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.

All right, for all the remaining prefecutures (well part of them anyways):

Fukushima - Seikou Gakuin (10th title, 7th consecutive)
With Chiben Wakayama's loss, the longest current consecutive streak to reach Koushien belongs to Seikou Gakuin who had 6 straight coming into this year.

The interesting thing is, despite Fukushima not necessarily being known as a strong prefecture, Seikou Gakuin has been able to hold their own at Koushien (even to my surprise).  If we looked at their last 8 appearances over the last 9 years, they have reached the Best 8 twice, and only exited after their first game just one in 2009.  They actually have a winning record (11-8) during that time span.

With that in mind, we enter the taikai.  But it so came to pass that one of the seeded teams would fail to reach the Best 8.  #7 seed Shouin Gakuen Fukushima would lose to Hobara 7-6 in their very first game.

But the remaining teams needed to see if Seikou Gakuin would falter.  And against #8 Gakkouhoujin Ishikawa it looked like they might.  Starter Ishii was rocked for 8 runs in just 1.1 innings and Seikou trailed 8-4.  The lead however would be short-lived as Seikou would respond with 5 unanswered runs to overtake.  Reliever Ima would shut the door (just) to win 10-9.

In comparison the #5 seed Odaka Kougyou was a breeze advancing to the finals yet again.

Their opponent would be #6 Nichidai Tohoku.  They had relatively little opposition in reaching the finals, including an 8-2 win over #2 Fukushima Higashi.

Seikou Gakuin would actually be in jeopardy again.  Nichidai Tohoku got out to a 2-0 lead, and then when Seikou leveled the score in the 6th, Nichidai would score a pair in the top of the 8th to perhaps seal the upset.

But as is the case when you are dealing with a dynasty of any sort in kokoyakyu, the team trying to break through has not learned how to win the big game (because if they did, well... there'd be no dynasty, right?).

And so it was that in the 8th, Seikou would claim one of those runs back.  Bottom 9, yep, you guessed it - they tied the game.

Once you lose the lead, the underdog is pretty much doomed unless they can immediately reply.

Nichidai Tohoku did not, and Seikou bid farewell to them just one inning into enchousen.

*One thing I did want to note, there has been a combined team consisting of the players from Futaba, Haramachi and Souma Nougyou borne out of the earthquake and tsunami of 2011.  Referred to as Sousou Fukushima (相双福島), they successfully won their first game, a 6-4 win over Adachi Higashi.  In their next game against #5 seed Odaka Kougyou, they went 12 innings before the pitching finally gave up in the 13th as they fell 4-1.  But it was a rather great effort in my opinion and wanted to give them their due credit.

Miyagi - Sendai Ikuei (24th title, 2nd consecutive)
Sendai Ikuei felt like a disappointment in the Haru Koushien.  Having won the Meiji Jingu Tournament and earning their super-region an extra bid, they looked rather average up until their quarterfinal loss to Kochi.

Did that wake them up?  Well, they won the Spring Tohoku Super-Regional tournament, though in their Miyagi taikai , had a real close call versus Shibata, then later was in a brawl versus Rifu.

Now in the Natsu taikai, they continue to soldier forward.  Yes, there was a quick scare when they spotted Oosaki Chuo 5 runs in the 1st during their quarterfinal game, but they quickly recovered and went on to win 9-5.

Before we proceed though, I want to give credit to Kesennuma.  Considering what their city has had to deal with since the 2011 earthquake & tsunami, the fact that they got to the quarterfinals - while defeating Tohoku (yes, I know they're not as good nowadays, but still) is an accomplishment to be proud of.  I hope for future success for their school in the years to come.

Remember I mentioned Shibata earlier, in that they gave Sendai Ikuei a scare in the Haru Taikai?

Well, what do you know, they worked their way through the bracket.  An enchousen game against Tohoku Gakuin did scare them, but otherwise they reached the finals in a revenge match against Sendai Ikuei - but this time it really mattered.

Shibata made a statement right off the bat, battering relief starter Baba for 5 runs in the 1st inning.  I was watching other games, but thought that perhaps Sendai Ikuei were getting their just desserts. But when I checked the score again it was 5-3 after 6 and now we were in the danger zone where the underdog could collapse due to the pressure. (see Fukushima)

Next thing I know I see that Uebayashi has hit a HR, I switch to the game just to see Sendai Ikuei tying the game in the bottom of the 8th.

Shibata ace Iwasa looked done.  But after a scoreless top of the 9th, he'd be sent out again for the 9th.

Leadoff batter Kumagai would get on base.  Kikuna would bunt him along, but in a complete lapse of judgement there was no one covering 3rd and Kumagai would take it outright.

Iwasa and Shibata had no choice but to put Kikuna and Uebayashi on to create the force.  Any successful sac fly or squeeze would end the game.  PH Abe would come in, but Iwasa induced a foul fly up the 1st base line that would be caught for the 2nd out.

That would bring up C Kobayashi Ryou.  Iwasa would fight, but the count would run full.  The payoff pitch... would be thrown high.

An oshidashi sayonara walk would end Shibata's season - perhaps one of the saddest, most heartbreaking ways to lose.

Nishi Tokyo - Nichidai-san (16th title, 4th consecutive)
Ugh, I refuse to recap in detail this taikai.  Nichidai-san outscores their opponents 75-9 and are not contested.

AT ALL.

Hino reached the finals looking really good, and had a statement game in the semfinals.  In the same manner as Nichidai Tohoku, Hino blows a 6-1 lead in the final 2 innings, but unlike Nichidai Tohoku scores 3 in the 10th to defeat Kokushikan.  But they get 2-hit in the finals, and it's all for naught.

Ugh.

Nagano - Ueda Nishi (1st appearance)
Nagano is another random place where I have an interest in.  Now, they're not known for their baseball.  In the last decade, representatives from Nagano have won a total of 3 games - Matsushiro one in 2009, and a pair for Nagano Nichidai in 2009.

But I take an interest because I've traveled there several time thanks to anime.  As a result of being there and how beautiful it is, I root for the area.  Specifically, I root for both Ueda-Chikuma and Ueda Nishi because they're near where my friends runs a ryokan.  Both are actually above average teams, but neither have been to Koushien despite the fact that only Matsushou Gakuen has been the only team in the past decade to have gone to Natsu Koushien more than once.

Nonetheless, Ueda Nishi was the #1 seed, while Ueda-Chikuma was a 5-8 seed.

Now, despite the fact that there has been generally a lot of flux in the Nagano representative, of the 8 seeded teams, only 5-8 seeds Ina Yayoigaoka and Nagano Higashi would fall before the Best 8 to Tagawa and Iida OIDE Osahime respectively.

However, the roads for almost all of the seeded teams were not without some games a bit too close for comfort.  Ueda Nishi almost lost in their first game against Matsumoto Dai-ichi if not for a 3-run 9th.  After that was a 1-0 nail-biter against Anan.  Interestingly, after that the games were actually a little easier for him, even against #4 Chikyuu Kankyou in the semifinals - and they probably looked like one of the more impressive teams up until the loss.

Interestingly their finals opponent would be someone they would be very familiar with.  Defending champs and #3 seed Saku Chousei actually was scheduled to be the game after Ueda Nishi up until the quarterfinals.  As Ueda Nishi progressed, so did Saku Chousei, which included a mercy rule win over Ueda-Chikuma.  Yet in the semifinals, against unknown Nagano Shougyou, they somehow managed to win despite scoring just 1 run on 4 hits.

The finals would be just as offense starved.  However, Ueda Nishi would make the most of their 6 hits, scoring 3 runs while the tandem of Yanagaizawa and Urano combine for a 4-hit shutout - thus securing their first ever title!

Mie - Mie (11th appearance, 1st in 4 years)
Mie has been a rather chaotic prefecture over the past decade.  No school has claimed the title more than twice (Mie, Komono, Uji-yamada Shougyou), and as a result of no team dominating has done rather poorly at Natsu Koushien.  Ujiyamada Shougyou would be the only team to not initially lose to Saga Kita (they played to a 4-4 draw), and Mie had defeated Kumamoto Kougyou in extras back in 2009 before being wiped out by Miyakonojyou Shougyou.

And yet even still, the 3 schools that had the most success wound up in the Best 4.  Mie went off to a slow start in a 2-0 win over Matsusaka Shougyou, then were able to upset seeded Inabe Sougou Gakuen 2-1 in the very next round.  It was smooth sailing after that to the semifinals.  Komono had a similar stumble edging Yokkaichi Minami 4-3, but was fine otherwise.  Uji-yamada Shougyou had no such hiccups, incurring 4 mercy rule wins - even one against seeded Kinkidai Koutousen.

The final team to make it was seeded Tsu Shougyou.  They wound up playing one less games after Ishiyakushi forfeited to them in the first round, then broke ties in the 9th against Shiroko and Kaisei to get to the semis.

Mie's Wakabayashi would shut down Uji-yamada Shougyou in their game cruising to a 6-0 win.  Komono would score 5 straight unanswered runs in the middle innings to reverse a 3-0 deficit as Yamanaka made the lead stick winning 5-4.

The final however would be a bit of a letdown.  Mie scored 5 in the 4th to put the game into an eventuality as they would win 7-1.

Nara - Sakurai (1st appearance)
So I'll just remind you anyways that in Nara, Tenri (7) and Chiben Gakuen (5) have claimed the title the last 12 years.  Being a school from Nara looking up at these two behemoths must be rather discouraging.

But if there seemed to be a chink in the twin towers, it was this year.  It was Yamato Kouryou, not either of the stalwarts, who represented Nara in senbatsu, and Tenri wasn't even seeded for the natsu taikai! So the rest of Nara probably had one eye on their game and another to see if the two would fall and finally open the gates for someone else to walk through.

Tenri would be the first to fall, losing 12-4 to Naradai Fuzoku in the 3rd round.  Only Chiben Gakuen remained, and perhaps in a bit of irony, lost in sayonara fashion to senbatsu representative Yamato Kouryou 4-3 in the quarterfinals!

Which meant that the spell would be broken and all would be up for grabs!  But by the time Chiben Gakuen lost, just 3 other teams would remain - Sakurai and Yamato Kouryou who already advanced, and soon thereafter the only seeded team left in Naradai Fuzoku, and Nara Suzaku who soundly defeated seeded Kashihara 7-2.

You'd think that Yamato Kouryou would be the favorite now -they did go to Senbatsu after all.  But before that Chiben Gakuen upset, they had endured two 11 inning games.  And so it was against Sakurai that C Shimada would deliver the sayonara hit in the 10th inning to send them home.  In the other semifinal, Naradai Fuzoku would keep Nara Suzaku at bay long enough to wear out Suzaku's ace Iwaki to score 6 runs late winning 11-6, guaranteeing that we would have a first time winner out of Nara.

The final would not be dominated by Sakurai as the triumvirate of Takeno, Kinoshita and Kaji would clamp down the 4-1 and claim their first title!

Hiroshima - Setouchi (2nd appearance, 1st in 13 years)
Hiroshima, for most of the past decade has been dominated by either Jyosuikan or Kouryou.  They account for 7 of the last 10 titles.  It's not to the level of say a Chiben Wakayama or a Tenri/Chiben Gakuen, but it's pretty impressive nonetheless.

Last year Hiroshima Kougyou was able to break through.  Could a team breach the twin towers for the 2nd straight year?

Well, both were one of the 8 seeded teams assigned by the baseball federation.  And once we had reached the Best 8 where if all went scratch it would be populated by seeded teams, they were still around.  Jyosuikan did need late runs to defeat Shiritsu Kure in their first game, while Gion Kita kept the game close against Kouryou in the 2nd round.

There were 3 casualties.  Onomichi (who I'm guessing will need to reload now to make another run at Koushien), Kouyou Higashi, and Hiroshima Kokusai Gakuin.  The former 2 were eliminated in their very first game.

Replacing the three were (in order), Eishin (who isn't a bad team at all), Kinkidai Fukuyama (which is out of my friend's city, but he's teaching in Daimon), and Gokou.

Oddly enough, while Gokou looked the best score-wise getting to the Best 8, they were the worst routed, losing 12-0 in 5 to Hiroshima Kougyou.  Eishin didn't play bad, but lost 4-1 to Hiroshima Shinjyou.  And Kinkidai Fukuyama did best of all, actually holding a 6-4 lead over Jyosuikan... until they scored 5 in the 6th to take the lead for good.

The only fully seeded matchup was Setouchi and Kouryou.  Kouryou was having a devil's of a time, and when Setouchi took a 3-1 lead with a pair in the top of the 8th, Kouryou was done for!  They'd fall 3-2 and one of the pillars had fallen.

The 2nd pillar would fall unceremoniously as Jyosuikan went through 7 (yes 7!) pitchers as they flailed for 7 runs in a 7-2 loss to Hiroshima Shinjyou!  In fact, only 2 pitchers actually went over 1 inning, and 3 of them actually just recorded 1 out!

So we would have a first time winner in Hiroshima Shinjyou, or Setouchi going for just their 2nd time.

But something happened on the way to the title.  Setouchi's Yamaoka would pitch a one-hit shutout, striking out 15 batters while walking 3.  Hiroshima Shinjyou's ace Taguchi would give up 13 hits while striking out 19.

The only problem?  He also gave up no runs!

That's right, somehow with all the opportunites Setouchi had, and the performance their ace gave them, the teams actually played to a 0-0 draw!  And so the game would have to be replayed - though the game was not scheduled for the next day, but the day after.

Certainly, in the replay the pitchers would not be as sharp, and they werent.  Both aces did take the hill to start the game, and Yamaoka struck out just 6 while Taguchi only 3.  Both aces gave up just 5 hits, though Yamaoka offered 3 free passes to Taguchi's 0. And as the game progressed, I bet the attendees were wondering if they were watching the same game - because the game was again deadlocked at 0 through 7!

In the bottom of the 8th though C Oomachi would actually drive in a run with his only hit of the game.  Yamaoka managed to record the final 3 outs to finally claim the title.

Yamaguchi - Iwakuni Shougyou (4th appearance, 1st in 27 years)
For as few teams as there are in Yamaguchi, the top teams dominated the field once again (well, almost).

1-4 seeds Hayatomo, Iwakuni Shougyou and Takagawa Gakuen all advanced to the semifinals without much resistance.  The only exception was Ube Kougyou who had played several low scoring affairs before being unable to rally against 5-8 seed Iwakuni falling 3-2.

Iwakuni would try to give Takagawa Gakuen a run for their money with a 5-run 3rd.  However, ace Azuma would soon fritter that lead away, and with their own 5-run inning, Takagawa would take a 9-5 lead and never relinquish it. That would actually be the close game of the bunch as Hayatomo was completely railroaded by Iwakuni Shougyou.  10 runs, and a 3-hit shutout later, Iwakuni Shougyou was in the finals.

The final was delayed a day due to rain, but Takagawa Gakuen, looking for their first Natsu title, surely gave Iwakuni Shougyou a run for their money.  Ace Hamamoto struck out 11, and only gave up a pair of runs in the 4th.  However, his offense could fare no better as they could just claim back one of those runs 2 innings later.  Iwakuni Shougyou would be able to follow up their senbatsu appearance with a return here in the summer.

We end the 2nd round with a high-profile matchup.  Though several years ago you may not have been able to say that.

Chiben Gakuen had won the Kinki super-regional, and did defeat Hayatomo 5-2, but their offense was all generated in one inning.  And outside of the 5-run 5th inning, they managed just one hit with 3 walks and a hit batsmen.  Now, this was against Hayatomo, and for the most part against a pitcher who had only pitched a couple of innings.  So perhaps their preparation for ace Aidzu threw them off when Horita started the game.

Kanto Dai-ichi was given a surprise when facing Beppu Aoyama.  They scored just 1 run on 6 hits, and that run was in part because the Beppu defense failed to recognize the speed at the top of the order.  And 7 K's against the Beppu pitching staff may not be a good sign either.

And yet, this was the team that wound up winning the Tokyo regional.  So either Beppu Aoyama's pitching was above average or the Tokyo Regional was sub-average this year.


3B  Isobe Yuuta (#9)
RF  Kishi Naoya (#16)
2B  Kiuchi Jyunshou
CF  Akiyama Shouta
LF  Itou Hiroki
SS  Yoshie Masakazu (#5)
1B  Anzai Kouyou
C  Matsutani Tsubasa
P  Nakamura Yuuta

C  Nakamichi Katsushi
CF  Urano Jyunya
P  Aoyama Daiki
RF  Ono Youhei
3B  Komeda Shintarou
1B  Koike Masahiro
LF  Uenishi Ryouki (#12)
2B  Yamaguchi Yuuki (#6)
SS  Takeda Ichiya (#13)

__________________________________________________

14:45 - First Pitch!

Top 1st
After two quick outs by the Kanto offense, Kiuchi hits a single through to left.  Akiyama follows that up slicing a ball the opposite way to left.

But Itou winds up looking at a fastball on the outside corner to end the inning.  May have been some framework there, but with the angle it's always hard to tell.

Bottom 1st
Nakamura looking sharp to start, getting Nakamichi to chase a slider inside for the first out.  And after an Urano flyout, Aoyama goes down on 3 pitches, watching the last one hit the outside corner for strike 3.

Top 2nd
Aoyama's good control early hitting the outside corners are forcing the batters to chase the ball.  And such was the case with Anzai for the 2nd out.

Matsutani scares the crap out of Aoyama by drilling a ball deep to left, but just is a little early.  Instead he grounds out to short to end the inning.

Bottom 2nd
Ono starts the inning with a gapper to right center.  Akiyama runs it down but not before Ono's in with a double.  Komeda bunts him over for Koike.

And the oen-dan starts playing Jock Rock a lot sooner than usual.

Nakamura walks Koike and Yonezawa-kantoku calls for time.

Uenishi works the count full, but winds up chasing a fastball up and away for the 2nd out.

And Yamagichi too cannot hit Nakamura's fastball and Kanto is out of the jam!

Top 3rd
Nakamura with a popup to left.  Takeda and Komeda run to get it, Komeda calls Takeda off, but makes a last second correction and misses the ball!  E7 and Kanto has a runner on!

Isobe can't lay down the bunt, and winds up grounding one back to Aoyama!  He goes to 2nd for one, but Takeda double clutches then sails the ball into the camera well!  It winds up being just like a bunt as Isobe is awarded 2nd.

Aoyama winds up walking Kishi on 4 straight, prompting Kosaka-kantoku to call for time.

Kiuchi with a grounder up the 3rd base line, and Uenishi makes a great stop!  He tags 3rd to get the force.  2 outs.

And Aoyama gets Akiyama to pop it up!  Ono takes a bit of a circuitous route to the ball, but runs down the right field line to make the catch.

Bottom 3rd
Nakamura with a 5 pitch inning , retiring the side in order in part thanks to a great snag by Isobe and a nice reach on a high throw by Anzai.

Top 4th
Defensive change for Chiben as #5 Odahara comes in for Uenishi and goes to 3B.  Komeda moves to LF.

Itou reaches out and hits a soft ball to the right side.  Yamaguchi charges, tries to make the barehanded throw but throws it away!  Infield single by Itou!

Yoshie lays down the bunt, Aoyama with it, but his throw to 2nd short hops Takeda and he can't pick it.  All safe!

Anzai lays down a great bunt which advances the runners.  It'll have to be up to Matsutani or ace Nakamura to get the runners home.  Infield playing for a throw home.

Matsutani jumps on the first pitch and lines it to left!  Itou comes home!  Yoshie is right behind him!  He chases him all the way home!  Matsutani puts Kanto up here in the 4th, 2-0!

Nakamura follows that up with a single through the right side!  Runners on 1st and 2nd with still 1 down!

Back to the top of the order and this could be bad for Aoyama.

Isobe with a slow chopper up the 3rd base side!  Uenishi charges, throws to 1st, beats a diving Isobe!

[Insert rant here]

The runners advance so that a base hit almost guarantees 2 runs, but there's also 2 outs.

Kishi standing in falls behind 1-2, but takes a couple of pitches, works the count full, and starts fouling off pitches.

(And someone has a vuvuzela??!)

Sanshin!  Kishi can't get around to the fastball and Aoyama is out of the inning!  But Kanto strikes first for a pair of runs!

Bottom 4th
Aoyama hits a ball to shallow right trying to jumpstart the Chiben offense. Ono not bunting, but gets under a Nakamura offering and flies out to left.

Komeda scorches a ball down the 1st base line, but it just goes foul.  He falls behind 1-2, but works the count full.  Ball inside winds up high instead and now runners are on 1st and 2nd for Koike.  Looks either like Nakamura is having control issues or is overthrowing the ball.

Ahead 0-2, Nakamura throws another one way high.  And another high fastball.  This could be concerning for Kanto.  Outside, and now the count is full once again.

High fastball, but close enough that Koike swings and fouls it off.  Fastball outside and it's manrui with one down.

Yonezawa-kantoku calling time, but he'd better be finding someone to warm up in the bullpen.

Odahara up to bat, and he bails Nakamura out by popping one up!

Two down for Yamaguchi and he's bailing out Nakamura by swinging at the high fastballs!

And he strikes out swinging!  For some reason the bottom of the order didn't wait to see if Nakamura would continue throwing balls!  Chiben wastes a great opportunity to tie or take the lead!

Top 5th
Kiuchi with a drive to left!  Komeda running back, but it's over his head!  He's in with a double!  However, Akiyama can't advance him via bunt and grounds out to Aoyama.

Itou flies out to center, and it's deep enough to advance Kiuchi.  Up to Yoshie to deliver.

He works a long AB but Aoyama finally gets the better of him on the 10th pitch inducing a grounder to 2nd to end the threat.

Bottom 5th
Takeda trying for the safety bunt, and while Anzai vacates 1st to field the ball, Kiuchi is there to cover just in time to record the out.

Nakamichi gets on base the old-fashioned way, he gets a hit (though the left side). Urano with a base hit the other way and now a situation is developing as Aoyama steps in.

But Aoyama is jammed and flies out to right.  2 down runners now at the corners for Ono.

The Kanto battery is being careful with Ono, and fall behind him 3-1.  Nakamura doesn't give in, but he sails one high and it's manrui for Komeda.  It's fine to walk Ono, but know that there's no room now for Komeda.

First ball from Nakamura goes high again.

But the next pitch Komeda flies to center!  Akiyama there for the catch, and Kanto is out of the jam!  Kanto Dai-ichi holds on to a tentative 2-0 lead.  However, Yonezawa-kantoku should be concerned that Nakamura is tiring a bit and may be opening his body and leaving his pitches up in the zone.  He's been lucky the last couple of innings, but it could come back to get them later.  They may want to tack on a couple of extra insurance runs just in case.

Top 6th
Anzai takes the first ball and drives it to right!  Ono sprinting back, but it's over his head!  It goes to the wall as Anzai goes for 2!  But Ono fumbles with the ball!  Anzai heads to 3rd and is in easily!  Chance immediately after the break of Kanto!

Matsutani works the count full and takes a ball down and away for ball 4.  Runners now at the corners with no down for ace Nakamura.

Comebacker by Nakamura!  But Aoyama gloves it, and re-secures it when it pops out!  He goes to 2nd for the force and there's one down.

Isobe with a small chopper up the 1st base side!  Aoyama hurries to it, throws home...

OUT!

Nakamichi blocks home as he makes the tag on Anzai for the out!  2 down!  Kishi up, but he struck out last AB.

This time around, he softly lines out to short and Kanto's leadoff "triple" (it was a 2B + error) goes for naught.

Bottom 6th
One down and Odahara hits a fly to deep left!  Itou chases it down as it hits the base of the wall.  Odahara in with a double.

Nakamura is definitely in a pinch.  If he tries to throw it his normal speed, he overthrows it.  If he throws it with conrol, it's a tick slower than usual and can be hittable.

As a result he's behind 3-2 to Yamaguchi, and the pitch outside, while hitting the glove this time, is wide.

But instead of keeping the pressure completely on Nakamura, Kosaka-kantoku has Takeda bunt the runners over for Nakamichi.

Nakamura though manages to get ahead 1-2.  But another pitch high and taking a change low fulls the count.

He hits a fly ball!  Nakamura gets him to chase a high fastball!  Akiyama under it and they get the 3rd out!  Kanto continues to play with fire and not get burned!

Top 7th
Aoyama finally get an uneventful inning in the lucky 7 no less as he retires the 3-4-5 batters with almost no issue at all.

Bottom 7th
Oddly enough, with all the troubles Nakamura has had recently, he too gets a quiet 1-2-3 inning as he seems to be finally pitching instead of overthrowing.

Top 8th
Yoshie with a grounder to the right side, and it's off the glove of Yamaguchi as he dives for it!  Leadoff man on for Kanto!

But Chiben gets a break when Anzai's bunt is mishandled by Aoyama!  Yoshie thinks it's caught and he's easily thrown out at 2nd.

Aoyama gives it right back when he throws a wild pitch allowing Anzai to advance to 2nd.  However, Matsutani swings up 2-0 and pop put to short, and Nakamura flies out to right to end the inning.

Bottom 8th
But the decreased velocity does allow for big hits!  Komeda drives a ball to deep right!  Kishi runs back as the ball hits the base of the wall!  Komeda rounding the bases and he's in at 3rd with a leadoff triple!

Koike now with his own drive to right!  Kishi running back again, leaps, and makes the catch!  What a great catch by Kishi!

But that of course yields the run, and Chiben Gakuen trails by just 1!  It's 2-1!

Odahara up now, and he strikes out looking on a 129 kph fastball!  2 down!

Yamaguchi trying to keep the inning going singles past Nakamura into center.  Douten runner on base!

But Nakamura gets Takeda to pop it up. Matsutani secures it for the 3rd out.  Chiben gets one back and now the deficit seems much more managable.

Top 9th
Two pitches, two outs for Aoyama as he gets a popup and a safety bunt attempt.

Kiuchi takes a little longer, but he fouls out to Koike near the camera well.

Bottom 9th
Nail-biting time if you're Kanto.  Top of the order up for Chiben with a fatigued Nakamura on the mound.

Of course, the first pitch to Nakamichi is a 136 fastball down the middle.  Natch.

He gets ahead 0-2, but throws two wide again and levels the count.

And Nakamichi takes the next pitch and returns it back up the middle for a base hit.  Douten runner on, and Urano successfully bunts him to 2nd.

Aoyama up, and Nakamura gets him to fly out!  Itou under it for the 2nd out!

It's down to Ono, and he fouls off the first pitch.  0-1...  He pops it up!  Anzai to the fence in foul territory and it's out of play.  0-2...

Overthrows high for ball 1...  Overthrows high again for ball 2!   High fastball fought off by Ono!  Another letter high fastball fouled off!  Outside fastball fouled off again!  Fastball inside!  Ono ducks but it goes off his bat!  It pops and rolls down the first base line... goes foul before anyone can get to it!  Fastball, this time fouled straight back!  Does he have the timing down?

Fastball high again!  Full count!  High fastball fouled off one more time!!!

He hits it foul again!  But this time is it playable?  Matsutani running towards his dugout, running out of room...

MAKES THE CATCH!

Matsutani makes the catch!  Ono fouls out to end the game!  Kanto Dai-ichi holds on to a 2-1 victory over the Kinki champions Chiben Gakuen!!!

WHAT A FINISH!!!!!

Kanto Dai-ichi ace Nakamura finds a way to hold on despite showing obvious signs of fatigue and mechanics breakdowns in the middle of the game finds a way to make 2 runs stick!

Both teams had scoring opportunities throughout the game, but it was obviously in favor of Chiben Gakuen as the game progressed.  But due to strategies or plain unluckiness, they were never able to take advantage of them.  Aoyama only gave up the 2 runs when the bottom of the order delivered, but it proved to be enough.

A well fought game on both sides as Chiben Gakuen I think proves to everyone that they are power to be reckoned with going forward.

However, while Kanto Dai-ichi advances to face Yokohama in 2 days, they'll have to face the reality that Nakamura may not be 100 percent for that game.  Such is the case when you pitch on day 6, then day 8, and now day 10.  For them to win senbatsu, Nakamura will have to pitch on days 11 and 12 as well.  This could prove to be too much for Kanto Dai-ichi to overcome.

Our final game puts the winner of the Chuugoku/Shikoku floating bid Hayatomo versus the Kinki champions Chiben Gakuen.

Hayatomo won the Yamaguchi prefecturals then got fortunate in some ways to be paired in the same quadrant as Tottori. They defeated Yasu, then fellow Yamaguchi school Nanyou Kougyou before losing to Kurashiki Shougyou 6-3.

The team relies heavily on their starting 9 as only 3 other players have any ABs (and they all have 1 each).  The team batting average as a whole is poor (0.279) but they do have a lot of extra base hits.

Ace Aidzu strikes out a batter per inning, while allowing <1 H+BB per inning at the same time.  But you'll have to remember the context of the Chuugoku region as well.

Opposing them is the new reigning team in Nara, and for this year at least Kinki - Chiben Gakuen.

I remember last year when they came back on Yokohama to win, and while that may have been fluky, they have proven that they are a force to be reckoned with now.

This fall they defeated Tenri twice, last year's representative from Osaka - Higashi-Osakadai Kashiwara, and Riseisha.

Chiben's numbers aren't that impressive on paper.  A 0.315 batting average with some extra base hits.  Ace Aoyama's K rates are about average, but he doesn't allow many runners.

Hayatomo's going to have a hard time in this game against the Kinki champs.

Hayatomo (Yamaguchi)
CF  Nakamura Nozomu
LF  Nagahisa Kimiharu
SS  Miyazaki Ryuunousuke
3B  Kimura Yuuma
RF  Aidzu Yuusa (#1)
1B  Fujita Shouki
2B  Yamamoto Tatsuya
C  Harada Shouji
P  Horita Taiki (#10)

C  Nakamichi Katsushi
CF  Urano Jyunya
P  Aoyama Daiki
RF  Ono Youhei
LF  Komeda Shintarou
1B  Koike Masahiro
3B  Uenishi Ryouki (#12)
2B  Yamaguchi Yuuki (#6)
SS  Takeda Ichiya (#13)

__________________________________________________

13:42 - First pitch!

It was drizzling earlier, but now it's raining enough people are evacuating for higher and more importantly covered ground.

Top 1st
Hm?  Hayatomo has no band?

Aoyama off to a good star, getting an infield groundout and pop fly to Yamaguchi at 2B.

Finally, there's the band but it soon stops when Miyazaki pops out to 2nd.

Bottom 1st
Interesting Ookoshi-kantoku is going with Horita to start.

Nakmichi with a blast to left.  Nagahisa running back, reaches up and makes the running catch!

But they give it right back when Yamamoto throws away the ball on a routine grounder from Urano.  Urano takes 2nd on the play.

Horita walks ace Aoyama on 4 straight, and now it's cleanup batter Ono.

And now I've seen the second instance of the ball hitting the end of the bat.  This time it goes foul.

Horita gets Ono swinging on a ball in the dirt!  2 outs!

Both runners take off!  The ball is in the dirt and they have no play!  Now a base hit scores 2!

But Komeda grounds to 2nd!  Yamamoto's throw is good this time and they're out of the jam!

Top 2nd
So I get to see Hayatomo's oen-dan, and we have the battle of the letters!  Of course if you know kokoyakyu, you know if Chiben's red "C" on a white background.  Well, Hayatomo has a white "H" on a blue background!

Kimura up just lines one foul down the right field line.  But he is caught looking with some good framing to boot on a fastball outside.

Aoyama retires Aidzu on a grounder to 1st and Fujita, after a few stubborn foul balls, flies out to left.

Bottom 2nd
Koike is frozen on a slider for strike 3.  Horita is showing good control for someone who was only used for 2 innings in one game this past fall.

According to the announcers, he has a fastball in the mid-upper 130s with a slider, curve and shuuto.

Yamaguchi reaches on a dead ball, but is stranded when Takeda flies out to left.

Top 3rd
Hayatomo's bottom of the order are stubborn, but all three are retired.  Still no baserunners for Hayatomo yet.

Bottom 3rd
Nakamura making a great running catch in left-center to rob Urano of extra bases!  A groundout by Aoyama makes it a 1-2-3 inning.  Through 3, neither team has a hit.

Top 4th
Nakamura with a grounder to the right side!  Yamaguchi with the great diving stop, but the throw is late!  1st base hit for Hayatomo!

And predictably, a sac bunt to move him into scoring position for Miyazaki and Kimura.

Aoyama gets him to bite on a ball in the dirt for the 2nd out.

Kimura with a first pitch blast to left center!  Urano running back, but that's against the wall!  Nakamura scores easily and just like that Hayatomo has not only the first hit in the game, but the first run!  1-0!!

And Aidzu is hit in the back by Aoyama!  Fujita now to try and get another run in.

Fujita makes contact with a pitch low, but grounds out to 3rd to end the inning.  But I'm sure the Chiben oen-dan is a bit shocked to see Hayatomo leading 1-0!

Bottom 4th
But I'm also sure they know that their team can score runs too.

Yet while Chiben's batters make contact, they're fly balls that are caught by the defense.  Two flyouts to Aidzu and a K mean that Chiben is still without a hit!

Top 5th
Man, it looks like some of the Hayatomo players are mad at times.  When Aidzu got hit it looked like he stared Aoyama down.  And when Aoyama pitched inside to Harada, he kinda did the same.

I like that.

Though Harada goes down looking.  And then Horita as well to end the inning.

Bottom 5th
Bottom third of the order for Chiben.

Huh, Uenishi goes down swinging on three straight off-speed pitches.

And the no-hitter is gone.  Yamaguchi revenges getting hit by blowing one past Kimura into left for a single.  Takeda bunts him over as the lineup cycles back to leadoff hitter Nakamichi.

Wild pitch!  Harada can't find it and fortunately for him it went out of play.  Yamaguchi has to hold at 3rd.

Nakamichi can't hold his swing and falls behind 1-2!

K, wild pitch?  No, foul!  2-2 on Nakamichi...

And now he hits Nakamichi!  (Though he really didn't get out of the way).  The task of getting the runners home falls to Urano now.

Horita falls behind Urano 3-0.  You don't want to go manrui with Aoyama up.

But he does!  He loses him on the 3-1 pitch and now Ookoshi-kantoku calls time.

Key AB here.  No place to put Aoyama.

Continues to pitch down in the zone, but after getting the first strike, falls behind 2-1.

Inside, and now it's 3-1!  Does he give in?

Yes!  And Aoyama singles through the left side!  Nagahisa's throw is cut off and 2 runs score!  Gyakuten Chiben Gakuen!  They lead 2-1!

And they continue to apply the pressure!  Double steal on the first pitch and both are safe!

And with the count 2-2, they show Horita's face.  It looked like the one of someone who was rattled.

And just as I think that...  Ono connects on a ball.

And I don't have to think about it.

HA-I-TA.  Nagahisa barely gives chase.

5-1 Chiben Gakuen and even though it's early, that's a backbreaker.

Komeda grounds out to 2nd, but the damage has been done several times over.  Hayatomo will have to pull off one heck of a comeback to overcome this deficit.

Top 6th
But playing from behind against a better team is never easy.  Hayatomo goes down in order and they'll need to relax.

Bottom 6th
The rain seems to coming down a bit more now, but not affecting play.

Nakamura makes a great dive on a ball hit by Koike for the first out.

#15 Oosaki comes in to hit for Uenishi and goes down swinging.

And after a balk by Horita, I finally hear the first playing of "Jock Rock".

But Horita's struggling a bit.  He walks Takeda now and the lineup turns over.  Fortunately, for Horita, he finally strikes out Nakamich to end the inning.

Top 7th
Kimura leads off the lucky 7 with a single to center.  However, Aidzu grounds into a fielder's choice.  Furthermore, he tries and unsuccessfully steals 2nd.

(Why?  That run doesn't even matter!)

Fujita flies out to center and that's the inning.

Bottom 7th
Horita shuts down the Chiben offense again in order, but they need help.

Top 8th
Yamamoto pulls a ball down the left field line... fair!  He in with a leadoff double.

Harada tries to bloop one in up the middle, but Yamaguchi runs it down.

#9 Yamahito comes in to hit for Horita.  His day is done.  Horita strikes out swinging.

Nakamura with a ball back up the middle, goes through!  Yamamoto scores and Haytomo has one of the runs back!  5-2.

But Nagahisa pops out to short, and that's the inning.

Bottom 8th
Kawahito stays in and goes to right, and ace Aidzu takes the mound.

After a routine grounder to start, Koike lines one over Miyazaki for a base hit.  #5 Odahara comes to pinch run.

Oosaki grounds into a fielder's choice, and Yamaguchi to 3rd, and it's a smooth inning for Aidzu.

Top 9th
But they need at least 3 to extend the game.

Defensively, Odahara goes to 3rd, and Oosaki to 1st.

Miyazaki with a blast to right center!  That falls in at the base of the wall for a double!  But that's just one runner.  You need a couple more.

Kimura with a ball to the left side.  Takeda makes a nice grab and throw to get Kimura out.

It abruptly comes to an end as a liner by Aidzu is caught by Yamaguchi, and he tosses to Takeda to double off Miyazaki.

Hayatomo may have lost 5-2, but their pitchers combined to give up just 4 hits.  3 of those came in that fateful 5th inning.  If not for that when Horita lost his composure, Hayatomo may have had a chance.

Hayatomo gave a great effort today and has nothing to be ashamed about.  They easily earned their invitation here today.  Hopefully they'll make a run in the summer.

Chiben Gakuen will have to wait until tomorrow to see who their opponent is, but 4 hits today has to be a bit concerning going forward.


Notable Players
Horita Taiki (Hayatomo) - 7 IP, 5 ER, 3 H, 6 K, 6 BB
Nakamura Nozomu (Hayatomo) - 2-4, R, RBI, K
Kimura Yuuma (Hayatomo) - 2-4 RBI
Aoyama Daiki (Chiben Gakuen) - CG, 2 ER, 7 H, 8 K, BB
Ono Youhei (Chiben Gakuen) - 1-4, HR, 3 RBI, K
Yamaguchi Yuuki (Chiben Gakuen) - 1-2, R, BB, HBP

Okay, now comes the test game for me.

Over the last couple of years, I made it no secret that Tenri was one of my favorite teams, if nothing else because I stayed there during my first and third trips there and they seemed like a powerhouse.  Yet, under closer inspection combined with recent results suggest that Tenri (and subsequently Nara as a whole) was a weaker prefecture that was dominated by 2 teams (Tenri and Chiben Gakuen).  Furthermore, Chiben Gakuen has supplanted Tenri at the top of the prefecture.

So Tenri has a lot to prove to everyone that they're still relevant (including myself).

Defensively, Tenri has always been solid.  Pitching has always been at least average, but offensively they seem to have issues.  Compounding the issue is that this team, despite being the Kinki Super-Regional runner-up, is more power starved than usual.  That'll definitely be a problem.

And they're facing Kanto quarterfinalists Takasaki Kenkoudai Fukushi.

Kendai broke through with their first summer appearance last year, and now have turned around and qualified for senbatsu.  Their watermark game was against Urawa Gakuin where they put up 7 runs.  However, they lost 11-7 and we don't quite know how good Urawa is just yet.

Kendai's offense numbers are better than that of Tenri, and even if strength of super-regionals are a push, that still gives an edge to Kendai.  On the mound, the teams appear to be a push with neither carrying a dominating ace.  Both Nakatani (Tenri) and Miki (Kendai) pitch to contact.

I expect this to be a close game, but the edge has to go to Kendai.

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

CF  Higashihara Masahi
2B  Watase Yuuya
RF  Kimura Hide
SS  Yoshimura Kousuke
LF  Kuroda Kouta
3B Kumamoto Shuu (#14)
1B  Furuta Rui (#5)
P  Nakatani Keita
C  Yamagishi Masaki (#17)

__________________________________________________
11:15 - First Pitch!

Top 1st
Takeuchi is a stubborm leadoff batter and takes 8 pitches before hitting a ball pas a diving SS.  He then proceeds to steal 2nd with little effort.  Tenri and Nakatani in a pinch early.

Nakayama tries to put the bunt down, but he free bunts foul and there's one out!

And now Takeuchi makes a mistake.  He's caught off 2nd when a ball goes in the dirt and is thrown out!  2 down!

Nakatani gets Nagasaka to strike out looking and the inning is over!

Bottom 1st
Higashihara with a walk to start the 1st!  Watase bunts him along and Tenri has a chance!

That gets compounded when Kimura's grounder to 2nd is booted and everyone's safe!

But now it's Tenri's turn to make a mistake as Kimura tries to steal 2nd and is thrown out easily!

Yoshimura strikes out looking to end the inning and it's missed opportunities on both sides!

Top 2nd
Nakatani goes back into the fire immediately as Uchida singles through the left side!  He steals 2nd easily, and now a single to right by Oosawa puts runners at the corners with no down!

Hashimoto-kantoku calls for time.

Tenri's pitching looks rather pedestrian right now.  Nakantani is hitting only the high 120s-low 130s along with what seems like a circle change in the high 90s-low 100s.

Kanbe gets the job done, and while he grounds into the 6-4-3 DP, Uchida scores and it's 1-0.

Oh?  Hashimoto-kantoku pulls Nakatani for #11 Yamamoto Tatsuya.  In looking at the conference plus the fast pull it looks like the team isn't quite sure of the game plan.  About the only thing that makes sense is that they're going with the righty.

But it seems to be of no use as Kobayashi drives a ball over Kimura's head and to the wall!  He quickly rounds the bases for a triple!

The announcers mention that he has a slow curve, and possibly a slider.  If his main secondary is a slow curve, I worry about Tenri's prospects.

Akiyama flies out to center to end the inning, but not before Kendai takes the lead!

Bottom 2nd
Miki continues to pitch well, recording two quick outs.  But Furuta puts an end to that as he takes one into the opposite field gap for a double!

From what I see, Miki has a fastball in the high 120s-low 130s, a slider in the low 120s and a change of some sort in the100s.

That's as much as they can get though as Tatsuya grounds to 3rd to end the inning.

Top 3rd
Quick inning for Yamamoto in relief.  Miki grounds to short, though he almost beats the throw while Takeuchi fouls out to 3B and Nakayama goes down on 3 straight.

Bottom 3rd
Last batter Yamagishi up, makes good control, but lines out to center.

Higashihara gets ahead 3-0, but allows Miki to pump in 2 strikes to fill the count.  Still, he manages to work a walk.  Wakase , unable to bunt hits the first ball back at Miki.  It deflects off his leg, but stays in front of him.  He throws out the runner at 1st and seems fine.

And Kimura, instead of testing to see Miki's delivery, swings at the first pitch and pops out to 2nd to end the inning.

Top 4th
Well, Tatsuya has settled down nicely.  He records his 2nd 1-2-3 inning against the heart of the Kendai order.  Location of pitches look good and the batters aren't making good contact.

Bottom 4th
Miki records his 2nd K of the game as cleanup batter Yoshimura swings on a letter-high pitch away.

Kurota lifts a ball up on the first pitch and Nagasaka barely moves to catch it.

And while Kumamoto hits a hard grounder that bounces off Uchida, his throw beats a diving Kumamoto (dang it, stop doing that!)

By the way, does anyone notice that Miki's pace seems faster than when the game started?

Top 5th
Tatsuya loses control of a pitch and hits Kanbe to start off the 5th.  But Aoyagi-kantoku doesn't have Kobayashi bunt.  Instead, he grounds to 1st, and Furuta goes to 2nd for the lead runner.

Instead, Akiyama bunts, but it's right at Tatsuya who goes to 2nd for the force again.

And this time, to eliminate the force, Akiyama immediately steals 2nd.  Meanwhile, Miki is patient at the plate and manages to earn a walk after the count ran full.  That means that we're back to the top of the order and Takeuchi.

But he grounds to 1st.  Furuta tosses to Tatsuya and the inning is over.

Bottom 5th
Furuta takes the first pitch through the left side and Tenri as their 2nd leadoff runner on.

And now Tatsuya is hit by a pitch!

Yamagishi lays down a bunt, Miki goes to cover it, but rolls over Oosawa and falls down!  His throw to 1st is late and everyone's safe with no down!

Higashihara lays down the squeeze!  The Kendai defense is off guard and Miki's only throw is to 1st.  Tenri gets their douten run out of the way!  1-1!

Wakase with a single to right!  Tatsuya comes home!  Yamagishi is WHY ARE YOU SENDING HIM HOME?????

The throw from Kanbe is in plenty of time to get Yamagishi... *sighs*

And Kimura flies out to left to end the inning.

Tenri does get their gyakuten run to lead 2-1, but with bases loaded with no out it seems like it should have been more.

Top 6th
Coming out of the break, Tatsuya walks Nakayama putting the douten run on immediately.

Nagasaka up now and, hey!  That's the Evangelion theme song again!  Whee!

Oh, Nagasaka strikes out swinging, but Nakayama makes it equivalent to a sac bunt by stealing 2nd.

Uchida with a single back up through the middle!  Higashihara with it but the throw home is cut off.  Kendai comes right back to tie the game at 2-2!

Oosawa with a drive to left center!  Higashihara back to the wall and makes the catch!  Could they be finally adjusting to Tatsuya?

Kanbe up and Uchida takes off for 2nd!  He's in safely!

But Tatsuya induces a groundout to 3rd from Kanbe to end the inning, but not before he gives up the lead they just got!

Bottom 6th
Yoshimura leads off the inning with a single back up the middle!  But Kurota isn't bunting and swings away!

However, he flies out to center.

And now Kumamoto grounds into the 5-4-3 double play to quickly kill the inning!

And does anyone notice that Miki is going slower now?

Top 7th
Kobayashi grounds one through the right side for a leadoff single.

Akiyama with a ball into the left center field gap!  Kurota over to field it and he bobbles it!  Kobayashi is heading to 3rd and now being sent home!  The throw home is late and he scores!  Kurota's bobble costs them as Kobayashi scores all the way from 1st!  3-2 Kendai!

Miki proceeds to bunt Akiyama along to try and secure an insurance run.

Tatsuya throws it away!  He throws it inside when Yamagishi was looking for something away and now Kendai leads 4-2!

Nakayama hits a grounder to 2nd, but Watase boots it!  He can't recover and the inning continues!

Meanwhile, Tatsuya appears to be laboring.  His balls are falling short, and now Nakayama steals 2nd!

Grounder to short and now Yoshimura misplays it!  Nakamura scores to make it 5-2!

Uchida with a solid shot through the left side and I think they've gotten to Tatsuya now.

The inning finally ends when Uchida grounds out to short.  But Kendai retakes the lead in their lucky 7 and now Tenri's offense must find a way to get those runs back.

Bottom 7th
Fortunate start for Tenri in their lucky 7 as a grounder to short by Furuta is mishandled. But Tatsuya swings away on the first pitch and fouls out to Oosawa.

And what seemed like a fortunate start goes kaput quickly as Yamagishi grounds to Miki who then initiates the 1-6-3 double play.

Top 8th
Tatsuya was about to have a quick 1-2-3 inning, but Akiyama got stubborn fouling off pitch after pitch before finally grounding to short to end the inning.  Still though, they hold the lead.

Bottom 8th
Tenri gets a baserunner as Watase hits a high chopper over the mound.  Akiyama goes to field it, but loses the ball on the transfer and Watase is safe on the infield hit.

However, Kimura grounds to 3rd.  Uchida throws to 2nd, Nakayama makes the turn and throw just as he's taken out and they get the double play!

Top 9th
One down and top batter Takeuchi tests the defense by laying down a bunt.  The throw from Kumamoto is late and he's on safely.

And now Takeuchi takes off for 2nd and just slides in safely!

Aoyagi-kantoku then starts the hit-and-run and Nakayama lines one to right!  Takeuchi easily scores to make it 6-2.

Hashimoto-kantoku pulls the hook on Tatsuya and puts in #12 Urushihara.

His first batter Nagasaka tries to lay the bunt down, but pops it up!  Urushihara runs to the first base line... and drops it!  It's fair, his throw is late, and everyone's safe!!

Uchida follows that with a single to right!  That scores Nakayama and it's now 7-2.

Oosawa with the squeeze!  Urushihara's only play is to 1st and now its 8-2!  The game has completely gotten away from Hashimoto-kantoku.

And with one strike on Kanbe, Aoyagi-kantoku sends in #16 Takasugi.  And he hits one through the left side!  Uchida scores and they're now ahead 9-2.

#15 Morinaga comes in for Takasugi, and steals 2nd!

But the inning mercifully comes to an end as Kobayashi flies to center.

Bottom 9th
#14 Kouno comes in for Morinaga and takes over in RF.

Yoshimura with a liner to center, Takeuchi dives and misses the ball!  It rolls out to the wall as Yoshimura comes into 3rd!

#10 Sekiya comes to PH for Kurota and drives one to left!  Kobayashi goes back to the wall and the field holds it in.  Yoshimura scores to make it 9-3.

#3 Inabetsu comes in for Kumamoto, but pops out to 2nd.  2 down.

And Furuta grounds out to short.  The throw from Akiyama is wide, but Oosawa makes the tag to end the game.

Takasaki Kenkoudai Fukushi wins in a runaway 9-3 over Tenri.  They dominated in just about every stage of the game, but most importantly, they dominated on the mound.  Tenri didn't have a solid ace on the mound, couldn't hit and even had troubles on the field.  That combined led to the eventual rout.

A lot to go over here, but it will have to be summarized more than usual.

Mie
Games began at Yokkaichi on the 15th with Tsu Nishi mercy ruling Subaru Gakuen 8-1 in 8. Since then we have reached the round of 16.

After the opening game all teams started play. Hisai Nourin scores 3 runs late to beat Matsusaka Shougyou 4-3. Akatsuki Gakuen scores 6 in the 5th, but needs every run as Yokkaichi Yogou scores 5 in the last 4 innings to barely get beaten 7-6. Tsu Shougyou fights back to tie the game at 5, after being down 3, in the 8th then goes on to beat Hisai in the bottom of the 12th. Yokkaichi scores the sayonara run over Yokkaichi Chuo Kougyou 2-1.

Rain started to impede play on the 18th. Games at Ise and Tsu were cancelled. After Ouka's 7-3 win over Toba, Yokkaichi Minami and Kinan can only get through 4½ before the game is called. Yokkaichi was the only place to play a full slate. And that wound up being fortunate for Kawagoe, not so much for Nabari Kiyougaoka. Nabari held a 7-1 lead through 7 innings. Kawagoe scores 4 in the 8th and 3 in the 9th for the 8-7 sayonara victory. The rained out games would be played on the 21st. Owase scores 3 in the 9th for a 6-4 win over Asake.

Onto the 2nd round, Tsu outlasts Nissei Gakuen Dai-ichi 2-1 in 12. And Tsu Higashi plates the only run in the top of the 9th to beat Kogakkan. Kaisei and Ouka tango for 13 innings, with Kaisei prevailing 3-2. Kawagoe continues its narrow escapes, scoring their runs late to win 2-1 over Minami-Ise.

Kyoto
When we last left Kyoto, they were in the middle of round 2.

Kyoto Kyouei scores late to beat Tanabe 4-3. Kumiyama down 5-1 in the bottom of the 9th scores 5 for the win! Yes, it's heartbreaking for Nantan, but at the same time it's what kokoyakyu is all about.

3rd round and Kyoto Gaidai Nishi defeats Kyoto Gakuen 7-2. Suzaku outlasts Rakutou 5-4 in 12. Yamashiro scores 3 in the 10th to defeat Ayabe. Ryuukokudai Heian scores 1 run in the 1st against Kyoto Kyouei, and surprisingly that's the only run scored!

Round of 16 play and my team - Kyoto Gaidai Nishi gets blitzed by a 5-run 5th from Kyoto Ryouyou 10-5... My more irrational team in Kyoto, Kyoto Subaru, scores in each of the last 5 innings, but can't make up for its pitching. They fall 11-8 to Toba.

In one of the most bizarre games, Ritsumeikan Uji had just scored 3 in the top of the 7th to lead 6-1 when Kumiyama out of nowhere scores 8! Not only that, but Uji comes back with 3 the very next inning to tie the game! The game would only go one more inning as Uji would win 12-9.

The next game that day would also go into extras where Yamashiro scored 3 in the 8th to tie it up. And even though they scored 2 in the 10th, they almost blew that lead.

What those first 2 extra inning games meant though was that Ryuukokudai Heian's game against Higashiyama, which they were winning 7-2 after 5½ was called a no-game expending extra effort. Fortunately for them they had 2 days off due to the rain. When play resumed Ryuukokudai Heian won 8-1 in 7.

The last games finished up with Fukuchiyama Seibi shutting out Doushisha Kokusai, and Nishi-Jyouou mercy ruling Rakuhoku.

Onto quarterfinal action, and Kyoto Ryouyou continues their surprising run with a 5-2 win over Toba. But they'd face their toughest test against Ritsumeikan Uji who handled Fukuchiyama 8-1 in 7. Meanwhile, Ryuukokudai Heian was in trouble versus Yamashiro, but scored 6 in the 8th for a gyakuten win! There'll be a blockbuster game next as they face Fukuchiyama Seibi who themselves had to hold off Nishi-Jyouyou 4-3.

Nara
Until I see someone challenge Chiben Gakuen, it's almost pointless covering this prefecture.

But to note some close games:

• Round 2 - Sakurai scores 4 in the 9th to beat Heijyou 7-5.
• The coverage in Nara could be made even more pointless as the only other team to break the Tenri-Chiben Gakuen barrier, Kooriyama, loses in their first game to Unebi 3-1.
• Gose Jitsugyou gets the lead against Yamato Kouryou with 3 in the 8th for a 1 run lead, loses it with 2 in the top of the 9th, then wins it 7-6 with 2 in the bottom of the 9th!
• Ichijyou wins 6-5 in 10 over Kashihara Gakuin.
• Round 3 - Nara Jyouhou Shougyou pulls off the sayonara win after allowing Takatori Kokusai to score 2 in the 9th to tie it up.
• Nara scores 4 in the 8th and achieves the gyakuten win over Ichijyou!

Wakayama
While there are some competitors now to Chiben Wakayama, which include Minoshima and Kouyou, it's still Chiben Wakayama's prefecture.

We advance to coverage of the 3rd round which sees one contender in Minoshima faltering late, giving up the tying and sayonara runs to Shiritsu Wakayama 2-1, and Touin taken to 14 by Hatsushiba Hashimoto but winning 4-2.

Osaka
Looking at block play we had the following notable games:

• Kantodai Dai-ichi ties the game in the bottom of the 9th against Sakuranomiya, but loses 9-7 in 11.
• Osaka Shougyoudai scores 2 in the bottom of the 9th for the gyakuten sayonara win over Momoyama Gakuin.
• Nougei and Izumi-Ootsu start scoring runs like there's no tomorrow. Nougei leads 5-0, then Izumi-Ootsu leads 6-5, then Nougei leads 8-6. Izumi-Ootsu would try to come back, but Nougei just had one more run, winning 11-10.
• Tondabayashi, just 6 outs away from elimination, rallies to tie the game then wins 5-4 in 10 against Yuuhigaoka.
• Takatsuki Kita scores 3 in the bottom of the 9th to force enchousen, but ultimately falls 6-4 in 12 to Minoo Gakuen.
• Fukui tries repeatedly to put away Settsu even in the 12th inning, but Settsu rallies time and again, eventually winning 5-4 in 13.
• Kishiwada Sangyou scores 3 in the bottom of the 8th for a 8-7 win over Ootsuka.

Hyogo
Block play was going on in Hyogo. Notable games include:

• Block 11 Seed Touban Kougyou looks to be in dire straits against Himeji, but they score 5 in the 8th for a 7-6 gyakuten win.
• Kobe Kita rallies late to send it to extras, then wins in 14 over Koudera.
• Akashi Tousen barely beats out the transition team of Amagasaki Higashi/Amagasaki Sousei 1-0.
• Kenritsu Itami and Amagasaki Kita finally get their game in, and sure enough it goes into extras. Amagasaki Kita forces enchousen, but loses in 10.
• Right before the aforementioned game,Block 4 seed Mukonosou Sougyou looked to have the game in hand scoring 2 in the 9th to go up 3. But Ikawadani rallies for 3 to tie it, then also won in 10.
• Block 12 seed Sanda Shousei with 3 runs in the 7th and 8th innings tie the game at 7 with Himeji Kougyou. They would win in 12.
• In another 8-7 game, Aboshi scores 6 unanswered after Nishinomiya Kabutoyama scored 6 in the 3rd. And in 12, Aboshi would finish the job.
• Block 14 seed Touyoudai Himeji is yet another seeded team that has trouble in their first game. Against Takaradzuka Kita, they were 1-1 going to extras. Not until they scored 5 in the 11th did they finally win the game.
• Kawanishi Midoridai pushes Akashi into enchousen where they win 9-6 in 12.
• In Block 16, seeded Awaji Mihara loses a 3-run lead to Seiryou, giving up 2 in the bottom of the 9th in the process. Seiryou completes the comeback with a run in the 10th.
  
• Block 7 seed Kobe Murano Kougyou becomes the next seeded team to fall, as Himeji Nishi upsets them 2-0.
• Block 2 seed Kansei Gakuin behind late to Amagasaki Sangyou 7-5 scores 6 in the 8th to win 11-7.
• Mikage scores the sayonara run to beat Higashi-Nada 4-3.
• Kounan and Iwa play the first 9 innings without either scoring a run. It isn't until the 11th before Kounan scores the only run.
• Himeji Higashi tries to rally against Kenritsudai Fuzoku, but falls one run short 8-7.
  
• And anime-related, Nishinomiya Kita wins a game! They beat Hokuetsu Sanda 8-0 in 7 innings!

Block Semifinals

• Block semis started on the 17th. Takigawa Dai-ni, seeded team from Block 5, becomes the next to fall, losing 3-2 to Wadayama. Shinkou Gakuen, Block 6 seed, has similar troubled though they defeat Kakogawa Nishi 4-3.
• Sumoto scores 5 runs in the last 3 innings to defeat Kita-Suma 6-4.
• Part of the games on the 18th were rained out, but it wasn't a total loss of games. Sanda Shousei got another score from Aioi Sangyou, but won 4-3. Hyogo Shougyou outlasts Akashi Kita 2-1 in 11. Seiryou continues their run with a 4-3 win over Nagata.
  
• Ikawadani's run end in the 3rd round as Suma Higashi scores the winning run in the 11th.
• Oh my gosh! Nishinomiya Kita wins a 2nd game! They hold on to beat Kenritsu Itami 4-3 after Itami scores 3 in the 9th!
• Shiritsu Shinkou scores the only run in their game against Sayou. Suma Gakuen wins 1-0 over Kobe Tousen as well.
• Kansei Gakuin's run ends in their 2nd game. They rally, but fall to Himeji Shikisai 4-3.
• Mikage goes 13 against Takaradzuka Higashi winning 2-0.
  

Block Finals

• Despite there being just 1 day turnaround, Suma Gakuen rises to the occasion to defeat Wadayama 4-3 to win block 5!
• Houtoku Gakuen finishes out strong with a 8-1 win in 8 over Sumoto in Block 1.
  
• Touban Kougyou survives to win Block 11 with a 1-0 win over Himeji Minami.
• Kakogawa Higashi after defeating seeded Izushi moves on from Block 15 with a 4-3 sayonara win over Akashi Nishi. This inlcuded having to score a run in the 10th to keep the game alive!
• Touyoudai Himeji shuts out Hyogo Shougyou 4-0 to advance out of Block 14.
• Akou upsets Sanda Shousei 2-1 to win Block 12!
• Suma Higashi defeats Shiritsu Shinkou 3-2 to win Block 4.
• Shinkou Gakuen mercy rules Kobe Kouryou Gakuen to win Block 6.
• Himeji Shikisai rallies in the last 2 innings, but falls short against Nigawa Gakuin 4-3 in the Block 3 final. Kawanishi Midoridai survives in Block 2 over Kotogaoka by the same score.
  
• Oh well, it was good while it lasted. Yashiro advances out of Block 9 with a 7-0 win over Nishinomiya Kita. At least they weren't mercy ruled.
• Block 10, Kakogawa Kita has no problem with Kobe Takatsuka.
• Block 13, Ichikawa was the seeded team, Kobe Kokusaidai Fuzoku was the favorite. They win 8-2.
• Migake suffers whiplash in the Block 7 final. Ono mercy rules them 10-0 in 5.
• Akashi Shougyou calmly advances out of Block 8, defeating Shikama 4-1
• And rounding out things, in Block 16 Seiryou edges out Suma Shoufuu 2-1.

Kyoto
On the first full day of games in Kyoto, Saikyou and Kyoto Meitoku were in a closely contested battle before Saikyou plated the go-ahead run in the 10th to win 6-5. Meanwhile Tounan who had done well recently was unceremoniously ousted by Ayabe 1-0.

In other games on the 10th Ritsumeikan Uji, another strong team in the prefecture, starts off with a 8-0 win in 7 over Rakuyou Kougyou.

Onto the 11th and at Wakasa Stadium, Rakuhoku survives an opening barrage by Otokuni and picks off a run in he 5th and 7th for a 6-5 win. At Miyadzu Municipal, another irrational pet team of mine Kyoto Subaru needs a 3-run 8th to beat Kyoto Seishou 4-2.

At Taiyougaoka, a team of mine that actually has a chance - Kyoto Gaidai Nishi handled Miyadzu 8-1 in 7 and will face Kyoto Gakuen next as they held off Rakusei 5-4.

The 12th saw teams who played in the 1st round back on the field to face those lucky enough to draw a 1st round bye. Ritsumeikan Uji had no trouble with that as they beat Kita-Saga 5-1, and Kyoto Shouei slid past Hanazono 6-5.

Back to Miyadzu Municipal, and Higashi-Uji gets the lead back after allowing Jyounan Ryousou to tie it in the bottom of the 8th. Kousugi closes the door for the win 4-3.

Nara
Chiben Gakuen is the heads-on clear favorite, but might as well give some teams their time in the sun.

Takamado had the lead in the beginning, and more importantly in the end against Yamabe winning 8-6. In the battle of Takada, the lead changed hand 3 times - all in the 2nd half of the game. Takada's 2 runs in the top of the 9th tied it at 5. But Takada Shougyou made the 3rd and final lead change, scoring the sayonara run in the bottom of the 9th to win 6-5.

And on the 12th, Totsukawa did well to tie the game at 7 to eventually send it into extras, but Oouda scores the sayonara run to win 3-2 in 11 innings. Ouji Kougyou led 2-0, then 3-2, but trailed 4-3 going into the top of the 9th versus Tomigaoka. But no matter, Ouji scores 2 in the top of the 9th, retaking the lead for good.

Osaka
How Osaka can take breaks during their tournament is beyond me, but after the games on the 10th, they're on break until the 14th.

Anyways, not many notable games, though Perfect Liberty Gakuen (aka PL Gakuen) defeated Sakai 5-0 in their 1st game. Two more to go before advancing to the prefecturals!

Tsukinoki mounted a huge comeback, down 6-1 to Senri, they score 4 in the 8th and 2 in the 9th to win 7-6!

And finally, Han-ai blows a 2-run lead in the bottom of the 9th, but recovers and scores the winning run in the 10th to beat Kansai Ookura.

Hyogo
Hm... on the 10th we had Shikama Kougyou edging Himeji Shougyou 2-1, our first extreme blowout when Himeji Kougyou scored 71 in 4 innings against Hikami Nishi (isn't there a point where there IS no point to scoring more runs?), Akashi Nishi held onto a 4-3 lead over Sanda Gakuen, Ikawadani uses a 3-run 8th to defeat Shouyou 5-3.

Moving onto the 12th, Hyogo Shougyou made an early 1-0 run stick against Akashi Shimizu. Rokko Island couldn't make a 2-0 1st inning lead stick as Miki would come back to win 3-2. Houjyou held a 4-0 lead over Kakogawa Minami, but couldn't make it stick. They started giving back runs in the 7th culminating in a 3-run 9th to send them home 5-4.

Akashi Jyousai gets the short end of the stick, as they yield a run to Akashi in the top of the 7th, they can't score in the bottom half, and the game is called due to rain.

Over at Tomioka Kounotori, Iwa scores 5 unanswered runs late to defeate Sanda Shouunkan 5-3.

Hiroshima
Over at Coca-Cola West, the 10th had 2 low scoring affairs with Misuzugaoka defeating Itsukaichi 1-0, and Kabe winning 2-1 over Kure Miyahara in 12. Those missing runs as it were came the next day as Shoubara Kakuchi defeats Namiki Gakuin 8-1 in 7, and Saijyou Shisui falls 15-0 to Shuudou.

Blowouts were also the case at Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium on the 10th.

At Kure Nikou, Ootake defeats Kure Shouwa 3-2 in 11 while Motomachi stays one step ahead of Asakita with an 8-7 victory.

Kannabe Asahi down 4-0 scores 6 in the bottom of the 8th against Mihara Higashi to win 6-4 at Mihara Municipal.

At Mihara Kinsai, Miyoshi Seiryou puts together 2 runs late to defeat Chiyoda 3-2. Onto the 11th, Yoshida scores 6 unanswered runs to pass Hatsukaichi 7-4.

And finally over at Higashi-Hiroshima Aqua, Fukuyama Kougyou pulls out a 4-3 win over Kamo Kita.

Or わふっ！ as Noumi would say.

Tenri's offense highlighted by a home run by 1B Nishikawa, defeats Kooriyama 7-2 to make their 24th summer koshien appearance and 43rd overall (I think).

While in a somewhat rural prefecture in Nara, they've generally done well (although when I was there in 2006 they didn't... boo).

So I hope this year's team can make a good run at it! がんばれ天理高校！！

P.S. - Please look below for the reviews of the prefectural qualifiers. I'm up to Osaka and will continue tomorrow.

We're now in the home stretch for most if not all the prefectural qualifiers. 5 are in and 4 more will be determined today.

So let's go over the 4 prefectures:

Kita Hokkaido
Obihiro Ootani will be looking for their 1st ever Koshien bid as they face Asashigawadai in the finals. It should shape up for a good finals matchup.

Yamagata
Sakata Minami shuts down Nihon Yamagata 2-0 and is the favorite to take the bid. Shinjyou Higashi continues to take the momentum from defeating Haguro using a 4-run 4th to upset Yonezawa Chuo, and hopes to secure their 1st ever appearance.

Fukushima
Seikou Gakuin looks to secure its 5th bid in 6 years as they face Higashi Nippon Kokusaidai Shouhei. They may have an added benefit as Higashi Nippon needed 12 innings to defeat Nihon Tohoku 6-5 yesterday. But like many finalists, Higashi Nippon is also looking for their 1st appearance ever.

Nara
Tenri held a slim 2-1 lead against Ichijyou when Numata gives up 3 runs in the 6th inning. Numata gives way to Nakayama who stops the bleeding. And in the 7th Tenri scores 2 to tie it up! Nakayama can't hold the lead though as Ichijyou retakes the lead 5-4.

Running out of time, Tenri breaks through against Kaminaka and scores 4 in the 8th! Katayama relieves Kaminaka, but the damage is done. Nakayama shuts down Ichijyou in the 9th and Tenri advances to the finals!

Their opponent is no pushover though. Kooriyama ranks 3rd in number of appearances (although interestingly enough there have been only 5 different schools from Nara to go). This will be an interesting matchup for sure.

Tournaments are starting across the nation, and I haven't even covered half of the prefectures yet. Oy. As a result, I'm going to have to gloss over the recaps as I've been furiously trying to get the brackets down (haven't even worked on the time schedules you see on the sheets...

So beginning in Kita Hokkaido, we've reached our final 16. There are several participants from the last decade, including Komadai Iwamizawa, Asahigawa Jitsugyou, Asahigawa Kita, Asahigawadai and Asahigawa Kougyou. Komadai Iwamizawa survived a scare from Naie Shougyou as they tied the game up 1-1 in the top of the 9th. Iwamizawa however, scored the sayonara run in the bottom half of the frame.

Others, like Sunagawa, are just happy to be here. They made it after suriviving a 15 inning affair. Tied 2-2, Iwamizawa Higashi scored 2 in the top of the 15th. At the end of the line, Sunagawa miraculously pulled off the comeback, scoring 3 in the last inning.

Minami Hokkaido is also in their sweet 16. Komadai Tomakomai looks to return for the 7th time this decade!! One of the two teams to break that streak, Sapporo Dai-ichi, has also made the field. Mukawa, looking to return to Koshien again this year also makes the field.

Yamagata begins play today, and the first game was painful. Yamagata Jyouhoku puts up 3 innings of 15, 9 and 9 runs en route to a 36-0 win over Shounai Nougyou. In progress right now, Yamagata Shougyou scores 3 runs in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game against Yamagata Higashi!

Fukushima also started today, and theironly game of the day saw Onahama and Toono scoring early and often. When Onohama scored 6 in the 2nd, Toono responded with 5 in the bottom of the inning to make it 7-6. But another 6-run inning in the 6th proved to be too much as they go on to win 15-11!

In Saitama, the opening game saw Chichibu defeat Kawaguchi Kougyou 5-1.

Moving along to Chiba, their games start all across the prefecture. At Chiba Prefectural, Takushoudai Kouryou scored a walkoff run against Kenritsu Funabashi. At Chiba Marine Stadium, Ourin scored 3 runs late to defeat Ichikawa Kougyou 3-1.

Blitzing over to the Kansai area, the opening game of the Mie prefecurals saw Hisai break a scoreless draw in the bottom of the 9th against Toba. They will now face seeded Kaisei.

Nara has it's 2nd day of compeition. In day 1, Kashiba scores the sayonara run against Kashihara Gakuin 4-3. Day 2 is a bit of a relief as Tenri gets a relatively easy 6-2 win over Kashihara. Next up for the men in purple is Tedzukayama.

***UPDATE*** Yamagata Higashi scores 1 in the top of the 10th, 4-3 over Yamagata Shougyou!

Fukuoka is in it's 7th day of competition, and with over 100 games being played since I last covered it - I'll have to get back to you on that. However, the last 4 participants are still in the running - Iidzuka, Higashi-Fukuoka, Fukuoka Koudai Jyoutou and Yanagigawa.

***UPDATE*** Yamagata Shougyou ties it up in the bottom of the 10th!!!

I'll have to pass over Kagoshima as well, all of the seeded teams to play so far have won, with Kamimura Gakuen having the most trouble defeating Reimei 4-1.

Finally in Okinawa, we're at the sweet 16. Chubu Shougyou did send Urasoe Shougyou home 4-1. Yaeyama Shoukou defeated Haebaru 6-0. Ginowan, Okinawa Suisan and Ishikawa all look to return to Koshien. Others like Koza, Oroku and Motobu look to get there for their first time.

That's all the time I have now. Translating brackets is more than a full-time job...