高校野球 (Kokoyakyu)

As is the case generally when it comes to the Koushien tournament, rarely if ever does the entire tournament feel compelling from start to finish. I was fortunate to be part of one back in 2006 which included another late-inning loss by Kanzei (to Bunsei Geidai Fuzoku), the elation and debacle that was the Teikyou-Chiben Wakayama game, and the 1st ever draw in a final and the subsequent replay between Waseda Jitsygyou (Saitou Yuuki) and Komadai Tomakomai (Tanaka Masahiro). The last game of the day, while long in duration, was compelling even if my body was about to just force quit into sleep mode.

Anyways, we move onto Day 3 where quite a few powerhouse teams will take the stage. First up is the aforementioned Waseda Jitsugyou (aka Soujitsu) who hasn't really been the same since that title run.

However, they appear to have rounded into form. As part of their 6 wins to the title, they had to get through Toritsu Hino (which they almost didn't), Nichidai-san, and Toukaidai Sugao. Compare that to Imabari Nishi, whose only key win might be in the final against Komatsu where they eked out a 4-3 win.

While Imabari Nishi has been a regular competitor at Koushien, it's advantage Tokyo in this matchup.

Oh, and do you notice the name playing at 1B for Waseda Jitsugyou? He said he wanted to play for them when his team won the LLWS. Yep, it's Kiyomiya Koutarou.

Imabari Nishi (Ehime)
SS Sugiuchi Kouki
2B Nakauchi Riki
C Takao Yousuke
P Fujiwara Yoshiki
CF Yamauchi Jyunya
1B Akigawa Atsushi
LF Kikugawa Tomoki
RF Sugino Akihiko
3B Yoshiwara Yuunosuke

The winner of this gets the reward of facing Osaka Touin. Chances are, given the first games for each squad, it'll be Jyousou Gakuin, and Shikoku will be eliminated. That's about the long, or rather short, of it.

Jyousou Gakuin (Ibaraki)
2B Ugusa Kouki
CF Takeuchi Ryou
RF Wada Shingo
1B Ishii Daiki
LF Arahara Hiroki
P Suzuki Shouta
C Takase Shoutarou
SS Minakami Yuuhei
3B Ara Masahiro (#15)

Imabari Nishi (Ehime)
1B Akigawa Yuushi
SS Nakauchi Atsuya
P Sugiuchi Kouki
CF Fujiwara Yoshiki
LF Yamauchi Atsuya
3B Takao Yousuke
RF Sugino Akihiko
C Andou Yuuto
2B Yoshihara Yuunousuke

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13:46 - First Pitch!

Top 1st
Grounder to 2nd by Ugusa take a high hop and Yoshihara can't field it. That's rather ominous.

Takuechi not swinging and he draws a walk. I wonder if the batters are under orders to not swing and take pitches until they either find one they really like, or there's 2 strikes.

Sasaki-kantoku figures it's a good time to bunt the runners over and Wada does so.

Ishii draws a walk, and it's manrui for Jyousou Gakuin and this could get ugly real quick.

IT JUST DID.

Arahara with a drive down the right field line, and Sugino's given up on it. That, my friends, is a manrui home run, and game over before it even started. 4-0 Jyousou Gakuin.

There's another hit batter in the inning, but that's of little consequence. Sugiuchi gives up no more runs, but doesn't need to.

Bottom 1st
Akigawa gets a ball down the middle, but pulls it to Ara for the 1st out. After a strikeout to Nakauchi, Sugicuhi gets hit by Suzuki.

Fujiwara though grounds out to Ishii, who walks it to the bag for the 3rd out.

Top 2nd
One down, and it's Sugiuchi's 4th free pass when he walks Ugusa. He steals 2nd with ease and then moves to 3rd when Takeuchi decides last minute to hit the ball the other way.

Sugiuchi gets out of the inning  by getting Wada to chase a high fastball and pop it up. He secures it, with some difficulty, to end the inning.

Bottom 2nd
Already under pressure, Imabari's batters are like many other teams swinging to get things going.

As a result in 9 pitches, Suzuki has the side retired.

Top 3rd
Sugiuchi retires the 1st two batters, then realizes he hadn't given a free pass yet, so he walks Suzuki and Takase before getting the 3rd out.

Bottom 3rd
Is it really over that Kuroki-kantoku is going to his bench? Yuuto is replaced before his first AB with #10 Yoshimoto.

And the team goes down in order.

Top 4th
Now follow me on this, because there will be 2 huge shifts int he inning.

First to start the inning:

• Yoshimoto stays in to play RF,
• who shifts Sugino to CF,
• who shifts Fujiwara to 1B,
• who shifts Akigawa to 3B,
• who shifts Takao to C.

But after a single, out, another hit batter, a double to the LF wall, a RBI groundout and a wild pitch that scores one more (now 7-0) , Kuroki-kantoku moves everyone around again:

• Yoshimoto comes in to P,
• who shifts Sugiuchi to 3B,
• who shifts Akagawa back to CF,
• who shifts Sugino back to RF.

 After all that, it's a groundout to 2nd to end the inning.

Bottom 4th
It's another 3 up, 3 down inning. But it's not really impressive. A lot of Suzuki's off speed pitches are buried in the dirt and the batters are going after them. A discerning eye might hold off on these, so I wonder what would happen then for Suzuki.

Top 5th
To be honest, when it's a blowout there isn't a point in detailing what they're doing. In fact, if I were Jyousou Gakuin, I'd rest my players for the upcoming match.

That's not how the Japanese work though. So Suzuki and Minakami get doubles and tack on another run to make it 8-0.

Bottom 5th
Also, if I could, I'd be sitting Suzuki. He's only going to get 2 full days of rest.

He would have retired the side in order, but one of those buried balls gets away from Takase and allows Sugino to reach base.

So he does the same to Yoshimoto, but without the wildness.

Top 6th
Takeuchi checks in with a gapper to right center for a base hit. He manages to get to 3rd, but is left stranded after 2 groundouts and a pop up.

Bottom 6th
I had been focused on what Suzuki was doing on the mound, I forgot as Akigawa hits a one out single past a diving Minakami - that that was their first hit!

Well, the rest of the batters don't really do a whole lot afterwards, but hey, no no-no!

Top 7th
I suppose if there is something that I can comment with Jyousou Gakuin's ABs, its that their hits aren't really all that solid. Yes, they boom the ball today, but a well-positioned outfield can turn those into outs.

I say that and Takase sends a ball back up the middle for a 1-out single. But for the most part it's sill routine grounders and fly balls.

Bottom 7th
More of the same, balls in the dirt being swung at for strike 3. Suzuki picks up 2 more Ks.

Top 8th
Ugusa working on a bunt single gets thrown out, but not by much. Otherwise, their contact on the ball is still not very good with balls in the infield.

Bottom 8th
After a groundout, Suzuki is finally pulled. #10 Kashimuira is placed in the game. They finally relieve Suzuki about a couple inning late if you ask me.

I say that and then he walks the first batter on 4 straight. Then with 2 down Akigawa gets a hold of one and sends it into the left center field gap for a double, and the shutout is gone as well. There's some consolation in that though it's 8-1.

Top 9th
#11 Andou Itsuki, who hit for Yoshihara causes another shift:

• Itsuki stays in to play 1B, 
• which moves Akigawa back to 3B,
• which moves Sugiuchi to SS,
• and Nakauchi across the keystone to 2B.

#13 Masayoshi comes in to hit for Kashimura and hits a hard single back up the middle. That's a good base hit. He's replaced with #16 Sanbonmatsu on the basepaths.

Bottom 9th
Sanbonmatsu stays in to play LF, and #11 Sugiwara comes in to for Arahara to take the mound.

He strikes out Sugiura, and then is replaced by #18 Inoue. He comes out with a 140+ fastball, well more like around 140 and finishes the job.

I'd make more of the last couple of innings, but we've had so many of these games, it's unfortunate.

Imabari Nishi had the fortune of facing a 21st century team and got away with a lot of things. All of that was demolished in the very 1st inning this game and there really wasn't much else to say. Imabari Nishi will probably contend in prefecture to head back to Koushien, but their prospects here are dim unless hey get a favorable matchup or improve significantly.

With Imabari Nishi's loss Chuugoku's official representatives are eliminated. All that's left is the 21st century team Matsuyama Higashi.

As for Jyousou Gakuin, they face Osaka Touin, and there are enough gaps that their prospects aren't good. Not as bad as Imabari Nishi's today, but not good either. They knocked out only 8 hits for those 8 runs, and a lot of their hits can be countered. On the pitching side, Suzuki isn't a terrible pitcher, but a lot of his K's were on pitches that took a bounce before reaching Takase. I really don't think that Osaka Touin's batters will bite, but I could be wrong. Also, it could be that Inoue starts the game instead. We'll know in 2 days time.

Sadly in trying to get the rosters I didn't leave myself enough time to make a writeup for this game. But with Touin a 21st century team, it generally means that they're up against the wall to begin with. The blowouts might continue to at least the start of today.

Imabari Nishi (Ehime)
RF Sugino Akihiko
SS Nakauchi Atsuya
P Sugiuchi Kouki
RF Fujiwara Yoshiki
LF Yamauchi Atsuya
3B Takao Yousuke
1B Akigawa Yuushi
C Andou Yuuto
2B Yoshihara Yuunosuke

Touin (Wakayama)
RF Tsuruga Naoki
2B Ishii Yuusuke
CF Ueyama Reo
1B Nishi Shuuhei
3B Hashinaka Motoki
LF Nishiyama Yuusuke (#14)
C Hayashi Daisuke
P Izawa Tadahiro
SS Umemoto Shouma

09:00 - First Pitch!

Top 1st
And right off the bat, Touin gets off to a bad start. Sugino swings on the first pitch, grounds to 3rd and Hashinaka bobbles the ball then short hops 1st for an E5. Nakauchi bunts him over.

Sugiuchi with a hard hit to the right side, but Ishii makes the great pick to prevent a run from scoring. Sugino advances to 3rd, but  there's 2 out now for cleanup batter Fujiwara.

Izawa being very careful, tries to paint the corner on the 1-2 pitch, but just misses. His next pitch Fujiwara just takes it the other way, and goes right over Nishi into right for a base hit and a 1-0 lead.

And now Yamauchi booms one to center. Ueyama goes back, but can't chase it down. It goes all the way to the wall and Fujiwara comes around all the way from 1st to make it a 2-0 game.

Takao grounds out to 3rd to end the 1st. Either nerves or the difference in skill level perhaps showing itself early.

Bottom 1st
Tsuruga with a blooper to center, Fujiwara charging in, tries to make the shoestring catch, but drops it and Touin has a leadoff runner. Ishii bunts him over.

Hm, Sugiuchi with some control issues early, walks Ueyama on 4 straight, drawing a conference from Kuroki-kantoku.

And it seems to settle him down, as Sugiuchi induces a groundball from Nishi. Yoshihara starts the double play and the growing threat disapates.

Top 2nd
Akigawa hits a screamer down the 3rd base line, but Hashinaka snags it before it can reach the outfield.

Izawa might be settling in against the bottom of the lineup as he gets Yuuto to ground out and freezes Yoshihara on the outside corner to end the inning.

Bottom 2nd
Touin's batters are doing the right thing, and making Sugiuchi throw strikes. Hashinaka gets ahead 3-0, then on the 3-1 drives the ball to deep left center for a double.

(Hey, it's Ama-chan in the stands! Love that song.)

Nishiyama showing bunt, but taking pitches as well, he's ahead 2-0. And now 3-0!

Sugiuchi loses Nishiyama and throws the ball away allowing Hashinaka to advance to 3rd on the walk! Runners at the corners for Hayashi, but he appears to be swinging away early as he nearly swings out of his shoes.

What's this? Hayashi slices a ball back up the middle and into center for a base hit! Hashinaka scores to make it a 2-1 ball game!

Izawa showing bunt the entire AB, but Sugiuchi cannot find the strike zone and gets ahead 2-0!

But being the bottom of the order and no out, Itou-kantoku perhaps taking the safe route and has Izawa lay down the bunt instead of a possible double play.

Also, it allows Umemoto to hit a grounder to 2nd, and that's good enough to get Nishiyama home to tie the game at 2-2! This team is at least playing smart baseball - or so it seems.

Back to the top of the order, and Tsuruga swings on the first pitch grounding out to 3rd. Inning over, but Touin has struck back to level the game.

Top 3rd
It's Imabari's turn at the top of the order and Sugino this time gets a clean hit past the diving Hashinaka for a leadoff single. Nakauchi once again lays the sac bunt.

Sugiuchi hits a hanging curve to the left side.Umemoto can't get to it and they're waving Sugino home! Nishiyama double clutches before throwing, and that makes the throw really late. Imabari Nishi strikes back to regain the lead 3-2.

And Imabari might have received that wake up call. Fujiwara with a very easy swing guides the ball down the left field line scoring Sugiuchi all the way from 1st to reestablish their 2-run lead at 4-2.

Things might in danger of going off the rails as Izawa's pickoff throw to 2nd is behind the runner and into center. Ueyama tries to make the quick pick and throw, but he can't even secure the ball to do so. Itou-kantoku calls for time.

It's not helping a whole lot as Izawa goes too far on an inside pitch and hits Takao (though I don't really think he tried to get out of the way).

Akigawa with a ball up the 3rd base line, Hashinaka makes the good stop, but he rushes his throw to 1st, short hops Ishii and it's another error. Fujiwara scores to make it 5-2.

Which again comes back to bite them. Yuuto hits a ball to the left side past a diving Hashinaka and Umemoto, allowing Takao to score and it's a 6-2 game.

#12 Nishimoto is sent to the bullpen to warm up as Yoshihara is the 9th batter to come to the plate. He dribbles one to the left side, and Umemoto has no play, though he still makes the throw to 1st.

Sugino at bat once again this inning, but he goes after the first pitch yet again, this time grounding to short. Umemoto goes to 1st without issue to finally end the inning. But Imabari Nishi has re-taken the lead, with interest.

Bottom 3rd
Down 4 now, The first couple of batters for Touin throw out the patience strategy. Ishii and Ueyama both quickly ground out to short before Nishi (also swinging early) lines a ball to left.

But Hashinaka is clearly looking for a ball to hit, and with 2 strikes waves at a ball way to far outside for the 3rd out.

Top 4th
Hashinaka is determined to make one of those quick throws work, and with some help from 1B Nishi, he finally gets it done against Sugiuchi.

But Izawa isn't off the hook yet. Fujiwara gets his 3rd hit in as many ABs and goes to left for another double.

Fortunately for him Yamauchi chops one right back to Izawa for the 3rd out No further damage done - for now.

Bottom 4th
Nishiyama must be a slow runner, because despite a bobble by Akigawa at 1B, he'st still able to make the play at 1st.

But yeah, it really does look like Touin's batters are swinging at everything. 7 pitches and 3 groundballs to 2nd later, and Imabari's back on the bats.

Top 5th
Ahead by a good margin, Imabari might be taking up the swing first mentality. But all it does is result in outs. Takao hits a ball back to Izawa, Akigawa flies out to left, and Yuuto does down swinging for the 3rd out.

Bottom 5th
Having hacked away for two innings, the start of this inning sees a bit more patience. One down for Touin and leadoff batter Tsuruga drawas a walk.

Itou-kantoku then pulls out the hit-and-run, which surprises everyone involved and allows Tsuruga to reach 2nd safely.

Ishii also works the count a little, and hits a sharp grounder to the right side. Yoshihara makes the diving stop, but his throw somehow goes 90 degress towards the 1st base wall! That allows Tsuruga to score from 3rd to make it a 6-3 game on a peculiar play from the Imabari defense.

But as we hit the middle of the order, the batters apparently believe that since they're there, they should be hitting. And so they do, and so botj Ueyama and Nishi ground out to end the inning. Touin gets one back before the mid-game break, but there's still 3 more runs to make up.

Top 6th
Post-break, Imabari Nishi is taking their hacks in like it's practice. Izawa taking full advantage, putting pitches in the zone, and 8 of them later, his team heads back to the dugout.

Bottom 6th
Hashinaka with a scorcher up the 1st base line, and Akigawa can't get in front of it. It goes down the line for a double and Touin looks good to start the inning.

Sugiuchi on the other hand is missing the zone to Nishiyama, again falling behind 3-1. And as Ama-chan plays again, Itou-kantoku has Nishiyama lay down the bunt to move him to 3rd for any decent fly ball.

But Hayashi gets it all wrong and swings on the first offering, skying one near home. Sugiuchi takes it in foul ground for the 2nd out.

And finally the blunder is complete in the 6th as Izawa goes after the first pitch himself and hits a lazy fly to left for the 3rd out. They still have 3 innings to go, but time is certainly not on their side.

Top 7th
Imabari Nishi finally gets their first runner since the 4th when Umemoto bobbles a grounder from Fujiwara. Kuroki-kantoku tries to make an inning out of it with 2 down, sending Fujiwara to 2nd with the throw being short and late.

It works as perhaps Izawa forgetting that 1st base is open, hangs a 3-1 pitch to Takao who happily obliges, driving it over Nishiyama's head for a double to make it a 4-run ball game at 7-3.

Nishimoto warms up again as Izawa is charged for a balk.

And now Izawa throws it away! Takao coming home, but Hayashi gets on the ball quickly and throws to Izawa covering. He blocks the plate and records the third out. But the mountain just got harder to climb for Touin.

Bottom 7th
Tsuruga appears to be the only one patient as he draws a 1-out walk - his 2nd in as many ABs. Ishii grounds to 2nd, but races to 1st to beat out the double play.

Ueyama with a grounder to 1st, but it handcuffs Akigawa and bounces away! Everyone's safe!

Huh, I don't know if someone got the message, but Touin is now not swinging the bat at all! Nishi takes 4 straight balls to load the bases, induing Kuroki-kantoku to call time.

And he still can't throw a strike! He falls behind 3-0 to Hashinaka before throwing a strike, but still loses him! It's and oshidashi walk and it's 7-4, still manrui!

Kuroki-kantoku scrambles the bullpen, but meanwhile Sugiuchi continues to throw low! He again goes to 3-0 before throwing a strike.

But this time Nishiyama gets the trigger finger! He doesn't let the count run full, and swings away! But it's an easy fly to left and Yamauchi secures it for the 3rd out. Touin had the right idea, just not enough discipline.

Top 8th
Imabari Nishi looking for insurance runs, continues to swing away resulting in two quick outs from the bottom of the order.

Sugino too swings, and hits a screamer up the 3rd base line. Hashinaka makes another great stop, and this time the throw is good and without issue for the 3rd out!

Bottom 8th
Touin's main opportunity may have passed them up, as Hayashi and Izawa continue to try and swing their way onto base, but both ground out to short. PH Tsunoda gets in on it, but just hits it back to Sugiuchi for the 3rd out. Looks like that might be it for Touin now.

Top 9th
#11 Kusuoka comes in for PH Tsunoda to take over at SS. And wouldn't you know it, with one down Sugiuchi hits it right to him and he bobbles the ball for an error.

Fujiwara hits it to short, and Kusuoka boots that one too. He's not having a good start filling in.

Making matters worse, Izawa throws a ball away allowing the runners to advance.

Oh..

A pitch gets away from Izawa and squarely hits Yamauchi in the head. He crouches down and can't seem to get things straightened out. He's eventually carried off on a stretcher as Itou-kantoku makes a change. #13 Kusano comes in for Izawa and goes to 1B, while Nishi takes the mound.

But Nishi can fare no better. Takao drives one to right for a triple to make it a 10-4 game. Toss in another wild pitch and it's 11-4. His control is just as bad as he walks Akigawa, and then hits Yuuto. Nishi settles down enough to get the final 2 outs, and mercifully Touin won't have to play defense anymore.

Bottom 9th
Defensive change for Imabari Nishi as #15 Kikukawa comes in for Fujiwara and goes to LF, shifting Yamauchi to CF.

Tsuruga with a ball to 3rd, but it bounces off of Takao, who has to chase it down. Ishii presses to 2nd, and is finally called safe after the ball trickles away from a covering Nakauchi.

After Ishii grounds out quickly, Ueyama gets the idea and draws a walk. To even belabor the point, Sugiuchi throws a ball away to Nishi, which allows him to take 2nd.

But Touin does seem resigned to their fate. Nishi swings away, hitting a ball back to Sugiuchi for the 2nd out though it does score 1, 11-5.

Hashinaka too swings away and lines a ball over a leaping Nakauchi into left. That scores another to make it 11-6.

#15 Yanagitani comes in to hit for Nishiyama, but he's patient at the plate and draws a 4-pitch walk.

Hayashi finally gets the message, much too late though, and he too draws a walk to load the bases.

Kuroki-kantoku has had enough, and removes Sugiuchi from the mound. He goes to 3rd, shifting Takao to C, and bringing in #10 Yoshimoto for Yuuto to take the hill.

Things don't look promising to start as Yoshimoto walks Kusano to bring in a run, making it 11-7 and now a potentially dangerous situation.

But Kusuoka ends it soon enough with a routine grounder to short. Imabari Nisho survives itself to advance to the 2nd round.

This wasn't a pretty game by any means. Imbari Nishi seemingly had this game in hand, yet Sugiuchi was always on the verge of giving it away each inning. Touin's batters for the most part (and like so many other teams in the past) did not realize that Sugiuchi was struggling so much on the mound to take free passes. They may have realized it late, but by that time it would have taken a herculean effort, which they were not able to mount.

Imabari Nishi does advance to the next round, but their performance does not instill any confidence in the team going forward.

And to round out things before we skip across the Setouchi Umi to Kyushu is the runner up to the first-timers Eimei - the established Imabari Nishi.

Kuroki-kantoku apparently takes the helm very recently (January 22nd), inheriting a team who is making their 2nd consecutive appearance and 14th overall.

Like some of the recent schools covered, they almost stumbled early. After a blowout first win, they went 13 against Imabari Kita, but then safely beat Uwajima Higashi thereafter. They gained momentum after that facing easier competition to win the Ehime prefecturals. With that came a first round bye, then outlasted Meitoku Gijyuku in the semifinals before falling to Eimei in the finals.

Ace Sugiura Kouki (杉内 洸貴) took almost all of the innings for the squad. While he carried a tidy 1.78 ERA, the peripherals indicate that he pitches to a lot of contact. He recorded just 25 Ks in 70.2 innings of work. He survived by keeping base runners off with a 0.92 WHIP, but you have to wonder if the step up in competition will flip his fortunes around. #10 Yoshimoto Shungo (吉本 春悟) is on the roster, but only pitched a third of an innings, giving up 2 hits, 2 walks and 2 runs.

Offensively, the team hit 0.300, which against the competition they faced doesn't look good. Even worse is that their ISO is just 0.054. And it's actually down in the order where we find their best hitter, RF Sugino Akihiko (杉野 彰彦).

The team gets a chance to win against 21st century invite Touin of Wakayama. It's not a guarantee, but it's better than the alternatives. If they survive that, they have another shot in their next game to reach the Best 8. The bracket looks as favorable as it could be, but issues on both sides of the ball mean that at best it's a 50-50 proposition.

The final quadrant appears to be rather weak in half of it as the second matchup gives a feeling much like the first game.

Both Imabari Nishi and Kiryuu Dai-ichi's offenses are rather weak, dependent on base hits, and in Kiryuu Dai-ichi's case whatever few they can get.

As for the pitching, Imabari's Jinno you might just play craps to determine if he's going to be good or not while Kiryuu Dai-ichi's Yamada will keep his defense busy just about every AB.

It's not going to be a pretty game I don't think.  It'll either be very boring, or very interesting and probably nothing else in between.

Imabari Nishi (Ehime)
SS Tagashira Kanji
2B Wakasa Daichi
C Ochi Tatsuki
1B Akigawa Yuushi
P Jinno Yasuhiro
RF Sugino Kouta (#8)
LF Nishihara Kento (#17)
CF Yoshihara Yuunosuke (#16)
3B Sugiuchi Kouki

Kiryuu Dai-ichi (Gunma)
LF Yoshida Ryuuto
2B Ishii Shouta
RF Yanagiya Sansuke
P Yamada Tomoki
C Onoda Toki
1B Hayamizu Takanari
CF Kubo Shunsuke
3B Kubota Shinji
SS Takahashi Shoukei

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11:31 - First Pitch!

Top 1st
Well, Imabari Nishi is swinging away relatively early in counts.  Tagashira hits a liner to right, but Yanagiya is there for the catch.  After that though, 2 routine outs and it's a good start for Yamada.

Bottom 1st
Yoshida meanwhile has success right off the bat, hitting a single to left center.  He's bunted over to 2nd, and moved to 3rd on a grounder.

Jinno just 1 out away from getting out of the jam, but he leaves a slider over the plate and Yamada sends it to left center for a base hit, scoring Yoshida and giving Kiryuu Dai-ichi the 1-0 lead!

Yamada though for some reason takes off too early and is run down for the 3rd out.

Top 2nd
Still nothing new for Imabari Nishi as they continue to go early on counts producing few results.  Akigawa and Jinno with easy flyouts, while Sugino strikes out swinging on the slider.

Bottom 2nd
Once again Kiryuu leads off with a base hit as Onoda lines a ball to right.  Once again, Fukuda-kantoku calls for the bunt, and Hayamizu obliges.

Kubo quickly cashes in the run!  He drives the first pitch to deep left center and Yoshihara has no chance!  Onoda scores to make it 2-0.  Oono-kanoku calls time.

But Oono can't help Jinno stop the bleeding.  Kubota with a grounder through the left side, though Kubo has to hold at 3rd.

Not for long though as after Takahashi gets hit in the head by a pitch, Yoshida grounds to short.  Tagashira's only play is to 1st and Kubo scores to make it 3-0.

Ishii adds in a liner to center for good measure to round out the scoring at 4-0 as Yanagiya flies to right to end the inning.

Top 3rd
Small delay as Takahashi was still being tended to, but he comes out to continue the game.

Yamada continues to frustrate the Imabari batters.  After Nishihara strikes out on the outside fastball, Oono-kantoku actually pinch-hits #7 Nishimoto for Yoshihara before he even gets an AB!

Sadly, Nishimoto can't do any better, skying the ball in front of home for Yamada to catch.

Sugiuchi swings and stumbles, but it doesn't matter as he flies out to right to end the inning.

Bottom 3rd
Nishimoto goes to his numbered position, and so does Sugino.  Nishihara goes to to RF.

But Kiryuu continues to lay the metal on the ball.  Yamada lines a ball deep to right, but Nishihara thankfully is playing back to field it.

Onoda though collects his 2nd hit with a smash through the left side past Sugiuchi.

With 2 down, and for the 2nd time in 3 innings(!), Onoda takes off too early and is picked off 1-6 for the 3rd out.  What's up with that?

Top 4th
Imabari Nishi finally catches a break when Yamada misses inside on a full count pitch.  Seeing as though it's their first opportunity, Wakasa bunts him over to 2nd.

Tagashira takes it on his own to take off for 3rd!  Throw from Onoda not nearly in time and Imabari Nishi can get on the board with any decent fly ball to the outfield.

Instead he pops out to Ishii.  And Yamada gets Akiyama out on front of a slider, and it results in a weak grounder to 2nd.

Bottom 4th
Kubo draws a full count walk and is immediately bunted over.

Takahashi exacts revenge as he takes the ball the other way on Jinno! Sugino misjudges the ball's speed and has to chase it back to the wall, giving Takahashi an RBI triple, and making it 5-0.

I just realized that Kiryuu's ouen-dan was playing Ama-chan. I think.

Despite another run sitting on 3rd, neither Yoshida or Ishii can drive him in, still it's a fairly comfortable lead given the circumstances.

Top 5th
Jinno with a ball back up the middle... just outside of the diving glove of Takahashi and Imabari Nishi has their first hit!

But after a Mizuno flyout to center, Yamada induces the 6-4-3 double play from Nishihara to end the inning.

Bottom 5th
No clean inning for Jinno.  Yamada lines a single past Wakasa into center.

Interestingly, Oono-kantoku as Yamada (who's 2-2 so far), bunt the runner along.  Ochi goes out to talk with Jinno.

Hayamizu pops up the first pitch!  Ochi running back towards the 3rd base side... Makes the catch as we hear the thud of him colliding with the plastic window!

So thankfully no runs for Imabari Nishi, but it's clear they're in a lot of trouble.

Top 6th
One down and Sugiuchi hits a liner to right center.  Kubo tries to charge in and track it down, but he's just a little late.  Manages to catch it on the hop as he dives, limiting it to a single.

However, the next 2 batters can only get groundball outs, and so Imabari Nishi remains scoreless.

Bottom 6th
Hey!  Jinno finally bets his first clean inning as he retires the bottom of the Kiryuu lineup in order!  Yay for moral victories!

Top 7th
Unfortunately, that's about all they're getting because the offense has produced just 3 baserunners.  3 flyball outs from the heart of the lineup, and at this point you need to at least try and play to prevent the shutout.

Bottom 7th
Sugiuchi robs Yoshida of a base hit, as playing way in, he makes the diving stop and throw for the out.

Ishii gets hit flush in the back, prompting a quick visit from Ochi.

Yanagiya checks in with his first hit, sending the hanging fastball into the opposite field gap for a double.

Jinno finally clamps it down, with Yamada hitting a shallow fly unable to score Ishii from 3rd, and Onoda actually goes down swinging on the slider for the 3rd out.

Top 8th
Sugino with a drive to center... Kubo sprinting back... leaps and stretches out... lands and tumbles, but makes the catch!  Sugino is probably wondering if his team can just catch a break...

#10 Kadota comes in to hit for Nishihara, but can't fare any better, and neither can Nishimoto...

Bottom 8th
Kadota says in at 1B.  Akigawa goes to CF and Sugino goes to RF.

Hayamizu finally checks in with a base hit, a liner over Sugiuchi for a single.  With that, every batter has a base hit.  He's rewarded by being replaced by #17 Onaga on the basepaths.  Kubo bunts him to 2nd.

Once again Jinno shuts down the last 2 batters and for his part, has kept Kiryuu Dai-ichi scoreless over the last 4 innings.

Top 9th
Onaga stays in at LF, Yoshida goes to CF, and Kubo goes to 1B.

Sugiuchi with a blooper to center, Yoshida charging in can't make it and it's a base hit!  Sugiuchi taking off for 2nd, and Yoshida has no throw because no one is covering the bag!  Heads up there from the last batter.

He gets advanced to 3rd on a groundout by Tagashira, and they have their best chance at preventing the shutout.

But Wakasa goes down swinging, so it'll be up to Ochi.

Hot shot to 1st, Kubota with the stop, but flubs on the ball!   He tries to go back to it, but in the hurry misses again! That means that Sugiuchi can score preventing the shutout.  5-1.

Akigawa pops out to short, and that ends the game.  Sadly this game felt like the first, with the Shikoku champs struggling in all phases of the game.  I was surprised to see how Kiryuu was so solid in their base hitting early jumping out to the 5-0 lead.  It did stall later, but should give them some confidence going into the next game against Hiroshima Shinjyou.

With Imabari Nishi's loss, only 3rd/4th place Meitoku Gijyuku remains for Shikoku...

Notable Players
Yamada Tomoki (Kiryuu Dai-ichi) - CG, SHO, 3 H, 3 K, BB
Onoda Toki (Kiryuu Dai-ichi) - 2-3, R
Yamada Tomoki (Kiryuu Dai-ichi) - 2-4, RBI
Kubo Shunsuke (Kiryuu Dai-ichi) - 1-3, 2B, 2 R, BB
Jinno Yasuhiro (Imabari Nishi) - 8 IP, 5 ER, 11 H, 4 K, BB, 2 HBP
Sugiuchi Kouki (Imabari Nishi) - 2-3, 2B, R
Jinno Yasuhiro (Imabari Nishi) - 1-3

Well, Imabari Nishi is once again at Senbatsu, though it's been 4 years since their last appearance here (2 since their appearance at Natsu Koushien).  They are generally one of the better teams in Ehime, and generally around average when looking at fields as a whole, but never really good enough to win the whole thing.  The question is now, do they stand a chance in a possibly weaker field?

Road to Senbatsu
Ehime Prefecturals

• def. Niihama Kougyou 9-2 (8 inn)
• def. Imabari Kita 4-0
• def. Nitta 3-0
• def. Teikyou Dai-go 3-1
• lost Saijyou 5-3

Shikoku Super-Regionals

• def. Kochi Ootemae 22-1 (5 inn)
• def. Sakaide 5-2
• def. Meitoku Gijyuku 4-0
• def. Ikeda 10-0

Meiji Jingu Tournament

• def. Hachinohe Gakuin Kousei 5-1
• lost Nihon Bunri 10x-3 (7 inn)

Offense seems to be in general at a premium for this version of Imabari Nishi.  Despite having 2 mercy rule wins (3 if you count Ikeda's if not for the fact that they play a full 9 innings), the offense hasn't really gone out and dominated the competition.  Instead, it was ace Jinno Yasuhiro (神野 靖大) who for the most part had to shut down the opposition.  And to his credit he did, giving up just 16 hits in his 4 super-reginoal games - half of them not against Meitoku Gijyuku, but against Sakaide instead!

That continued against Kousei where he went the distance scattering 6 hits in a CG effort.  But when they were paired up with Nihon Bunri, Jinno went just 6 giving up about as many runs as all the previous games combined and were subsequently mercy-ruled out of the tournament.

With the offense at a premium for this team, we focus our analysis primarily on their ace Kanno.  A southpaw, he throws on the slower side of average (high 120s) with the standard slider and curve.

However, this poses a big question.  If he doesn't throw hard, how is it then that he was able to strike out so many batters in the prefecturals and super-regionals?  He still managed to strike out 6 vs Kousei before finally getting lit up against Nihon Bunri.  In general when a pitcher doesn't throw hard, it usually means that he pitches to a lot of contact and most of it being bad contact.  You'd be hard pressed to blow a ball by a batter throwing no faster than 130 kph (~80 mph).  From the videos it appears that a lot of it has to do with the fact that Jinno hides the ball well so that it's harder for the batters to pick up. 

Kantoku Oono Yasuya (大野 康哉) does go to a backup and his name is Monden Jyunya (門田 諄也).  He's a righty who apparently throws in the upper 120s/lower 130s also with the standard slider/curve combo.  However, he's lightly used, and in his appearance relieving Kanno vs. Nihon Bunri, he allowed 1 run on 4 hits in just 2/3 of an inning. So it's hard to say how reliable he is.

Of course, the team can't win if they don't score at least a run (hello Mariners), so the two players to watch would be the 3-4 batters C Ochi Tatsuki (越智 樹) and RF Fukuhara Kenta (福原 健太)... but there is no video on either player outside of the game recaps.

There doesn't appear to be much doubt that Jinno's delivery makes him successful to an extent (remember for instance that while Meitoku kept ace Kishi, he pretty much lost the rest of the roster from the summer).  We've seen average velocity pitchers be successful (see Urawa Gakuin's Ojima) as long as the pitcher can exhibit good control, so there is room for advancement for this squad.  The game versus Nihon Bunri did have some unfortunate misplays, but Jinno was hit hard by the Hokushinetsu champs as well.  I can't tell if it's because he wasn't hiding it well or if they were able to see the ball better, but that will be the biggest weakness of Jinno's game if teams can figure his delivery out.

That will be the determining factor as to how far they can go.  If he can be on top of his game, they certainly can make a decent run - if not be a fringe title contender.

Next up, to borrow a phrase from the 70's... welcome back Ikeda!

So we have a champion, and perhaps in doing so endorses one of my theories about the urban super-regionals not perhaps trying as hard...

Day 3
Ryuuokudai Heian's ace Inudzuka couldn't get past the 2nd inning as he failed to record an out giving up 5 runs in the 3rd to Nihon Bunri which included a solo HR by opposing pitcher Iidzuka.  That erased an 2-0 early lead and forced Heian to chase.

That they did though as a sac fly in the 4th, followed by timely doubles from Ootani and Kawai in the 5th tied the game at 5-5!

But already on their 3rd pitcher, Tanaka was asked to go in long relief.  However, in the 7th Kodachi delivered a double to push ahead what would be the eventual winning run to end Kinki's hopes of having a 2nd bid!

The second game between Komadai Tomakomai and Okinawa Shougaku was marred by errors.  So much so that in a game that wound up 5-3, only 1 run was earned!!

In the 1st, a throwing error by 3B Tamaru with 2 outs continued the inning, and it was punished by Okishou with hits from Irabu and Fuchigami for a 3-0 lead.  Fuchigami would feel bad about scoring on the error, so he had one of his own in the top of the 2nd allowing Komadai to take 1 back.

That run would be given back to Okishou as in the 3rd SS Ogasawara would make an error of his own to make it 4-1.  Akamine Ken would get the only RBI of the game as he would get a hit to center extending the lead to 5-1.

More errors would get Komadai within 2 in the 8th, but that would be the closest they would get in the mistake-filled game.

Day 4
Day 4 was anti-climactic for semifinal matches.  Imabari Nishi and Nihon Bunri trade a run in each of the first 2 innings, but then after a run in the 3rd, Nihon Bunri blows up for 4 runs in the 4th.  Errors did not help Imabari's cause either has eventually would be mercy-ruled 10-3 in 7 innings.

It was worse for Iwakuni.  Errors put them behind 2-0 early, as Okinawa Shougaku put up runs in every inning culminating in back-to-back-to-back doubles in a 7-run 4th.  The game would only last 4.5 innings as Okishou mercy-ruled Iwakuni 11-1.

Day 5 - Championship
Nihon Bunri had the opportunity to be the first Hokushinetsu representative to win the Meiji Jingu tournament since Seiryou in 1991.  More importantly, it would mean a bid in all likelihood for Chikyuu Kankyou.

Okinawa Shougaku was looking to give Kyushu their 4th title and 1st since Yanagigaura back in 2004.  Chinzei would be able to breathe a sigh of relief as their main competitor for the final bid in Souseikan would be given the Meiji Jingu bid.

And it was one of those game you just couldn't believe, even if we told you...

Hoshi starts the game off for Nihon Bunri with a leadoff HR to right.  In the 3rd, Kamakura would hit a 2-out solo HR to left, making it 2-0!  Ace Iidzuka would blast his 2nd of the tournament to right in the 4th, extending it to 3-0!

Higa-kantoku tried to stop the bleeding as he sent in Kubo from RF to switch places with ace Yamashiro Daichi, but the power output didn't stop there. In the 5th, back-to-back doubles by Kobayashi and Kamakura were paid off by Yamaguchi's 2-run double of his own.  Even a failed send home of Yamaguchi didn't stop the inning as Iidzuka would his 2nd HR of the game to center making it a 7-0 game!!!

And cleanup batter Ikeda had had enough of everyone else going yard, and blasted one to left in the 6th giving Nihon Bunri a commanding 8-0 lead!!

Facing elimination in the bottom of the 7th, Okinawa Shougaku went to work - and made this already crazy game into a comeback for the ages.

With one down, Iidzuka would plunk Irabu.  Kaneshiro would hit for Fuchigami and hit a double to right.

And that's when ace Yamashiro Daichi (yes, he returned to the mound in the 7th) would keep his team alive with a 3-run HR to left center!  While the next 2 batters would be retired, Okishou was still in the game at 8-3...

Now the 8th inning.  Kubo starts it off with a triple to right.  Nishihira plates him with a single to center... 8-4.

Anzato booms a 2-run HR to left-center... It's now 8-6.  And still Ooi-kantoku doesn't send in someone like Kodachi, or last game's starter Fujita, instead sticking with ace Iidzuka...

Uehara flies out to right for the first out, but Irabu singles to left.  Now with 2 out, Yamashiro Daichi singles to left.

The inning looks to be over after Sunagawa hits one back to Iidzuka, but something goes horribly wrong and he throws it away allowing Irabu to score making it 8-7...

With Ooi-kantoku leaving Iidzuka on the mound even still, it sealed Nihon Bunri's fate.  He would walk Akamine Ken, sending up Kubo for his 2nd AB of the inning.

And he wouldn't miss.  Kubo would hit one to right, scoring both Daichi and Ken to complete the comeback. 9-8.  In a minor way, Okinawa Shougaku did what Nihon Bunri couldn't do in 2009.  (Sorry Nihon Bunri, but while I like you, until you can win a big game final, it will always come back to that game...)

So, with Okinawa Shougaku's victory Chinzei can rest easy.  With the Meiji Jingu bid, Souseikan will be invited and Chinzei can hold onto their last Kyushu bid (or technically vice versa).  Sadly for Chikyuu Kankyou, Nihon Bunri's collapse means that they will be on the sidelines watching senbatsu from home...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The schools with some hope left may be:

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

The semifinal games were surprisingly not close. First, Kishi wound up giving up a 4-run 4th to Imabari Nishi (Ehime 2) as Meitoku Gijyuku (Kochi 1) couldn't muster any offense losing 4-0.

On the other side, Ikeda's (Tokushima 3) offense gave Myouzai a game off as they scored early and often to defeat Seikou Gakuen (Tokushima 1) 9-3.

Perhaps though, Ikeda should have actually given Myouzai some time off because he was pulled after 6 innings trailing 1-0 to Imabari Nishi. The bullpen would give up 9 runs thereafter as Imabari Nishi claims their 5th title and first in 4 years!

Despite the loss, I do expect Ikeda to receive an invite, given they were a powerhouse in the 1980's and are seemingly experiencing a renaissance. It's not a 100% guarantee, but it looks fairly good.

The fact that Meitoku Gijyuku lost because of one inning probably bumps out Seikou Gakuen from consideration for the floating bid. It also makes things very tough for the Chuugoku region too to put up a team that could compete with them for the bid.

Our matinee game puts a team who has a lot of recent experience at Koushien versus one who has finally returned after several years off.

For Toukou Gakuen, they had a stretch of games where it looked like they may not advance.  They barely got by Yokohama, then almost had a letdown against Hiratsuka Gakuen before putting away Touin Gakuen for the Kanagawa title.

Despite the tough competition, they batted 0.361 as a team.  But the hits were spread out between the batters and so it's hard to say who to key on.  On the mound, Noro-kantoku depends on ace Matsui to carry the team - and why not when he averages just about 13.5 K/9!!

As for Imabari Nishi, as a no-seed they were challenged all tournament but defeated both Saijyou and Saibi en route to the Ehime title.  In addition, the team batted a paltry 0.249, pretty much poor on any standard.  That means that Oono-kantoku will have to depend on ace Itou, though he did turn to Nakauchi in the final against Kawanoe.

To be honest, this doesn't look good for Imabari Nishi.

Imabari Nishi (Ehime)
2B Ikeuchi
RF Nakanishi
LF Kasazaki
3B Suehiro
SS Nakauchi
1B Tofuku
C Sogabe
P Itou Yuusaku
CF Watanabe Kenta

Toukou Gakuen (Kanagawa)
2B Suzuki Takumu
C Ukawa
RF Mizukai (#8)
LF Uekusa (#9)
CF Sakamoto (#15)
1B Tanaka
P Matsui
SS Take
3B Nakano

__________________________________________________

13:42 - First Pitch!

Top 1st
Matsui not wasting any time, striking out Ikeuchi looking on 3 straight.

Nakanishi works the count full, but he too is frozen by a slider for Matsui's 2nd K in as many batters.

Kasazaki on the other hand, earns the first walk from Matsui, then advances on a passed ball from Ukawa.

However, Matsui rings up Suehiro on a 2-2 fastball and we have our first real ace on the mound.

Bottom 1st
After retiring the first 2 batters, Itou plunks Mikukai.  Then Sogabe can't block a wild pitch and Mizukai advances to 2nd.

And another hit batter on a full count has Oono Yasuya-kantoku calling for time.

That brings up 1st year Sakamoto.

Eh??? Another dead ball and it's manrui for Toukou Gakuen!

Can Tanaka capitalize?

Well, first of all he at least takes the first pitch for a strike, but swings at the 2nd and lines out to left to get Itou out of the 1st inning jam!

Top 2nd
Oh wow.  4th K for Matsui as he gets Nakauchi on a change.

Oh, not fair.  Another change freezes Toufuku and that's 5 K's! And Sogabe goes down on 3 straight...


Bottom 2nd
Hah, Toukou's oen-dan playing Keio Chance!

And after a struggle in the 1st, Itou retires the side in order, racking up 2 K's of his own - though certainly not as easy.

Top 3rd
Itou, leading off the inning, fights hard against Matsui, working the count full, but too strikes out swinging on a high fastball.

But then Matsui walks Kenta on 4 straight.  All 9 batters have either walked or struck out.

Ikeuchi finally puts the ball into play with a ball to shallow center.  Mizukai charges in, but can't make the sliding grab!  But Kenta had to wait to the see what the ball did, and is forced out at 2nd.

Then Matsui catches Ikeuchi off 1st and he's run down 1-3-6 to end the inning.  Still, it is impressive the run Matsui had to start the game.

Bottom 3rd
Takumu draws a 4-pitch walk to start the inning.

Now that the amazing start for Matsui is done, let's take a look at the aces, starting with Itou.  He's your normal lefty who throws a fastball in the upper 120s-lower 130's with a slider in the low-mid 110's and maybe a change in the 100's.

The Toukou batters can't figure it out quite yet as Mizukai grounds to 2nd - though he does advance the runner.

Amazingly, Uekusa delivers Toukou's (and the game's!!) first hit as he lines one back up the middle, scoring Takumu to make it 1-0 Toukou!

The announcers say that Itou has a curve and forkball as well, but all slow.

Seems to work since Sakamoto waves and misses on a curve for the 3rd out.  But in a bizarre game, we finally get our first hit and first run.

Top 4th
After falling behind Nakanishi 3-1, he comes back on a fastball outside to record his 8th K.

Matsui is achieving all this with a fastball in the mid-upper 140's, a slider in the 120s and curveball in the 110s

Kasazaki avoids being K #9 by grounding out to 2nd.  At least he's making contact.

But Suehiro goes down swinging for the 2nd time on a curveball and that's 9 K's already...

Bottom 4th
Tanaka with a ball back up the middle, deflected off of Itou and to Ikeuchi, but he can't find the ball and Tanaka reaches safely.  He advanced on two consecutive outs to 3rd leaving it to #9 batter Nakano to drive him in.

He won't get a chance to though as Itou walks him on 4 straight, flipping the lineup back to Takumu.  Oono-kantoku calls for time.

Both pitchers are having trouble with control either missing the zone or perhaps getting squeezed by the umpire.

Takumu hits a blooper to center!  Ikeuchi running out while Kenta and Nakanishi are charging in, but Ikeuchi overruns the ball and it falls in!  Tanaka scores on the play and Toukou leads 2-0!

Oono-kantoku goes for a pitching change (and fielding changes).

• Nakauchi goes from SS to P
• Itou goes from P to RF
• Nakanishi goes from RF to CF
• Takahashi Kenta leaves and is replaced by #14 Hiigaki and goes to 2B
• Ikeuchi goes from 2B to SS

Got that?

Anyways, Ukawa hits a comebacker to new P Nakauchi to retire the side.

Top 5th
Imabari's bad offense is magnified against Matsui.  He strikes out both Nakauchi and Toufuku for the 2nd time, while Sogabe avoids the same fate, but only by grounding out to 2nd.

Bottom 5th
Mizukai hits a slicing fly ball that's running away from new 2B Hiigaki, but he makes a great sliding grab.

Nakauchi appers to have a fastball in the upper 130s and a slider in the 120s.  Uekusa grounds out to short, and Sakamoto would have ground out to 3rd if not for Suehiro missing on the pickup.

Tanaka hits what proabably could be called the 2nd well hit ball of the game, sending one back up the middle for a single.

Matsui with a well hit ball to right.  Itou chasing the ball back towards the wall.  Still going!!!

HAITAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Matsui with yet another home run to right!  That's more today than I've seen in the entirety of previous tournaments!!

Nevertheless Matsui's 3-run HR makes it a 5-0 ballgame!

And now Take is hit on a change from Nakauchi.  The game has gotten away from Imabari Nishi in a heartbeat here in the bottom of the 5th.

Nakano goes down swinging to mercifully end the inning, but not before Toukou Gakuen takes a commanding 5-0 lead.

Up until the bottom of the 5th we had seen one pitcher with no hits and 11 K's, and the other with just 3 hits and 2 runs given up, yet was relieved.  Now the leading pitcher delivers a 3-run homerun to RF - which is notorious for being hard to do.

It's been a rather weird game...

Top 6th
Itou, leading off the 6th, is doing what he did in his 1st AB, working the count and fouling off pitches.  This time he's rewarded with a walk.

After 2 straight balls, Ukawa goes out to talk with Matsui.  If there's one thing that can certainly short-circut Matsui, it's his apparent lack of control.

And now the no-hitter is gone!  New 2B Hiigaki lines a ball back up past Takumu into center!

Ikeuchi with a grounder to short, Take tries to start the 6-4-3 double play, but Ikeuchi beats out the throw.

Nakanishi though still can't figure out Matsui as he goes down swinging on a slider for his 3rd K of the game (and Matsui's 12th).

But Kasazaki can't deliver the run-scoring hit, instead he becomes Matsui's baker's dozen.  Whoo boy.

Bottom 6th
Nakauchi looked to have a 1-2-3 inning ready, but Mizukai wrecks that notion with a groundball under the diving glove of Suehiro.

Mizukai then steals 2nd on a 1-2 curve as Uekusa works the count full and draws the walk.  1st year Sakamoto steps in still hitless on the day.

And he still hitless as he grounds out to short to end the inning.

Top 7th
Suehiro becomes the 2nd player to K 3 times so far as he chases a high fastball.

Nakauchi becomes the 3rd as he helplessly watches a slider cross the plate for Matsui's 15 K.

Toufuku has a carbon copy of Suehiro's AB, ending with waving at a high fastball... and that's 16 K's...

Bottom 7th
#10 Ishigaki Atsuyuki comes in to pitch with a curve, slider and knuckleball.  He enters in Toufuku's slot and takes the mound, Nakauchi goes to 1st, and #12 Ochi replaces Sogabe behind the plate.

Sadly, Ishigaki's first pitch hits Tanaka, though it probably was the knuckle.

Matsui hits a ball to short, but it's too slow to start the double play and so Ikeuchi goes to 1st.

Take then hits a ball back to Ishigaki and it's off his foot!  It takes a bounce over Ikeuchi and into center!  Tanaka scores to make it 6-0 as Take takes 2nd on the throw.

Nakano goes down swinging on the knuckleball and probably has the unfortunate honor of being the only player on Toukou's side to K 3 times.

Takumu flies out to center and outside of a bad luck play, Ishigaki would have had a scoreless inning.

Top 8th
Meanwhile, the K parade continues for Matsui.  New C Ochi goes down swinging, Itou goes down for his 2nd K, adn Hiigaki can't avoid the mark as he watches a slider for strike 3.

Matsui has racked up 19 K's in 8 innings, which ties the record for most K's in a 9-innning regulation game at Koushien!  (The record is 25, but was an enchousen game).

And he still has one inning to go!

Bottom 8th
Ukawa gets plunked by Ishigaki and is bunted over.  Might as well practice I guess.

Uekusa with a grounder through the right side, and Ukawa is waved home.  But Itou throws a strike home and guns down Ukawa for the 2nd out!

Sakamoto finally gets his first hit as he singles back up the middle.

Tanaka singles to left, Uekusa scores, they send Sakamoto (probably for practice) and he's thrown out easily 7-6-2 to end the inning.

Top 9th
The game is in hand, but the question is - will Matsui hit 20 K's and hold the 9-inning regulation record all alone?

Top of the order and captain Ikeuchi.  He falls behind 1-2...  ball outside.

He does it!  Matsui Yuuki hits 20 K's and holds the record for most K's at Natsu Koushien for a 9-inning game!

#17 Yoshimoto comes in to PH, and he goes down on 3 straight watching a slider for the 3rd strike.  21 K's!

Kasazaki denies another 1-2-3 K inning by hitting a single to right.

But Suehiro earns the golden sombrero (or what do they call it in Japan??!!) as he K's for the 4th time to end the game.

It was a complete and utter domination of Imabari Nishi by Matsui Yuuki of Toukou Gakuen.  About the only good thing you can say is that you were part of history - even if it was the wrong end.

But just think about it.  22 of the possible 27 outs were recorded via the K.  22!!

AND HE'S A 2ND YEAR!!

Even I can't fathom that.

Sure, his control could be his undoing - though at least when he missed, he missed big and in the right places.

For now though, he has his moment.  It will certainly be in all the news broadcasts and in the newspapers.  But enjoy it today, then focus on the next game tomorrow.

Imabari Nishi were certainly underdogs coming into this game, but I don't think they were expecting this.  I wasn't.  Hopefully this doesn't crush them but instead motivates them to work harder.