高校野球 (Kokoyakyu)

Once again, Kinki is in a big state of flux, and if the rotation holds true, Osaka and Hyogo will be short a representative this time around!

Shiga
Shiga has the basic single elimination system, and it has gone for the most part surprisingly scratch as they move onto the semifinals and finals this weekend.

Not surprisingly Hikone Higashi is back on the warpath again, and score-wise looks the best of the rest remaining with 2 mercy rule wins.  They will face Oumi, who survived a 12-inning game against Hieizan - certainly not a pushover, but could put the team's strength into question.

On the other half could be Hikone Higashi's biggest threat - Oumi Kyoudaisha.  Admittedly, they too had a close call against Shiga Gakuen in the quarterfinals (much like Oumi), and they showed promise in the summer too, but they defeated Oumi in the summer and the offense seems stronger.

Interestingly, Oumi Kyoudaisha's opponent will be a rematch of their 1st round game in the summer - Youkaichi.  The offense surely looks strong, but the pitching seems the weakest of the lot and they haven't played really tough competition.

Kyoto
Aw... Kyoto Gaidai Nishi can't get up for the Super-regionals again...

Kyoto too is in the semifinals, and there is one outlier who will be trying to fight for a spot in the Super-regionals - Nishi-Jyouyou.  They didn't face much competition and has not dominated them either.  To secure a spot they will have to defeat Ryuukokudai Heian who most recently annihilated Kyoto Seishou 11-2.

On the other side, Ritsumeikan Uji was challenged by Ritsumeikan proper then had to outslug the aforementioned Kyoto Gaidai Nishi 10-5.  They will face the other long school name (see what I mean about scratch?) Fukuchiyama Seibi.  An uncharacteristic 11-8 game against Nissei puts up a red flag, but settled down afterwards for 4-0 and 5-1 wins.

Nara
Sakurai not surprisingly couldn't duplicate their success in the summer.

However, this time around (so far anyways), Chiben Gakuen is still alive - though a 2-0 and 11-5 wins against no-name teams do not bode well.  They should have no trouble with Nara Tousen... maybe.  They will face the winner of Kashiba (who narrowly lost to Sakurai in the summer) and Kansai Chuo.

Yamato Kouryou's been inconsistent, but gets to face a Kashihara Gakuin team who too has failed to live up to expectations.  Naradai Fuzoku, who was one game away from reaching Natsu Koushien, will look to get to Haru Koushien with unknown Heijyou immediately standing in the way.

Wakayama
Wakayama has the weird thing of having a tournament just to advance 4 into the quarterfinals, then having the remaining teams later compete in blocks for the other 4.  Chiben Wakayama obviously took the time to qualify the first time around, cruising comfortably until they qualified where they might have send out the reserves so as to not tip off the competition. Still, they got to the finals where they lost to Shinguu 6-3, though that result doesn't matter.  Also advancing was Kainan and Shiritsu Wakayama.

The rest would have to battle it out again, and the ones that climbed out of the ruckus were:

• Kinkidai Shinguu, who will have an intercity battle with Shinguu
• Tanabe, who will face Kainan to start
• Arita Chuo, who drew the short straw and will face Chiben Wakayama leaving
• Kouyasan to play Shiritsu Wakayama.

Osaka
With only 2 bids up for grabs in the major prefectures, it's all out for all the schools from Osaka and Hyogo - and that generally doesn't bode well for the non-powerhouse schools...

But there was a small victory for them as Riseisha and Osaka Touin would have to play in the round of 32.  Surprisingly, Riseisha mercy ruled Osaka Touin 13-1 in 5 innings!  Guess they have a bit of rebuilding to do.

Still though, that means that Riseisha has the inside rail at one of the two spots, and with PL Gakuen obliterating teams on the other half, it is a steep climb for the other 14 schools.

Hyogo
I don't know if it is a down cycle in Hyogo, but the powerhouse teams seem to be on the same part of the cycle.

I say this because in the quarterfinals, only one powerhouse managed to survive and they barely got away.  Houtoku Gakuen edged out Akashi Shougyou 3-2 and will face an Ichikawa team who beat Suma Gakuen 2-1 in 12.

The other side was supposed to be a Kobe Kokusaidai Fuzoku vs. Touyoudai Himeji affair, but both teams wound up losing!  Sanda Shousei would beat Kobe 3-2 in 10 innings, while Yashiro had the largest margin of victory in the quarters - a 4-2 win over Himeji.

This bodes well for Houtoku as they should advance to the Super-regionals (sorry Ichikawa), while Sanda Shouei and Yashiro will battle it out for a rare spot in the Super-regionals.

(My apologies to everyone reading the blog, I will probably not be able to finish these recaps before Natsu Koushien begins on Thursday.  I was unusually busy during the prefectural taikai's and was not able to keep up as in past years.  I will get to these when time allows, but I need to focus on Natsu Koushien itself.)

Gunma - Maebashi Ikuei (1st appearance)
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Tochigi - Sakushin Gakuin (9th appearance, 3rd consecutive)
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Saitama - Urawa Gakuin (12th appearance, 2nd consecutive)
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Kanagawa - Yokohama (15th appearance, 1st in 2 years)
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Aichi - Aikoudai Meiden (11th appearance, 2nd consecutive)
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Shizuoka - Tokoha Kikugawa (4th appearance, 1st in 5 years)
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Osaka - Osaka Touin (7th appearance, 2nd consecutive)
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Hyogo - Nishiwaki Kougyou (1st appearance)
Oh my god.  First of all, can Hyogo figure out a better way to reschedule games than the current system?  Teams were reassigned to different stadiums, some who were playing before other teams originally got rescheduled for after those same teams.  It can't be that hard can it?

Yet despite rain-outs and bonkers rescheduling, 75% of the 16 block seeds actually advanced out of the block.  The 4 that failed was Block 4 Kobe Kokusaidai Fuzoku (!), Block 9 Himeji Kougyou, Block 10 Houjyou, and Block 15 Kakogawa Kita (!).  Of the seeds that advanced only Shiritsu Amagasaki and Yashiro actually blew through the block field.  Everyone else seemed to struggle:

• Block 2 Houtoku Gakuen? They had an 11 inning affair against Shiritsu Himeji.
• Block 5 Defending Champion Takigawa Dai-ni?  Ooh, not so good.  Two low scoring affairs versus Ikuno and Hyogo Shougyou.
• Block 8 Touyoudai Himeji? 2-1 over Touban Kougyou in their 2nd game.

The redraw for the round of 16 went rather smoothly.  None of the strong team wound up drawing each other.

However, our first major casualty from the Round of 16 was Takigawa Dai-ni.  They never led against Shiritsu Amagasaki, and despite a 2-run 8th fell 4-3.  Houtoku Gakuen tossed a 4-hit shutout over Suma Shoufuu, and Touyoudai Himeji despite just 3 hits defeated Sanda Shousei 2-1 (How??!).

The other surprising things was that 3 of the 4 no-seeds to advance to the Round of 16 advanced to the Best 8.  Though admittedly Block 4 Rokko Island has been an above average team.

The redraw for the Best 8 again had the powerhouse teams avoiding each other.

Mukonosou Sougou had the unfortunate draw of Houtoku Gakuen, and promptly were shutout - but not mercy ruled, which is good.  Shiritsu Amagasaki's run ended at the hands of Touyoudai Himeji.

Rokko Island met fellow no-seed Ikuei... and were mercy ruled.

And then there was the curious case of Nishiwaki Kougyou. Never heard of them, never been to Koushien before.

In block play they started strong with a mercy-rule win over Aboshi.  After that though, things got really hairy for them.  Starting off with a 14 inning 4-3 win over Awaji Mihara, they broke a scoreless draw in the 7th over Ichikawa with 4 runs to advance out of the block.  Then against Kakogawa Nishi, the fell behind 5-0, immediately clawed back to within 1, took the the lead late only to blow it in the bottom of the 9th - then won with 2 in the 10th.

If that wasn't enough, against Akashi Shougyou in the Best 8, they trailed 2-0 before rallying to win in the bottom of the 9th 3-2.

The cardiac kids decided comebacks were a bit too much, and while they gave up 2 runs in the first, quickly recovered and used a 5-run 7th to hold on for a 10-7 win.  Quite nuts.

Meanwhile, Touyoudai Himeji and Houtoku Gakuen actually had a more normal game, but Houtoku Gakuen couldn't recover from a 2-run deficit falling 4-3.

So realistically, it looked like Touyoudai Himeji would ascend to the throne, because surely Nishiwaki Kougyou couldn't pull off the upset...

Right?

Not so fast there.  In the 5th, Takami and Murakami would actually give Nishiwaki Kougyou a 2-0 lead.  Ace Outa (翁田) would give up back-to-back timely hits to tie the game.

But bottom 9, LF Murakami starts off with a base hit to left center.  He books it to 2nd and just beats the throw.  After a sac bunt, Nishiwaki Kougyou has the sayonara run 90 feet away.  They have no choice but to intentionally walk Nishizawa and Hieda to load the bases.  That would bring up last batter Ishii.  Nishiwaki would try the squeeze bunt, but Ishii popped it up and C Uraoka scampered back and made a great diving catch for two outs.

That left it up to leadoff batter Imai who was just 1-4 on the day.  Two foul balls meant he was behind quickly.  But on the very next pitch he'd hit a blooper to the right side.  2B Nishida would scramble back, dive.. but it would just be out of his reach!  It falls in for the sayonara RBI as Nishiwaki Kougyou heads to their first Koushien tournament!

And westward ho we continue!

Osaka
First full day of games started on the 7th and nothing really of note.  Some teams like Riseisha and Osaka Touin won't play until next week.

It was a bit of a thud for Aino as they opened the tournament at the Kyocera Dome with a 14-0 loss to Kita-Kawachi Satsukigaoka.  Hannan managed to play a full game in the follow-up but lost 8-3 to Nisshin.

Hyogo
Remember Sumoto? Back in 2012 they got to 春甲子園 losing to Naruto 2-1 in the opening round.  Here they opened the Hyogo tournament at Akashi Tocalo versus Tomioka and won a hard-fought close game to win 4-3.

And on the 7th, over in Handkerchief Memorial Nigawa Gakuin rallied from down 8-1 with 10 unanswered runs for the gyakuten victory over Takaradzuka.

Fukuoka
Opening games in Kurume on the 6th were rained out, and the game of Kanda Kougyou vs. Tagawa Kagaku Gijyutsu were actually rained out 2 straight days.  When they finally played on the 8th, Kanda Kougyou won 13-2 in 5 innings.

The other match-up saw Fukuoka Dai-ichi edge out Hakuryou 4-3, then because of the schedule had to turnaround and play Ukiha Kyuushinkan the next day.  Not a problem because they won 12-2 in 6 innings thanks to an 8-run 6th.

In other games, Nishi-Nippon Tankidai Fuzoku had the unfortunate draw of an extra game, but Miike Kougyu 8-0 in 7.  Kashii Kougyou managed to tie the game against Ariake Tousen at 2-2 but lost 3-2 in 10.  And Yahata Chuo managed to outlast Wakamatsu 4-3 in a 13 inning marathon.

Two games went into enchousen scoreless.  Yanagigawa defeated Chikushigaoka with a run in the 10th while Kaho bid sayonara to Tokiwa also in the 10th.

Seeded Moji Gakuen had to scramble to make an early 4-0 lead over Sue stick, winning 8-6.  The same could not be said for Kyushu Kokusaidai Fuzoku who was shutout 3-0 by Koga Kyouseikan!  And in a 3-3 in surprises at Kita-Kyushu Municipal, Iiduzka was in a close match with Shinguu before adding insurance runs in the 9th - but still managed to win by the small margin of 5-3.

Things did not improve over at Kasuga prefectural.  Chikuyou Gakuen managed the only run in the game against Seinan Gakuin, while Kurume Shougyou had to rally to defeat Yame 4-3!

And while they're not seeded, Fukuoka Koudai Jyoutou also won a slim 1-0 game to Fukuoka Kourinkan.

I'm sure by the time things end we'll probably see a regular in the finals.  But right now, the seeded teams look less than dominating and it's all up in the air right now.

Saga
Rain plagued Saga's opening day as well, pushing back games a day.  When the games finally began, Imari Shougyou gave the fans a show as they walked off against Karatsu Kougyou 2-1.

Nagasaki
Apparently Kyushu continues to have close games.  Kouka trailed Hokushou Nishi 2-0, tied it in the 8th and said sayonara in the 10th to advance.

Kumamoto
Oguni continued the trend, breaking a 3-3 tie with Shouyou with a run in the 11th on opening day, then Kumamoto Gakuendai Fuzoku rallying twice to win 3-2 in the bottom of the 9th over Tamana.

However, when it comes to the better teams in the prefecture, it's more business as usual with Kumamoto Kougyou and Hitsuyuukan advancing.

And I finally had a score that made me really cringe.  Tamana Kougyou scores no less than 5 runs in an inning blowing out Amakusa Kuratake 42-0 in 5 innings.

Oita
No real blowouts in Oita so far, with all games going 9 innings, and the largest winning margin being just 3 runs.  On opening day Oita Tsurusaki rallied from down 4-0 to take a 7-4 lead over Oita Kougyou, blew that lead in the final 2 innings before scoring the sayonara run in the 9th.

The first full slate of games saw Usa scoring the only run over Nakatsu Minami to win their game, then Beppu Shougyou erasing a 3-0 lead, scoring 2 in the bottom of the 9th to defeat Hita 4-3.

And today, Usa Sangyou Kagaku made a 2-0 lead over Usuki stick winning 2-1, and despite scoring a run in the first 5 innings, Mori needed one more in the bottom of the 9th to defeat Kunisaki 6-5, and former 甲子園 participant Hita Rinkou had one of the more "easier" games defeating Oita Houfu 5-2.

Miyazaki
Miyazaki was more "normal" in what you'd you see early on.  That's not to say we had close game here either.

Saito Shougyou held of an late rally from Hyuuga Gakuin to win 4-3, and Miyakonojyou rallied late to send the game against Miyakonojyou Shougyou into enchousen and won 6-5 in 12.  And in a intra-city affair Hyuuga gives up an early 2-0 lead to Hyuuga Kougyou, then comes back from down 5-2 to win 6-5 in the bottom of the 9th.

Kagoshima
I just realized I hadn't translated this bracket.  This will have to be done today, and I'll have an update on it in a separate post. (ごめん！)

Okinawa
Okinawa in the 2nd weekend seemed to start off rather innocuously.  Teams like Okinawa Suisan and Futenma advanced without incident.

But then turn to the 30th, and all heck broke loose.  Ginowan, generally a good team, loses 5-4 to Kitanakagusuku.  The biggest upset goes to Misato who went 14 innings against seeded Hokuzan and won 2-1!  That opens it up for Kounan, who has scored double digits in their 2 games so far.

Onto the 3rd week, and Gushikawa was involved in their 2nd extra inning game, this time losing 5-4 to Misato Kougyou 5-4 in 14 innings.  Seeded Mawashi was challenged by Futenma, but managed to win 3-0 but will have another tough matchup in Okinawa Suisan.  Even the fall Kyushu Super-Regional champions Okinawa Shougaku had an 8-4 win over Chuubu Shougyou, but gave up some runs late.  Yaeyama, on the other hand dealt with Yokatsu 6-3.

In other games, Urasoe Shougyou looks to be in rebuild mode, surviving Tomoshiro 3-1 and Chinen fought hard for a 3-1 win in 14 over Nanbu Kougyou.  Yaeyama Shoukou scored in 7 of the 8 innings to win 12-7 over Okinawa Tousen.  It doesn't look look for their prospects this year.

Sorry for not posting that the game had been cancelled due to rain, but the tournament has pushed into month-end at work and I had my bowling league at the same time, so once it was cancelled, I ended up just falling asleep.

But we’re finally here, 15 days and a couple of extra hours thanks to the spring rains.  The championship game.

And once again, we have a David vs. Goliath matchup.  Though perhaps this time, David stands more of a chance.

That team is Kousei Gakuin out of Aomori.  Perhaps written off during last year’s Natsu Koushien they made the finals, but were easily handled by the outright champions, Nichidai-san.

But even with the loss of most of their starting 9, they reloaded and not only won the Aomori prefecturals, the Meiji Jingu Taikai, but have won 4 more to get to the championship once again.

This time around, they have the help of not one, but two aces.  First, there’s ace number Kanazawa Yuuki.  He’s pitched in 2 games so far - against Oumi, and in relief to finish off Aikoudai Meiden.  His line so far:

12.1 IP, 0 ER, 10 H, 6 K, 4 BB

But as impressive has been 2B, and spot starter Jyouma Ryuuhei.  He’s started 3 games and finished 2, including two against super-regional champions.  His stats are just as impressive:

27.1 IP, 2 ER, 22 H, 11 K, 3 BB

And so these two make up the tandem that as help the team in their undefeated run.

Offensively, it’s all about their 3-4 hitters, Tamura Tatsuhiro and Houjyou Fumiya.  They have accounted for most of the Kousei offense:

Tamura – 6-14, 2 2B, HR, 7 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB = 0.429/0.500/0.786
Houjyou – 7-16, 2 2B, 2 3B, 6 R, 9 RBI, 3 K, HBP = 0.438/0.471/0.813

But you can’t score without some help, so while Tamura and Houjyou need to have good games, the rest of the lineup must perform as well.

Opposing them is the goliath, Osaka Touin.  Now, they may be playing for their first title, but the thought of facing them can intimidate most opponents.

Osaka Touin’s calling card is offense.  Always has been.  And despite losing starting 1B Tabata due to an injury after being hit in the first game, they turned to Koike in the cleanup spot.  And while he hasn’t embarrassed, it seems like they’ve tried to keep people out of the “cleanup” spot by sticking Koike in there.  Meanwhile, Nishitani-kantoku has moved people around trying to find people’s best spots.

One person who hasn’t needed to find their stride is 2nd year Kasamatsu Yuuya.  In the 4 games, he’s 7-14, with a double and 2 HR’s for 7 RBIs.

Joining him is C Mori Tomoya, who was moved to the #3 spot and rightly so.  He’s 8-15 with a double and a HR.

vs. Hanamaki Higashi - 7 H, 12 K, 2 BB
vs. Kyushu Gakuin - 6 H, 8 K, 3 BB
vs. Urawa Gakuin - 7 H, 6 K, 0 BB
 vs. Takasaki Kenkoudai Fukushi - 7 H, 9 K, 4 BB

The one thing that has changed has been the walks.  Is it the fatigue?  Have the batters been patient?
More importantly, will he start?  Or will they go to Sawada like against Urawa Gakuin?
This should be a great game!  Let’s go!

RF  Ameku Shouto
LF  Murase Daijyu
C  Tamura Tatsuhiro
SS  Houjyou Fumiya
1B  Takeda Toshiki
3B  Oosugi Akinobu
P  Jyouma Ryuuhei
CF  Kimura Takumi
2B  Kishigawa Kenta (#14)

C  Mori Tomoya
2B  Oonishi Tomoya
RF  Mizumoto Gen
1B  Koike Yuuya (#5)
LF  Yasui Kouki
3B  Kasamatsu Yuuya (#15)
CF  Hakusui Kenta
SS  Mizutani Yukiya (#14)
P  Fujinami Shintarou

__________________________________________________

12:30 - First pitch!

Top 1st
Fujinami falling behind Ameku early, and Ameku hits a fly to shallow center!  Hakusui coming in calls off Oonishi, but can't get there!  It's in for a base hit!

Murase going for the bunt, but Fujinami goes to 2nd!  Ameku slides in, safe!  All safe!

And now Fujinami is in an early pinch.

His control seems to be lacking a bit as he falls behind Tamura as well.  But Tamura hits a ball to short!  Mizutani starts the 6-4-3 double play and there's 2 down!

And perhaps in a hat tip to Houjyou, Fujinami unintentionally intentionally walks him to get to Takeda.  It works as he grounds to 3rd to end the inning.

Bottom 1st
Jyouma will start the game.  He's fared well so far, but what about now?

One down, and Oonishi hits a hard ball back to Jyouma.  He stops it with the glove, and calmly throws the ball to 1st.

But then Mizumoto ruins the good inning with a hard single to right.

Jyouma being careful with Koike and falls behind 3-1.


Oh dear...


Koike hits a ball to left!  Murase running back to the wall!  Still running!!


HAITAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Koike, whose bat has been fairly quiet this senbatsu, comes out in a big way as he hits a HR in the championship game!  Osaka Touin leads 2-0!

Yasui quickly hits one back to Jyouma to end the inning, but Osaka Touin's offense starts off in a big way against Jyouma and Kousei!

Top 2nd
Oosugi looks to get the Kousei reply going with a single back up the middle.  But Jyouma, not bunting, strikes out.

Kimura goes down on the forkball for the 2nd K.

But Kishigawa, with a roller up the middle, finds its way between Oonishi and Mizutani for a base hit!

Grounder to 1st by Murase, OFF Koike!!!  Oonishi has to go back to get it, but by that time it's too late!  Manrui Kousei and they have a chance to answer back quickly!

Murase though, falls behind 1-2, and when you're behind Fujinami, he can throw junk at you.

And indeed he does as he swings on a slider outside to end the inning!

Bottom 2nd
One down and Hakusui hits a drive to center left that goes over the head of Kimura for a double!

And now Houjyou returns the favor as he boots a grounder by Mizutani! Now runners at the corners with just one down for Fujinami!  Will they be as lucky as Touin was last half inning?

Jyouma gets one of those outs as he can't check his swing.

But that brings up Mori...

And Jyouma hits Mori!!  Manrui with 2 down for Oonishi!!

Jyouma risks falling behind 3-1, but Oonishi can't check his swing so it goes to 2-2!  And a change on the corner doesn't get the call!  Full count and nowhere to go!

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

Jyouma gets Oonishi to bite on a fastball on the ouside for the 3rd out!

Top 3rd
Tamura starts the inning off with a ball to center!  Hakusui running it down at the wall, but not before Tamura's in with a double!

Houjyou with a ball down the left field side!  Yasui runs that back to the wall and Tamura scores to cut the deficit in half!  It's 2-1!

Takeda trying to bunt, but can't and goes down 1-2.  Instead he hits a blooper to center!  Hakusui's not going to get there!  He throws it back to the infield, conceding the run!  Douten Kousei!!  It's 2-2!!

Now Oosugi lays down the sac bunt and now the gyakuten run is 90 feet away.

But Jyouma hits a grounder to 3rd.  Kasamatsu pick up, NO HE DOESN'T!

He bobbles the ball!  He has no play and everyone's safe!  2nd error by the Touin defense already!

Nishitani-kantoku figures it's a good time to call time.

And it is as Kimura hits a weak grounder to 2nd!  Oonishi starts the inning ending 4-6-3 double play!

But 3 straight hits from the middle of Kousei's order ties the game right back up!

Bottom 3rd
One down and Koike has Jyouma number, hitting a sharp single to right.

No bunt from Yasui.  Instead, it's a hit-and-run!  Yasui with a ball deep to right-center!  Ameku has to chase it back all the way to the wall!  Koike getting the green light around 3rd and Yasui with the RBI triple gives Touin back the lead at 3-2!!

And now Jyouma brushes Kasamatsu's jersey!  Runners at the corners for Touin!  Nakai-kantoku can't let Jyouma can't stay much longer on the mound if this keeps up.

It's another hit-and-run!  And Hakusui singles through the right side!  Yasui scores easily giving Touin back the 2-run lead at 4-2!!

And that's it for Jyouma.  Kanazawa comes in for Kishigawa as Jyouma shifts back to 2nd.

But there's still work to do.  Runners at the corners with just one down.

Mizutani does his job.  He hits a deep fly to center.  And while Kimura's throw reaches home on the fly, it's late and Touin gets the lead back with interest at 5-2.

Fujinami pops out to left to end the inning, but Kousei's going to have to play a shootout with Osaka Touin, and that's not the game they wanted to play.

Top 4th
Kanazawa first pitch grounds out to 1st.  Ameku, expecting a fastball, is way ahead of a change and strikes out.  Murase harmlessly flies out to center to end the inning.  This game went from difficult, to possible, to very difficult, very quickly for them.

Bottom 4th
Kanazawa too gets his 1-2-3 inning, retiring the top of the Touin order and keeping his team in it.

Top 5th
Tamura starts the inning off with a chopper up the middle that just sneaks by Mizutani to center.

Houjyou with a blast to left center!  Yasui and Hakusui running back to the wall, still running back!!!

It's off the top of the padding!  Tamura rounding the bases is sent home!  Houjyou's 2nd double nets another RBI and it's 5-3!

Takeda with the drag bunt up the 1st base side!  Koike goes to field, but when he tosses to 1st, Oonishi is backing up instead of at the bag!!  All safe!!  What happened there??

Oosugi up looking to add on another run.  He hits a hard drive to right!  But Mizumoto is there for the catch!  Houjyou halfway can't tag up!  Why wasn't he getting ready to tag up??!

Jyouma up.  Just need a sac fly here.

Instead it's grounder to 3rd!  Kasamatsu with the ball, goes home!  Houjyou knowing he's out, tries to deke Mori!  Mori reaching behind his back, does he have him??

OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mori's tag just gets Houjyou leg right before he tags home!  Bad break for Kousei!

Kimura trying to keep the inning going...  falls behind to Fujinami, but then works the count full!  And he draws the walk!  Manrui for Kousei as Kanazawa steps in!  Can he get the runs home?

No!  Kanazawa leaves the bases loaded as he grounds back to Fujinami!  He goes to 1st for the out!  From all that they just get the one run!

Bottom 5th
Still though, Kanazawa is doing a great job in relief.  Koike, Yasui and Kasamatsu can't get a ball past the infield as they all are retired in order.

So we head to the break with Osaka Touin taking advantage of spot starter Jyouma with all 5 runs off of him.  However, they have had no luck against ace Kanazawa.  Meanwhile, Kousei has had multiple scoring chances, some of which have been aided by Osaka Touin.  Yet they have only managed just the 3 runs.  Whether their inability to take full advantage of those opportunities will come back to bite them is yet to be seen.

Top 6th
Post-break, it almost seems like a hindrance that the top of the order is up.  Ameku and Murase are retired putting 2 outs before Tamura steps in.

And he grounds out to 3rd to end the inning.

Bottom 6th
One down and Mizutani gets Touin's first hit off of Kanazawa, with an opposite field double.

Fujinami though flies out to center.  And despite a timeout conference from Nishitani-kantoku to talk to Mori, he flies out to right.

Top 7th
Houjyou leading off the inning, and Fujinami certainly not giving him anything to hit, especially with no one in front of him.

And on a full count he swings and grounds out to short.

Takeda goes down looking on a slider over the plate.

But Oosugi finally bumps the lineup a spot with a base hit up the middle.  One more next inning and that puts Tamura and Houjyou at the top of the order starting the 9th.

Bottom 7th
Of course, for that to matter, Kanazawa has to hold Osaka Touin at love.

Oonishi with a scorcher to Oosugi, and a high hop eats him up!  Leadoff man on for Touin!

And now he takes off for 2nd!  Tamura's throw is a bit high and he's in safely!

Kanazawa with a wild pitch and Oonishi heads to 3rd.  Now a sac fly can score a run.  Mizumoto does just that with a ball to deep right center!  Ameku catches it and Oonishi tags up to make it a 6-3 ball game!

Koike with another ball to the same place!  This one is all the way to the wall for a double!  Could this be when things finally break down?

Yasui with a hard ball to short.  Houjyou is able to field the tricky hop and makes the play at 1st.

Kasamtaust with a ball to the left side!  Houjyou with the running grab, throws on the run... and makes it to 1st for the out!  Great play by Houjyou to get out of the inning!

But Osaka Touin makes the deficit 3 runs once again with just 2 innings left to go...

Top 8th
Kimura with a ball back up the middle.  Oonishi makes a grab and running throw himself, but it's wide!  Kimura with the leadoff hit!

Kanazawa up and he's not bunting.  Down 3 you need all the outs you need.

But he swings 2-0!  It's a comebacker to Fujinami and he starts the 1-6-3 double play!  Why are you swinging there??

And Ameku hits a grounder to 1st and that's the inning.  Time looks to have run out on Kousei in their 2nd finals.

Bottom 8th
Hakusui with a hard ball to the left side.  Houjyou with another great stop, but his throw is off line!  Wow, what an effort by Houjyou!

Mizutani with the bunt, but Mori out of nowhere with a BB to 2nd!  He guns down the lead runner and almost get the 2-6-3 double play!

But Mori's arm gets the best of him!  He tries to snap throw to 1st, but it's high and off Takeda's glove into right!  Hakusui advances to 2nd.

Fujinami with a soft liner!  Jyouma leaps, but it's just out of his reach!  Hakusui advances and now there's runners at the corners with just 1 down!

And Mori hits a fly to left!  Murase trying to get a good jump on the ball, winds up in front of it a little.  His throw is hampered allowing Mizutani to score, making it 7-3.

Oonishi with a comebacker!  Kanazawa can't get his glove on it and it's through for a base hit!  Runners on 1st and 2nd as Nakai-kantoku calls time.

Mizumoto with a ball through the right side!  Fujinami has to hold up at 3rd as Ameku fires it in.

But now it's manrui for Koike of all people, who's a triple from the cycle.  Nishitani-kantoku calls time so they can talk to Koike.

It's Kanazawa who puts himself into a pinch falling behind 3-0 before getting a generous call.  Koike hits a pop fly to Ameku in foul territory to end the inning, but one more run almost guarantees Osaka Touin their first senbatsu title.

Top 9th
Murase with a high chopper up the middle, but not high enough as Fujinami reaches up and makes the grab and throw for the 1st out.

With a 4 run lead now, Fujinami do whatever he wants with Tamura and Houjyou as they can't tie the game by themselves.

Tamura does get the bat on the ball, and singles to center.

Houjyou though can't check his swing, and there's 2 outs.  Nakatani-kantoku call time one more time, perhaps to settle down the team for the last out.

A wild pitch to Takeda sends Tamura to 2nd, but that run doesn't matter.

And Takeda pops it up!  Yasui coming in... makes the catch!

And Osaka Touin wins their first senbatsu as they defeat Kousei Gakuin 7-3!

Once again, it's the offense that comes through for Osaka Touin as they jumped on starter Jyouma right offg the bat with a 2-run HR by Koike.  And meanwhile Fujinami was not on top of his game, yet he and the defense did just enough to hold Kousei Gakuin off despite the errors and the multiple pinch situations.  It wasn't perfect today, but it was enough.

For Kousei Gakuin, while I'm sure they're happy to have made the finals again, losing twice probably leaves a bad taste in their mouths.  While they will be tabbed to advanced out of Aomori back to Koushien, it'll probably be a grueling next couple of months as they work to try and return to the finals for the 3rd straight time and this time perhaps, win it all.

We're now in the final stages of the 84th Haru Koushien.  Today are the semifinals, or jyunkesshou (準決勝).

First up is an old-timer to the dance, and what may be an up-and-coming team.

Osaka Touin is no newcomer to this parade.  Though founded in 1983, they have been to 10 haru & natsu Koushien tournaments, won 2 natsu Koushiens and have made it to the quarterfinals in 3 senbatsu tournaments.  This is however, the furthest they've gone at senbatsu.

This is in part thanks to ace Fujinami.  One of the two towers of Koushien this year, he eliminated his counterpart in the first round, then proceeded to beat the Kyushu runner-ups, Kyushu Gakuin.  He was given a half-game break as reliever Sawada took the hill, and they still managed to defeat the Kanto champions Urawa Gauin 3-1.

Osaka Touin has largely done this on the back of late inning offense.  All of their 17 runs have been scored in after the 5th inning break.  To me, that is unheard of.  It either speaks to the Osaka Touin offense to adjust, of the opposing pitching tiring, or a combination of both.  How long they can continue this is anybody's guess as they survived Urawa Gakuin 3-2.

Takasaki Kenkoudai Fukushi was officially named so in 2001 and became a co-ed school (it was an all-girls school).  In that short time, they have build a team that has become a surprise in the kokoyakyu world.  This team has advanced as a result of their baserunning.  For good or for bad, they have been as aggressive on the bases as any team I've seen.  It started in their first game against Tenri and hasn't stopped since for 16 total stolen bases.  The only difference was in the last game against Naruto in the quarterfinals.  There they may have taken advantage of poor defensive placement to rack up multiple extra base hits.

They've used this strategy to defeat Kinki runner-up Tenri, Kyushu champion Kamimura Gakuen and Shikoku winner Naruto.

The biggest question for Kendai will be whether they can get on base to implement their baserunning strategy.  Power needs no prerequisite other than putting the bat on the ball.  This could be a close game, or one rather lopsided.  Should be interesting!


CF  Takeuchi Tsukasa
2B  Nakayama Keita
C  Nagasaka Kenya
3B  Uchida Ryouta
1B  Oosawa Yoshiyuki
RF  Kanbe Kazuki
LF  Kobayashi Ryuutarou
SS  Akiyama Kousuke
P  Miki Keita

2B  Oonishi Tomoya
RF  Mizumoto Gen
C  Mori Tomoya
1B  Koike Yuuya (#5)
3B  Kasamatsu Yuuya (#15)
LF  Yasui Kouki
CF  Hakusui Kenta
P  Fujinami Shintarou
SS  Mizutani Yukiya (#14)

__________________________________________________

11:02 - First Pitch!

Top 1st
Oddly, the top batters for Kendai aren't waiting for pitches.  They're going after Fujinami!

Takeuchi grounds out to 2nd on a 1-0 pitch, Nakayama swings and misses on a 150 fastball on a 1-2 count for two quick outs.

Nagasaka continues the aggressive play, taking the first pitch to left for a single.

And Uchida does the same, but grounds out to 2nd.  An interesting strategy.

Bottom 1st
And it's the opposite for Osaka Touin.  They're taking pitches against Miki and Oonishi leads off with a walk!

No bunt from Mizumoto, but hit ball back up the middle is taken by Nakayama , who touches 2nd for one and throws to 1st for the double play!  Mori pops out to Uchida to end the inning.

Top 2nd
Kendai continues to swing away.  One down, Kanbe single to right center.

And Aoyagi sends Kanbe!  But Mori's throw is in time for the out!  From the replays, Kanbe may not have gotten a great jump on the pitch.

The bottom of the order seems to be more patient as Kobayashi draws a walk.  But on what may have been a hit-and-run, Akiyama pops out to 3rd.

Bottom 2nd
Koike with a grounder past a diving Uchida for a leadoff single!  Kasamatsu trying the bunt, but fouls off the first attempt.  He successfully lays it down the second time.

Yasui with a grounder to short, Akiyama holds for a second, and his throw is late!  All safe!

Hakusui swinging on the first pitch, hits a ball to the right side, and that's through!  Kanbe up with the ball, and his throw home is late!  Yasui takes the extra base to 3rd as Hakusui plates Osaka Touin's first run in the first 5 innings of any game!  1-0 Osaka Touin!

Fujinami up, and Nishitani-kantoku has him bunting!  He fouls one off, and then fouls off another!  So the squeeze isn't an option anymore, is it?

Nope.  He swings and misses for the 2nd out.

Mizutani flies out to right and the inning is over.  But if Osaka Touin is able to score their first run here this early in a game, I'm afraid to think what it might mean for Kendai going forward.

Top 3rd
Miki gives a good AB against Fujitani, fouling off a couple of pitches before softly grounding out to 1st.

Back to the top of the order and the strategy hasn't changed.  They're still going after Fujinami.  Takeuchi gets under one for Kobayashi in left.

Nakayama does gets a base hit lining one to right.  He should be going if they're going for it.  But he doesn't and Nagasaka grounds out to a fielder's choice at 3rd to end the inning.

Bottom 3rd
For ace Miki, this may be the important test of the game.  The 2nd time through the order.

And Oonishi starts it off with a single through the right side on a letter high fastball.  Mizumoto appears at least to be bunting, and indeed he lays it down up the 1st base line to advance Oonishi.

But Miki gets out of the inning getting both Mori and Koike to hit harmless flies to left.  Seems like he's doing ok, but we'll have to see in the later innings.

Top 4th
Uchida makes some good contact on foul balls, but succumbs to the forkball.  Oosawa goes up 3-1 but gets under one and flies out to left.

Kanbe arches his back as he just misses getting plunked by a fastball.  Then after working the count full, he sticks the bat out and the contact is good enough to get over Oonishi for a single!  Go figure.

Kobayashi then attacks the first pitch and singles through to right!  Now they need a one-timer from Akiyama.  But while he swings at the first pitch too, he flies out to center for the out to retire the side.

Bottom 4th
Kasamatsu becomes just Miki's 2nd K as he misses on a slider.  Yasui can't check his swing on one too, and the 3rd base ump rings him up.

Hakusui avoids being the 3rd straight K victim, but he flies out to left.

Top 5th
Miki goes down swinging for the first out.  Takeuchi after falling behind 1-2, works the count full, then thinks he has ball 4, but the plate umpire rings him up!  That fastball looked rather low there, and Takeuchi thought so too, but not to the one person that really matters.

And Nakayama chases a fastball away for Fujinami's 6th K as he strikes out the side!

Bottom 5th
Fujinami gets caught looking on a slider at the corner for the first out.  But Mizutani singles through to left putting a man on.

Oonishi with a ball to the gap in right center!  Takeuchi running it down, picks turns and throws back in!  Mizutani is being waved around 3rd!  Nakayama throws home and...

Nagasaka makes the catch and swipe...  OUT!  Takeuchi makes a great quick throw in, and Nakayama with a great relay home to prevent Osaka Touin from extending the lead!

And Mizumoto hits a fly to right!  Kanbe there for the catch and Kendai is out of the inning!  Some great defense keeps the deficit at 1 as we head into the break!

Top 6th
Perhaps a reason why Kendai has been aggressive is that because they figured Fujinami wouldn't be issuing walks so they'd have to hit to get on base.  But I'm not sure that doesn't mean you can still be patient.

One down for Kendai and Uchida earns a walk.  But that is erased when Oosawa swings on a 2-0 pitch and grounds into the 4-6-3 double play.

Bottom 6th
Mori with a ball to the left side.  Akiyama makes the diving stop, but can't make a clean grab!  Mori is in with a leadoff single!

Cleanup hitter Koike up and he's showing bunt.

They try for the bust-and-run!  But Koike pops it up!  Oosawa with the catch for the first out.

Kasamatsu up 3-1, but he hits a comebacker to Miki!  He goes to 2nd for one, but Nakayama can't get the ball out of his glove to throw to 1st.  2 down.

And so the inning continues as Yasui singles to right!  Will this be the beginning of the end for Kendai?

Sanshin!  Hakusui chases a slider out of the zone and they survive one inning.

Top 7th
Kanbe gets on base safely for the 3rd time with a leadoff walk!  Will Aoyagi-kantoku have Kobayashi bunt?

No!  He swings away on the 0-1 pitch and lines one to left!  Yasui charging in, dives... and makes the catch!  Kanbe has to scurry back to 1st on the great play!

Now Aoyagi-kantoku is having Akiyama bunt?!  He lays it down, but it'll be up to Miki to get the run home.

I suppose if you look at it from the standpoint that a base hit = a run, and an out - top of the order, you can't complain.  But you're also running out of... outs.

Miki gets ahead though 3-1.  I can't imagine him swinging on this one.

But he does and fouls it off.  Again perhaps thinking he's going to throw a strike, might as well see if I can get a hit.

Fujitani puts an end to that, getting Miki to swing on a ball outside for the 3rd out.

Bottom 7th
Fujinami getting one good rip in, but just scorching one foul down the left field line.  Instead, he strikes out for the 3rd time this game.

Interesting call by Nakatani-kantoku sending in #13 Takai to hit for Mizutani.  He though harmlessly grounds out to 2nd.

Oonishi gets on base safely again with a single past a diving Akiyama.  He's 3-3 now with a walk.

Mizumoto though flies out to right again to end the inning.  Both lucky 7's go quietly.

Top 8th
#6 Mega comes in defensively at SS.

Takeuchi hits one to left.  Yasui running back, running back????????!!!!!!!!

HAITAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA?????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The umpire signals the home run as I, the announcers, and even his own teammates are in disbelief!  That ball didn't seem well struck, had no carry from the wind (it's currently dead to a slight breeze out to center), and yet it carried out by a large margin!

We're douten at 1-1!!!!!

Fujinami at least not still in shock as he retires the next 2 batters.  But Uchida gets his first hit on a base hit to center.

Oosawa grounds out to Mega to end the inning.  But!  A solo HR by top batter Takeuchi ties the game here in the 8th!

Bottom 8th
Mori with a blast to left center!  Kobayashi and Takeuchi running to the wall!!

NO WAY!  NO FREAKING WAY!!!!

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

Osaka Touin wastes no time in responding to Kendai's home run with one of their own!  Mori gives Osaka Touin back the lead at 2-1!!!

Miki retires Koike for the 1st out.  NOW KASAMATSU WITH A BLAST!!!  Kobayashi desperately scrambling back!!!  He stops!

HAITAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Miki's face looks like one of resignation as Kasamatsu hits the 2nd HR this inning, giving Osaka Touin the 3-1 lead!

Aoyagi-kantoku callse time, but it doesn't help.  Miki hits Yasui to put a runner on.  After a foulout by Hakusui, Fujinami scorches one past a diving Uchida down the left field line for a double.

Runners on 2nd and 3rd now for Osaka Touin and it looks bad for Miki.

But Mega pops out to Uchida to end the inning.  However, Osaka Touin's power finally shows themselves with 2 big HR's in the 8th!

Top 9th
Last ups for Kendai as the 6-7-8 batters are due up (Kanbe, Kobayashi, Akiayama).

Kanbe has reaches base all 3 times so far, can he get on one more time?

He falls behind 2-2 and starts fighting off pitches.  2, then 3, then 4 pitches fouled off.  But Fujinami gets him to chase a slider for the 1st out!

Nishitani-kantoku calls for time as Kobayashi steps in.  He's 1-2 on the day with a walk.

Fujinami gets ahead 1-2.  Wastes a pitch away.  Checks his swing, 3rd base ump calls him safe.  And now he's fouling off a pitch. Ball low and he's on base!

The douten run now comes to the plate in Akiyama.  But I doubt he can hit a HR, so he just needs to continue the inning.  Meanwhile, #13 Saitou comes in to run for Kobayashi.

Akiyama quickly falls behind 0-2, wastes a pitch, but then hits a grounder to 2nd!  Oonishi's only play is to 1st and there's 2 down!

Last chance as #13 Takasugi comes in to hit for Miki.  But he hits a grounder to short.  Mega with the ball, makes the throw to 1st and that's the game!

Osaka Touin advances to the championship game with a 3-1 win over Takasaki Kenkoudai Fukushi!  They find a way again to respond swiftly again after Kendai stuns the crowd with a HR.

But the real key was that despite getting 9 baserunners, they did not have a stolen base this game!  After perhaps Kanbe got thrown out, they were hesitant to send runners and pressure the defense.  Whether Kanbe's caught stealing was the cause or Aoyagi-kantoku's belief that they couldn't steal a base against the Touin battery, the removal of their running game I believe cost them.

Yes, they got the HR, but that's not their game.  And in the end Miki's two mistakes late was the difference.

So Osaka Touin got 12 hits in the game, but managed just 3 runs.  But, the offense probably put a lot of stressful pitches on Miki as they had runners in scoring position in 5 of the 9 innings which led to the difference later on.

And now they advance to the finals.  Fujinami with 142 pitches today, though most of them were not stressful at all.  Will he start the game tomorrow or will Sawada take the hill?  Nakatani-kantoku really only has that question to worry about as the offense will be fine.

Kendai Takasaki is eliminated, but their performance in the last year will have given everyone notice.  Yes, they're still learning to play on the big stage, but they're close.  They're darned close.

We're now into the Best 8 and our first game features a team who has moved to one of the front-running contenders to win it all.

Osaka Touin came in with some questions.  People know they could hit, but their pitching was suspect.  This year, Fujinami has come in as the ace and has been more than serviceable on the mound.

However, one thing that may be concerning is that in their two games so far, all their runs have been scored from the 6th inning onwards.  If they require their opposition to tire down the stretch, or the break to make their adjustments, they could be in trouble if they face a strong pitcher who can last the entire game.

I'm not convinced that ace Satou for Urawa Gakuin is that person.  Yes, he's given up just 2 runs in his 2 games so far, but the opposition has not proven to be strong, or at least as strong as Osaka Touin anyways.

Furthermore, their offense stagnated tremendously against Mie, managing just 2 runs on 2 hits.  And this time around they'll be facing Fujinami.

Urawa will have their hands full in this game as Osaka Touin has emerged as a contender for the senbatsu title.


RF  Mizumoto Gen
C  Mori Tomoya
2B  Oonishi Tomoya
1B  Koike Yuuya (#5)
3B  Kasamatsu Yuuya (#15)
LF  Yasui Kouki
SS  Mizutani Yukiya (#14)
P  Fujinami Shintarou
CF  Hakusui Kenta

SS  Takemura Haruki
C  Rinzaki Tatsuya
CF  Satou Takuya (#8)
RF  Sasagawa Ryouhei
LF  Yamane Yuuta
1B  Akashi Hyuuma
3B  Yoshikawa Tomoya (#15)
P  Yamaguchi Rui (#11)
2B  Midorikawa Koutarou

__________________________________________________

11:00 - First pitch!

Interesting.  Both managers decide to go with relievers.  I'm pretty sure that both will also be ready at the instant things go awry as you'd like to save your ace at this point, but not at the expense of losing the current game.

Top 1st
Let's see how Yamaguchi handles the start.

Mizumoto takes a couple to see Yamaguchi, but hits a comebacker to him in the end.

Oonishi first pitch flies out to right, and Mori flies out to center for a smooth 1-2-3 inning for spot starter Yamaguchi!

Bottom 1st
Not so smooth for Sawada as Takemura starts off the Urawa offense with a single to left!  Rinzaki tries to bunt him to 2nd, but Sawada calmly throws out Takemura at 2nd!

Satou with a grounder to the right side, Koike dives but it bounces off his glove and deflects behind Oonishi!  Rinzaki heads for 3rd, and there's runners at the corners now for Urawa!

Sasagawa with a comebacker up the middle!  That's clear to center and Rinzaki scores the first run in favor of Urawa!  It's 1-0!

Yamane stepping in and Fujinami quickly up in the bullpen.  Perhaps the gamble backfired?

But Sawada gets Yamane to ground to 3rd!  Kasamatsu tags 3rd for one, throw to 1st for the double play!

Top 2nd
Yamaguchi probably given the mandate not to nibble and go after the Touin batters.  How else would you explain the strikes he's throwing and getting ahead?  Koike and Yasui both grounds out, and Kasagawa strikes out swingin and it seems like early on in the battle of relievers.

Bottom 2nd
Akashi first pitch singles past Sawada into center!  But once again the following batter cannot bunt the runner over as Yoshikawa free bunts and fouls out.

So Yamaguchi does it as Mori-kantoku looks for a one-timer from Midorikawa.

But he hits a comebacker to Sawada and that's the inning.

Top 3rd
One down, and Mizutani finally gets Osaka Touin their first hit as he singles to center. Nishitani-kantoku elects to have last batter Sawada bunt the runner along, and while he pops it up, it falls in fair and gets the job done.

Nishitani-kantoku will be trying for the timely hit from the top of the order.

But Mizumoto reaches out and pops it up!  Yamane calls off Takemura and makes the catch for the 3rd out!

Bottom 3rd
Sawada finally gets his 1-2-3 inning as he retires the top of the order in just 6 pitches.  A stressless inning is probably what he and Nishitani-kantoku wanted.

Top 4th
Mori with their second 1-out single, this time shooting one to right.

But Koike hits it right to short!  Takemura starts the 6-4-3 double play and the inning is over!

Bottom 4th
Now that I have time to look at the starters today, Sawada appears to have a fastball in the high 130s touching 140, a slider in the high 120-low 130s, and a change in the 110s.

Sasagawa and Yamane both get on top of a Sawada offering and groundout to short. Akashi gets under one and Yasui waves off Mizutani and makes the catch for the 3rd out.  He's looked good after the first inning.

Top 5th
Yasui after a 7 pitch AB, hits a ball to fairly deep center, but Satou is there for the catch.

For Yamaguchi, he has a fastball in the low 130's, a two-seamer (?) in the high 120s and a change/curve in the 100s.

Kasamatsu with a liner to right and Osaka Touin gets a man on!

Hakusui follows that with a ball to left! But Yamane is there for the catch!  Kasamatsu running back, but Yamane's throw lands in front of Kasamatsu as if to tell him he has to chance!  Double play, and the inning is over!!

Bottom 5th
With the 6th coming up, and Osaka Touin seemingly scoring runs in the 2nd half, I wonder when Satou's coming in?

Well, I get my answer!  One down and #8 Ishibashi pinch hits for Yamaguchi!  Satou will in fact come in to close out the last 4 innings!

Meanwhile Ishibashi hits a seeing-eye single through the right side!

Midorikawa not bunting, and goes down looking for the 2nd out.

Takemura at 2-2, and Ishibashi takes off!  Throw from Mori and Mizutani makes a fine swipe to get Ishibashi.  Urawa will have the top of the order in the 6th.

So we hit the break, and perhaps Mori-kantoku was thinking the same thing I was.  Save your ace for the later innings and use your reliever to hold off the early innings since Osaka Touin is a bit of a slow starter.

However, Urawa has only scored one run on spot starter Sawada.  That lead will be tentative for the next 4 innings.

Top 6th
As expected #1 Satou takes the mound, and PH Ishibashi takes up over in CF.

And aftter Mizutani grounds out, Nishitani-kantoku matches Mori-kantoku!  #18 Morishima comes to hit for Sawada, which means that Fujinami will be coming in the game, and indeed he is warming up in the bullpen.

Meanwhile, Morishima is battling Satou at the plate.  8th pitch Satou finally gets him to ground out to 1st for the 2nd out.

Mizumoto with a 2-out single up the middle.

Oonishi, looking to extend the inning, works the count full, but hits a fly to left!  Yamane easily under it for the 3rd out and Osaka Touin puts up another 0.

Fujinami is headed to the hill now, so Urawa has won the first half of the battle.  How will the 2nd half fare?

Bottom 6th
Takemura up, looks to strikeout on a slider outside, but the umpire calls foul?  It didn't look like he touched it?! As a result, Fujinami has to throw 2 extra pitches, but gets his K.

Rinzaki with a grounder to short.  Mizutani's up with the ball, but his throw to 1st pulls Koike off the bag!  E6!

But Mizutani makes up for the error!  Satou grounds one up the middle, Mizutani steps on 2nd for one, throws to 1st for the double play!

Top 7th
This pitcher's duel is flying by as we've averaged 10 minutes an inning.  Can Osaka Touin finally start their 2nd half rally?

Mori on a full count hacks at a shoulder high fastball and lines it over Midorikawa for a base hit!

Nishitani-kantoku has cleanup batter Koike bunt the runner along for Yasui.

Two slow curves from Satou and he's behind 2-0.  The count goes full again, but this time Yasui can't get around on a fastball inside and strikes out.

Mori-kantoku calls time as Kasamatsu stands in.  It looks like they're going to be careful with him as he's not throwing anything in the zone.

But as I say that, Kasamatsu reaches down on a ball and lines one back up the middle to center!  Ishibashi charging, but his throw won't make it in time!  Mori scores and Kasamatsu strikes again!  Osaka Touin scores the douten run!  We're at 1-1!

Hakusui with a hard ball back to Satou!  He fields it and throws to 1st to retire the side.  But Osaka Touin finally gets their offense going tying the game here in the lucky 7th!

Bottom 7th
Sasagawa says to Kasamatsu, "You're not the only one who can do that!" and takes a high fastball and lines it to right center!

Yamane trying to bunt has to get out of the way, but the bat makes contact with the ball!  Mori finally realizes it and makes a last second dive for the ball, but can't get it!  Foul ball!

And that works out for Urawa!  Yamane takes the next pitch and singles through the left side!  Runners on 1st and 2nd with no down!

Akashi tries to lay down the bunt, but fouls it off!  Mori-kantoku calls him over but he can't lay it down again!  1-2 and he pops it up!  Koike over near Urawa's dugout, falls and doesn't catch it!

And wouldn't you know it, Akashi takes the next pitch and hits it past Mizutani into left!  Two fortunate events for Urawa and it's manrui with no down!

Nishitani-kantoku calling time.  What to do?

Well, Yoshikawa is swinging away!  But he falls behind 0-2!

Sanshin!!  Fujinami takes it into his own hands and gets Yoshikawa on a slider out of the zone for the first out!

Nishitani-kantoku calling for time again.  Certainly the infield will be playing in for a play at home.

Ishibashi now up for Urawa, and first pitch Fujinami wheels wide at 154 kph.

After that he goes after him, getting ahead 1-2.  No squeeze from Mori-kantoku, but you've got to hit the ball!

SANSHIN!!

Ishikawa swings and misses on a 150 kph fastball down and away for the 2nd out!

Nishitani-kantoku calling time one more time.  2 bullets dodged, one more to go in Midorikawa...  He's 3-8 so far, but 0-2 today.

Swing and a miss on a ball in the dirt.  0-1... another slider in the dirt, another swing and miss, 0-2...  Waste pitch outside, 1-2...  Slider in the same place, but no call!  2-2...

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

Midorikawa goes down on a 3rd slider and Fujinami, after giving up three singles, strikes out 3 batters to get out of the inning!  That's a bad sign for Urawa Gakuin.

Top 8th
Mizutani pops out to Midorikawa for the first out.  Fujinami is jammed and grounds out to short.

Mizumoto with a gapper to right center!  Ishibashi runs it down, but not before Mizumoto reaches 2nd!  Small chance here for Osaka Touin!

Ootani with a hard shot to left!  But it's right at Yamane for the 3rd out!

Bottom 8th
If Urawa Gakuin is to win this, it needs to do it in regulation.  If they go into extras, they risk Satou tiring and giving up the winning run...

To that end, the top of the order is due up for Urawa.

Takemura with a grounder to 2nd, but Oonishi can't field the ball!  By the time he makes the throw, Takemura's dives into 1st!  E4 and the go-ahead runner is on base!

Fujinami giving nothing for Rinzaki to bunt, and he free bunts and fouls out!  One down!

Satou up, and he's looking to get on base as he works the count full.  Makes good contact but pulls it foul!

But he takes the next pitch and takes it the other way for a base hit!  Runners at 1st and 2nd for cleanup batter Sasagawa!

Sasagawa with a slicer to shallow left center!  Yasui charging in, slides... and makes the catch!! 2 down for Urawa!

It's down to Yamane.  They can't let this opportunity pass them by again.

Grounder to 3rd.  Kasamatsu with the ball, throws.. And it's wide!!!

Koike has to leave 1st to field it and everyone's safe!  Manrui for Urawa with Akashi coming up!  He's 2-3 on the day.

Fastball outside and low for ball 1...  Fastball inside for ball 2!  Fastball high swung and fouled off!

NO!  HE MISSED IT!  THE BALL GETS PAST MORI AND GOES TO THE BACKSTOP!!!!!

Takemura comes home and it's 2-1 Urawa Gakuin!  Mori couldn't handle the 150 kph ball and Urawa takes the lead!

Akashi flies out to right to end the inning, but it's an Osaka Touin error that gives Urawa the lead late!

Top 9th
#18 Yasumuro comes in for Ishibashi in CF.

Mori up trying to get his offense started.

He reaches out with one arm and whips a single to right!  Sasagawa playing back charges in, and Mori is headed to 2nd!!

Sasagawa with the throw to 2nd...  Mori slides in...

OUT!!!!!!

It almost looked like the umpire was about to call safe, but then tilted his head as if to say, "Nope, you didn't get in there after all", and rings him up!

Mori kneeling at 2nd can't believe it!  One down for Osaka Touin here in the 9th!

Koike up and Satou is careful with him.  But he winds up walking him and putting the douten runner on!

YASUI WITH A DRIVE TO THE LEFT CENTER GAP!!!!

Yamane and Yasumuro running back to the wall chasing it down!  Koike being waved around 3rd... he scores!!!  Douten Osaka Touin!!  We're tied at 2-2!!!!

Mori-kantoku calls for time as Kasamatsu steps in. Two slow curves from Satou and he's up 0-2.  Kasamatsu can't hold his swing and goes down for the 2nd out.

HAKUSUI WITH A GROUNDER BACK UP THE MIDDLE!!!!!!  MIDORIGAWA DIVES BUT IT GOES THROUGH!!!

Yasumuro with the throw home, but it's not in time!! Gyakuten 3-2 Osaka Touin!!!

Mizutani goes down swinging, but Osaka Touin waits until the last possible moment to tie and take the lead!

Bottom 9th
From one up to one down, Urawa Gakuin now has to fight from behind!

#5 Kigure hits for Yoshikawa, but he grounds out to 3rd, one down!

Yasumuro steps in, but he's down on three straight!  2 down!  Last chance in Midorikawa!  He falls behind 1-2, fouls off a pitch, then singles back up the middle!  Douten runner on!

And now Takemura with a ball back up the middle!  Mizutani can't get to it and there's runners on 1st and 2nd now!

Rinzaki to keep the inning going, but he swings at the first pitch and grounds to short!  Mizutani with it, goes to 2nd, and Osaka Touin comes from behind in the 9th to advance to the Best 4!

What a finish!!!!!

Just when you though that Osaka Touin had perhaps gotten their offense going, Urawa Gakuin seemed to finally cash in on an opportunity... only to see Osaka Touin's offense come back and take the lead.  Urawa Gakuin tried to make one last rally, but it just falls short.

I think Urawa Gakuin came in with the right strategy.  Send in your reliever to survive the first couple of innings, then bring in your ace to hold off the impending Osaka Touin assault.  And it almost worked.  But Osaka Touin still found a way to turn on the offense at the end and claim victory.  About the only thing you could critisize would be the outfield playing no-doubles depth once Koike had gotten on base.  Otherwise, Urawa Gakuin's Mori-kantoku and his team should be commended for their efforts, and they definitely feel like a team that can challenge in the summer!

Day 8 represents the 2/3rd's mark of the tournament, the filling of the Best 8, and the last day of 3 game sets (Thank God, I need the sleep).

First up is Riseisha (Kinki 3/4) vs. Aikoudai Meiden (Tokai Champs).

Riseisha received a challenge from Chikyuu Kankyou in the first 5 innings, but managed to pull away late in part perhaps due to Urushido's tiring on the mound.  They won 5-2, but was not terribly impressive.

As for their pitching, I don't know if using a triumvirate of pitchers is what they will be using going forward, but each of them brought something different and perhaps were used in an effective manner to prevent fatigue and perhaps prevent getting hard hit as some of them weren't as effective as others.

Aikoudai Meiden had no trouble with Miyazaki Nishi, winning 8-0 thanks in part to a 14K effort by ace Hamada.  That certainly won't continue, but seeing the hits spread around the players in the lineup is promising for future games.  Other than that, there's little to take away from the game.

I would say that Aikoudai Meiden has the advantage in the matchup, but we've seen before that a combination of pitchers can be effective (darn you Saga Kita!)


2B  Kimura Toshiki
CF  Matsubara Fumiya
LF  Araki Yuuto
SS  Satou Daisuke
RF  Matsuoka Daisuke
1B  Torii Tatsunori
3B  Nakano Yoshiki
P  Hamada Tatsurou
C  Nakamura Yuutarou

Riseisha (Osaka)
2B  Miyazaki Shin
3B  Shouno Yuuto
RF  Harada Ryouhei
1B  Kobone Makoto
SS  Kumamoto Hayato
LF  Okita Katsutoshi
CF  Hasegawa Seiya (#15)
C  Inui Hayato
P  Higashino Ryuuji (#17)

__________________________________________________

09:00 - First Pitch!

Top 1st
Kimura with a ringing double down the left field line to start the game against starter Higashino!

Matsubara with the bunt, Higashino fields, throw to 1st is not in time!  Runners at the corners immediately for Meiden!

Araki looking to cash in.  But he goes down swinging on a slider and there's one down.

Kurano-kantoku decides to get the running game going and sends Matsubara!  Throw to 2nd by Inui not in time!

Higashino gets Satou to pop it up!  Okita with the catch and the runners have to hold.  2 down!

All he needs now is to retire Matsuoka and he's out of the jam.  He gets ahead 1-2, check swing? 2-2.

SANSHIN!

Meiden can't capitalize on the early runners and Riseisha will look to take advantage in their half of the inning!

Bottom 1st
Miyazaki with a ball up the middle.  Satou dives, but can't quite field it.  Shouno sends him along to 2nd.

However, Harada and Kobone are retired quickly and the opportunity fizzles.

Top 2nd
Higashino having a much better 2nd.  Retires the first two batters before Hamada just about sneaks one through the right side.  Miyazaki is there to field it, but can't quite get a handle on it.

Nakamura though goes down swinging and he's settled down for now.

Bottom 2nd
Hamada gets two quick groundouts before Hasegawa singles through the left side.

Inui with a grounder that gets past Torii, but Kimura is there and makes the play to Hamada covering for the 3rd out.

Top 3rd
Back to the top of the order and Kimura blasts one to left again!  Okita running back and it bounces to the wall!  Kimura with his 2nd double of the game!

Matsubara lays down the bunt again, and though he's out at first, Kimura advances to 3rd once again.  Can someone get him in this time?

Araki tries for the safety squeeze, but he pops it up!  Shouno charging in makes the diving catch and there's two outs.

Against Higashino I would have expected them to still be aggressive instead of choosing for the traditional path.

The Riseisha battery elects to unintentionally intentionally walk Satou to get to Matsuoka who K'd in his last opportunity just like this in the 1st.

This time Matsuoka delivers, driving one to right and scoring Kimura!  1-0 Meiden!

Torii reaches down and gets a ball at the end of the bat, and Okita is running back?!  He's still running back??!

That's over his head!!??

It bounces to the wall!  Satou scores!  Matsuoka easily scores as Torii has a stand up triple!  How the heck did that ball go all the way to the wall??!  Either way, it's 3-0 Meiden!

Nakano with a grounder to the right side.  Somehow that gets by a diving Miyazaki and goes into right scoring Torii!  It's 4-0 Meiden!

And this time Higashino doesn't make it to the end of the 3rd.  Okada-kantoku sends in #11, RHP Sakamoto.

Sakamoto gets out of the inning when Nakano tries to steal 2nd and is thrown out by Inui.  But Meiden with 3 timely hits take a 4-0 lead over Riseisha!

Bottom 3rd
Hamada looking very good early, hitting the catcher's spots fairly close if not hitting it exactly. Sakamoto falls victim to a fastball on the inside corner.

Not afraid to back down either, as on a full count to Miyazaki he goes inside, but misses to issue his 1st walk.

Shouno chases a ball outside for the 2nd out.  And Harada suffers the same fate as he is fooled on a ball high and away.  3 Ks for the inning for Hamada.

Top 4th
He turns around now and picks up the bat and is frozen on a change down the middle.

After retiring Nakamura, Kimura fists a ball to the left side.  Shouno takes it in front of Kumamoto, but bobbles the ball!  Kimura on again with an infield hit!

Matsubara goes down on a fastball down the middle to end the inning.

Bottom 4th
Huh, must be a new thing to mimic Chiben's "C".  Riseisha has a yellow R on a blue background whose size actually rivals that of Chiben's.

Kobone takes a pitch away through the right side for a leadoff single.  Kumamoto appears to show bunt as Okada-kantoku may play for 1 at a time.  Though I'm immediately proven wrong as he swings away and fouls one off.

Kumamoto with a great eye takes a couple of pitches inside, working the count full.

Hamada gives in with a fastball down the middle and Kumamoto blasts it to center!  Matsubara stops as to play it off the wall, and it lands at the base!  Kobone scores on the double and it's 4-1 Meiden!

More importantly, no one down!

Okita grounds out to 2nd, allowing Kumamoto to advance to 3rd.

Hasegawa lines one to right!  Matsuoka there for the catch and his throw catches too much air.  Hamada cuts it off and Kumamoto scores easily to make it 4-2 Meiden!

Inui flies out to right and the inning is over.  But Riseisha cuts the deficit in half!

Top 5th
One down and Satou gets his 2nd walk.  Matsuoka with a chopper up the 1st base line and Kobone goes to Miyazaki at 1B for the 2nd out.

And Sakamoto gets Torii looking on a fastball down the middle for the 3rd out!  Sakamoto holds serve right after they gets 2 runs back!

Bottom 5th
Now can Riseisha close the gap further before the break?

Miyazaki with a slow chopper up the 3rd base side.  Nakano charges in, but can't handle the bounce!  Miyazaki with an infield single!  (Though the scorers charge an error)

Shouno bunts him over as Okada-kantoku will look for a one-timer to cut the deficit to 1.

But Hamada falls behind Harada 3-0 with Kobone on deck.

And he loses him!  Hamada will have to deal with Riseisha's cleanup batter! Kurano-kantoku calls for time.

Hamada jams Kobone!  Torii under it for the catch and Hamada preserves the lead at 2 as we head to the break.

Top 6th
Nakano leads off the 6th with a double to left center.  As expected, Hamada is showing bunt, but fouls his first attempt.

He pulls it back and swings on the next ball, but pops up to Kumamoto in shallow center, though the catch is a bit scary.

Nakamura tries to bunt, but he fails and falls behind 0-2.  And so he fouls off a couple before reaching down and putting one just over the infield to right for a base hit!

Runners at the corners for top batter Kimura!

Nakamura takes off for 2nd and he's in there safely with a delayed throw!

SQUEEZE!  Kimura lays down the squeeze!  Sakamoto's only play is to 1st!  One run scores!

Miyazaki at 1st fires home!  They were sending Nakamura!  The throw is in plenty of time to get Nakamura at home.  They were trying for the 2-run bunt!  However, Riseisha is prepared for it and gets the trailing runner to end the inning.

But Meiden tacks one back on to lead 5-2.

Bottom 6th
Kumamoto with a comebacker that Hamada doesn't field!  Satou charges late, but makes the play at first for the out.

Okita gets on the board with his first hit, lining one to center.

Hasegawa follows that up with a liner to left and Riseisha's got 2 runners on.

Okada-kantoku tries the hit-and-run, but Inui pops it up!  Satou on the outfield grass in center makes the catch.

#13 Uji pinch hits for Sakamoto as Higashi will as planned enter the game for the final 3 innings.

He falls behind 2-2, and fouls off a couple of hard pitches before working the count full.

But Hamada gets him to ground to 3rd!  Nakano goes to 1st and the inning is over!

Top 7th
Ace Higashi does enter the game to hold the fort while the offense regroups.

One down, and right before Araki grounds out to 1st, I notice that Meiden's oen-dan has a small golden "M" on a purple background.  It's much smaller than Riseisha's, that despite Meiden having more students (though Riseisha IS closer to Koushien than Meiden).

And Satou with a defensive swings on a ball inside lines out to 2nd for Riseisha's first 1-2-3 inning!

Bottom 7th
Why is Riseisha playing the graduation song at most graduations here??!

Miyazaki with good contact, but gets under it and Matsubara can camp under it in deep center for the out.

#14 Miyamoto comes in to hit for Shouno, but goes down on 3 straight pitches.

Hamada gets his first 1-2-3 inning as Harada hits a high fly to right to end the inning.

Top 8th
Miyamoto stays in the game at 3B.

Higashi issues his first walk to Matsuoka.  Torii bunts him to 2nd.

Nakano with an opposite field drive!  Okita running back and that's over his head again!  Matsuoka coes to score on the double and Meiden regains their 4-run margin.  It's 6-2!

Hamada pops one out to new 3B Miyamoto for the 2nd out.  And Nakamura lines out to Miyazaki to end the inning.  But the gap widens with just 2 innings left to go!

Bottom 8th
Kobone gives a good fight, fouling off 4 pitches before missing on a high fastball for the first out.

Kumamoto with a grounder that hops over the glove of Nakano into left for a base hit.  Now, Hamada grazes Okita and Riseisha has two runners on!

Hasegawa hits a short fly down the right field line!  Matsuoka running in strafes the line and makes the catch for the 2nd out!

Hamada perhaps laboring a bit falls behind Inui 3-0 before filling up the count.  Runners will take off, but Inui flies out to right!  Matsuoka there for the catch and Riseisha is retired!

Top 9th
Kimura with his 4th hit of the day, a single through the right side!

And he takes off for 2nd!  Throw by Inui, and he's safe!  (Dunno about that one.  Looks like Kumamoto may have had the tag there)

Compounding things is that Matsubara works a 9-pitch walk!

Araki with a grounder to 3rd.  Miyamoto's throw to 1st is high!  It goes over Kobone and into foul territory!  Kimura scores!  Matsubara being waved home!  Throw in and Matsubara gets around the swipe tag! 2-run error makes it 8-2 Meiden!

 Okada-kantoku pulls Higashi and brings in #10 Suzuki to finish the inning.

Full count to Satou and he's hit right on the knee.  Runners on 1st and 2nd as Okada-kantoku calls time.

Passed ball by Inui advances the runners.

Matsuoka crushes a liner to right!  Harada with the catch and Araki scores to make it 9-2.

Nakano collects his 4th hit with a single past a diving Kobone.  Runners at the corners for Hamada, though I'd just take him out at this point.

But he grounds out to short and the inning is over.  Meiden adds 3 more runs to what is now a mere formality.

Bottom 9th
#18 Oosuka takes over for Matsuoka in RF.

 #8 Fujiyama in to get his hacks as he PH for Suzuki.  Instead he goes down looking on 3 straight.

Miyazaki flies to right, and #16 Ueda grounds to 3rd to end the game.

A fairly dominating performance by the Meiji Jingu runner-ups as they rout Riseisha 9-2.  The battery of pitchers were unable to hold back the Meiden offense, and while they made it close in the middle innings, they couldn't keep it up.

Perhaps given some more time with their pitching, Riseisha may have something for the summer.  For now, they'll head home and continue to build on their Koushien experience.

As for Meiden, we have the Meiji Jingu rematch in the quarterfinals!  While revenge is not necessarily a Japanese trait, I don't think they'd mind giving one back to Kousei Gakuin here at senbatsu.

We'll get that game in 2 days time!

Finally we end what what should be a good matchup.

Osaka Touin and ace Fujinami easily handled what had to be one of the more weaker Hanamaki Higashi teams we've seen in recent years.  Now, they were baffled for a majority of the game, but I think that had to do more with the erratic control of Hanamaki ace Ootani than anything else.  Once he started leaving pitches over the plate more often did they rack up the runs.

Kyushu Gakuin too had a big inning against their opponent Memanbetsu in the 1st inning and pretty much cruised from there.  They were put in check by ace Nikaidou for the most part thereafter, so that part of it could be concerning against a better ace in Fujinami.

Both teams handled their opponents, but mostly via the big inning.  Otherwise their offenses struggled a bit.  So due to Fujinami's better pitching, I'd have to side with the representative from the Kinki region to advance.

C  Mori Tomoya
2B  Oonishi Tomoya
RF  Mizumoto Gen
1B  Koike Yuuya (#5)
3B  Kasamatsu Yuuya (#15)
LF  Yasui Kouki
SS  Mizutani Yukiya (#14)
P  Fujinami Shintarou
CF  Hakusui Kenta

SS  Mizowaki Hayato
2B  Yamashita Yuuma
CF  Hagiwara Hideyuki
3B  Oota Kouhei
1B  Okayama Shirou
LF  Yonei Kenta
C  Asakawa Ryou
RF  Shimada Kairi
P  Ootsuka Takahito

__________________________________________________

12:45 - First pitch!

Top 1st
A quick 1-2-3 inning for Ootsuka to start.  Always good to get off to a good start, especially against a team like this.

Bottom 1st
I don't remember Fujinami hitting 145+ and yet here he is hitting 149 (though at times not controlled).  Where was this in his first game?

And he blows by Misowaki for his first of what may be a lot of Ks.

A 109 curve followed by a 150 fastball inside?  That's kinda not fair.

Still though we know from past history that a fast fastball is no good if you can't control it, and Yamashita draws a walk.

Fujinami continues to have some control issues still as he goes full on Hagiwara before getting him to chase.  But the ball is in the dirt and that allows Yamashita to advance!

And now a wild pitch sends the runner along!

Again, he goes full on cleanup batter Oota.  But Oota hits a harmless grounder to short and is retired.  Not a great start for Fujinami, but he gets away with no damage.

Top 2nd
Kasamatsu gets Touin's first hit with a one-out single back up the middle.

And he takes off for 2nd!  Asakawa's throw is a bit off and he's in safely! Yasui though goes down swinging for the 2nd out.

Ootsuka gets behind 3-0 on Mizutani, but gets him to ground out to 3rd.

Bottom 2nd
After an lineout to left, Fujinami's control issues persist.  Yonei and Asakawa get deep into counts with Fujinami, and while both are retired they're making him throw a lot of pitches early.

Top 3rdOotsuka easily retire the bottom of the order, but then yields a 2-out slicer to left from Mori.

Oonishi follows that up immediately with a slicer down the right field line!  Shimada has to run it down and it's a double!  Pinch for Ootsuka here as Mizumoto steps in!

But Ootsuka gets him to ground out to short!  Mizowaki makes the throw to 1st and he's out of the inning!

Bottom 3rd
Kyushu's batters are stuggling with Fujinami's fastball and then are off-balance when he throws his slider, change, etc.

Shimada can't catch up to the fastball and strikes out.  Ootsuka is ahead of the pitch and bails, flying out to right-center.

Mizowaki is fouling pitches off, but he's just surviving at the plate.  Fujinami ends his misery by freezing him on a slider.

Top 4th
Ootsuka not as dominating as Fujinami, but he is still effective.  Against the 3-4-5 batters, he gets an infield fly, a soft liner and a routine grounder.  We are in for a pitchers' duel for sure.

Bottom 4th
Yamashita with a chopper to 1st.  Koike can't play the hop!  He gathers the ball and dives toward 1st, but is short!  Yamashita on base on the error!

Hagiwara up, but not bunting!  The count goes full and he starts fighting at the plate.  And he wins!  Fujinami throws it low and Kyushu has a big chance here with no down!

Oota up, and he's bunting now.  He lays down a beauty to the 3rd base side and Fujinami's only play is to 1st.  2 runners in scoring position for Okayama.

And there's going to be no squeeze here (good for you!)

However, he falls behind 1-2.  Expect a lot of outside junk.

And yes!  Okayama swings on a fastball down and away for strike 3!

Yonei up to try and extend the inning at the minimum,

Yonei with a blast to center!  Hakusui running back, running back, and he's misjudged it!  The wind takes it away from him and it falls in!  Yamashita scores!  Hagiwara scores!  Yonei heading for 3rd, and he's in!  He breaks the deadlock and Kyushu Gakuin takes a 2-0 lead!

Asakawa strikes out to end the inning, but they'll have to play from behind again!

Top 5th
Ootsuka continues to stifle the Osaka Touin batters.  The bottom of the order can not do anything against him and are retired in order.  The key will be if he can keep it up the whole game...

Bottom 5th
Developing situation for Osaka Touin!  One down Oonishi draws a walk.  Then Mizumoto singles down the right field line and Oonishi takes 3rd!

Koike with a grounder to 3rd, and Oota catches Oonishi off 3rd!  They run him down and now there's 2 out, runners on 1st and 2nd!

Kasahara up, and Ootsuka gets ahead 2-2.  Fastball down the middle, just low!

Next pitch, Kasahara connects!  Yonei running back to the wall.  Still running, looks up!

HAITAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kasahara with the gyakuten 3-run homerun!  What a turn of events here after the break!

Ootsuka manages to strike out Yasui to end the inning, but Kyushu Gakuin finds themselves behind!

Bottom 6th
The action is fast and furious now!

Yamashita with a seeing-eye single back up the middle!  Hagiwara then takes the next pitch and loops that over Mizutani's head!  Runners on 1st and 2nd for Kyushu Gakuin!

But Oota's bunt is too hard!  Fujinami picks and wheels to 3rd, and they get Yamashita!  Now Kyushu Gakuin is backed into a corner!

Okayama almost certainly have to swing away here.  But he holds off on a pitch just outside and manages to work the count full!

But he hits one to short!  Mizutani goes to 2nd for one, throw to 1st...  beats a diving Okayama!

(WHY ARE YOU DIVING, YOU JUST COST YOURSELF ANOTHER AB AAARRRRGGGG #@*&!@)

Top 7th
Ootsuka gets a routine groundout and...

OH MY GOD.....  FUJINAMI JUST CRUSHED THAT BALL.

 Hagiwara running back towards the fence, but it's no good.

WOW.  4-2, OSAKA TOUIN!

That may just break Kyushu Gakuin's will right there.

Mizunami strikes out looking for the 2nd out.

Mori with a liner to center!  Hagiwara charging in, dives and makes the catch!

Ootsuka and co. head back to the dugout, but that HR is deflating.

Bottom 7th
One down and Asakawa earns a walk.  Sakai-kantoku elects to go for the one-timer by having Shimada bunt.

Wild pitch from Fujinami!  Asakawa now 90 feet away!

Ootsuka up, and he's jammed!  But it's going to fall in!  Ootsuka gets one of those runs back!  It's 4-3!  Kyushu Gakuin is not going to give up!

Top 8th
Ootsuka delivers on his end of the bargain to his team.  He goes after the Touin batters and retires them 1-2-3.  Now it's his offense's turn to deliver!

Bottom 8th
Yamashita takes one too many pitches.  He holds off on one just outside, but falls victim to one on the outside corner.

Man, Fujinami never showed the 149 fastball until today, and he's still throwing it here in the 8th!

The Kyushu batters are patient if nothing else.  Hagiwara holds off on another outside pitch to get ahead 3-1, but swings away and flies out to left.

Oota gets a single to center, but there's 2 down.  They're going to have to string together some hits if that runner is going to score.

But Okayama swings at the first pitch and grounds to short.  They'll be down to their last 3 outs so long as Ootsuka can hold them here.

Top 9th
Kasamatsu with a blooper down the left field line!  It's Mizowaki that is running it down!  He reaches out and makes the catch in fair territory!

But Touin is looking for the insurance run!  Yasui singles through the right side and advances on the hit-and-run groundout to 3rd.

Fujinami stands in.  What will Ootsuka do?

He's going after him!

After falling behind 2-0, he throws two fastballs inside!

But he tries one too many times!  Fujinami fists it to shallow left-center!  Mizowaki running out, as Yonei and Hagiwara come in, but Mizowaki tries to reach up for it, bu can't make it!  It falls in and Yasui scores!  5-3 and that might do it this time!

Why neither Yonei or Hagiwara (Probably Yonei, he was closer) didn't call him off as they had an easier play for it, I have no idea...

And a wild pitch from Ootsuka sends Fujinami to 3rd!

Hakusui with a liner, but Oota snags it for the out!  Three outs, but Kyushu will have to score 2 now!

Bottom 9th
Yonei down 1-2, grounder to the right side just past a diving Oonishi!  He's on!

Asakawa representing the tying run, but no need for the homer.  #17 Masuda comes in to run for Oonishi.

He's up 3-1.

DON'T SWING!

He swings!  Liner to 1st!  Koike has it!  Yonei dead meat!  Double play!  I told you not to swing!

#14 Sonoda comes in as the last chance for Kyushu Gakuin!

He's ahead 3-1.

I'd say don't swing, but he already did, and popped it up.  Fujinami makes the catch and the game is over!

Osaka Touin comes back in spectacular fashion with 2 HR's and takes out the Kyushu runner-ups!  What an exciting game!  Ootsuka had Osaka Touin stifled early, but it's not how you start against them - it's how you finish.  That's because they generally are one of the offensive powerhouses in the country (much like Teikyou).  You have to be able to go 9 innings against them or suffer the fate that Hanamaki Higashi and now Kyushu Gakuin fell under.

Interestingly, Osaka Touin have scored all 14 runs in the tournament after the break.   Is it slow starting, or is it an adjustment they're able to make at the break, or is it the breakdown of the opposing pitchers, or a mix of all of them?  Wonder if it's something that Urawa Gakuin can key in on.

But as it stands Osaka Touin looks as a legitimate challenger for the title this year.

The stands are fairly full today.  Spring weather is much easier to see baseball in.

Our matinee game now poses a serious challenge to a newcomer to Koushien.

I'm not going to lie here, I was really happy that Chikyuu Kankyou made it to Koushien.  Just like I liked Nihon Koukuu Koukou for making it years back because they're an aviation school, I like Chikyuu Kankyou because they are an environmental school (lit. Chikyuu Kankyou = Global Environment).

Objectively, they got really lucky to get here.  In the prefectural brackets, they only notable team they needed to beat was Matumoto Dai-ichi.  And in a weak super-regional their only roadblock was fellow Nagano school Matsushou Gakuen.

The offensive numbers bear out how weak the region was.  The team batted a shade under .300 (literally - 0.299), which is actually poor for a HS team.  Only 19 of their 102 hits were for extra bases.  Defensively, their SS Iwata committed 9 errors in 12 games, which may mean in bigger competition it could get worse.  On the mound ace Urushido actually carries a low 1.21 WHIP, but doesn't strike out a lot of batters (~5 K/9).

Chikyuu Kankyou's opponent is Riseisha.  They've been to Kousien in recent years and have had a modicum of success.  Their bookmark win was over Houtoku Gakuen in the first round of the super-regional.  They eventually wound up losing 4-2 to Chiben Gakuen in the semis.

Riseisha's offense is a tick better than that of Chikyuu Kankyou, but they don't steal bases.  So it's mainly a hit-based offense.  Ace Higashi strikes out more batters (~8 K/9) and allows few baserunners (<1/inning) and the defense behind them commit few errors.

This is a relatively short preview of the game, but then again the expected result is fairly predictable.

Sorry Chikyuu Kankyou, I'm glad you're here, but you're in all likelihood going home today.

SS  Iwata Hiroya
LF  Naruse Koudai
RF  Nakajima Taiki
CF  Ootaki Yuusuke
1B  Mutou Ren
P  Urushido Suguru
3B  Nobe Shouta
C  Iwata Masashi
2B  Kudou Gaku

Riseisha (Osaka)
2B  Miyazaki Shin
3B  Shouno Yuuto
RF  Harada Ryouhei
1B  Kobone Makoto
SS  Kumamoto Hayato
LF  Okita Katsutoshi
CF  Hasegawa Seiya (#15)
C  Inui Hayato
P  Higashino Ryuuji (#17)

__________________________________________________

10:49 - First Pitch!

Top 1st
So they're sending their non-ace to the mound.  Can't be because he's a lefty because so is Higashi.  My guess?  They're not taking Chikyuu Kankyou seriously (though I can't blame them).

Though #11, righty Sakamoto is warming up.

Hiroya is proving difficult at the plate, even getting to one a good part inside and down.  In the end he puts one in play grounding to 2nd.  Naruse flies out to right.

Higashino has a fastball that touches 130 and a slider in the high 110s and a fork in the low-mid 110s.

Nakajima gets Chikyuu's first hit, and opposite field single to the left side!

Ootaki follow that up with one of his own and there's a small chance here in the first!

Mutou gets a hold of one!!!  But he just a little early on it and it goes foul!  Slider on the outside couner and he's going to have to be defensive.

Grounder to 3rd... Shouno goes to 2nd... and barely gets the force.

Wow, it may be against their non-ace, but their hitting looks good to start.  Wasn't expecting that.

Bottom 1st
Urushido's main nemesis, the walk comes into play immediately as he walks Miyazaki.  Shouno bunts him along, though Urushido has to chase it down a bit down the 1st base line.

Nerves may be getting to Urushido as he still can't find the strike zone.  He falls behind 3-0 to Harada before throwing a strike, but then walks him anyways. Chance now for Riseisha and cleanup batter Kobone.

Kobone with a comebacker!  Urushido can't get to it and it goes through!  Miyazaki scores to make to 1-0 Riseisha!

Hatori-kantoku calls time at 0-1 to Kumamoto.  Urushido needs to limit damage right now.

And Kumamoto helps him out!  He grounds into the 4-6-3 double play to end the inning!

Top 2nd
Urushido fouls off some pitches inside before getting caught on a fastball inside. Nobe gets jammed inside and grounds to short.  And Masashi hits one back to Higashino for the 3rd out.

Bottom 2nd
It would seem that Urushido has a fastball that can hit 141, but can be as low as 133.  His slider is in the 110s and a slow curve in the 90s.

Okita gets hold of one, but it dies in the crosswind.  Hasegawa quickly grounds out to 3rd and Urushido almost gets that 1-2-3 inning but Inui gets one past Mutou.  And in almost a instant replay, Higashino does the same!  Perhaps Mutou should dive for those...

The lineup comes back up to the top of the order and Miyazaki.

Miyazaki with a grounder to the right side again.  And this time Mutou dives!  And guess what?  He makes the stop!  Tosses to Urushido and the inning is over!  (You could have done that sooner and saved your ace a couple of pitches, y'know.)

Top 3rd
Kudou grounds out to short and the lineup cycles back to the top of the order.

Hiroya is jammed, but bloops one into left for a base hit!  But Naruse, trying for a safety bunt pops it up!  2 outs now for Nakajima.

So Hiroya takes matters into his own hands and steals 2nd!

Camera pans to outfield and they're all drawn in.

Nakashima swings and misses on a slider down and away though and the opportunity is lost.

Bottom 3rd
I can see why he's at least somewhat effective.  His delivery puts the ball directly behind him and thus makes it hard to see when it comes out.  Combine that with the huge difference in speeds I can see how he could be effective (if only he had good control).

Urushido gets a late wakeup call when Harada hits a quick comebacker and he has to block it with the glove.  Makes the play at 1st though for the 2nd out.  Kobone is retired with a grounder to short, and it looks like..

Top 4th
Okada is changing it up with #11 Sakamoto in at P for Higashino.

Ootaki with a comebacker to Sakamoto that he actually snags, but when he brings his glove in, he loses it!  The throw is late and Chikyuu has a baserunner!

Mutou, though fails to bunt him along and is behind 0-2.  He shows bunt on a throw to 1st, so it looks like he's free bunting!  And since that's the case, they pitch out... Now it's bust-and-run, but the ball is low to even the count...

Wild pitch!  Ball is inside and gets past Inui!  Ootaki takes 2nd!

And Mutou lines out to right, but its enough to get Ootaki to 3rd for Urushido.

(Please no squeeze bunt...)

Gah, Urushido shows bunt, takes ball 1.  Then takes strike 1.  And a pitch out.

(Don't do it!)

Ball 3!  (Still don't do it!)

Fastball and he fouls it off!  He knows he should have had that one!  Full count!

Whoo.  Just fouls that one off the C and the umpire. And another foul!

Leaves that one over, but again is a little late!

And this time he take the pitch inside and gets the call!  Runners at the corners with 1 down!  #1 Higashi warming up now as Nobe steps in.

(Please still no squeeze.)

Shows it, takes strike 1.

(DON'T DO IT!)

Offers and misses on a safety squeeze and falls behind 0-2...

(PLEASSSSSE?)

Okay, looks like it's off.  Ball outside.

Nobe strikes out and there's 2 down now for Masashi.  At least Hatori-kantoku wears his emotions on his sleeve.  He shows his displeasure about the AB.

But Masashi falls behind 0-2.  Manages to even it up, but don't expect an easy pitch here.

Masahi puts it into play, but flies out to Harada to end the inning.

Bottom 4th
Kumamoto times a slow curve outside and manages to pull it to left center.  Okita moves him along for Hasegawa.

And after falling behind 3-0 to Hasegawa, he works it full, but doesn't get the call on the pitch (Where was that pitch??!)

And once again, after falling behind 2-0, evens the count to Inui.  Though his pitching from the stretch loses a couple of kph.

Inui with a grounder to 3rd.  Nobe steps on 3rd for 1, throw to 1st... Nice pick by Mutou!  Double play!  Urushido gets out of the inning with no damage done!

Top 5th
So if I understand it correctly, Chikyuu Kankyou is borrowing Amagasaki Koukou's band?

Kudo goes down swinging on a slider for the first out.  Back to the top of the order and Hiroya.

Hiroya with a blast to left!!  Okita running back to the wall, and it's just over his head!  And his momentum accidentally bats the ball away!  Hiroya makes it to 3rd!  Douten chance for Chikyuu!

Naruse up now.

(DON'T DO IT!)

It seems like they're doing safety squeezes but it's so hard to tell.

And Naruse fouls it backwards!  Now the count is 2-2!  And he's now swinging away, fouling one off.  Ball low and the count runs full.

Grounder to 2nd!  Miyazaki with the ball, but they give up the run!  Chikyuu Kankyou scores the douten run!  It's 1-1!

Nakashima with a hot shot down the 3rd base line... just foul!

Sakamoto makes Nakashima screw down with his swing to end the inning, but the underdogs from Nagano have tied it up!

Bottom 5th
Sakamoto is taking his spot in the lineup, which might suggest he's staying in the game for now at least.

Grounder up the middle, Hiroya with a great pick!  Makes the play at 1st for the out!

Miyazaki with a hard grounder to 1st, and Mutou makes a nice pick of his own for the 2nd out!

And Urushido gets in on the act snoconing a chopper for the 3rd out!  We head to the break with Nagano's Chikyuu Kankyou holding their own against Riseisha!

Top 6th
Sakamoto throws in the high 130s with a slider in the low 120s (so far as I can tell).

Mutou with a blooper to short left center!  Hasegawa dives, but can't make the play!  Man on!

Urushido tries to bunt the runner along, but fails to do so.  Maybe that's why they don't suicide squeeze... they can't bunt?

The cameras show that Higashi's not warming up anymore.  It's Sakamoto's game for now.

Chopper by Nobe, Miyazaki charges in, makes the nice snag and throw for the 3rd out.

Bottom 6th
Post-break Urushido's control goes missing as he walks Harada to lead off the inning.  Kobone moves him along.

But Urushido jams Kumamoto and he fouls out to Nobe.  2 down!  Up to Okita to extend the inning or get the run in.

But a wild pitch by Urushido sends Harada to 3rd!  Need that out!

But Okita crushes one!  Naruse going to the wall, but he hangs his head...

HAITAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2-run homerun by Okita gives Riseisha a 3-1 lead!!

Hasegawa grounds out to short, but the damage has been done.  Chikyuu Kankyou will have trouble coming back with just 3 innings to go.

Top 7th
Lucky 7 time for Chikyuu if they ever needed one...  except that ace Higashi is in the game now to close it out.

But Masashi grounds out to 3rd, and Kudou flies out to center.

Top of the order and Hiroya, but he grounds out to short.

Except that Kumamoto airmails the throw!  Man on with 2 down!  And now Naruse singles to right!  Hiroya heading to third and Harada goes firing!  The throw is wide and now Naruse goes for 2!  Throw to 2nd and he slides in there!

Nakashima up, gets ahead 3-1... pops it up (WHY ARE YOU SWINGING!!!!!)!  Kobone makes the catch and the inning is over.

Bottom 7th
One down, and Higashi's first AB is a success as he leaks one through the middle for a one-out single.

Miyazaki follow that with a solid hit to right and Urushido's in a bit of trouble here in the 7th.

Shouno flies out to center and there's 2 down.

But up 0-2 on Harada and Urushido hits him and now it's manrui for Kobone.

Grounder to the left side, and that's past a diving Hiroya!  Two runs score on the play, and perhaps the dream is over now for Chikyuu Kankyou.

Kumamoto grounds to 2nd for the 3rd out, but Riseisha may finally be pulling away here in the late innings.

Top 8th
Ootaki earns a leadoff walk, but they're still a bit of a ways away.  Ootaki takes off for 2nd, and Inui's throw is high.

Mutou flies out to center and there's 1 down.

Ootaki gambles stealing 3rd, and somehow slides in safely!  Not sure why'd you would do that, he's not the tying run.

Urushido drives one down the left field line.  Okita makes the catch and concede the run.  5-2.

Nobe with a drive to left center.  Hasegawa ranging to his right, stretches, and makes the catch to end the inning!

Chikyuu Kankyou gets a run back, but still trails by a wide margin.

Bottom 8th
It's a quick 1-2-3 inning for Riseisha, and now Chikyuu has one last chance to try and extend their stay.

Top 9th
8-9-1 batters up to face ace Higashi, looking for the save (though we don't really track that stuff most don't have a 2nd good pitcher).

Masashi makes good contact, but flies out to center.

Kudou first pitch swinging singles through the left side!  Back to the top of the order and Hiroya.

Hiroya with a grounder to 3rd, and Shouno flubs it!  Kumamoto gets to it, but it's too late.  2 men on and the tying run comes to the plate in Naruse as Okada-kantoku calls time.

Tying run at the plate with one down, but nothing hasty should be done just yet.

But Naruse hits a grounder to short!  Kumamoto to Miyazaki to Kobone and the game is over.

Chikyuu Kankyou put a better effort than other teams I've seen.  Gotta commend them for their effort.  But in the end, what in all probability was the better team won the game.  Riseisha will move on to face the winner of the next game.


Notable Players
Ootaki Yuusuke (Chikyuu Kankyou) - 2-3, R, BB, 2 SB
Iwata Hirota (Chikyuu Kankyou) - 2-5, 3B, R
Okita Katsutoshi (Riseisha) - 1-3, HR, 2 RBI
Kobone Makoto (Riseisha) - 2-3, 3 RBI