高校野球 (Kokoyakyu)

Our final game of the day also highlights 2 more regular schools, again who are perhaps not at their peak.

Kousei is back once again, but weren't their dominating selves. They did defeat Seiai and Hachinohe Koudai Dai-ichi, but split against Aomori Yamada who may be resurging, but hasn't proved anything yet. The offensive numbers look good but I think they have to be toned down a notch or two.

Kaisei comes in with a very ordinary record. There are some recognizable names on their defeated list (Risshoudai Shounan, Hiroshima Shinjyou), but nothing that really stands out. Couple that with a team slash line of 0.255/0.299/0.423, and it's all underwhelming. Kousei should have the upper hand in this matchup, which will allow the team to build some confidence into the next round.

Might as well start calling them by their new name. If you haven't noticed Kousei Gakuin (光星学院) changed their name to Hachinohe Gakuin Kousei (八戸学院光星) or in shorthand Kousei (光星).

No matter what you call it, their rise to prominence has been sudden. There were signs when they went to Natsu Kousien 3 of 4 years in 2000-2003 reaching the quarterfinals twice and the semifinals the other time. But in 2011 they stamped their mark in history (albeit infamously), by reaching 3 straight calendar Koushien finals losing all of them.

The school went through the name change right afterwards and while they haven't had the same success (it's hard not to unless they actually won the whole thing), but after a full year off went to Koushien both times in 2014, and senbatsu in 2015.

And here they are again. They've done it defeating every team they should have soundly, and winning the close games against the upper tier teams (except for the Aomori Yamada rematch in the finals). They did it leaning on ace Sakurai Kazuki (桜井 一樹). I don't have much information on him other than possibly having a slider, curve and changeup. That, and the fact that he doesn't strikeout many batters can be a concern if he doesn't have pinpoint control.

Offensively, it's hard to identify a person who stands out. Perhaps the top of the order which naturally should have your better hitters. But then you turn to their loss against Aomori Yamada, and they could muster just 3 hits. If the pitching is very contact-dependent, the offense will need to come though in case Sakurai doesn't have his best.

Seriously, how much would Kousei like to rid themselves of Osaka Touin. They've faced them twice in back-to-back Koushien finals and lost both times. You could even jokingly say they changed their official school name to get rid of the bad mojo.

And yet here we are again. Kousei, probable underdogs to the powerhouse Osaka Touin.

I'm sick of it too, so here we go.

Hachinohe Gakuin Kousei (Aomori)
CF Arai Katshuhiro
RF Kasumi Shouta
SS Adachi Yuuya
LF Sawada Shunichi
2B Nakazaki Jyukiya
3B Kobayashi Naoki
C Baba Ryuusei
1B Sawaya Kousuke
P Nakagawa Masashi

Osaka Touin (Osaka)
3B Nakayama Yuuto
2B Nagahiro Tomoki
RF Fujii Kenpei
CF Aoyagi Kouki
LF Harada Tomoki (#3)
C Taniguchi Kazuki
SS Fukuda Kouki
1B Yoshizawa Kazuto (#12)
P Tanaka Seiya

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11:25 - First Pitch!

Top 1st
Tanaka ready to rack up the Ks, fastball at the knees to Arai to start the game.

After a quick flyout by Kasumi, Tanaka tries to sell a 3-2 fastball on the outside corner by running off the mound, but the umpire doesn't buy it.

Unfortunately, Kousei commits their first unforced error. Adachi is caught wide of 1st and is picked off for the 3rd out.

Bottom 1st
One down for Osaka Touin and Nagahiro gets a hit to left.

Nishitani-kantoku starts the wheels early and sends Nagahiro. Throw is late and Osaka Touin is on the move.

Nakagawa almost throws behind Fujii, but perhaps fortunately, he ends up hitting him.

Well, that's not good. He may have not minded hitting Fujii, but then he throws at Aoyagi, and when he ducks it goes off his helmet. He's holding his head, and is led back for an injury runner. Manrui for Osaka Touin.

Harada hits a fly ball down the left side. Sawada decides to take the given out in foul territory, even if it means Nagahiro scores from 3rd. 1-0.

And it's another HBP! This time he hits Taniguchi in the back. Manrui once again.

The game sadly looks over before it's really begun. He walks Fukuda to force in a run, 2-0.

Yoshizawa strikes out to retire the side, but damage has already been done.

Top 2nd
Nakazaki with a clean hit to left gets Kousei a runner with 1 down.

But Kobayashi can't check his swing on a high fastball, and goes down for the 2nd out. Baba grounds to 2nd, and as Nagahiro tosses the short way, the side is retired.

Bottom 2nd
Nakagawa's 2nd inning goes much better than his first - though it would be really hard to get any worse.

3 pitches in and he's retired both Tanaka and Nakayama. Nagahiro is a bit more stubborn, but ends up grounding out harmlessly to short.

Top 3rd
With Tanaka striking out batters at a strong clip, it's not surprising he's recording them here.

Ogasawara behind 1-2, can't check his swing and goes down. Nakagawa goes down swinging on a forkball.

Arai hits a dying ball to center, but Aoyagi runs it down for the 3rd out.

Bottom 3rd
It may have been 1st inning jitters, but it may cost them in the end. Osaka Touin is going after pitches in the zone and helping him out to some extent. Facing the heart of the order, he gets Fujii on a pop out, Aoyagi hits a grounder to short, and Harada is too early on a slider and weakly grounds to 2nd.

Top 4th
Kousei gets a leadoff runner when Kasumi draws a walk. Adachi isn't bunting and gets a great pitch from Tanaka, but he grounds it right to Yoshizawa. Goes to 2nd for one, but Fukuda stops there as there is no one covering 1st.

Sawada ahead of a slider, grounds one right to Nakayama. Goes to 2nd for 1, throw to 1st... double play to end the inning.


Bottom 4th
Bottom of the order being more patient against Nakagawa, but he's staying low in the zone and making them reach down to make contact. As a result, Taniguchi and Fukuda both ground out.

Yoshizawa watches a fastball paint the outside corner for strike 3 and the side is retired.

Top 5th
Tanaka meanwhile is playing the outside/inside game, and avoiding the middle of the zone if possible. Kousei then is either jammed, trying to pull outside pitches, or is early to swing and winds up with a weak grounder. Nakayama and Kobayashi are 2 such batters.

Baba can't square up Tanaka's fastball and foul tips it back for strike 3. Side retired.

Bottom 5th
Ever since the 1st, Nakagawa has not allowed a runner on base. He gets two more weak grounders and a fly ball, and it's now 13 straight retired as we hit the break. Nakagawa looks good, but that abominable 1st is the difference in the game. Kousei will need to step up the offense to have any shot.

Top 6th
Kousei gets their 4th runner of the as a grounder by Nakagawa takes a high hop and eats up Nakayama. Arai hits a foul ball to right field, Fujii chases after it, and makes the sliding catch in foul territory right before the fence.

Kasumi grounds out to 2nd though and the inning is over.

Bottom 6th
Again against the heart of the Osaka Touin lineup and Nakagawa continues to dominate. Fujii swings over a changeup in the dirt for the first out. Aoyagi chases a slider low. And Harada grounds out to short. 16 straight retired by Nakagawa.

Top 7th
Kousei running out of time.

Adachi, looking for any way on base, hits the 3-2 pitch back up the middle for a base hit! Nakai-kantoku will not play for 1 and has Sawada hit.

But Kousei's batters can't recognize a ball out of the zone. Sawada is fooled on the curveball and goes down for the first out.

Nakazaki gets a fastball down the middle, but flies out to center.Kobayashi  succumbs to the forkball and it's 3 doun.

Bottom 7th
Taniguchi connects on a hanging slider and hits a HR to left. 3-0.

2 down, Tanaka hits a ball to short, but Adachi short hops the throw. He's safe at first.

Nakayama drives a ball to deep right center, and that goes fo a double to the wall. Tanaka scores and it's 4-0.

Nagahiro grounds out to end the inning.

Top 8th
#15 Himeno hits for Ogasawara and gets a one-out walk. #14 Endou hits for Nakagawa and hits a grounder to 2nd, Nagahiro flips to Fukuda but he's focused on going to 1 and drops the ball.

After a popup from Arai, Kasumi lines a ball just over Fukuda for a base hit. Himeno comes home uncontested to make it 4-1.

Adachi flies out to center, and Kousei at least prevents the shutout.


Bottom 8th

#13 Nakajima comes in for Himeno to play 1B. #11 Goya comes in for Endou to take the hill.

After yielding a leadoff walk, and 2 outs, Nakai-kantoku pulls him for Yagi to get some work.. He doesn't finish an AB as Fujji is caught stealing 2nd.

Top 9th
Kousei goes down in order with PH #12 Sueyoshi striking out to end the game.

Yep, I'll just leave this here before I flip a table.

My computer I use for doing the write ups is acting up on me, so I'll have to skip the intro for now. And apparently the title as well.

Top 1st
As perhaps expected, Ise is not a flame thrower of any sort. At the same time, we knew Kousei might have issues hitting.

And so it was that Kousei's first runner would come on a HBP to Kasumi with one down. Unfortunately for Kousei, Kasumi perhaps can't pick up on the pickoff move and is caught napping for the 2nd out.

Adachi flies out to left and it's an easy inning for Ise to start.

Bottom 1st
Hasegawa playing the good leadoff man, working the count drawing a walk. Yonemitsu immediately bunts him to 2nd.

Tomoda with a ball to the right side, and Nakzaki can't run it down! And it's so slow that Kasumi has no play at home! 1-0 Kyushu Gakuin!

Matsushita hits back to Nakagawa for a 1-4-3 double play to end the inning, but Kyushu opens the scoring early!

Top 2nd
Nakazaki finally gets the first hit for Kousei, getting around on an side pitch and driving it to left for a single. But Kobayashi flies to left, and Baba swings on high cheese to leave him at 1st.

Bottom 2nd
Kyushu Gakuin is attacking the ball early, but it also gives Nakagawa a quick inning. 6 pitches and three groundballs later, the inning is over.

Top 3rd
Sawaya tries to work the count being in the bottom of the order, but despite a 10 pitch AB, he grounds out to short. The next 2 batters are not as patient, but the results are much the same. It's a true 1-2-3 inning for Ise and Kousei's offense looks as anemic as I thought.

Bottom 3rd
Same goes for Kyushu Gakuin. Their 1 hit was a seeing eye single.Ise tries to buy the walk on a 3-2 count, but it finds the top of the zone for a K. Nakahara and Hasegawa both ground out as well, and this looks to be a very low-scoring affair.

Top 4th
Kasumi with a shot past Ise who has to spin out of the way gives them a leadoff runner. Adachi bunts, but Nakahara tries to go to 2nd! His snap this high, taking Matsushita off the bag!

Now runners on 1st and 2nd, Sawada tries to bunt, but falls behind 1-2. He feigns bunt to work the count full, and Ise throws one wide to the backstop to load the bases!

Nakazaki with a great chance for Kousei, flies one to left. Wakahara makes the catch, and Kasumi tags up easily to make it a 1-1 ballgame!

Kobayashi trying to do something productive, hits a ball to the right side. Tomoda just runs it down on the outfield grass, and makes the putout at 1st, 2 down.

With first open, and the bottom of the lineup perhaps not as strong, Ise sort of pitches around Baba, eventually issuing a walk to create the force.

But Ise's first pitch to Sawaya is wild! Adachi can trot home and it's 2-1 Kousei! Once again, Ise walks Sawaya to load the bases yet again for last batter Nakagawa.

And Ise is having control issues, missing everything either down, away or both.

Nakagawa bails him out by swinging on a 2-1 pitch and grounding out to end the inning. But Kousei looks to be having the better of it right now and leads thanks to missteps by ace Ise!

Bottom 4th
Cleanup batter Matsushita finally breaks the hitless drought with a 2-out single back up the middle and off the 2nd base bag.

Yanagiuchi pops out to Adachi to end the inning and Kousei holds serve.

Top 5th
Ise's control seems to be lacking still as he goes up and in on Arai, grazing his face. After a check from the home plate umpire, he heads to 1st.

Kasumi and Adachi can do no better than advance him with grounds balls to 3rd, and Sawada goes after the first pich. It's down and in, and he rolls it to Yonemitsu for the 3rd out.

Bottom 5th
Wakahara with a drive down the right field line, but it hangs up just enough for Kasumi to run it down. Ise gets his team's 3rd hit with a 2-out single to left. Nakagawa compounds things by hitting Nakahara to turn the lineup over.

Hasegawa however, can do no better than roll it back to Nakagawa who makes the play to send us to the break. The offenses may be slowing winding up, but there'll be a lot more donuts on the board before the game is over.

Top 6th
Kousei perhaps going for the big ball. Nakazaki booms one to left, but not far enough as Wakahara goes near the foul pole for the catch. After another flyout, Baba bloops one off of Tomoda's glove for a base hit. It's 2 outs though and Sawaya can't do much of anything with it.

Bottom 6th
It's running more of the same for Kyushu's offense. No good contact, and right at fielders. 3 up, 3 down.

Top 7th
Nakagawa making a bid for a base hit, lines one to shallow right. Motomura charges in, and makes a great sliding catch!

That sets the tone for the inning as the lucky 7 for Kousei goes quietly in order.

Bottom 7th
Once again Kyushu gets a base hit, but it's with 2 down. Motomura lines one past Adachi for a single. Ise though grounds to Adachi, who goes the short way to end the inning.

Top 8th
Adachi gets the inning started with a single through the right side. Sawada bunts him over.

Nakazaki with a rope to right, it's too hard though to allow Adachi to score. Ise's pitches are being squared up on.

Kobayashi with a ball to shallow left, Wakahara sells out, dives, but can't get there! It bounces behind him as both runners score to make it a 4-1 ballgame!

Things go from bad to worse as Ise walks Baba, then after he takes 2nd he hits Sawaya. Manrui for Kousei for Nakagawa.

And he delivers a ball to deep left! Wakahara goes back to the wall, but he has to play it off the base! 2 more runs come in and it's a 6-1 lead!

Things go from bad to worse when Arai pops up a ball to the infield. Tomoda and Yanagiuchi converge on the ball, neither calls the other off, and it glances off Yanagiuchi's glove and to the ground. That proves to be costly as Adachi would take the next ball to deep right center and off the base of the wall there for a bases clearing triple to make it a 9-1 game.

The hits keep on piling up as Sawada singles to left, but mercifully Nakazaki grounds out to short to end the inning. But Kousei has blown it wide open here late.

Bottom 8th
Nakahara starts the long trek back with a base hit to left. With one down, Yonemitsu single back up the middle to put runners on 1st and 2nd.

Tomoda delivers with a base hit of his own up the middle which scores Nakahara to make it a 9-2 game.

I lost connectivity at this point, but from the box score it looks like Matsushita flew out to center, Yonemitsu tries to tag up, and was throw out at home.

Top 9th
Ise continues to pitch on the mound despite his issues, which continue to persist. Baba and new 1B Ogasawara get back-to-back hits, and then Ise walks Arai with 2 down to load the bases. He does get out of it without further damage though.

Bottom 9th
True to form, Sakai-kantoku does not use a bench player, and while a walk and error put men on base, it's with 2 outs yet again. Nakahara goes down swinging to end the game, and the Kyushu champions go down hard.

Kousei wasn't that great of a team on paper, but you felt like it was Kyushu Gakuin that was on the edge of falling apart, which they finally did in the 8th. The fact that they were the champions doesn't bode well for the rest of the region in their upcoming games. As for Kousei, for them to be that easy throughout could a worry for those in Sendai Ikuei's way.

And now to the school indebted to Sendai Ikuei - Hachinohe Gakuin Kousei. There were on the outside looking in having lost in the super-regional semifinal, but were reprieved when Sendai Ikuei won the Meiji Jingu tournament, thereby giving the region one extra bid. And much to the script, the JHBF went with the bigger name over Yamagata's Tsuruoka Higashi.

Kousei, as they now like to be called, got a free pass to the prefectural finals with their win in the summer. They took full advantage of it, blowing through the field all the way to the finals where they eked out a 5-4 win over Aomori Yamada.

Their games in the super-regional were also underwhelming. A 3-1 win over Yamagata Jyouhoku and a 4-1 win over Noshiro Shouyou put them in the semifinals, but a 7-2 loss to Sendai Ikuei ended things.

Kousei has been pretty much rebuilding since their 3 consecutive final appearances. 2 pitchers have been promoted to take over duties on the mound. They are 3rd years Goya Kaito (呉屋 開斗) - who wore #18 last spring, and Nakagawa Masashi (中川 優) - who wore #11. Nakagawa appears to have more pitches at his disposal (slider, curve, change and fork), but Goya's results on the mound are much better.

The only other holdovers from last spring are C Baba Ryuusei (馬場 龍星) and SS Adachi Yuuya (足立 悠哉). Both of them played against Yokohama last year and did well (though Yokohama didn't deserve to be there in the first place).

I found a roster for the team, and a starting lineup:

1. CF Arai Shouki (新井 勝貴)
2. RF Kasumi Shouta (加角 翔太)
3. SS Adachi Yuuya (足立 悠哉)
4. LF Sawada Shunichi (澤田 俊一)
5. 1B Nakajima Yuuki (中嶋 勇希)
6. 2B Nakazaki Jyukiya (中崎 寿希也)
7. 3B Endou Taisei (遠藤 大誠)
8. C Baba Ryuusei (馬場 龍星)
9. P Goya Kaito (呉屋 開斗)

I put Goya in for Nakagawa in the picture because he started the games in the super-regional.

The problem is that last year they had pitchers that were supposedly better than this pair and got routed by Ryuukokudai Heian. The offense, who again consisted of mostly seniors, was ineffective. While they get to go back to Koushien, it seems unlikely that they will be able to improve on that performance. Consider them still in rebuilding mode.

Mie makes their first foray into the Best 4, who will join them next?

Kousei has barely survived their two games, needing some help from Bushuukan to win late, then only prevailed against Seiryou in 10 innings. It certainly doesn't feel like the teams from several years ago that reached 3 consecutive calendar finals.

And worse yet, they're facing the offensive juggernaut this year.

No, not Osaka Touin (again), but Tsuruga Kehi!

The Fukui representative have outscored their opponents 42-2! And simply put, until a team can prove that they're not who we see they are, they have to be considered one of, if not the favorite.

Hachinohe Gakuin Kousei (Aomori)
3B Houjyou Hiroyuki
SS Adachi Yuuya
1B Moriyama Hiroki
2B Fukae Taisei
RF Arai Katsunori
LF Nakazaki Jyukiya (#16)
CF Arai Katsutaka
C Baba Ryuusei (#12)
P Goya Kai (#11)

Tsuruga Kehi (Fukui)
1B Shinohara Ryou
3B Shimomura Takamasa
SS Asai Kouya
C Okada Kouta
CF Mine Kentarou
RF Oyana Shou
P Hiranuma Shouta
LF Yamamoto Akihiro
2B Nakamoto Takahiro

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10:55 - First Pitch!

Top 1st
Interesting! After Houjyou grounds out to 3rd, he walks up to Moriyama in the on-deck circle and relays info about Hiranuma!

Meanwhile, Adachi draws a 4-pitch walk.

Moriyama not bunting.. works the count, and he draws a walk!

Fukae decides to go for it, but uppercuts the 2-1 pitch. Shimomura in foul territory makes the catch for the 2nd out.

SANSHIN!!

Hiranuma gets out of the inning as Katsunori is twisted on a fastball down and in for the 3rd out! Kousei certainly trying to work the count against Hiranuma, but can't get the timely to drive in the run.

Bottom 1st
Goya getting the bench start, definitely a bit tentative, but still attacking the Kehi batters.

Shinohara liner, but right at Moriyama. Shimomura with a foul fly, and Moriyama makes that catch near the fence for the 2nd out.

But then he walks Asai and Okada bak to back and without having to swing a bat they have a chance to score.

Ah, well....

Mine with a drive to right. Nakazaki not even moving.

That, my friends is a no-doubter. 3-0 Tsuruga Kehi.

Oyana follows that up with a single to center.

But thankfully for Goya, he strikes out Hiranuma to retire the side. But the Tsuruga Kehi offense is already up and running.

Top 2nd
Looks like the bottom of the lineup has abandoned the patient strategy. 9 pitches Hiranuma needs to retire the side in the 2nd.

Bottom 2nd
Yamamoto with a single to right to start the inning.

Ah.... Goya hits Nakamoto on the head. He looks ok, but is replaced at 1st for an injury runner in Oyana.

Goya meanwhile makes way for #10 Yagi.

And including a sac bunt, Yagi retires the side in order!

Top 3rd
10 pitches to retire the side - this game feels like it's over already.

Bottom 3rd
And one down, Mine and Oyana both single to left, Nakazaki's defense a bit shaky.

Yagi gets out of the inning as Hiranuma lines to 2nd and Fukae doubles off Oyana.

Top 4th
Fukae grounder up the 3rd base line... fair!! Shimomura can't make the diving catch and he's in with a double!

AH! And now a balk is called on Hiranuma! He never gets set.

But Hiranuma comes right back to get Katsunori to chase a slider in the dirt and jams Nakazaki into a short fly that he catches himself.

Bottom 4th
Yamamoto comes around to score when after a leadoff hit and a bunt+groundout move him to 3rd, Shimomura singles to center. 4-0.

Top 5th
More of the same from Kousei. Sadly nothing of note.

Bottom 5th
Leadoff single from Okada comes in after a bunt and double off the wall in center. 5-0.

Yamamoto with 2 down goes to deep right center and off the wall for a triple, 6-0.

Ace Nakagawa comes in for Yagi.

Nakamura welcomes him with a single through the right side, 7-0.

Shinohara grounds out to end the inning, and as we hit the break the only question left to ask is can Kousei prevent Kehi from scoring double digits?

Top 6th
3 up, 3 down...

Bottom 6th
#17 Takaku in for Nakazaki in LF.

Kehi is on the verge of scoring another run when Asai gets hit by Nakagawa, steals 2nd and takes 3rd on Baba's throwing error. Mine grounds to 3rd, so no run.

Top 7th
Fukae with the leadoff walk. One down, Takaku singles through the right side.

2 down and Takaku goes for 2nd and gets no throw from Okada.

Baba with a single to left, Fukae and Takaku score preventing the shutout at 7-2.

Bottom 7th
Nakagawa walks his counterpart, but otherwise pitches a clean frame. Kehi still siting at 7 runs.

Top 8th
Moriyama gets a 2-out single, but that's all that Kousei can muster.

Bottom 8th
#7 Kitanuki getting playing time in RF for Arai Katsunori.

PH #17 Matsuoka, in for Shinohara, draws a walk and is replaced by #16 Yonemitsu.

With 2 outs, #18 Matsmoto comes in for Katsutaka and goes to 1B, Moriyama goes to LF and Takaku goes to CF.

Top 9th
Didn't even need notice it was raining at Koushien.

Yonemitsu stays in to play 1B.

Captain Chiba gets an AB in the final frame, but like so many other innings, they go down in order as Tsuruga Kehi wins 7-2.

Sadly for Kousei their run ended about as quickly as it could have as Mine hit the 3-run HR in the 1st inning. After that they played a catchup game they couldn't win.

And so the same story repeats itself...

Kehi perhaps looked a little more "vulnerable" with Nakagawa shutting them down, but it could also be because they know they're playing in 2 days.

And so we're into the round of 16. All winners of games today may only play each other in Day 12, so no Osaka Touin for anyone! Hooray!

At least not until the Best 4.

But that's later, this is now!

And first up, yet another matchup between the two surprise regions in this year's tournament - Tohoku and Hokushinetsu.

Hachinohe Gakuin Kousei (fka Kousei Gakuin - and no I don't know why they changed it) has only played one game so far, and almost lost against a very game Bushuukan if not for their plan faltering in the 8th inning due to defensive miscues. The team as whole managed just 7 hits and 4 of those came in that aforementioned 8th inning.

Ace Nakagawa had held Bushuukan hitless for the majority of the game, but was not dominant in terms of racking up strikeouts (he only had 2). His job will get much more tougher against the offense-minded Seiryou.

They had looked much improved in their first game where they had to comeback to beat Shizuoka. Kanoya Chuo really stood little to no chance of defeating them as they even went so far as to use their backup pitchers in for the final innings - up until it got hairy and they reinserted ace Iwashita to end the nonsense.

So, we know they can beat the teams they're supposed to. But Kousei doesn't quite fit that mold. They're probably more like a Shizuoka but maybe better.

It's certainly not going to be an easy game for either team. You'd think that'd be the case now that we're in the round of 16, but no, not yet.

Hachinohe Gakuin Kousei (Aomori)
3B Houjyou Hiroyuki
SS Adachi Yuuya
1B Moriyama Hiroki
2B Fukae Taisei
RF Arai Katsunori
LF Nakazaki Jyukiya (#16)
CF Arai Katsutaka
P Nakagawa Masashi
C Baba Ryuusei (#12)

Seiryou (Ishikawa)
CF Tanigawa Touma
SS Nakamura Hayato (#4)
LF Fukushige Tatsumi
1B Murakami Kazuma
3B Yanase Takeshi
RF Satake Kaito
P Iwashita Daiki
C Yokoyama Shouta
2B Muranaka Takeya (#10)

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08:00 - First Pitch!

Top 1st
Good start for Iwashita as he strikes out Houjyou on 3 straight.

But with two down he tries to hit the edges of the zone and winds up walking Moriyama and Fukae. Hayashi-kantoku calls time.

No harm done as Katsunori grounds to 2nd and the walks don't hurt Iwashita.

Bottom 1st
Tanigawa with an opening single through the right side. Nakamura bunts him along.

Fukushige fooled a little bit on the change butt still pushes it to the right side to advance the runner. 2 out, Tanigawa at 3rd.

But Murakami grounds right to Houjyou! Takes his time, fires a strike and the side is retired.

Top 2nd
Nakazaki unable to inside out a ball, weakly grounds to 2nd.

Katsutaka with a slow grounder up the middle. Nakamura ranges over to get it, but it's so slow that his throw to 1st can't beat a belly flopping Katsutaka.

Not to mention he has a wardrobe malfunction and needs his belt replaced.

Nagawa tries the bunt, but pops it up.  The fielders don't actually get to it, but Katsutaka had to freeze in case he got caught, in which then he got thrown out at 2nd.

And Baba grounds to short and the inning is over.

Bottom 2nd
Looks like Nakagawa is on his game today as he's hitting the glove.  After another ground out to 3rd, he gets Satake on a slider, and Iwashia on a forkball to close the inning.

Top 3rd
Iwashita not quite as accurate, and ends up plunking Houjyou to start the inning.

Hit and run, and that prevents the double play as Adachi hits it right to Muranaka.

Moriyama's knees break on a changeup that hits the bottom of the zone and there's 2 out.

Fukae though swings at a slider outside and skies it. Murakami there to make the catch for the 3rd out.

Bottom 3rd
Yokoyama with a poke to the right side goes past a chasing Fukae for a base hit.  He's bunted over by Muranaka.

Tanigawa with a grounder to short, Adachi goes to 3rd and Houjyou makes the tag for the out! 2 down

Nakagawa gets his 3rd out as Nakamura swings and misses on the slider.

Top 4th
Katsunori becomes Iwashita's 3rk K victim after he swings over a slider inside.

And after a flyout, he gets yet anther K as Katsutaka goes down swinging for his 2nd clean inning.

Bottom 4th
One down, Nakagawa leaves a ball up an Mrakami takes it into the gap. But Katsunori is there quickly and he's limited to a single.

And Murakami spaces out! Baba snap throws to 1st and he realizes he's in a pickle!  He's run down for the 2nd out.

Yanase goes down on the changeup and side retired once again.

Top 5th
After 2 quick groundball outs, Houjyou draws a 4-pitch walk.

But Adachi weakly waves on the change and it's another easy inning for Iwashita.

Bottom 5th
2 down, Nakagawa appears to be on his way to a clean inning, but he hits Yokoyams on the lower ankle. He hobbling to 1st, but the itai spray always helps.

Muranaka grounder to short, Adachi goes to 2nd, but Yokoyama beats the toss! Kousei's not out of the inning! Will the defensive hiccup hurt them?

In a word, yes.

Tanigawa first pitch single to left and Yokoyama comes home!  Throw from Nakazaki... not in time! Kousei inattention on defense gives Seiryou the 1-0 lead!

Top 6th
Defensive change as #15 Takeya comes in for Satake in RF.

Moriyama with a routine grounder t1st, Fukae quickly follows flying out to left.

And finally Katsutaka goes down swinging on the fastball and the Kousei just can't do anything versus Iwashita.

Bottom 6th
Seiryou has the gift run from Kousei because their offense is scuffling too.  Nakagawa just needs 6 pitches to get through the 6th inning.

Top 7th
It's a horrible swing, but Nakazaki hits a letter high pitch to right for a base hit. It's just their 2nd of the game. Katsutaka goes for the bunt, but it's too short and that allows Yokoyama to fire to 2nd for the force.

After Nakagawa chases yet another slider from Iwashita, he in turn walks Baba to turn over the lineup. Hayashi-kantoku calls time.

Grounder up middle, Nakamura with it, fires to 1st and Kousei can't find the timely hit!

Bottom 7th
Nakagawa racking up the K's as he continues to retire Seiryou in order. Only problem is... K's wont by themselves win you a game.

Top 8th
Adachi fouls off a couple of balls, but feebly swings on an outside fastball for the 1st out.

Moriyama can't catch up to a fastball down in the zone, and that's 9 Ks for Iwashita.

お！

Fukae connects with a hanging change!  Fukushige back to the wall, looks up!

HAITAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That ball was crushed what seemed like halfway up the lower half of the bleachers! We're all level at 1-1!

Katsunori grounds back to Iwashita to end the inning, but we've got a new ballgame!

Bottom 8th
Seiryou striking back! Muranaka with a single through the left side. Tanigawa moves him over.

Nakamura liner back up middle! Nakagawa can't get it! But Muranaka can't move ahead as he though that was going to be caught and doubled back!

Nakai-kantoku calls time...

AH! Nakagawa hits Fukushige and it's manrui for Seiryou! A sac fly now will give Seiryou the lead!

Murakami chopper back up middle! Nakagawa snags it!  Goes home for 1, throw to 1st...

DOUBLE PLAY!!!!

Nakagawa gets the 1-2-3 double play to get out of the pinch!  Will they be able to turn it into momentum?

Top 9th
Nakazaki has to protect behind 2-2 and flies out to right.

Katsutaka golfs a ball inside up and Yanase in foul territory makes the catch for the 2nd out.

Unfortumately it's more of the same Nakamura grounds out to NO! Nakamura boots the ball! E6!

And what's this? Iwashita walks Baba on 4 straight and the gyakuten run is in scoring position! Hayashi-kantoku calls time yet again.

The lineup turns over for Houjyou, though he has yet to get a hit.

And he wastes the bottom of the order's efforts as he swings on the first pitch and flies to center.

Bottom 9th
Does Seiryou have the momentum now with a chance to walk off?

Now it's Kousei's turn to give a gift.  Grounder to 2nd, Fukae waits for the ball to come instead of fully charging and that allows Yanase to reach base! Takeya obviously bunts the runner over.

Iwashita gets 2nd life as Houjyou can't work his way around the bullpen mound on a foul fly.

From 1-2 the count goes to 3-2...

SANSHIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Iwashita goes to a knee as he can't make contact on the slider! 2 down!

Nakai-kantoku calls for time as Yokoyama will be stepping into the box.

Yokoyama grounder to 2nd... Fukae on the grass throws to 1st...

We're headed to enchousen! Another defensive brain fart doesn't cost Kousei, and the game continues!

Top 10th
Uh oh! Iwashita walks Adachi on 4 straight? Is he tiring on the mound? Moriyama bunts him over for Fukae, but remember with that bunt... first base is open.

And after a pitch inside, they intentionally walk him!

Hayashi-kantoku wants time to reset the defense.

Katsunori, hitless with 2 K's and 2 groudouts steps in.

But Iwashita isn't throwing a strike! He's behind 2-0... and now 3-0!

Finally gets a change over for a strike... and a fastball over too!

Katsunori drive to right! Takeya back to the wall, leaps!

Can't make the catch! But he does get it in quickly and Adachi can only get to 3rd! He had to wait to see if it would be caught and as a result it's a very loud single!

And so they need one more hit to score the run!

Nakazaki up takes 2 balls before Iwashita puts in a strike.

Slider over the middle for strike 2!

Forkball... ball 3! Iwashita bends down as he thought surely he had it!

Liner to left! But Fukushige is there! And it's too shallow for Adachi to tag up! 2 outs!

Katsutaka now must get the run in, but he's 1-3 and the single was all the way back in the 1st.

He's behind 2-0... AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

The ball goes off Yokoyama's leg and towards the 1st base dugout!  Adachi breaks for home and there's no throw! Kousei takes the lead 2-1!!

Katsutaka liner off Iwashita and deflects to the left side! There's no play as Fukae scores and they lead 3-1!

Nakagawa walks and it's manrui yet again for last batter Baba.

Iwashita at 158 pitches, is he tired?

Baba single through left side! Katsunori and Katsutaka score! It's 5-1!

Baba gets thrown out looking at what he did (a la Taishou Yakyuu Musume) and is tagged out, but a wild pitch opens the flood games

Bottom 10th
Muranaka quickly grounds to short, one down as he pounds the ground. 1 down!

Tanigawa comeback to Nakagawa! He fields it and tosses to 1st!  2 down!

Grounder to short! Adachi with it, throws to 1st and there will be no comeback! Kousei advances with a 5-1 win!

It was a great pitcher's duel for a majority of the game. Nakagawa and Iwashita traded blows and 0's throughout. And it almost looked like a defensive brain cramp would cost Kousei the game.

But cleanup batter Fukae needed just one pitch to give new life to his team, and Iwashita, already with a high pitch count, finally gave in the 10th inning.

The final score may not reflect it, but it was a great game as Iwashita and his team can't hold back the tears. But they had a magical run to get to Koushien, it's just that it couldn't last forever.

Kousei meanwhile moves on to the Best 8. They've been in this position before recently more times than they can count. How will they do moving forward?

()

Hachinohe Gakuin Kousei (Aomori)
3B Houjyou Hiroyuki
SS Adachi Yuuya
1B Moriyama Hiroki
2B Fukae Taisei
RF Arai Katsunori
LF Nakazaki Jyukiya (#16)
CF Arai Katsutaka
C Baba Ryuusei (#12)
P Nakagawa Masashi

Bushuukan (Kita Hokkaido)
2B Shibasaki Yuu
CF Enomori Shunya
1B Hayasaka Naoki
C Shiga Kazusa
SS Nakamura Yuuto
RF Okamoto Kouki
LF Chiba Yuuya
P Tachibana Shouta (#10)
3B Yamada Kouhei

____________________________________________________________

10:40 - First Pitch!

Top 1st
Houjyou fly ball to center, Enomori charges in, dives.. and makes the catch! Right off the bat a great play from the first timers!

2 down now and Moriyama hits a liner to right!  Okamoto charging in, he dives... makes another great catch to retire the side!

Bottom 1st
One down for Bushuukan and Enomori battles and draws a walk from Nakagawa.

Kobayashi-kantoky has Enomori test out the arm of bench starter Baba, and just gets thrown out.

Hayasaki with a lazy fly to right ends the inning.

Top 2nd
Kousei having some trouble figuring out Tachibana to start the game.  Fukae with a routine fly to right, and Katsunori goes down swinging on a forkball. Tachibana walks Nakazaki, but gets Katsutaka to pop out to Nakamura and the side is retired with no issues!

Bottom 2nd
No hits yet for Bushuukan either, though Okamoto earns a 2-out walk.  Once again they test Baba's arm, but this time it's not even close.  He's thrown out and the side is retired.

(Also hey, they're playing Kenshin's theme I think)

Top 3rd
Kousei getting their baserunners via the walk more than by hits.  Baba gets a leadoff walk.  Nakagawa tries the push bunt, but pops it up and Hayasaka gets it for the out.

Tachibana gives the base anyways when he throws a wild pitch in the dirt.

Houjyou with a grimace as he swings on a high ball and skies it!  Shibasaki behind 2nd makes the catch in the outfield.

Tachibana trying to throw his offspeed pitches, but is missing high and walks his 3rd batter in Adachi.  The bullpen is warming up just in case, but it's not needed right now.  Moriyama goes after the first pitch and grounds it right to Hayasaka!  He takes it himself and the side is retired again!

Bottom 3rd
One down and it looks like Tachibana's day is done. #12 Ikeda comes in to hit for him.  Might be the right call given the prior half inning.

Ikeda though can't do anything in his only AB of the game as he grounds to short.

Thrown in a grounder to 3rd from Yamada and it's a quick 3 outs for Nakagawa.

Top 4th
#11 Yamazaki is now in the game for Bushuukan, perhaps trying to go 3-3-3 with his triumverate of pitchers.

Fukae lines a shot down the left field line, just foul.  Yamazaki wins the battle as Fukae grounds out to 3rd.

Katsunori with a fly ball to shallow center, Enomori charging in... makes the running catch for the 2nd out!

Nakazaki scorcher up the 3rd base line.. fair!  Chiba gets the ball in, but it's their first hit and they have a scoring opportunity!

Katsutaka with a ball through the right side!  Nakazaki holds at 3rd as the throw comes in.  Big chance for Kousei!

And Nakai-kantoku sends Katsutaka!  No throw from Shiga!  Now a base hit can score 2 for the favorites.

SANSHIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yamazaki goes up and in on Baba has not chance at it!  Side retired as Yamazaki lets out a yell!

Bottom 4th
Shibasaki with a slow grounder to 3rd, and Houjyou can't field it! Bushuukan has a leadoff runner!  Enomori showing bunt.

Hit-and-run! Enomori misses, Baba's throw to 2nd.. AHHHHHHHHH!

It takes Adachi almost into Shibasaki and it goes into center!  Shibasaki gets up and goes to 3rd on the throwing error!  Bushuukan with a great opportunity!

But Enomori goes down swinging for the 1st out.  Nakai-kantoku calls time.

Hayasaka not showing bunt, drives a ball to left!  Nakazaki makes the catch, and Shibasaki comes home!  Throw is cut off and Bushuukan has the 1-0 lead!!

Shiga grounds out to Nakagawa to end the inning, but Bushuukan takes advantage of mistakes from Kousei Gakuin and they ahve the lead!

Top 5th
Another walk given up by Bushuukan and Yamazaki, this time to last batter Nakagawa.

Houjyou not bunting, grounds to short!  Nakamura to Shibasaki for 1, throw to 1st... double play!!  Tailor made DP turned by Bushuukan's defense and there's 2 outs!

Adachi grounds to 1st, Hayasaka tosses to Yamazaki and he gets to the bag for the 3rd out! Bushuukan maintains their lead!

Bottom 5th
Bushuukan still unable to get a hit. Nakamura with a ball of the end of the bat softly lines to Adachi.  Okamoto hits a chopper back to Nakamura for the 2nd out.  And Chiba grounds to 1st for a clean inning for Kousei.

But as we hit the break, it's Bushuukan who has the lead, but is being no-hit!

Top 6th
Moriyama chopper back up middle.  Shibasaki charging in, throws to 1st.. OUT!  The throw beats a diving Moriyama by the slimmest of margins!

Fukae can't level a slow curve and he pops it up!  Nakamura makes the catch for the 2nd out!

And Katsunori grounds to 1st!  Hayasaka tosses to Yamasaki and he beats Katsunori for the 3rd out!  Bushuukan continues to put up 0's against the former finalists!

Bottom 6th
And Yamazaki's time is up! #13 Nohisa comes to hit for him.

Comebacker to Nakagawa! It deflects off his foot and right to 1st!  Moriyama steps on the bag for the out.

Nakagawa throws a couple of pitches and is fine.

Yamada with a line shot, but Moriyama picks it off for the 2nd out.  And Shibasaki goes down swinging for the 3rd out.

Top 7th
So the next pitcher to come into the game is ace # Tokuhashi.  He will be going down the homestretch for Bushuukan.

Nakazaki chases after a slider high and goes down swinging for the first out.

Tokuhashi working really fast, was ahead to Hirotaka 1-2, but ends up filling up the count.  And he loses him!

Baba showing bunt, but Tokuhashi's pitches are running high.

What? Baba lays down the bunt and Shiga collides with Baba! Baba stumbles as Shiga goes to 2nd for one, throw to 1st, double play!

Baba failed to give way to the ball that Shiga had a right to, and no interference is called!

Bottom 7th
Enomori with a slicer down the left field line.. fair!  Bushiikan has their first hit as Enomori comes in with a double!

Hayasaka lays down the bunt, but Nakagawa goes to 3rd, and they get Enomori on the tag!  1 down.

Shiga comebacker to Nakagawa and he starts the 1-4-3 double play to end the inning!

Top 8th
Nakagawa tries to get the offense going, and he hits a single to left!  That turns over the lineup to Houjyou.

And he's showing bunt!

Lays it down!  Yamada throws to 2nd, AHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Nakamura doesn't secure it and it goes into center! E5 on the play and Kousei is threatening!  Kobayashi-kantoku calls time for the first time this game.

Bunt again up the left side! Tokuhashi goes to 3rd.. SAFE????

That looked like it was there in time, but now it's manrui with no down!

Moriyama ball back up middle!  That gets through the drawn in infield as Nakagawa and Houjyou score to take a 2-1 lead!

Fukae hits a fly to deep left that will score another to make it 3-1.  Katsunori singles to right and reality may be setting in.  4-1 Kousei.

Nakasaki hits into the 6-3 double play to end the inning, but the dam finally bursts and Kousei takes the lead.

Bottom 8th
#17 Takaku comes in for Nakazaki to play LF.

One down and Okazaki gets Bushuukan's 2nd hit, a single to left center.  Nakai-kantoku calls time.

Chiba with a ball the opposite way and Katsunori has to play it on a hop!  He's in with a double!

Tokuhashi grounds to 2nd, Kousei willing to give up the run for an out. 4-2 Kousei.

Yamada grounds back to Nakagawa, goes to 1st for the 3rd out.  But they'll be trailing by at least 2 going into the 9th.

Top 9th
Katsutaka gets another base hit for Kousei, and looking for an insurance run, Nakai-kantoku has Baba bunt him along.

But Nakagawa and Houjyou fly out and now it's just left to Nakagawa to get the final 3 outs and advance.

Bottom 9th
One pitch, one out. Shibasaki flies out to Katsunori.

Enomori chopper back to Nakagawa, throws to 1st, 2 down.

Hayasaka grounds to 2nd and Kousei survives with a 4-1 win over Bushuukan!

Bushuukan gave us an entertaining game despite the loss.  26-yr old Kobayashi Masato I think has the right idea and did way so much more with his school than perhaps any of us thought.  Like last year, you had the thought that they might just win despite the fact that in all intents and purposes they shouldn't.  And while it fell apart at the end, it was a pleasure to watch.

The last game to finish up the Best 8 could be considered a matchup saved for the semis or finals.

Ryuukokudai Heian was put on its heels by a spunky Ooshima squad.  However, Ooshima's spunkiness lead to errors which bailed them out and allowed them to eventually pull away.  If that first half was to shake out the cobwebs, the Kinki champs surely will give any team what for - though their beating of reliever Maeyama should be taken with the smallest grain of salt.

Kousei Gakuin, thankfully, put down a Yokohama squad that in my opinion didn't deserve to be there - and from their performance, certainly proved to be so.  From their performance though, there are still some questions regarding their pitching as ace Nakagawa looked a bit average to my liking.

It's not going to be easy going for Kousei, but for whomever team advances, they will get a tired out squad no matter who it ends up being.

Hachinohe Gakuin Kousei (Aomori)
3B Houjyou Hiroyuki (#6)
SS Adachi Yuuya (#14)
LF Moriyama Hiroki
2B Fukae Taisei
1B Sai Seiu
RF Arai Katsunori
CF Arai Katsutaka
C Chiba Ryou
P Satou Shun

After a day off due to rain, we're reaching the halfway point of the tournament (timewise anyways), and the first round will finally end with the second matchup I was dreading (Nihon Bunri-Toyokawa was the other).

Yokohama did not look like a special squad, even by Yokohama standards.  A team that never scored more than 6 runs even in early round games, and an ace who does limit hits but on the other hand gives up a lot of walks.

Kousei's ace Satou looks to be stronger than Yokohama's, and he got promoted to the ace number after his fall efforts (though he probably had that already secured before then).  The problem will be with their offense.  Against supposedly stronger competition, the strong numbers they exhibited apparently disappeared... and so did their run production.

Hachinohe Gakuin Kousei (Aomori)
3B Houjyou Hiroyuki (#6)
SS Adachi Yuuya (#14)
LF Moriyama Hiroki
2B Fukae Taisei
1B Sai Seiu
RF Arai Katsunori
CF Arai Katsutaka
C Baba Ryuusei (#12)
P Goya Kai (#18)

Yokohama (Kanagawa)
CF Asama Daiki
RF Nemoto Kouta
3B Kawaguchi Ryou
SS Takahama Yuuto
1B Watanabe Yoshiaki
P Itou Masashi
LF Kasugai Jinto (#16)
C Kuraya Kouhei (#13)
2B Matsuzaki Kanzou

____________________________________________________________

09:00 - First Pitch!

Top 1
Watanabe-kantoku already playing games as before the game startes, he sends out #7 Oono to replace Kasugai in LF.  It's a pure R for L switch as Goya, not Satou is starting.

One down for Kouei and Adachi rips a ball through the right side for a base hit.  But while Moriyama isn't bunting, Itou gets the call on the outside corner for the 2nd out.

Fukae lifts a ball to right, and outside of the base hit and a rip foul by Moriyama, a decent start for Itou.

Bottom 1st
Interesting that Nakai-kantoku goes with lefty Goya against the LH heavy lineup, we've seen this one before.

Well, it's not off to a great start as Goya hits leadoff batter Asama on a slider.  Nemoto bunts him over.

Interestingly, despite throwing a lefty to face same handed pitching, they're actually pitching inside to the LH!  2 balls to Kawaguchi inside, instead of perhaps going outside.  It works though as he pops up to Sai in foul territory.

Uh oh.  (The righty) Takahama clubs a pitch left over by Goya into center!  Katsutaka running back to the wall.  Looking up!

It falls in at the base of the wall!  (Couldn't he have caught that?)  Asama can walk home as Takahama gives Yokohama the 1-0 lead!

Watanabe grounds to short, and Sai makes a great stretch to keep his foot on the bag, but Yokohama jumps on the spot starter!

Top 2nd
Sai jumps on the first pitch and drives it to center!  Asama going back... still going back... stops in front of the wall, and makes the catch for the 1st out.  Just got under that one.

Itou missing outside on all his pitches, walks Katsunori to give Kousei a runner.  But they're deciding to go with the bunt?  At 1-1 though he pulls it back, so which is it?

It's the bunt.  So they're going to go with Baba to get the base hit?

Well, that helps, Kuraya kinda gets lazy backhanding a ball and it gets away!  Katsunori advances to 3rd on the play.

And that proves costly!  Baba indeed gets his base hit, a solid knock through the left side to level the score at 1-1!

Goya very choosy in his pitches, even taking a borderline pitch for a ball.  However, the forkball gets him as he grounds to Watanabe for the out. Still, we're all tied at 1 after a passed ball leads to the tying run!

Bottom 2nd
Hm, Oono to face Goya stretches down and lines the fastball just outside the glove of a diving Houjyou.  Righties are now 2-2 early against Goya.

Despite being a RHB, Kuratani bunts him over to 2nd - where he is left after Matsuzaki grounds to 2nd.  Fukae has to make a charging throw and just gets the out, but Goya does his job.

Top 3rd
Houjyou up for his 2nd AB, and rips the fastball down the 3rd base line for a leadoff double.

Watanabe-kantoku calling time as Takai comes out to talk with his team.

Adachi up, already showing bunt.  Pulls back on the first pitch.  Maybe he's like me in that you have to do the buster technique to hit the ball.

He does! Liner to center, but it's right at Asama for the 1st out.

And Kousei gets another gift!  This time it's on Itou's end as he throws one in the dirt that gets away from Kuraya!  Houjyou goes to 3rd.

Ahead 0-2, Itou entices Moriyama to chase 3 sliders in the dirt, but he doesn't bite once.  Fastball outside... but just a bit too much!  Runners at the corners for Fukae,

Itou is all over the place.  None of his pitches are even close for Fukae and he's behind 3-0.  Kuraya goes out to talk with Itou.

It's another walk!  After the leadoff double, Itou has walked the bases loaded!

Still missing with his pitches, he finally gets a strike after Sai goes after the change low.

Itou leaves a slider up! Sai laces that to center for a base hit! Houjyou scores to make it 2-1!

Katsunori up looking to break open the game.  Turns on the low slider and lines one to right! Nemoto is there for the catch, but Moriyama can walk home to make it 3-1.

Itou trying to catch every edge it seems, but not quite doing so consistently.  As a result he goes full on Katsutaka.

And he walks Katsutaka too!  His changeup isn't even close, and it's manrui again for Kousei, with who else but Baba up to bat!

First pitch a clean single through the left side.  Up a station for everyone and it's 4-1!

Goya up to help his own cause, probably will do his best to get a walk.  He soon finds himself down 0-2 though and has to defend.  Luckily, Itou's next two pitches are close, but not close enough to get rung up.

Goya swings!  Its a grounder to the left side..  Kawaguchi can't get to it!  And neither can Takahama!  Sai scores, Katsutaka being sent home!  Throw in from Oono... Katsutaka slides around the tag and is safe!  It's 6-1 and Itou is immediately pulled!  #10 Higure comes in from Oono and takes the hill while Itou goes to LF.

Houjyou unfortunately swings at the first pitch and grounds back to Higure, but Kousei bats around and takes a big lead early!

Bottom 3rd
Asama must be wondering what he did to Goya, as he gets hit for the 2nd time (though it was on an offspeed pitch again).

Goya has an apparent double play when Nemoto hits a ball back to him, but he short arms the throw and it goes past Houjyou.  E1, and Yokohama is building something.

Kawaguchi bunts the runners along, but with 1st open, Goya doesn't have to go after Takahama and he walks him on 4 straight to load the bases.  They'll go after Watanabe, but not Goya.  #11 Nakagawa comes in relief.

But Nakagawa is missing too.  He falls behind 2-0, but gets it back level 2-2.  Slider in the dirt, but he checks his swing says the 3B umpire.

Ball back up the middle! Nakagawa deflects it and Houjyou has to change direction! He goes back to his right, flips to 2nd for 1, but Fukae's throw to 1st isn't in time.  1 run scores and it's 6-2 now.

Hmmm... but Nakagawa is still having location issues, not even close to the plate at times, and he walks Itou to load the bases again!!

SANSHIN!!!  Luckily for Nakagawa, Higure isn't a very good hitter and he chases the slider away for the 3rd out.  Yokohama isn't able to do as much as Kousei, and still find themselves behind by 4.

Top 4th
Kousei gets a baserunner right off the bat as Adachi is hit by Higure.  Moriyama moves him over to 2nd.

Fukae can't bring him home as he quickly flies to right.

Sai with a liner to right!  Nemoto charging in, slides... and makes the catch for the 3rd out!

Bottom 4th
I like the fact the home plate umps aren't giving the HBP like candy.  Kuraya gets hit, but doesn't make an attempt to move, so it's just a ball.  He winds up rolling a slider to 3rd.

Matsuzaki doesn't really move either, but it's a fastball inside, so I'll give that one to him.  But we're now back to the top of the lineup.

AHH!

Nakagawa with the snap throw to 1st, and they get Matsuzaki!  2 out!

And that really hurts Yokohama because Asama scorches a fastball down the 1st base line for a double!

Nemoto with a base hit to left!  Moriyama goes home with the throw, but it's not nearly in time and Yokohama climbing back in it with the score at 6-3 now.

Nakagawa gets out of the inning as after a bevy of fastballs, Nakamura pulls out the change and Kawaguchi gets under it.  Houjyou near the camera well, makes the catch for the 3rd out, but Yokohama chips away at the deficit.

Top 5th
Yokohama isn't going away quietly, so Kousei should continue to put pressure whenever possible.

Katsunori check in with a base hit as he laces a single down the right side.  Katsutaka's bunt is too hard and Higure goes to 2nd to cut down the lead runner.  Which is a shame as Baba steps in.

He turns on a pitch inside, but just doesn't get enough of it.  Itou makes it slightly interesting as he has to make a small jump to get it, but there's 2 down.

Nakagawa is even less of a hitter than Higure it seems, going down on 3 straight to end the inning.  Higure doing a nice job in relief.

Bottom 5th
The internet giving me fits again, but from what I was able to tell, Takahama pulled a ball weakly to 3rd.  After a first pitch single to left by Watanabe, Itou flied out to shallow left, and Higure also pulled an outside pitch to the left side - this time Houjyou fielding it for the 3rd out.

We hit the break with Kousei leading Yokohama 6-3, but the game is far from decided at this point

Top 6th
Higure struggling with his control a bit here post-break  Houjyou works the count full, but goes after the slider low.  Adachi catches a bit of a break when his ball back up the middle is stopped by Matsuzaki, but he can't quite find the handle on the ball.

Moriyama hits a hard grounder to 1st.  Watanabe there to flip to Higure and there's 2 outs.

AH HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fukae crushes a ball to left!  Itou going back, but he's not sprinting!  In fact, he's slowing down!!

HAITAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fukae just tatooed that hanging slider about 10-15 rows up!  In one swing Kousei retakes their largest margin here at 8-3!!

Sai with a single to right, and that'll be it for Higure.  Itou retakes the hill as #18 Suzawa goes into LF replacing Higure.

Sai tries to take off for 2nd, but is thrown out and the inning is over.  But Kousei answers the questions about letting Yokohama back into the game.  For now at least.

Bottom 6th
This is probably about as settled as you're going to get with Nakagawa.  Not enough control to be an ace, but enough to be slightly above replacement level.

He gets 3 groundball outs and Yokohama looks to be in bad shape with 3 innings to go.

Top 7th
If it wasn't clear that I was unhappy about Yokohama getting selected over Nisshougakushadai Fuzoku, it will be now.

Katsunori blasts a ball to right.  Nemoto goes to the foul pole, but he can only watch as it goes out for another HR!!!!!  Kousei making Yokohama look bad as it's now 9-3.

After 1 official AB, back Itou goes banished to LF.  #11 Oda comes in the game.

Baba continues to confound every Yokohama pitcher as he gets his 3rd hit of the game.  After a sac bunt my Nakagawa, Houjyou goes down swinging to end the inning.

Bottom 7th
With one down Adachi stops a Kawaguchi hit in the gap and despite the looping throw, Sai does the splits and beats out the diving Kawaguchi for the 2nd out in a clean inning for Nakagawa.

Top 8th
Adachi with a gapper to left center for a leadoff double.  At this point Nakai-kantoku is having the top of the order swing away.  Moriyama chases the changup in the dirt, and Fukae hits an off-balance grounder to short.

Sai hits a liner to left, but Itou can't make the catch!  Adachi is sent home, but Itou gathers the ball quickly and fires home just in time to make the tag.

Bottom 8th
Watanabe leading off the 8th here with a ball to left center.  Katsutaka ranging over, chances the dive and misses!  Moriyama has to chase it down, but it's still only a double for Watanabe.  Nakai-kantoku calls time.

Kousei is happy to give up the run if it means out.  Itou grounds out to 2nd, and #2 Takai in for Oda grounds to 2nd scoring the run to make it 9-4 with 2 down.

Watanabe-kantoku emptying the bench as #15 Ono hits for Kuraya and hits a single past a diving Adachi.

Matsuzaki pops out to Houjyou in foul territory and that's the inning.

Top 9th
Watanabe-kantoku empties the bench.  #17 Yamaguchi comes in for PH Takai and takes over in LF, #12 Yamada comes in for PH Ono and takes over at C, and #14 Kurashima comes in for Matsuzaki and takes over at 2B.  Itou takes over on the hill.

Katsutaka gets a 1-out hit, but Baba is retired for just the 2nd time today as Itou induces the 6-4-3 double play.

Bottom 9th
Asama gets a leadoff hit for Yokohama and then steals 2nd.  But Nemoto goes down swinging, and Kawaguchi flies out to right not soon after.

Takahama tacks on another run as his single back up the middle makes it 9-5.

However, Watanabe grounds out to 2nd, and his head first slide ends the game.

Yokohama did make things close early, but by the 2nd inning it seems a bit clear who had more opportunities.  The 5-run 3rd pretty much set the pace for the rest of the game, though to be honest Kousei's pitching is still a bit sketchy for my liking (well, at least Goya to some extent and Nakagawa to an even bigger one).  Still, the offense was still able to tee off on Yokohama's pitchers and keep the game at arm's length.

I didn't think Yokohama deserved to be here and from this performance they certainly didn't.  And now we'll never know how Nissougakushadai Fuzoku would have done had they been invited.

Kousei Gakuin will advance to play Ryuukokudai Heian, and their pitching might need to be shored up a little before then.

Notable Players
Goya Kai (Hiroshima Gakuin Kousei) - 2.1 IP, ER, 2 H, 0 K, BB, HBP
Nakagawa Masashi (Hiroshima Gakuin Kousei) - 6.2 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 2 K, BB, HBP
Baba Ryuusei (Hiroshima Gakuin Kousei) - 4-5, 2 RBI
Adachi Yuuya (Hiroshima Gakuin Kousei) - 3-4, 2B, R, HBP
Arai Katsunori (Hiroshima Gakuin Kousei) - 2-4, HR, 2 R, RBI, BB
Asama Daiki (Yokohama) - 2-3, 2B, 4 R, SB, 2 HBP
Watanabe Yoshiaki (Yokohama) - 2-5, 2B, R, RBI

Onto the Tohoku region where we start with champion Kousei Gakuin, now known as Hachinohe Gakuin Kousei. It was heartbreaking to see them reach 3 straight Koushien finals only to lose in all 3. Once versus Nichidai-san which I witnessed in person, then back-to-back in 2012 to Osaka Touin.  I really hoped they would have been able to win one - I think they certainly deserved it.  But the world of 高校野球 is not as ideal as we would like - though that might be changing.  After a year to rebuild, they return once again to the national stage, hoping for a better result this time around.

Road to Senbatsu
Hachinohe Regionals

• def. Hachinohe Suisan 10-0
• def. Hachinohe Higashi 16-2
• def. Hachinohe 10-1

Aomori Prefecturals

• def. Goshougawara Shougyou 8-1
• def. Misawa Shougyou 9-0
• def. Aomori 5-2
• lost Aomori Yamada 8-3

 Super-Regionals

• def. Sendai Ikuei 10-7
• def. Sakata Minami 9-2
• def. Hanamaki Higashi 2-1
• def. Touryou 13-2

Meiji Jingu

• lost Imabari Nishi 5-1

As you can see, for larger Super-regions the road to Koushien is much, much longer.  Fortunately for Kousei they were able to afford a loss - to an Aomori Yamada squad that has tried for years to return to Koushien themselves.

Looking at their record, they defeated every lower-level team they were supposed to beat.  And not just beat, but in general annihilate.  Only Aomori, who isn't that bad of a team in-prefecture was spared a mercy-rule loss.

Of course, what is more important is their games against the bigger fish, and there is a bit to see. I do not unfortunately have data on their loss to Aomori Yamada, but perhaps I think knowing that they were going to qualify held some things back just in case for the Super-Regionals.

In those Super-Regionals, they had a very Sendai Ikuei-ish game against said team. I say that considering the game that Urawa Gakuin had against them last summer - if you could call it one. They got out to a 4-1 lead, gave up 6 runs, then battled back to win.  Sakata Minami got a bunch of hits, but could only push through 2 runs.

Predictably, Hanamaki Higashi proved to the the biggest stumbling block as Sasaki-kantoku continued to have his team play up to the competition.  Ace Hosokawa would strike out 11 in a CG effort, but Kousei made enough of their 8 hits while Nakagawa would hold the fort.

Indeed, it would seem that they are playing safe as in their loss to Imabari Nishi, Nakagawa only pitched 3.2 innings before being relieved with his team down 3-0.

Further supporting my argument was the fact that Nakagawa Masashi (中川 優), who was used for many of the key games... does not wear the ace number!  Instead he wears #11!!  According to the reports, he throws in the mid 130s, and has a change to go with the standard slider and curve.  He appears to be Nakai-kantoku's stopper.  More videos of him can be found here and here.

So then what about ace Satou Shun (佐藤 駿)?  He also apparently also throws in the 130s, and with the Meiji Jingu radar gun, this figure is more reliable. But while he wears the ace number, there is no other information on him - although I guess you could assume he carries the basic selection of pitches.  Which begs the question if he really is the staff ace.

Defensively, the Nii(?) twins of Katsuyoshi (新井 勝貴) and Katsunori (新井 勝徳) who patrol CF and RF respectively are a great asset for the team.  At the plate, SS Houjyou Yuuji (北條 裕之) can provide some pop at the top of the lineup, though from these ABs against Imabari Nishi it doesn't look like that at all - though the defense seems to have him played right in the OF.  And finally, their cleanup batter is 1st year Sai Seiu (蔡 鉦宇) who is actually Taiwanese.

With not as much information as I'd like, it's hard to say whether Kousei can make another big run. It would seem that the pitching might keep them in it, but the offense may not be able to stand and deliver against the more competitive teams.  Unless they get a tough draw, I think they could make the quarterfinals - but after that it will be tough.

Next, Tohoku runner-up Touryou!

Well, we're off in the Meiji Jingu tournament to decide the last bid to go to a region and there have been some surprises.

Day 1
Ryuukokudai Heian (Kinki) did what I though they would against Mie (Tokai).  Starting in the 3rd, Imai and Nakaguchi with back to back hits would drive in a run each to make it a 2-0 game.  That would be followed up by the Takahashi battery (C Yuuhashi & P Keiji) in the 4th for another 2 runs.  And a Mie error in the 5th would give them a 5-0 lead.

But as Mie is wont to do, they scrap their way back after the break.  Nishioka would get them on the board in the 6th with a groundout.  2 innings later, Seko would get a timely RBI, and Nishioka would follow that up with a 2-run double to make it a 1-run ballgame.

However, that would be the closest they would get.  Ootsuka would come in as Heian's 3rd pitcher and shut down Mie to secure the 5-4 win.

Kanto Dai-ichi (Tokyo) did not start Abe Takeshi in their game against Okinawa Shougaku (Kyushu).  But then again, he's actually wearing #10 apparently!  The ace number belongs to Haketa Akihiro, who did start the game.

And he held the Okishou offense in check as his team jumped on ace Yamashiro. Yamaguchi started things off with a timely single with runners at the corners, and then Ikeda followed that up with a double and it was 2-0 Kanto in the 1st.  Ikeda would deliver again in the 3rd, with another base hit to make it a 3-0 ballgame.  That would be it for Yamashiro as Kubo would come in from right to swap places.

The game stayed at 3-0 until post-break where Okishou finally got to Haketa. With runners at the corners, Akamine Ken delivered a base hit to score 1, and then Kubo himself would hit a double to make it a 1-run ballgame.

Haketa would give way in the 8th still holding onto the lead.  I would have expected them to go Abe, but again I would have been wrong. Instead they went to unknown Tanabe Ren. That didn't go well when Anzato would get a hit to left, tying the game.

It then went all wrong in the 9th as Tanabe would only record one out while giving up 5 runs, ensuring Okishou's advance to the next round.

Day 2
The first game of the 2nd round was a no-contest affair sadly. My supposed favorite, Hachinohe Gakuen Kousei (Tohoku) was never in the game against Imabari Nishi (Shikoku) as their #3 batter Ochi Itsuki would drive in 3 of their 5 runs en route to a 5-1 victory. Of course, it didn't help also that the team committed 4 errors in the game as well...

The second game almost seemed like the first. Hakuoudai Ashikaga (Kanto) quickly took the lead over Iwakuni (Chuugoku) with a sac fly from Ooshita in the first and a timely from Higa in the 2nd.  Kawamoto's double in the 3rd would bring Iwakuni within 1, but a pair in the 5th seemed to make the game a copy of the first.

But much like Kanto Dai-ichi, things went horribly wrong in the 8th inning for Hakuoudai.  Tsuchiya would start it off with a timely hit to center to make it a 4-2 ballgame.  With the bases loaded, Kameya would hit a grounder to short. Kamon would go home, only to throw it away... 2 runs would score and the game was tied at 4. Ace Higa would be relieved as Ooshita would come in from left to pitch. Sadly, a wild pitch would allow the gyakuten run to score.

Iwakuni would tack on one more as Yanagawa would shut the door in the 9th ensuring that Kanto would not get another bid (Nisshougakushadai Fuzoku should get the floating bid now).

The schools with some hope left may be:

• Hokkaido - Sapporo Ootani
• Hokushinetsu - Chikyuu Kankyou
• Kinki - Sanda Shousei
• Chuugoku/Shikoku - Takigawa Gakuen
• Kyushu - Souseikan

Well, we have our second "automatic" invitation for next year's Haru Koushien!

We had a possibility for an all-Aomori final with Aomori Yamada and (Hachinohe Gakuin) Kousei in the semifnals.

However, in the first semifinal, Touryou actually took hold of the game with a 3-run 2nd inning and eliminated Aomori Yamada 4-1!  So that intra-prefectual final was not possible anymore.

Of course, attention was really focused on the 2nd semifinal with Kousei facing Hanamaki Higashi.  True to form, it was a pitching duel between Hosokawa for Hanamaki Higashi and Nakagawa/Baba for Kousei.  Though Hanamaki Higashi took a 1-0 lead in the 1st, a wild pitch from Hosokawa in the 3rd tied the game.  Then in the 5th, Fukue delivered a timely hit to score the gyakuten run.  Kousei would hold Hanamaki Higashi off to win 2-1.

With that out of the way, they went to their bullpen for the finals against Touryou and easily won 13-2 to claim their 4th title and first in 2 years.  This all but guarantees that Kousei will go to Haru Koushien in the spring.

And so about 4½ months later, we find ourselves back at Koushien with the weather warmer, the crowds even fuller... but the participants have not changed.

If you think about it, it really is remarkable.  For two teams to go through their Aki （秋 - fall） prefecturals to reach the super-regionals, get invited to Senbatsu, reach the finals.  Then only a couple of months later participate in the Natsu prefecturals and win, then at Natsu Koushien reach the Best 8, avoid each other in the draw, win, then avoid each other again and then meet in the finals.

Such a rematch has never happened in the history of Koushien, and for that it certainly will have the nation's attention.

There are some differences though between this final and the Senbatsu final.

First, because of rainouts, Osaka Touin got more rest than Kousei Gakuin before the finals on 4/4:

• Osaka Touin (準々決勝 - 3/30, 準決勝 - 4/2)
• Kousei Gakuin (準々決勝 - 4/1, 準決勝 - 4/2)

So at the start of the game, Osaka Touin was able to go to Fujinami, while Kousei started Jyouma.  And in the finals Jyouma only went 2.1+ innings before being pulled for Kanazawa, but by then it was too late.

This time around, their schedules mirrored each other - almost down to the game:

• Kousei Gakuin (8/12, 8/18, 準々決勝 - 8/20, 準決勝 - 8/22)
• Osaka Touin (8/13, 8/18, 準々決勝 - 8/20, 準決勝 - 8/22)

And in the semfinals, Kousei Gakuin went to Jyouma while Osaka Touin sent out Fujinami.

That brings up the 2nd point.  Weather.

This summer, field temperatures at times has broken 40C (104F!).  I don't care how much you hydrate, you are going to fatigue to some extent.

Since the game will be at 10:30, it will start out cooler on the field - probably around 37C (98.6F) but will probably get close to 40 near the end of the game.  We already saw the effect that pitching on back to back days can do to an ace - just ask Toukou Gakuen's Matsui Yuuki.

Fujinami was not worked especially hard by Meitoku Gijyuku as he allowed few baserunners early on and then was comfortable after extending the lead after the mid-game break.

But, the more important thing was that he was on the field the entire game, and did show signs of being hittable in the 9th (or losing his control if nothing else).  If you show signs of fatigue in the last game, chances are you're going to see it and sooner the next one.

Kanazawa on the other hand, was on the bench for the whole game.  Which means he'll be on 2 days rest.

Offensively, the advantage continues to lie with Osaka Touin.  About the only time you can rest on the lineup may be in the last batter, SS Mega.  Other than that, there are pitfalls everywhere starting from leadoff batter C(!) Mori, all the way down to Fujinami who has displayed homerun power at Koushien - even if he is retired more often than not.

Compare that to Kousei Gakuin, whose top 5 definitely can be scary, but from Jyouma down, the offense pretty much disappears.  Which means that you're possibly looking at throwing away at least an inning trying to cycle through the bottom of the lineup.  And you can't afford to just give away outs easily to a team like Osaka Touin.

Objectively, this has to be a "show me" game to Kousei Gakuin.  There still doesn't seem to be enough there talent-wise for them to pull off an upset of Osaka Touin and they haven't proven so far to win the big game.  Circumstances may level out part of the playing field as Fujinami may not be 100%, but his offense is there to pick him up.  If Kousei is planning on using a tandem like in Senbatsu, Nakai-kantoku must not be hesitant to change pitchers at the first sign of fatigue.  As many managers have learned the hard way, it's a lot easier to remove a pitcher one batter too late than one batter too early.

Not to mention the fact that this is not Kousei Gakuin's 2nd consecutive finals appearance, but their 3rd!  And I'm pretty sure they'd set a historical record if they lost by being the only team to lose in 3 consecutive calendar Koushien tournaments (Summer 2011 v. Nichidai-san 0-11, Spring 2012 v. Osaka Touin 3-7).

There have been 2 other instances where a team has gone to 3 consecutive calendar Koushien finals:

• Chuukyou Shougyou (now Chuukyoudai Chuukyou) went to the 14th Spring (lost), 23rd Summer (won) and 15th Spring (won).
• PL Gakuen went to the 65th Summer (won), 56th Spring (lost), and 66th Summer (lost).
  

So yes, they would set a record by reaching 3 consecutive calendar finals and losing all 3.  And thus there may be some pressure to win that game.

Osaka Touin is going for the 7th ever 春夏連続優勝 (haru-natsu renzoku yuushou or Spring-Summer Consecutive Champion).  Just two years ago, Shimabukuro Yousuke set the country on fire with his performance, and now Fujinami and his team are on the verge of adding their names to the heralded list.  They may be the favorites, but they still have to win the game.

There is a lot of historical significance in this game.  And a lot of pressure on both sides.  Osaka Touin should be the favorites to win this, but there are a lot of factors that will come into play in the game.

(I almost wish I was at this Koushien instead of last years'.  Man my sense of timing is god-awful.)


Kousei Gakuin (Aomori)
RF Ameku
LF Sekiguchi (#18)
C Tamura
SS Houjyou
3B Oosugi
1B Takeda
2B Jyouma
CF Kimura
P Kanazawa

Osaka Touin (Osaka)
C Mori
2B Oonishi (Tomoya)
RF Mizumoto
1B Tabata
LF Yasui
3B Kasamatsu
CF Hakusui
SS Mega
P Fujinami

____________________________________________________________

10:31 - First Pitch!

Top 1st
First pitch in for a strike.  And another slider it looks like for strike 2. Ameku has to swing away, just makes contact and grounds to 2nd.

After a couple of balls away, Fujinami puts a fastball just out of the zone that Sekiguchi chases for Fujinami's first K.

Tamura up, and Fujinami attacks the zone.  He can only walk away as he looks a slider on the outside corner for strike 3.

It's a good start for Fujinami.

Bottom 1st
The thing with Kanazawa is that his other pitches tend to be a bit on the slow side.  Which can make them fat targets.

Mori with a hard grounder to 3rd.  Oosugi right there and makes the play for the out.

Kanazawa though having issues with his control to start.  Winds up walking Oonishi, who if you had to get an out somewhere, he'd be the one to get.

Which unfortunately means you're now in the heart of the Osaka Touin lineup starting with Mizumoto.

Kanazawa throwing a lot of off-speed pitches early - I'd be concerned they'd start keying in on that later on.  Mizumoto gets way under one and fouls out to Tamura.

Grounder to 2nd, Houjyou throws to Jyouma, throws it away!  Somehow the easy play at 2nd is missed and the inning continues for Osaka Touin!

First unforced error goes to Kousei Gakuin.  Will it cost them as Yasui comes to the plate?

Well, the problems start compounding on themselves.  Kanazawa hits Yasui to load the bases!  That brings up Kasamatsu, and Osaka Touin can put their foot down on Kousei early!

Kanazawa gets ahead 1-2, but the AB isn't over yet. Another curve in the dirt.  Where is the fastball?

Another curve fouled off.  Fastball inside fouled off.

Grounder to 3rd!  Oosugi with the snag.  Sets, throws to 1st... side retired!

Kanazawa gets out of the pinch, but that's an extra 10 high-stress pitches he had to throw that he didn't have to.

Top 2nd
Big swing on a 150 kph fastball.  And another.  I think see 3 swings.

Nope!  Fujinami pulls the string on a fork and freezes Houjou for the out!

Fujinami throws away from Oosugi and walks him.  Takeda up, and he's still throwing away.  Doesn't want to challenge him?  He finally goes inside, but way inside.  Count goes to 3-1.

Takeda with a hard grounder to the left side!  Mega diving to his right, makes a great backhanded grab!  Throw to first... just misses out on a diving Takeda!

Jyouma up, and he's bunting on 0-1??  He's fouled it off and now it's 0-2!  He's in a corner now!

And he does swing on a high fastball for the 2nd out.

Kimura up now to try and and keep the inning going, but at the bottom of the lineup it seems unlikely.

Fujinami with a wild pitch!  It bounces in front of Mori and back to the 1st base side.  Runners advance!

And Kimura swings on 3-1!  Why??  He hits a high fly to left.  Yasui backs up a little, camps, and makes the catch to retire the side!

I say "Why?" because now you're starting at the #9 batter.  You'd like to start at the top of the lineup if you could.

Bottom 2nd
Kanazawa's throwing predominantly his off-speed stuff as Hakusui looks at a curve for strike 3.

Now on Mega, he seems to varying his selection more.  But he goes full to Mega before he gets him to go around on an off-speed pitch for strike 3.

That brings up Fujinami who isn't your regular hitting pitcher.

Kanazawa goes 2-2 to Fujinami before he makes him twirl like a ballerina on yet another curve for strike 3.

Top 3rd
So Kanazawa goes from the mound to the plate as he has to face Fujinami.

Chopper to the left side.  Kasamatsu takes it, sets and throws HIGH!!!

It goes to the fence as Kanazawa takes off for 2nd!

Ameku up and he's not bunting (to start).  Can't check his swing for strike 1.  He's not bunting at all and goes behind 1-2!

Sanshin!  Ameku spins himself into the ground on a slider inside.

Sekiguchi up and he is showing bunt.  Lays it down, but it's very poor!  Fujinami quickly to it and throws to 3rd where Kanazawa is out by a mile!

Tamura up, and I wouldn't be surprised to see Sekiguchi try to steal 2nd.

He does!  Tamura behind 0-2 and he takes off for 2nd!  Throw from Mori is high and he's in safe!

Sanshin!  Tamura can only do a slow-motion spin as he tries to, but fails to, make contact with an outside slider for strike 3!  Kousei has had their chances, but they just can't do anything right now.

Bottom 3rd
Temperature on the field is 38.6C.  That's just about 3F higher than I was anticipating.

Top of the lineup and Mori punishes a curve with a shot past Takeda into right for a single.  This is what you have to be careful for throwing so many off-speed pitches.

Oonishi up and as expected he's bunting.

Hit-and-run!  Nishitani-kantoku tries the hit and bunt, but Oonishi fouls it off!

Oonishi with a grounder to 3rd! Oosugi has it, throw to 2nd, HIGH!

Mori runs to 3rd and the throw back in from Kimura not in time!  Another unforced error by Kousei!

And with no down, it will take a miracle to prevent a crooked number from being put on here.

Now a 4 pitch walk to Mizumoto makes it manrui to Tabata.

This is the WORST situation you can put yourself in.

Two curveballs, Tabata takes both to get ahead 2-0.

Grounder to 3rd!  Oosugi tags 3rd!  Goes home!  Mori backs up!  Tamura throws to 3rd, Oosugi tags Mori for a 5-2-5T double play?!?!

2 down and Kanazawa is almost out of the jam!

But they try to pitch to the corners to Yasui and walk him on 4 straight!  Manrui again for Kasamatsu!

Nishitani-kantoku sends a message to Yasui.

Swings on the first pitch!  Pops it up!  Takada under it just in foul territory... makes the catch!

Once again Kousei Gakuin finds a way to snake its way out of the pinch, but that is high stress you are putting on Kanazawa.

Top 4th
Houjyou up and he tries to be a little more patient.  But a slider on the outside corner puts him down 1-2.  He swings away makes great contact, but the outfield is back and Hakusui is there for the catch.

Oosugi is patient and works the count full, but goes down swinging.  And Takeda swings on the first pitch and fouls out to left.

Fujinami just isn't facing the same amount of pressure as Kanazawa is here to start.

Bottom 4th
あ。

Hakusui swing makes that ping sound that when you hear it you know the ball's been crushed...

Kimura runs back to the fence... looks up...

HAITAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yep, that ball cleared the fence just right of dead center where the bleachers begin.  Osaka Touin leads 1-0!!

Mega now with a seeing eye single back up the middle for a base hit.  As expected the constant off-speed stuff is speeding up the bats of Osaka Touin.

Fujinami lays down the bunt to advance Mega into scoring position.

Mori in a great chance to drive in a run, hits a comebacker to Kanazawa! He blocks it, picks it up and goes to 1st for the 2nd out.

Things continue to be difficult for Kanazawa as he hits Oonishi and brings up Mizumoto.

Kanazawa comes back to freeze Mizumoto on a curve ball to get out of the inning, but the powerful Osaka Touin offense finally strikes here in the 4th!

Top 5th
Jyouma with a high pop fly that Tabata fields just outside 1st for the out.

Kimura tries his best to get on base, but chases a full count slider inside for a K.

And Kanazawa... well... he's what a normal hitting pitcher would look like... kinda feeble as he hits a routine chopper to 3rd for the out.

Bottom 5th
For Kousei, the clock is ticking on Kanazawa.  The pressure is now even more on him to hold the deficit at 1.

Tabata leads off the inning.  Down 1-2, he almsot throws the bat at the ball, softly lining it at Kanazawa's feet and he can't field it!  Houjyou runs it down behind 2nd, but had no play!

Yasui tries to lay the bunt down, but bounces it off the plate!  Tamura would have a clear play at 2nd, but it's foul.

Now it's a bunt up the 1st base line!  Kanazawa hesitates thinking it might go foul, but quickly realizes it won't!  Throw to 1st, not in time!!

Oh, another mental error by the Kousei defense puts 2 runners on with no down!

Time for Nakai-kantoku.

Bunt again to 3rd.  Oosugi with it, throws to 1st HIGH AGAIN!!!!

This time it's costly!  Tabata scores!  Yasui being waved around 3rd, he scores!  Kasamtasu on 2nd from the error by Oosugi and it's 3-0 Osaka Touin!

Hakusui with the sac bunt and they threaten to really blow this open.

SQUEEZE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nishitani-kantoku calls for the squeeze, but it's a pitchout... err pitchdown.  Mega can't lay down the bunt and Kasamtasu is run down for the 2nd out.

Mega grounds to 3rd to end the inning, and we reach the break.

And looking at the game so far, it feels like the pressure has been all on Kousei.  3 actual errors and a couple more mental ones have finally costed Kousei Gakuin in the 5th.  Facing a 3-run deficit, with just one hit to their name, the pressure may be too much for Kousei to overcome.

Top 6th
Top of the order for Kousei, this is probably a pivotal inning for them.

Ameku hits a hard liner to 1st, but Tabata fields it and goes to 1st for the out.

Sekiguchi with a quick fly ball to left.  And Tamura again with a fly ball to left.

6 pitches, 3 outs.  There's a lot of trying to hit the ball hard, where they should be trying to get base hits however possible (much like Tabata's single).

That 6th inning looked very bad for Kousei.

Bottom 6th
Osaka Touin looks fine to speed up the tempo of the game, after all they are ahead.

Fujinami goes down on 3 pitches, kinda swinging his bat on a slider.

Mori first pitch grounds to 2nd, while Oonishi first pitch flies to right.

Top 7th
Houjyou stepping in.  Fujinami not directly attacking him and works the count full.

Another uppercut swing from Houjyou almost results in a foul out.

Instead he goes down swinging on a slider down and away.

Up comes Oosugi, who I'm sure wants to get a run back for his team.  He waits for his pitches and works the count full, but can only start walking to the dugout after a fastball goes by him for strike 3.

2 down for Takeda.  Fujinami not challenging him with strikes though and walks him on 4 straight.  Shouldn't be a problem though I think he believes because he's facing the bottom of the order.

And indeed Jyouma falls behind 0-2.

Oh?  #10 Sawada is warming up for Osaka Touin?  Well, I think he's being recalled after Fujinami went 1-2 to Jyouma.

And as expected Jyouma goes down swinging for the 3rd out.  With the 8-9-1 batters due up for Kousei, they are probably down to their 9th inning.

Bottom 7th
Kanzawa facing the 3-4-5 hitters walks Mizumoto on 4 straight.  Tabata bunts him to 2nd.  I guess for Kousei it's beter to have a runner on 2nd with one down than trying to pitch to them both.

Well, Yasui walks at least putting the force on, but with now 13 H+BB to Kanazawa's name, it's no wonder they're behind.

Kasamatsu connects with a ball but is just a bit ahead of it hitting it foul.

Kasamatsu with a chopper up the 1st base line.  Kanazawa late getting there, tosses to 1st where Takeda was going in!  He tries to back up to the bag, but the umpire calls Kasamatsu safe!

Manrui again for Osaka Touin for Hakusui.

Liner!  But it's right to Houjyou for the 2nd out!

And now Nishitani-kantoku is going for the KO punch.  He's sent in #13 Kinden to hit for Mega.

He's just ahead of the first two pitches grounding them foul.

But Kanazawa places a fastball down the middle that Kinden freezes on!  No runs added on...

Top 8th
...but no runs to their name either.

#14 Mizutani in for Kinden at SS.

Kimura leads off the 8th.  And gets a little bit of a late call by the umpire on an outside fastball for the 1st out.

#17 Furutera in to hit for Kanazawa.  His day is done.

First pitch slicing down the left field line... foul!

So close and yet so far it seems, and he goes down swinging on a slider.  Doesn't know that the ball got away until it was too late and is thrown out at 1st.

Ameku quickly grounds to 1st and Kousei Gakuin is about out of time.

Bottom 9th
#10 Itou makes his appearance at Koushien for the first time replacing PH Furutera and taking the mound.  He's a lefty who throws 3/4 it looks like, not quite sidearm.  And not particularly fast.

Fujinami though flies out to center.

Next Mori displays his flexibility as he arches his back forward to avoid a curveball behind him.  Needless to say he earns a walk.

And so that experiment ends.  Jyouma takes the hill while #15 Sunago comes in for Itou and takes his place at 2nd.

Oonishi goes down looking on 3 straight.  Mizumoto grounds to new 2B Sunago who makes the play at 1st for the 3rd out.

Top 9th
And so Fujinami is just 3 outs away from achieving the 8th ever haru-natsu renzoku yuushou.

Sekiguchi, Tamura and Houjyou are the three who will try to stand in the way.

Or rather #7 Murase, as he comes in to hit for Sekiguchi.

Down 0-2, he watches a borderline fastball outside for a ball, then takes a 153 high for ball 2.

He makes contact, but right back to Fujinami who goes to 1st for the out.

2 more to go.

Tamura jammed and the ball goes to shallow center!  Hakusui coming in can't get there and Kousei has a runner on.  Still not enough yet as Houjyou is not the tying run.

But Fujinami falls behind him 2-0.  Houjyou swings away anyways and skies it!  Oonishi is there for the out!

1 more to go!

Nishitani-kantoku calls for time.

Oosugi the last chance for Kousei.  Fujinami can't find the zone though and buries it.  Then gets Oosugi to chase and foul one off.  Slider over the plate is whiffed.

1-2...

Fouled off!  Just.

Fastball way outside for ball 2.

Fastball inside, fouled off again.

SANSHIN!!!

Oosugi goes down swinging!  Osaka Touin has done it!  Haru-Natsu Renzoku Yuushou!  The players mob Fujinami on the mound as they become the 7th team to ever complete the feat!

After Osaka Touin sings their school song and the teams go out to their oen-dans, Osaka Touin's players are rejoicing, while Kousei Gakuin's players aren't crying.  It makes sense though - by this time they've reached here and lost again.  It's not painful in that they lost, it's just a look of - we've tried three times to eclipse the summit and all 3 times we were rebuffed.  We tried all we could and we just couldn't do it, and for us it's all over now.  What more can we do?  It's a look of resignation and unfulfillment.

But I don't think they should look at it that way.  Yes, you've reached 3 straight finals, and lost all 3.  But you are also one of only 3 teams to have reached 3 straight calendar finals joining the ranks of Chuukyoudai Chuukyou and PL Gakuen to do so.

And it's unfortunate that they had to run into 2 teams as strong as Nichidai-san and Osaka Touin.  But in the end, they should be proud of the accomplishments they were able to achieve in one calendar year.  Three 2nd place finishes at Koushien, and a Meiji Jingu title.  It's not quite the ending they got, but it's still impressive nonetheless.

For Osaka Touin, they join the names of Sakushin Gakuin, Chuukyoudai Chuukyou, Minoshima, PL Gakuen, Yokohama and Kounan as the 7th team to win both the spring and summer Koushien tournament.  It was hard to argue that they weren't the best team in the country with the combination of the high-powered offense with the powerful pitching of Fujinami - who if he wants to will be the 1st overall pick of the draft.  Teams that faced Osaka Touin knew full well that there was little room for error.

But even then it still takes effort as an any point in time - like the Osaka final against Riseisha, it can all fall apart.  So the fact they were able to fulfull what they set out to do, despite the odds and possible traps is something to be applauded.

And so we've reached the end of the 94th Natsu Koushien.  The tournament was very competitive for the most part and storylines developed all over the place.  From Toukou Gakuen's Matsui striking out 22 and 19 batters in consecutive games, to Ube Koujyou almost reaching the Best 8, to 2 possible matchups in the semifinals and finals, and to that finals rematch that cemented Osaka Touin as the best team in the country, this was a very entertaining tournament from start to finish.

But there's no time to rest.  For there are already teams that have started down the road of the fall taikais for next spring.  There's always baseball to be had, and for the players remaining - it's back to work.

Notable Players
Fujinami Shintarou (Osaka Touin) - CG, SHO, 2 H, 14 K, 2 BB

Hakusui Kenta (Osaka Touin) - 1-3, HR, R, RBI, K
Yasui Kouki (Osaka Touin) - 1-1, R, 2 BB, HBP
Kanazawa Yuuki (Kousei Gakuin) - 7 IP, ER, 6 H, 6 K, 5 BB, 2 HBP
Takeda Toshiki (Kousei Gakuin) - 1-2, BB. K