Things get a bit more wacky as we start heading south and west...
Ibaraki
Regional play has been completed, and 29 teams moved on to prefectural play. Jyousou Gakuin got a free pass and is probably expected to go deep into the tournament. Kasumigaura, who was just 6 outs away from winning their first title, is also present - but the question will be has their time passed them by? If they do get their revenge matchup it will be in the finals, but in the haru format does not guarantee them a spot in Koushien.
However, the other seeded teams are Meishuu Hitachi, Suijyou and Fujishiro - the latter 2 being familiar names.
Tochigi
Tochigi has no such regionals, all 61 teams are just thrown into a bracket and they beat each other up. So far, Sakushin Gakuin looks to be the front-runner with mercy-rule wins in their first two games and advancing into the quarterfinals.
Joining them are 5 other "seeded teams" including Sano Nichidai, Hakuoudai Ashikaga and Bunsei Geidai Fuzoku. Only the former has had mercy-rule wins throughout.
Gunma
Sadly, when it comes to the one-time winners, it kind of follows that they are unable to follow it up.
Such was the case with Maebashi Ikuei, who couldn't get past their first game losing to Oota Kougyou 4-3...
As a result, the mainstays have been able to reassert themselves within the prefecture at least - sort of.
Kendai Takasaki has made the semifinals, in Kendai fashion, with not one, not two, but three 1-run ballgames. They will face Kitoku, who is definitely a solid C team, for an automatic bid into the Super-Regional.
On the other side, Kiryuu Dai-ichi is back once again and will face unknown Takasaki Shoudai Fuzoku.
Saitama
The struggles for Urawa Gakuin continue... Ojima cannot get them past their 2nd game of the prefecturals, falling to Honjyou Dai-ichi 3-2. They will face Yashio Minami for a spot in the semifiinals.
Elsewhere, familiar names Saitama Sakae and Hanasaki Tokuharu after eking out 4-3 sayonara wins will face each other... there's an all-Kawagoe matchup as Kawagoe Higashi and Shiritsu Kawagoe meetup...
...and can Kasukabe Kyouei finally get to Koushien please? Two shutout wins pit them now against Matsuyama for a spot in the semis.
Chiba
Kisaradzu Sougou had the unfortunate draw to face Toukaidai Bouyou right off the bat in the prefecturals... and lost 2-1. Oddly enough they then lost to unknown Abiko in the very next game 3-1!
There were even more early strong matchups as Chiba Keizaidai Fuzoku defeated Toukaidai Urayasu 3-1. Senshuudai Matsudo has been given no favors having to face Chiba Keiai and now Narita.
Narashino is still alive, but two close games so far do not instill confidence in the team's strength early despite having an easy road so far.
And don't forget about Kashiwa Nittai, they're always in the mix and may not have a challenge until a possible matchup with Chiba Reimei in the quarterfinals.
Kanagawa
Toukou Gakuen look to make it back to the Super-Regionals having defeated Nichidai Fujisawa and Yokohama Sougakukan. They should have no trouble against a Nichidai squad despite them giving up their first runs of the taikai in the last round in a 5-4 win over Busou.
The bigger matchup is Toukaidai Sagami (who has just beat the heads in on all opponents - including Touin Gakuen) all without giving up a run, versus a Yokohama squad who once again does not look all that impressive though they did have to face Yokohama Hayato and Keio Gijyuku.
Yamanashi
We could be in line for a rematch of the natsu final as both Hikawa and Nihon Koukuu are on opposite sides of the bracket and are on a collision course. In their way immediately right now are Koufu Kougyou and Koufu Shougyou respectively. After that, it could be fellow powerhouses Yamanashi Gakuindai Fuzoku and Toukaidai Koufu. So while the rematch may happen, there's still some obstacles left to go.
Showing posts with label Kanagawa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kanagawa. Show all posts
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Monday, August 5, 2013
Remaining prefectural titles recap (Part 3)
(My apologies to everyone reading the blog, I will probably not be able to finish these recaps before Natsu Koushien begins on Thursday. I was unusually busy during the prefectural taikai's and was not able to keep up as in past years. I will get to these when time allows, but I need to focus on Natsu Koushien itself.)
Gunma - Maebashi Ikuei (1st appearance)
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Tochigi - Sakushin Gakuin (9th appearance, 3rd consecutive)
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Saitama - Urawa Gakuin (12th appearance, 2nd consecutive)
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Kanagawa - Yokohama (15th appearance, 1st in 2 years)
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Aichi - Aikoudai Meiden (11th appearance, 2nd consecutive)
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Shizuoka - Tokoha Kikugawa (4th appearance, 1st in 5 years)
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Osaka - Osaka Touin (7th appearance, 2nd consecutive)
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Hyogo - Nishiwaki Kougyou (1st appearance)
Oh my god. First of all, can Hyogo figure out a better way to reschedule games than the current system? Teams were reassigned to different stadiums, some who were playing before other teams originally got rescheduled for after those same teams. It can't be that hard can it?
Yet despite rain-outs and bonkers rescheduling, 75% of the 16 block seeds actually advanced out of the block. The 4 that failed was Block 4 Kobe Kokusaidai Fuzoku (!), Block 9 Himeji Kougyou, Block 10 Houjyou, and Block 15 Kakogawa Kita (!). Of the seeds that advanced only Shiritsu Amagasaki and Yashiro actually blew through the block field. Everyone else seemed to struggle:
However, our first major casualty from the Round of 16 was Takigawa Dai-ni. They never led against Shiritsu Amagasaki, and despite a 2-run 8th fell 4-3. Houtoku Gakuen tossed a 4-hit shutout over Suma Shoufuu, and Touyoudai Himeji despite just 3 hits defeated Sanda Shousei 2-1 (How??!).
The other surprising things was that 3 of the 4 no-seeds to advance to the Round of 16 advanced to the Best 8. Though admittedly Block 4 Rokko Island has been an above average team.
The redraw for the Best 8 again had the powerhouse teams avoiding each other.
Mukonosou Sougou had the unfortunate draw of Houtoku Gakuen, and promptly were shutout - but not mercy ruled, which is good. Shiritsu Amagasaki's run ended at the hands of Touyoudai Himeji.
Rokko Island met fellow no-seed Ikuei... and were mercy ruled.
And then there was the curious case of Nishiwaki Kougyou. Never heard of them, never been to Koushien before.
In block play they started strong with a mercy-rule win over Aboshi. After that though, things got really hairy for them. Starting off with a 14 inning 4-3 win over Awaji Mihara, they broke a scoreless draw in the 7th over Ichikawa with 4 runs to advance out of the block. Then against Kakogawa Nishi, the fell behind 5-0, immediately clawed back to within 1, took the the lead late only to blow it in the bottom of the 9th - then won with 2 in the 10th.
If that wasn't enough, against Akashi Shougyou in the Best 8, they trailed 2-0 before rallying to win in the bottom of the 9th 3-2.
The cardiac kids decided comebacks were a bit too much, and while they gave up 2 runs in the first, quickly recovered and used a 5-run 7th to hold on for a 10-7 win. Quite nuts.
Meanwhile, Touyoudai Himeji and Houtoku Gakuen actually had a more normal game, but Houtoku Gakuen couldn't recover from a 2-run deficit falling 4-3.
So realistically, it looked like Touyoudai Himeji would ascend to the throne, because surely Nishiwaki Kougyou couldn't pull off the upset...
Right?
Not so fast there. In the 5th, Takami and Murakami would actually give Nishiwaki Kougyou a 2-0 lead. Ace Outa (翁田) would give up back-to-back timely hits to tie the game.
But bottom 9, LF Murakami starts off with a base hit to left center. He books it to 2nd and just beats the throw. After a sac bunt, Nishiwaki Kougyou has the sayonara run 90 feet away. They have no choice but to intentionally walk Nishizawa and Hieda to load the bases. That would bring up last batter Ishii. Nishiwaki would try the squeeze bunt, but Ishii popped it up and C Uraoka scampered back and made a great diving catch for two outs.
That left it up to leadoff batter Imai who was just 1-4 on the day. Two foul balls meant he was behind quickly. But on the very next pitch he'd hit a blooper to the right side. 2B Nishida would scramble back, dive.. but it would just be out of his reach! It falls in for the sayonara RBI as Nishiwaki Kougyou heads to their first Koushien tournament!
Gunma - Maebashi Ikuei (1st appearance)
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Tochigi - Sakushin Gakuin (9th appearance, 3rd consecutive)
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Saitama - Urawa Gakuin (12th appearance, 2nd consecutive)
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Kanagawa - Yokohama (15th appearance, 1st in 2 years)
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Aichi - Aikoudai Meiden (11th appearance, 2nd consecutive)
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Shizuoka - Tokoha Kikugawa (4th appearance, 1st in 5 years)
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Osaka - Osaka Touin (7th appearance, 2nd consecutive)
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Hyogo - Nishiwaki Kougyou (1st appearance)
Oh my god. First of all, can Hyogo figure out a better way to reschedule games than the current system? Teams were reassigned to different stadiums, some who were playing before other teams originally got rescheduled for after those same teams. It can't be that hard can it?
Yet despite rain-outs and bonkers rescheduling, 75% of the 16 block seeds actually advanced out of the block. The 4 that failed was Block 4 Kobe Kokusaidai Fuzoku (!), Block 9 Himeji Kougyou, Block 10 Houjyou, and Block 15 Kakogawa Kita (!). Of the seeds that advanced only Shiritsu Amagasaki and Yashiro actually blew through the block field. Everyone else seemed to struggle:
- Block 2 Houtoku Gakuen? They had an 11 inning affair against Shiritsu Himeji.
- Block 5 Defending Champion Takigawa Dai-ni? Ooh, not so good. Two low scoring affairs versus Ikuno and Hyogo Shougyou.
- Block 8 Touyoudai Himeji? 2-1 over Touban Kougyou in their 2nd game.
However, our first major casualty from the Round of 16 was Takigawa Dai-ni. They never led against Shiritsu Amagasaki, and despite a 2-run 8th fell 4-3. Houtoku Gakuen tossed a 4-hit shutout over Suma Shoufuu, and Touyoudai Himeji despite just 3 hits defeated Sanda Shousei 2-1 (How??!).
The other surprising things was that 3 of the 4 no-seeds to advance to the Round of 16 advanced to the Best 8. Though admittedly Block 4 Rokko Island has been an above average team.
The redraw for the Best 8 again had the powerhouse teams avoiding each other.
Mukonosou Sougou had the unfortunate draw of Houtoku Gakuen, and promptly were shutout - but not mercy ruled, which is good. Shiritsu Amagasaki's run ended at the hands of Touyoudai Himeji.
Rokko Island met fellow no-seed Ikuei... and were mercy ruled.
And then there was the curious case of Nishiwaki Kougyou. Never heard of them, never been to Koushien before.
In block play they started strong with a mercy-rule win over Aboshi. After that though, things got really hairy for them. Starting off with a 14 inning 4-3 win over Awaji Mihara, they broke a scoreless draw in the 7th over Ichikawa with 4 runs to advance out of the block. Then against Kakogawa Nishi, the fell behind 5-0, immediately clawed back to within 1, took the the lead late only to blow it in the bottom of the 9th - then won with 2 in the 10th.
If that wasn't enough, against Akashi Shougyou in the Best 8, they trailed 2-0 before rallying to win in the bottom of the 9th 3-2.
The cardiac kids decided comebacks were a bit too much, and while they gave up 2 runs in the first, quickly recovered and used a 5-run 7th to hold on for a 10-7 win. Quite nuts.
Meanwhile, Touyoudai Himeji and Houtoku Gakuen actually had a more normal game, but Houtoku Gakuen couldn't recover from a 2-run deficit falling 4-3.
So realistically, it looked like Touyoudai Himeji would ascend to the throne, because surely Nishiwaki Kougyou couldn't pull off the upset...
Right?
Not so fast there. In the 5th, Takami and Murakami would actually give Nishiwaki Kougyou a 2-0 lead. Ace Outa (翁田) would give up back-to-back timely hits to tie the game.
But bottom 9, LF Murakami starts off with a base hit to left center. He books it to 2nd and just beats the throw. After a sac bunt, Nishiwaki Kougyou has the sayonara run 90 feet away. They have no choice but to intentionally walk Nishizawa and Hieda to load the bases. That would bring up last batter Ishii. Nishiwaki would try the squeeze bunt, but Ishii popped it up and C Uraoka scampered back and made a great diving catch for two outs.
That left it up to leadoff batter Imai who was just 1-4 on the day. Two foul balls meant he was behind quickly. But on the very next pitch he'd hit a blooper to the right side. 2B Nishida would scramble back, dive.. but it would just be out of his reach! It falls in for the sayonara RBI as Nishiwaki Kougyou heads to their first Koushien tournament!
Monday, July 8, 2013
7/8 Update - 1st main wave of prefecturals underway! (Hokkaido to Chuubu areas)
19 of 47 tournaments are now underway, and 2 of them are in the round of 16(ish).
Kita Hokkaido
Not too many upsets to speak of in regional play, and we're down to our final 16. Asahikawa Kougyou is still alive for a 2nd straight appearance, but struggled against Asahikawa Shougyou in the regional block final. In fact none of the teams that advanced look like they could run away with it all, and the teams that had blowouts in their final are from areas not known for strong teams.
This could open it for teams like Engaru, Kitami Hokuto, and Asahikawa Ryuukoku this year. But as far as I'm concerned it's all up in the air.
Minami Hokkaido
We had some theatrics before reaching the final 15. While it may not matter in the long-run, for Otaru Ouyou to rally from down 10-3 with just 9 outs left to win 13-12 over Otaru Kougyou in their 1st game is rather amazing. Unfortunately, while they tried to pull it off again against Otaru Suisan and went from 4-0 to tied at 4, ace Tanabe couldn't keep it tied as they lost 5-4.
In the Sapporo regionals, Sapporo Dai-ichi led Shoushi Gakuen 3-0 going into the top of the 9th, but as they say, the final 3 outs are the hardest to get. And despite Sapporo Dai-ichi being the more experienced team, they fell victim to the saying and 5 runs later, were eliminated.
For Sapporo Ryuukoku, who earlier pulled off a huge upset in Hokkai, they couldn't parlay that into a 2nd stage appearance, giving up 4 runs in the first to Sapporo Okadama losing 5-3.
The draw is out here for the 2nd stage as well, and Hakodate Chuubu gets the benefit of a 1st round bye. It won't be much benefit though as they will have to play either Hakodatedai Yuuto or the aforementioned Sapporo Okadama. Komadai Tomakomai gets a rather easy draw as they are on the opposite side of both Hokushou and Sapporo Nichidai (who could face each other in the quarterfinals).
I do like Hakodatedai Yuuto in this scenario.
Gunma
3 days in and quite a few seeded teams are underway. Maebashi Ikuei and Kendai Takasaki both cruised as well as 5-8 seed Maebashi Kougyou. Kiryuu Shiritsu Shougyou survived in walk-off fashion against Takasaki Shoudai Fuzoku and looks to be in a lot of trouble.
So does 3-4 seed Numata as today they needed a 4-run 7th to defeat Isesaki Kougyou 6-4.
Ibaraki
Ibaraki with mostly blowouts, though we had a couple of walk-offs on the first full day of action. Tokiwadai couldn't hold a 1-run lead in the 9th, but won the very next inning over Toride Shouyou. Tsuchiura Dai-san did the same to Iwase Nichidai in the 10th inning as well.
Highlights of today's action had Nakaminato Dai-ichi scoring 5 unanswered runs in the late innings to defeat Ryuugasaki Minami 6-5, at Hitachi Ibaraki Christian scoring 2 in the bottom of the 9th to defeat Hitachi Shougyou 5-4,and at Kasama Shimodate Kougyou outlasting Tskuba Kouka 2-1 in 11.
We won't see the seeded teams until the 12th.
Nishi Tokyo/Higashi Tokyo
Nishi Tokyo is rather quiet on their first day with little of note to speak of. In Higashi Tokyo it was mostly the same, with a couple of exceptions. Meguro Gakuin rallied from down 3-0 to tie it in the bottom of the 9th against Shinjuku and would eventually win in 12. And over at Oota Stadium, Risshoudai Risshou scored 4 in the 9th to defeat Katsushika Shougyou 9-6.
Kanagawa
Kanagawa had their opening game at Baystars Stadium and Keiou Fujisawa had no problem with Kaiyou Kagaku 8-0 in a 7 inning game.
Gifu
It was a slow start to the Gifu tournament as games at Nagarakawa were called off due to rain. This after they tried to get Chuukyou-Gifu in but was rained out with Chuukyou leading 2-0 after their part of the 3rd inning.
The only game of the opening day was played over in Oogaki as Oogaki Shougyou scored 7 unanswered runs to defeat Nourin 11-6.
Those rained out games were played the next day, pushing the scheduled games back a week. Chuukyou still managed to win their game while Gizan blew out Kani Kougyou.
Aichi
Those who stayed at Mizuho Kouen for the opening game were treated to a low-scoring affair as Tougou eked by with a 1-0 win over the prefecture's namesake.
Aichi's first full day went without hitch with again mostly blowouts. Inuyama Minami scored 4 runs in the final 3 innings to wipe out a 4-1 deficit to defeat Asahino 5-4.
At Kariya Stadium, Toyoda Kougyou pulled out to a 5-2 lead with 6 outs to go before Komaki Kougyou scrambled to level it at 5 in the bottom of the 9th. However, they couldn't capitalize and would wind up losing in 13. And in the game after that Iwadzu scored 2 in the 8th to tie it at 2 all over Kasugai Kougyou, but ace Shibata couldn't hold it, giving up the winning run in the bottom of the inning.
And over in Toyohashi, some home cooking was needed as Toyohashi Minami scored the only run of the game in the bottom of the 9th to defeat Kozakai.
Kita Hokkaido
Not too many upsets to speak of in regional play, and we're down to our final 16. Asahikawa Kougyou is still alive for a 2nd straight appearance, but struggled against Asahikawa Shougyou in the regional block final. In fact none of the teams that advanced look like they could run away with it all, and the teams that had blowouts in their final are from areas not known for strong teams.
This could open it for teams like Engaru, Kitami Hokuto, and Asahikawa Ryuukoku this year. But as far as I'm concerned it's all up in the air.
Minami Hokkaido
We had some theatrics before reaching the final 15. While it may not matter in the long-run, for Otaru Ouyou to rally from down 10-3 with just 9 outs left to win 13-12 over Otaru Kougyou in their 1st game is rather amazing. Unfortunately, while they tried to pull it off again against Otaru Suisan and went from 4-0 to tied at 4, ace Tanabe couldn't keep it tied as they lost 5-4.
In the Sapporo regionals, Sapporo Dai-ichi led Shoushi Gakuen 3-0 going into the top of the 9th, but as they say, the final 3 outs are the hardest to get. And despite Sapporo Dai-ichi being the more experienced team, they fell victim to the saying and 5 runs later, were eliminated.
For Sapporo Ryuukoku, who earlier pulled off a huge upset in Hokkai, they couldn't parlay that into a 2nd stage appearance, giving up 4 runs in the first to Sapporo Okadama losing 5-3.
The draw is out here for the 2nd stage as well, and Hakodate Chuubu gets the benefit of a 1st round bye. It won't be much benefit though as they will have to play either Hakodatedai Yuuto or the aforementioned Sapporo Okadama. Komadai Tomakomai gets a rather easy draw as they are on the opposite side of both Hokushou and Sapporo Nichidai (who could face each other in the quarterfinals).
I do like Hakodatedai Yuuto in this scenario.
Gunma
3 days in and quite a few seeded teams are underway. Maebashi Ikuei and Kendai Takasaki both cruised as well as 5-8 seed Maebashi Kougyou. Kiryuu Shiritsu Shougyou survived in walk-off fashion against Takasaki Shoudai Fuzoku and looks to be in a lot of trouble.
So does 3-4 seed Numata as today they needed a 4-run 7th to defeat Isesaki Kougyou 6-4.
Ibaraki
Ibaraki with mostly blowouts, though we had a couple of walk-offs on the first full day of action. Tokiwadai couldn't hold a 1-run lead in the 9th, but won the very next inning over Toride Shouyou. Tsuchiura Dai-san did the same to Iwase Nichidai in the 10th inning as well.
Highlights of today's action had Nakaminato Dai-ichi scoring 5 unanswered runs in the late innings to defeat Ryuugasaki Minami 6-5, at Hitachi Ibaraki Christian scoring 2 in the bottom of the 9th to defeat Hitachi Shougyou 5-4,and at Kasama Shimodate Kougyou outlasting Tskuba Kouka 2-1 in 11.
We won't see the seeded teams until the 12th.
Nishi Tokyo/Higashi Tokyo
Nishi Tokyo is rather quiet on their first day with little of note to speak of. In Higashi Tokyo it was mostly the same, with a couple of exceptions. Meguro Gakuin rallied from down 3-0 to tie it in the bottom of the 9th against Shinjuku and would eventually win in 12. And over at Oota Stadium, Risshoudai Risshou scored 4 in the 9th to defeat Katsushika Shougyou 9-6.
Kanagawa
Kanagawa had their opening game at Baystars Stadium and Keiou Fujisawa had no problem with Kaiyou Kagaku 8-0 in a 7 inning game.
Gifu
It was a slow start to the Gifu tournament as games at Nagarakawa were called off due to rain. This after they tried to get Chuukyou-Gifu in but was rained out with Chuukyou leading 2-0 after their part of the 3rd inning.
The only game of the opening day was played over in Oogaki as Oogaki Shougyou scored 7 unanswered runs to defeat Nourin 11-6.
Those rained out games were played the next day, pushing the scheduled games back a week. Chuukyou still managed to win their game while Gizan blew out Kani Kougyou.
Aichi
Those who stayed at Mizuho Kouen for the opening game were treated to a low-scoring affair as Tougou eked by with a 1-0 win over the prefecture's namesake.
Aichi's first full day went without hitch with again mostly blowouts. Inuyama Minami scored 4 runs in the final 3 innings to wipe out a 4-1 deficit to defeat Asahino 5-4.
At Kariya Stadium, Toyoda Kougyou pulled out to a 5-2 lead with 6 outs to go before Komaki Kougyou scrambled to level it at 5 in the bottom of the 9th. However, they couldn't capitalize and would wind up losing in 13. And in the game after that Iwadzu scored 2 in the 8th to tie it at 2 all over Kasugai Kougyou, but ace Shibata couldn't hold it, giving up the winning run in the bottom of the inning.
And over in Toyohashi, some home cooking was needed as Toyohashi Minami scored the only run of the game in the bottom of the 9th to defeat Kozakai.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Day 10 - Quarterfinal #4 - Kanto Dai-ichi (Tokyo) vs. Yokohama (Kanagawa)
Finally, it's a battle of Tokyo Bay. Kanto Dai-ichi faces off against Yokohama for the final semifinal spot.
Yokohama looks like the team they were supposed to be last summer. A team with a very good offense, and more than passable pitching, Yokohama blanked Kochi 4-0 then Yanagi scattered 11 hits in a 7-1 victory over Seikou Gakuin. Nothing from last year that would seem to undermine their run.
Kanto Dai-ichi has had to survive two close games. First of all a 1-0 victory of Beppu Aoyama (though it seemed a little more bigger than that), then a 2-1 nailbiting win over Chiben Gakuen.
The biggest question mark with Kanto Dai-ichi lies with their ace Nakamura. He clearly showed signs of fatigue as a lot of his pitches were high and wide. And being on the last day of the 1st round, it'll only get harder for them as for them to win the title he'll have to had pitched on the 6th, 8th, 10th, 11th and 12th days of the tournament. Not an envious position to be in. And with Kanto's offense being the way it's been, they're going to have to find a way for the pitching to hold else they exit, and exit with a thud.
RF Kishi Naoya (#16)
2B Kiuchi Jyunshou
CF Akiyama Shouta
LF Itou Hiroki
SS Yoshie Masakazu (#5)
1B Anzai Kouyou
C Matsutani Tsubasa
P Nakamura Yuuta
3B Takahashi Ryouken (#6)
RF Tahara Keigo (#11)
1B Yamauchi Tatsuya
2B Higuchi Ryuunosuke
CF Haizaki Ryou
SS Aoki Rikito (#16)
C Ozeki Ikki
P Yanagi Yuuya
__________________________________________________
13:38 - First Pitch!
Top 1st
Kanto's batters taking pitches trying to find any advantage to getting on base. While it is to no avail, Isobe goes to 2-2 before grounding out, and both Kishi and Kiuchi go the full count before striking out swinging and looking respectively.
Bottom 1st
Nakamura's first pitch runs in and hits Shishikura on the hands. Not a good start. Takahashi bunts him over into scoring position.
Nakamura's going after Tahara to try and get ahead of the pinch, goes up 0-2 on him. And Tahara goes down swinging on a change! 2 down!
Yamauchi swinging on the first pitch and grounds out to 2nd! Kiuchi there to throw to 1st and make the play! 3 outs!
Top 2nd
Akiyama starts off the inning with a ball back up the middle! Man on for Kanto. Itou bunting, has to get out of the way. Count 1-1, bunts it foul! Will he free bunt? He shows it. And puts it down!
Yonezawa-kantoku looking to Yoshie for the one-timer. Outfield playing in.
And Yoshie pops it up! Shishikura there to make the catch for the 2nd out. Anzai grounds out to Takahashi, and the inning is over.
Bottom 2nd
Higuchi with a ball back up the middle, but Kiuchi makes a great diving stop! Throw to 1st is wide, but Anzai makes a great pick for the out!
Haizaki fouls out for the 2nd out.
And the NHK announcers are talking about how many off-speed pitches Nakamura is throwing. I wonder if it has to do anything with the fact that his fastball may be a bit slower last game and Yonezawa-kantoku is asking him to throw off-speed stuff to Yokohama.
Aoki swings at another one and pops it up to 1st. Anzai makes the catch to retire the side.
Top 3rd
Meanwhile, the Kanto offense are trying to deal with Yanagi's fastball. Matsutani is frozen on one on the outside corner, Nakamura goes down on 3 straight, and while Isobe avoids 3 straight K's, he grounds back to Yanagi for the 3rd out.
Bottom 3rd
Ozeki with a chopper to the left side, but Isobe does an ole on the ball missing it with his stab! Yoshie can't field it and it's a leadoff base hit! Yanagi bunts him over.
Shishikura chases one outside and softly hits one to 2nd. Kiuchi makes the putout and there's 2 down.
Takahashi pops it up! Matsutani off with his mask goes towards the back screen, leans back at the last minute and makes the catch! Nakamura looking a lot better than I was expecting.
Top 4th
Kishi trying for the safety bunt and misses. Swings at one low and is behind 0-2. But he comes back and works a walk!
And Kishi is caught off of 1st! Yanagi easily throws him out, but the home plate umpire calls balk! Kishi is awarded 2nd! What a break for Kanto! Kiuchi then lays the bunt down, advancing him to 3rd.
WHAT?????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Akiyama just rips into one from Yanagi! Tahara doesn't even give chase!!!!!
HAITAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Akiyama out of nowhere hits a homerun against Yanagi and Kanto Dai-ichi takes a 2-0 lead!!
Watanabe-kantoku calls for time...
Itou makes solid contact too, but flies out to right. Yoshie can't hold his swing and goes down, but I'm still in shock as Akiyama with a rare HR to right gives his team the lead!
Bottom 4th
Nakamura having trouble on the mound. His first two off-speed pitches are in the dirt, and the next two fastballs are high for a leadoff walk.
Yamauchi up and the outfield plays back. He gets under one, and Akiyama calls off Itou to make the catch.
Higuchi gets under one too and hits it to center. Akiyama going back.. going back??
Makes the catch in deep center. Wow, that carried further than I thought it would.
Haizaki grounds out to 2nd, and the leadoff walk goes for naught.
Top 5th
Yanagi almost with a 1-2-3 inning, but Nakamura bloops one just fair down the right field line before Higuchi and Tahara can get there.
But that lasts for one pitch as Isobe lines out to right.
Bottom 5th
Nakamura not letting Yokohama make good contact, but continues to give them free passes as he issues one to Aoki to lead off the 5th.
Ozeki trying to lay down the bunt, but instead gets ahead 3-1! And a pitch low puts 2 men on for Yanagi! Yonezawa-kantoku calls for time...
Yanagi lays down the bunt and now Yokohama threatens to tie with a base hit!
Top of the order and Shishikura. But Nakamura gets ahead 0-2. Fastball high, 1-2.
Chopper up the 3rd base line! Isobe charging in, looks up before making the pick and the ball deflects off his glove! Everyone's safe and Yokohama is within 1 at 2-1!!
Still one down for Takahashi.
SQUEEZE!!!
Takahashi lays down the bunt! Isobe's only play is to 1st and Yokohama ties the game! We're douten at 2-2! But Shishikura tries for 3rd and is thrown out by Anzai! Two down!
But what's this? Matsutani appeals something at home, and the plate umpire calls Ozeki out! Watanabe-kantoku is wondering what the heck is going on!
The plate umpire goes to the microphone, says the catcher appealed the runner not touching home, and Ozeki never touched home!
Watanabe-kantoku is furious! He is yelling at the plate umpire! I've never seen this before!
But the grounds crew comes out and that's the end of the inning.
Top 6th
One down and Kiuchi hits a single to left. But Akiyama strikes out and Kiuchi is caught stealing 2nd to end the ining.
Bottom 6th
Tahara with a drive to right center! Akiyama and Kishi running back to the fence. Still running back!!
And Akiyama makes the catch right in front of the wall! One down.
Yamauchi and Higuchi quickly fly out thereafter and it's a 1-2-3 inning for Nakamura!
Top 7th
One down, Yoshie lays down a bunt. Takahashi lets it go as it's rolling foul, but it straightens out enough to catch the corner of the 3rd base bag! Fair!
Takahashi can only give a wry smile as he gives the ball back to Yanagi.
But Anzai grounds into the 6-4-3 double play to end the inning. Kanto's lucky 7 ends quickly.
Bottom 7th
But will Yokohama be able to get the douten run after it was taken away?
Haizaki takes a full count pitch and hits it to right. Kishi running back, looking up, running back...
It's over his head! Haizaki rounding 2nd makes it into 3rd easily! Douten runner 90 feet away!
OY!!!
Nakamura almost sails one to the backscreen! Matsutani saves it!
Now a ball in the dirt and Matsutani blocks that one! 3-1 to Aoki.
SQUEEZE!!!!!!!!!
Aoki makes contact, but it goes foul! Matsutani dives, but can't make the catch!
Full count, what will both sides do?
High and inside! Gyakuten runner on for Yokohama and still no down!
Ozeki lifts one to center! Akiyama with the catch and the ball is cutoff but bobbled by Kiuchi. He wouldn't have had a play anyways, and Yokohama indeed gets the douten run! 2-2!!
Yanagi lays down his 3rd bunt, putting the gyakuten runner in scoring position for Shishikura!
Shishikura fouls out to left and the inning is over. However, a leadoff triple leads to the douten run!
Top 8th
Kanto has been unable to do anything since the HR by Akiyama. And it continues into the 8th. Matsutani grounds out to 1st, and Nakamura flies out to left. Isobe grounds out to 3rd and Nakamura will have to hold the line.
Bottom 8th
One down and Tahara collects his first single, a ball back up the middle that Yoshie dives and just misses! #9 Nakase come in to run for him.
Yamauchi with a ball to shallow right center! Akiyama charging in, dives... and makes the catch! What a play by Akiyama!! 2 down!
And Higuchi with a ball to short! Yoshie with the strong throw to 1st and Yokohama is retired!
Top 9th
2-3-4 batters due up for Kanto.
Kishi looks at strike 3 on the outside corner for the 1st out!
Kiuchi with a ball to center puts the go-ahead run on base! Watanabe-kantoku calls time...
Akiyama showing bunt! They're going for the one timer! He takes strike 1.
Wait! He swinging away! He singles to center! Runners on 1st and 2nd with just one down! Itou stepping in, but he's 0-2 on the day.
He quickly falls behind 0-2 and starts defensively fouling off pitches... Gets one ball back.
And he drives one to left center! That's through the outfielders! Kiuchi scores! Akyama being waved around and he scores!! Itou with a 2-run triple and Kanto Dai-ichi takes a 4-2 lead!!
Watanabe-kantoku calls in #10 Souma. He comes in for Nakase and takes the hill. Yanagi goes to right.
Souma retires the next two batters to end the inning, but Kanto takes back the two runs it lost and are 3 outs away from a trip to the semifinals!
Bottom 9th
It'll be the 6-7-8 batters up for Yokohama to mount their rally.
First up is Haizaki who earlier had the triple. He gets ahead 3-1. More than anything Yokohama needs baserunners. He takes the pitch and the count goes full.
And Nakamura pops him up! Isobe under it for the first out!
Aoki, who had two walks on the day gives way to #13 Itou. He drives one to left! Itou running back, leaps backwards, and makes the catch!! WHAT???!!!!
Two down and the last chance in Ozeki. He quickly falls behind 0-2... Fastball up. And another one up, 2-2...
He hits one to right... Kishi there... makes the catch!! Shiaishuuryou!
Kanto Dai-ichi shocks Yokohama (and myself) and advances with a 4-2 victory!!
Hard to explain this one myself. Yanagi looked the better pitcher most of the game, and yet it was two mistakes that cost him the game. Meanwhile, Nakamura looked shaky at times as I expected, walked 4 and hit 1, and yet thanks to some amazing (at at times lucky) defense, plus a crucial call reversing a run, won the game!
Personally, the better team did not win the game, rather the better team today did.
And as I write this, there are several Yokohama players crying, and other looking out onto the field as if to say what did we do to deserve this?
Now, my personal feelings for Yokohama are neutral to a bit on the negative side. I don't hate them, but they are a powerhouse and I do like the underdogs. And in recent years I have been very critical of them. But you get to a point where you start feeling bad for them, and today's game might have been that point for me.
I do love the underdogs, but you have to start feeling bad for teams that are good, but just can't get over the hump (see Tenri). And despite what people may have said about Watanabe-kantoku and his work, I actually do hope that his team finds success.
Just not against my teams please.
So Yokohama will have to work hard during the spring and summer, and run the gauntlet that is the Yokohama qualifying to make it to Koushien. I hope this time they do make it.
Kanto Dai-ichi's senbatsu will continue, but they'll have to face off on no days rest against Kousei Gakuin. Not a promising proposition.
Yokohama looks like the team they were supposed to be last summer. A team with a very good offense, and more than passable pitching, Yokohama blanked Kochi 4-0 then Yanagi scattered 11 hits in a 7-1 victory over Seikou Gakuin. Nothing from last year that would seem to undermine their run.
Kanto Dai-ichi has had to survive two close games. First of all a 1-0 victory of Beppu Aoyama (though it seemed a little more bigger than that), then a 2-1 nailbiting win over Chiben Gakuen.
The biggest question mark with Kanto Dai-ichi lies with their ace Nakamura. He clearly showed signs of fatigue as a lot of his pitches were high and wide. And being on the last day of the 1st round, it'll only get harder for them as for them to win the title he'll have to had pitched on the 6th, 8th, 10th, 11th and 12th days of the tournament. Not an envious position to be in. And with Kanto's offense being the way it's been, they're going to have to find a way for the pitching to hold else they exit, and exit with a thud.
Kanto Dai-ichi (Tokyo)
3B Isobe Yuuta (#9)RF Kishi Naoya (#16)
2B Kiuchi Jyunshou
CF Akiyama Shouta
LF Itou Hiroki
SS Yoshie Masakazu (#5)
1B Anzai Kouyou
C Matsutani Tsubasa
P Nakamura Yuuta
Yokohama (Kanagawa)
LF Shishikura Kazuma3B Takahashi Ryouken (#6)
RF Tahara Keigo (#11)
1B Yamauchi Tatsuya
2B Higuchi Ryuunosuke
CF Haizaki Ryou
SS Aoki Rikito (#16)
C Ozeki Ikki
P Yanagi Yuuya
__________________________________________________
13:38 - First Pitch!
Top 1st
Kanto's batters taking pitches trying to find any advantage to getting on base. While it is to no avail, Isobe goes to 2-2 before grounding out, and both Kishi and Kiuchi go the full count before striking out swinging and looking respectively.
Bottom 1st
Nakamura's first pitch runs in and hits Shishikura on the hands. Not a good start. Takahashi bunts him over into scoring position.
Nakamura's going after Tahara to try and get ahead of the pinch, goes up 0-2 on him. And Tahara goes down swinging on a change! 2 down!
Yamauchi swinging on the first pitch and grounds out to 2nd! Kiuchi there to throw to 1st and make the play! 3 outs!
Top 2nd
Akiyama starts off the inning with a ball back up the middle! Man on for Kanto. Itou bunting, has to get out of the way. Count 1-1, bunts it foul! Will he free bunt? He shows it. And puts it down!
Yonezawa-kantoku looking to Yoshie for the one-timer. Outfield playing in.
And Yoshie pops it up! Shishikura there to make the catch for the 2nd out. Anzai grounds out to Takahashi, and the inning is over.
Bottom 2nd
Higuchi with a ball back up the middle, but Kiuchi makes a great diving stop! Throw to 1st is wide, but Anzai makes a great pick for the out!
Haizaki fouls out for the 2nd out.
And the NHK announcers are talking about how many off-speed pitches Nakamura is throwing. I wonder if it has to do anything with the fact that his fastball may be a bit slower last game and Yonezawa-kantoku is asking him to throw off-speed stuff to Yokohama.
Aoki swings at another one and pops it up to 1st. Anzai makes the catch to retire the side.
Top 3rd
Meanwhile, the Kanto offense are trying to deal with Yanagi's fastball. Matsutani is frozen on one on the outside corner, Nakamura goes down on 3 straight, and while Isobe avoids 3 straight K's, he grounds back to Yanagi for the 3rd out.
Bottom 3rd
Ozeki with a chopper to the left side, but Isobe does an ole on the ball missing it with his stab! Yoshie can't field it and it's a leadoff base hit! Yanagi bunts him over.
Shishikura chases one outside and softly hits one to 2nd. Kiuchi makes the putout and there's 2 down.
Takahashi pops it up! Matsutani off with his mask goes towards the back screen, leans back at the last minute and makes the catch! Nakamura looking a lot better than I was expecting.
Top 4th
Kishi trying for the safety bunt and misses. Swings at one low and is behind 0-2. But he comes back and works a walk!
And Kishi is caught off of 1st! Yanagi easily throws him out, but the home plate umpire calls balk! Kishi is awarded 2nd! What a break for Kanto! Kiuchi then lays the bunt down, advancing him to 3rd.
WHAT?????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Akiyama just rips into one from Yanagi! Tahara doesn't even give chase!!!!!
HAITAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Akiyama out of nowhere hits a homerun against Yanagi and Kanto Dai-ichi takes a 2-0 lead!!
Watanabe-kantoku calls for time...
Itou makes solid contact too, but flies out to right. Yoshie can't hold his swing and goes down, but I'm still in shock as Akiyama with a rare HR to right gives his team the lead!
Bottom 4th
Nakamura having trouble on the mound. His first two off-speed pitches are in the dirt, and the next two fastballs are high for a leadoff walk.
Yamauchi up and the outfield plays back. He gets under one, and Akiyama calls off Itou to make the catch.
Higuchi gets under one too and hits it to center. Akiyama going back.. going back??
Makes the catch in deep center. Wow, that carried further than I thought it would.
Haizaki grounds out to 2nd, and the leadoff walk goes for naught.
Top 5th
Yanagi almost with a 1-2-3 inning, but Nakamura bloops one just fair down the right field line before Higuchi and Tahara can get there.
But that lasts for one pitch as Isobe lines out to right.
Bottom 5th
Nakamura not letting Yokohama make good contact, but continues to give them free passes as he issues one to Aoki to lead off the 5th.
Ozeki trying to lay down the bunt, but instead gets ahead 3-1! And a pitch low puts 2 men on for Yanagi! Yonezawa-kantoku calls for time...
Yanagi lays down the bunt and now Yokohama threatens to tie with a base hit!
Top of the order and Shishikura. But Nakamura gets ahead 0-2. Fastball high, 1-2.
Chopper up the 3rd base line! Isobe charging in, looks up before making the pick and the ball deflects off his glove! Everyone's safe and Yokohama is within 1 at 2-1!!
Still one down for Takahashi.
SQUEEZE!!!
Takahashi lays down the bunt! Isobe's only play is to 1st and Yokohama ties the game! We're douten at 2-2! But Shishikura tries for 3rd and is thrown out by Anzai! Two down!
But what's this? Matsutani appeals something at home, and the plate umpire calls Ozeki out! Watanabe-kantoku is wondering what the heck is going on!
The plate umpire goes to the microphone, says the catcher appealed the runner not touching home, and Ozeki never touched home!
Watanabe-kantoku is furious! He is yelling at the plate umpire! I've never seen this before!
But the grounds crew comes out and that's the end of the inning.
Top 6th
One down and Kiuchi hits a single to left. But Akiyama strikes out and Kiuchi is caught stealing 2nd to end the ining.
Bottom 6th
Tahara with a drive to right center! Akiyama and Kishi running back to the fence. Still running back!!
And Akiyama makes the catch right in front of the wall! One down.
Yamauchi and Higuchi quickly fly out thereafter and it's a 1-2-3 inning for Nakamura!
Top 7th
One down, Yoshie lays down a bunt. Takahashi lets it go as it's rolling foul, but it straightens out enough to catch the corner of the 3rd base bag! Fair!
Takahashi can only give a wry smile as he gives the ball back to Yanagi.
But Anzai grounds into the 6-4-3 double play to end the inning. Kanto's lucky 7 ends quickly.
Bottom 7th
But will Yokohama be able to get the douten run after it was taken away?
Haizaki takes a full count pitch and hits it to right. Kishi running back, looking up, running back...
It's over his head! Haizaki rounding 2nd makes it into 3rd easily! Douten runner 90 feet away!
OY!!!
Nakamura almost sails one to the backscreen! Matsutani saves it!
Now a ball in the dirt and Matsutani blocks that one! 3-1 to Aoki.
SQUEEZE!!!!!!!!!
Aoki makes contact, but it goes foul! Matsutani dives, but can't make the catch!
Full count, what will both sides do?
High and inside! Gyakuten runner on for Yokohama and still no down!
Ozeki lifts one to center! Akiyama with the catch and the ball is cutoff but bobbled by Kiuchi. He wouldn't have had a play anyways, and Yokohama indeed gets the douten run! 2-2!!
Yanagi lays down his 3rd bunt, putting the gyakuten runner in scoring position for Shishikura!
Shishikura fouls out to left and the inning is over. However, a leadoff triple leads to the douten run!
Top 8th
Kanto has been unable to do anything since the HR by Akiyama. And it continues into the 8th. Matsutani grounds out to 1st, and Nakamura flies out to left. Isobe grounds out to 3rd and Nakamura will have to hold the line.
Bottom 8th
One down and Tahara collects his first single, a ball back up the middle that Yoshie dives and just misses! #9 Nakase come in to run for him.
Yamauchi with a ball to shallow right center! Akiyama charging in, dives... and makes the catch! What a play by Akiyama!! 2 down!
And Higuchi with a ball to short! Yoshie with the strong throw to 1st and Yokohama is retired!
Top 9th
2-3-4 batters due up for Kanto.
Kishi looks at strike 3 on the outside corner for the 1st out!
Kiuchi with a ball to center puts the go-ahead run on base! Watanabe-kantoku calls time...
Akiyama showing bunt! They're going for the one timer! He takes strike 1.
Wait! He swinging away! He singles to center! Runners on 1st and 2nd with just one down! Itou stepping in, but he's 0-2 on the day.
He quickly falls behind 0-2 and starts defensively fouling off pitches... Gets one ball back.
And he drives one to left center! That's through the outfielders! Kiuchi scores! Akyama being waved around and he scores!! Itou with a 2-run triple and Kanto Dai-ichi takes a 4-2 lead!!
Watanabe-kantoku calls in #10 Souma. He comes in for Nakase and takes the hill. Yanagi goes to right.
Souma retires the next two batters to end the inning, but Kanto takes back the two runs it lost and are 3 outs away from a trip to the semifinals!
Bottom 9th
It'll be the 6-7-8 batters up for Yokohama to mount their rally.
First up is Haizaki who earlier had the triple. He gets ahead 3-1. More than anything Yokohama needs baserunners. He takes the pitch and the count goes full.
And Nakamura pops him up! Isobe under it for the first out!
Aoki, who had two walks on the day gives way to #13 Itou. He drives one to left! Itou running back, leaps backwards, and makes the catch!! WHAT???!!!!
Two down and the last chance in Ozeki. He quickly falls behind 0-2... Fastball up. And another one up, 2-2...
He hits one to right... Kishi there... makes the catch!! Shiaishuuryou!
Kanto Dai-ichi shocks Yokohama (and myself) and advances with a 4-2 victory!!
Hard to explain this one myself. Yanagi looked the better pitcher most of the game, and yet it was two mistakes that cost him the game. Meanwhile, Nakamura looked shaky at times as I expected, walked 4 and hit 1, and yet thanks to some amazing (at at times lucky) defense, plus a crucial call reversing a run, won the game!
Personally, the better team did not win the game, rather the better team today did.
And as I write this, there are several Yokohama players crying, and other looking out onto the field as if to say what did we do to deserve this?
Now, my personal feelings for Yokohama are neutral to a bit on the negative side. I don't hate them, but they are a powerhouse and I do like the underdogs. And in recent years I have been very critical of them. But you get to a point where you start feeling bad for them, and today's game might have been that point for me.
I do love the underdogs, but you have to start feeling bad for teams that are good, but just can't get over the hump (see Tenri). And despite what people may have said about Watanabe-kantoku and his work, I actually do hope that his team finds success.
Just not against my teams please.
So Yokohama will have to work hard during the spring and summer, and run the gauntlet that is the Yokohama qualifying to make it to Koushien. I hope this time they do make it.
Kanto Dai-ichi's senbatsu will continue, but they'll have to face off on no days rest against Kousei Gakuin. Not a promising proposition.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Day 8 - Game 2 - Yokohama (Kanagawa) vs. Seikou Gakuin (Fukushima)
Next on the docket may prove to be a good game.
Yokohama and ace Yanagi completely made Kochi look like a normal ordinary team in a 4-0 win. Of course, it could also be Shikoku in general (though looking at Naruto yesterday it may not be the case).
Even still, Yokohama's offense may be of some concern as the bottom of the lineup failed to do a whole lot against Sakamoto/Tagashira. That'll probably mean that Yanagi will need to shoulder a bit more of the load for them to make a championship type run.
Seikou Gakuin meanwhile got a good challenge from Toba in that they were limited to 2 runs. However, ace Okano at the same time limited Toba to just 2 hits.
Now, Okano's not really that much different from other pitchers other than perhaps having better control than others. I don't think I can really say that he's the pitcher the statistics bear him out to be, so it'll be interesting how he will do against Yokohama.
But in terms of pressure, I think the onus will be more on Okano than Yanagi to carry their respective teams. Seikou's offense appears to be a bit weaker than Yokohama.
LF Shishikura Kazuma
RF Tahara Keigo (#11)
1B Yamauchi Tatsuya
2B Higuchi Ryuunosuke
SS Aoki Rikito (#16)
C Ozeki Ikki
3B Takahashi Ryouken (#6)
P Yanagi Yuuya
SS Hirano Yuuma
C Nagai Ryou
1B Sonobe Satoshi
RF Anzai Satoshi
LF Kawai Shoutarou (#17)
3B Kyouda Seiki
2B Minowa Masato
P Okano Yuuichirou
__________________________________________________
12:00 - First Pitch
Top 1st
One down for Yokohama and Shishikura singles to left.
Shishikura tries to steal 2nd, but Nagai calls for the pitchout and they get him easily. Too bad as Tahara singles past a diving Sonobe.
Yamauchi also singles to right and is Yokohama's rare hit parade going to start?
Saitou-kantoku calls for time.
Higuchi with a liner to right! Anzai running back, leaps! It's off his glove! He gathers it in, but Tahara scores to give Yokohama the early 1-0 lead!
Aoki follows that up with a liner to left! Kawai sprinting to his right dives, and makes the catch! He faceplants as his body bends uncomfortably above him, but he makes the catch save 2 more runs!
Bottom 1st
Hirano with a comebacker, off Yanagi's glove and into center for a one-out single!
And he goes for 2nd! Throw is short and he's in safely! Nagai follows that up with a single through the left side and Seikou Gakuin looks to strike back!
But when Sonobe grounds back to Yanagi, Hirano is caught off 3rd! He's run down but then there's no one covering 3rd so he's back safely! But Nagai didn't notice and head back to 2nd, so now he's caught! He goes to 3rd, but then Hirano vacates 3rd. Eventaully Hirano is run down as orginally done and the trailing runners advance as far as they can go.
Anzai hits a comebacker to Yanagi, and while he doesn't field it cleanly, he has plenty of time to make the out to end the inning.
Top 2nd
Ozeki with a hard grounder to short that bounces off Hirano. But his throw beats out a diving Ozeki for the out. Because diving at first for outs is the cool thing to do. (No, no snark to see here, move along.)
Takahashi with a liner to left. Kawai leaps and has it, no he doesn't! He scurries back to get it and Takahashi's on with a 2-base error!
Yanagi follows that on the next pitch with a single to left! Runners at the corners!
Haizaki with a liner to center! Saitou makes th catch, and Takahashi holds! Saitou's throw hits home on the fly! 2 down!
Shishikura up and gets locked into a battle with Okano going the full count and pulling some hard hit balls foul. 9th pitch of the AB he hits one to short. Hirano double clutches and his throw short hops 1st! Sonobe can't make the pick and Shishikura is safe! Takahashi scores to make it a 2-0 Yokohama lead!
Tahara grounds to short, but Yokohama tallies another run on the board.
Bottom 2nd
Kyouda gives Seikou another one-out baserunner when he works a walk on Yanagi. But Minowa grounds into the 4-6-3 double play.
It would appear that Yanagi does not necessarily have his off speed pitches going for strikes unless the batter swings. May want to key in on the straight.
Top 3rd
Higuchi connects for his 2nd hit, a liner to left.
Aoki with a short fly to center. Saitou charges in, slides, but can't make the catch! Higuchi advances to 2nd on the play.
Ozeki pops it up in the infield, but no one's calling for it! Okano makes the catch though finally and there's 2 down.
Takahashi with a grounder to 1st, and it gets by Sonobe! How did he miss that?! Higuchi scores on the error and it's 3-0 with runners at the corners.
Yanagi grounds to 2nd to end the inning, but while Yokohama earned their 1st run, Seikou has given them the next 2, digging themselves a bigger hole to get out of.
Bottom 3rd
Okano with a grounder to Aoki. He has to hurry his throw a bit to get the hustling Okano out.
Saitou connects on a fastball and singles to right. It does look like if you're looking for a pitch to hit, hit the fastball. His changes are connecting.
And Saitou is picked off 1st! Yanagi catches him in between hops and throws him out! He's definitely not happy. Even more so probably when Hirano singles to right.
Hirano takes off on a slow curve and he takes 2nd! 2nd stolen base of the game!
Nagai though grounds to short, no, make that 3B as Hasegawa cuts in front to make the play at 1st.
Top 4th
Shishikura makes a bid for his 3rd hit, but Minowa makes a great stop and throw to just beat out a diving Shishikura!
Kawai secures a foul fly from Tahara to give Okano his first 1-2-3 inning and more importanly, keep Yokohama off the board.
Bottom 4th
Sonobe leads the 4th taking a slow curve through the left side. Let's see if the can't get one back here. Anzai tries the safety bunt, but it becomes a regular one.
But Kawai can't even advance the runner as he grounds to short.
Kyouda works the count full and takes a change high to put runners on 1st and 2nd. That prompts Watanabe-kantoku to call for time.
It'll be up to Minowa again to try and score the runs or extend the inning.
However, Minowa doesn't listen to my advice to look for only a fastball, and strikes out on a slider. Two more runners left on base.
Top 5th
#7 Sekine in for Kawai in LF.
Yamauchi connects on a ball left up in the zone by Okano! Sekine to the wall, and it bounces off the top of the wall! He's in with a double! Higuchi bunts him to 3rd and Yokohama is threatening again.
SQUEEZE!
Aoki tries for the squeeze, but pops it up! Okano running to the 3rd base line dives, and makes the backhanded catch! Yamauchi's meat at 3rd and Okano calmly tosses to Kyouda for the inning-ending double play!
Bottom 5th
Can Seikou capitalize on this momentum?
Okano starts it off taking a hanging curve back up the middle! Man on and the top of the order up!
Saitou up and he gets ahead 3-0. Will he try for the walk? Takes a fastball just high enough for a strike. Swings at the next one, and Yokohama gets the leading runner.
Hirano tries for the safety bunt, but that goes foul! So he hits a single past a diving Higuchi to right!
Nagai with a scorcher! But Hasegawa makes the lunging catch! Saitou is meat at 2nd and the inning is over! We head to the break with Yokohama leading by 3, but most of that was of Seikou's own doing.
Top 6th
Two quick outs for Okano, but he hangs one to Yanagi! He connects and sends one to left! Sekine back to the wall...
HAITAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yanagi helps his own cause with a homerun! It's 4-0 Yokohama!
Haizaki with a ball up the middle. Hirano over to field it, but can't cleanly get it! He eats it as Haizaki reaches first.
Shishikura chops one back to Okano for the 3rd out, but Yokohama adds to their lead.
Bottom 6th
Seikou is trying to get runners on any way possible. Sonobe works the count full, but strikes out swinging. Anzai gets plunked, but it's called a ball because he didn't make an effort to get out of the way (not that people have gotten on for less).
And Sekine grounds back to Yanagi to end the inning.
Top 7th
Tahara does something the Seikou batters were unable to do last half-inning... walk.
Yamauchi is swinging away instead of bunting and drives one deep to center! Saitou runs back to his right, then back to his left... and makes the catch!
Higuchi and Aoki are also retired via fly balls to Anzai and their lucky 7 comes and goes.
Bottom 7th
Minowa finally gives them a baserunner with a liner past Aoki to center. Saitou-kantoku calls for Okano to bunt looking for a one timer.
But even though he's successful, Saitou swings on the first pitch and flies out to 1st to end the inning.
Top 8th
Ozeki connects on a slider and it one-hops to the wall for a leadoff double.
Takahashi pulls back the bunt, reaches out and stabs one over the infield to right for a single! Runners at the corners for ace Yanagi!
Yanagi singles to right! That sends home Ozeki. 5-0 and runners at the corners again for Haizaki.
Saitou-kantoku calls time, but it probably won't help anymore.
He hits a fly to right. That'll get Takahashi home to make it 6-0.
Shishikura with a liner to center to put runners at the corners.
Saitou-kantoku mercifully pulls Okano out for #11 Iitaka.
But Tahara lines one to right to the wall! Watanabe-kantoku seemingly puts the brakes on and only Yanagi scores to make it a 7-0 game.
Iitaka retires the next 2 batters, and the game seems well in hand.
Bottom 8th
Hirano up and he drives a ball deep to right! Tahara chases the ball down near the foul pole as Hirano has a leadoff triple!
Nagai singles to center and Seikou avoids the shutout, making it 7-1.
However the struggles in the middle of the order continue. Sonobe is caught looking on a fastball, and Anzai grounds into a 5-4-3 double play.
Top 9th
#12 Nomoto in for Sonobe at 1B.
And while Nomoto yields a single to Takahashi, he strikes out Yanagi looking to end the inning.
Bottom 9th
#9 Nakase in at RF for Yokohama.
Sekine and PH Nakata (#18) are retired before PH Sakatani (#16) singles back up the middle.
Captain Ujiie (#15) comes in to PH next. And he works a walk.
Still a long ways to go for Seikou as Watanabe-kantoku calls time.
And indeed, Saitou looking for a hit instead of trying to get on base, grounds into the fielder's choice at 3rd to end the game.
Seikou Gakuin was under pressure from Yokohama's bats the entire game and with timely hitting and some errors from the defense scored 7 runs. However, they had their own opportunities and were unable to convert on them until it was far too late.
No scare this time around for Yokohama as they advance to the best 8 to face the winners of our final game of the day. However, Yanagi didn't look particularly sharp today, and he may need to be if they want to win senbatsu this year.
As for Seikou Gakuin, Okano's stellar ERA was a bit deflated due to perhaps the region and the like, and while he wasn't terrible, he wasn't as good as perhaps the statistics showed. They'll pack up and work on improving for the summer.
Yokohama and ace Yanagi completely made Kochi look like a normal ordinary team in a 4-0 win. Of course, it could also be Shikoku in general (though looking at Naruto yesterday it may not be the case).
Even still, Yokohama's offense may be of some concern as the bottom of the lineup failed to do a whole lot against Sakamoto/Tagashira. That'll probably mean that Yanagi will need to shoulder a bit more of the load for them to make a championship type run.
Seikou Gakuin meanwhile got a good challenge from Toba in that they were limited to 2 runs. However, ace Okano at the same time limited Toba to just 2 hits.
Now, Okano's not really that much different from other pitchers other than perhaps having better control than others. I don't think I can really say that he's the pitcher the statistics bear him out to be, so it'll be interesting how he will do against Yokohama.
But in terms of pressure, I think the onus will be more on Okano than Yanagi to carry their respective teams. Seikou's offense appears to be a bit weaker than Yokohama.
Yokohama (Kanagawa)
CF Haizaki RyouLF Shishikura Kazuma
RF Tahara Keigo (#11)
1B Yamauchi Tatsuya
2B Higuchi Ryuunosuke
SS Aoki Rikito (#16)
C Ozeki Ikki
3B Takahashi Ryouken (#6)
P Yanagi Yuuya
Seikou Gakuin (Fukushima)
CF Saitou YuukiSS Hirano Yuuma
C Nagai Ryou
1B Sonobe Satoshi
RF Anzai Satoshi
LF Kawai Shoutarou (#17)
3B Kyouda Seiki
2B Minowa Masato
P Okano Yuuichirou
__________________________________________________
12:00 - First Pitch
Top 1st
One down for Yokohama and Shishikura singles to left.
Shishikura tries to steal 2nd, but Nagai calls for the pitchout and they get him easily. Too bad as Tahara singles past a diving Sonobe.
Yamauchi also singles to right and is Yokohama's rare hit parade going to start?
Saitou-kantoku calls for time.
Higuchi with a liner to right! Anzai running back, leaps! It's off his glove! He gathers it in, but Tahara scores to give Yokohama the early 1-0 lead!
Aoki follows that up with a liner to left! Kawai sprinting to his right dives, and makes the catch! He faceplants as his body bends uncomfortably above him, but he makes the catch save 2 more runs!
Bottom 1st
Hirano with a comebacker, off Yanagi's glove and into center for a one-out single!
And he goes for 2nd! Throw is short and he's in safely! Nagai follows that up with a single through the left side and Seikou Gakuin looks to strike back!
But when Sonobe grounds back to Yanagi, Hirano is caught off 3rd! He's run down but then there's no one covering 3rd so he's back safely! But Nagai didn't notice and head back to 2nd, so now he's caught! He goes to 3rd, but then Hirano vacates 3rd. Eventaully Hirano is run down as orginally done and the trailing runners advance as far as they can go.
Anzai hits a comebacker to Yanagi, and while he doesn't field it cleanly, he has plenty of time to make the out to end the inning.
Top 2nd
Ozeki with a hard grounder to short that bounces off Hirano. But his throw beats out a diving Ozeki for the out. Because diving at first for outs is the cool thing to do. (No, no snark to see here, move along.)
Takahashi with a liner to left. Kawai leaps and has it, no he doesn't! He scurries back to get it and Takahashi's on with a 2-base error!
Yanagi follows that on the next pitch with a single to left! Runners at the corners!
Haizaki with a liner to center! Saitou makes th catch, and Takahashi holds! Saitou's throw hits home on the fly! 2 down!
Shishikura up and gets locked into a battle with Okano going the full count and pulling some hard hit balls foul. 9th pitch of the AB he hits one to short. Hirano double clutches and his throw short hops 1st! Sonobe can't make the pick and Shishikura is safe! Takahashi scores to make it a 2-0 Yokohama lead!
Tahara grounds to short, but Yokohama tallies another run on the board.
Bottom 2nd
Kyouda gives Seikou another one-out baserunner when he works a walk on Yanagi. But Minowa grounds into the 4-6-3 double play.
It would appear that Yanagi does not necessarily have his off speed pitches going for strikes unless the batter swings. May want to key in on the straight.
Top 3rd
Higuchi connects for his 2nd hit, a liner to left.
Aoki with a short fly to center. Saitou charges in, slides, but can't make the catch! Higuchi advances to 2nd on the play.
Ozeki pops it up in the infield, but no one's calling for it! Okano makes the catch though finally and there's 2 down.
Takahashi with a grounder to 1st, and it gets by Sonobe! How did he miss that?! Higuchi scores on the error and it's 3-0 with runners at the corners.
Yanagi grounds to 2nd to end the inning, but while Yokohama earned their 1st run, Seikou has given them the next 2, digging themselves a bigger hole to get out of.
Bottom 3rd
Okano with a grounder to Aoki. He has to hurry his throw a bit to get the hustling Okano out.
Saitou connects on a fastball and singles to right. It does look like if you're looking for a pitch to hit, hit the fastball. His changes are connecting.
And Saitou is picked off 1st! Yanagi catches him in between hops and throws him out! He's definitely not happy. Even more so probably when Hirano singles to right.
Hirano takes off on a slow curve and he takes 2nd! 2nd stolen base of the game!
Nagai though grounds to short, no, make that 3B as Hasegawa cuts in front to make the play at 1st.
Top 4th
Shishikura makes a bid for his 3rd hit, but Minowa makes a great stop and throw to just beat out a diving Shishikura!
Kawai secures a foul fly from Tahara to give Okano his first 1-2-3 inning and more importanly, keep Yokohama off the board.
Bottom 4th
Sonobe leads the 4th taking a slow curve through the left side. Let's see if the can't get one back here. Anzai tries the safety bunt, but it becomes a regular one.
But Kawai can't even advance the runner as he grounds to short.
Kyouda works the count full and takes a change high to put runners on 1st and 2nd. That prompts Watanabe-kantoku to call for time.
It'll be up to Minowa again to try and score the runs or extend the inning.
However, Minowa doesn't listen to my advice to look for only a fastball, and strikes out on a slider. Two more runners left on base.
Top 5th
#7 Sekine in for Kawai in LF.
Yamauchi connects on a ball left up in the zone by Okano! Sekine to the wall, and it bounces off the top of the wall! He's in with a double! Higuchi bunts him to 3rd and Yokohama is threatening again.
SQUEEZE!
Aoki tries for the squeeze, but pops it up! Okano running to the 3rd base line dives, and makes the backhanded catch! Yamauchi's meat at 3rd and Okano calmly tosses to Kyouda for the inning-ending double play!
Bottom 5th
Can Seikou capitalize on this momentum?
Okano starts it off taking a hanging curve back up the middle! Man on and the top of the order up!
Saitou up and he gets ahead 3-0. Will he try for the walk? Takes a fastball just high enough for a strike. Swings at the next one, and Yokohama gets the leading runner.
Hirano tries for the safety bunt, but that goes foul! So he hits a single past a diving Higuchi to right!
Nagai with a scorcher! But Hasegawa makes the lunging catch! Saitou is meat at 2nd and the inning is over! We head to the break with Yokohama leading by 3, but most of that was of Seikou's own doing.
Top 6th
Two quick outs for Okano, but he hangs one to Yanagi! He connects and sends one to left! Sekine back to the wall...
HAITAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yanagi helps his own cause with a homerun! It's 4-0 Yokohama!
Haizaki with a ball up the middle. Hirano over to field it, but can't cleanly get it! He eats it as Haizaki reaches first.
Shishikura chops one back to Okano for the 3rd out, but Yokohama adds to their lead.
Bottom 6th
Seikou is trying to get runners on any way possible. Sonobe works the count full, but strikes out swinging. Anzai gets plunked, but it's called a ball because he didn't make an effort to get out of the way (not that people have gotten on for less).
And Sekine grounds back to Yanagi to end the inning.
Top 7th
Tahara does something the Seikou batters were unable to do last half-inning... walk.
Yamauchi is swinging away instead of bunting and drives one deep to center! Saitou runs back to his right, then back to his left... and makes the catch!
Higuchi and Aoki are also retired via fly balls to Anzai and their lucky 7 comes and goes.
Bottom 7th
Minowa finally gives them a baserunner with a liner past Aoki to center. Saitou-kantoku calls for Okano to bunt looking for a one timer.
But even though he's successful, Saitou swings on the first pitch and flies out to 1st to end the inning.
Top 8th
Ozeki connects on a slider and it one-hops to the wall for a leadoff double.
Takahashi pulls back the bunt, reaches out and stabs one over the infield to right for a single! Runners at the corners for ace Yanagi!
Yanagi singles to right! That sends home Ozeki. 5-0 and runners at the corners again for Haizaki.
Saitou-kantoku calls time, but it probably won't help anymore.
He hits a fly to right. That'll get Takahashi home to make it 6-0.
Shishikura with a liner to center to put runners at the corners.
Saitou-kantoku mercifully pulls Okano out for #11 Iitaka.
But Tahara lines one to right to the wall! Watanabe-kantoku seemingly puts the brakes on and only Yanagi scores to make it a 7-0 game.
Iitaka retires the next 2 batters, and the game seems well in hand.
Bottom 8th
Hirano up and he drives a ball deep to right! Tahara chases the ball down near the foul pole as Hirano has a leadoff triple!
Nagai singles to center and Seikou avoids the shutout, making it 7-1.
However the struggles in the middle of the order continue. Sonobe is caught looking on a fastball, and Anzai grounds into a 5-4-3 double play.
Top 9th
#12 Nomoto in for Sonobe at 1B.
And while Nomoto yields a single to Takahashi, he strikes out Yanagi looking to end the inning.
Bottom 9th
#9 Nakase in at RF for Yokohama.
Sekine and PH Nakata (#18) are retired before PH Sakatani (#16) singles back up the middle.
Captain Ujiie (#15) comes in to PH next. And he works a walk.
Still a long ways to go for Seikou as Watanabe-kantoku calls time.
And indeed, Saitou looking for a hit instead of trying to get on base, grounds into the fielder's choice at 3rd to end the game.
Seikou Gakuin was under pressure from Yokohama's bats the entire game and with timely hitting and some errors from the defense scored 7 runs. However, they had their own opportunities and were unable to convert on them until it was far too late.
No scare this time around for Yokohama as they advance to the best 8 to face the winners of our final game of the day. However, Yanagi didn't look particularly sharp today, and he may need to be if they want to win senbatsu this year.
As for Seikou Gakuin, Okano's stellar ERA was a bit deflated due to perhaps the region and the like, and while he wasn't terrible, he wasn't as good as perhaps the statistics showed. They'll pack up and work on improving for the summer.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Day 5 - Game 1 - Kochi (Kochi) vs. Yokohama (Kanagawa)
Now that Koushien is back on track, and the weather doesn't seem threatening, we can move on to the penultimate games of the 1st round.
First up today is a matchup of big names, Yokohama and Kochi.
Yokohama was fortunate enough to receive the floating bid from the selection committee. Otherwise, they'd be watching on TV wondering what might have been.
It's been a lackluster year so far for Yokohama. First was the 9th inning debacle at Natsu Koushien when they allowed Chiben Gakuen to score 9 runs en route to a 9-4 win. Then in the fall tournaments they won the Kanagawa prefecturals, but lost 6-2 to Best 4 team Sakushin Gakuin (who, until recently was a fairly known team, but with little success).
It would seem that problems still persist with the pitching staff, though to what extent I don't know. But I'm pretty sure that Watanabe-kantoku has been under a bit more pressure as their team continues to struggle.
Kochi, and the Shikoku region for that matter are struggling a bit as well. Once known for the baseball (and still are to some extent), teams from this region have not fared as well in recent years. Kochi has been one of those teams. They made it by avenging a loss in the prefecturals to Meitoku Gijyuku, though they lost a thriller to Naruto.
I'd like to see the rise of Shikoku again, and perhaps a game against Yokohama might do it. But I'm not so sure.
2B Doi Yuuga
3B Wada Ren
SS Norikane Shun
RF Okazaki Kenya
1B Masa Yuuma
LF Matagawa Ryouyuu (#18)
P Sakamoto Yuuta
C Komatsu Tomohiro
LF Shishikura Kazuma
RF Tahara Keigo (#11)
1B Yamauchi Tatsuya
2B Higuchi Ryuunosuke
C Ozeki Ikki
SS Aoki Rikito (#16)
P Yanagi Yuuya
3B Takahashi Ryouken (#6)
__________________________________________________
09:00 - First Pitch!
Top 1st
Wada with a two-out single off Higuchi's glove, but he's picked off shorty thereafter and the inning is over.
Bottom 1st
Haizaki with a lines just above a leaping Norikane to lead off Yokohama's 1st.
After a bunt by Shishikura, Tahara goes up 3-0 before finally drawing a walk. So Sakamoto is in a bit of trouble, and it gets worse as he falls behind Yamauchi 3-1.
Yamauchi with a liner to left center! That gets between the fielders and all the way to the wall! Both runners score and Yokohama leads 2-0!
Oy.. and now Sakamoto hits Higuchi! And now Ozeki! Manrui for Yokohama, and now the game could get away from Kochi here in the 1st!
But he Sakamoto comes back to strike out Aoki for the 2nd out! It's up to Yanagi now...
But the strikes out too! Sakamoto prevents any further damage being done!
Top 2nd
Kochi's batters don't look too comfortable. Norikani is frozen on a fastball, Okazaki makes a bad swing on a change and grounds out to first.
Masa manages a single through the right side, but Matagawa flies out to right center and the inning is over.
Bottom 2nd
Sakamoto slight better this inning. He's still having control issues, but Yokohama's batters are swinging any almost anything in the zone, so he racks up 2 quick outs, then runs the count full before inducing a foul out for a 1-2-3 inning.
Top 3rd
Yanagi's control isn't good either, but better than Sakamoto's right now. He manages to retire the side in order, though with a little more difficulty. Though, top batter Horio seemed to make good contact but still fly out to right.
Bottom 3rd
Sakamoto looking much better now. He records his second straight 1-2-3 inning and is throwing more balls in the zone.
Top 4th
Yanagi puts up a 1-2-3 inning without much objection from the Kochi batters. 2 above the minimum after 4.
Bottom 4th
Aoki with a 2-out base hit to break the string of 9 straight retired by Sakamoto. Yanagi bunts him over for Takaahashi.
However, Takahashi is fooled on a slider outside, does manage to make contact. But it's right to 2nd for the out.
Top 5th
Okazaki gets their first leadoff baserunner on as he singles through the right side. Masa tries to lay the bunt down, but instead fouls out to a charging Aoki.
Neither of the next 2 batters are able to do anything, and once again Kochi comes away scoreless.
Bottom 5th
Sakamoto's control looks much better, getting Haizaki to strike out looking, and getting 0-2 on Shishikura before he hits a slow dribbler up the right side that Doi is unable to field cleanly (it would have been a close play).
Shishikura takes off for 2nd on the first pitch to Tahara and slides in safely!
Tahara with a base hit through the right side! Okazaki with a throw home! Komatsu's got it, but the tag is just a touch behind and he's called safe! (The replay is inconclusive other than Shishikura may have missed the plate).
Yamauchi with a soft hit to center! Tahara, who took 2nd on the throw stops at 3rd!
Highuchi chases a fastball outside and there's 2 down.
Ozeki strikes out looking to end the inning, but at the break Yokohama holds a good 3-0 margin.
Top 6th
I'd talk to you about Yanagi's pitching, but he supposedly has 4-5 different off-speed pitches it's hard to tell which one he's throwing when. About the only thing I can say is that his fastball is in the high 120-low 130 range.
Yanagi rings up two K's on bad swings before not getting a call on a full count pitch to Doi.
Shimada-kantoku tries the hit-and-run, but Wada lines out to right to end the inning.
Bottom 6th
Post-break, Sakamoto still looks good on the mound. Despite giving a 2-out walk to Takahashi, he retires Haizaki on a fly to center. Now if only the offense could get going...
Top 7th
Okazaki makes good contact, but it's just not carrying as he flies out to center.
Masa strikes out, and Kochi continues to struggle.
Bottom 7th
Shishikura collects his 2nd hit as he doubles over Okazaki.
#17 Ariizumi comes in to PH for Tahara. But Komatsu catches Shishikura off 2nd! Shishikura makes a dash for 3rd, the throw from Norikane is there, but Wada can't field it! Safe!
And now Watanabe-kantoku pulls back Ariizumi for #13 Itou! He hits a ball to left, and Matagawa charging in, can't get there! Shishikura scores to make it 4-0!
#9 Nakase comes in to PR for Itou.
Yamauchi can proabably put the nail in the coffin with a base hit, but he can't do that, grounding out to 2nd.
Neither Higuchi or Ozeki can bring Nakase home, but 4-0 already looks near impossible to come back from for Kochi.
Top 8th
#16 Okuda coming in to PH for Sakamoto, meaning that his day is done.
Grounder to the right side, goes past Yamauchi and under Higuchi's legs!
#7 Kitadai hits for Komatsu, tries a pop safety bunt, but it's not high enough and Yamauchi catches it.
Our first balk of the tournament is called on Yanagi, but it's of no consequence as Horio hits a chopper back to Yanagi for the 3rd out.
Bottom 8th
#11 Tagashira comes in for PH Okuda to take over on the hill. #13 Isshiki comes in for Matadai and takes over at C, whiles Kitadai stays in the game at LF.
Aoki immediately tests Tagashira with a bunt. Tagashira fields it, but short hops the throw. E1.
Yanagi pays back the favor by popping his bunt up. Wada catches it for the out. Aoki gets the base anyways by stealing it with not much from the throw by new C Isshiki.
Oof. Hiazaki takes a dead ball right in the ribs as he turns into it.
But Tagashira gets out of the jam striking out Shishikura.
Top 9th
The game has gone at quite the quick clip here and we're already in the 9th, just 100 minutes since the start.
And Kochi keeps it quick by going 1-2-3 in the 9th.
A great performance by ace Yanagi, and probably Kochi is left wondering if they couldn't have done anything more.
Notable Players
Wada Ren (Kochi) 1-3
Yanagi Yuuya (Yokohama) - CG, 0 ER, 3 H, 4 K, BB
Shishikura Kazuma (Yokohama) - 2-4, 2B, 2 R, 2 SB
Yamauchi Tatsuya (Yokohama) - 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI
First up today is a matchup of big names, Yokohama and Kochi.
Yokohama was fortunate enough to receive the floating bid from the selection committee. Otherwise, they'd be watching on TV wondering what might have been.
It's been a lackluster year so far for Yokohama. First was the 9th inning debacle at Natsu Koushien when they allowed Chiben Gakuen to score 9 runs en route to a 9-4 win. Then in the fall tournaments they won the Kanagawa prefecturals, but lost 6-2 to Best 4 team Sakushin Gakuin (who, until recently was a fairly known team, but with little success).
It would seem that problems still persist with the pitching staff, though to what extent I don't know. But I'm pretty sure that Watanabe-kantoku has been under a bit more pressure as their team continues to struggle.
Kochi, and the Shikoku region for that matter are struggling a bit as well. Once known for the baseball (and still are to some extent), teams from this region have not fared as well in recent years. Kochi has been one of those teams. They made it by avenging a loss in the prefecturals to Meitoku Gijyuku, though they lost a thriller to Naruto.
I'd like to see the rise of Shikoku again, and perhaps a game against Yokohama might do it. But I'm not so sure.
Kochi (Kochi)
CF Horio Chigaya2B Doi Yuuga
3B Wada Ren
SS Norikane Shun
RF Okazaki Kenya
1B Masa Yuuma
LF Matagawa Ryouyuu (#18)
P Sakamoto Yuuta
C Komatsu Tomohiro
Yokohama (Kanagawa)
CF Haizaki RyouLF Shishikura Kazuma
RF Tahara Keigo (#11)
1B Yamauchi Tatsuya
2B Higuchi Ryuunosuke
C Ozeki Ikki
SS Aoki Rikito (#16)
P Yanagi Yuuya
3B Takahashi Ryouken (#6)
__________________________________________________
09:00 - First Pitch!
Top 1st
Wada with a two-out single off Higuchi's glove, but he's picked off shorty thereafter and the inning is over.
Bottom 1st
Haizaki with a lines just above a leaping Norikane to lead off Yokohama's 1st.
After a bunt by Shishikura, Tahara goes up 3-0 before finally drawing a walk. So Sakamoto is in a bit of trouble, and it gets worse as he falls behind Yamauchi 3-1.
Yamauchi with a liner to left center! That gets between the fielders and all the way to the wall! Both runners score and Yokohama leads 2-0!
Oy.. and now Sakamoto hits Higuchi! And now Ozeki! Manrui for Yokohama, and now the game could get away from Kochi here in the 1st!
But he Sakamoto comes back to strike out Aoki for the 2nd out! It's up to Yanagi now...
But the strikes out too! Sakamoto prevents any further damage being done!
Top 2nd
Kochi's batters don't look too comfortable. Norikani is frozen on a fastball, Okazaki makes a bad swing on a change and grounds out to first.
Masa manages a single through the right side, but Matagawa flies out to right center and the inning is over.
Bottom 2nd
Sakamoto slight better this inning. He's still having control issues, but Yokohama's batters are swinging any almost anything in the zone, so he racks up 2 quick outs, then runs the count full before inducing a foul out for a 1-2-3 inning.
Top 3rd
Yanagi's control isn't good either, but better than Sakamoto's right now. He manages to retire the side in order, though with a little more difficulty. Though, top batter Horio seemed to make good contact but still fly out to right.
Bottom 3rd
Sakamoto looking much better now. He records his second straight 1-2-3 inning and is throwing more balls in the zone.
Top 4th
Yanagi puts up a 1-2-3 inning without much objection from the Kochi batters. 2 above the minimum after 4.
Bottom 4th
Aoki with a 2-out base hit to break the string of 9 straight retired by Sakamoto. Yanagi bunts him over for Takaahashi.
However, Takahashi is fooled on a slider outside, does manage to make contact. But it's right to 2nd for the out.
Top 5th
Okazaki gets their first leadoff baserunner on as he singles through the right side. Masa tries to lay the bunt down, but instead fouls out to a charging Aoki.
Neither of the next 2 batters are able to do anything, and once again Kochi comes away scoreless.
Bottom 5th
Sakamoto's control looks much better, getting Haizaki to strike out looking, and getting 0-2 on Shishikura before he hits a slow dribbler up the right side that Doi is unable to field cleanly (it would have been a close play).
Shishikura takes off for 2nd on the first pitch to Tahara and slides in safely!
Tahara with a base hit through the right side! Okazaki with a throw home! Komatsu's got it, but the tag is just a touch behind and he's called safe! (The replay is inconclusive other than Shishikura may have missed the plate).
Yamauchi with a soft hit to center! Tahara, who took 2nd on the throw stops at 3rd!
Highuchi chases a fastball outside and there's 2 down.
Ozeki strikes out looking to end the inning, but at the break Yokohama holds a good 3-0 margin.
Top 6th
I'd talk to you about Yanagi's pitching, but he supposedly has 4-5 different off-speed pitches it's hard to tell which one he's throwing when. About the only thing I can say is that his fastball is in the high 120-low 130 range.
Yanagi rings up two K's on bad swings before not getting a call on a full count pitch to Doi.
Shimada-kantoku tries the hit-and-run, but Wada lines out to right to end the inning.
Bottom 6th
Post-break, Sakamoto still looks good on the mound. Despite giving a 2-out walk to Takahashi, he retires Haizaki on a fly to center. Now if only the offense could get going...
Top 7th
Okazaki makes good contact, but it's just not carrying as he flies out to center.
Masa strikes out, and Kochi continues to struggle.
Bottom 7th
Shishikura collects his 2nd hit as he doubles over Okazaki.
#17 Ariizumi comes in to PH for Tahara. But Komatsu catches Shishikura off 2nd! Shishikura makes a dash for 3rd, the throw from Norikane is there, but Wada can't field it! Safe!
And now Watanabe-kantoku pulls back Ariizumi for #13 Itou! He hits a ball to left, and Matagawa charging in, can't get there! Shishikura scores to make it 4-0!
#9 Nakase comes in to PR for Itou.
Yamauchi can proabably put the nail in the coffin with a base hit, but he can't do that, grounding out to 2nd.
Neither Higuchi or Ozeki can bring Nakase home, but 4-0 already looks near impossible to come back from for Kochi.
Top 8th
#16 Okuda coming in to PH for Sakamoto, meaning that his day is done.
Grounder to the right side, goes past Yamauchi and under Higuchi's legs!
#7 Kitadai hits for Komatsu, tries a pop safety bunt, but it's not high enough and Yamauchi catches it.
Our first balk of the tournament is called on Yanagi, but it's of no consequence as Horio hits a chopper back to Yanagi for the 3rd out.
Bottom 8th
#11 Tagashira comes in for PH Okuda to take over on the hill. #13 Isshiki comes in for Matadai and takes over at C, whiles Kitadai stays in the game at LF.
Aoki immediately tests Tagashira with a bunt. Tagashira fields it, but short hops the throw. E1.
Yanagi pays back the favor by popping his bunt up. Wada catches it for the out. Aoki gets the base anyways by stealing it with not much from the throw by new C Isshiki.
Oof. Hiazaki takes a dead ball right in the ribs as he turns into it.
But Tagashira gets out of the jam striking out Shishikura.
Top 9th
The game has gone at quite the quick clip here and we're already in the 9th, just 100 minutes since the start.
And Kochi keeps it quick by going 1-2-3 in the 9th.
A great performance by ace Yanagi, and probably Kochi is left wondering if they couldn't have done anything more.
Notable Players
Wada Ren (Kochi) 1-3
Yanagi Yuuya (Yokohama) - CG, 0 ER, 3 H, 4 K, BB
Shishikura Kazuma (Yokohama) - 2-4, 2B, 2 R, 2 SB
Yamauchi Tatsuya (Yokohama) - 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
93rd Koshien Qualifying - Kanto Update
By the time I have come back to the Kanto region, we're pretty much approaching the finals in all prefectures. Such is the price of me trying to update every single bracket and trying to blog it while holding a regular 9-5 job. There's got to be a better way of doing it, but I need to book up on excel, access or something to figure out how...
Gunma
As the rounds progressed from the 3rd (which is what they were starting last I recapped), the lower seeded teams such as #7 Maebashi Ikuei, started falling by the wayside. In their case it was a shutout to Oomama (Please, no jokes here).
Also in the 3rd round, Shiritsu Isesaki, held scoreless for 6 innings and down 8, score 11 runs in the final 3 innings for the gyakuten win over Takasaki Keizaidai Fuzoku.
But the first real shoe to drop came in the quarterfinals. Top seed Maebashi Shougyou broke out to a 6-1 lead over Maebashi Kougyou before Maekou scored 4. Then when Maeshou extended the lead back to 3, Maekou got all those runs in the 9th to send it into extras. And in 12, Maekou would score the eventual winning run for the upset!
And if that weren't enough, in the very next game Takasaki Kenkoufukushi scores a run in the 9th to break a 4-4 tie with Jyutoku (who never led), to send the #2 seed home 5-4!
In a more milder upset, #5 Takasaki Shougyou scores 7 in the 8th to defeat #4 Takasaki 7-4.
The semis were not blowouts, but you seemed to know who was in control early. Takasaki Shougyou and Takasaki Kenkoufukushi advance to the finals, with one looking for their first Natsu Koushien appearance in over 2 decades, and the other looking for their first ever.
The final got off to a roaring start. Each team scored in the first two innings. The difference however is that Takasaki Kenkoufukushi continued scoring. For each of the next 5 innings. Takasaki Shougyou couldn't keep up with the scoring and as a result Takasaki Kenkoufukushi earns their first ever appearance with a 10-6 win!
Tochigi
Tochigi has gone from wrapping up the 2nd round to the semifinals (which is still going).
Finishing up Round 2, we had Ashikaga Minami scores 5 in the 8th to defeat Kurubane 5-3.
Round 3 saw another seeded team fall in Oyama who lost to Ashikaga Koudai Fuzoku 3-2 in 13.
But for the most part, things have gone as "planned" with the seeded teams advancing on. So the semifinals had Sakushin Gakuin defeating Bunsei Keidai Fuzoku 5-3 to reach the finals. But their opponent is not yet determined.
That's because the last remaining unseeded team in Utsunomiya Shougyou and Kokugakuin Tochigi battled to a 4-4 draw! This after Kokugakuin had to stave off elimination twice, down 2 in the 10th and down 1 in the 12th.
In the replay, seeded Kokugakuin Tochigi struggled. Despite giving up just 7 hits, Utsunomiya Shougyou made the most of those hits scoring 5 runs en route to a 5-1 win. So it's heavily favored Sakushin Gakuin versus the underdog Utsunomiya Shougyou, whose last Natsu Koushien appearance was in 1923. That's 88 years ago!
Ibaraki
Wrapping up the 2nd round, some of the seeded teams had trouble with their very first game. Tsuchiura Kohoku barely beat Tamataukuri Kougyou 1-0, and Mita Kiryou edging Ina 3-2 in 11.
Sadly for one of those teams, their run wouldn't last much longer. Mita Kiryou loses in the next round 6-4 to Tsukuba Shuuei.
In the round of 16 there were some close calls. #4 Fujioka almost got upset by Ishioka Dai-ichi, but won 2-1 in the bottom of 9th. Tsuchiura Kouhoku gets another scare as they were in a scoreless draw with Hasaki Yanagawa. In the 14th, Hasaki would score 2 putting a ton of pressure on the 7 seed. But I'm not sure how, but they found enough strength to rally for 3 runs and the win!
And finally there was Shimotsuma Dai-ni who had to stave off elimination in the 9th with 3 runs before defeating Tsuchiura Nichidai 8-7 in 12.
Remarkably, the entire bracket with the exception of Mito Kiryou went chalk. All higher seeds won their quarterfinal games and while not blowouts, they weren't in stressful situations either.
And yet for some reason, after going scratch for pretty much the entire tournament, it decides that the semifinals is a good time to turn everything on its head.
First, Fujishiro, despite being outhit 9-6 and committing 2 errors, find a way to upset top seed Jyousou Gakuin 2-0! Then Kasumigaura's ace Itou limits Suijyou to just 4 hits as they beat them 2-1!
So the top 2 seeds are gone, and it's the 4 and 6 seeds battling for the title! Kasumigaura had never been to Natsu Koushien (they did have a spring appearance in 1990), and Fujishiro went back in 2005 (plus 2 spring appearances in the early 2000's).
It was a back and forth battle as Kasumigaura came out to a 2-0 lead after 2, then Fujishiro came back with 2 in the next 2. Kasumigaura with 3 in the 5th retake the lead, but 2 in the 6th make the deficit 1. Fast forward to the bottom of the 9th, and Fujishiro is still down 1. #16 Yamaguchi had taken over for ace Itou on the hill and had gotten himself into some messes, including a bases loaded jam that he got out of with no damage.
3 outs to go and Fujishiro leadoff batter starts it off with a base hit. Needing only one run, they bunt the runner along. After a grounder to 1st, there were one out away. Cleanup batter Nakamura would step in. Yamaguchi gets strike 2 and gets excited. But on a full count, Nakamura walks! The sayonara run now was on base! Mitsu now stood in and once again Yamaguchi gets ahead 0-2, and again he's fired up. But then Mitsu hits one to left! The LF comes in but then pulls up! The ball falls in and Fujishiro ties the game! The LF didn't want to risk a miss on a diving catch and allowing the sayonara run to score! So it was now 5-5!
Satou up now and on any base hit they're sending the runner home...
2-0 pitch and the ball hits Satou. It's originally called a strike, but the umpire has to go over and call it a ball.
So 3-0 now and the risk of a manrui situation...
But Satou takes the pitch the other way into the right center field gap! Neither of the outfielders can get to it and it falls in! Nakamura scores as Yamaguchi falls to the ground. What was on the verge of excitement and joy was completely reversed for Yamaguchi and Kasumigaura... Whether it may have been the extra delay to get the count right, or the excitement that Yamaguchi may have felt being just 1 pitch away, it slipped away. And as much as we should congratulate Fujishiro for not giving up, Kasumigaura and more importantly Yamaguchi should be consoled for their loss.
Saitama
We were wrapping up the 3rd round in Saitama, and today are the finals.
Rounding up the 3rd round, Honjyou Dai-ichi down 3 scores 4 in the bottom of the 9th for the win over Fukaya Dai-ichi. They continued it in the next round winning in 10 over C seed (5-8) Shiritsu Kawagoe 3-2.
Kawagoe Higashi scores 4 in 9th reverse 2-run deficit to crush Kawagoe Nishi's hopes 4-2.
Just to show how hard it can be to win a prefecture, of the 16 seeds (2 A, 2 B, 4 C, 8 D), 8 advanced to the round of 16. 1 B seed , 2 C seeds and 5 D seeds all fell before then.
And just because you got here, doesn't mean you're there yet. Ageo though reaching the round of 16 was upset by Sayamagaoka 2-1 in the bottom of the 9th! Oomiya Higashi and Washimiya were fall here as well - along with powerhouse Seibou Gakuin who were defeated by Kasukabe Kyouei 4-2.
In the quarterfinals, all teams were in play on the 24th instead of on 2 separate days. Hanasaki Tokuharu, the only A seed remaining left, advanced without issue, much like the other games. Kasukabe Kyouei, thanks Sayamagaoka for defeating Ageo by letting them enjoy their summer with a 4-1 win. Urawa Gakuin, a faux D Seed mercy rules C Seed Oomiya Higashi. And unseeded Honjyou Dai-ichi upsets their 2nd seeded team in B seed Urawa Jitsugyou 4-2!
We had quite the semifinal battle early between Hanasaki Tokuharu and Urawa Gakuin. But tied at 2-2 after 5, Hanasaki pulls away with 4 runs in the next 3 innings for the 6-2 win. Battling them for the title would be Kasukabe Kyouei who had no trouble with Honjyou Dai-ichi 5-2.
The finals were set, and it slated to be a great matchup. And it was. The game was scoreless for the first 3 innings before C seed Kasukabe opened the scoring with a run. But an inning later, Hanasaki Tokuharu would respond with 2 runs to take the lead! It would be up to ace Kitagawa to hold it down for the top seed, and in the end he would, shutting down the Kasukabe offense and given Hanasaki Tokuharu their 2nd Natsu Koshien appearance, and 1st in 10 years!
Chiba
As Chiba was going into the Round of 16, when in theory all seeded teams could be remaining, we had our biggest upset of this tournament this year when Senshuudai Matsudo, an A seed, was upset by unseeded Tokyo Gakkan Urayasu 3-2!
More C & D seeds fell going into the round of 16, but in some cases it was unseeded vs. unseeded. Such was the case between Chiba Kokusai versus Chiba Shougyoudai Fuzoku. Shougyoudai had a 1-0 lead early, but the pitching couldn't hold Kokusai scoreless forever. As they started scoring from the 7th inning on, it seemed like Shougyoudai was lost. But they scored 4 in the 8th to comeback and win the game 5-4!
In another unseeded match last year's representative Narita went the distance against Tateyama Sougou before losing 3-2 in the bottom of the 15th.
Needless to say though, that the 2nd day of action to determine the round of 16 was much more kinder to the very top seeds. All in all, only 1 A seed (1-4) and 1 B seed (5-8), were lost.
In the round of 16, Tokyo Gakkan Urayasu in another unseeded game, fell behind 5-0 in the 1st 3 innings then came back to score a pair of runs in each of the next 3. Add an insurance run in the 9th and they were in the quarterfinals with a 7-5 win. Other than that everything went as expected though B seed Shigakukan was blitzed by C seed Kashiwa Nittai 6-1.
The quarterfinals began with an scare for A seed Narashino. Up 2 in the 9th against Chiba Keizaidai Fuzoku, reliever Kimura squandered the lead allowing Keizaidai to tie the game! Luckily for Narashino though, they were able to regroup one inning later and score the sayonara run.
Toukaidai Urayasu though wasn't as fortunate. Takushokudai Kouryou would score 6 in the middle innings and take a commanding 6-0 lead. The A seed would try to make a comeback late, but there just wasn't enough time. 3 runs in the 9th were not enough as they fell 6-4!
And finally, Tokyo Gakkan Urayasu would upset their 2nd seeded team in Awa by a comfortable margin of 5-1!
The semifinals saw more of the usual with Narashino as Takushokudai Kounan was mercy ruled in 7. But the 2nd semifinal was another shocker in the making. Right out of the gate, Tokyo Gakkan Urayasu would build a 5-0 lead on the A seed Ryuukeidai Kashiwa. Ryuukeidai would score 4 in the 4th to pull within 1. They kept the deficit at 1 after trading a pair of runs later on. And then in the 9th, they'd finally pull level with Tokyo Gakkan Urayasu. It seemed like perhaps the tide was changing.
But in the bottom of the 9th, TGU would open the inning with a ball over the outfielder's head for a leadoff triple! Instead of loading the bases, they elect to pitch to the next batter... who hits a single for the sayonara walk-off! Unseeded Tokyo Gakkan Urayasu upsets their 2nd A seed this tournament and 3rd seeded team overall and found themselves in the finals!
In the finals though, stood a stout and formidable Narashino squad, who mercilessly opened the game with runs in the first 3 innings to get a 4-0 lead. TGU was unable to get any timely hits to narrow the deficit. While the relief staff was able to stop the bleeding, the offense was unable to make any ground.
Eventually the relief corps would break down, first with a run in the 7th, then 5 in the 8th and 4 in the 9th. And while Tokyo Gakkan Urayasu would prevent the shutout in the bottom of the 9th, Narashino would win their 8th summer title and go to Koushien for the first time in 10 years with a 14-2 win!
Nishi Tokyo
When it comes to prefectures, or in case part of a prefecture, where there are a lot of teams, it takes a while for the good teams to emerge. I always wonder if it's worth it to mention those teams that will in all likelihood never make it, but pull off comeback victories and the like because at that time it continues their summer.
For instance, Eimeikan versus Kodaira Minami down 3-1 tie the game in the 8th and go into extras. Threatened with elimination again in the 12th, they score a run to extend the game. Then in the final inning, the bottom of the 15th, they score the winning run to advance.
But as we approached the Best 8 is when the good teams (or perhaps lucky) started to shake out. 2 instances were Kokugakuin Kugayama blowing a 4-run lead in the 9th to Toukaidai Sugao before winning 6-4 in the 11th on a 2-run HR by ace Kawaguchi. The 2nd was Horikoshi who down 1 in the bottom of the 9th tied, then scored the sayonara run with 2 down.
Meanwhile Oberlin, despite 2 HRs from 3B Yamaguchi, were only able to hold the lead of a half-inning before Eimeikan took the lead for good winning 7-5. On a similar note, Shouwa, who may not be long for the tournament after this game (as they're facing Waseda Jitsugyou aka Soujitsu), down 1 in the 9th to Meijidai Meiji, scores 2 for the walkoff win.
And while I could say, "and so it was" since Soujitsu did indeed beat them, but despite getting 10 hits and 6 free passes, they managed just a 2-1 win. Nichidai-san (aka Sanko), had some trouble with Hino... for a while. Up 7-0, Hino started chipping into the lead. 2 in the 4th, 3 in the 5th, and one more in the 7th off Yoshinaga (who came in part-way through the 5th), meant that Sanko's lead was just 1!
Then Sanko decided to floor it. 8 runs later and Hino was threatened with the mercy rule. 3 runs against ace Yoshinaga in 1 inning was too much to ask, and that was that. Waseda Gakuin reached the round of 8 again, with a 9-7 win over Kougakuindai Fuzoku that was less competitive than the score indicated, and Kousei Gakuen who has submariner Mizoguchi.
In an odd turn, and I'm not sure if it was to prevent games possibly running late, or of it was due to not wanting both Waseda schools at the stadium, but Waseda Gakuin's game versus Nichidai Tsurugaoka was moved to Hachiouji Municipal. The game was close early, as Waseda quickly closed a 2-run deficit early. But Tsurugaoka started pulling away late, capped off with 4 in the 9th for an 8-2 win.
The other quarterfinals, were just not competitive at all. In fact, Soujitsu, Sanko and Kousei combined shut out their opponents to the tune of 34-0, and all but Kousei went 5 (Kousei played just 1 inning more).
Higashi Tokyo
Higashi Tokyo, also had similar stories. For instance, Nittai Ebara bids sayonara to Sumida Kougyou right after Sumida scored a run in the 9th to tie the game up. Nichidai Buzan rallied with 2 in the the 8th and 9th innings to wipe out a 3-run deficit incurred after giving up 7 in the 7th to Sundai Gakuen.
In what could be considered a quarterfinal-type matchup, Kanto Dai-ichi survives against Yukigaya in the 3rd round 3-2.
And in perhaps an example of needing those extra vowels, Shutoku wins their game over Tokyo Shidai Todoroki and will play Shuutoku (the more well-known school) who shut-out Shouin.
Going to the round of 16 we had teams like Nisshougakushadai Fuzoku who scored 3 in the top of the 9th to defeat Tokyo Jitsugyou 4-2 interdispersed with quite a few regulars.
I think what's been surprising about the Tokyo tournaments is that the quarterfinals have been so lopsided. All 4 games ended via the mercy rule. That leaves us Teikyou v. Seiritsu Gakuen, and Nishogakushadai Fuzoku v. Kanto Dai-ichi.
Kanagawa
Kanagawa had some good stories in the beginning. Yamakita scored 3 in the bottom of the 9th to defeat Seya 7-6. Course, they faced Yokohama next. But they put a good fight against Yokohama. In fact, ace Dotemoto limited Yokohama to just 3 hits. 3! And Yamakita out-hit Yohohama 5-3! But it's the final score that matters, and that was 2-0 Yokohama.
Keiou oddly had trouble with their 3rd round opponent Yurigaoka. The final score was 3-2 and they managed just 7 hits. Nichidai Fujisawa would be next. And in that game, Keiou just didn't look the same. No offense, no pitching, and no win. Nichidai Fujisawa moves on with a 5-2 win.
Chigasaki Nishihama had a sayonara homerun from no other than their ace Furumura to win 6-3! And in the next round they almost did the same thing against Touin Gakuen. Down 3-0 in the bottom of the 9th they once again made their push. But it fell one run short as they lost 3-2.
In a bit of a surprise, Hosei Dai-ni advances to the round of 16 with a 4-0 win over Kamakura Gakuen. I don't think I can recall a time when I really mentioned a Hosei team.
The round of 16 saw my dream of a back-to-back haru-natsu renzoku yuushou disappear. An early HR from Usuda wasn't enough for them as Yokohama scores 3 to end Toukaidai Sagami's bid. Next up would be Tachibana Gakuen (立花学園 - that one) who handled Nichidai 5-0.
Koujyou would have to wait one more day to figure out their opponent. Yokohama Sougakukan and Yokohama Ouyou both scored a run in the 6th, both aces - Sueyoshi and Sawada went the full distance, and the teams combined for just 11 hits in a 1-1 draw. Possible note for the replay, Ouyou batters struck out 19 times.
So onto the next day of games, and I don't think I had talked about Toukou Gakuen in years past, but here they are in the round of 16 beating Nichidai Fujisawa 2-1! Next up would be Hosei Dai-ni and ace Asano who shutout Sagamihara Sougou 1-0.
Touin Gakuen is looking to make a deep run yet again, and perhaps not get disappointed as in years past. They draw Busou next.
And finally, in the replay of the 1-1 tie, Yokohama Ouyou did indeed have problems, though they only struck out twice. Yokohama Sougakukan alone had 14 hits, more than the 1st game in total. And it would be Yokohama Sougakukan who would advance with a 3-0 win.
To the quarterfinals and Tachibana Gakuen gave Yokohama yet another challenge. Behind 3-0 they score 3 in the 7th to tie the game! Yokohama though would eventually win the game with a run in the 8th. But they've had some very close calls throughout the tournament. Yokohama Sougakukan would give it a crack next as Koujyou fell to them 5-1.
On the other side, Hosei Dai-ni's run ended rather flat against Toukou Gakuen 10-3 in 7. Touin Gakuen would be their opponent, though it required 12 innings to do so. One letter kanji difference between the two schools. Just a random observation.
To the semifinals and yet again, Yokohama gets a scare. Scoreless for the first 5 innings, they score 4 in the 6th. Despite that, Yokohama Sougakukan would start a comeback. Down 0-4, to 1-4, 1-5, 2-5, then 2 in the bottom of the 8th to make it just a 1 run ball game! Ace Souma retakes the hill in the 9th for the win, and they're in the finals - though perhaps not necessarily in the manner perhaps we were expecting.
And the other semifinal was a tug of war between Toukou and Touin, with neither side really able to break free from the other. That was until Kubota hit a 2-run HR in the 6th to give Toukou a 5-3 lead. But that wouldn't last either as Touin brought the deficit to 1 again. Though they had their chaces, Touin couldn't get that equalizer and as such Toukou advances to meet Yokohama!
Gunma
As the rounds progressed from the 3rd (which is what they were starting last I recapped), the lower seeded teams such as #7 Maebashi Ikuei, started falling by the wayside. In their case it was a shutout to Oomama (Please, no jokes here).
Also in the 3rd round, Shiritsu Isesaki, held scoreless for 6 innings and down 8, score 11 runs in the final 3 innings for the gyakuten win over Takasaki Keizaidai Fuzoku.
But the first real shoe to drop came in the quarterfinals. Top seed Maebashi Shougyou broke out to a 6-1 lead over Maebashi Kougyou before Maekou scored 4. Then when Maeshou extended the lead back to 3, Maekou got all those runs in the 9th to send it into extras. And in 12, Maekou would score the eventual winning run for the upset!
And if that weren't enough, in the very next game Takasaki Kenkoufukushi scores a run in the 9th to break a 4-4 tie with Jyutoku (who never led), to send the #2 seed home 5-4!
In a more milder upset, #5 Takasaki Shougyou scores 7 in the 8th to defeat #4 Takasaki 7-4.
The semis were not blowouts, but you seemed to know who was in control early. Takasaki Shougyou and Takasaki Kenkoufukushi advance to the finals, with one looking for their first Natsu Koushien appearance in over 2 decades, and the other looking for their first ever.
The final got off to a roaring start. Each team scored in the first two innings. The difference however is that Takasaki Kenkoufukushi continued scoring. For each of the next 5 innings. Takasaki Shougyou couldn't keep up with the scoring and as a result Takasaki Kenkoufukushi earns their first ever appearance with a 10-6 win!
Tochigi
Tochigi has gone from wrapping up the 2nd round to the semifinals (which is still going).
Finishing up Round 2, we had Ashikaga Minami scores 5 in the 8th to defeat Kurubane 5-3.
Round 3 saw another seeded team fall in Oyama who lost to Ashikaga Koudai Fuzoku 3-2 in 13.
But for the most part, things have gone as "planned" with the seeded teams advancing on. So the semifinals had Sakushin Gakuin defeating Bunsei Keidai Fuzoku 5-3 to reach the finals. But their opponent is not yet determined.
That's because the last remaining unseeded team in Utsunomiya Shougyou and Kokugakuin Tochigi battled to a 4-4 draw! This after Kokugakuin had to stave off elimination twice, down 2 in the 10th and down 1 in the 12th.
In the replay, seeded Kokugakuin Tochigi struggled. Despite giving up just 7 hits, Utsunomiya Shougyou made the most of those hits scoring 5 runs en route to a 5-1 win. So it's heavily favored Sakushin Gakuin versus the underdog Utsunomiya Shougyou, whose last Natsu Koushien appearance was in 1923. That's 88 years ago!
Ibaraki
Wrapping up the 2nd round, some of the seeded teams had trouble with their very first game. Tsuchiura Kohoku barely beat Tamataukuri Kougyou 1-0, and Mita Kiryou edging Ina 3-2 in 11.
Sadly for one of those teams, their run wouldn't last much longer. Mita Kiryou loses in the next round 6-4 to Tsukuba Shuuei.
In the round of 16 there were some close calls. #4 Fujioka almost got upset by Ishioka Dai-ichi, but won 2-1 in the bottom of 9th. Tsuchiura Kouhoku gets another scare as they were in a scoreless draw with Hasaki Yanagawa. In the 14th, Hasaki would score 2 putting a ton of pressure on the 7 seed. But I'm not sure how, but they found enough strength to rally for 3 runs and the win!
And finally there was Shimotsuma Dai-ni who had to stave off elimination in the 9th with 3 runs before defeating Tsuchiura Nichidai 8-7 in 12.
Remarkably, the entire bracket with the exception of Mito Kiryou went chalk. All higher seeds won their quarterfinal games and while not blowouts, they weren't in stressful situations either.
And yet for some reason, after going scratch for pretty much the entire tournament, it decides that the semifinals is a good time to turn everything on its head.
First, Fujishiro, despite being outhit 9-6 and committing 2 errors, find a way to upset top seed Jyousou Gakuin 2-0! Then Kasumigaura's ace Itou limits Suijyou to just 4 hits as they beat them 2-1!
So the top 2 seeds are gone, and it's the 4 and 6 seeds battling for the title! Kasumigaura had never been to Natsu Koushien (they did have a spring appearance in 1990), and Fujishiro went back in 2005 (plus 2 spring appearances in the early 2000's).
It was a back and forth battle as Kasumigaura came out to a 2-0 lead after 2, then Fujishiro came back with 2 in the next 2. Kasumigaura with 3 in the 5th retake the lead, but 2 in the 6th make the deficit 1. Fast forward to the bottom of the 9th, and Fujishiro is still down 1. #16 Yamaguchi had taken over for ace Itou on the hill and had gotten himself into some messes, including a bases loaded jam that he got out of with no damage.
3 outs to go and Fujishiro leadoff batter starts it off with a base hit. Needing only one run, they bunt the runner along. After a grounder to 1st, there were one out away. Cleanup batter Nakamura would step in. Yamaguchi gets strike 2 and gets excited. But on a full count, Nakamura walks! The sayonara run now was on base! Mitsu now stood in and once again Yamaguchi gets ahead 0-2, and again he's fired up. But then Mitsu hits one to left! The LF comes in but then pulls up! The ball falls in and Fujishiro ties the game! The LF didn't want to risk a miss on a diving catch and allowing the sayonara run to score! So it was now 5-5!
Satou up now and on any base hit they're sending the runner home...
2-0 pitch and the ball hits Satou. It's originally called a strike, but the umpire has to go over and call it a ball.
So 3-0 now and the risk of a manrui situation...
But Satou takes the pitch the other way into the right center field gap! Neither of the outfielders can get to it and it falls in! Nakamura scores as Yamaguchi falls to the ground. What was on the verge of excitement and joy was completely reversed for Yamaguchi and Kasumigaura... Whether it may have been the extra delay to get the count right, or the excitement that Yamaguchi may have felt being just 1 pitch away, it slipped away. And as much as we should congratulate Fujishiro for not giving up, Kasumigaura and more importantly Yamaguchi should be consoled for their loss.
Saitama
We were wrapping up the 3rd round in Saitama, and today are the finals.
Rounding up the 3rd round, Honjyou Dai-ichi down 3 scores 4 in the bottom of the 9th for the win over Fukaya Dai-ichi. They continued it in the next round winning in 10 over C seed (5-8) Shiritsu Kawagoe 3-2.
Kawagoe Higashi scores 4 in 9th reverse 2-run deficit to crush Kawagoe Nishi's hopes 4-2.
Just to show how hard it can be to win a prefecture, of the 16 seeds (2 A, 2 B, 4 C, 8 D), 8 advanced to the round of 16. 1 B seed , 2 C seeds and 5 D seeds all fell before then.
And just because you got here, doesn't mean you're there yet. Ageo though reaching the round of 16 was upset by Sayamagaoka 2-1 in the bottom of the 9th! Oomiya Higashi and Washimiya were fall here as well - along with powerhouse Seibou Gakuin who were defeated by Kasukabe Kyouei 4-2.
In the quarterfinals, all teams were in play on the 24th instead of on 2 separate days. Hanasaki Tokuharu, the only A seed remaining left, advanced without issue, much like the other games. Kasukabe Kyouei, thanks Sayamagaoka for defeating Ageo by letting them enjoy their summer with a 4-1 win. Urawa Gakuin, a faux D Seed mercy rules C Seed Oomiya Higashi. And unseeded Honjyou Dai-ichi upsets their 2nd seeded team in B seed Urawa Jitsugyou 4-2!
We had quite the semifinal battle early between Hanasaki Tokuharu and Urawa Gakuin. But tied at 2-2 after 5, Hanasaki pulls away with 4 runs in the next 3 innings for the 6-2 win. Battling them for the title would be Kasukabe Kyouei who had no trouble with Honjyou Dai-ichi 5-2.
The finals were set, and it slated to be a great matchup. And it was. The game was scoreless for the first 3 innings before C seed Kasukabe opened the scoring with a run. But an inning later, Hanasaki Tokuharu would respond with 2 runs to take the lead! It would be up to ace Kitagawa to hold it down for the top seed, and in the end he would, shutting down the Kasukabe offense and given Hanasaki Tokuharu their 2nd Natsu Koshien appearance, and 1st in 10 years!
Chiba
As Chiba was going into the Round of 16, when in theory all seeded teams could be remaining, we had our biggest upset of this tournament this year when Senshuudai Matsudo, an A seed, was upset by unseeded Tokyo Gakkan Urayasu 3-2!
More C & D seeds fell going into the round of 16, but in some cases it was unseeded vs. unseeded. Such was the case between Chiba Kokusai versus Chiba Shougyoudai Fuzoku. Shougyoudai had a 1-0 lead early, but the pitching couldn't hold Kokusai scoreless forever. As they started scoring from the 7th inning on, it seemed like Shougyoudai was lost. But they scored 4 in the 8th to comeback and win the game 5-4!
In another unseeded match last year's representative Narita went the distance against Tateyama Sougou before losing 3-2 in the bottom of the 15th.
Needless to say though, that the 2nd day of action to determine the round of 16 was much more kinder to the very top seeds. All in all, only 1 A seed (1-4) and 1 B seed (5-8), were lost.
In the round of 16, Tokyo Gakkan Urayasu in another unseeded game, fell behind 5-0 in the 1st 3 innings then came back to score a pair of runs in each of the next 3. Add an insurance run in the 9th and they were in the quarterfinals with a 7-5 win. Other than that everything went as expected though B seed Shigakukan was blitzed by C seed Kashiwa Nittai 6-1.
The quarterfinals began with an scare for A seed Narashino. Up 2 in the 9th against Chiba Keizaidai Fuzoku, reliever Kimura squandered the lead allowing Keizaidai to tie the game! Luckily for Narashino though, they were able to regroup one inning later and score the sayonara run.
Toukaidai Urayasu though wasn't as fortunate. Takushokudai Kouryou would score 6 in the middle innings and take a commanding 6-0 lead. The A seed would try to make a comeback late, but there just wasn't enough time. 3 runs in the 9th were not enough as they fell 6-4!
And finally, Tokyo Gakkan Urayasu would upset their 2nd seeded team in Awa by a comfortable margin of 5-1!
The semifinals saw more of the usual with Narashino as Takushokudai Kounan was mercy ruled in 7. But the 2nd semifinal was another shocker in the making. Right out of the gate, Tokyo Gakkan Urayasu would build a 5-0 lead on the A seed Ryuukeidai Kashiwa. Ryuukeidai would score 4 in the 4th to pull within 1. They kept the deficit at 1 after trading a pair of runs later on. And then in the 9th, they'd finally pull level with Tokyo Gakkan Urayasu. It seemed like perhaps the tide was changing.
But in the bottom of the 9th, TGU would open the inning with a ball over the outfielder's head for a leadoff triple! Instead of loading the bases, they elect to pitch to the next batter... who hits a single for the sayonara walk-off! Unseeded Tokyo Gakkan Urayasu upsets their 2nd A seed this tournament and 3rd seeded team overall and found themselves in the finals!
In the finals though, stood a stout and formidable Narashino squad, who mercilessly opened the game with runs in the first 3 innings to get a 4-0 lead. TGU was unable to get any timely hits to narrow the deficit. While the relief staff was able to stop the bleeding, the offense was unable to make any ground.
Eventually the relief corps would break down, first with a run in the 7th, then 5 in the 8th and 4 in the 9th. And while Tokyo Gakkan Urayasu would prevent the shutout in the bottom of the 9th, Narashino would win their 8th summer title and go to Koushien for the first time in 10 years with a 14-2 win!
Nishi Tokyo
When it comes to prefectures, or in case part of a prefecture, where there are a lot of teams, it takes a while for the good teams to emerge. I always wonder if it's worth it to mention those teams that will in all likelihood never make it, but pull off comeback victories and the like because at that time it continues their summer.
For instance, Eimeikan versus Kodaira Minami down 3-1 tie the game in the 8th and go into extras. Threatened with elimination again in the 12th, they score a run to extend the game. Then in the final inning, the bottom of the 15th, they score the winning run to advance.
But as we approached the Best 8 is when the good teams (or perhaps lucky) started to shake out. 2 instances were Kokugakuin Kugayama blowing a 4-run lead in the 9th to Toukaidai Sugao before winning 6-4 in the 11th on a 2-run HR by ace Kawaguchi. The 2nd was Horikoshi who down 1 in the bottom of the 9th tied, then scored the sayonara run with 2 down.
Meanwhile Oberlin, despite 2 HRs from 3B Yamaguchi, were only able to hold the lead of a half-inning before Eimeikan took the lead for good winning 7-5. On a similar note, Shouwa, who may not be long for the tournament after this game (as they're facing Waseda Jitsugyou aka Soujitsu), down 1 in the 9th to Meijidai Meiji, scores 2 for the walkoff win.
And while I could say, "and so it was" since Soujitsu did indeed beat them, but despite getting 10 hits and 6 free passes, they managed just a 2-1 win. Nichidai-san (aka Sanko), had some trouble with Hino... for a while. Up 7-0, Hino started chipping into the lead. 2 in the 4th, 3 in the 5th, and one more in the 7th off Yoshinaga (who came in part-way through the 5th), meant that Sanko's lead was just 1!
Then Sanko decided to floor it. 8 runs later and Hino was threatened with the mercy rule. 3 runs against ace Yoshinaga in 1 inning was too much to ask, and that was that. Waseda Gakuin reached the round of 8 again, with a 9-7 win over Kougakuindai Fuzoku that was less competitive than the score indicated, and Kousei Gakuen who has submariner Mizoguchi.
In an odd turn, and I'm not sure if it was to prevent games possibly running late, or of it was due to not wanting both Waseda schools at the stadium, but Waseda Gakuin's game versus Nichidai Tsurugaoka was moved to Hachiouji Municipal. The game was close early, as Waseda quickly closed a 2-run deficit early. But Tsurugaoka started pulling away late, capped off with 4 in the 9th for an 8-2 win.
The other quarterfinals, were just not competitive at all. In fact, Soujitsu, Sanko and Kousei combined shut out their opponents to the tune of 34-0, and all but Kousei went 5 (Kousei played just 1 inning more).
Higashi Tokyo
Higashi Tokyo, also had similar stories. For instance, Nittai Ebara bids sayonara to Sumida Kougyou right after Sumida scored a run in the 9th to tie the game up. Nichidai Buzan rallied with 2 in the the 8th and 9th innings to wipe out a 3-run deficit incurred after giving up 7 in the 7th to Sundai Gakuen.
In what could be considered a quarterfinal-type matchup, Kanto Dai-ichi survives against Yukigaya in the 3rd round 3-2.
And in perhaps an example of needing those extra vowels, Shutoku wins their game over Tokyo Shidai Todoroki and will play Shuutoku (the more well-known school) who shut-out Shouin.
Going to the round of 16 we had teams like Nisshougakushadai Fuzoku who scored 3 in the top of the 9th to defeat Tokyo Jitsugyou 4-2 interdispersed with quite a few regulars.
I think what's been surprising about the Tokyo tournaments is that the quarterfinals have been so lopsided. All 4 games ended via the mercy rule. That leaves us Teikyou v. Seiritsu Gakuen, and Nishogakushadai Fuzoku v. Kanto Dai-ichi.
Kanagawa
Kanagawa had some good stories in the beginning. Yamakita scored 3 in the bottom of the 9th to defeat Seya 7-6. Course, they faced Yokohama next. But they put a good fight against Yokohama. In fact, ace Dotemoto limited Yokohama to just 3 hits. 3! And Yamakita out-hit Yohohama 5-3! But it's the final score that matters, and that was 2-0 Yokohama.
Keiou oddly had trouble with their 3rd round opponent Yurigaoka. The final score was 3-2 and they managed just 7 hits. Nichidai Fujisawa would be next. And in that game, Keiou just didn't look the same. No offense, no pitching, and no win. Nichidai Fujisawa moves on with a 5-2 win.
Chigasaki Nishihama had a sayonara homerun from no other than their ace Furumura to win 6-3! And in the next round they almost did the same thing against Touin Gakuen. Down 3-0 in the bottom of the 9th they once again made their push. But it fell one run short as they lost 3-2.
In a bit of a surprise, Hosei Dai-ni advances to the round of 16 with a 4-0 win over Kamakura Gakuen. I don't think I can recall a time when I really mentioned a Hosei team.
The round of 16 saw my dream of a back-to-back haru-natsu renzoku yuushou disappear. An early HR from Usuda wasn't enough for them as Yokohama scores 3 to end Toukaidai Sagami's bid. Next up would be Tachibana Gakuen (立花学園 - that one) who handled Nichidai 5-0.
Koujyou would have to wait one more day to figure out their opponent. Yokohama Sougakukan and Yokohama Ouyou both scored a run in the 6th, both aces - Sueyoshi and Sawada went the full distance, and the teams combined for just 11 hits in a 1-1 draw. Possible note for the replay, Ouyou batters struck out 19 times.
So onto the next day of games, and I don't think I had talked about Toukou Gakuen in years past, but here they are in the round of 16 beating Nichidai Fujisawa 2-1! Next up would be Hosei Dai-ni and ace Asano who shutout Sagamihara Sougou 1-0.
Touin Gakuen is looking to make a deep run yet again, and perhaps not get disappointed as in years past. They draw Busou next.
And finally, in the replay of the 1-1 tie, Yokohama Ouyou did indeed have problems, though they only struck out twice. Yokohama Sougakukan alone had 14 hits, more than the 1st game in total. And it would be Yokohama Sougakukan who would advance with a 3-0 win.
To the quarterfinals and Tachibana Gakuen gave Yokohama yet another challenge. Behind 3-0 they score 3 in the 7th to tie the game! Yokohama though would eventually win the game with a run in the 8th. But they've had some very close calls throughout the tournament. Yokohama Sougakukan would give it a crack next as Koujyou fell to them 5-1.
On the other side, Hosei Dai-ni's run ended rather flat against Toukou Gakuen 10-3 in 7. Touin Gakuen would be their opponent, though it required 12 innings to do so. One letter kanji difference between the two schools. Just a random observation.
To the semifinals and yet again, Yokohama gets a scare. Scoreless for the first 5 innings, they score 4 in the 6th. Despite that, Yokohama Sougakukan would start a comeback. Down 0-4, to 1-4, 1-5, 2-5, then 2 in the bottom of the 8th to make it just a 1 run ball game! Ace Souma retakes the hill in the 9th for the win, and they're in the finals - though perhaps not necessarily in the manner perhaps we were expecting.
And the other semifinal was a tug of war between Toukou and Touin, with neither side really able to break free from the other. That was until Kubota hit a 2-run HR in the 6th to give Toukou a 5-3 lead. But that wouldn't last either as Touin brought the deficit to 1 again. Though they had their chaces, Touin couldn't get that equalizer and as such Toukou advances to meet Yokohama!
Saturday, July 16, 2011
93rd Koushien Qualifying - July 12th-15th (Kanto Region)
Covering Kanto will be tough considering the sheet number of games that will be played. But we got to cover them, so いくよ！
Gunma
Gunma actually gets a break after games on the 12th. Well, it was supposed to be anyways.
At Isesaki, Tsumagoi used a 4-run 8th to pull a reversal on Oota Kougyou 6-4. Nishioura held a 3-0 lead over Oota, but watched as the lead slipped away. Oota would tie the game and force extra innings. In the 11, Nishioura scored a run, but couldn't close out the game as Oota got a run on ace Morie. Onto the 12th and once again Nishoura scored a run, and once again Morie couldn't hold. But after that neither team could mount another charge. And thus the game ends in a 5-5 draw!
Moving on to Kiryuu, and Haruna uses a 4-run bottom of the 8th to beat Maebashi Nishi 5-2. Tatebayashi Shoukou scores 7 in the 6th to win 8-0 in 7 against Shibukawa Kougyou.
Takasaki Jyounan is our next stop and Oota Shougyou and Takasaki Kenkoufukushi advance via the mercy rule. In the 3rd game, Takasaki Higashi retakes the lead right after Annaka Sougou scores 3 to take a 1 run lead. They would go on to win 4-3.
Finally at Shikishima, Tokiwa has no problem with Maebashi Minami, while Maebashi Kougyou and Isesaki Shougyou throw 4-0 shutouts.
Nishoura and Oota would come back the next day for their replay, and both aces retook the hill. However, Oota's ace Tajima couldn't keep up the 2nd time around and was knocked out in just 2 innings. By that time, Nishioura was up 6-0 and went on to win by that margin at 13-7.
Tochigi
Tochigi is well into their 2nd round now. So let's see what's happened since the 11th:
Round 1
Ibaraki had completed 1st round play by the 13 and was off until the 16th.
Kasama
In notable games from the 2nd round:
July 12th
Kami-Yugi
Round 2
Edogawa-ku Stadium
Meiji Jingu Stadium
Edogawa-ku Stadium
Round 1 (July 12~14)
With all teams in play, games are generally played in twos with the winners at each stadium meeting up in the next round.
Gunma
Gunma actually gets a break after games on the 12th. Well, it was supposed to be anyways.
At Isesaki, Tsumagoi used a 4-run 8th to pull a reversal on Oota Kougyou 6-4. Nishioura held a 3-0 lead over Oota, but watched as the lead slipped away. Oota would tie the game and force extra innings. In the 11, Nishioura scored a run, but couldn't close out the game as Oota got a run on ace Morie. Onto the 12th and once again Nishoura scored a run, and once again Morie couldn't hold. But after that neither team could mount another charge. And thus the game ends in a 5-5 draw!
Moving on to Kiryuu, and Haruna uses a 4-run bottom of the 8th to beat Maebashi Nishi 5-2. Tatebayashi Shoukou scores 7 in the 6th to win 8-0 in 7 against Shibukawa Kougyou.
Takasaki Jyounan is our next stop and Oota Shougyou and Takasaki Kenkoufukushi advance via the mercy rule. In the 3rd game, Takasaki Higashi retakes the lead right after Annaka Sougou scores 3 to take a 1 run lead. They would go on to win 4-3.
Finally at Shikishima, Tokiwa has no problem with Maebashi Minami, while Maebashi Kougyou and Isesaki Shougyou throw 4-0 shutouts.
Nishoura and Oota would come back the next day for their replay, and both aces retook the hill. However, Oota's ace Tajima couldn't keep up the 2nd time around and was knocked out in just 2 innings. By that time, Nishioura was up 6-0 and went on to win by that margin at 13-7.
Tochigi
Tochigi is well into their 2nd round now. So let's see what's happened since the 11th:
Round 1
- At Kanuma, Utsunomiya Kita levels the score at 3 in the 9th then gets the gyakuten run in the 10th to beat Kaminokawa. The 2nd game on the 12th saw Hakuoudai Ashikaga slide by 2-1 on Seiran Taito. And in the last game scheduled for the stadium, Kanumi Minami goes the minimum on Nasu Kaijyou.
- Prefectural Tochigi saw seeded Ootawara have to rally from down 6-0 to Utsunomiya Shougyou to tie the game in the bottom of the 9th. All that work though went for naught when Utsunomiya scored a run in the 10th for the upset! Fellow seed Kokugakuin Tochigi proceeded to the next round though only by a 5-2 margin against Sano.
- Tochigi Municipal on the 12th had 2 blowouts with Kuroiso Minami and seeded Mooka Kougyou winning easily while Ashikaga Kougyou had to forfeit to Kanuma Shoukou. The next day was more competitive as Kurubane scored 2 in the bottom of the 9th to defeat Utsunomiya Higashi 4-3 while Motegi survived a 9th inning rally to defeat Mibu 4-3.
- Utsunomiya Minami started off Round 2 with a 7-4 win over Tochigi Kougyou. Their next opponent will be Utsunomiya who beat Imaichi 14-2. Also at Prefectural Tochigi, seeded Sakushin and Bunsei Geidai Fuzoku both won by the mercy rule. Bunsei will play Sakura Seishuu after beating Mooka 4-2.
- Nasu Seihou will be Sakushin Gakuin's opponent in the round of 16 after just getting by Oyama Hokuou 2-1. Yaita Chuo and Kanuma will meet up in the round of 16 after both shut out their respective opponents, Sano Nichidai and Utsunomiya Seiryou.
Ibaraki had completed 1st round play by the 13 and was off until the 16th.
Kasama
- Tokiwadai scores the only run in its game against Koga Dai-san, while Yuuki Dai-ichi gets the last laugh with its 4 runs in the 9th reversing the 4 Sowa Kougyou scored in the 1st to win 6-5.
- Souwa and Ushiku Eishin will square off in their next round after winning their respective games. Hasaki and Ibaraki, who played on the 13th, will too face each other after winning their games, though Ibaraki almost blew a 4-run lead in the bottom of the 9th.
- Tamataukuri Kougyou's reward for beating Tsukuba Kouka will be a matchup against #7 Tsuchiura Kohoku while Ina will face #3 Mito Kiryou. Shimodate Dai-ichi after getting the sayonara victory against Ryuugasaki Minami will play Tsuchiura Dai-san.
- Midorigaoka led Katsuta Kougyou 3-2 before Katsuta scored 2 in the bottom of the 8th to take the lead. But then Midorigaoka scored 2 of their own to re-take it. And then Katsuta scored 2 more to... well... win. Mito Kougyou will meet #6 Kasumigaura after mercy ruling Hitachi Dai-ichi
In notable games from the 2nd round:
- Yashio scores 1 in the 8th and 2 in the 9th to beat Yashio Minami 5-3.
- Almost all seeded teams advanced with little opposition. 3-4 seed Okegawa gave up 4 runs to Matsuyama in the 5th to take a 5-2 lead. An insurance run in the 7th proved to be the difference as Okegawa would score 3 in the bottom half of the inning to close within 1.
- Fudouoka, down 7-4, rally in the last 2 innings to tie it at 8 versus Kawagoe. The game goes 5 more innings before Fudouoka completes the comeback to win 9-8 in 14.
- Unseeded Seibou Gakuen moves on with a 6-1 win over Hanyuu Jitsugyou.
- In the 11th, Oomiya Kita would score 2 right after Kitamoto scored 1. Of course that means that Oomita Kita scored the winning run.
- Honjyou Dai-ichi scores 3 in the bottom of the 8th to make a reversal on Koshigaya Nishi 4-3.
- Sakae Kita has a lucky 7 as 5 runs propel them to a 7-5 win over Kumagaya Nishi.
- Finally, Shiritsu Urawa and Wakou do all their scoring in the last 2 innings, but it was the 2-1 margin that Urawa had that was the difference.
- 9-16 seed Sayamagaoka shuts out Fukaya Shougyou 4-0.
- Omiya Prefectural is where the major seeded teams go. 1-2 seed Hanasaki Tokuharu and Rikkyou Niiza both win handily. However Ageo struggled with Kumagaya Shougyou. Only able to build a 3-0 lead, Kumashou mounted a 2-out comeback in the bottom of the 9th. They made a pitching change and recorded the last out.
- 9-16 seed Kawaguchi needed runs in the 8th and 9th to defeat Shouhei 4-3.
- Tokorozawa Kita's advancement by forfeit showed a bit as they had to rally twice, once in extras, to defeat Namegawa Sougou 3-2 in 11.
- 5-8 seed Kasukabe Kyouei has a smoother 2nd round as they beat Kodama 10-0 in 6 innings.
- Seibou Gakuen faced their first tough game against Tokorozawa Chuo going 12 innings before winning 4-3.
- It was a crazy 11th inning between Sakae Higashi and Asaka. Sakae Higashi scored 2 and looked to advance, but it was Asaka who had the last laugh scoring 3 to finish the game!
July 12th
- Senshuudai Matsudo and Chiba Meitoku were involved in a late scramble. Down by 1, Chiba Meitoku scores 2 to take a 4-3 lead over the top 4 seed. Matsudo scrambling in the bottom of the 9th ties it up! And then in extras Meitoku once again puts the pressure on the top seed with 2 more runs! Yet Matsudo proves their mettle by once again scoring enough to tie the game! And after a scoreless 11th, the game is called a draw (much to my surprise).
- Toukaidai Bouyou, a strong non-seeded team was hanging in there against Ryuukeidai Kashiwa. But things went horribly wrong in the bottom of the 8th, and Kashiwa separated themselves with 4 runs for a 9-5 win.
- 5-8 seed Shigakukan had opportunity after opportunity against Kokubun. 9 hits, 16 walks, and yet it took until the bottom of the 10 for them to score the one and only run of the game.
- 9-12 seed Sakura Nishi was completely blindsided by Matsudo Kokusai, falling 8-0 in 8 innings.
- Yakuendai emphatically states it doesn't want to play extras, breaking a 4-4 tie with 4 in the top of the 9th over Mobara Shougyou.
- Chiba Kougyou blows a 2-0 lead to Tougane, but manages to tie it up and win in the bottom of the 10th.
- Nagasa shocks Shiritsu Matsudo as they score 4 in the top of the 9th. This after Matsudo had scored 2 the prior half inning to lead 4-2.
- 5-8 seed Kisaradzu Sougou in deep trouble against Kemigawa, score 6 in the bottom of the 8th to win 8-5.
- Narashino 3-hits Chiba Minami in 7, advancing with a 7-0 win.
- 5-8 seed Chiba Keizaidai Fuzoku was in a lot of trouble against Chuo Gakuin. In fact after 5 innings they trailied 5-0! But Chuo Gakuin couldn't stand the pressure of holding the lead. Immediately they started giving back runs - 2 in the 6th, then 1... 2.... 3... 4 runs in the 7th meant that Chuo would have to come from behind. But as is generally the case you get one shot and Chuo sadly wasted it. 7-5 Chiba Keizaidai Fuzoku advances.
- 9-12 seed Awa handles Chiba Kita easily in their 1st game 11-4 in 7 innings.
- And in the replay of the Senshuudai Matsudo-Chiba Meitoku game, Chiba Meitoku couldn't repeat their performance. Matsudo advances 5-2.
- 13-16 seed Keiai Gakuen in their first game manages just 3 runs, but shuts out Shuumei Yachiyo.
- 5-8 seed Takushokudai Kouryou goes into extras against Kisaradzu, and manages to win in the 10th inning 4-2.
- A lot of the lower seeds are having difficulties in their opening games and 9-12 seed Choushi Shougyou is no different, beating Shounan Takayanagi 3-0.
- 13-16 seed Makuhari Shougyou does fall, 4-1 to Chiba Shoudai Fuzoku.
- Tokyo Gakkan Urayasu is one of the teams to start 3rd round play and advance 6-3 over Funabashi Keimei.
- Ryuukeidai Kashiwa is taken to the limit against Funabashi Higashi, scoring the sayonara run in the bottom of the 9th.
- Narita moves onto the 3rd round, though by only a 5-1 margin over Nagareyama Ootakanomori.
- And in their 3rd game in 3 days, Senshuudai Matsudo moves on with a 6-2 win over Chiba Kougyou.
- Kisaradzu Sougyou is one of the first major teams to fall. Playing against Yachiyo, the teams plated at least 1 run in each of the first 3 innings. Combine that with a run for Kisaradzu and it was a 6-5 lead. But then in the lucky 7, Yachiyo scores 7 for a 12-6 lead! Then in the 8th, Kisaradzu fighting for its life scores 6 to tie the game! Surely this would break Yachiyo. But thir 5th pitcher, SS Nakayama couldn't build on the momentum. He gives up 3 runs in the 9th. Kisaradzu tries to make one more rally, but can only manage 1 as they fall 15-13!
- Meanwhile Awa has trouble of their own against Narita Kokusai. Down 3-1, they score 2 in the 8th, then down 4-3 they score 2 in the 9th for the win.
- 9-12 seed Kashiwa Nittai needed 2 in the 7th to beat Funabashi Futawa 6-4.
- 5-8 seed Shigakukan defeats Abiko Higashi, but only pulled away late with 8 runs in the last 2 innings.
- Former participant Yachiyo Higashi advances with a 6-4 win over Kashiwa, though the game was tenuous in the middle innings.
- Narashino up against Kashiwa Chuo in the 3rd round advances with a 6-2 win. And I can't tell what they were doing because they used 5 pitchers in the game!
- Kamagaya moves on, coming from down 4-1 to win 5-4 in the bottom of the 9th to send Oohara home.
- Toukaidai Urayasu also got a scare from Sodegaura. After falling behind 2-0, they score 4 in the 6th and eventually won 5-3.
- Tokyo Gakkan will be Awa's next opponent after shutting out Tsudanuma 3-0.
- Amaha tries to rally against Chiba Nishi, but falls one run short. Chiba Nishi will face Yachiyo who mentioned earlier defeated Kisaradzu Sougou.
- Yotsukaidou is the next 13-16 seed to fall, losing to Shounan 3-2.
Kami-Yugi
- 1st round - Kodaira Minami holds off 9th inning rally by Nerima Kougyou, win 2-1.
- Waseda Jitsugyou dispatches Keimei Gakuen 12-1 in 5.
- Meiji Gakuin Higashi-Murayama needs 10 innings to plate their runs, but beat Yamazaki 2-0.
- Meijidai Nakano-Hachiouji defeats Taisei 7-1. Y'know it's a wonder how the Big 6 schools aren't better represented here.
- Hino, who reached the Best 4 not too long ago, defeats Meisei 7-0 in 8.
- Chuodai Fuzoku had taken the lead 3-1 over Tanashi Kougyou with 3 in the 8th, but gave up 3 in the bottom of the 9th for the loss.
- In a bizarre called game, Touhou and Nerima were in a 10-8 game after Nerima scored a run in the top of the 7th. Three pitchers pitch the 7th for Nerima, but combined they cannot record 3 outs. Touhou scores 9 to call the game at 17-10!!
- Teikyou Hachiouji beats Fuchuu Higashi 3-1.
- Round 1 - Hinodai gets the go-ahead run in the 9th on Toyotama to win 4-3.
- Teikyoudai falls 7-0 in 8 to Mitaka.
- Souka easily beats Musashi Murayama 10-0 in 7.
- Round 2 - Toukaidai Sugao easily defeats Takushoudai Dai-ichi 13-4 in 7.
- Round 1 - Fuchuu and Kokubunji win their respective games via mercy rule and will play each other next round.
- Round 2 - Nichidai-ni continues their run with a 7-0 win over Kunitachi while Meijidai Nakano scored 4 in the 8th to separate themselves in a 7-3 win over Machida Kougyou.
- Dai-yon Shougyou rallies to tie the game against Tamadai Hijirigaoka, but can't respond when Tamadai scores the go-ahead run in the 8th.
- Kousei Gakuen (not to be confused with Kousei Gakuin), handles Mizuho Nougei 15-0 in 5.
- Machida can't erase a 3-run deficit to Higashi-Yamato Minami and fall 4-3.
- Hamura breaks the deadlock with Itsukaichi in the 10th to win 4-3.
- Wako did one better the next game (if you consider how long extra inning games a good thing) by going 11 after giving up a 2-ru lead to Tama Kougyou to win... yep 4-3.
- The next day Toua Gakuen had to rally down 3-0 to Jissen Gakuen and tied the game in the 8th. They scored the sayonara run in the 9th to win... 4-3.
- Kogakuindai Fuzoku allows Houseidai to get back into the game, but 2 runs in the 7th prove to be the final margin. The finals score is not 4-3. It's 5-3.
- Shouwa, down 3-0 to Hachiouji Kita in the top of the 9th finds a way to tie the game and send it to enchousen. There they score the winning run to win... 4-3. (Hah!)
- Waseda Gakuin, who seems to play 2nd fiddle to Waseda Jitsugyou when it comes to baseball beats Musashigaoka 5-2.
Round 2
Edogawa-ku Stadium
- In a matchup that I thought should have been later, it wound up being lopsided as Kanto Dai-ichi mercy rules Kokushikan 8-0 in 7.
- Some home-cooking does the trick for Edogawa as they score the winning run against Kaisei in the top of the 8th to win 7-6.
- Teikyou continues to plug along quickly with a 7-0 win over Shouwa Tetsudou in 7.
Meiji Jingu Stadium
- In another game that seemed a bit of a surprise, Shouin scores 10 in the 5th on their way to mercy ruling Kokugakuin 14-7.
- Nishogakushadai Fuzoku beats Sougou Kouka's 3 runs in the middle innings with 5 of its own in a 5-4 win.
- Tokyo Jitsugyou cancels a quick 2-0 lead by Keika Shouyou then scores 4 in the 8th for the victory.
- Kaijyou slops a little after building an 8-0 lead on Tsukubadai Fuzoku Komaba, but hold to won 8-5.
- Daidou Bunkadai Dai-ichi defeats Risshoudai Risshou 16-0 in 5.
- Kuritsu Kudan watches Itabashi level the score at 1 in the 6th, but replied with a run of their own to retake the lead. That would hold as they win 2-1.
- In almost a replay of the first game, Shibaura Koudai recovers after Higashi scores the equalizer in the 6th to win 2-1.
- Shinjuku was one step behind Ikubunkan the entire game, scoring runs the inning after they did. Sadly, they ran out of innings to come back and fell 10-9.
- Momijigawa tried to make a 2-run first stick, but Ryuugoku would scratch away to tie the game in the 8th. Momijigawa would have the last laugh though as they scored in the bottom of the 10th.
- Nihon Wellness jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first, and led 5-3 after 4. 2 more in the 6th and they looked comfy over Tokyo Shidai Todoroki. However, Todoroki would score 5 in the bottom of the inning shocking Wellness. 3 more in the 8th spelled the deathknell for the team.
- Also showing the ranking on the totem pole (in baseball anyways), Waseda falls to Shuutoku 9-0 in 7 innings proving that yes Waseda may have the brains, but Waseda Jitsugyou has the balls. (Boy, that sounded wrong)
- And not to be mistaken for the aforementioned team, Shutoku edges out Tokyo Seitokudai Fuzoku 5-4.
- Earlier, I had mentioned that I thought I had seen the strangest called game. I was wrong. This one was. Kaetsu Ariake vs. Hinode. Hinode had just scored 3 in the 4th to take a 6-5 lead. Innocent enough. Then Kaetsu scores 7 and then 6 to take a commanding 18-6 lead. But before they could eliminate them, Hinode scores 3 to keept the game going, but just. After one run from Ariake in the 7th, Hinode needed 4 to avoid a called game. They scored 5 and were trailing 19-14! That's when Ariake stepped on the gas, scored 8 and seemed to put the game out of reach. In fact it was. Hinode could only muster 3 as they lose 27-17 in 8 innings!
Edogawa-ku Stadium
- Teikyou continues to cruise along defeating Jyoutou 14-2 in 7.
- Houyuu Gakuen gives up a 2-0 lead to Risshisha, but scores the sayonara run in the 9th.
- Hongou and Kinjyou Gakuen get involved in a barn-burner, though it didn't start out that way. Kinjyou led 4-1 through 5 before Hongou scored 4 in the 6th to take the lead. Kinjyou retook the lead one inning later with a pair of runs. Then after Hongou tied it at 6 in the 8th, Kinjyou once again took that run back. Hongou then tried to end it in the 9th with 5 runs, but then Kinjyou scored 4 and they went into extras tied at 11! It would be the 11th inning where Kinjyou would finally finish Hongou off, but not before the teams 37 hits and 13 walks in this marathon!
- Jyousaidai Jyousai staves off a rally by Koyamadai to win 4-3.
- Komaba's run to the title ends in the 3rd round to Adachi Gakuen when they score 3 in the top of the 9th to break a 2-2 tie.
- Adachi Gakuen continues to chug along with a 12-0 win over Oomori Gakuen.
- Tsukubadai Fuzoku stays with Katsushika Shougyou coming back twice before scoring the sayonara run in the 9th.
- Adachi Kougyou held a comfortable 7-2 lead heading into the late innings. But for some reason or another, the team imploded in the 8th. Shiba scores 7 runs to take a 2-run advantage. Adachi cannot rally and thus make an early exit.
Round 1 (July 12~14)
- Ayase and Zama Sougou were involved in a close match which went into extras. It continued as each team tallied a run in the 12th. But in the last inning, Zama broke through against Ayase's 3rd reliever Harada. 4 runs later and Ayase would be eliminated.
- Seya down 1 in the top of the 9th to Kanazawa Sougou ties the game, and like Zama scored 4 to win the game.
- At Yokohama Baystars Stadium, we had yet 2 more extra inning games. Kenritsu Shoukou let a 5-2 lead slip late to Tana, but win 6-5 in 10. Meanwhile, in the battle of "comprehensive" schools, Hadano Sougou was behind, took the lead, lost it, then won in 10 against Tsurumi Sougou 5-3.
- The first of two Tachibana Gakuen teams to play (立花学園) has no problem with Oohara 11-0 in 5.
- Koumyou Sagamihara and Shounan match each other inning for inning from the 4th inning on. Problem was that Koumyou scored 8 in the first 3, Shounan just 3. But to show how Shounan at least continued fighting, after Koumyou scored 5 in the 7th Shounan scored 5 of their own.
- Kanai breaks Kouhoku's heart by scoring 2 in the bottom of the 9th to win 2-1.
- Zushi scores 5 in the bottom of the 8th for a gyakuten victory over Yokohama Gakuen 6-3.
- The other Tachibana Gakuen (橘学苑) played at Yokohama Stadium on the 13th, and scored a run in each of the 6th-8th innings for a 4-3 win over Yokohama Shoukadai.
- The game after that saw Asahi do the exact same thing to Kanagawa Sougou Sangyou 8-5.
- As much as I rail on the university schools not doing well, I will give credit as Houseidai Dai-ni mercy rules Shounandai 9-0 in 7.
- Kanazawa makes a 1-0 lead stick defeating Hiratsuka Kouka.
- It'd be nice to see a school like Yokohama Science Frontier make a deep run, much like I like Nihon Koukuu (Yamanashi) because they're a pilot's academy, and they did rally twice to send it into extras, but Asano scores the winning run in the top of the 11th. Maybe next year.
- Miura Gakuen gives up a run in the 7th and 8th to Ebina tying the game, but scores 3 in the 9th for the win.
- Yokohama Hayato, the miracle from a couple of years ago begins their run on the 14th with a mercy win over Kashiwagi Gakuen at the scene of their championship, Yokohama Stadium.
- But Yokohama seems to have more close game than blowouts and Yokosuka Kougyou continues that trend with a 3-2 win in 10 over Odawara.
- Chigasaki Nishihama prevents extra innings with a run in the top of the 9th for a 2-1 win over Yamato Nishi.
With all teams in play, games are generally played in twos with the winners at each stadium meeting up in the next round.
- Yokohama starts round 2 play against Hakusan at Thirty-Four Sagamihara. Looks good for their first game with a 10-0 win in 6. Their next opponent would be Yokohama Shougyou who outlasted Yamato Minami 2-1 in 11.
- Seya and Yamakita won their respective games at Isehara and will play each other next round (you get the idea by now).
- Yokohama Hiranuma comes from behind with 2 in the 9th to defeat Fujisawa Nishi 6-5 and will play Nichidai next.
- Moto-Ishikawa, down 5-1 to Atsugi, scores 5 unanswered runs, 2 of them in the bottom of the 9th for the win.
- Toukaidai Sagami gets underway against Fujisawa Shouryou and actually found themselves behind 3-1. But a 4-run 7th helped given them the 6-4 win. Not very impressive to start their haru-natsu run.
- 立花学園 continues their run with a 7-2 win over Tourei Fujisawa, though only after score 5 in the 7th and 8th innings.
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