoku doesn't appear to have any single dominant team that could challenge in the summer.

Well, I guess Chuugoku's format isn't too weird as the same applies to the Kinki spring taikai.  This year, Hyogo gets 3 bids as host.  Touyoudai Himeji, who lived off low-scoring games had a relative offensive explosion averaging 4 runs a game in the prefectural bracket, defeating Houtoku Gakuen 6-2 in the final.  Akashi would be the 3rd qualifier.  Shiga is the only other team to complete their prefectural play, and in that final, Hieizan outscores Hikone Higashi 8-6 for the bid.

Elsewhere in Kinki, over in Kyoto 3 powerhouse teams in Fukuchiyama Seibi, Ritsumeikan and Ryuukokudai Heian all are on one side, while senbatsu representative Toba lies on the other half.  Osaka Touin is dominating their brackets so far.  There are other known teams in Osaka still in play, but the senbatsu champs should be poised to advance.  Chiben Gakuen's stranglehold over Nara seems to be tightening as Tenri has struggled in their first two games.  And with no other team able to make anything that resembles a challenge in several decades, we can in all certainty proclaim the winner.  In fact, Chiben Gakuen is not only dominating Nara, but could well eclipse brother Chiben Wakayama as the better "C" team.  Not to say that Chiben Wakayama is in decline, but the field is slowly catching up to them.

Overall, no new teams here either to speak of.

Moving on to the small Tokai region, only Shizuoka has not completed play.  Kinkidai Tousen and Kaisei advance from Mie, Oogaki Nishi spoils the all-Gifu Shougyou party by defeating Shiritsu Gifu Shougyou, Aikoudai Meiden loses to Toyoda Kougyou as Touhou and Toyoda Nishi advance, and finally in Shizuoka, Seisei and Shizuoka square off in the final.

Traversing the Chuo Line, we head into the Hokushinetsu region.  Fukui, hosting this year, receives 2 extra bids.  And interestingly, all 4 bids go to relative unknown teams - Sabae, Mikata, Ono and Fujishima.  Toyama is the only other prefecture to complete play, and the winner was Fujikoshi Kougyou, who edged out fan favorite Shin-Minato and then Toyama Dai-ichi for the title.  Two teams from each prefecture advance, so Toyama Dai-ichi goes on anyways.

Elsewhere, Ishikawa is in their best 4 and Godzilla's Seiryou is still alive.  Their next game is against Yuugakukan.  Nihon Bunri is still alive in Niigata, but will have to play Chuuetsu, then either Hokuetsu or Tookamachi, and then probably Niigata Meikun in the finals - though if they get there it doesn't really matter.  And in Nagano, Chikyuu Kankyou will have an uphill climb in the prefectural bracket as they drew Matsushou Gakuen in the first round.  There are a lot of strong Nagano teams still remaining, so it'll be all uphill from here.

Yet overall in the region, no teams are standing out just yet.

Moving along the Chuo Line back to the 0 km mark, we hit the Kanto region.  Here, Saitama gets 4 bids as host, all others get 2 - and that is irregardless of the fact that the senbatsu representatives get an automatic advance regardless of performance.

That's why when Takasaki Kenkoudai Fukushi won Gunma's prefecturals with relative ease (they gave up just 3 runs in 6 games and all in the semis and finals), Maebashi Shougyou's 3rd place win actually gave them a bid.  It may also explain why perhaps Kanto Dai-ichi lost in their first game to Hachiouji Kita in the Tokyo taikai.  While game experience is good, why do it if you don't have to?  Especially against opponents you may see in the summer when it matters?  By the way, Teikyou scored 49 runs in 5 games, yet had to survive a 16-10 final against Toukaidai Takanawadai!

In other prefectures, Mito Shougyou and Shimotsuma Dai-ni advance out of Ibaraki, Utsunomiya Kougyou and Sakushin Gakuin represent Tochigi, unknowns Nanryou and Kasukabe Higashi will represent Saitama.  Over in Chiba it's an all Matsudo affair as Senshuudai Matsudo only struggled against Narashino, and Matsudo Kokusai will join them in the super-regional.  And in Yamanashi, Yamanashi Gakuindai Fuzoku and Toukaidai Koufu advance.

Perhaps one team that could make a name in the summer is good ol' Yokohama Hayato.  3 years ago, they defeated Yokohama 10-9 en route to their first ever Koushien appearance.  This spring, they hope they haven't blown their trumps cards early.  Why do I say that?  Well, take a look at their road to the spring title after 3 easy games:

• Round 4 - Rallies from down 4-1 to Keiou to tie it in the bottom of the 9th, wins 5-4 in 13.
• Quarterfinals - Down 2-1 in the bottom of the 9th to Yokohama Shoudai, scores 2 for another sayonara victory.
• Semifinals - Down 5-0 to Toukaidai Sagami after 3, they rally back to tie the game, then score the go-ahead run in the top of the 9th to win 6-5.
• Finals - Against Yokohama (yes, Yokohama), they come back from down 1-0, then 3-1, scoring 2 runs in the top of the 8th to win 4-3.

That's 4 consecutive come-from-behind wins against Keiou, Yokohama Shoudai (who you may not have heard of, but is certainly above average in the prefecture), Toukaidai Sagami and Yokohama.

WHAT?!

So again, the question will be, did they use up all their luck in the wrong spot?  Because if they manage to repeat the feat this summer, they will certainly be talked about come the summer.  Maybe not as a championship contender, but one that could make a decent run.  Oddly enough, you might consider them the Hanamaki Higashi of the Kanto region.  And coincidentally, Hanamaki Higashi Sasaki-kantoku's old school?  Yep, Yokohama Hayato.

Tohoku hasn't started play yet, and Hokkaido just started, so there's nothing new there.

So a couple of weeks later, perhaps put Yokohama Hayato on the bottom of the notable list.  If nothing else, they made one hell of a run.

With Osaka Touin's win of Senbatsu, it would make them the favorites for Natsu Koushien.  Indeed, they were without cleanup hitter Tabata after the 1st game, still put up huge offensive numbers and Fujinami did a more than adequate job on the mound.

However, next time around it'll be in the summer where it's much warmer, more games will be played, and Fujinami's stamina will be tested.  Sawada appeared to be a servicable reliever, but I bet he'll have to be called upon more if they are to win it all.

Kousei Gakuin has played bridesmaid the last two tournaments.  They can win the games they're supposed to, but when push comes to shove, they falter against the bigger names of Nichidai-san and Osaka Touin.  This summer may be their best chance to win it all as I'm sure they're not satisfied with finishing 2nd twice.

Takasaki Kenkoudai Fukushi showed off their speed early and often, putting defenses back on their heels.  However, against Osaka Touin they completely shut down their running efforts.  Whether they were spooked by being thrown out or if was another reason, running is their game.  If you're going to go down, go down doing what you do best.  If they can stick to that, I think they can make another deep run.

Aikoudai Meiden, who appeared to be one of the stronger teams in the nation, has only lost two games in major tournament play - and both to Kousei Gakuin.  This time around, it was on a gamble dive by the CF that resulted in an inside-the-park 3-run HR.  The team feels solid as a whole, but suffering 2 losses to Kousei Gakuin means that they're not quite at the top of the list.  That or they just need to avoid them this time in the summer.

Outside of these 3, none of the others really made a strong case to be considered a title contender in the summer.

So what we're left with is to look at spring tournaments and perhaps identify teams that may be on the come for the summer.  Note though that the spring tournaments do not qualify teams for anything that I know of and are just to get the teams more experience.

Only Kyushu is actually in super-regional play at this time.  However, none of Kyushu's representatives made it out of the 2nd round at Senbatsu, and it appears from looking at the bracket that the champion this year may not come from this region.

Kamimura Gakuen is in the Best 4, but an opening round comeback to defeat Kurume Shougyou 3-2 highlights the weaknesses in Kyushu.  In fact, their opponent in the semis - Okinawa Shougaku may prove to be a better candidate.

Shikoku has their 8 representatives for the super-regionals, and not surprisingly Naruto is back in the field, as well as mainstays Meitoku Gijyuku and Kochi.  Ehime and Kagawa have 2nd tier teams representing them, so there's not much to see here.  And in fact, despite their run a couple of decades ago, Shikoku has not performed as well in recent years.

All other regions are still in prefectural play, though some prefectures are further along.

In Tokyo, Kanto Dai-ichi was eliminated in the first game, so no continued dominance.  Instead, the best 4 in the spring includes Teikyou, Nichidai Tsurugaoka, Toua Gakuen and Toukaidai Takanawadai.  Teikyou of course has bashed their way through the field.

And in Gifu, they too are in the Best 4.  As expected, Kenritsu and Shiritsu Gifu Shougyou are both present, along with Oogaki Nishi and Gifu Jyouhoku.

That's it for now.  As the fall tournaments continue, I'll try and identify other teams that we might see in the summer.