高校野球 (Kokoyakyu)

So three more prefectures in Tohoku started up yesterday, so let's get caught up on the region before moving on.

And you guys may be better off following my twitter (see the left side of the page) to get relatively real-time coverage on the games, because work has been too busy to allow me to catch-up on the prior day's games.
Like many other prefectures, it seems like this is the year for the tier 3 schools to make hay.

FYI, when I say tier 3, I mean the following:

• Tier 1 - Schools that regularly make Koushien (Chiben Wakayama, Nichidai-san, Houtoku Gakuen, Ryuukokudai Heian, Osaka Touin, etc,)
• Tier 2 - Schools that have made it to Koushien, but generally run into the upper tier (Yokohama Hayato, Chiba Keizaidai Fuzoku, Nihon Koukuu)
• Tier 3 - Schools that regularly do well, but rarely, if ever reach Koushien (Bushuukan, Toukai Dai-yon, Kyoto Subaru, Kasukabe Kyouei, St. Ursula, Oberlin, etc.)

And so this final was a chance for both schools to get to Koushien.  And actually Kushiro Kougyou had made it once before back in 1979, but lost in the first round to Hieizan.

But the game wasn't close, Bushuukan put up 3 runs in the first inning and never really looked back.  Kushiro Kougyou made it close with a pair of runs in the 9th, but an 8-5 win means that they're making their first ever appearance at Natsu Koushien!

Aomori - Aomori v. Hachinohe Gakuen Kousei
Aomori had a magical run, defeating both Hachinohe Koudai Dai-ichi and Aomori Yamada to reach the final.  But then they had to face Kousei, and you would think that the run would end.

Thankfully for everyone (except Kousei) they didn't get the memo.  In fact, they were the ones to strike first, with 3 runs in the second no less.  And when Kousei replied with 3 of their own the 3rd, they scored another in the 4th.  But after Kousei tied it yet again in the 5th, you had to wonder if Aomori was going to have another burst in them.

The answer seemed to come 2 innings later when Kousei would score 4 in the 7th to seemingly take a commanding 8-4 lead.  Aomori made one final push in the 9th, but it would fall short as Kousei goes yet again to Koushien with a 8-6 win.  Now if only they could win Koushien itself...

Iwate - Hanamaki Higashi v. Moriokadai Fuzoku
If there is one name that you need to know from this matchup, it is ace Matsumoto Yuuki.

No, not Hanamaki Higashi, but Moriokadai Fuzoku!

Because in the 1st inning, he blasted a 2-run HR to deep right to the 2nd fence (the one actually bordering the entire ballpark!).

Now, it was obviously still early, and Hanamaki as they are wont to do, started scrapping runs together, first with a run in the 2nd, and then 3 more in the 4th.  You had to wonder if Moriokadai would be able to mount another charge against the vaunted squad.

Fast forward 1 inning later, and Moriokadai had managed to score a run to cut the lead to 4-3.  And wouldn't you know it, Matsumoto stepped in once again, this time with runners at the corners.  After a SB, a base hit could give the team back the lead.

Matsumoto drives a ball to deep center, and somehow over the fielder's head yet again!  2 runs do score and Moriokadai Fuzoku took the 5-4 lead!

The rest of the game was hang on time.  Matsumoto was by no means dominant on the hill, but he was doing just enough to get by, with some help from Hanamaki at times.  For instance in the 6th runner on 2nd, bunt is placed, but right to Matsumoto who wheels to 3rd for the tag.  They get a 2-out double in the 7th, but a great diving catch by Moriokadai's LF saved the game.

Once that catch was made, I think the rally in Hanamaki Higashi was dashed.  The last 6 outs went by without a whimper and Moriokadai Fuzoku (or rather Matusmoto Yuuki) claims the Iwate title!

Yamagata - Sakata Minami v. Yamagata Chuo
Yamagata Chuo had claimed their only title 4 years ago, and if you go back and look at the records, it wasn't against the top competition the prefecture had to offer (Sakata Minami, Nichidai Yamagata, Tsuruoka Higashi, etc.).  So while they were here in the finals, it was against the aforementioned Sakata Minami, and you had to think that they would fall short again...

It certainly looked that way.  Despite ace Ishikawa eventually recording 12 K's, it was Sakata Minami who held the 2-0 lead going into the 9th.

But in that 9th, Okuyama would start off with a double,  couple of batters later Aoki would hit a 2-RBI double to tie the game.  And Nagai and Takahashi would complete the comeback with timely hitting on their own.  5-runs later and Sakata Minami and their supporters were shocked to see themselves down 5-2 with just 3 outs to go!

There would be no rally as Yamagata Chuo would truly break their curse of Koushien and punch their second ticked with a 5-2 win!

There is a lot to go through, and I have less time to cover it all:

Things get a bit more wacky as we start heading south and west...

Ibaraki
Regional play has been completed, and 29 teams moved on to prefectural play.  Jyousou Gakuin got a free pass and is probably expected to go deep into the tournament. Kasumigaura, who was just 6 outs away from winning their first title, is also present - but the question will be has their time passed them by? If they do get their revenge matchup it will be in the finals, but in the haru format does not guarantee them a spot in Koushien.

However, the other seeded teams are Meishuu Hitachi, Suijyou and Fujishiro - the latter 2 being familiar names.

Tochigi
Tochigi has no such regionals, all 61 teams are just thrown into a bracket and they beat each other up. So far, Sakushin Gakuin looks to be the front-runner with mercy-rule wins in their first two games and advancing into the quarterfinals.

Joining them are 5 other "seeded teams" including Sano Nichidai, Hakuoudai Ashikaga and Bunsei Geidai Fuzoku. Only the former has had mercy-rule wins throughout.

Gunma
Sadly, when it comes to the one-time winners, it kind of follows that they are unable to follow it up.

Such was the case with Maebashi Ikuei, who couldn't get past their first game losing to Oota Kougyou 4-3...

As a result, the mainstays have been able to reassert themselves within the prefecture at least - sort of.

Kendai Takasaki has made the semifinals, in Kendai fashion, with not one, not two, but three 1-run ballgames. They will face Kitoku, who is definitely a solid C team, for an automatic bid into the Super-Regional.

On the other side, Kiryuu Dai-ichi is back once again and will face unknown Takasaki Shoudai Fuzoku.

Saitama
The struggles for Urawa Gakuin continue... Ojima cannot get them past their 2nd game of the prefecturals, falling to Honjyou Dai-ichi 3-2.  They will face Yashio Minami for a spot in the semifiinals.

Elsewhere, familiar names Saitama Sakae and Hanasaki Tokuharu after eking out 4-3 sayonara wins will face each other... there's an all-Kawagoe matchup as Kawagoe Higashi and Shiritsu Kawagoe meetup...

...and can Kasukabe Kyouei finally get to Koushien please? Two shutout wins pit them now against Matsuyama for a spot in the semis.

Chiba
Kisaradzu Sougou had the unfortunate draw to face Toukaidai Bouyou right off the bat in the prefecturals... and lost 2-1.  Oddly enough they then lost to unknown Abiko in the very next game 3-1!

There were even more early strong matchups as Chiba Keizaidai Fuzoku defeated Toukaidai Urayasu 3-1.  Senshuudai Matsudo has been given no favors having to face Chiba Keiai and now Narita.

Narashino is still alive, but two close games so far do not instill confidence in the team's strength early despite having an easy road so far.

And don't forget about Kashiwa Nittai, they're always in the mix and may not have a challenge until a possible matchup with Chiba Reimei in the quarterfinals.

Kanagawa
Toukou Gakuen look to make it back to the Super-Regionals having defeated Nichidai Fujisawa and Yokohama Sougakukan.  They should have no trouble against a Nichidai squad despite them giving up their first runs of the taikai in the last round in a 5-4 win over Busou.

The bigger matchup is Toukaidai Sagami (who has just beat the heads in on all opponents - including Touin Gakuen) all without giving up a run, versus a Yokohama squad who once again does not look all that impressive though they did have to face Yokohama Hayato and Keio Gijyuku.

Yamanashi
We could be in line for a rematch of the natsu final as both Hikawa and Nihon Koukuu are on opposite sides of the bracket and are on a collision course. In their way immediately right now are Koufu Kougyou and Koufu Shougyou respectively.  After that, it could be fellow powerhouses Yamanashi Gakuindai Fuzoku and Toukaidai Koufu. So while the rematch may happen, there's still some obstacles left to go.

Sorry, a headache pretty much KO'd me during games so I wasn't able to do an update.

Anyways, we're in crunchtime now as the number of teams qualifying by the day starts to ramp up hard.

First our qualifiers.  The established guard ruled the day on the 25th.

Ibaraki - Jyousou Gakuin (15 appearance, 2nd consecutive)

There were very few surprises in Ibaraki this year.

Top seed Kasumigaura almost stumbled out of the block, sort of expected for a team newly in the upper ranks, in a 2-1 win over Hokota Dai-ichi.  That would wake them up as they would outscore their opponents 22-2 thereafter to reach the semis.  That shouldn't take away from their quarterfinal opponent Meishuu Higashi who had defeated Fujishiro in the prior round as flurries of runs were scored in the final innings.

On the other part of their half was Kashima Gakuen who clawed their way through the quadrant, which included a late game pull away from #5 seed Tsuchiura Kohoku 6-4, and Hitachi Dai-ichi who survived Tsuchiura Dai-san 6-5 in the bottom of the 9th then an upset of #4 seed Ishioka Dai-ichi 7-5.  The two teams would be tied at 1 until Kashima Gakuen broke out for 4 runs in the 9th for the win.

In the other half of the quadrant, #2 Jyousou Gakuin breezed through their games, and in the quarterfinals continued to roll with a mercy rule win over Mito Kougyou who respectfully got through the bracket.

Meanwhile, both #3 Shimotsuma Dai-ni and #4 Suijyou were methodically working their way through.  Suijyou after a pair of mercy-rule games, took an early lead over Tsuchiura Dai-ichi 5-0 then held off to win 5-3.  Shimotsuma Dai-ni you could say slowly warmed up.  After a 4-3 win over Tsuchiura Dai-ni, had a better 5-2 win over Mito Sakuranomaki before blowing away Taga. The warming up though wouldn't be enough as Suijyou's RBI by cleanup batter Hayashi Ryou (林 涼) would be enough to send them to the semis.

Both semfiinals wound up being one-sided.  Both Kasumigaura and Jyousou Gakuin cruised through to the finals.

Kasumigaura had a chance this year to finally breakthrough.  In 2011, they lost in the bottom of the 9th against Fujishiro, and last year they fell in the quarterfinals.  Now, prefectural stalwart Jyousou Gakuin stood in the way.

But much like 2011, Kasumigaura took the early lead with a run in the top of the first, and then even added a run in the 8th for good measure.

The pitching side seemed to be holding.  Starter Ueno went short of  5 innings but didn't allow a run.  Ichige came in relief and continued to shut down the favorites...

Until the 8th.

Ichige would be tagged with back to back RBI hits by Yoshizawa and Ikezawa and before you knew it the game was tied.  Katano, who was part of that 2011 game, came in relief and got out of the inning.

But something was probably in the back of Kasumigaura's minds.  Perhaps the shades of 2011 haunted them.  Perhaps my theory of what the schools just below the "powerhouse" tiers holds true - that teams need to learn how to win the big game, to not be intimidated by their history or the history of the other teams.  To just play with no abandon regardless of the opponent.

Because with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th, Kasumigaura would suffer the same fate as 2011.  Cleanup batter Uchida would blast a sayonara 2-run HR off Katano to give Jyousou Gakuin their 2nd consecutive title... and leave Kasumigaura broken for 2 of the last 3 years.

Niigata - Nihon Bunri (7th appearance, 1st in 2 years)
This year may have been Murakami Sakuragaoka's best chance to win the title.  Constantly exiting either in the 3rd round or the semifinals, they finally got to the title game.  But Nihon Bunri stood in the way of them and the title.

Murakami Sakuragaoka looked really good in the title game, pinging Nihon Bunri for a run in the first 2 innings.  And even after ace Shiina gave up a 3 spot in the 4th, Murakami pocked ace Ooyanai? Yoshinori (大谷内 睦規) for another run in the 5th and 6th innings to take the lead.  However, Shiina's downfall would be the big inning.  Nihon Bunri would score 4 in the 7th knocking Shiina out of the game and giving themselves a lead that just forced their opponents to get a run an inning.  After a scoreless bottom of the 7th, it was all but over as Nihon Bunri won the title 7-5.

Kumamoto - Kumamoto Kougyou (20th appearance, 1st in 4 years)
Buntoku had been to Koushien twice before, both summer appearances.  And they performed very well in recent years, losing in the 3rd round or the quarterfinal game.  This year though they would have to defeat Kumamoto Kougyou, who had been to Koushien quite often in the 2000's, but was quiet so far in this decade.  Still, they have a much bigger history at Koushien than Buntoku.

Once again, it was the underdog who jumped out ahead with a run in the bottom of the first.  Kumamoto Kougyou would respond quickly tying the game in the 2nd.  Forward to the 5th inning and an error would help Buntoku take a 4-1 lead.  Ace Honda seemed to make that lead stick... that is until the 8th where with 2 down and runners on 2nd and 3rd, Nishiyama and ace Yamashita would deliver back to back hits to tie the game.

The game would stay tied until the 10th where Kudou, who entered the game as a PH earlier, would deliver what would end up being the game winning RBI to give Kumamoto Kougyou their first appearance in Koushien this decade.


And now for our final games today.

Iwate
When play finally started in Iwate it became clear that being a seeded team didn't mean a whole hill of beans. 3 seeded teams failed to get past their first game! Kurosawajiri Kougyou, Touno and Morioka Shiritsu all fell flat.  Even Moriokadai Fuzoku narrowly beat Morioka Nougyou 5-3 in their opener.  Senshuudai Kitakami fell one round later to Kuji Kougyou 6-4.

With one exception (Fukuoka), the schools who upset the seeded teams joined the remaining seeds (who had no trouble at all) in the Best 8.

Oddly enough, all 4 seeded teams were facing no seeds in the quarterfinals.

Morioka Dai-yon and Hanamaki Higashi handled their games easily over Fukuoka and Kuji Kougyou respectively, Ichinoseki Gakuin not surprisingly struggled with Kamaishi Shoukou but won 5-4, and in a bit of a surprise Mizusawa played to a 2-2 draw with Moriokadai Fuzoku!  However, a replay generally favors the favorite and true to form Moriokadai won 8-3 in the replay.

So the semifinals would feature Moriokadai Fuzoku facing Ichinoseki Gakuin, and Morioka Dai-yon squaring with Hanamaki Higashi.  Ichinoseki Gakuin fell flat once again, providing little resistance to Morioka Dai-ichi, while Hanamaki Higashi gritted their way with a 2-run 8th to get past Morioka Dai-yon and ace Nagasuzu 4-3.

And while they had to wait a day due to rain, familiar foes in Moriokadai Fuzoku and Hanamaki Higashi will face off for the Iwate title.

Yamagata
As much as Tenri has disappointed me over the years, so has Haguro in Yamagata.  In fact, they stooped to a new low.  Earning the #1 seed, they promptly lost their first game 3-1 to Tsuruoka Higashi.

The 4 seeded teams to reach the semifinals may not have been high seeds, but they are established strong teams within the prefecture.

With top seed Haguro out of the way, #6 Nichidai Yamagata was able to easily win their 3 games to reach the semis.  They will play #3 seed Sakata Minami who needed no help, outscoring their opponents 37-3.

On the other half, #2 seed Kunori Gakuen has been better as of late, but doesn't have the experience it seems losing in the 3rd round 2-1 in 14 innings to Shinjyou Higashi.  They would face #5 Yamagata Chuo for the right to be in the semis.  And while they made a great rally, a 7 run deficit was just too much to overcome as they fell 7-6.  #4 seed Yonezawa Chuo was in dire straits after ace Satou surrendered 3 runs to Toukaidai Yamagata in the final 2 innings.  But amazingly down 7-5, his team rallies for 3 runs for the comeback victory!

So two veterans on one side of the bracket and two hopefuls on the other.  Both semifinal games  expected to be very close affairs.

But interestingly, the game between Sakata Minami and Nichidai Yamagata almost was a blowout!  After a 5-run 1st by Nichidai it looked rather bad for the defending champs.  But they were not defending champions, nor representative 5 of the last 10 years for nothing.   They would claw back to within 2 runs by the 4th inning.  However, that would be as close as they would get as Nichidai would put up a pair in the 7th to put the game out of reach winning 8-5.

In the battle of Chuo schools, Yamagata Chuo was marked as the favorite - especially since they were able to reach senbatsu earlier this year.  But Yonezawa Chuo was not fazed at all.  For each time Yamagata was able to get to ace Satou early on, his offense would come right back to level the score.  Finally in the 8th, Yonezawa was able to pull ahead as Kusano delivered a timely hit on reliever Ishikawa.  Satou was almost able to close it out, but gave up the douten run in the bottom of the 9th.  Yonezawa brought them on the precipice of the finals again with a run in the 10th over ace Takahashi (who returned back to the mound), but once against Satou was not able to keep the lead.

Wouldn't you know it though, Yonezawa would do it again in the 11th.  Kouchi, easily the man of the game, got his 3rd RBI with his 3rd hit of the game.  This time, Satou would finally pitch a clean inning to win the game and send the team to the finals.

Toyama
Toyama went surprisingly smoothly if you were a top seeded team.

Well, almost.

1-2 seed Toyama Shougyou was actually upset by Himi in their 2nd game 4-2 in 12 innings.  Himi almost pulled off the double upset, but Jige was unable to hold, resulting in a 2-1 loss to Sakurai.  The only other seeded team to lose prior to the quarterfinals was Takaoka Shougyou who fell 6-4 to Takaoka Dai-ichi.

Otherwise, fellow 1-2 seed Toyama Dai-ichi, and 3-4 seeds Tonami Kougyou and Shin-Minato were able to reach the semis.  Toyama Dai-ichi blowing through the field, Tonami Kougyou having a little resitance, and Shin-Minato just getting by Tonami Kokusaidai Fuzoku 2-1.

Shin-Minato would narrowly lose to Sakurai 3-2, while Toyama Dai-ichi would mercy rule Tonami Kougyou in 5 innings.  Suffice it to say that the title appears to be Toyama Dai-ichi's to lose.

Fukui
So, the final shouldn't have been a surprise really.  The Hokushinetsu region was represented by 2 teams from Fukui, so why wouldn't Tsuruga Kehi and Harue Kougyou reach the finals?

Well, for Tsuruga Kehi, their draw included possible games against Fukui Koudai Fukui and Fukui Shougyou, and that is no easy task.  They got through Fukui Koudai Fukui 5-1, but wound up stumbling against Fukui Shougyou 5-1.  With the major competition out of the way, a routine 5-1 win over Fukui Nourin put them in the finals.

What about Harue Kougyou?  They were admittedly the weaker team it seemed despite winning the Hokushinetsu region last fall.

Well, they've survived by the skin of their teeth.  Literally.

First up, Keishin.  Tied 1-1 going into the 9th, they get the sayonara run off reliever Kitada to advance.  Then was Sabae.  Despite getting out to a 3-0 lead in the first, Sabae would tie it at 4 by the 6th inning.  This game would go into extras before Harue Kougyou would again deliver the sayonara blow in the 11th by cleanup batter Ono.

Finally, Tsuruga Kougyou. Ace Hirata was able to limit their opponent for 4 hits through 10 innings as Kinoshita finally delivered the game winning sac fly to send them to the finals 1-0.

So, despite being at Koushien this spring, Harue Kougyou looks to be the underdog against Fukui Shougyou.

Gifu
Gifu was rather scratch as well.  The top 8 seeds advanced to the block finals with the only exception being C Block top seed Mashita Seifu.  With their early exit, Chuukyou breezed through to the block finals to face Nagara.

In A Block, Oogaki Nichidai continued their roll through by defeating a surely depleted Teikyoudai Kani squad who needed a sayonara 2-run HR by to rally to defeat Seki Shoukou 6-4 in the bottom of the 9th.

Moving on to B Block, and Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou got a big scare as they trailed Gifu Dai-ichi 2-1.  But they get to ace Koshikawa with a run in the 8th, then the sayonara run in the 9th to advance to the block finals.  They would face a Minokamo squad who like Teikyoudai Kani, rallied for down 6-3 with 7 unanswered runs in the 7th and 8th off off Kanou ace Gotou for the win.

Yet Minokamo was game for the vaunted Kengifushou.  They jumped out to a 2-0 lead right off the bat.  Ace Asano would try to hold the lead for the rest of the game, but would surrender the lead after giving up a run in the 4th and 5th.  The final blow would be in the 7th as cleanup batter Takenaka would deliver the gyakuten timely hit to win 3-2.

As mentioned in Block C, Chuukyou breezed through to face a Nagara team that had two close calls.  Nagara would put up a fight, but found themselves playing a game of catchup they couldn't win following a 3-run 5th.  Chuukyou would advance out of the block 7-5.

And finally in Block D, both Shiritsu Gifu Shougyou and Toki Shougyou would actually have a little difficulty getting through the block.  Both only had one mercy rule victory, and both needed to survive a close game against a no-name opponent (sorry Hida-Takayama and Oogaki Minami).

The block final would go to Shiritsu Gifu Shougyou as they would put up at least a run in 8 of the 9 innings defeating Toki Shougyou 14-8.

In the semifinals, Block D and Block C would play, leaving Blocks A & B to play in the other semi.

Chuukyou was game for Shiritsu Gifu Shougyou, taking the lead in the 6th with a timely hit from 2nd pitcher Takagi.  However, his lead would not last long as he would relinquish runs in the 7th and 8th innings giving Shigifushou the 2-1 win.

The other semifinal was not as competitive.  As much as perhaps people wanted an all-Gifu Shougyou final, ace Fujita just did not have it against Oogaki Nichidai.  A pair of runs in the 1st turned out to be enough as they pulled away 5-1.

So it will be Shiritsu Gifu Shougyou and Oogaki Nichidai in the final.

Shimane
Shimane looked to have two powerhouses barreling towards the final.  One one side Kaisei, who barred through their 3 games going just 17 innings.  On the other, Risshoudai Shounan, who wasn't as dominant, still got through their 3 games with relative ease (though against Matsue Kita in their 3rd game they had just one outburst in the 7th for the 3-0 win).

Standing in Kaisei's way to the finals was Iwamichisuikan.  They worked their way through the bottom of the bracket all the way to face seeded Hamada.  In that quarterfinal game, Iwamichisuikan would put Hamada behind the 8-ball early and often.  Despite Hamada tying the game in the 5th, the constant pressure on ace Miura would be too much.  4 runs in the final 3 innings sealed Hamada's fate.

In the semifinal, Iwamichisuikan's Tanabe would outpitch Kaisei ace Onda with cleanup batter Nishida delivering the fatal blow with a HR in the bottom of the 8th.  Iwamichisuikan would advance to the final game with a 2-1 win.

Risshoudai Shounan's opponent would be Matsue Shougyou.  Having upset Masuda Shougyou, ace Masumoto would outlast Matsue Nourin's Aoyama and and Kadowaki to win 8-5 in 13 innings.  An easy win over Masuda Higashi set up the semifinal matchup.

While taking the early lead, Masumoto would get rocked in the middle innings leaving Matsueshou trailing 4-1.  His offense would rally in the next 2 innings to tie the game, but bottom 9 Shimozono would deliver the sayonara hit for Risshoudai Shounan to move on to the finals where Iwamichisuikan awaits.

Okayama
Oddly enough, it was better to be a lower seeded team than a higher seeded team this year.

1-4 seed Okayama Jyoutou was the first to fall, being shutout by Kouyou 4-0.  Okayama Rikadai Fuzoku would be next to fall one round later, with a 6-2 loss to Kurashiki Kougyou.

However, neither would advance to the best 4.  5-8 seed Kanzei, who was not challenged up until that point, would pull away from Kouyou late to win 5-2.  As for Kurashiki Kougyou, while Koujyoukan did suffer a scare from Takahashi Nisshin,  ace Fukushima would throw a 4-hit shutout to eliminate the challengers.

In the other 2 quadrants, 1-4 seed Kurashiki Shougyou would face a surely tired 5-8 Okayama Higashi Shougyou squad.  They wound up playing Mizushima Kougyou to a 6-6 draw, then just survived in the replay 2-1, then won another 1-run game against Sakuyou.

Perhaps the close games helped Okayama Higashi Shougyou because ace Nogami made a 3-2 2nd inning lead stick to advance the team to a semifinal match versus Kanzei.

And finally, 5-8 Okayama Kyousei was no match for 1-4 Tamano Kounan.  Despite a small hiccup versus Mimasaka, where they just managed 1 run on 8 hits, they blew out Kyousei 10-0.

In the semifinals, the bottom of the order would stake Kanzei ace Kodama to a 2-0 lead as Tobe and Ichihara get back-to-back timely hits.  Kodama would make that lead stick winning 3-2.

The other semifinal was rather bizarre.  First Koujyoukan would go out to a 3-1 lead.  Fukushima would hold that score until the 7th and 8th when Tamano pulled within 1, then tied the game.  Reliever Satake would come in to try and keep the game level, but wound up giving up the gyakuten run to send the top seed to the finals.

What's so strange about that?  They did it on just 4 hits.

Kagawa
Kagawa's top 4 seeds this year did not seem like the usual suspects (with the exception of top seed Jinsei Gakuen).  #2 Kotohira and #3 Tadotsu both were teams that had not fared well, but for some reason had success in the spring.  Only #4 Marugame Jyousei made some sense as they have been one of the betters teams in prefecture.

And things played out like you expected.  Sort of.

Kanonji Chuo gave Jinsei Gakuen a proper fright, but reliever Nakayama kept the score at 4-3 in the final 6 frames. After that Kagawa Tousen Takamatsu actually led Jinsei into the 2nd half of the game, but reliever Yoshinari couldn't maintain the 3-1 lead.  A pair of runs in the 7th and 8th spelled their downfall.

So Jinsei Gakuen as a seeded team made the semifinals.  They would wind up being the only seeded team to do so.

After getting by a tough 1st round draw in Sangawa, Marugame Jyousei slid past Iiyama to reach the quarterfinals.  There they would face an Eimei team who had beaten an unknown Shido team 1-0, then jumped on reliever Matsumoto for Sanbonmatsu who proceeded to fritter away a 7-2 lead and then take the loss in the 10th.  Eimei wound up being up for the task, routing Marugame Jyousei 8-1 in 8 innings.

Things were even worse on the other half.  Tadotsu, despite just 5 hits, was able to defeat Takamatsu Nishi 2-1 in the bottom of the 9th.  But against Takamatsu Shougyou in the next round?  Annihilated in 5 innings 10-0.

And Kotohira?  Don't even ask. Takamatsu Minami limits them to just 1 run on 3 hits as they "upset" the #2 seed 4-1.

So who would jump on the opportunity?  Well, Takamatsu Kita game Takamatsu Minami a job well done, defeated them 5-3, and then 4-hit Shoudouhima to advance to the Best 4.  Marugame, despite needing to comeback against Ootemae Takamatsu's relief corps in game 2, took out Takamatsu Shougyou 5-2 to move themselves on the hill.

Semifinal 1 pitted the two heavyweights Jinsei Gakuen and Eimei.  The aces traded donuts for the longest time before Nakayama caved and allowed the first run in the 7th for Eimei.  Doi would come in relief for the 8th, but gave up 2 more runs.  All seemed lost for Jinsei, but Eimei's ace Akagawa cracked in the bottom of the inning.  A 2-run timely hit by SS Nishimaru, and another RBI from Oonishi tied the game at 3.  Fast forward to the 9th, and Nishimaru would get one more crack at Akagawa.  Sure enough, he delivered the sayonara hit to score Shinohara and send Jinsei Gakuen to the finals.

The 2nd semifinal was not exciting at all sadly.  Takamatsu Kita was definitely the odd man in the bunch, and well... Starter Horie would not even finish the first inning as Marugame scored 11 runs in the 1st inning.  They would win 11-0 on 5 hits and 8 walks...

So it's Marugame and Jinsei Gakuen in the final.

During the week most prefectures are off on qualifying except for the Kyushu region.  Some though with the sheer amount of schools have no choice but to continue playing through the week.

Gunma
8 games in play yesterday, and there was quite a few heart-stoppers.

At Shikishima, Tone Shougyou scores a run in the 7th and 8th innings and holds of Tatebayashi for the 3-2 win.  Moving to Takasaki, Nishioura fights hard against Tone Jitsugyou in the late innings and a 3-spot in the bottom of the 8th is just enough to win 6-5.

And best of all in Kiryuu, Shiritsu Maebashi scores 4 runs in their last 6 outs to tie at 5 against Tokiwa, then had to score a run in the bottom of the 10th to keep the game going... where it ended in a 6-6 draw!  Fortunately, the draw is in an early round that whomever wins gets 4 days off before their next game.

Ibaraki
There was more of the same here in Ibaraki:

• At Mito Municipal, Sakai trailed Mito Dai-ichi for 6 innings before scoring a pair of runs in the 7th and 8th to win 4-2.
• In Ibaraki Prefectural, Asou had to play catchup in the late innings against Iwai, tying the game twice, and the only lead they had was when they won the game in the bottom of the 10th.
• Over at Tsuchirura Tsuchiura Dai-ni sent out 5 pitchers to stave off Edogawa Gakuen 6-5.
• Moving on to Hitachi Naka Municipal Kamisu's Tanabe barely made a 6-run 4th stick against Kaiyou to win 6-5.

Higashi Tokyo
Only 5 games in Higashi Tokyo, all at either Meiji Jingu or Jingu #2.

Showa Tetsudo, who has a really cool building, outlasted Nakano Kougyou 14-8 in the opening game at the main stadium.  Shukutoku Sugamo staved off a mercy rule loss to Arakawa Kougyou in the 5th, but couldn't complete a comeback losing 10-7.

Fukuoka
The scares continue in Fukuoka.  Minami F-Block seed Fukuokadai Oohori made a single run in the 1st stick to get past Shuuyuukan 1-0. But for the most part, seeded teams like Toukai Dai-go and Ikutokukan got by with ease.

Saga
Midori no Mori still 1 day behind in games thanks to an opening day rainout.  Karatsu Nishi holds off Karatsu Seishou 5-4.

Blue Stadium opened on time, and there we had Kishima Shougyou using a 4-run 6th to tie the game against Kanzaki, winning it in the bottom of the 9th.

Nagasaki
6 games in Nagasaki today, and of note Isahaya Nougyou scrambles in the 7th and 8th innings for 4 runs to defeat Nagasaki Kakuyou 7-6.  Also one of my favorite teams, the seeded Seihou, started off slow defeated Chinzei Gakuin 3-0.

Kumamoto
Things relatively quiet in Kumamoto.  Mostly blowouts, and 5-Seed Toukaidai Seishou had no issues with Yatsushiro.

Oita
Same in Oita.  Tsurusaki Kougyou, Yufu and Touin all advance with no issues.

Miyazaki
Seeded teams kicked off yesterday.  Nichinan Gakuen, Nisshou Gakuen, and Nobeoka Gakuen all advanced, though Nisshou Gakuen only got by Nichinan 3-0.

Kagoshima
(This update covers all games from opening to yesterday)

So opening day in Kagoshima gave those that stayed after the ceremony a good show.  Kagoshima Jyousei trailed Tanegashima 2-0 before scoring 3 runs in the bottom of the 8th and held on for the win.

First full day of action was rather uneventful with mostly blowouts.  Tokunoshima did break a scoreless draw with 2 in the 7th to defeat Izumi Chuo, and Sensatsu Seishuukan used a 4-run 8th to break a 3-3 tie over Hayato Kougyou and win 7-5.

On the 8th, there was 2 close games - Kagoshima Gyokuryuu scored a run in the 8th and 9th to defeat Kagoshima Suisan 2-1 in the bottom of the 9th while Koniya used a 4-run 8th to pass Kanoya Nougyou 6-3.

Same with yesterday - mostly non-competive games.  But Kagoshima Tousen held off a 9th inning rally from Tsurumaru to win 2-1, while Satsuma Chuo won their 2nd game over Takeokadai 2-0.

Interestingly though, in the final game at Kamoike, the combined team of Ariake・Kushira Shougyou・Minami-Oosumi did actually win their first game, and in convincing fashion over Sueyoshi 8-1 in 7 innings.

19 of 47 tournaments are now underway, and 2 of them are in the round of 16(ish).

Kita Hokkaido
Not too many upsets to speak of in regional play, and we're down to our final 16.  Asahikawa Kougyou is still alive for a 2nd straight appearance, but struggled against Asahikawa Shougyou in the regional block final.  In fact none of the teams that advanced look like they could run away with it all, and the teams that had blowouts in their final are from areas not known for strong teams.

This could open it for teams like Engaru, Kitami Hokuto, and Asahikawa Ryuukoku this year.  But as far as I'm concerned it's all up in the air.

Minami Hokkaido
We had some theatrics before reaching the final 15.  While it may not matter in the long-run, for Otaru Ouyou to rally from down 10-3 with just 9 outs left to win 13-12 over Otaru Kougyou in their 1st game is rather amazing.  Unfortunately, while they tried to pull it off again against Otaru Suisan and went from 4-0 to tied at 4, ace Tanabe couldn't keep it tied as they lost 5-4.

In the Sapporo regionals, Sapporo Dai-ichi led Shoushi Gakuen 3-0 going into the top of the 9th, but as they say, the final 3 outs are the hardest to get.  And despite Sapporo Dai-ichi being the more experienced team, they fell victim to the saying and 5 runs later, were eliminated.

For Sapporo Ryuukoku, who earlier pulled off a huge upset in Hokkai, they couldn't parlay that into a 2nd stage appearance, giving up 4 runs in the first to Sapporo Okadama losing 5-3.

The draw is out here for the 2nd stage as well, and Hakodate Chuubu gets the benefit of a 1st round bye.  It won't be much benefit though as they will have to play either Hakodatedai Yuuto or the aforementioned Sapporo Okadama.  Komadai Tomakomai gets a rather easy draw as they are on the opposite side of both Hokushou and Sapporo Nichidai (who could face each other in the quarterfinals).

I do like Hakodatedai Yuuto in this scenario.

Gunma
3 days in and quite a few seeded teams are underway.  Maebashi Ikuei and Kendai Takasaki both cruised as well as 5-8 seed Maebashi Kougyou.  Kiryuu Shiritsu Shougyou survived in walk-off fashion against Takasaki Shoudai Fuzoku and looks to be in a lot of trouble.

So does 3-4 seed Numata as today they needed a 4-run 7th to defeat Isesaki Kougyou 6-4.

Ibaraki
Ibaraki with mostly blowouts, though we had a couple of walk-offs on the first full day of action.  Tokiwadai couldn't hold a 1-run lead in the 9th, but won the very next inning over Toride Shouyou.  Tsuchiura Dai-san did the same to Iwase Nichidai in the 10th inning as well.

Highlights of today's action had Nakaminato Dai-ichi scoring 5 unanswered runs in the late innings to defeat Ryuugasaki Minami 6-5, at Hitachi Ibaraki Christian scoring 2 in the bottom of the 9th to defeat Hitachi Shougyou 5-4,and at Kasama Shimodate Kougyou outlasting Tskuba Kouka 2-1 in 11.

We won't see the seeded teams until the 12th.

Nishi Tokyo/Higashi Tokyo
Nishi Tokyo is rather quiet on their first day with little of note to speak of.  In Higashi Tokyo it was mostly the same, with a couple of exceptions.  Meguro Gakuin rallied from down 3-0 to tie it in the bottom of the 9th against Shinjuku and would eventually win in 12.  And over at Oota Stadium, Risshoudai Risshou scored 4 in the 9th to defeat Katsushika Shougyou 9-6.

Kanagawa
Kanagawa had their opening game at Baystars Stadium and Keiou Fujisawa had no problem with Kaiyou Kagaku 8-0 in a 7 inning game.

Gifu
It was a slow start to the Gifu tournament as games at Nagarakawa were called off due to rain.  This after they tried to get Chuukyou-Gifu in but was rained out with Chuukyou leading 2-0 after their part of the 3rd inning.

The only game of the opening day was played over in Oogaki as Oogaki Shougyou scored 7 unanswered runs to defeat Nourin 11-6.

Those rained out games were played the next day, pushing the scheduled games back a week.  Chuukyou still managed to win their game while Gizan blew out Kani Kougyou.

Aichi
Those who stayed at Mizuho Kouen for the opening game were treated to a low-scoring affair as Tougou eked by with a 1-0 win over the prefecture's namesake.

Aichi's first full day went without hitch with again mostly blowouts.  Inuyama Minami scored 4 runs in the final 3 innings to wipe out a 4-1 deficit to defeat Asahino 5-4.

At Kariya Stadium, Toyoda Kougyou pulled out to a 5-2 lead with 6 outs to go before Komaki Kougyou scrambled to level it at 5 in the bottom of the 9th.  However, they couldn't capitalize and would wind up losing in 13.  And in the game after that Iwadzu scored 2 in the 8th to tie it at 2 all over Kasugai Kougyou, but ace Shibata couldn't hold it, giving up the winning run in the bottom of the inning.

And over in Toyohashi, some home cooking was needed as Toyohashi Minami scored the only run of the game in the bottom of the 9th to defeat Kozakai.

By the time I have come back to the Kanto region, we're pretty much approaching the finals in all prefectures. Such is the price of me trying to update every single bracket and trying to blog it while holding a regular 9-5 job. There's got to be a better way of doing it, but I need to book up on excel, access or something to figure out how...

Gunma
As the rounds progressed from the 3rd (which is what they were starting last I recapped), the lower seeded teams such as #7 Maebashi Ikuei, started falling by the wayside. In their case it was a shutout to Oomama (Please, no jokes here).

Also in the 3rd round, Shiritsu Isesaki, held scoreless for 6 innings and down 8, score 11 runs in the final 3 innings for the gyakuten win over Takasaki Keizaidai Fuzoku.

But the first real shoe to drop came in the quarterfinals. Top seed Maebashi Shougyou broke out to a 6-1 lead over Maebashi Kougyou before Maekou scored 4. Then when Maeshou extended the lead back to 3, Maekou got all those runs in the 9th to send it into extras. And in 12, Maekou would score the eventual winning run for the upset!

And if that weren't enough, in the very next game Takasaki Kenkoufukushi scores a run in the 9th to break a 4-4 tie with Jyutoku (who never led), to send the #2 seed home 5-4!

In a more milder upset, #5 Takasaki Shougyou scores 7 in the 8th to defeat #4 Takasaki 7-4.

The semis were not blowouts, but you seemed to know who was in control early. Takasaki Shougyou and Takasaki Kenkoufukushi advance to the finals, with one looking for their first Natsu Koushien appearance in over 2 decades, and the other looking for their first ever.

The final got off to a roaring start. Each team scored in the first two innings. The difference however is that Takasaki Kenkoufukushi continued scoring. For each of the next 5 innings. Takasaki Shougyou couldn't keep up with the scoring and as a result Takasaki Kenkoufukushi earns their first ever appearance with a 10-6 win!

Tochigi
Tochigi has gone from wrapping up the 2nd round to the semifinals (which is still going).

Finishing up Round 2, we had Ashikaga Minami scores 5 in the 8th to defeat Kurubane 5-3.

Round 3 saw another seeded team fall in Oyama who lost to Ashikaga Koudai Fuzoku 3-2 in 13.

But for the most part, things have gone as "planned" with the seeded teams advancing on. So the semifinals had Sakushin Gakuin defeating Bunsei Keidai Fuzoku 5-3 to reach the finals. But their opponent is not yet determined.

That's because the last remaining unseeded team in Utsunomiya Shougyou and Kokugakuin Tochigi battled to a 4-4 draw! This after Kokugakuin had to stave off elimination twice, down 2 in the 10th and down 1 in the 12th.

In the replay, seeded Kokugakuin Tochigi struggled. Despite giving up just 7 hits, Utsunomiya Shougyou made the most of those hits scoring 5 runs en route to a 5-1 win. So it's heavily favored Sakushin Gakuin versus the underdog Utsunomiya Shougyou, whose last Natsu Koushien appearance was in 1923. That's 88 years ago!

Ibaraki
Wrapping up the 2nd round, some of the seeded teams had trouble with their very first game. Tsuchiura Kohoku barely beat Tamataukuri Kougyou 1-0, and Mita Kiryou edging Ina 3-2 in 11.

Sadly for one of those teams, their run wouldn't last much longer. Mita Kiryou loses in the next round 6-4 to Tsukuba Shuuei.

In the round of 16 there were some close calls. #4 Fujioka almost got upset by Ishioka Dai-ichi, but won 2-1 in the bottom of 9th. Tsuchiura Kouhoku gets another scare as they were in a scoreless draw with Hasaki Yanagawa. In the 14th, Hasaki would score 2 putting a ton of pressure on the 7 seed. But I'm not sure how, but they found enough strength to rally for 3 runs and the win!

And finally there was Shimotsuma Dai-ni who had to stave off elimination in the 9th with 3 runs before defeating Tsuchiura Nichidai 8-7 in 12.

Remarkably, the entire bracket with the exception of Mito Kiryou went chalk. All higher seeds won their quarterfinal games and while not blowouts, they weren't in stressful situations either.

And yet for some reason, after going scratch for pretty much the entire tournament, it decides that the semifinals is a good time to turn everything on its head.

First, Fujishiro, despite being outhit 9-6 and committing 2 errors, find a way to upset top seed Jyousou Gakuin 2-0! Then Kasumigaura's ace Itou limits Suijyou to just 4 hits as they beat them 2-1!

So the top 2 seeds are gone, and it's the 4 and 6 seeds battling for the title! Kasumigaura had never been to Natsu Koushien (they did have a spring appearance in 1990), and Fujishiro went back in 2005 (plus 2 spring appearances in the early 2000's).

It was a back and forth battle as Kasumigaura came out to a 2-0 lead after 2, then Fujishiro came back with 2 in the next 2. Kasumigaura with 3 in the 5th retake the lead, but 2 in the 6th make the deficit 1. Fast forward to the bottom of the 9th, and Fujishiro is still down 1. #16 Yamaguchi had taken over for ace Itou on the hill and had gotten himself into some messes, including a bases loaded jam that he got out of with no damage.

3 outs to go and Fujishiro leadoff batter starts it off with a base hit. Needing only one run, they bunt the runner along. After a grounder to 1st, there were one out away. Cleanup batter Nakamura would step in. Yamaguchi gets strike 2 and gets excited. But on a full count, Nakamura walks! The sayonara run now was on base! Mitsu now stood in and once again Yamaguchi gets ahead 0-2, and again he's fired up. But then Mitsu hits one to left! The LF comes in but then pulls up! The ball falls in and Fujishiro ties the game! The LF didn't want to risk a miss on a diving catch and allowing the sayonara run to score! So it was now 5-5!

Satou up now and on any base hit they're sending the runner home...

2-0 pitch and the ball hits Satou. It's originally called a strike, but the umpire has to go over and call it a ball.

So 3-0 now and the risk of a manrui situation...

But Satou takes the pitch the other way into the right center field gap! Neither of the outfielders can get to it and it falls in! Nakamura scores as Yamaguchi falls to the ground. What was on the verge of excitement and joy was completely reversed for Yamaguchi and Kasumigaura... Whether it may have been the extra delay to get the count right, or the excitement that Yamaguchi may have felt being just 1 pitch away, it slipped away. And as much as we should congratulate Fujishiro for not giving up, Kasumigaura and more importantly Yamaguchi should be consoled for their loss.

Saitama
We were wrapping up the 3rd round in Saitama, and today are the finals.

Rounding up the 3rd round, Honjyou Dai-ichi down 3 scores 4 in the bottom of the 9th for the win over Fukaya Dai-ichi. They continued it in the next round winning in 10 over C seed (5-8) Shiritsu Kawagoe 3-2.

Kawagoe Higashi scores 4 in 9th reverse 2-run deficit to crush Kawagoe Nishi's hopes 4-2.

Just to show how hard it can be to win a prefecture, of the 16 seeds (2 A, 2 B, 4 C, 8 D), 8 advanced to the round of 16. 1 B seed , 2 C seeds and 5 D seeds all fell before then.

And just because you got here, doesn't mean you're there yet. Ageo though reaching the round of 16 was upset by Sayamagaoka 2-1 in the bottom of the 9th! Oomiya Higashi and Washimiya were fall here as well - along with powerhouse Seibou Gakuin who were defeated by Kasukabe Kyouei 4-2.

In the quarterfinals, all teams were in play on the 24th instead of on 2 separate days. Hanasaki Tokuharu, the only A seed remaining left, advanced without issue, much like the other games. Kasukabe Kyouei, thanks Sayamagaoka for defeating Ageo by letting them enjoy their summer with a 4-1 win. Urawa Gakuin, a faux D Seed mercy rules C Seed Oomiya Higashi. And unseeded Honjyou Dai-ichi upsets their 2nd seeded team in B seed Urawa Jitsugyou 4-2!

We had quite the semifinal battle early between Hanasaki Tokuharu and Urawa Gakuin. But tied at 2-2 after 5, Hanasaki pulls away with 4 runs in the next 3 innings for the 6-2 win. Battling them for the title would be Kasukabe Kyouei who had no trouble with Honjyou Dai-ichi 5-2.

The finals were set, and it slated to be a great matchup. And it was. The game was scoreless for the first 3 innings before C seed Kasukabe opened the scoring with a run. But an inning later, Hanasaki Tokuharu would respond with 2 runs to take the lead! It would be up to ace Kitagawa to hold it down for the top seed, and in the end he would, shutting down the Kasukabe offense and given Hanasaki Tokuharu their 2nd Natsu Koshien appearance, and 1st in 10 years!

Chiba
As Chiba was going into the Round of 16, when in theory all seeded teams could be remaining, we had our biggest upset of this tournament this year when Senshuudai Matsudo, an A seed, was upset by unseeded Tokyo Gakkan Urayasu 3-2!

More C & D seeds fell going into the round of 16, but in some cases it was unseeded vs. unseeded. Such was the case between Chiba Kokusai versus Chiba Shougyoudai Fuzoku. Shougyoudai had a 1-0 lead early, but the pitching couldn't hold Kokusai scoreless forever. As they started scoring from the 7th inning on, it seemed like Shougyoudai was lost. But they scored 4 in the 8th to comeback and win the game 5-4!

In another unseeded match last year's representative Narita went the distance against Tateyama Sougou before losing 3-2 in the bottom of the 15th.

Needless to say though, that the 2nd day of action to determine the round of 16 was much more kinder to the very top seeds. All in all, only 1 A seed (1-4) and 1 B seed (5-8), were lost.

In the round of 16, Tokyo Gakkan Urayasu in another unseeded game, fell behind 5-0 in the 1st 3 innings then came back to score a pair of runs in each of the next 3. Add an insurance run in the 9th and they were in the quarterfinals with a 7-5 win. Other than that everything went as expected though B seed Shigakukan was blitzed by C seed Kashiwa Nittai 6-1.

The quarterfinals began with an scare for A seed Narashino. Up 2 in the 9th against Chiba Keizaidai Fuzoku, reliever Kimura squandered the lead allowing Keizaidai to tie the game! Luckily for Narashino though, they were able to regroup one inning later and score the sayonara run.

Toukaidai Urayasu though wasn't as fortunate. Takushokudai Kouryou would score 6 in the middle innings and take a commanding 6-0 lead. The A seed would try to make a comeback late, but there just wasn't enough time. 3 runs in the 9th were not enough as they fell 6-4!

And finally, Tokyo Gakkan Urayasu would upset their 2nd seeded team in Awa by a comfortable margin of 5-1!

The semifinals saw more of the usual with Narashino as Takushokudai Kounan was mercy ruled in 7. But the 2nd semifinal was another shocker in the making. Right out of the gate, Tokyo Gakkan Urayasu would build a 5-0 lead on the A seed Ryuukeidai Kashiwa. Ryuukeidai would score 4 in the 4th to pull within 1. They kept the deficit at 1 after trading a pair of runs later on. And then in the 9th, they'd finally pull level with Tokyo Gakkan Urayasu. It seemed like perhaps the tide was changing.

But in the bottom of the 9th, TGU would open the inning with a ball over the outfielder's head for a leadoff triple! Instead of loading the bases, they elect to pitch to the next batter... who hits a single for the sayonara walk-off! Unseeded Tokyo Gakkan Urayasu upsets their 2nd A seed this tournament and 3rd seeded team overall and found themselves in the finals!

In the finals though, stood a stout and formidable Narashino squad, who mercilessly opened the game with runs in the first 3 innings to get a 4-0 lead. TGU was unable to get any timely hits to narrow the deficit. While the relief staff was able to stop the bleeding, the offense was unable to make any ground.

Eventually the relief corps would break down, first with a run in the 7th, then 5 in the 8th and 4 in the 9th. And while Tokyo Gakkan Urayasu would prevent the shutout in the bottom of the 9th, Narashino would win their 8th summer title and go to Koushien for the first time in 10 years with a 14-2 win!

Nishi Tokyo
When it comes to prefectures, or in case part of a prefecture, where there are a lot of teams, it takes a while for the good teams to emerge. I always wonder if it's worth it to mention those teams that will in all likelihood never make it, but pull off comeback victories and the like because at that time it continues their summer.

For instance, Eimeikan versus Kodaira Minami down 3-1 tie the game in the 8th and go into extras. Threatened with elimination again in the 12th, they score a run to extend the game. Then in the final inning, the bottom of the 15th, they score the winning run to advance.

But as we approached the Best 8 is when the good teams (or perhaps lucky) started to shake out. 2 instances were Kokugakuin Kugayama blowing a 4-run lead in the 9th to Toukaidai Sugao before winning 6-4 in the 11th on a 2-run HR by ace Kawaguchi. The 2nd was Horikoshi who down 1 in the bottom of the 9th tied, then scored the sayonara run with 2 down.

Meanwhile Oberlin, despite 2 HRs from 3B Yamaguchi, were only able to hold the lead of a half-inning before Eimeikan took the lead for good winning 7-5. On a similar note, Shouwa, who may not be long for the tournament after this game (as they're facing Waseda Jitsugyou aka Soujitsu), down 1 in the 9th to Meijidai Meiji, scores 2 for the walkoff win.

And while I could say, "and so it was" since Soujitsu did indeed beat them, but despite getting 10 hits and 6 free passes, they managed just a 2-1 win. Nichidai-san (aka Sanko), had some trouble with Hino... for a while. Up 7-0, Hino started chipping into the lead. 2 in the 4th, 3 in the 5th, and one more in the 7th off Yoshinaga (who came in part-way through the 5th), meant that Sanko's lead was just 1!

Then Sanko decided to floor it. 8 runs later and Hino was threatened with the mercy rule. 3 runs against ace Yoshinaga in 1 inning was too much to ask, and that was that. Waseda Gakuin reached the round of 8 again, with a 9-7 win over Kougakuindai Fuzoku that was less competitive than the score indicated, and Kousei Gakuen who has submariner Mizoguchi.

In an odd turn, and I'm not sure if it was to prevent games possibly running late, or of it was due to not wanting both Waseda schools at the stadium, but Waseda Gakuin's game versus Nichidai Tsurugaoka was moved to Hachiouji Municipal. The game was close early, as Waseda quickly closed a 2-run deficit early. But Tsurugaoka started pulling away late, capped off with 4 in the 9th for an 8-2 win.

The other quarterfinals, were just not competitive at all. In fact, Soujitsu, Sanko and Kousei combined shut out their opponents to the tune of 34-0, and all but Kousei went 5 (Kousei played just 1 inning more).

Higashi Tokyo
Higashi Tokyo, also had similar stories. For instance, Nittai Ebara bids sayonara to Sumida Kougyou right after Sumida scored a run in the 9th to tie the game up. Nichidai Buzan rallied with 2 in the the 8th and 9th innings to wipe out a 3-run deficit incurred after giving up 7 in the 7th to Sundai Gakuen.

In what could be considered a quarterfinal-type matchup, Kanto Dai-ichi survives against Yukigaya in the 3rd round 3-2.

And in perhaps an example of needing those extra vowels, Shutoku wins their game over Tokyo Shidai Todoroki and will play Shuutoku (the more well-known school) who shut-out Shouin.

Going to the round of 16 we had teams like Nisshougakushadai Fuzoku who scored 3 in the top of the 9th to defeat Tokyo Jitsugyou 4-2 interdispersed with quite a few regulars.

I think what's been surprising about the Tokyo tournaments is that the quarterfinals have been so lopsided. All 4 games ended via the mercy rule. That leaves us Teikyou v. Seiritsu Gakuen, and Nishogakushadai Fuzoku v. Kanto Dai-ichi.

Kanagawa
Kanagawa had some good stories in the beginning. Yamakita scored 3 in the bottom of the 9th to defeat Seya 7-6. Course, they faced Yokohama next. But they put a good fight against Yokohama. In fact, ace Dotemoto limited Yokohama to just 3 hits. 3! And Yamakita out-hit Yohohama 5-3! But it's the final score that matters, and that was 2-0 Yokohama.

Keiou oddly had trouble with their 3rd round opponent Yurigaoka. The final score was 3-2 and they managed just 7 hits. Nichidai Fujisawa would be next. And in that game, Keiou just didn't look the same. No offense, no pitching, and no win. Nichidai Fujisawa moves on with a 5-2 win.

Chigasaki Nishihama had a sayonara homerun from no other than their ace Furumura to win 6-3! And in the next round they almost did the same thing against Touin Gakuen. Down 3-0 in the bottom of the 9th they once again made their push. But it fell one run short as they lost 3-2.

In a bit of a surprise, Hosei Dai-ni advances to the round of 16 with a 4-0 win over Kamakura Gakuen. I don't think I can recall a time when I really mentioned a Hosei team.

The round of 16 saw my dream of a back-to-back haru-natsu renzoku yuushou disappear. An early HR from Usuda wasn't enough for them as Yokohama scores 3 to end Toukaidai Sagami's bid. Next up would be Tachibana Gakuen (立花学園 - that one) who handled Nichidai 5-0.

Koujyou would have to wait one more day to figure out their opponent. Yokohama Sougakukan and Yokohama Ouyou both scored a run in the 6th, both aces - Sueyoshi and Sawada went the full distance, and the teams combined for just 11 hits in a 1-1 draw. Possible note for the replay, Ouyou batters struck out 19 times.

So onto the next day of games, and I don't think I had talked about Toukou Gakuen in years past, but here they are in the round of 16 beating Nichidai Fujisawa 2-1! Next up would be Hosei Dai-ni and ace Asano who shutout Sagamihara Sougou 1-0.

Touin Gakuen is looking to make a deep run yet again, and perhaps not get disappointed as in years past. They draw Busou next.

And finally, in the replay of the 1-1 tie, Yokohama Ouyou did indeed have problems, though they only struck out twice. Yokohama Sougakukan alone had 14 hits, more than the 1st game in total. And it would be Yokohama Sougakukan who would advance with a 3-0 win.

To the quarterfinals and Tachibana Gakuen gave Yokohama yet another challenge. Behind 3-0 they score 3 in the 7th to tie the game! Yokohama though would eventually win the game with a run in the 8th. But they've had some very close calls throughout the tournament. Yokohama Sougakukan would give it a crack next as Koujyou fell to them 5-1.

On the other side, Hosei Dai-ni's run ended rather flat against Toukou Gakuen 10-3 in 7. Touin Gakuen would be their opponent, though it required 12 innings to do so. One letter kanji difference between the two schools. Just a random observation.

To the semifinals and yet again, Yokohama gets a scare. Scoreless for the first 5 innings, they score 4 in the 6th. Despite that, Yokohama Sougakukan would start a comeback. Down 0-4, to 1-4, 1-5, 2-5, then 2 in the bottom of the 8th to make it just a 1 run ball game! Ace Souma retakes the hill in the 9th for the win, and they're in the finals - though perhaps not necessarily in the manner perhaps we were expecting.

And the other semifinal was a tug of war between Toukou and Touin, with neither side really able to break free from the other. That was until Kubota hit a 2-run HR in the 6th to give Toukou a 5-3 lead. But that wouldn't last either as Touin brought the deficit to 1 again. Though they had their chaces, Touin couldn't get that equalizer and as such Toukou advances to meet Yokohama!

Covering Kanto will be tough considering the sheet number of games that will be played. But we got to cover them, so いくよ！

Gunma
Gunma actually gets a break after games on the 12th. Well, it was supposed to be anyways.

At Isesaki, Tsumagoi used a 4-run 8th to pull a reversal on Oota Kougyou 6-4. Nishioura held a 3-0 lead over Oota, but watched as the lead slipped away. Oota would tie the game and force extra innings. In the 11, Nishioura scored a run, but couldn't close out the game as Oota got a run on ace Morie. Onto the 12th and once again Nishoura scored a run, and once again Morie couldn't hold. But after that neither team could mount another charge. And thus the game ends in a 5-5 draw!

Moving on to Kiryuu, and Haruna uses a 4-run bottom of the 8th to beat Maebashi Nishi 5-2. Tatebayashi Shoukou scores 7 in the 6th to win 8-0 in 7 against Shibukawa Kougyou.

Takasaki Jyounan is our next stop and Oota Shougyou and Takasaki Kenkoufukushi advance via the mercy rule. In the 3rd game, Takasaki Higashi retakes the lead right after Annaka Sougou scores 3 to take a 1 run lead. They would go on to win 4-3.

Finally at Shikishima, Tokiwa has no problem with Maebashi Minami, while Maebashi Kougyou and Isesaki Shougyou throw 4-0 shutouts.

Nishoura and Oota would come back the next day for their replay, and both aces retook the hill. However, Oota's ace Tajima couldn't keep up the 2nd time around and was knocked out in just 2 innings. By that time, Nishioura was up 6-0 and went on to win by that margin at 13-7.

Tochigi
Tochigi is well into their 2nd round now. So let's see what's happened since the 11th:

Round 1

• At Kanuma, Utsunomiya Kita levels the score at 3 in the 9th then gets the gyakuten run in the 10th to beat Kaminokawa. The 2nd game on the 12th saw Hakuoudai Ashikaga slide by 2-1 on Seiran Taito. And in the last game scheduled for the stadium, Kanumi Minami goes the minimum on Nasu Kaijyou.
• Prefectural Tochigi saw seeded Ootawara have to rally from down 6-0 to Utsunomiya Shougyou to tie the game in the bottom of the 9th. All that work though went for naught when Utsunomiya scored a run in the 10th for the upset! Fellow seed Kokugakuin Tochigi proceeded to the next round though only by a 5-2 margin against Sano.
• Tochigi Municipal on the 12th had 2 blowouts with Kuroiso Minami and seeded Mooka Kougyou winning easily while Ashikaga Kougyou had to forfeit to Kanuma Shoukou. The next day was more competitive as Kurubane scored 2 in the bottom of the 9th to defeat Utsunomiya Higashi 4-3 while Motegi survived a 9th inning rally to defeat Mibu 4-3.

Round 2

• Utsunomiya Minami started off Round 2 with a 7-4 win over Tochigi Kougyou. Their next opponent will be Utsunomiya who beat Imaichi 14-2. Also at Prefectural Tochigi, seeded Sakushin and Bunsei Geidai Fuzoku both won by the mercy rule. Bunsei will play Sakura Seishuu after beating Mooka 4-2.
• Nasu Seihou will be Sakushin Gakuin's opponent in the round of 16 after just getting by Oyama Hokuou 2-1. Yaita Chuo and Kanuma will meet up in the round of 16 after both shut out their respective opponents, Sano Nichidai and Utsunomiya Seiryou.

Ibaraki
Ibaraki had completed 1st round play by the 13 and was off until the 16th.

Kasama

• Tokiwadai scores the only run in its game against Koga Dai-san, while Yuuki Dai-ichi gets the last laugh with its 4 runs in the 9th reversing the 4 Sowa Kougyou scored in the 1st to win 6-5.

Mito Municipal

• Souwa and Ushiku Eishin will square off in their next round after winning their respective games. Hasaki and Ibaraki, who played on the 13th, will too face each other after winning their games, though Ibaraki almost blew a 4-run lead in the bottom of the 9th.

Tsuchiura

• Tamataukuri Kougyou's reward for beating Tsukuba Kouka will be a matchup against #7 Tsuchiura Kohoku while Ina will face #3 Mito Kiryou. Shimodate Dai-ichi after getting the sayonara victory against Ryuugasaki Minami will play Tsuchiura Dai-san.

Hitachi

• Midorigaoka led Katsuta Kougyou 3-2 before Katsuta scored 2 in the bottom of the 8th to take the lead. But then Midorigaoka scored 2 of their own to re-take it. And then Katsuta scored 2 more to... well... win. Mito Kougyou will meet #6 Kasumigaura after mercy ruling Hitachi Dai-ichi

Saitama
In notable games from the 2nd round:

• Yashio scores 1 in the 8th and 2 in the 9th to beat Yashio Minami 5-3.
• Almost all seeded teams advanced with little opposition. 3-4 seed Okegawa gave up 4 runs to Matsuyama in the 5th to take a 5-2 lead. An insurance run in the 7th proved to be the difference as Okegawa would score 3 in the bottom half of the inning to close within 1.
  
• Fudouoka, down 7-4, rally in the last 2 innings to tie it at 8 versus Kawagoe. The game goes 5 more innings before Fudouoka completes the comeback to win 9-8 in 14.
• Unseeded Seibou Gakuen moves on with a 6-1 win over Hanyuu Jitsugyou.
• In the 11th, Oomiya Kita would score 2 right after Kitamoto scored 1. Of course that means that Oomita Kita scored the winning run.
• Honjyou Dai-ichi scores 3 in the bottom of the 8th to make a reversal on Koshigaya Nishi 4-3.
• Sakae Kita has a lucky 7 as 5 runs propel them to a 7-5 win over Kumagaya Nishi.
• Finally, Shiritsu Urawa and Wakou do all their scoring in the last 2 innings, but it was the 2-1 margin that Urawa had that was the difference.

Round 3 is where we start seeing a lot of the seeded teams (though there are 16 of them).

• 9-16 seed Sayamagaoka shuts out Fukaya Shougyou 4-0.
• Omiya Prefectural is where the major seeded teams go. 1-2 seed Hanasaki Tokuharu and Rikkyou Niiza both win handily. However Ageo struggled with Kumagaya Shougyou. Only able to build a 3-0 lead, Kumashou mounted a 2-out comeback in the bottom of the 9th. They made a pitching change and recorded the last out.
• 9-16 seed Kawaguchi needed runs in the 8th and 9th to defeat Shouhei 4-3.
• Tokorozawa Kita's advancement by forfeit showed a bit as they had to rally twice, once in extras, to defeat Namegawa Sougou 3-2 in 11.
• 5-8 seed Kasukabe Kyouei has a smoother 2nd round as they beat Kodama 10-0 in 6 innings.
• Seibou Gakuen faced their first tough game against Tokorozawa Chuo going 12 innings before winning 4-3.
• It was a crazy 11th inning between Sakae Higashi and Asaka. Sakae Higashi scored 2 and looked to advance, but it was Asaka who had the last laugh scoring 3 to finish the game!

Chiba
July 12th

• Senshuudai Matsudo and Chiba Meitoku were involved in a late scramble. Down by 1, Chiba Meitoku scores 2 to take a 4-3 lead over the top 4 seed. Matsudo scrambling in the bottom of the 9th ties it up! And then in extras Meitoku once again puts the pressure on the top seed with 2 more runs! Yet Matsudo proves their mettle by once again scoring enough to tie the game! And after a scoreless 11th, the game is called a draw (much to my surprise).
• Toukaidai Bouyou, a strong non-seeded team was hanging in there against Ryuukeidai Kashiwa. But things went horribly wrong in the bottom of the 8th, and Kashiwa separated themselves with 4 runs for a 9-5 win.
• 5-8 seed Shigakukan had opportunity after opportunity against Kokubun. 9 hits, 16 walks, and yet it took until the bottom of the 10 for them to score the one and only run of the game.
• 9-12 seed Sakura Nishi was completely blindsided by Matsudo Kokusai, falling 8-0 in 8 innings.
• Yakuendai emphatically states it doesn't want to play extras, breaking a 4-4 tie with 4 in the top of the 9th over Mobara Shougyou.
• Chiba Kougyou blows a 2-0 lead to Tougane, but manages to tie it up and win in the bottom of the 10th.
• Nagasa shocks Shiritsu Matsudo as they score 4 in the top of the 9th. This after Matsudo had scored 2 the prior half inning to lead 4-2.
• 5-8 seed Kisaradzu Sougou in deep trouble against Kemigawa, score 6 in the bottom of the 8th to win 8-5.

July 13th

• Narashino 3-hits Chiba Minami in 7, advancing with a 7-0 win.
• 5-8 seed Chiba Keizaidai Fuzoku was in a lot of trouble against Chuo Gakuin. In fact after 5 innings they trailied 5-0! But Chuo Gakuin couldn't stand the pressure of holding the lead. Immediately they started giving back runs - 2 in the 6th, then 1... 2.... 3... 4 runs in the 7th meant that Chuo would have to come from behind. But as is generally the case you get one shot and Chuo sadly wasted it. 7-5 Chiba Keizaidai Fuzoku advances.
• 9-12 seed Awa handles Chiba Kita easily in their 1st game 11-4 in 7 innings.
• And in the replay of the Senshuudai Matsudo-Chiba Meitoku game, Chiba Meitoku couldn't repeat their performance. Matsudo advances 5-2.

July 14th

• 13-16 seed Keiai Gakuen in their first game manages just 3 runs, but shuts out Shuumei Yachiyo.
• 5-8 seed Takushokudai Kouryou goes into extras against Kisaradzu, and manages to win in the 10th inning 4-2.
• A lot of the lower seeds are having difficulties in their opening games and 9-12 seed Choushi Shougyou is no different, beating Shounan Takayanagi 3-0.
• 13-16 seed Makuhari Shougyou does fall, 4-1 to Chiba Shoudai Fuzoku.
• Tokyo Gakkan Urayasu is one of the teams to start 3rd round play and advance 6-3 over Funabashi Keimei.
• Ryuukeidai Kashiwa is taken to the limit against Funabashi Higashi, scoring the sayonara run in the bottom of the 9th.
• Narita moves onto the 3rd round, though by only a 5-1 margin over Nagareyama Ootakanomori.
• And in their 3rd game in 3 days, Senshuudai Matsudo moves on with a 6-2 win over Chiba Kougyou.

June 15th

• Kisaradzu Sougyou is one of the first major teams to fall. Playing against Yachiyo, the teams plated at least 1 run in each of the first 3 innings. Combine that with a run for Kisaradzu and it was a 6-5 lead. But then in the lucky 7, Yachiyo scores 7 for a 12-6 lead! Then in the 8th, Kisaradzu fighting for its life scores 6 to tie the game! Surely this would break Yachiyo. But thir 5th pitcher, SS Nakayama couldn't build on the momentum. He gives up 3 runs in the 9th. Kisaradzu tries to make one more rally, but can only manage 1 as they fall 15-13!
• Meanwhile Awa has trouble of their own against Narita Kokusai. Down 3-1, they score 2 in the 8th, then down 4-3 they score 2 in the 9th for the win.
• 9-12 seed Kashiwa Nittai needed 2 in the 7th to beat Funabashi Futawa 6-4.
• 5-8 seed Shigakukan defeats Abiko Higashi, but only pulled away late with 8 runs in the last 2 innings.
• Former participant Yachiyo Higashi advances with a 6-4 win over Kashiwa, though the game was tenuous in the middle innings.
• Narashino up against Kashiwa Chuo in the 3rd round advances with a 6-2 win. And I can't tell what they were doing because they used 5 pitchers in the game!
• Kamagaya moves on, coming from down 4-1 to win 5-4 in the bottom of the 9th to send Oohara home.
• Toukaidai Urayasu also got a scare from Sodegaura. After falling behind 2-0, they score 4 in the 6th and eventually won 5-3.
• Tokyo Gakkan will be Awa's next opponent after shutting out Tsudanuma 3-0.
• Amaha tries to rally against Chiba Nishi, but falls one run short. Chiba Nishi will face Yachiyo who mentioned earlier defeated Kisaradzu Sougou.
• Yotsukaidou is the next 13-16 seed to fall, losing to Shounan 3-2.

Nishi Tokyo
Kami-Yugi

• 1st round - Kodaira Minami holds off 9th inning rally by Nerima Kougyou, win 2-1.
• Waseda Jitsugyou dispatches Keimei Gakuen 12-1 in 5.
• Meiji Gakuin Higashi-Murayama needs 10 innings to plate their runs, but beat Yamazaki 2-0.
• Meijidai Nakano-Hachiouji defeats Taisei 7-1. Y'know it's a wonder how the Big 6 schools aren't better represented here.
• Hino, who reached the Best 4 not too long ago, defeats Meisei 7-0 in 8.

Tama Ipponsugi

• Chuodai Fuzoku had taken the lead 3-1 over Tanashi Kougyou with 3 in the 8th, but gave up 3 in the bottom of the 9th for the loss.
• In a bizarre called game, Touhou and Nerima were in a 10-8 game after Nerima scored a run in the top of the 7th. Three pitchers pitch the 7th for Nerima, but combined they cannot record 3 outs. Touhou scores 9 to call the game at 17-10!!
  
• Teikyou Hachiouji beats Fuchuu Higashi 3-1.

Hachiouji Municipal

• Round 1 - Hinodai gets the go-ahead run in the 9th on Toyotama to win 4-3.
• Teikyoudai falls 7-0 in 8 to Mitaka.
• Souka easily beats Musashi Murayama 10-0 in 7.
• Round 2 - Toukaidai Sugao easily defeats Takushoudai Dai-ichi 13-4 in 7.

Fuchuu Municipal

• Round 1 - Fuchuu and Kokubunji win their respective games via mercy rule and will play each other next round.
• Round 2 - Nichidai-ni continues their run with a 7-0 win over Kunitachi while Meijidai Nakano scored 4 in the 8th to separate themselves in a 7-3 win over Machida Kougyou.

Tachikawa Municipal

• Dai-yon Shougyou rallies to tie the game against Tamadai Hijirigaoka, but can't respond when Tamadai scores the go-ahead run in the 8th.
• Kousei Gakuen (not to be confused with Kousei Gakuin), handles Mizuho Nougei 15-0 in 5.

Akiruno Municipal

• Machida can't erase a 3-run deficit to Higashi-Yamato Minami and fall 4-3.
• Hamura breaks the deadlock with Itsukaichi in the 10th to win 4-3.
• Wako did one better the next game (if you consider how long extra inning games a good thing) by going 11 after giving up a 2-ru lead to Tama Kougyou to win... yep 4-3.
• The next day Toua Gakuen had to rally down 3-0 to Jissen Gakuen and tied the game in the 8th. They scored the sayonara run in the 9th to win... 4-3.

Akishima Municipal

• Kogakuindai Fuzoku allows Houseidai to get back into the game, but 2 runs in the 7th prove to be the final margin. The finals score is not 4-3. It's 5-3.
• Shouwa, down 3-0 to Hachiouji Kita in the top of the 9th finds a way to tie the game and send it to enchousen. There they score the winning run to win... 4-3. (Hah!)
  
• Waseda Gakuin, who seems to play 2nd fiddle to Waseda Jitsugyou when it comes to baseball beats Musashigaoka 5-2.

Higashi Tokyo
Round 2
Edogawa-ku Stadium

• In a matchup that I thought should have been later, it wound up being lopsided as Kanto Dai-ichi mercy rules Kokushikan 8-0 in 7.
• Some home-cooking does the trick for Edogawa as they score the winning run against Kaisei in the top of the 8th to win 7-6.

Akiruno Municpal

• Teikyou continues to plug along quickly with a 7-0 win over Shouwa Tetsudou in 7.

Meiji Jingu Stadium

• In another game that seemed a bit of a surprise, Shouin scores 10 in the 5th on their way to mercy ruling Kokugakuin 14-7.

Meiji Jingu Dai-ni Stadium

• Nishogakushadai Fuzoku beats Sougou Kouka's 3 runs in the middle innings with 5 of its own in a 5-4 win.
• Tokyo Jitsugyou cancels a quick 2-0 lead by Keika Shouyou then scores 4 in the 8th for the victory.
• Kaijyou slops a little after building an 8-0 lead on Tsukubadai Fuzoku Komaba, but hold to won 8-5.

Oota Stadium

• Daidou Bunkadai Dai-ichi defeats Risshoudai Risshou 16-0 in 5.

Komazawa Stadium

• Kuritsu Kudan watches Itabashi level the score at 1 in the 6th, but replied with a run of their own to retake the lead. That would hold as they win 2-1.
  
• In almost a replay of the first game, Shibaura Koudai recovers after Higashi scores the equalizer in the 6th to win 2-1.
  

Fuchuu Municipal

• Shinjuku was one step behind Ikubunkan the entire game, scoring runs the inning after they did. Sadly, they ran out of innings to come back and fell 10-9.
• Momijigawa tried to make a 2-run first stick, but Ryuugoku would scratch away to tie the game in the 8th. Momijigawa would have the last laugh though as they scored in the bottom of the 10th.

Meiji Daigaku

• Nihon Wellness jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first, and led 5-3 after 4. 2 more in the 6th and they looked comfy over Tokyo Shidai Todoroki. However, Todoroki would score 5 in the bottom of the inning shocking Wellness. 3 more in the 8th spelled the deathknell for the team.
• Also showing the ranking on the totem pole (in baseball anyways), Waseda falls to Shuutoku 9-0 in 7 innings proving that yes Waseda may have the brains, but Waseda Jitsugyou has the balls. (Boy, that sounded wrong)
• And not to be mistaken for the aforementioned team, Shutoku edges out Tokyo Seitokudai Fuzoku 5-4.
• Earlier, I had mentioned that I thought I had seen the strangest called game. I was wrong. This one was. Kaetsu Ariake vs. Hinode. Hinode had just scored 3 in the 4th to take a 6-5 lead. Innocent enough. Then Kaetsu scores 7 and then 6 to take a commanding 18-6 lead. But before they could eliminate them, Hinode scores 3 to keept the game going, but just. After one run from Ariake in the 7th, Hinode needed 4 to avoid a called game. They scored 5 and were trailing 19-14! That's when Ariake stepped on the gas, scored 8 and seemed to put the game out of reach. In fact it was. Hinode could only muster 3 as they lose 27-17 in 8 innings!
  

Round 3
Edogawa-ku Stadium

• Teikyou continues to cruise along defeating Jyoutou 14-2 in 7.
• Houyuu Gakuen gives up a 2-0 lead to Risshisha, but scores the sayonara run in the 9th.

Meiji Jingu Stadium

• Hongou and Kinjyou Gakuen get involved in a barn-burner, though it didn't start out that way. Kinjyou led 4-1 through 5 before Hongou scored 4 in the 6th to take the lead. Kinjyou retook the lead one inning later with a pair of runs. Then after Hongou tied it at 6 in the 8th, Kinjyou once again took that run back. Hongou then tried to end it in the 9th with 5 runs, but then Kinjyou scored 4 and they went into extras tied at 11! It would be the 11th inning where Kinjyou would finally finish Hongou off, but not before the teams 37 hits and 13 walks in this marathon!
• Jyousaidai Jyousai staves off a rally by Koyamadai to win 4-3.

Meiji Jingu Dai-ni Stadium

• Komaba's run to the title ends in the 3rd round to Adachi Gakuen when they score 3 in the top of the 9th to break a 2-2 tie.
  

Oota Stadium

• Adachi Gakuen continues to chug along with a 12-0 win over Oomori Gakuen.
• Tsukubadai Fuzoku stays with Katsushika Shougyou coming back twice before scoring the sayonara run in the 9th.

Komazawa Stadium

• Adachi Kougyou held a comfortable 7-2 lead heading into the late innings. But for some reason or another, the team imploded in the 8th. Shiba scores 7 runs to take a 2-run advantage. Adachi cannot rally and thus make an early exit.

Kanagawa
Round 1 (July 12~14)

• Ayase and Zama Sougou were involved in a close match which went into extras. It continued as each team tallied a run in the 12th. But in the last inning, Zama broke through against Ayase's 3rd reliever Harada. 4 runs later and Ayase would be eliminated.
• Seya down 1 in the top of the 9th to Kanazawa Sougou ties the game, and like Zama scored 4 to win the game.
• At Yokohama Baystars Stadium, we had yet 2 more extra inning games. Kenritsu Shoukou let a 5-2 lead slip late to Tana, but win 6-5 in 10. Meanwhile, in the battle of "comprehensive" schools, Hadano Sougou was behind, took the lead, lost it, then won in 10 against Tsurumi Sougou 5-3.
  
• The first of two Tachibana Gakuen teams to play (立花学園) has no problem with Oohara 11-0 in 5.
• Koumyou Sagamihara and Shounan match each other inning for inning from the 4th inning on. Problem was that Koumyou scored 8 in the first 3, Shounan just 3. But to show how Shounan at least continued fighting, after Koumyou scored 5 in the 7th Shounan scored 5 of their own.
• Kanai breaks Kouhoku's heart by scoring 2 in the bottom of the 9th to win 2-1.
• Zushi scores 5 in the bottom of the 8th for a gyakuten victory over Yokohama Gakuen 6-3.
• The other Tachibana Gakuen (橘学苑) played at Yokohama Stadium on the 13th, and scored a run in each of the 6th-8th innings for a 4-3 win over Yokohama Shoukadai.
• The game after that saw Asahi do the exact same thing to Kanagawa Sougou Sangyou 8-5.
• As much as I rail on the university schools not doing well, I will give credit as Houseidai Dai-ni mercy rules Shounandai 9-0 in 7.
• Kanazawa makes a 1-0 lead stick defeating Hiratsuka Kouka.
• It'd be nice to see a school like Yokohama Science Frontier make a deep run, much like I like Nihon Koukuu (Yamanashi) because they're a pilot's academy, and they did rally twice to send it into extras, but Asano scores the winning run in the top of the 11th. Maybe next year.
• Miura Gakuen gives up a run in the 7th and 8th to Ebina tying the game, but scores 3 in the 9th for the win.
• Yokohama Hayato, the miracle from a couple of years ago begins their run on the 14th with a mercy win over Kashiwagi Gakuen at the scene of their championship, Yokohama Stadium.
  
• But Yokohama seems to have more close game than blowouts and Yokosuka Kougyou continues that trend with a 3-2 win in 10 over Odawara.
• Chigasaki Nishihama prevents extra innings with a run in the top of the 9th for a 2-1 win over Yamato Nishi.

Round 2 (July 14~)
With all teams in play, games are generally played in twos with the winners at each stadium meeting up in the next round.

• Yokohama starts round 2 play against Hakusan at Thirty-Four Sagamihara. Looks good for their first game with a 10-0 win in 6. Their next opponent would be Yokohama Shougyou who outlasted Yamato Minami 2-1 in 11.
• Seya and Yamakita won their respective games at Isehara and will play each other next round (you get the idea by now).
• Yokohama Hiranuma comes from behind with 2 in the 9th to defeat Fujisawa Nishi 6-5 and will play Nichidai next.
• Moto-Ishikawa, down 5-1 to Atsugi, scores 5 unanswered runs, 2 of them in the bottom of the 9th for the win.
• Toukaidai Sagami gets underway against Fujisawa Shouryou and actually found themselves behind 3-1. But a 4-run 7th helped given them the 6-4 win. Not very impressive to start their haru-natsu run.
• 立花学園 continues their run with a 7-2 win over Tourei Fujisawa, though only after score 5 in the 7th and 8th innings.