高校野球 (Kokoyakyu)

So, this will be short, mostly because I'm still disgusted about what happened yesterday (it looks like perhaps the powerhouses are not letting the cinderella teams get away anymore):

Niigata - Sekine Gakuen v. Nihon Bunri
Ishikawa - Komatsu Ootani v. Seiryou
I'm lumping these together because I don't want to dedicate time to these games.

Sekine Gakuen led Nihon Bunri 2-1 going into the bottom of the 9th.  Single, flyout, walk, 3-run gyakuten sayonara HR, Bunri wins 4-2.

Komatsu Ootani led Seiryou 8-0 going into bottom of 9th. They cannot record 3 outs as Seiryou scores 9 in a slow-motion collapse as they win 9-8.

You can see my twitter feed to see my feelings regarding this.  I may even do a post about this before the finals today.

Gunma - Kendai Takasaki v. Isesaki Seimei
The score itself was close, but the game perhaps wasn't.  Kawai, Takahashi and Matsuno combine on a no-hitter as they defeat Isesaki Seimei 1-0.

The only run was scored in the 3rd when after a double to LCF by then starter Kawai, Hoshino goes for a safety bunt with 2 out and brings the runner home.

Tochigi - Sakushin Gakuin v. Sano Nichidai
Sano Nichidai opened the scoring with a run in the first, but Sakushin Gakuin eventually wore down their opponents, scoring 7 runs in the 6th and 7th innings en route to a 7-1 win and their 4th consecutive trip to Natsu Koushien.

Saitama - Shiritsu Kawagoe v. Kasukabe Kyouei
Shiritsu Kawagoe and Kasukabe Kyouei did not have to play any powerhouse teams for the title, and avoided the pitfalls that are associated with playing in big prefectures such as this one.  Both schools had been to Koushien before, Shiritsu Kawagoe as Kawagoe Shougyou back in 1971, and Kasukabe Kyouei 4 times, the most recent being in 2005.

The game was very close with the teams trading runs in the 4th and 5th ending with Shiritsu Kawagoe leading 2-1.  It stayed that way until the 8th when Kamijyou couldn't hold the lead for Shiritsu.  Kasukabe Kyouei would score 6 in the bottom half of the frame, leaving them with almost no time to respond.  Kasukabe Kyouei would advance for the 5th time with a 7-2 win.

Nagano - Saku Chousei v. Nagano Shougyou
Nagano Shougyou had been a powerhouse back in the day, but has ceded way to the private schools such as Saku Chousei, Matsushou Gakuen and the like.

But they reached the final where they would have to exorcise the demon by defeating Saku Chousei to take the title.  And when I saw them score 6 in the 2nd, I thought perhaps the trend of upsets would continue.

Sadly it would not be.  A 4-run 7th was the key in Saku Chousei's comeback as they would win 10-9 to claim their 6th title.

Hyogo - Kobe Kokusaidai Fuzoku v. Sanda Shousei
Even though neither school had reached Natsu Koushien before, Kobe Kokusaidai Fuzoku had at least gone to senbatsu.  So Sanda Shousei could have easily been called the underdog.

But the game was over early.  7 runs in the 3rd for Kobe Kokusaidai Fuzoku and that pretty much sealed things.  Kobe Kokusaidai Fuzoku would go on to win 11-1.

Tottori - Yazu v. Tottori Jyouhoku
In recent times Tottori Jyouhoku has dominated the prefecture leaving schools like Yazu who used to go to Koushien behind.  Yesterday was a chance for Yazu to perhaps claim something from past times.

Yazu would take an early lead when with the bases loaded and 2 out, Nishigaki would deliver a base hit to center scoring 2.

Kamatani for Yazu would hold off the Tottori Jyouhoku offense, but in the 5th he would cede a run due to a wild pitch.  Later on, after an intentional walk to load the bases, he would get out of the jam with a fly to center.

Kamatani wouldn't let them get any closer as he gave up just the 1 run on 6 hit to win 2-1.

Okayama - Okayama Ridai Fuzoku v. Kanzei
There would be no Cinderellas in Okayama as 2 familiar foes met up for the title - though neither had really been to Koushien in a couple of years, as Kurashiki Shougyou had stolen the show for most part.

Kaznei would score early and often against Okayama Ridai, putting up all their runs before the break.  It would be more than enough as they would win 9-4.

Hiroshima - Hiroshima Shinjyou v Kouryou
Kouryou and Jyosuikan have given up control of the prefecture to the masses the last 2 years, but Kouryou returned to the finals this year looking to reclaim the throne.

Hiroshima Shinjyou had gone to senbatsu earlier this year and was looking to perhaps make a return trip this summer.

Things looked good in the first, as Nishijima's timely triple gave them the 1-0 lead.

Kouryou would strike right back.  1 out, runners at the corners and cleanup batter Oota delivers a hit to left to tie the game.  Kita would give his team the lead right after with a single to center.

That would be all the scoring in the game as Kouryou would go on to punch their ticket with a 2-1 win.

Kagawa - Sakaide Shougyou v. Ootemae Takamatsu
We really hadn't heard from either of these schools, though both are more than decent teams within Kagawa.  Sakaide Shougyou time was in the 80s and early 90s where they went to Natsu Koushien 4 of their 5 prior times.  Ootemae Takamatsu has been forever a Tier 3 school, but with none of the current powerhouses in the final (and having survived Jinsei Gakuen 8-7 in 13 in the semifinals), they had a chance to make their first trip.

Perhaps the extra inning game though hurt Ootemae Takamatsu, because despite going out to a 3-1 lead through 6, Saji couldn't finish it off.  He would give up 2 in the 7th to tie the game, and then 2 more in the 9th giving Sakaide Shougyou the 5-3 win.

31 down, 16 to go.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(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!

So the 10th saw Aomori, Iwate, Saitama and Niigata begin their qualifying , though without "much" incident.

Aomori/Iwate
Aomori with just one game on opening day, Sanbongi Nougyou managing just 5 innings in an 11-1 loss to Mutsu Kougyou.

Iwate with a pair of games, Ichinoseki Tousen with no problems against Oohasama with a 5-2 win.  In the 2nd game, Takata and Morioka Chuo went back and forth all game, with several lead changes and tie ball games.  But Takata secures their spot in the 2nd round with a 4-run 9th to win 11-7.

Gunma
Just one game over in Kiryuu, the replay between Tokiwa and Shiritsu Maebashi.  And the game went in 3 parts.  Tokiwa takes a 3-0 early lead, only to see Maebashi score 6 in the 5th.  But Maebashi cannot hold the lead, giving up 2 runs in the 7th and 8th innings.  There would be no enchousen this time around as Tokiwa advances.

Saitama
Just one game on opening day.  Oomiya Nishi scores the only run of the game in the 2nd inning to defeat Shuumei Eiko.

Higashi Tokyo
More games at Meiji Jingu while the Swallows are on the road.  Ooyama and Kita-Toshima Kougyou was just a normal 3-2 game in favor of Toshima at the break, but then the teams score 19 runs in the next 3 in a 15-9 win for Ooyama.  Shuutoku had no problems in their 2nd game over Touyou, and in much like the first game, Higashi and Adachi Shinden score 18 runs in the 5th and 6th innings with Adachi moving forward with a 12-8 win.

Over in the #2 stadium, we had 2 blowouts.

Niigata
Niigata with 2 games at Hard-Off Eco to open the tournament.  Shoutokukan no match for Nagaoka Nougyou losing 19-0 in 5 while Keiwa Gakuen lasts just 7 in a 9-2 loss to Muramatsu.

Fukuoka
Starting in the south regionals Nishi-Nippon Tankidai Fuzoku, having to come from the depths of the block, almost got tripped up by Kyushu Sangyoudai Kyusan, but a 3-run 8th gave them the 4-2 win.

Ogoori hosted both seeded teams today.  Block G seed Yuusei had no trouble with Hakata Kougyou, while Itoshima's stint as the Block H seed ends after just one game, unable to rally down 2, losing 2-1 to Kyushu Sangyoudai Kyushu.

In the northern regionals, at Matobaike Block H seed Noogata got past Seihou,  Kita-Kyushu and Kanda Kougyou traded leads 4 times early but eventually Kita-Kyushu kept the lead and held on for a 10-9 win, and Koga Kyouseikan continues their strong run defeating Kouryou in 7 innings and will face Keisei in the block final.

At Nakama Muncipal, Block A seed Moji Gakuen does continue to advance, though with a 4-1 win over Kokura Shougyou.  They will face Munakata in the block final.

Saga
2 seeded teams start play today, with Saga Kougyou easily dispatching Karatsu Higashi, while Tosu Kougyou needed a 2-run 8th to defeat Shiota Kougyou 2-1.

For some reason, Tosu Kougyou's game was pushed back a day, so all games at Blue Stadium have been pushed back one slot.

Only other game of note was Kanzaki Seimei scoring 5 in the bottom of the 9th to defeat a devastated Tosu squad 5-4.

Nagasaki
Not much action in Nagasaki, though each venue did have one good game.  Seiryou breaks a 6-6 tie with Sasebo Kita with 4 in the lucky 7 to win 11-6.  And at Sasebo, Oomura score 1 in the 9th to defeat Sasebo Toushou 4-3.

Kumamoto
6 games on the slate yesterday, but all rather one-sided.  Jyouhoku and Seiseikou both advance, though not via the mercy rule.  Senshuudai Tamana is also one of the ones who advance.

Oita
3 games today, and the closest one was the 2-1 win by Oita Minami over their intra-city rival Oita Higashi.

Miyazaki
It was no surprise that facing St. Ursula would be no easy task for seeded Miyzaki Nichidai.  And yet, St. Ursula jumped out to a 4-1 lead.  Miyazaki Nichidai would scramble the rest of the game, but fail to find the 同点 run, bowing out 4-3.

Miyakonojyou Higashi would be another seeded team to fall, and unfortunately it was after blowing a 3-0 lead with just 3 outs to go.  Instead it would be Miyazaki Nishi who would advance.

Only Houshou would be the seeded team to advance, with a convincing mercy rule win over Tsuno.

Kagoshima
Kamimura Gakuen, one of the better teams in Kagoshima, were put to the test by Kagoshima Shougyou, but managed to win 3-2. Shounan, who narrowly lost to Kagoshima Jitsugyou in the spring, easily won their first game in 8 innings over Iwagawa.  Fortunately, they won't have to Kajitsu until the final.

And in other games, Tokunoshima becomes the 2nd team to advance from the 1st round to the 3rd round with a mercy-rule win over Yoron.

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

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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!

We're now into our 2nd round games, and first up is Kanto champs Urawa Gakuin versus Tokai runner-ups Mie.

Mie barely held on to defeat Tottori Jyouhoku in the opening game of the tournament.  But based upon the results of the Chuugoku region, this is not really a good sign for Mie.

On the other hand Urawa Gakuin took care of its business by dispatching Tsuruga Kehi 10-2.  And seeing that the other Hokushinetsu representative lost to Kinki 5/6 team Riseisha (though they put up a decent fight), they did exactly what they were supposed to do.

So with that being said, Mie will probably have an uphill climb if they want to advance to the Best 8.

SS  Takemura Haruki
C  Rinzaki Tatsuya
P  Satou Takuya
RF  Sasagawa Ryouhei
LF  Yamane Yuuta
1B  Akashi Hyuuma
3B  Kigure Naito
CF  Ishibashi Tsukasa
2B  Midorikawa Koutarou

RF  Ogawa Tomoya
3B  Kitade Kazuma
CF  Ishizaki Shouki
1B  Okamoto Takurou
SS  Maekawa Naoki
P  Miura Koutarou
C  Kobayashi Daiki
2B  Oda Hayao
LF  Maekawa Jinya

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11:19 - First pitch!

Top 1st
Not an auspicious start when the Mie C can't field what seems like a routine fly on the first batter. Miura has to throw several more pitches to retire Takemura on an infield fly.

Miura is actually having to throw a lot of pitches here to the first two batters.  He strikes out Rinzaki, but his pitches aren't quite hitting the mitt where Kobayashi wants them.

Satou pops up to 2nd on the first pitch and it's a 1-2-3 inning.

Bottom 1st
Satou's control looks a bit better to start, as gets a fairly easy 1-2-3 inning in part thanks to a nice charging catch by Ishibashi.  Well, it wasn't nice in the fact that he kinda tumbled forwards when catching it, but he still made the catch.

Top 2nd
Miura's fastball hitting 143, as this inning is much better.  He records a strikeout between two first pitch fly balls and he's keeping the Urawa Gakuin batters off-balance here to start.

Bottom 2nd
It's more of the same for Satou.  Mie's 4-5-6 batters make weak contact on the ball and the side is retired in order.  Satou's doing his job, but what about the offense?

Top 3rd
Miura doing a great job in the mound.  Three routine grounders and Mie is holding their own against Urawa Gakuin.  If this keeps up they have a chance for the upset!

Bottom 3rd
Kobayashi with a grounder to the gap in left.  Takemura slides over to get it, but can't get enough on the throw and it short hops Akashi!  Base hit, and leadoff runner, on base!

Oda lays down a great bunt and they have a runner in scoring position!

Jinya doing a good job as the #9 hitter taking pitches, but takes one too many when he freezes on a fastball down the middle on a full count pitch.

Up to the top of the order and Ogawa.

But Satou strikes him out on a ball in the dirt!  Rinzaki throws to first for the out, and Mie's chance falls by the wayside!

Top 4th
The top of the order tries to attack the first pitch but grounds to 2nd.

Satou trying to exercise some patience runs the count full, and Miura overthrows a fastball inside (145) and earns a walk.

Now Miura falls behind Sasagawa 3-0 before getting a fastball in there.

Satou tries to steal 2nd, but Kobayashi's throw is there in plenty of time!  No perfect game for Miura, but he's still faced the minimum.

Bottom 4th
Satou having a little bit of control issues, running the count full on Kitade before retiring him.  At the same time both teams are starved for runners, so Ishizaki tries a safety bunt to no avail.

And Okamoto bails out Satou by swinging on a 2-0 pitch and flying out to right.

Top 5th
It's another inning of weak ground balls but the Urawa Gakuin offense.  They're getting the bats ahead and over the pitches from Miura and he has for the most part breezed through the first 5 innings!

Bottom 5th
Naoki turns on a ball inside and sends it past a diving Akasahi for a base hit!

Miura bunt goes foul, no.. fair!  Miura scrambles to head to first, but Rinzaki starts the 2-6-3 double play!

Urawa avoids a jam as Kobayashi flies to right.  Through 5 we've faced just 1 over the minimum and Mie has had the better of it, if just.

Top 6th
Kigure makes more solid contact, but it's a grounder right at Kitade for the out.

Miura records just his 3rd K in Ishibashi when his slider catches the outside corner.  But then he falls behind Midorikawa 3-0 before filling up the count.  And his slider trying for the outside corner goes begging.

And a wild pitch by Miura sends Midorikawa to 2nd!  Okita-kantoku calls time.

Miura's control has been a bit erratic this inning.  He falls behind Takemura 3-0, gets one strike in, but then walks him too!  This is not a good sign.  It's too early to be tiring and losing your mechanics.

But Rinzaki swings on a slider inside and Miura's out of the inning!

Bottom 6th

The urgency may be on for Mie to score to help out Miura as the two walks in the last inning may suggest they're running out of time.

Defensive change for Urawa as #17 Nishioka in for Ishibashi at CF.

Oda falls for a slow curve away and one down for Satou.  Jinya is jammed and flies out to Takemura in foul territory.

Ogawa grounds to short and Mie can't do anything against Satou.  Despite his early troubles, he seems to have found his control and is hitting his spots.

Top 7th
Satou takes a ball to left, and that goes over Jinya's head!  He's in with a leadoff double and Urawa's first hit!

And whether or not they were being careful with Sasagawa, Miura walks him, and he in a big pinch as Okita-kantoku calls for time.

Yamane showing bunt, but the first two pitches go for balls before he lays it down.

Infield in for a play at the plate.  Yamane swinging away on the first pitch, but Miura trying to keep the ball down falls behind 3-1!  It's a walk to Akashi as it's now manui with just one down!

#7 batter Kigure up, 2 groundouts to 3rd so far today.

Grounder to short!  Naoki has it and goes home for one!  Kobayashi's throw to 1st is high, but Okamoto snags it (not in time).  2 down!

New CF Nishioka in, falls behind 1-2.

SANSHIN!  Miura gives a fist pump as he gets Nishioka on a high fastball!  He's out of the jam!

Bottom 7th
Mie needs to use that momentum from the last half inning to get themselves a run.

But Satou seems to have gotten stronger on the mound!  He gets a groundout from Kitade and a foul fly from Ishizaki before striking out Okamoto on three straight!  Mie's lucky 7 ends just like that!

Top 8th
Miura's control issues persist as he walks #9 batter Midorikawa.

Takemura tries to bunt the runner along, but can't and goes down 0-2.  He free bunts and fouls out!

Rinzaki bunts Midorikawa along and they're looking for the one-shot.

But instead we see a rare event.  Miura intentionally walks Satou!  They're going to pitch to Sasagawa!

However Miura falls behind 2-1, but gets him to swing on a change!  One strike away from getting out of the jam!

Sasagawa fights one off.  And Miura hits him!  Miura hits him in the butt and now it's manrui for Urawa Gakuin!

Miura will have to get out of another bases loaded mess!  Yamane up, swings at the first pitch, jammed, but gets it over the infield!  Ogawa's throw is late and 2 runs score!  From one pitch away to getting out of the inning to being behind 2-0, Yamane's bloop base hit breaks the deadlock!

Akashi flies out to center to end the inning, but they've done what they needed to!

Bottom 8th
Mie will now have to come back against a confident pitcher who's only thrown 75 pitches so far!

Naoki chases a shuuto outside and goes down for the first out.  Miura chases a fastball outside and too goes down swining.  Mie certainly feeling the pressure now.

Kobayashi trying to get on base any way possible, fights at the plate and fists one in to left after an 8 pitch AB!

Now Okita-kantoku sends in #15 Shigeyama to hit for Oda.

Satou with a ball that bouncer about 55 feet it seems and Kobayashi takes 2nd!  Mori-kantoku calls time.

And Shigeyama goes ahead 3-1!

DON'T SWING!

But he does and what would have been ball 4 and fouls it off!

SANSHIN!  Satou gets Shigeyama on what might have been a shuuto inside and he's out of the inning!

Top 9th
#16 Nishimura comes in for PH Shigeyama and takes over at 2B.

Miura gets two quick popouts before finally retiring stubborn batter Midorikawa.  It's a 1-2-3 inning, but Mie only has one last chance to keep their hopes alive.

Jinya grounds out to 2nd for the first out.  Back to the top of the order.

Ogawa chases a slider for the 2nd out!  Last chance in Kitade!

Grounder to third!  Kigure with it!  Throws to first, and that's the game!

Mie with a great effort against the Kanto champions, but Miura stamina issues in the 2nd half of the game cost him!  They certainly had their chances against Satou and Urawa Gakuin, and they should be happy about their efforts, but they'll have to wait for the summer to try and get back to Koushien.

As for Urawa Gakuin, they survive a 2nd round game that was probably harder than expected to advance to the best 8.  Satou wound up giving a good performance overall, but the offense will need to support him more, especially since the next opponent is either Kyushu Gakuin or Osaka Touin.

Well, we're off and running here in the 84th Senbatsu, and we just witnessed Mie take down the Chuugoku Super-Regional champion Tottori Jyouhoku.  Up next are two more champions - Tsuruga Kehi (Hokushinetsu) squaring off against Urawa Gakuin (Kanto).
Tsuruga Kehi blew through most of the Hokushinetsu Super-Regional before having to go 13 innings to earn a 1-0 win against a severe underdog in Chikyuu Kankyou.  More red flags appear when you look more in-depth.  They went into extras against Tottori Jyouhoku tied at 2 (I don't count tiebreaker rules in analyzing teams), and despite the relative ease in which they won the title, their offensive stats appear to reflect more of balls falling into play more than anything else.

So like many other teams, the burden falls upon ace Yamamoto Shouta and reliever Kishimoto Jyunki.  Yamamoto induces more contact, while Kishimoto appears to have a bit of control issues which lead to more K's, but more BB's as well.

Urawa Gakuin survived against Toukaidai Sagami, and a shootout against Takasaki Kenkoudai Fukushi before winning their super-regional.  Their offense seems to be more of their calling card, as their top hitter is actually their ace number - Satou Takuya.  I say ace number because Urawa Gakuin doesn't really have an ace to speak of - though if you were pressed to name a starter, it would actually be #11 Yamaguchi Rui.  Even then, he only pitched about a quarter of the team's innings. 

But since Satou's bat has to play he gets shifted to CF when Yamaguchi takes the mound, which in turn moves Ishibashi to LF.  It'll be interesting to see how Mori-kantoku handles this first round matchup.  Because while they have offense, sending a weaker pitcher out in the first couple of innings may backfire even despite the apparent lack of consistent offense.

SS  Takemura Haruki
C  Rinzaki Tatsuya
P  Satou Takuya
RF  Sasagawa Ryouhei
CF  Ishibashi Tsukasa
1B  Akashi Hyuuma
3B  Kigure Naito
LF  Yamane Yuuta
2B  Midorikawa Koutarou

RF  Maeoka Ryouta
2B  Nishihara Kyousuke
SS  Nishikawa Ryouma
1B  Okada Yuuta
C  Kita Ryouta
CF  Yamamoto Tatsuhiko
P  Yamamoto Shouta
LF  Iwata Shinya (#18)
3B  Yonemitsu Issei


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13:12 - First pitch!

Top 1st
Takemura starts off the game fouling out to Yonemitsu near the bullpen home plates.  Rinzaki grounds one right up the 3rd base line.  Yonezawa tries to backhand it, but it glances off and Rinzaki is on on the base hit.

Shouta is being a bit careful here on Satou, nibbling after getting ahead 1-2.  Unfortunately, he walks him which puts Shouta in a pinch early with cleanup batter Sasagawa up.

Brave putting a slow curve at 98 for a strike.

Oy...

Except that he hits him on then next pitch and it's manrui for Ishibashi.

Swings and misses on a 132 slider away.  He's looking for the base hit.

And if not for the early trouble, Deanna might like Shouta.  His hat flies off after some of his pitches.

And Shouta gets him on a 117 change for the 2nd out.  He's almost out of the inning!  Captain Akashi stands in trying to not the big opportunity pass them by.

But he hits a grounder to 3rd!  Yonemitsu hauls it in and throws to 2nd for the third out!  Tsuruga Kehi is out of the jam!

Bottom 1st
Nishihara starts off the offense with a one-out single through the left side.  But he's thrown out trying to steal 2nd...

Nishikawa then walks on 4 straight, which would have been better had the runner been there.  And while he successfully steals 2nd, Okada chops back Takemura for the 3rd out

Top 2nd
Shouta seems to have a fastball that sits in the mid-130's, with a slider in the 120;s, change in the 110's, and a slow curve in the high 90's.  Control seems to be an issue as he releases early causing the ball to be high.

And now the issue is compounded further as Yonemitsu throws the bunt by Midorikawa wide!  Runners advance and Tsuruga Kehi is back in a pinch again!

Takemura takes the first pitch to deep left!  Iwata gently secures it, conceding the run.  Midorikawa advances to 3rd as Urawa Gakuin takes a 1-0 lead!

Urawa's batters have a good approach against the lefty Shouta.  Their lefties are trying to take the pitches the other way instead of fighting it. Rinzaki stays alive doing so and earns a walk.  Runners at the corners for Satou, and he lines the first pitch over Nishikawa's head to left center!  Both runners score and Shouta-kun risks letting the game get away early as Urawa leads 3-0!

A wild pitch sends Satou to 3rd, but Sasagawa is fooled and pops out to left, but not before Urawa takes an early lead!

Bottom 2nd
Satou retires the side in 8 pitches, which gives me just enough time to say that he apparently has a fastball and shuuto in the low-mid 130's, and at least a change in the high 100's.

Top 3rd
The troubles continue for Shouta as Ishibashi bloops one over Nishihara for a leadoff single.  Mori-kantoku will play for one run as he has Akashi bunt the runner along.

But he freezes Kigura on an inside fastball at the knees for out number 2!

Yamane with a grounder to first, but Okada's dive doesn't secure the ball!  It deflects to the left and behind Nishihara who is backing up the play!  Ishibashi scores and Urawa leads 4-0!

Yamane is thrown out trying to steal 2nd, but Urawa pads onto their lead.  Tsuruga Kehi needs to stem the tide soon.

Bottom 3rd
#18 Iwata gives the team that spark as he takes the pitch the other way right into the middle of the left-center field gap!  He dives in unnecessarily with a leadoff triple!

Satou is giving Yonemitsu nothing to hit as everything is low.  Yet Yonemits swings away at the first 2 before finally holding off and filling up the count.  He finally makes contact, sending a fly to center.  Ishibashi comes up throwing, but they cut it off conceding the run.  Tsuruga Kehi gets that run back and trails again by 3, 4-1.

However, the lefties cannot hold off on the change low and keep striking out - that goes for Maeoka for the 2nd out.

WOW!

Nishihara lines one back at Satou, who picks it for the 3rd out!  While Tsuruga has a bit of work to do, at least they're on the board.

Top 4th
Oh boy.

Midorikawa drives a ball the other way over the drawn in outfield!  Tatsuhiko runs back to the wall to chase it down, and Midorikawa slides in with a leadoff triple!

Shouta shows his defensive skills backhanding a liner from Takemura for the 1st out.  Still needs 2 more.

He gets one, but Rinzaki hits a ball to right.  Maeoka makes a throw home on the fly, but gets under it a bit and Midorikawa slides in to make it a 4-run game again.  5-1.

Satou pops out to end the inning, but Urawa Gakuin widens the lead once again.

Bottom 4th
Kehi's batter's are trying to work the count.  Okada takes the count full and singles to center.  But Kita swings and misses when he goes full.  2 outs for Tatsuhiko.

Tatsuhiko takes the count full yet again, and works a walk!  We're approaching the bottom of the lineup, so we'll see how well that strategy works.

Shouta up now to help his own cause and narrow the deficit.  Meanwhile #16 Watanabe warms up in the bullpen.  With no ace, Mori-kantoku is probably free to make changes at will.

Shouta can't hold off those changes outside, and falls behind 1-2.... and strikes out on yet another one of those pitches.

Top 5th
Shouta issues his 4th walk to Sasagawa to lead off the 5th, and Azuma-kantoku has #10 Kishimoto start to warm up in the bullpen as Ishibashi bunts the runner along.

Akashi pops up to shallow center, and Kigure to left to make it Shouta's first low-stress inning.

Bottom 5th
Tsuruga Kehi now goes for the swing early approach.  After a pop fly to 2nd, Yonemitsu doubles to left center, cycling the lineup back to the top.

Maeoka with a grounder to the left side and just wide of a diving Takemura!  Yonemitsu has to hold up for the grounder to get through, so runners at the corners with 1 out!

Nishihara stands in hoping to take advantage, but he crouches down and watches strike one on the outside corner.  Strike two comes inside on a slider.

Satou tries to get him to bite on one outside, but he doesn't.  Instead he swings away at the next outside pitch, but grounds to short.  Takemura snags it, but it pops out on the transition!  He makes the play at 1st (just), and Yonemitsu scores to make it 5-2!

Nishikawa grounds to short, and Takemura makes the routine play to end the inning.  We head to the break with Urawa seemingly in control of the game.  It's not that Tsuruga Kehi, or their ace Shouta is bad, I guess he's just not as effective as Satou.

Top 6th
Uh oh.  One down and Midorikawa hits a ball back at Shouta.  It deflects off his left hand and goes to 1st.  He immediately goes to the hand in a bit of pain.  But after a bit of shaking and waiting, he says he's fine as he throws a couple of practice pitches.

Two pitches to Takemura, and he retires him on a grounder to short.  Shouta has stopped the Urawa offense, but now it's his bats that must start heating up.

Bottom 6th
However, none of Tsuruga Kehi's batters can seem to make solid contact on the ball, as all three batters ground out weakly to the infield.  Things are starting to look bleak for the Hokushinetsu champions.

Top 7th
Shouta continues to be careful with Satou, issuing his 2nd walk to him this game with 1 down.  Sasagawa grounds one to the left of Nishihara, and yet he goes to 2nd for the force!  Sasagawa gets that base back as he takes 2nd on the high throw from Kita.

But Shouta freezes Ishibashi on a slider outside for the 3rd out!  No runs in Urawa's lucky 7, now what about Tsuruga Kehi?

Bottom 7th
No dice.  The bottom of Kehi's lineup goes down in order with little difficulty and it looks like the door will be closing on their tournament here in the first round.

Top 8th
Oh no....

Kigure lines one off of Shouta and he goes down to the ground.  The ball seems to deflect off the mitt and onto his ribs.  That's the second one he's taken this game.  He's being attended to, but that had to hurt.  That hit by Kigure was a solid comebacker.

He's carried off the field to the doctors as #10 Kishimoto warms up.

After a couple of minutes Azuma-kantoku heads out and it looks like Shouta's day is done.

But not in the manner I was expecting.  #10 Kishimoto comes in for Iwaki (who had the only good hit!) and takes the mound.  Shouta actually returning to the field and taking over in left!

Kishimoto does well in relief, yielding a liner to center to Midorikawa, but retires the side with no damage done (except to Shouta).

Bottom 8th
Down 3, 2 innings to go, and the top of the order up.

But Tsuruga Kehi continues to struggle making good contact.  Maeoka chops one to 1st.  Nishihara grounds out to short.  And despite having two slow curves for strikes, Nishikawa pulls a fastball, but Kigure snags it and throws to 1st for the third out.  Not much left for Kehi now...

Top 9th
#12 comes in relief of Kita and takes over pitch calling duties.

And Kishimoto's good start seems to have gown awry in the 9th.  He issues walks to Rinzaki and Satou, and Sasagawa grounds one through the right side, making it a 6-2 game.

Ishibashi squares to bunt, but Kishimoto's pitch bounced in between his legs and deflects to the 1st base side.  Runners advance.

Akashi's single to right center makes it an 8-2 game and the end of Kishimoto's day.  #11 Use comes in to pitch.

Yamane continues to pile it on as he grounds up up the 1st base line for a double.  9-2.

Midorikawa gets his 3rd hit of the game, a single through the right side.  Runners at the corners as Takemura becomes the 9th batter to come to the plate.

Midorikawa takes off for 2nd, throw from Yamada is high and off Nishikawa's glove.  Tatsuhiko bobbles picking up the ball and Yamane heads home.  The throw is short and Yamane slides in safely.  Urawa Gakuin hits double digits at 10-2.

Takehara flies out to right to mercifully end the inning.

Bottom 9th
#17 Nishoka takes over in center.

One down, backup C Yamada blasts one to center for a double.  He's eventually replaced with 2 down with #15 Takegami.  #13 Miyazaki comes to PH for Shouta with 2 down, and as many batters before grounded out to end the game.

The Hokushinetsu champions just couldn't get any good contact off of Satou, and thus was eliminated here today 10-2 by Urawa Gakuin.  Another victim of poor offense.

Urawa Gakuin meanwhile will move on to face another "mid-major" team in Mie in 5 days.


Notable Players
Midorikawa Koutarou (Urawa Gakuin) - 3-5, 3B, 2 R, SB
Yamane Yuuta (Urawa Gakuin) - 2-4, 2B, 2R, RBI, BB, K
Satou Takuya (Urawa Gakuin) - CG, 2 ER, 6 H, 4 K, 2 BB
Iwaki Shinya (Tsuruga Kehi) - 1-3, 3B, R

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Round 1

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

Round 2

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

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

Kasama

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

Mito Municipal

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

Tsuchiura

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

Hitachi

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

Saitama
In notable games from the 2nd round:

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

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

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

Chiba
July 12th

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

July 13th

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

July 14th

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

June 15th

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

Nishi Tokyo
Kami-Yugi

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

Tama Ipponsugi

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

Hachiouji Municipal

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

Fuchuu Municipal

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

Tachikawa Municipal

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

Akiruno Municipal

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

Akishima Municipal

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

Higashi Tokyo
Round 2
Edogawa-ku Stadium

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

Akiruno Municpal

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

Meiji Jingu Stadium

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

Meiji Jingu Dai-ni Stadium

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

Oota Stadium

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

Komazawa Stadium

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

Fuchuu Municipal

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

Meiji Daigaku

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

Round 3
Edogawa-ku Stadium

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

Meiji Jingu Stadium

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

Meiji Jingu Dai-ni Stadium

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

Oota Stadium

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

Komazawa Stadium

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

Kanagawa
Round 1 (July 12~14)

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

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

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