高校野球 (Kokoyakyu)

Onto our matinee games on the other half of the bracket.


Urawa Gakuin has played Ryuukokudai Heian close and took an opening volley from Oomagari Kougyou. For the Meiji Jingu runners-up, it's not very impressive. The one positive you can take is that they seem to be rounding into form. It's still not as dominant as you'd like, but they could still make the run you'd be expecting.

Kengifushou has had an easier time of things, easily handling both Matsushou Gakuen and Oumi. The games were close on the scoreboard, but they were anything but on the field. It also means that they have not been tested on the field yet. Urawa Gakuin will be by far their biggest challenge. Ace Takahashi could be up to the challenge, and with Urawa Gakuin's offensive production the way it is, we could be poised for another interesting game.

Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou (Gifu)
LF Murai Shouma
RF Hirose Masaru
3B Takegoshi Hiroyuki
LF Yamada Youta
C Katou Jyunya
1B Murahashi Kazuaki
SS Oono Rikuo
P Takahashi Shunpei
2B Sakashita Reon

Urawa Gakuin (Saitama)
3B Suwa Tadayoshi
2B Dai Kouta
SS Tsuda Shouki
1B Yamazaki Kouta
CF Kouki Yuushi
RF Takahashi Tsukasa
LF Araki Yuuya
C Nishino Shinya
P Eguchi Shouri

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14:05 - First Pitch

1st Inning
Eguchi cannot throw a strike! 4 pitch walk to Murai, and after a sac bunt, another 4 pitch walk to Takegoshi!

But ahead 3-1 Yamada swings away! WHY? Make him throw the 2nd strike! He pops up to 3rd.

And with Katou striking out, Eguchi gets away with a lot.

Dai gets a base hit for Urawa Gakuin, but Mori-kantoku's hit-and-run backfires when it turns into a strike em out, throw em out double play.

2nd-3rd Inning
And now we seem to enter the pitcher's duel. Eguchi has settled down after his very shaky 1st inning striking out 2 at the bottom of the order.

It continues to the 3rd inning where Eguichi racks up 2 more K's. And while batter are making contact off of Takahashi, he's probably having the better of it for Kengifushou because he's using less pitches.

4th Inning+
I'm just putting a plus in because this will just be running thoughts. Or a whole lot of nothing.

Which is what both teams are doing right now. Kengifushou can't hit the broad side of a barn against Eguchi, and while Takahashi is giving up the occasional free pass, it's nothing that isn't handled.

Sure, Kouki got a booming foul that ended up in the ouen-dan section, but it was still foul. And he still struck out.

Now, Urawa finally has something in the 5th when Takahashi gets a leadoff single. But weirdly, they don't bunt with the bottom of the order. See, I mind when teams over-bunt. This would not be such a situation because you know this is going to be a close game.

But Araki doesn't pull the trigger on a ball on the outside corner.

Nishino has a liner to right, but Sakashita makes a great leaping catch. And Eguchi can't help his own cause either.

So, at the break we're deadlocked at 0. Urawa Gakuin is having the better of it at the plate, as they're at least getting opportunities.

Urawa has another chance in the 6th. Suwa drops the safety bunt and though Takahashi barehands it, he still can't make the throw to 1st in time.

But after a sac bunt, Urawa Gakuin can't get that 2nd hit. Tsuda grounds to short, and Yamazaki just hits one back to Takahashi.

Huh, I was focused on the fact that neither team was really doing anything that I finally paid attention to the fact the announcers were saying Eguchi had a no-hitter.

And then Yamada drops one just inches in front of Kouki for a base hit. Heh.

Nishino snap throw to 1st... OUT!!!

Heh. The umpire takes his sweet time, but the call is emphatic. Yamada can only drop his head as he's picked off.

And then it becomes a 1-2-3 Lucky 7.

Uh oh. Takahashi might be cracking in Urawa's Lucky 7.

Back-to-back line shots to the outfield put runners at the corners and a timeout from Ogawa-kantoku.

Oh, Katou wanted that pitch. 0-2 to Araki gets no call.

And wouldn't you know it Araki takes the next pitch back up the middle past a diving Sakashita for a base hit. 1-0 Urawa Gakuin.,

Urawa tries the squeeze, but Nishino has to do all that he can just to foul off the pitch. He eventually strikes out, but it's a hit and run, so Araki takes 2nd with no throw (Takahashi is standing on 3rd).

Eguchi manages to hit a ball to left center that Murai runs down for a catch, but is in no position to throw home. Takahashi tags up, and it's 2-0.

Ace Takahashi has had it. Suwa singles to center and it's 3-0. Ogawa-kantoku calls time, but I Kengifushou might be on their last legs now.

Dai would have had a base hit had not Murahashi stopped the ball in front of him. Makes the tag and the side is retired. But 3 runs? Good luck with that.

8th Inning
Oh, and did I mention that they have 6 outs to make the comeback?

Takahashi gets the team's 2nd hit with a ball to right center.

And contrary to the official scorer, that wasn't an error on Kariya's ball to short. It was an irregular hop and should be a single.

And for the 2nd time, down multiple runs and 2 runners on base, with 1 out - they bunt. Oy.

Hirose hits a ball into the triangle in left center, but Tsuda makes the running catch. Down to their final 3 outs now. Still don't understand that strategy.

Back-to-back doubles for Urawa Gakuin just add to the sign that Takahashi should be humanely relieved. Yes, there's only 3 outs to go, but there's no character building in this.

Takahashi gives up 1 more run, but gets the 3 outs. Guess that's not too bad.

9th Inning
That's just not right. After a leadoff single by Takegoshi, Yamada lines out to Yamazaki who just moves his foot to the bag to double up Takegoshi.

Katou gets a base hit, but PH Makimura hits one back to Eguchi to end the game.

Takahashi did well to hold off Urawa Gakuin for 6 innings, but eventually the deluge came and he couldn't stop it. With just 5 hits they have a lot of work to do. But if Takahashi can improve his stamina, they'll stand a better chance.

Meanwhile, I have no clue what Mori-kantoku is doing over there at Urawa Gakuin, but he's making pitchers who throw average into staff aces - except for perhaps the 1st inning... and that Sendai Ikuei game. Still don't understand that crazy game.

Anyways, Eguchi will need that day off because in all likelihood it's Kendai Takasaki in the semifinals. Which coincidentally was when they played in the Kanto super-regionals. You know they've been circling this possible matchup as a revenge match.

It's the last day of Round 2 action, and it is entirely possible that there will be no school west of Osaka Touin, and only one school north of Kanto remaining. Given the schools that qualified it is entirely possible that this will not change come the summer. It's not something to be alarmed about per se, but this would be an extreme form of what we generally see at Koushien.

The first matchup is between teams that are not too far apart from one another. They also performed about the same in their first round games - not well. They played inferior teams, and wound up winning fairly close games. Oumi probably had the worse of it, winning 2-0, but batting a whopping 0.111.

Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou (Gifu)
LF Murai Shouma
RF Hirose Masaru
3B Takegoshi Hiroyuki
LF Yamada Youta
C Katou Jyunya
1B Murahashi Kazuaki
SS Oono Rikuo
P Takahashi Shunpei
2B Sakashita Reon

Well, that's more like it! I think we're finally starting to hit the groove now. So onto our matinee game is an all-central matchup between Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou and Matsushou Gakuen.

Kengifushou on paper has the better resume. A pitcher who can throw hard (though that in and of itself isn't a gamechanger) and has a splitter is always a good thing, but the lack of offensive production is an issue. Matsushou Gakuen finally makes it back, but their pitching is a step below, and the offense about the same.

I'm hoping for not a blowout in this game, but at the same time I realize that it's a hope and it probably won't happen.

Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou (Gifu)
LF Murai Shouma
RF Hirose Masaru
3B Takegoshi Hiroyuki
LF Yamada Youta
C Katou Jyunya
1B Murahashi Kazuaki
SS Oono Rikuo
P Takahashi Shunpei
2B Sakashita Reon

Matsushou Gakuen (Nagano)
CF Momose Masaya
2B Takano Yuuhi
LF' Funazaki Seiya
1B Arakura Kenta
3B Miyajima Shunpei
RF Yaguchi Naoki
SS Sakai Toshiki
C Matsubara Ryouta
P Onda Yuuya

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11:20 - First Pitch!

Top 1st
Two quick outs for Onda as Murai hit a soft looper to Sakai, and Hirose hits a fly to center that Murai doesn't have to move for.

But Takegoshi breaks that up and gets the hit out of the way. It's a clean single through the left side.

Yamaoka with ball to deep left, but Funazaki is there to make the catch. He give a high five to Momose as they pass each other and it's a clean inning to start.

Bottom 1st
Takahashi going for gusto early hitting 146, 150 and 147 on his first 3 pitches.

Momose fighting to stay in the AB, goes around on a 146 fastball inside.

After a 1 pitch out by Takano, Funazaki too succumbs to the fastball. He can't reach a ball outside and Takahashi has 2 Ks already.

Top 2nd
Things not going as swimmingly for Onda now. Katou with a ball to the left side, Sakai with the dive, but it's off his glove and into left for a base hit!

Ogawa-kantoku giving the green light as Katou takes off for 2nd! Matsubara's throw to 2nd... not in time!

And now Murahashi with a clean single through the left side. Runner at the corners and no out!

Adachi-kantoku calls for time.

Murahashi takes off for 2nd! Matsubara doesn't get a clean grip on the ball and now there's 2 runners in scoring position!

Oono isn't being hasty though and ends up taking a walk! Manrui for Kengifushou!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Onda hits his counterpart on the very first pitch! Oshidashi HBP and it's 1-0 Kengifushou on the unforced error! And it's still manrui!

Sakashita with a ball back to Onda! He goes home for 1, throw to 1st... double play! Boy, did they need that!

They're not out of the woods yet as it's the top of the order and Murai.

SANSHIN!!!!

Onda gets Murai on a forkball to end the inning, but Matsuhou Gakuin gives Kengifushou a gift!

Bottom 2nd
I'm not sure how Matsushou will deal with a fireballer as Arakura grounds out to short.

Miyajima with a pop fly to center, Murai charging in dives... just off the end of his glove as he rolls over! Base hit for Matsushou!

But Yaguchi hits a ball to 2nd and AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

Sakashita, perhaps rueing his spoiling of the opportunity earlier, muffs the ball! It goes straight into right and Miyajima heads straight to 3rd and now Matsushou has something brewing!

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

Sakai uses Takahashi's power against him as he pushes a bunt to the right side! Murahashi is there, but can only go to 1st and Matsushou ties the game! It's 1-1!

Matsubara strikes out on a slider, but with some help of their own Matsushou has leveled the game!

Top 3rd
Kengifushou out to reclaim the lead quickly as Hirose lines a ball to right.

Arakura snap throw to 1st.. and they nail Hirose! Baserunning mistake there.And that hurts even more when Takegoshi draws the walk.

Wild pitch from Onda! Matsubara can't corral it and Takegoshi takes 2nd!

Yamada jumps on the first pitch, but flies out to center for the 2nd out.

And now Takegoshi takes off for 3rd! Arakura's throw to 3rd... and they nail him! Two outs on the basepaths and it's a 0 on the board!

Bottom 3rd
Onda, perhaps realizing that baserunners are at a premium, tries to work the count, draws a leadoff walk!

Back to the top of the order, and there's no bunt from Momose! However he flies out to left and perhaps an out is wasted.

So they make it up! Takano lays down the safety bunt! Takegoshi charging in, throws to 1st... SAFE! Takano does the head sliding thing and still beats out the throw for a base hit!

But Takahashi buckles down. He gets Funazkai on a slider, and then Arakura on a fly to left and just like that he's out of the jam.

Top 4th
Onda cruising along here in the 4th, getting Katou to ground out to 2nd, and striking out Murahashi on a slider.

Well, that was odd. Onda went through his delivery but dropped the ball. Everyone has a good laugh.

But Oono gets a single to right.

And now Takahashi comes through with a single through the left side! Has something gone wrong? #11 Haga is warming up.

あ。

That's not good. Onda leaves one over the plate and Sakashita drives it to left and it doesn't look good.

Yep. That's a no-doubt about it 3-run HR. Sakashita makes up for his errors in spades and it's now 4-1. Matsubara wanted that away, it was dead center.

And after Onda hits Murai, Adachi-kantoku has seen enough. #11 Haga comes in to relieve Onda who pitched well for 3.2 innings.

No offense to him, but with Matsushou into the bullpen, the game is over.

Hirose with a short liner to right, Yaguchi makes the great sliding catch to end the inning. But whatever momentum Matsushou Gakuen had is completely gone.

Bottom 4th
The comfortable lead allows Takahashi to pitch more aggressively now. Miyajima fights in his AB, but flies out to left. Yaguchi can't catch up to the fastball, and Sakai pops out. 3 up, 3 down.

Top 5th
Haga walks Takegoshi to start the inning, and when Yamaoka hits a ball back to Haga, he hesitates too long and his throw to 1st is late. Ogawa-kantoku, wanting to make sure the game is in hand, has Katou bunt.

But Murahashi, after his good 1st AB, has struggled and can't check his swing. He goes down for the 2nd time.

Oono lines out to left to end the inning, but Haga will probably have more innings like this going forward.

Bottom 5th
It's a new inning, but the same story. Matsushou's batters are swinging away and either popping out or striking out. We're at the break and the game already feels decided.

Top 6th
Takahashi with a booming drive to left center, Momose running it down and makes the catch for the 1st out.

Sakashita, perhaps feeling his oats goes after a high fastball and goes down for a K. Murai grounds to 2nd there after and Kengifushou is looking to shorten the game.

Bottom 6th
Matsuhsou has waved the white flag. Takano, Funazaki and Arakura all go down swinging. It's not pretty.

Top 7th
Hirose collects his 2nd hit of the game as well as a SB, but Haga gest Takegoshi to foul out to Matsubara at the back screen (with a guy in blond hair and a yellow jacket waving him over). Yamaoka succumbs to the forkball, and Katou flies out to center to end the inning.

Bottom 7th
I think the message came through that if you wanted to shorten the game, get them to hit the ball.

Unfortunately for Takahashi it still takes the same number of pitches, but he does retire the side in order.

Top 8th
Not much to see here, Kengifushou is retired in order as they're not looking on piling on the score.

Bottom 8th
Adachi-kantoku getting his bench players in. #16 Iidzuka comes in for Matsubara and #12 Atou comes in for Haga. Still they're retired in order.

Top 9th
#10 Tokuda comes in for Iidzuka and takes over on the hill. Atou stays in to play C.

Hey, Tokuda is a true sidearmer. That's cool.

Murai gets a base hit, then takes too big of a turn and Funazaki fires from left and guns him down. Heh.

Tokuda yields a walk to PH #18 Ueno, but gets Takegoshi to hit a comebacker for the 3rd out.

Bottom 9th
Ueno stays in to play RF and #16 Kariya comes in for Sakashita to play 2B.

Matsushou is retired in order yet again, and the game comes to an end.

I realize I was terse with the last couple of innings, but when you've seen as much Koushien as I have, you know when a team's been defeated for the most part. That 3-run HR pretty much did it. Matsushou Gakuen did okay all things considered, but they just ran into a brick wall today in Takahashi Shunpei.

Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou gets tested early, but got it easy late. Teams won't break down as quickly as Matsushou Gakuen, but a win is a win in your opening game. As one of my twitter friends said, Takahashi was high in the zone, but as long as he doesn't miss middle, there have been examples of pitchers who have lived at the top of the zone. it's rare to see from a Japanese pitcher, but considering we've seen significantly less bunting, anything is possible. Now about those head sliding into first...

Anyways, Kengifushou advances to the 2nd round where they'll face the winner of the next game. Takahashi appears to have the goods to be a power ace, but we'll need to see him against tougher competition to see if he really is one.

Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou, or Kengifusho as they are nicknamed, pokes its head into the Koushien field yet again after a year off. They're generally a main stay from Gifu, along with Shiritsu Gifu Shougyou and Oogaki Nichidai (which I managed to visit back in 2011, but got in trouble taking pictures - the only place where I did).

Their run was not necessarily trouble-free, but in every game up until the final (14 in all), they gave up 3 or fewer runs. However, they had 6 games where they scored 2 runs or less, 2 of which they lost.

A lot of their success then should be placed on their ace Takahashi Jyunpei (高橋 純平), who had a 0.47 ERA in 77 IP, while carrying a K/IP of >1, and a WHIP of 0.66! Yes, given the competition, it should be regressed, but at some point you have to tip your hat and say he's a great pitcher. He can supposedly hit 150 on the radar gun, and while he has the slider and curve, he has the new hot thing - a splitter. And if he indeed throws as hard as reports say, that splitter can wreak havoc upon the field.

Now, there's #10 Katamine Daisuke (片峯 大輔) and 1B Murahashi Kazuaki (村橋 主晟) who have spent time on the mound, but in all likelihood it will be as Takahashi goes, so does the team.

Offensively, while the team did struggle to score runs, they still managed to have a batting average of over 0.300 (0.314). But when two of your better XBH hitters are at the bottom of the lineup? Not so good. Their big RBI guy statistically was LF Hirose Masaru (広瀬 将), and he had 3 XBH in 13 hits.

I don't need to reiterate, but I might as well - depending solely on pitching to get you through (think Toyoudai Himeji of a couple of years back), is not a formula for success. It can get you deep into a tournament, but unless Takahashi can outlast the schedule - which may include a back-to-back set with Urawa Gakuin on the backend, 2 wins is probably as far as they can go. Upside is a title chance, but the offense cannot have an off day.

Our final quarterfinal matchup may or may not be an exciting matchup.  It's all because it depends on the battery for Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou.  The battery of Fujita and Kouyama each suffered injuries that jeopardized their participation going forward.

Now, with just 1 day of rest their team takes the field once again, and perhaps as no surprise, both are out on the field to start the game.  It still begs the question though as to what their actual health is coming in.  Kouyama because of the offense he brings, and Fujita because he's the ace.

If they're not 100% (especially Fujita), Kengifushou will probably be in a heap of trouble against Saibi.

And that's because Saibi has ace Anraku - who has completely taken the Haru Koushien by storm by the performance he had against Kouryou.  3 days later, he comes back to limit Seiseikou to just 1 run on 7 hits.

Now, he comes back on 1 day's rest to try and send his team to the semifinals.

This for him and his team is where fatigue will start to set in.  Anraku was fortunate enough to have that 232 pitch performance in the first game - but that's not to say that it depleted him so much that his stamina is much shorter.

Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou (Gifu) - Tokai Champions
LF Kawamura Renji
SS Noda Gento
3B Azuma Taito (#4)
1B Takenaka Hiroki
C Kouyama Takurou
CF Aoki Shouya
RF Hayashi Tomonori
2B Okimoto Takuya (#14)
P Fujita Ryouji

Saibi (Ehime) - Shikoku 3 seed
CF Ueda Kyousuke
RF Yamashita Takuma
SS Usagawa Riku
P Anraku Tomohiro
3B Oota Yuuya
1B Morita Shouhei (#15)
LF Goudouji Shin
C Kaneko Kouhei
2B Machida Takahiro

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13:46 - First pitch!

Top 1st
Kawamura right off the bat swings on the first pitch and hits a fly ball down the right field line.  Yamashita sprinting into foul territory, makes the catch against the fence for the 1st out!  Nice defensive play to start the game!

Anraku goes away on Noda and retires him on three straight, looking at a slider for the out.

And Anraku works Azuma in and out, striking him out on a fastball outside, and it looks to be business as usual for the Saibi ace.

Bottom 1st
Oy, the battery is already battered and Ueda starts Saibi off with a zinger past Fujita into center for a base hit.

After the sac bunt by Yamashita, a pitch from Fujita gets away from Kouyama and he loses track of it!  Ueda advances to 3rd, and Saibi already threatening here in the 1st.

Liner from Usagawa!  Azuma leaps, and it's off the end of his glove and into right field!  Ueda scores and Saibi quickly takes the 1-0 lead!

Fujita not going to buckle down early, gives cleanup batter Anraku no fastballs to hit and gets him to chase on a slider away for the 2nd out.

And then he turns around, pitches away exclusively to Oota before freezing him on a fastball inside for the 3rd out.  And if not for another inch of vertical from Azuma, it would still be a scoreless game.

Top 2nd
Takenaka hits a comebacker off of Anraku!  It deflects towards 3rd, but Oota can't get there to field it in time.  Wasn't a hard hit ball though, so Anraku is fine.

Kouyama trying to bunt Takenaka along, can't and falls behind 1-2.  Still shows bunt though.

It's a bust-and-run!  Kouyama tries to put it through the right side, but it's right to Morita!  He goes to 2nd for one, throw to 1st... wide!!  It gets away from Machida and into foul territory!  Kouyama takes off for 2nd, but the ball bounces off the wall and right to Kaneko!  He goes to 2nd and Kouyama is out by a mile for your run of the mill 3-6, E6, 2-6 DP.

Aoki with a fly to center.  Ueda going back, going back, backpedals... and makes the catch on the warning track for the 3rd out.

Bottom 2nd
Saibi continues to put the pressure on Kengifushou as Morita hits a 3-1 single just past a diving Noda into left.  Goudouji squares to bunt, but continues to take pitches, eventually falling behind 2-2.  Forced to swing away, he waves on a changeup away for the first out.

Kaneko also trying to bunt, this time what looks like a safety bunt, but for the 2nd straight batter they can't put one down.

Instead it's a hit-and-run!  But Kaneko can't make contact on a slider away and Kouyama throws out Morita for the strike 'em out-throw 'em out double play to end the inning!

Top 3rd
Bottom of the order attacking early as Hayashi takes the first pitch and grounds to 1st.

Okiyama with a shot past a diving Oota down the left field line for a double!  Anraku left that one over the plate.

Fujita up to help his own cause now and tie the game with a base hit.

And it's a grounder to the right side, through for a base hit!  But Okiyama is held up at 3rd!  Runners at the corners as the lineup turns over to Kawamura.

Grounder to short!  Usagawa has it, looks to start the 6-4-3 double play.  But Machida is a touch late to 2nd causing Usagawa to delay for a split second.  Throw to 1st is not in time and Okimoto scores to tie the game at 1-1!

Fujita-kantoku pressing with the hit-and-run!  Noda with a liner back up the middle, caught by a diving Machida!  Great catch to end the inning by the 2nd baseman!  But Kengifushou manages to put together a run from the bottom of the order and we're back to level!

Bottom 3rd
Machida turns around to start the 3rd, but unlike the sports highlight shows he does not come back to hit a home run or some key hit, instead he fouls out to Takenaka to start the inning.

It's back to the top of the order for Saibi, and Fujita immediately goes to the off-speed pitches.  Ueda is given absolutely nothing in the zone and yet he still chases a change down in the zone for the 2nd out.

Yamashita though with a drive to left center!!  Kawamura and Aoki converge on the ball, but it falls in front of the wall!  Yamashita on his wheels slides into 3rd safely with a 2-out triple!

Usagawa with another chance to drive in a run and gets ahead 2-0.  But he chases a ball wide and pops it up!  Noda ranging towards the left field line makes the catch and Fujita is out of the jam!

Top 4th
Anraku trying to get back on track gets Azuma to pop out to Usagawa.

But Takenaka turns on a fastball inside and drives it to right!  Yamashita back to the wall, but can't get there in time and he's in with a double!

Kouyama up now perhaps to give Kengifushou the lead, falls behind 1-2 but manages to work the count full... and the Anraku offering isn't even close!  Anraku once again in trouble here in the 4th as Kaneko goes out to talk to his ace.

Aoki stands in and once again Anraku gets ahead 1-2.  But again he tries to get Aoki to chase to no avail and the count runs full!

And Anraku walks him too!  It's manrui for Kengifushou!

Hayashi with a swinging dribbler to the right side!  It's off Anraku's glove and to the right side!  Machida picks it up and can only go to 1st for the out.  Takenaka scores and Kengifushou takes the 2-1 lead!

2 down and Okimoto steps in looking for another base hit.

But Anraku ramps up the fastball and gets him to chase one up and in for the 3rd out.  Still, he doesn't look sharp at all as Kengifushou gets the upper hand.

Bottom 4th
Anraku up to start the 4th and perhaps he's pressing because of his pitching because he waves on two straight sliders away and he's down on 3 pitches.

Oota comes back though and shoots one past a diving Azuma into left.

Morita up now, and Fujita can't find the zone at all.  He walks him on 5 pitches and now it's Fujita who looks a bit shaky.

Goudouji with the bunt up the 3rd base side.  Fujita takes it ahead of Kouyama, fires to 1st, but it's not in time!  Everyone's safe and now Fujita in a manrui pinch!

Kaneko stepping in, struck out in his last AB - how well is he?

Fujita quickly gets ahead of him 0-2, and Kaneko sends one to left center!  But it's shallow, and Oota can't advance as Aoki takes it for the 2nd out.

Machida the last chance here to extend the inning for Saibi and Fujita is giving him nothing in the zone and no fastballs.

SANSHIN!!!

Machida chases a 2-2 pitch in the dirt!  Kouyama coolly steps on home for the force and Fujita holds on to the slim 1 run lead!

Top 5th
After a quick comebacker by Fujita for the 1st out, it's back to the top and Kawamura.

Anraku hangs one and Kawamura drives it to deep center!  Ueda sprinting back to the fence, slides, but it falls right in front of the fence!  The ball is fired back in quickly, but Kawamura just slides in with a 1-out triple!  Anraku is back in the fire once again!

Noda looking to bring the run in and extend the lead.

Grounder to short!  Usagawa fires it home, but it short hops Kaneko and he can't field it cleanly!  It bounces away as Kawamura scores to give Kengifushou the 3-1 lead!!

Azuma up looking to put more pressure on Anraku.  But he lines one right to Morita!  Morita then walks over to 1st doubling off Noda for the 3-unassisted double play to end the inning.

Anraku and Saibi though look to be in a bit of trouble...

Bottom 5th
Top batter Ueda to lead off the 5th, and Fujita goes and plunks him on the first pitch.

Yamashita lays down the bunt, but it's right to Azuma.  He fires to Noda at 2nd, but the throw is down the 2nd base side!  Noda fields it, but Ueda runs full speed into him and they collide!  Both players are down as Ueda is called out.  Man, that looked hard.

Ueda is the first to get up and walk back to the dugout, but Noda stays down.  He gets looked at, but says he's fine and stays in the game.

Usagawa takes advantage of the break and drives the first pitch from Fujita to deep right!  Hayashi running back to the fence, slides, and it too falls in front of the fence!  Yamashita flying around the bases, scores all the way from 1st on the RBI triple by Usagawa!  Saibi pulls within 1 at 3-2 and threatens to tie the game with Anraku stepping in!

But once again Fujita goes slider away on Anraku.  And while he lays off the first two sliders, both are called for strikes.  Down 1-2, Anraku swings and misses on the 3rd slider and goes down swinging for the 3rd time today.

That leaves it up to Oota, who's 1-3 with 2 K's, to get the timely hit.

Fujita again not giving in, throwing a bunch of off-speed pitches down in the zone to Oota.  Down 1-2, Oota manages to hold off on a couple to fill up the count.

SANSHIN!!!!!

But Fujita wins the battle yet again!  Oota, on appeal, cannot check his swing and Fujita strands the douten run at 3rd!

We head to the break with Kengifushou, injured battery and all, leading a rather mortal-looking Anraku who does not appear to have his best stuff today.  Has the pitch count finally taken it's toll?

Top 6th
Takenaka off the break with a grounder to short.  Usagawa double clutches then throws it short to 1st getting by Morita for an E6.  Kouyama bunts him to 2nd as Kengifushou looks to add on as many runs as possible.

Aoki with a liner to right, over a leaping Machida!  Yamashita quickly gets it back in as Takenaka has to hold at 3rd.  Once again though Anraku in trouble...

Hayashi up and Fujita-kantoku tries the hit-and-run!  But the pitch is outside and Hayashi can only defensively foul it off!

2 strikes and again Fujita-kantoku sends Aoki!  Hayashi swings and misses, but the ball is in the dirt and Kaneko has no throw to 2nd.  A base hit here could put Saibi in a world of trouble.

SANSHIN!!!!

Anraku buckles down though and gets Okimoto to chase a slider away for out #3!  His team trails by just 1.

Bottom 6th
Possible injury change for Kengifushou (as if things weren't bad enough).  #15 Nagao comes in for SS Noda who probably was hurt in the collision earlier.

And Fujita is all over the place to Morita.  Pitches are slow and not even close as he walks him to put the douten runner on.  That gets Fujita-kantoku's attention as he sends Touyama out to calm his team (especially his son) down.

Meanwhile, the gears are turning for Jyoukou-kantoku as he sends in #3 Fujiwara to hit for Goudouji.

And he comes in to sac the runner along.  Interesting.

Fujita continues to struggle and the velocity stays down to Kaneko.  And Kaneko lines one... past a diving Nagao into center!  But Morita had to hold to wait for the ball to clear the infield and thus couldn't advance!  So runners on 1st and 2nd only for Saibi!

Machida steps in and swings on the first pitch and pops it up!  Okimoto under it as the infield fly rule is called and that's 2 outs now for Saibi.

And Fujita gets out of the inning!  Ueda pops it up!  Nagao goes out to shallow left and secures the ball for the 3rd out!  He's certainly laboring more now but he hangs up another bagel on Saibi!

Top 7th
Fujiwara comes in the game to play 1B.  Morita shifts to 3B and Oota goes out to LF.

Fujita quickly out on a first pitch fly to center.  Anraku then comes back to shut down Kawamura and Nagao for just his 2nd 1-2-3 inning this game.

Bottom 7th
Fujita's day is done now.  His dad has seen enough and will rely on the bullpen to finish out the last 3 innings.  Coming in is #10 Kuzuya.

Yamashita rudely greets him with a liner to left to start the lucky 7.

After an Usagawa flyout to center, that brings up cleanup batter Anraku - who has been held in check to the tune of 0-3 with 3 K's.

And this is worse!!  Anraku hits one back to Kuzuya who goes to 2nd for one, relay from Nagao to 1st... beats Anraku for the inning-ending double play!!!

Top 8th
Anraku back to struggling here in the 8th.  He falls behind Azuma 3-1 before getting him to ground to 3rd.  Takenaka and Kouyama run the count deep against him as well, but Anraku somehow manages to slide off the hook once again.

However, time is running out for his team.  Just 6 outs to go else their run is over.

Bottom 8th
That's interesting.  Despite not looking all that bad, Fujita-kantoku relieves Kuzuya and sends in #5 Gotou Masato.  Masato has had just 2 innings of work last fall, even less than Kuzuya.

Oota welcomes him as well with a liner to left.  Jyoukou-kantoku playing for the douten run as Morita bunts him along.

Uh oh.  Masato going to the slider repeatedly trying to get Fujiwara to chase, but he can't get him to bite and he can't find the zone!  He walks him and that gets Fujita-kantoku to send out #18 Hashimoto to calm down Masato.

And it's doing the opposite!  Masato was throwing his fastball up in the low-mid 130's but now is sitting in the high 120's as he's still not hitting the strike zone!!  He's definitely rattled as he walks Kaneko to load the bases!!

Fujita-kantoku in full scramble mode as #11 Touyama (who earlier went to the mound during a timeout), now takes the hill...

Jyoukou-kantoku, sensing a ripe opportunity, sends in #14 Hayashi Kanya in to hit for Machida as Kengifushou plays the infield in for a play at the plate.

First pitch Kanya hits it to 3rd!  It's off the glove of Azuma!  Everyone's safe and Kanya with the timely hit has tied the game at 3-3!!

Back to the top of the order and Ueda as Kengifushou looks to be reeling.

SQUEEZE!!!!

Ueda tries the squeeze, but fouls it off!

But he does one better!  He singles through the drawn in infield and Fujiwara scores to give Saibi their first lead since the 2nd inning!  It's 4-3 Saibi!!!!!

Yamashita to try and extend the lead, but he pops it up!  Takenaka settles under it as the infield fly is called for the 2nd out.  Touyama almost out of the jam.

But Touyama struggles against the lefty Usagawa!  He walks him and walks in a run to make it 5-3!

That brings up the always dangerous, though not today, Usagawa.

And now Touyama is ramping it up.  Fastballs in the mid-upper 130's, but he's all over the place.  He somehow manages to get 2 strikes as Anraku continues to flail.  But then he suddenly becomes more patient and works the count full....

And Touyama walks him!  He throws his first slider and it's high as he walks in another run to make it 6-3 Saibi!

That's it for Touyama.  Hayashi comes in from RF to pitch as #16 Niwa comes in for Touyama to take over in right.

Hayashi gets Oota to swing on the first pitch and fly to left.  The inning is mercifully over for Kengifushou, but not before a complete collapse here in the 8th...

Top 9th
So despite Anraku struggling all game, it's Kengifushou's bullpen that has collapsed.

Hayashi will stay in the game at 2nd as Anraku looks to close it out.

Aoki though will not make it that easy.  He hits one past a diving Morita into left for a base hit.

But Aoki presses too far when he tries to take 2nd on a ball that gets away from Kaneko!  He throws to 2nd and is thrown out!  Not a smart move considering his run doesn't matter (it does, but really it doesnt).

And now with no one on base Anraku has the clear position of advantage as Hayashi chases a slider for the 2nd out!

Last chance for Kengifushou as #12 Banno comes in to hit for Okimoto.  Anraku gets ahead 0-2, but then tries to get him to chase with no luck - filling up the count.

Banno then singles to left!  There's still a faint light for Kengifushou!  #13 Iwata comes in to run for Banno.

Niwa up for his first AB, and what a time to have it...

And Kaneko loses track of another ball!  This time he can't find it and Iwata takes 2nd!


Anraku comes back to get ahead 1-2 as Niwa fouls one off...

Niwa with a ball to the right side... that gets past a diving Hayashi!!  Iwata holds at 3rd and Kengifuhsou is able to send the douten runner to the plate!

Moreover, the lineup for Kengifushou flips back to the top and Kawamura.

Ohhhhhhhhhh.......

Fujita-kantoku sends Niwa on the first pitch!  Throw from Kaneko... not in time!!  That was a very risky call by Fujita-kantoku there.  His run still doesn't matter - only Kawamura.

Despite Kawamura representing the douten run, with 1st open Anraku can afford to pitch defensively to Kawamura as he falls behind 3-1.  Yet he goes inside with a fastball for strike 2!

Payoff pitch... grounder to 3rd!!  Morita with it, goes to 1st... Beats a diving Kawamura and Saibi comes from behind to defeat Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou 6-3!!

So despite Anraku looking rather shaky on the mound, they are bailed out by an obviously shorthanded Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou and advance to the semifinals!

But really you have to wonder what might have been for Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou.  If Fujita wasn't injured from last game, would Fujita have gone longer and held the lead?  Because up until the 6th, he had done a superb job on the mound.  We'll never know, but it certainly is a shame that we'll never really know - because they really looked like a contender in that Osaka Toin game, and even with the injuries looked good outside the bullpen.

Alas, that isn't the case.  Instead Saibi is the team that manages to survive and advance into an all-Shikoku matchup with rival Kochi!  Interestingly, Kochi and Saibi didn't play in the super-regionals so it should be interesting.


Notable Players
Anraku Tomohiro (Saibi) - W, CG, 3 ER, 9 H, 8 K, 2 BB
Yamashita Takuma (Saibi) - 2-4, 3B, 2 RBI, BB
Oota Yuuya (Saibi) - 2-5, R, 2 K
Fujita Ryouji (Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou) - ND, 6 IP, 2 ER, 8 H, 8 K, 2 BB, HBP
Takenaka Hiroki (Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou) - 2-4, 2B, R
Aoki Shouya (Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou) - 2-3, BB

So both Mori and Kinden are out for Osasa Touin...  How many more injuries will they face?

Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou (Gifu) - Tokai Champions
LF Kawamura Renji
3B Azuma Taito (#4)
CF Aoki Shouya
1B Takenaka Hiroki
C Kouyama Takurou
SS Noda Gento
RF Hayashi Tomonori
2B Okimoto Takuya (#14)
P Fujita Ryouji

Osaka Touin (Osaka) - Kinki 3/4 seed
CF Mori Shinnosuke (#13)
2B Minemoto Takumi
3B Kasamatsu Yuuya
RF Fukumori Hiroto
1B Tsujita Daiki (#8)
SS Mizutani Yuuya
C Kume Tateo
LF Tamura Toki
P Amimoto Kousuke (#11)

____________________________________________________________

14:10 - First pitch!

Top 1st
Is Amimoto their ace or something?  He's started both games.

Not that he's doing a poor job though.  After Kawamoto finally goes down swinging, Azuma and Aoki need just 2 pitches each to retire the side.

Bottom 1st
Shinnosuke with a drive to right! Hayashi running back to the fence, can't seem to get a solid beat on it and it falls in behind him!  Shinnosuke's in with a triple!

Minemoto with a hard shot to right!  Okimoto makes a great diving stop, throws to 1st and Shinnosuke can't score!

But Kasamoto fixes that in a jiffy, lining one to center.  1-0, Osaka Touin!

Fukumori with a grounder up the middle.  Noda fields it, but trips over Kasamtasu who's standing at 2nd!  Everyone's safe!

And that bad luck hurts Kengifushou as Tsujita singles to center as well, scoring Kasamatsu!  2-0 just that quickly!

Mizutani flies to center, but even without their 2 best hitters, they're still firing on all cylinders!

Top 2nd
Takenaka starts the inning with a 4-pitch walk!  Fujita-kantoku electing not to bunt, Koumoto hits it to 3rd, and it's off Kasamatsu's glove and into left!  Runners on 1st and 2nd now!

But during Noda's AB, Kume catches Takenaka standing in Kobe and picks him off!  What was the point of that lead??!

And now it's compounded when Noda singles past Mizutani into left!  Now all they have is runners on 1st and 2nd again!

Hayashi in his first start, falls behind 1-2, but starts fouling off pitches.

Grounder to the left side, gets by Tsujita... gets by Minemoto!  Kouyama rounding for home, and Fukumori forgets the ball!  He scores to make it 2-1!

Okimoto with a high chopper to 3rd! Kasamatsu goes home, tag from Kume... SAFE!!!!

The umpire calls him safe and we're tied at 2-2!!!

I guess from the replays Noda got his foot in right before the tag!

Fujita trying to help his own cause, does a bit by advancing the runners with a grounder to 1st.

Kawamoto with a short liner to left!  Kawamura charging in, reaches down, but it's off his glove!   Hayashi and Okimoto score and instead of a 2-run deficit, Kengifushou has a 2-run lead!!

Azuma flies out to left and this time Kawamura makes a great running catch in foul territory!  But that great catch is one batter too late for the score!

Bottom 2nd
Fujita having some trouble with the bottom of the lineup.  Kume goes full before flying out to center.  Tamura goes 2-2 before grounding to 1st, and then he loses Amimoto on a 3-1 fastball low.

The lineup flips back up to Shinnosuke.  Can he do something this time around too? He goes 2-2 before fouling off a couple of pitches.

But Fujita climbs the ladder and strikes him out swinging!

Top 3rd
Aoki with a liner to right center that splits the defense and goes to the wall!  He's in with a leadoff triple!!

Takenaka can't drive him in though as he grounds to short.

Koumoto with a grounder to short, AH!

Mizutani tries to backhand it for a play at the plate, but he can't field it with the glove!  It goes into left and now it's 5-2 Kengifushou!

Noda grounds into the 4-6-3 double play to end the inning, but they're one more run behind!  And now when it seemed like they weren't missing a beat with them missing, they may have needed their services after all!

Bottom 3rd
Minemoto inside outs one and bloops it down the left field line!

Nishitani-kantoku with the hit-and-run!  Kasamatsu with another timely hit lines to right!  Runners at the corners with no out!

Fukumori does his job.  He hits a sac fly to left to get a run in to make it 5-3.

Tsujita chases a ball at his shoulders and goes down for the 2nd out!

And after going 3-0 on Mizutani, he fills the count and then gets him to hit a weak grounder back to Fujita for the 3rd out!  But they get one run closer and there's still a lot of time.

Top 4th
Hayashi starts off the inning with a line shot to left.  Okimoto tries to bunt him along, but Amimoto fires to 2nd and gets the lead runner!

Fujita does move the runner along with a groundout to 2nd, but Kawamoto goes down swinging to end the inning.

Bottom 4th
The bottom of the lineup continues to struggle as bench players have been called into service.  It takes just 8 pitches to retire the bottom of the lineup, all on popups!

Top 5th
With #15 Murakami hitting for Amimoto, his day is done.  Ace Kusugawa comes in to pitch.

After retiring the first 2 batters on 2 total pitches, Takenaka denies Kusugawa the clean inning by hitting a single through to left.

But Kouyama grounds to 2nd to end the inning.

Bottom 5th
Once again, Fujita gets two quick outs from Shinnosuke and Minemoto, but walks Kasamatsu under the same circumstances as last inning!

Fukiumori with a high chopper that just deflects over Fujita's glove!  Okimoto with the backup, but by then he has no play!  All safe!

Tsujita with a liner over Azuma and down the left field line!  Kasamtasu scores on Tsujita's double and it's a 5-4 ballgame with Osaka Touin still threatening!

Mizutani with a soft liner right to Okimoto and the inning is over!  But like I said earlier there's still time and as we head into the break, Osaka Touin is just trailing by 1-run!

Top 6th
Noda almost gets unlucky with a 3-2 pitch which would have been called ball 4, goes off the end of the bat for a foul ball.  But he gets his walk on the next pitch anyways.

Fujita-kantoku electing for the hit and run, but Hayashi hits it back to Kusugawa!  He goes to 2nd for one, but Mizutani has to secure the ball after the slide by Noda.

Another hit and run!  Okimoto hits it to Kasamatsu who goes to 2nd, but Hayashi is safe!  Relay to 1st though still gets Okimoto for the 2nd out.

Oh!  Kusugawa hits Fujita on the back of the leg and has to be replaced with an injury runner.  Not a good development for Kengifushou, especially on the mound.

Fujita-kantoku probably not happy his pitcher got hit, does the hit and run!  He swings and misses but the throw from Kume not online and both runners are safe!

But Kusugawa jams him and he hits a grounder to 2nd to end the inning!  Kengiushou scores none, but more importantly, what about Fujita?

Bottom 6th
After a while, Fujita comes out and returns to the mound!  But how effective is he?  He's already in a dogfight with the reigning champs!

Kume flies out to left, which is a little different because he's been allowing grounders and popups instead of fly balls.

Tamura golfs one into the air, Okimoto and Hayashi converge on it near the foul line and Hayashi calls off Okimoto off to make the catch.

Again no 1-2-3 inning though as Kusugawa singles through the left side.  I think Fujita is leaving his pitches up now.

Back to the top of the order and Shinnosuke.

And Fujita gets him to strikeout on a pitch nowhere near the zone for the 3rd out!

Top 7th
Takenaka breaks up two groundouts to 2nd with a single to left.  Kouyama follows that up with a single past Minemoto!

But Noda's bid for a base hit loses to a jumping Tsujita for the 3rd out.

Bottom 7th
Fujita's pitch count continues to climb, but he for now is still able to retire the Osaka Touin batters.

Minemoto with a grounder to 2nd, Kasamatsu with one to 3rd.  And Fukumori chases one away and flies to right!

Top 8th
Kusugawa having no trouble with the bottom of the lineup and retires the side in order.  But there's only 6 outs left for Osaka Touin!

Bottom 8th
Oh, during Tsujita's AB, he stumbles after his delivery.  Is it the leg after he got hit?

Tsujita does fly out to center, 5 outs to go...

Mizutani with a deep fly to right!  Hayashi moving close to the fence makes the catch!  Are they making progress against Fujita!

Kume with a drive to left!  Kawamura chases it to the wall, but it's a double for Kume!

Fujita-kantoku calling time as Tamura comes in to try and score the douten run!  And the defense is leaving a large gap in left-center!

Fujita goes for a curve on 2-2 and Tamura pops it up!  Azuma in foul territory makes the catch and the side is retired!

Top 9th
Kawamoto with a short fly to right, Fukumori charging in... makes the diving catch!  Nice play by the RF!

Azuma though comes back and grounds one through to left for a base hit!

Fujita-kantoku will play for the run as Aoki bunts him over for Takenaka who is 2-3 on the day with a walk.

Nishitani-kantoku calls for time.  Will they walk him with the base open?

No!  They go after him and he hits a pop fly on the first pitch!  Tamura with the catch in foul territory and it's game time for Osaka Touin!

Bottom 9th
They have just 3 outs left in their bid to win 3 straight Koushien tournaments!

And the 9-1-2 batters are due up for Osaka Touin.

Kusugawa steps in and takes a big swing and a miss.  Another swing and a miss!  And he goes down on three sliders!  One out!

Slider for strike one to Shinnosuke.  Goes and chases another curve for strike 2!  Will Fujita ever throw a fastball?

Yes, but not for a strike.

And he fouls off another slider!

SANSHIN!!!!  He chases a slider and there's 2 outs!

Minemoto the last chance as Nishitani-kantoku calls time and has Tomoya talk to him.

Slider for strike 1, slider fouled off for strike 2!

Fastball way high and away for ball 1.

And Minemoto with an easy swing, carries a ball the other way for a base hit!

That brings up Kasamatsu with Tomoya talking to him as well...

Change in for strike 1!  Change misses for a ball.  Slider in for strike 2!!  Osaka Touin down to their last strike again!

Change high and away and Kasamtasu fouls it off!

Grounder to 3rd, and it's off Azuma's glove!  All safe!  Fukumori with a chance to tie it with a base hit!

He does!  Groundball back up the middle into center!  Minemoto sent home!  Throw from Aoki... Kouyama has it, collision!!

Ball pops out and he's safe!  No, wait!  He's called out for the collision at home!  Koumoto is in pain on the ground, but Minemoto is called out on the collision and that's the game!  Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou ends Osaka Touin's bid to win 3 straight calendar Koushien titles winning by the score of 5-4!!

It hasn't come with out a cost though, as Kouyama has to be helped off the field so he can't even stay for the school song.  And afterwords ace Fujita doesn't go to the oen-dan afterwards and is helped off the field himself!  They won the game, but may have lost their battery!

Interestingly, the organizers have shuffled games on days 5-7 such that even though teams have played their 2nd game already, here we have Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou and Hanasaki Tokuharu playing their first game.  It probably has something to do with trying to even out the days of rest all the teams get.

Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou went relatively unchallenged through the prefecturals/super-regionals save for a 4-3 win in 11 against their bretheren Shiritsu Gifu Shougyou, and a 2-1 win against Tokoha Kikugawa.  But in their first round matchup at Meiji Jingu, they would be soundly defeated by eventual champions Sendai Ikuei 6-2.

Apparently, Fujita-kantoku was the catcher the last time Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou went to Haru Koushien.  18 years later his eldest son, ace Fuijita Ryouhei has led his team back to Haru Koushien!

Ryouhei has started and finished all games except for the 2nd round of the prefectural taikai.  There they used a triumvirate of pitchers who never saw any action after that.  I can't find any other info on Fujita though, and the peripherals aren't really much different than other aces to find fault with or stand out.

Offensively, the team did post a 0.135 ISO in addition to a 0.336 batting average.  The hit production for the most part though decreased as they faced Koushien-level schools though, so it might be a problem.  The main drives is cleanup batter Takenaka Hiroki who has more triples (4) than doubles (3).

Opposing them are the Kanto runner-ups Hanasaki Tokuharu who unfortunately had to face eventual super-regional champions Urawa Gakuin twice.  And defeating a team twice in the same season is never an easy proposition.  In the super-regionals, they defeated a Yokohama Hayato squad known for playing up to their opponents, routed my favorite team Narashino 12-0 and held on to defeat Jyousou Gakuin 6-4 before blowing a lead late and losing in 10 to Urawa Gakuin.

Hanasaki Tokuharu primarily uses a tandem of ace Sekiguchi and reliever Kogure.  Sekiguchi averages over a K/IP, but has a K:BB ratio of 18:24 in 33.2 IP., Kogure has a 6 K/9 rate, but has a K:BB ratio of 20:3.

Offensively, their cleanup batter Wakatsuki Kenya is one of their main drivers, the other surprisingly is Mori Daiki who is usually in the bottom part of the order.  The team is not afraid to take walks, though that is always predicated on how their opponents pitch more than anything else.

Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou (Gifu) - Tokai Champions
LF Kawamura Renji
RF Niwa Kensuke (#16)
3B Azuma Taito (#4)
1B Takenaka Hiroki
C Kouyama Takurou
P Fujita Ryouji
CF Aoki Shouya
SS Noda Gento
2B Okimoto Takuya (#14)

Hanasaki Tokuharu (Saitama) - Kanto Runner-up
2B Yamamoto Ryuusei
3B Matsumoto Jyunpei
SS Kusumoto Taishi
C Wakatsuki Kenya
LF Furukawa Sumiya
1B Mori Daiki
CF Nozawa Takumi
P Sekiguchi Akihiro
RF Tada Tomoya

____________________________________________________________

13:45 - First pitch

Top 1st
Sekimoto is one of the few pitchers that can hit 140+ on the gun.  Kawamura grounds to short for the first out.

Niwa fails to get around on a fastball inside and goes down swinging.

Meanwhile Azuma takes a ball away and pulls it back up the middle past a diving Yamamoto!

But Takenaka swings on a change down and away and it's a good start for Sekiguchi

Bottom 1st
Fujita seems to be more in the mold of most aces, in the 130s with a change in addition to the normal fare.

Ryuusei goes down swinging on a slider away for the first out.  But they get a baserunner when Fujita hits Matsumoto.  Iwai-kantoku elects to bunt him over for a one-shot.

Wakatsuki flies to right though and that ends the inning.

Top 2nd
Sekiguchi issues his first walk to Kouyama to start the inning.  Fujita lays down the bunt, and Sekiguchi looks at 2nd before he picks up the ball, and doesn't pick up the ball!  He misses again and everyone's safe!

So Aoki lays down another bunt and there's 2 runners in scoring position!

Noda delivers!  He goes down on a slider and shoots it through to center!  Kouyama scores, throw from Nozawa not in time!  Noda winds up at 2nd on the throw and Kengifushou has the 2-0 lead!

Fujita-kantoku has Okimoto bunt to cycle the lineup back to the top and he lays one down.

Kawamura takes one back up the middle and that easily picks up Noda to make it 3-0!

Sekiguchi experiencing control isssues runs the count to 3-1, but Niwa's bunt attempt is popped up and caught by a diving Wakatsuki for the 3rd out.  But a lot of balls in the zone and an error by the ace lead to an early deficit!

Bottom 2nd
Furukawa turns on a fastball and drills it to right center!  Aoki runs it down, but not before Furukawa is in with a leadoff triple!  Hanasaki Tokuharu poised to get the run back.

But Mori grounds to 3rd and can't get him in!

Nozawa gets the job done with a slow grounder to short.  Hanasaki gets one of the runs back and it's now 3-1.

Sekiguchi chases 2 sliders in the dirt to go down swinging to end the inning, but they're slowing chipping away at the deficit.

Top 3rd
Azuma with his 2nd hit as he turns on an inside curve and singles to right.  Takenaka bunts him along to 2nd.

Koyama with a ball the other way into right!  Tada charging in, can't grab the ball!  He doubles back allowing Azuma to score!  It's 4-1 Kengifushou!

Fujita tries to bunt the runner over, but hits it right to Sekiguchi who starts the 1-6-3 double play to end the inning

Bottom 3rd
Tada gets Hanasaki's 2nd leadoff runner as he singles past Noda into left.  Ryuusei bunts him along.

Fujita gets Matsumoto to chase a change low for the 2nd out.

Rack one more up for Fujita as he freezes Kusumoto on an outside fastball for the 3rd out!

Top 4th
Kengifushou continues to hit off of Sekiguchi.  Noda gets his 2nd hit, a one-out single through the right side.

And another base hit for Kawamura!  He singles to left and that scores Noda to make it 5-1!

Niwa can't join the hit parade as he swings on a slider in the dirt to end the inning.  But it's clear that Sekiguchi is just getting too much of the plate and the Kengifushou batters are just teeing off.

Bottom 4th
Wakatsuki with a drive to left-center!  Kawamura running back to the fence, turns around!

HAITAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wakatsuki does deliver with a solo HR to left!  He gets a run back to make it 5-2, but there's still a long way to go.

And while Nozawa works a 2-out walk, he stranded when Sekiguchi grounds out back to Fujita.

Top 5th
Sekiguchi not doing himself any favors as he hits Azuma to start the inning.

Fujita-kantoku elects not to bunt with Takenaka or Kouyama, and both flyout to center.

Fujita can't check his swing on a fork in the dirt and that ends the inning.  It's not a 1-2-3 inning, but it's a 0 on the board.

Bottom 5th
The rain seems to be coming down as people prepare their ponchos and umbrellas.  Not serious though, seems like it's light if at all.

Outside of the middle of the lineup, very few have had success against Fujita.

Tada and Ryuusei both can't get the ball out of the infield, and while Matsumoto gets another 2-out walk, Kusumoto grounds to 1st and we hit the break.

Once again the pace is very fast.  Sekiguchi's pitching has improved a bit here in the past inning, but missing in the wrong places have led to most of Kengifushou's runs.  Wakatsuki and Furukawa seem to have some level of success, but the rest of the lineup will need to produce.

Top 6th
Rain is coming down a bit harder, but still not enough to get people to evacuate for cover.

Well, Sekiguchi has settle d down the last couple of innings.  Outside of Aoki where he ran the count full before striking him out, he retires the other two batters with ease to hold the 3-run deficit.

Bottom 6th
Wakatsuki with a ball to shallow center.  Aoki charging in, the ball goes in and pops out of his glove!  It goes behind him and Wakatsuki reaches 2nd on the error!

Furukawa rightly swinging away, but Fujita induces a flyout to left.

Mori with a liner to right!  It's in for a AH!!!

The ball bounces and skips by Niwa and goes all the way to the wall!  Wakatsuki scores!  Mori rounding 3rd, is held up!  Hanasaki Tokuharu gets two breaks and get back a run!  It's 5-3!

And Fujita-kantoku almost expectedly pulls Niwa and puts regular #9 Hayashi in left.

Nozawa with a chance to close the gap further pops it up! Azuma makes the catch for the 2nd out!

And Sekiguchi can't bring him in!  He pops it up as well and Takenaka secures it to limit the damage!

Top 7th
Lucky 7 for Kengifushou, but it's lucky for Sekiguchi has he gets 2 quick groundouts to Yamamoto.

But Azuma gets his 3rd hit on a base hit to left, and then Sekiguchi hits Takenaka on a 55' changeup.

That gets Iwai-kantoku to call for time.

Kouyama with a grounder back up the middle.  Yamamoto charges over, flat misses it!  Goes into center and Azuma scores to bring the margin back to 3 at 6-3!

Fujita grounds to 1st, but mistakes by the Hanasaki defense continue to trip up the team.

Bottom 7th
Tada with his 2nd hit!  He lines one to left to start the inning!

Iwai-kantoku not bunting at this point, Ryuusei grounds to short but does advance the runner. Matsumoto does the same on a grounder to 1st, so a run is 90 feet away.

But he'll be left there as Kusumoto swings on the first pitch and flies out to left to end the inning.

Top 8th
Sekiguchi issues his 2nd walk to Aoki and Kengifushou has another leadoff runner.  Noda bunts him over for Okimoto.

He hits a grounder up the middle.  Yamamoto ranges to his right, and it's off his glove!  Nozawa backs him hip, but Aoki scores to make it a 7-3 game.

And now a wild pitch sends Okimoto to 2nd!  Things are going from bad to worse!

2 down for Hayashi and he singles to right!  Okimoto coming around to score!  Throw in from Hayashi not in time!  Wakatsuki fires to 2nd and gets Hayashi trying to advance.  Inning over, but it's 8-3 and the life has seemed to leave Hanasaki Tokuharu.

Bottom 8th
Yeah, it seems to be the case.  Fujita retires the 3-4-5 batters in just 7 pitches.

Top 9th
#10 Kogure comes in to finish the game for Sekiguchi.

After some nerves perhaps, Kogure gets Azuma to ground to 1st.  But on what should be a routine play to short, Kusumoto slides over only to have the ball go 5-hole on him and into left....

Oy. And now a wild pitch sends him to 2nd...

But Kogure freezes Kouyama on a slider for the 2nd out.

And Kogure gets a 2nd K in his inning of work as Fujita chases a slider in the dirt for the 3rd out.

Bottom 9th
It's all but a formality now.  Just 3 outs to go, and Fujita has thrown a cool 99 pitches.

Iwai-kantoku empties the bench.

#15 Suzuki in for Nozawa first pitch grounds to short.  #12 Nedachi in for Kogure, works the count full, then hits a comebacker to Fujita for the 2nd out.

Tada will bat seeing as though he's 2-3, I guess so.

But Tada grounds to 1st, and that's the game.  Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou advances with a sound 8-3 win over Hanasaki Tokuharu.

Not much to say here, Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou was pretty much solid throughout while Hanasaki Tokuharu struggled with defense the entire game.  Nevertheless, Hanasaki Tokuharu was still working their way back before they would trip over themselves again.

It'll certainly be a learning lesson for the Kanto runner-ups.  I'll expect their defense to improve before the summer.  Meanwhile, Kengifushou will need a similar performance from the offense as they will in all likelihood face Osaka Touin in the next round.


Notable Players
Fujita Ryouji (Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou) - W, CG, 2 ER, 5 H, 4 K, 2 BB, HBP
Azuma Taito (Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou) - 3-4, 2B, 2 R, HBP
Noda Gento (Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou) - 2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI
Kawamura Renji (Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou) - 2-5, 2 RBI
Sekiguchi Akihiro (Hanasaki Tokuharu) - L, 8 IP, 2 ER, 9 H, 5 K, 2 BB, 2 HBP
Wakatsuki Kenya (Hanasaki Tokuharu) - 1-4, HR, 2 R, RBI
Tada Tomoya (Hanasaki Tokuharu) - 2-4
Furukawa Sumiya (Hanasaki Tokuharu) - 1-4, 3B

Rounding out today's action, it's a battle of teams who have shown success at Koushien in their most recent appearances.

Niigata Meikun in their last 2 appearances in 2007 and 2010 have won their first 2 outings before bowing out of Koushien.

But they almost didn't make it this year.  In their first game against Niitsu, they actually trailed 4-3 going into the bottom of the 9th.  They scored 2 runs for the sayonara victory.  After that game, they cruised until the finals where the ace Takeishi gives up 10 hits, but doesn't break yielding just 2 runs.

Takeishi was the only pitcher used for Niigata Meikun, so it may be a problem later on if he struggles.  But for a team like them, focusing on a game at a time is more important.  He did only yield 3 runs after that first game.

Offensively, the team batted a neat 0.390 (and 0.444 in their final 3 games).  But again, no major competition outside of Chuuetsu in the finals.

In the 3rd base dugout is Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou.  After years of mediocrity at Koushien, in 2009 they reached the semifinals before losing a close game to Nihon Bunri.

This time around, they were not challenged until the semifinal and finals where they needed all 9 innings to defeat Chuukyou 6-5 and Seki Shoukou 2-1.  In those two games they batted 0.303 as compared to the 0.368 overall.

On the mound, it's a combination of ace Mamiya with SS Fujishiro, with #11 Fujita in reserve.  None of them really strike out any batters though.

Both prefectures have had success in recent years, partly because of their own doing.  But with as well as they and Nihon Bunri have been doing, I think they may have the slight advantage.


Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou (Gifu)
2B Mutou
RF Nishida (#18)
1B Horiuchi
LF Andou (#17)
CF Takahashi (#9)
SS Tougou
C Tanaka
3B Azuma
P Mamiya

Niigata Meikun (Niigata)
CF Kaneko
LF Komiyama
RF Ikeda
C Miyajima
P Tateishi
1B Oonobu
2B Ishiyama
3B Satou
SS Takeuchi

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15:50 - First Pitch!

Top 1st
No problems for Takeishi to start as he gets 3 infield outs for a 1-2-3 inning.

Bottom 1st
Kaneko with a drive over Andou's head and one hops to the wall for a double!  Komiyama tries to lay down the bunt, but can't.  So instead he hits one past a diving Mutou into right!  Kaneko has to hold up at 3rd.

Ikeda trying to get the run in does so as his Kenrgifushou concedes the run for the 4-6-3 double play.  1-0 Niigata Meikun

Mamiya walks Miyajima, but gets Takeishi to ground to 3rd to end the inning.  It's a bit rocky, but he only gives up the one run.

Top 2nd
It's another clean inning for Takeishi as he needs just 10 pitches to retire the side.  Takahashi was able to hit the ball out of the infield, but Komiyama is there for the catch.

Bottom 2nd
Oonobu gets hit on a full count pitch and gets on base.  Ishiyama bunts him along to 2nd.

Satou with a ball hit to the right side, but Mutou is there for the stop and throw to 1st for the out.

Takeishi with a hot shot to 3rd, but Azuma is there for the catch.

Top 3rd
Takeishi looks to throw in the mid 130s with a slider and curve.

Azuma with a ball past Satou and into left.  He's bunted along by Mamiya looking for a one-timer from Mutou.

Mutou though pops it up!  Ishiyama is there in foul territory for the out.

Bottom 3rd
Mamiya really settling down here as he gets two more groundouts and one fly ball to left from Kaneko in a 1-2-3 inning.

Top 4th
Nishida leads it off with a single to center.  Horiuchi bunts him to 2nd.  But he's quickly stranded there as Andou grounds out to 2nd, unable to advance him.  And Takahashi grounds to 2nd to end the inning.

Bottom 4th
Miyajima with a single to right to lead off the inning.  Takeishi goes for the bunt and Mamiya can't field it!  He panic tosses to 1st after running it down and throws it away!  Miyajima heads for 3rd on the error.

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

Satou-kantoku calls for the squeezeand Oonoby lays it down perfectly!  It quickly goes up the 1st base line and everyone converges on the ball leaving no one to cover 1st!  Everyone's safe and Niigata Meikun takes the 2-0 lead!

Ishiyama tries to advance the runners, but the bunt is too hard and Mamiya goes to 3rd for the force.

Mamiya then induces a flyout to left from Satou, and freezes Takeuchi for the 3rd out, but Meikun increases their lead!

Top 5th
Kengifushou's batters seem to be able to do nothing against Takeishi right now.

Tougou first pitch grounds out to 2nd.  Tanaka can't check his swing on a high fastball.

Azuma though tries to start something as his 9-pitch AB results in a single to center.

Mamiya with a grounder to Takeuchi, but me misses it and it goes to center!  Azuma advances to 3rd and Kengifushou threatens to score in the 5th!

Alas Mutou swings on the first pitch and fouls out to Satou to end the inning.

Bottom 5th
Kaneko with a drive to deep left!  Andou running back to the wall, and the ball hits the padding!  Kaneko up with the easy double as Komiyama bunts him along to 3rd.

AH!!  Mamiya throws a wild pitch and Kaneko scores from 3rd to make it 3-0!

He retires the next 2 batters, but another misplay causes another run for Niigata Meikun heading into the break.

Top 6th
The break doesn't seem to help Gifushou's offense.  Nishida strikes out swinging, Horiuchi flies out to left.  and #8 Takenaka PH for Andou flies out to right.

Bottom 6th
Takenaka stays in the game at LF, and Fujita-kantoku's son #11 Ryouji enters the game and relieves Mamiya.

And he walks Takeishi to start the inning.  Oonobu moves him over for Ishiyama, but he bellows that he didn't need to!  Ishiyama with a blast to right that Nishida runs back to the wall!  That scores Takeishi to make it 4-0!

Satou not bunting, hits it through the drawn in infield and into center!  Ishiyama scores to make it 5-0.  Takeuchi bunts Satou along for Kaneko.  However, Ryouji is careful with Kaneko and walks him.

It works out as he flies out to right to end the inning.

Top 7th
Takahashi with a drive to left center!  Komiyama running back to the wall!

HAITAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, that was unexpected.  For all the struggles Kengifushou had been having, Takahashi out of the blue hits a solo HR to put them on the board at 5-1!

One down, and Tanaka hits a seeing-eye single to right!

But the rally is dashed when Azuma grounds into the 4-6-3 double play.

Bottom 7th
Ryouji settles down after his first inning of work and retires the side in order.

Top 8th
Fujita's work is done as #7 Watanabe hits for him.  And he hits one down the right field line fair as he sprints to 2nd for a double!

He's replaced by #10 Ooyama as Mutou steps in.  But he flies out to right.

Nishida can't get him in either as he flies out to center.

And Horiuchi grounds out to 1st.  He tries to beat Oonobu to the bag, but is unsuccessful.  3 outs.

Bottom 8th
Tougou takes the hill for Kengifushou, while #16 Noda comes in for PR Ooyama and takes over at SS.

Oonobu with a single past a diving Noda into center.  He's bunted over for Satou.

He hits a shallow fly to center!  Takahashi charges in, but can't there there in time!  Oonobu advances on the hit.

Takeuchi with a grounder to 2nd.  Mutou's only play is to first and Oonobu makes it a 6-1 game.

Kaneko grounds to 2nd and Niigata Meikun is 3 outs away from advancing.

Top 9th
Takenaka with a grounder to short, throw to 1st and he's safe!  Oonobu stretch pulled himself off the bag!

Takahashi tries to get two runs back with one swing, but winds up with a deep fly to center.

Tougou gets rung up on a slow curve on the outside corner.

Last chance as Fujita-kantoku sends in #15 Yamamoto to hit for Tanaka, while #14 Tsuchida comes in to run for Takenaka.

Slow chopper to the left side.  Satou up with the ball, throw to 1st, in time! Niigata Meikun advances with a 6-1 win!