高校野球 (Kokoyakyu)

Seiryou and Shiritsu Wakayama up next. Shiritsu Wakayama did rack up wins versus Chiben Wakayama and Minoshima, Seiryou defeated Nihon Koukuu Ishikawa, and you could throw in Komatsu Meihou and Komatsu Ootani though those are lesser victories.

Both pitching staffs are unremarkable, so it may be up to the offenses to determine the winner. In which case Seiryou (unfortunately) has the advantage.

Shiritsu Wakayama (Wakayama)
3B Yamazaki Takuya (山崎 拓哉)
2B Kawasaki Makoto (河崎 真)
CF (13)Yabui Kanta (藪井 幹大)
1B Kitajima Riku (北嶋 陸)
RF Kinoshita Kouji (木下 康司)
LF Shichino Rei (七野 怜)
C Okamoto Naoki (岡本 尚輝)
P Akaba Riku (赤羽 陸)
SS Hamano Shougo (浜野 匠吾)

Seiryou (Ishikawa)
CF Morita Ryouga (森田 涼雅)
2B Hatanaka Riku (畑中 陸)
SS Toritani Takaya (虎谷 貴哉)
P Teranishi Ken (寺西 建)
1B (9)Kigura Tomoki (木倉 朋輝)
3B Wakamiya Ryuu (若宮 颯)
LF Sasaki Natsukai (佐々木 夏海)
RF Koshinaka Kei (越中 圭)
C Kawagishi Masaaki (川岸 正興)
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13:50 - First Pitch!

Top 1st
That didn't take long.

Yamazaki single through left side. After a sac bunt, Teranishi walks Yabui on 4 straight.

Kitajima with a grounder up the 3rd base line fair, but it hits the umpire making the call! The ball stays in the infield and the runners have to hold up! Manrui, but 1 run could have been in!

Kinoshita remedies that immediately with a sac fly to left center. 1-0.

Shichino pops out, but this is pretty much what you should expect this game on both sides.

Bottom 1st
One down Hatenaka with a gapper to right center all the way to the wall for a triple. Toritani with a clean single through the 4 hole and we're tied at 1-1.

Akaba gets fortunate on his own when he gets a looky what I found in my glove on a hard comebacker. Almost throws it away, but gets the 1-6-3 double play.

Top 2nd
Things going from bad to worse for Teranishi.

• A single back up the middle by Okamoto.
• After a sac but, he throws a wild pitch, and there's a passed ball before Hamano walks.

And so we're into the round of 16. All winners of games today may only play each other in Day 12, so no Osaka Touin for anyone! Hooray!

At least not until the Best 4.

But that's later, this is now!

And first up, yet another matchup between the two surprise regions in this year's tournament - Tohoku and Hokushinetsu.

Hachinohe Gakuin Kousei (fka Kousei Gakuin - and no I don't know why they changed it) has only played one game so far, and almost lost against a very game Bushuukan if not for their plan faltering in the 8th inning due to defensive miscues. The team as whole managed just 7 hits and 4 of those came in that aforementioned 8th inning.

Ace Nakagawa had held Bushuukan hitless for the majority of the game, but was not dominant in terms of racking up strikeouts (he only had 2). His job will get much more tougher against the offense-minded Seiryou.

They had looked much improved in their first game where they had to comeback to beat Shizuoka. Kanoya Chuo really stood little to no chance of defeating them as they even went so far as to use their backup pitchers in for the final innings - up until it got hairy and they reinserted ace Iwashita to end the nonsense.

So, we know they can beat the teams they're supposed to. But Kousei doesn't quite fit that mold. They're probably more like a Shizuoka but maybe better.

It's certainly not going to be an easy game for either team. You'd think that'd be the case now that we're in the round of 16, but no, not yet.

Hachinohe Gakuin Kousei (Aomori)
3B Houjyou Hiroyuki
SS Adachi Yuuya
1B Moriyama Hiroki
2B Fukae Taisei
RF Arai Katsunori
LF Nakazaki Jyukiya (#16)
CF Arai Katsutaka
P Nakagawa Masashi
C Baba Ryuusei (#12)

Seiryou (Ishikawa)
CF Tanigawa Touma
SS Nakamura Hayato (#4)
LF Fukushige Tatsumi
1B Murakami Kazuma
3B Yanase Takeshi
RF Satake Kaito
P Iwashita Daiki
C Yokoyama Shouta
2B Muranaka Takeya (#10)

____________________________________________________________

08:00 - First Pitch!

Top 1st
Good start for Iwashita as he strikes out Houjyou on 3 straight.

But with two down he tries to hit the edges of the zone and winds up walking Moriyama and Fukae. Hayashi-kantoku calls time.

No harm done as Katsunori grounds to 2nd and the walks don't hurt Iwashita.

Bottom 1st
Tanigawa with an opening single through the right side. Nakamura bunts him along.

Fukushige fooled a little bit on the change butt still pushes it to the right side to advance the runner. 2 out, Tanigawa at 3rd.

But Murakami grounds right to Houjyou! Takes his time, fires a strike and the side is retired.

Top 2nd
Nakazaki unable to inside out a ball, weakly grounds to 2nd.

Katsutaka with a slow grounder up the middle. Nakamura ranges over to get it, but it's so slow that his throw to 1st can't beat a belly flopping Katsutaka.

Not to mention he has a wardrobe malfunction and needs his belt replaced.

Nagawa tries the bunt, but pops it up.  The fielders don't actually get to it, but Katsutaka had to freeze in case he got caught, in which then he got thrown out at 2nd.

And Baba grounds to short and the inning is over.

Bottom 2nd
Looks like Nakagawa is on his game today as he's hitting the glove.  After another ground out to 3rd, he gets Satake on a slider, and Iwashia on a forkball to close the inning.

Top 3rd
Iwashita not quite as accurate, and ends up plunking Houjyou to start the inning.

Hit and run, and that prevents the double play as Adachi hits it right to Muranaka.

Moriyama's knees break on a changeup that hits the bottom of the zone and there's 2 out.

Fukae though swings at a slider outside and skies it. Murakami there to make the catch for the 3rd out.

Bottom 3rd
Yokoyama with a poke to the right side goes past a chasing Fukae for a base hit.  He's bunted over by Muranaka.

Tanigawa with a grounder to short, Adachi goes to 3rd and Houjyou makes the tag for the out! 2 down

Nakagawa gets his 3rd out as Nakamura swings and misses on the slider.

Top 4th
Katsunori becomes Iwashita's 3rk K victim after he swings over a slider inside.

And after a flyout, he gets yet anther K as Katsutaka goes down swinging for his 2nd clean inning.

Bottom 4th
One down, Nakagawa leaves a ball up an Mrakami takes it into the gap. But Katsunori is there quickly and he's limited to a single.

And Murakami spaces out! Baba snap throws to 1st and he realizes he's in a pickle!  He's run down for the 2nd out.

Yanase goes down on the changeup and side retired once again.

Top 5th
After 2 quick groundball outs, Houjyou draws a 4-pitch walk.

But Adachi weakly waves on the change and it's another easy inning for Iwashita.

Bottom 5th
2 down, Nakagawa appears to be on his way to a clean inning, but he hits Yokoyams on the lower ankle. He hobbling to 1st, but the itai spray always helps.

Muranaka grounder to short, Adachi goes to 2nd, but Yokoyama beats the toss! Kousei's not out of the inning! Will the defensive hiccup hurt them?

In a word, yes.

Tanigawa first pitch single to left and Yokoyama comes home!  Throw from Nakazaki... not in time! Kousei inattention on defense gives Seiryou the 1-0 lead!

Top 6th
Defensive change as #15 Takeya comes in for Satake in RF.

Moriyama with a routine grounder t1st, Fukae quickly follows flying out to left.

And finally Katsutaka goes down swinging on the fastball and the Kousei just can't do anything versus Iwashita.

Bottom 6th
Seiryou has the gift run from Kousei because their offense is scuffling too.  Nakagawa just needs 6 pitches to get through the 6th inning.

Top 7th
It's a horrible swing, but Nakazaki hits a letter high pitch to right for a base hit. It's just their 2nd of the game. Katsutaka goes for the bunt, but it's too short and that allows Yokoyama to fire to 2nd for the force.

After Nakagawa chases yet another slider from Iwashita, he in turn walks Baba to turn over the lineup. Hayashi-kantoku calls time.

Grounder up middle, Nakamura with it, fires to 1st and Kousei can't find the timely hit!

Bottom 7th
Nakagawa racking up the K's as he continues to retire Seiryou in order. Only problem is... K's wont by themselves win you a game.

Top 8th
Adachi fouls off a couple of balls, but feebly swings on an outside fastball for the 1st out.

Moriyama can't catch up to a fastball down in the zone, and that's 9 Ks for Iwashita.

お！

Fukae connects with a hanging change!  Fukushige back to the wall, looks up!

HAITAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That ball was crushed what seemed like halfway up the lower half of the bleachers! We're all level at 1-1!

Katsunori grounds back to Iwashita to end the inning, but we've got a new ballgame!

Bottom 8th
Seiryou striking back! Muranaka with a single through the left side. Tanigawa moves him over.

Nakamura liner back up middle! Nakagawa can't get it! But Muranaka can't move ahead as he though that was going to be caught and doubled back!

Nakai-kantoku calls time...

AH! Nakagawa hits Fukushige and it's manrui for Seiryou! A sac fly now will give Seiryou the lead!

Murakami chopper back up middle! Nakagawa snags it!  Goes home for 1, throw to 1st...

DOUBLE PLAY!!!!

Nakagawa gets the 1-2-3 double play to get out of the pinch!  Will they be able to turn it into momentum?

Top 9th
Nakazaki has to protect behind 2-2 and flies out to right.

Katsutaka golfs a ball inside up and Yanase in foul territory makes the catch for the 2nd out.

Unfortumately it's more of the same Nakamura grounds out to NO! Nakamura boots the ball! E6!

And what's this? Iwashita walks Baba on 4 straight and the gyakuten run is in scoring position! Hayashi-kantoku calls time yet again.

The lineup turns over for Houjyou, though he has yet to get a hit.

And he wastes the bottom of the order's efforts as he swings on the first pitch and flies to center.

Bottom 9th
Does Seiryou have the momentum now with a chance to walk off?

Now it's Kousei's turn to give a gift.  Grounder to 2nd, Fukae waits for the ball to come instead of fully charging and that allows Yanase to reach base! Takeya obviously bunts the runner over.

Iwashita gets 2nd life as Houjyou can't work his way around the bullpen mound on a foul fly.

From 1-2 the count goes to 3-2...

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

Iwashita goes to a knee as he can't make contact on the slider! 2 down!

Nakai-kantoku calls for time as Yokoyama will be stepping into the box.

Yokoyama grounder to 2nd... Fukae on the grass throws to 1st...

We're headed to enchousen! Another defensive brain fart doesn't cost Kousei, and the game continues!

Top 10th
Uh oh! Iwashita walks Adachi on 4 straight? Is he tiring on the mound? Moriyama bunts him over for Fukae, but remember with that bunt... first base is open.

And after a pitch inside, they intentionally walk him!

Hayashi-kantoku wants time to reset the defense.

Katsunori, hitless with 2 K's and 2 groudouts steps in.

But Iwashita isn't throwing a strike! He's behind 2-0... and now 3-0!

Finally gets a change over for a strike... and a fastball over too!

Katsunori drive to right! Takeya back to the wall, leaps!

Can't make the catch! But he does get it in quickly and Adachi can only get to 3rd! He had to wait to see if it would be caught and as a result it's a very loud single!

And so they need one more hit to score the run!

Nakazaki up takes 2 balls before Iwashita puts in a strike.

Slider over the middle for strike 2!

Forkball... ball 3! Iwashita bends down as he thought surely he had it!

Liner to left! But Fukushige is there! And it's too shallow for Adachi to tag up! 2 outs!

Katsutaka now must get the run in, but he's 1-3 and the single was all the way back in the 1st.

He's behind 2-0... AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

The ball goes off Yokoyama's leg and towards the 1st base dugout!  Adachi breaks for home and there's no throw! Kousei takes the lead 2-1!!

Katsutaka liner off Iwashita and deflects to the left side! There's no play as Fukae scores and they lead 3-1!

Nakagawa walks and it's manrui yet again for last batter Baba.

Iwashita at 158 pitches, is he tired?

Baba single through left side! Katsunori and Katsutaka score! It's 5-1!

Baba gets thrown out looking at what he did (a la Taishou Yakyuu Musume) and is tagged out, but a wild pitch opens the flood games

Bottom 10th
Muranaka quickly grounds to short, one down as he pounds the ground. 1 down!

Tanigawa comeback to Nakagawa! He fields it and tosses to 1st!  2 down!

Grounder to short! Adachi with it, throws to 1st and there will be no comeback! Kousei advances with a 5-1 win!

It was a great pitcher's duel for a majority of the game. Nakagawa and Iwashita traded blows and 0's throughout. And it almost looked like a defensive brain cramp would cost Kousei the game.

But cleanup batter Fukae needed just one pitch to give new life to his team, and Iwashita, already with a high pitch count, finally gave in the 10th inning.

The final score may not reflect it, but it was a great game as Iwashita and his team can't hold back the tears. But they had a magical run to get to Koushien, it's just that it couldn't last forever.

Kousei meanwhile moves on to the Best 8. They've been in this position before recently more times than they can count. How will they do moving forward?

Kanoya Chuo caught one of the biggest (and most heartbreaking for the opponent) breaks in it's first round game.  After tying the game in the 8th to send it to enchousen, in the 12th with runners on 1st and 3rd with 1 out, Shiritsu Wakayama's 2B Yamane accidentally goes to 1st on a contact play and they sayonara run scores, shocking everyone in the stadium and completely crushing Yamane.

Nanashima and Yonezawa were effective enough on the mound, but this will be a tougher task in Seiryou.

For their part Seiryou was involved in a close game with Shizuoka though on the losing end.  But poor defense from Shizuoka let ace Tsujimoto down, and when you're a contact pitcher that is the worst feeling to have.

Seiryou was far from stellar.  The 3-4-5 hitters went a combined 2-11, and ace Iwashita gave 5 free passes.

Seiryou (Ishikawa)
LF Fukushige Tatsumi
2B Nakamura Hayato
CF Tanigawa Touma
3B Murakami Kazuma (#3)
RF Satake Kaito
P Iwashita Daiki
1B Imamura Haruki (#11)
SS Toratani Takaya
C Yokoyama Shouta

Kanoya Chuo (Kagoshima)
LF Kawasaki Kenshirou
SS Hakiai Shunichirou
3B Tokushige Jin
RF Kihara Satoshi
C Kawauchi Daiki
1B Oota Takeshi
2B Kanda Kouta
CF Yamashita Ryouta
P Nanashima Takuya

____________________________________________________________

12:50 - First Pitch!

Top 1st
One down for Seiryou and Nakamura hits a blooper to right.  Kihara charges in, dives, but it's off the end of his glove for a single.

Tanigawa swinging away, but grounds to short.  Hakiai gets the force at 2nd.

Hit and run!  Murakami takes a fastball left up the other way as Tanigawa goes into 3rd.  Small chance for Seiryou here in the 1st.

Satake grounder past diving Tokushige! Tanigawa comes in and Seiryou takes the lead right off the bat 1-0!

Iwashita goes down swinging, but they have done something they haven't done in 2 games, take an early lead!

Bottom 1st
Iwashita begins the game with hitting Kawasaki.  Hakiai bunts him along to 2nd.

But, despite the full count he strikes out Tokushige on a slider inside at his feet, 2 down.

Kimura sharp hit to the right side, Nakamura makes a dive for it, but can't get it!  Kawasaki rounding 3rd and scores without a throw! We're tied at 1-1!

Kawauchi goes down swinging on another inside slider, but Kanoya Chuo strikes right back!

Top 2nd
Imamura with a huge fly to left, Kawasaki has to wait for it near the foul pole before making the catch.

Toratani with a ball back up the middle, Hakiai makes the diving stop behind 2nd, but his throw from the grass is easily not in time.

Hayashi-kantoku goes for the hit and run, but Yokoyama flies out to center.

Nanashima not out of the pinch yet as he walks Fukushige to continue the inning.

Nakamura slow grounder to short, Hakiai charging in, throw to 1st... Oota with the nice pick gets the out!

Bottom 2nd
Oota completely swings over the forkball for the first out.  Kanda with a weak grounder back up the middle.  Nakamura charges it down, throws and beats a diving Kanda. *sighs*

Iwashita closes out the frame by freezing Yamashita on an outside fastball.

Top 3rd
Tanigawa turns on an inside fastball (that was meant to be outside) and singles through the left side.

Murakami lays down the bunt, Kawauchi goes to 2nd, but that's late!  Throw to 1st, over everything!  It's into the camera well and everyone advances a base!

The umpires confer again, and award the runner home!  2-1 Seiryou!  Since the runner was on 2nd when the throw was made, the 2-base award sent him home.

With one down, Seiryou starts the engine again.  Iwashita with a sharp hit to 3rd that Tokushige can block, but not field cleanly.  Imamura follows that with a clean single through the left side.

Nanashima gets out of the inning though when he gets Toratani to hit into the 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.

Bottom 3rd
Nanashima can't lay off the outside slider and becomes Iwashita's 4th K victim.  After a groundout to 2nd by Kawasaki, Iwashita gives up a walk to Hakiai.  It leads to nothing as Tokushige also grounds to 2nd to end the inning.

Top 4th
Yokoyama starts the inning with a slicer down the right field line for a single.  He's bunted to 2nd, and a slow grounder to short by Nakamura moves him to 3rd.

Tanigawa can't get the timely hit as he grounds to Hakiai as well to end the inning.

Bottom 4th
Just when you think Kanoya Chuo is getting some traction, Seiryou takes it right back.

Kawauchi with a grounder back up the middle for a base hit, but Oota grounds into the inning-ending 6-4-3 double play...

Top 5th
After Murakami goes down swinging, Satake takes the first pitch deep to left center.  The fielders have to chase the ball to the wall and he's in with a double.

Iwashita tries to check his swing, but winds up hitting the ball.  It's effectively a bunt as it dies in front of the plate and Kawauchi goes to 1st.

Imamura with a sharp liner, but right at Tokushige who makes the catch for the 3rd out.

Bottom 5th
Kanoya Chuo manages a runner when Nanashima reaches base on a wild pitch on his K.

And Nanashima's day is done!  #15 Okadome comes in to run for him!

Kawasaki strikes out to end the inning, but Nanashima is done, and so far so does Kanoya Chuo.

Top 6th
#10 Yonezawa comes in for PR Okudome to take the hill.

Seiryou rudely welcomes him. After he gives up a leadoff walk and is bunted over, Fukushige singles to center scoring Toratani to make it 4-1.

Nakamura lays down a bunt and Yonezawa can't field it cleanly.  Throw to 1st not in time.

Thankfully he gets out of the inning as Tanigawa grounds into the 4-6-3 double play.

Bottom 6th
Well to sum up the game, Kimura hits 2-out double to left center. Kawauchi hits a ball hard to 3rd, Yanase fumbles the ball. But Kimura is heading to 3rd and Yanase just tags him for 3rd out.

Going through the motions...

7-9th InningsThis game is pretty much over, so here are just some changes that happened.

Bottom 7th
Seiryou rest's Iwashita's arm, they send him to LF.  Fukushige goes to center and Tanigawa takes the hill.

At least I get to hear Cruel Angel's Thesis (With Justin.tv no more hearing the ouen-dan it's a little harder)

Bottom 8th
With #10 Nakamura running for Imamura, he takes 2B, Nakamura goes to SS and #5 Yanase comes in for Toratani and goes to 3B

Top 9th
With Nishimura hitting for Yonezawa (and subsequently Hiromori running for him), #11 Sorachi comes in to finish out the game for Kanoya Chuo.

Bottom 9th
Fukushige comes in from CF to take the hill, Tanigawa goes back to CF and now #15 Takeya comes in for Satake in RF.

Well, I guess after Fukushige gives up a walk, a loud line out to short, and then a gapper to left center to put the douten runner at the plate, Hayashi-kantoku stops messing around.

Iwashita takes the hill and Fukushige goes back to LF.

One last timeout by Hayashi-kantoku and Iwashita will close out the game.

And so he does.

Seiryou decided to get some work in with their players at Kanoya Chuo's expense knowing that if things went bad like it did in the 9th, Iwashita could close it out.

And it did and he did.

That's really about it.  Kanoya Chuo was just outmatched in the game, and unfortunately heads home.  But at least they were able to enjoy a victory before going home.

Well, the 2nd day seems to be more of the same, wonder if it'll keep up in our 2nd game.

Shizuoka did have to face some stronger competition, but it was their first game they almost got tripped up.  A 2-2 draw against Suruga Sougou which they won 10-1.  Then a 6-3 win over Tokoha Tachibana, and a 3-2 win over Kakogawa Nishi for the title.

Seiryou's only close game was their final where they came back from down 8-0 in the bottom of the 9th to defeat Komatsu Ootani 9-8.  But outside of that game against that Tier 3 school, there were no other opponents of note.

I have a personal rooting interest in the game, but if you want my unbiased opinion, Shizuoka has at least had some testing done during the summer, which I can't say for Seiryou - and the one game they did have they were outplayed for 8.5 innings.

Shizuoka (Shizuoka)
CF Uchiyama Shun
2B Ooishi Tomoki
1B Kishiyama Tomohiro
C Horiuchi Kengo
SS Yasumoto Ryuuji
RF Suzuku Shouhei
3B Hirano Hidemaru
P Tsujimoto Hiromu
LF Koura Masaki

Seiryou (Ishikawa)
CF Tanigawa Touma
2B Nakamura Hayato
LF Fukushige Tatsumi
1B Murakami Kazuma
3B Yanase Takeshi
RF Satake Kaito
P Iwashita Daiki
SS Toratani Takaya
C Yokoyama Shouta
____________________________________________________________

11:03 - First Pitch!

Top 1st
Uchiyama leads off the game with a base hit through the left side.  Ooishi tries to bunt him over, but it's right at Iwashita.  He goes to 2nd, and Toratani is taken out by Uchiyama.  He gets a warning from the umpire, but I don't see anything too wrong with it.

Iwashita's control is wonting as Kishiyama fouls enough pitches to earn a walk, and then he uncorks one to the netting, advancing the runners.  Hayashi-kantoku calls for time.

Despite the control issues, he gets cleanup batter Horiuchi to swing and miss on a forkball for the 2nd out.

Another wild pitch!  Yokoyama can't get the glove up in time and Ooishi scrambles home to make it 1-0!

Yasumoto a hard ball up the line, goes off Yanase into foul territory! Kishiyama scores to make it a 2-0 game!

Suzuki grounds to short to end the inning, but it looks like Seiryou will be playing from behind again.

Bottom 1st
Tanigawa gives a Tsujimoto offering a ride, but Koura is there in front of the fence for the 1st out.

Nakamura attacks the first pitch and singles to center.  Fukushige does the same and it's over Uchiyama's head!  Nakamura scores and Seiryou immediately strikes back! RBI double makes it a 2-1 ball game!

Murakami with a liner to left!  But Koura is there is there for the catch and Fukue is caught taking off for 3rd! Throw goes to Ooishi and it's an easy DP to end the inning.

Top 2nd
Shizuoka getting back to work on offense, hitting a single through a diving Yanase and Toratani for a base hit.  He's moved over.

Koura, after working the count 3-0, has Iwashita find 2 pitches over the plate to fill up the count.  He loses the battle after grounding back to Iwashita for the 2nd out.

Iwashita falls behind Uchiyama 2-0 as well, and he's having trouble locating his off-speed pitches.  This time he's not as lucky as he walks Uchiyama.

And he's behind Ooishi 2-0, but Ooishi does go after the next pitch.

It's a weak swing, but the ball somehow finds its way through Yanase and Toratani for a base hit! Hirano is waved around, the throw from Fukue.... Not in time!  Hirano just gets the hand in there and Shizuoka leads 3-1!

Time is called yet again by Hayashi-kantoku.

Kishiyama meanwhile apparently didn't get the memo that Iwashita is having trouble throwing strikes.  He swings on the first pitch and quickly finds himself down 0-2.

I thought it might be a ploy to get him to throw balls, but nope, he chases a 1-2 slider for the 3rd out.  Still Shizuoka scraps that run back to lead again by 2.

Bottom 2nd
Tsujimoto almost gets a clean inning, but after 2 routine grounders, Iwashita chops a ball back up the middle for a base hit.

But Tsujimoto gets yet another groundball from Toratani and Yasumoto is right at the bag to record the 3rd out.

Top 3rd
Horiuchi hits a shot right back at Iwashita.  He can get part of the glove on it, but it goes to center for a base hit.  Yasumoto bunts him along.

Oh?! Horiuchi takes off for 3rd on a blocked ball in the dirt!  Throw from Yokoyama not in time!

Ahead 3-1, Suzuki swings away, but grounds to 2nd! Horiuchi can't advance home and there's 2 outs.

Shizuoka's batters not understanding that Iwashita is struggling and are swinging away.  Hirano takes two bad swings, and the third is a flyout to left to end the inning.

Bottom 3rd
Yokoyama's head sliding makes a great play by Yasumoto closer than it needs to be, but I guess if you want to glide in like an airplane, knock yourself out.  He's bunted to 2nd.

Nakamura attacks the first pitch, but pops out to Ooishi for the 2nd out.

Grounder to short... AH!

Yasumoto picks up his glove early and it goes into left!  That error is a gift run for Seiryou and it's 3-2!

Cleanup batter Murakami in a prolonged AB with Tsujimoto, goes for the gusto and drive one to left.  But hes under it and Koura is there to make the catch for the 3rd out. But a key error narrows the deficit to 1.

Top 4th
Control issues still plague Iwashita as he issues his 3rd walk to Koura with 1 down.

Koura takes off for 2nd, throw from Yokoyama... OUT!  It looks close and I'm not sure if he didn't get in before, but my opinion doesn't matter.  There 2 down now, and make that 3 as Uchiyama grounds to 2nd fo rhe 3rd out.

Bottom 4th
Boy, I just posted the last half-inning update, and in 6 pitches, the side is retired!  Only Iwashita takes more than just 1 pitch in that inning.

Top 5th
Shizuoka still thinking it's better to swing away, gives the defense easy outs with ground balls.  Kishiyama was up 3-1, but rolled a ball to short for the 2nd out.

Horiuchi falls behind 1-2, and goes after an inside fastball for strike 3.  Iwashita hanging in there despite the continued control issues, retires side in order.

Bottom 5th
Well, this is interesting, #10 Muranaka comes in to hit for Toratani. But that doesn't work out as he grounds to short.

Yokoyama gets a clean hit his 2nd time up with a single through the right side.

No bunt from Tanigawa, and he winds up going down swinging.  Nakamura getting his hacks in, fouling several pitches off to stay alive.

Grounder to right side!  Ooishi runs it down in the outfield grass... spin throw to 1st... in time!

So we hit the break with what looked like a possible one-sided affair instead a close game with Iwashita for Seiryou hanging on to keep his squad in the game.

Top 6th
Muranaka stays in the game to play 2B, Nakamura goes to SS.  Try not messing that up something during the rest of the game.

Yasumoto leads off the inning with a single to shallow left.  As expected, he is advanced 90 feet.

Whether intentional or not (prolly not given his control issues), he walks Hirano on 4 straight.

Tsujimoto hits a grounder to short, Nakamura goes to Muranaka for 1, relay to 1st, in time for the double play to end the inning!  Chance for Shizuoka goes begging to open the 2nd half of play.

Bottom 6th
Defense seeming to let Tsujimoto down as a routine grounder to 2nd is muffed by Ooishi.  It looks to be another problem of anticipating the play.  Kuribayashi-kantoku calls for time.

No bunting for Murakami with no outs though.  He's getting his money's worth, sharply fouling off some balls, merely staying alive on others.

But on the 9th pitch, he lets a slider by that's just too close, and he's rung up!

Desperate for a run, Yanase lays down the bunt, leaving it to Satake, but he doesn't have a base hit on the day.

SANSHIN!!!!

Satake goes down swinging on the changeup and once again Tsujimoto holds the line!

Top 7th
Shizuoka playing the losing proposition of swinging at Iwashita's pitches, Koura actually tries a bunt, but pops out.  Uchiyama is jammed and hits one back to Iwashita.

Ooishi gets ahead 3-1, but chases the high fastball before being bailed out on a ball way up and in.  He takes off for 2nd, and Yokoyama's double clutch allows him to get in safely.

Kishiyama grounder to left side, Yanase can't make diving pick!  Ooishi comes around to score and Shizuoka takes a 4-2 lead!

Horiuchi grounds out to 2nd to end the inning, but not before Shizuoka picks up a crucial insurance run!

Bottom 7th
Muranaka just pounds a high bounder over the mound.  Yasumoto tries to play the ball as quickly as he can, but it just hangs in the air for way too long.

AH!!!!  Groudner to 2nd by Yokoyama is flubbed by Ooishi and his 2nd error gives Seiryou life here in the lucky 7th!

Grounder to the right side, everyone's out of position!  Kishiyama runs to the ball goes to 2nd??!!  That's not in time and the throw goes into left!  Muranaka scores and it's 4-3!!

Time is called, but the defense for Shizuoka is getting sketchier and sketchier by the minute.

The collapse is almost complete as Nakamura singles to right!  There will be no throw home and Seiryou has tied the game at 4-4!

Tsujimoto decides then to bypass the infield, and gets both Fukushige and Murakami to fly out to end the inning.  But the damage has more than been done.  Despite the tie, Shizuoka is on the verge of losing the game.

Top 8th
Yasumoto tries to go deep on Iwashita, but Satake makes the leaping catch to keep that from happening.

Suzuki gets ahead in the count, but winds up taking a pitch too close and goes down looking.

And with Hirano going after a 3-1 pitch and grounding to 2nd, momentum is officially with Seiryou.

Bottom 8th
The gallows are being prepared as Yanase takes a slider to center for a base hit.

Satake looks to be laying the bunt, but winds up taking strike 2!  He lays down the bunt on the three bunt and manages to advance the runner.

Iwashita with a drive to right center, and that will go to the wall!  Yanase easily scores and the hatchet comes down on Shizuoka!  Iwashita completes the comeback with a RBI double!  5-4!

Yokoyama goes down swinging, but that doesn't matter, what does is that Seiryou has taken the lead when it matters, Shizuoka is down to their final 3 outs!

Top 9th
Shizuoka pulling all the emergency handles.  #17 Mochidzuki in to hit for Tsujimoto.

But he goes down swinging on an inside forkball for the 1st out.

Another PH as #13 Katou comes in to hit for Koura.  Seiryou counters with sending #15 Takeya to take over in RF.

Katou on the 2-2 pitch booms a ball to left, but it goes foul.

Instead the high fastball does him in and there's 2 out.

Uchiyama fittingly goes down swinging on a high fastball and the game is over.  Seiryou gives Shizuoka the rope to hang themselves and they do so willingly 5-4.

While this was a comeback, this I think was much different than the Komatsu Ootani win.  There, the opponent had the pressure of finally slaying the dragon.  Here, Shizuoka took the lead they had and told Seiryou they liked it, but didn't want it anymore.  4 errors, all by the infield and 3 by the players up the middle were more than enough to do them in.

Furthermore, whatever Shizuoka's strategy was early versus Seiryou ace Iwashita, they changed it somewhere around the 4th or 5th inning when they decided they could attack his pitches.  This despite the fact he was struggling with his control.  That allowed him to gain confidence and settle down for the stretch run.

Well, the better team won today and Seiryou is on to the 2nd round.

Notable Players
Iwashita Daiki (Seiryou) - 2-4, 2B, GW RBI
Nakamura Hayato (Seiryou) - 2-4, R, RBI
Tsujimoto Hiromu (Shizuoka) - CG, 5 R, 2 ER, 9 H, 4 K, 0 BB
Yasumoto Ryuuji (Shizuoka) - 2-3, RBI
Ooishi Tomoki (Shizuoka) - 1-2, BB, 2 R, RBI, SB, 2 E

(I wish I could've had a proper writeup, but technical difficulties delayed me from doing so...)

Seiryou (Ishikawa)
SS Kitamura Takumi
3B Aihara Tomoya
LF Machiba Daisuke
C Kanoya Atsushi
2B Maruyama Masashi
1B Satou Hiroshi
P Iwashita Daiki
RF Fukami Naoto
CF Oono Jyunpei

Naruto (Tokushima)
2B Nakano Yuuki
CF Koumoto Yuujirou
SS Kawano Yuuto
1B Ise Hayato
RF Inaoka Kenta
C Kusaka Hiroki
3B Matsumoto Takanori
P Bandou Yuugo
LF Narukawa Shuuji

____________________________________________________________

08:00 - First Pitch!

Top 1st
Kitamura opens the game with a single through the gap at short.  1st year Aihara showing bunt but falls behind 1-2.  He still shows it, lays it down, but right to Bandou!  He goes to 2nd, AH!

He throws it high and everyone's safe!

Moriwaki-kantoku calls for time as Machiba steps in.

Bunt!  But he pops it up and Ise charges in to catch it.

For those not familiar with Bandou, he's your run of the mill ace.  Fastball in the high-120s-low 130s and a change/slider in the 110s.  But nothing's going well as he walks Kanoya to load the bases!

Maruyama up with a great chance, and flies to center.  Koumoto with the catch, they go to 3rd... and they get the runner!  And they get him before the runner from 3rd scores so no run!!  Bandou gets out of the jam with poor baserunning for Seiryou!

Bottom 1st
Nakano with ball back up the middle off Kitamura's glove and into center for a base hit!

Wild pitch from Iwashita!  Nakano heads to 2nd, going for 3rd!  Throw from Kanoya is way in time and that's poor baserunning on Naruto's part.

After a groundout from Koumoto, Kawano with a blast to left!  That's to the wall and he's in with a double!

Iwashita clamps down and whizzes a 140 kph fastball by him for strike 3!  Side retired, but both teams a bit sloppy out on the bases.

Top 2nd
Bandou settling in after a shaky opening frame.  Satou works the count full, but grounds to 3rd.  Iwashita chases a cutter away for the 2nd out.  And while Fukami makes solid contact, it's right to Kawano who tosses to 1st for the 3rd out.

Bottom 2nd
Ok, for Seiryou ace Iwashita.  He throws high 130s-low 140, looks like a slider in the high 120s-low 130s.

Hangs a pitch over the plate and Inaoka booms one to right center for a leadoff double! Kusaka to bunt, but pops it up!  Satou charging in makes the catch, fires to 2nd and doubles off Inaoka!

Matsumoto grounds to 3rd and Iwashita gets off the hook!

Top 3rd
Bandou cruising along.  He gets Oono to grounds out to short, the Kitamura to chase a ball out of the zone, and then a routine grounder to Nakano by Aihara.

Bottom 3rd
Bandou with a dying fly to center, Ono makes the neat sliding catch for the first out.  Narukawa a bit ahead of the Iwashita offering, and grounds to Maruyama.

And it's a proper 1-2-3 inning for Iwashita as Nakano flies out to Michiba in foul territory.

Top 4th
Ooh.  Bandou looks perhaps to get a generous call on a fastball outside to catch Machiba looking.  Did hit his target though.

Kanoya down to 2 strikes and chases an offspeed pitch low.  Makes contact, but Naruyama with the easy catch.

Maruyama though stubborn at the plate, fouls off a couple, almost takes off his 3rd base coach's head as he spins to the ground, and is rewarded by getting hit.  Well, he's on base. 

It doesn't look like Seiryou has Bnadou timed out just yet.  So Hayashi-kantoku sets the game in motion!  Maruyama breaks for 2nd and the throw is late and wide.

But Satou golfs a ball to left that Narukawa fields for the 3rd out.

Bottom 4th
Same problem for Naruto right now.  Outside of the two hangers, the offense has had trouble sizing up Iwashita's pitches.

Koumoto and Kawano both get on top of Iwashita's offerings and ground out.  Though on the latter it deflects off Iwashita's glove and Kitamura makes a good adjustment and quick throw for the out.

Ise finally makes good contact and the ball is too hot for Aihara as hit bounces off him and into left for a base hit.

Inaoka though continues Naruto's ineffectiveness as he chases a forkball for the 3rd out.

Top 5th
Hard shot from Iwashita eats up Matsumoto and actually deflects off his arm or hand and goes to 2nd base!

OW.

3B coach Kimura goes out to him and uses the "itai" spray, but that was a hard ricochet.  And after that, he's tested immediately with a sac bunt.  Waits to see if it goes foul, but fires a ball to 1st to get Fukami.  Looks like he's ok.

Oono just under a ball from Bandou and flies out to center.  Iwashita not advancing (perhaps respecting the arm?). Back to the top of the order and Kitamura.

Bandou putting himself in a bit of a pinch as he plunks Kitamura.  Aihara up next as Kawano goes to talk to Bandou, while now Hayashi sends a message to Aihara.

Bandou gets out of the inning as Aihara grounds to Nakano who goes the short way for the 3rd out.

Bottom 5th
Naruto making better contact it seems now.  Kusaka with a hard grounder to Maruyama for the first out.

Oh, it looks like Iwashita hung another one.  Matsumoto puts it to right center and it runs all the way to the wall for a double.  That's their 3rd one today.

Bandou with a liner back up the middle puts runners at the corners and this is Naruto's best chance since the 2nd.  Hayashi-kantoku calls time as #9 Narukawa steps in to bat.

Iwashits trying to give Narukawa nothing to hit, but he falls behind 3-1.

Comebacker to Iwashita!  He tries to look back Matsumoto before turning 2, but the delay means the relay from Kitamura is late!  Matsumoto scores and it's 1-0 Naruto!  That's a fundamental mistake there.  If you're going to try and turn 2 just go for it.  Otherwise, like here, you get neither.

Looks like Iwashita's continues to struggle here in the 5th as Narukawa takes 2nd on him, and then follows that up by walking Nakano after a prolonged AB.  Koumoto up and he's just as stubborn.

Iwashita finally gets out of the inning with a groundout, but a bit of a defensive hiccup costs them a run heading into the break.

Top 6th
Well, that's an inauspicious start for Bandou.  He walks Machiba on 4 straight.  And now cleanup batter Kanoya is showing bunt.  Not sure about that.

Well, that's better, Hayashi-kantoku tries the hit-and-run but Kanoya fouls it off.  Welp, they go for the bunt after all and Kanoya lays it down.

Maruyama with a rip down the 3rd base line.. FAIR!  It's past a diving Matsumoto and down the left field line!  Machiba will come around to score and it's 1-1 on the timely double!

Chance now for Seiryou to take the lead, but Satou swings and misses on a slider for the 2nd out.  Iwashita suffers a similar fate, though he manages to make contact and ground back to Bandou.  But it looks like we might have action on both sides to end the game!

Bottom 6th
Iwashita making a routine play a little more interesting as he makes Satou pick up a low throw.

Anyways, Ise slices a ball off the end of the bat and up the middle for a base hit.

And then Ise almsot gets caught off 1st.  Snap throw from Kanoya there in time, but Satou can't hold on to it.  That allows Inaoka to bunt the runner along looking for a one-timer from Kusaka.

Kusaka with a liner, but right to Machiba for the 3rd out.

Top 7th
Seiryou certainly hitting the ball harder, but it's right at players.  Fukami with a hard grounder to Ise, Oono one right to Matsumoto.

Kitano out in front of a ball outside, pulls it to short for the 3rd out.  Could be a matter of time though before those hard hit balls find the holes.

Bottom 7th
Iwashita flying open on a couple of pitches, walks his 2nd batter.  Bandou looking to bunt the runner along, but fouls off 2 balls and might have to swing away.  Still flashing it though, takes a ball.  Battery wary of a bust-and-run throws one way outside.

But he lays it down!  Iwashita fields it.  goes to 2nd, just beats Matsumoto to get the lead runner as the relay throw is not in time.  That brings up Narukawa who also shows bunt.

Iwashita not breathing heavily, but he is sweating a lot.

Narukawa lays one down, Aihara with it, throws it away!!  Runners advance to 2nd and 3rd and now Iwashita's in a big pinch as Hayashi-kantoku calls time.

Worse yet, it's back to the top of the order and Nakano...

After getting ahead 1-2, Iwashita throws two wide and fills up the count.  Ball high and it's manrui now for Koumoto!

Defensive change.  #10 Katou comes in for... Aihara and goes to 1B, and Satou goes to 3B?  That seems odd...

Oh, there goes the neighborhood!  Koumoto drives a ball to right center going all the way to the wall!  He slides in at 3rd, clearing the bases and Naruto takes a 4-1 lead!

Kawano flies out to left, but not deep enough as Koumoto has to hold.

Doesn't matter though, Ise collects his 3rd hit, dropping one in right to make it 5-1.  No change on the mound as Inaoka puts one back up the middle.  Kusaka gets his first hit thereafter with a ball through the gap in short.  No pitching change yet, and I don't know why, Iwashita's done.

That brings up Matsumoto for his 2nd AB this inning.

And just as I write that, Matsumoto blasts one to left.  That leaves for a manrui HR to make it 9-1.

Only now does Hayashi-kantoku send in #11 Muroki.  He goes in for Fukami as Iwashita goes to RF.

And Muroki strikes out Bandou to end the inning,  Sad that Hayashi-kantoku didn't trust his relief staff earlier.

Top 8th
Katou singles back up the middle, but they will need a lot more of those if they want to get back in the game.

Machiba works the count, fouls off a couple and earns a walk.  Moriwaki-kantoku calls time, though right now nothing to worry about.

Seiryou not bunting (thankfully). Kanoya with a hard ball right at Ise who knocks it down and takes it to 1st for the out.  Maruyama flies out to center, leaving it up to Satou to try and get any runs back.

He grounds out to short, and Naruto will soon be dormy to advance.

Bottom 8th
Muroki doesn't seem like a bad pitcher.  Fastball in the mid 130s and a change in the 110s.  Though, the control isn't there as he walks Narukawa.  He's replaced at 1B by #15 Tanaka.  Passed ball sends him to 2nd.

Guess we can see why perhaps Hayashi-kantoku didn't want to go to the bullpen.  Muroki tends to fly open the shoulder and throw balls wide.  He walks Nakano as well.

And after a sac bunt, Kawano blasts one to right over Iwashita's head for a triple.  11-1 Naruto as Muroki is replaced by #18 Hatanaka.

Hatanaka starts off his stint walking Ise.  Moriwaki-kantoku getting his bench players some time as #10 Maegawa hits for Inaoka.

He singles to center.  Kawano scores as Ise is thrown out trying to stretch to 3rd.  12-1.

Kusaka strikes out looking to end the inning, and mercifully for Seiryou, the game will end in one more half inning.

Top 9th
Maekawa stays in to play RF, Tanaka in LF.

Iwashita starts off with a grounder past Matsumoto, PH Yanase gets one past Ise.  He's replaced by #14 Muranaka.

Oono makes solid contact, singles to left center.  Iwashita scores to make it 12-2 as Moriwaki-kantoku calls time.

Huh.  Kitamura with a no-doubter to left center.  Narukawa doesn't give chase as it's now 12-5.

But still a long ways to go...

Bandou ticking off the first out, getting Katou to miss on a change.  Machiba goes on the first ball and flies out to center.  Quickly 2 outs as Kanoya steps in.

Kanoya with a chopper to the right side, Nakano charging in, fields it, but trips and tumbles over.

Maruyama lines out to Matsumoto and the game is over.

Sadly for Seiryou, bad bullpen management lead to 11 runs and ruin 6 good innings by the team.  It's a rather disappointing performance for a team that looked good early.  But Naruto did what good teams should do and take advantage of such an event.


Notable Players
Matsumoto Yuuto (Naruto) - 2-3, 2B, HR, 2 R, 4 RBI
Kawano Yuuto (Naruto) - 2-5, 2B, 3B, R, 2 RBI
Nakano Yuuki (Naruto) - 1-2, 2 R, 3 BB
Kitamura Takumi (Seiryou) - 2-4, HR, R, 3 RBI
Iwashita Daiki (Seiryou) - 2-4, R