Our 5th Super-Regional champ has been determined, and it was almost an upset.
Toyokawa had a dream run in the super-regionals, defeating teams such as Tokoha Tachibana, Oogaki Nichidai and Shizuoka. Standing in front of them was Mie, yet another Koushien team that is known for their grittiness.
Toyokawa jumped right on Mie early as leadoff batter Nakamura would open the game with a triple to right center. 4 batters later, he would finally be driven in by Itou. Nakamura would return the favor in the 2nd with a timely hit of his own and suddenly they led 2-0.
Mie's Imai would settle down after that, while Toyokawa's Tanaka continued to keep the Mie offense off the board, despite giving up a fair share of hits.
In the 8th, Nakamura would come up clutch again, delivering another timely hit extending the lead to 3-0, and the game perhaps seemed in hand.
But Mie's captain Nagano seemed to have the answer for Tanaka's slider and with that information got to work. One run already in and now bases loaded with 2 out, a hard grounder by Yamamoto to 2B Shima caught him in-between and it would go off his glove allowing one run to score.
That error opened the gates as the next batter Sada would hit a slow roller to short. SS Takakuwa would charge and make an errant throw to 1st allowing 2 runs to score giving Mie the lead. Imai closed the door in the 9th and they claim just their 4th title and 1st in 19 years!
Given Toyokawa's performance, I do expect them along with Mie to make it to Haru Koushien.
Showing posts with label Tokai. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tokai. Show all posts
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Monday, October 21, 2013
Aki Taikai Recap-to-date - Tokai Super-Regional
Finishing up the field for Aichi, Touhou took top honors defeating Toyokawa 3-1 in the championship game, while Chuukyoudai Chuukyou took out their frustration on Homare 10-0 in 5 to take the 3rd spot.
The Super-Regional bracket was as follows:
So Shizuoka Shougyou will face Mie in the semifinals. While Chuukyoudai Chuukyou handled Gifu Seitoku Gakuen with no problems, a 6-run 5th by Mie helped put the former Koushien champ out of commission 9-2.
On the other half, Seki Shoukou's sayonara victory over Ise 7-6 did not portend good things for them against Shizuoka, and while they held the early 1-0 lead, 7 runs in the middle 3 innings meant a 7-3 loss.
They will face a game Toyokawa squad who pretty much did what Shizuoka Shougyou did - advance from a tough draw. First, they put 2 3-run innings together to defeat Tokoha Tachibana 6-4. And then against Oogaki Nichidai they hit them early and kept them at arms length the rest of the way winning 6-3.
Once again, we could have an intra-prefectural final should Shizuoka Shougyou and Shizuoka win. Mie and Toyokawa look game though and the games here on out should be closely fought.
The Super-Regional bracket was as follows:
- Touhou (Aichi 1) vs winner of Shizuoka Shougyou (Shizuoka 2)-Inabe Sougou Gakuen (Mie 3)
- Mie (Mie 1) vs winner of Gifu Seitoku Gakuen (Gifu 2)-Chuukyoudai Chuukyou (Aichi 3)
- Shizuoka (Shizuoka 1) vs winner of Ise (Mie 2)-Seki Shougyou (Gifu 3)
- Oogaki Nichidai (Gifu 1) vs winner of Toyokawa (Aichi 2)-Tokoha Tachibana (Shizuoka 3)
So Shizuoka Shougyou will face Mie in the semifinals. While Chuukyoudai Chuukyou handled Gifu Seitoku Gakuen with no problems, a 6-run 5th by Mie helped put the former Koushien champ out of commission 9-2.
On the other half, Seki Shoukou's sayonara victory over Ise 7-6 did not portend good things for them against Shizuoka, and while they held the early 1-0 lead, 7 runs in the middle 3 innings meant a 7-3 loss.
They will face a game Toyokawa squad who pretty much did what Shizuoka Shougyou did - advance from a tough draw. First, they put 2 3-run innings together to defeat Tokoha Tachibana 6-4. And then against Oogaki Nichidai they hit them early and kept them at arms length the rest of the way winning 6-3.
Once again, we could have an intra-prefectural final should Shizuoka Shougyou and Shizuoka win. Mie and Toyokawa look game though and the games here on out should be closely fought.
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Aki Taikai Reacp-to-date - Tokai
Tokai is just about completed, with the urban Aichi to have their final games this weekend. All prefectures qualify 3 teams to the Super-Regional.
Shizuoka
Shizuoka wound up being fairly scratch - at least up until the semifinals.
Tokoha Tachibana had two straight scares in the prefecutrals beating Kakegawa Nishi in 10 innings, then needing 12 to defeat Iwata Higashi. There was the possibility that they'd face their sister school Tokoha Kikugawa in the semfinals, but Gotenba Nishi actually quashed that in their first game.
In the end it wound up not being Gotenba Nishi, but Shizuoka Shougyou who also won 2 close affairs with a 6-5 win over Hamamatsu Shougyou then a 13-inning marathon over the aforementioned Gotenba Nishi. And in that semifinal, Shizuoka Shougyou actually had a relative easier time winning 8-4 to secure a spot in the Super-Regional.
It actually wound up not being easy for any of the powerhouses early as on the other half Seisei and Shizuoka almost stumbled in their first game but made their way to the semifinals. In that matchup Shizuoka would triumph with a 4-2 win, sending Seisei into a winner to Super-Regional game. Sadly for Seisei, they would fall once again to Tokoha Tachibana 3-2 and be eliminated from contention.
And for the title and a bye, Shizuoka would win another extra inning affair with a 3-2 win in 11 innings.
Aichi
I won't even begin to say I understand how Aichi's Aki Taikai works. 52 teams qualified for the prefecturals.
There would be no repeat for Aikoudai Meiden though as they fell hard in the round of 16 to Touhou getting mercy ruled 12-3. In fact, Touhou marched their way all to the final uncontested with their narrowest loss in the first round 5-0 to Komaki Minami!
As for the other half, Chuukyoudai Chuukyou seemed to be back on the rebound as they defeated Shigakukan and Aichi Keisei. However, they were steamrolled in the semifinals by unknown Toyokawa 10-0 in just 6 innings!! So they're sent to the 3rd place game to face Homare for the last bid. Should be no trouble, but you never know...
Gifu
Oh man, I thought Aichi's qualification process was convoluted... Gifu's makes even less sense! Some regions have a semi-round robin where you don't face everyone, instead of separating groups into their own - appearing to make it even less equitable.
Despite all that, Oogaki Nichidai gained momentum in the prefecturals, culminating in a 4-0 win over unknown Gifu Seitoku Gakuen to claim their 6th title.
Shiritsu Gifu Shougyou didn't even make it to the prefecturals, and Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou narrowly lost to Seki Shoukou, who went on the 3rd place game defeating Gifu Kougyou 6-0.
Mie
Mie was totally controlled by Mie, with the only challenge in a win over Inabe Sougou Gakuen in the semifinals (they made a first inning run stick for the entire game). Joining them in an automatic bid is Ise, who had some solid wins against Matsuzaka and Ise Kougyou, but like many couldn't keep up with Mie.
Not surprisingly, Inabe Sougou Gakuen took the 3rd place game easily against Tsuda Gakuen 9-1.
Shizuoka
Shizuoka wound up being fairly scratch - at least up until the semifinals.
Tokoha Tachibana had two straight scares in the prefecutrals beating Kakegawa Nishi in 10 innings, then needing 12 to defeat Iwata Higashi. There was the possibility that they'd face their sister school Tokoha Kikugawa in the semfinals, but Gotenba Nishi actually quashed that in their first game.
In the end it wound up not being Gotenba Nishi, but Shizuoka Shougyou who also won 2 close affairs with a 6-5 win over Hamamatsu Shougyou then a 13-inning marathon over the aforementioned Gotenba Nishi. And in that semifinal, Shizuoka Shougyou actually had a relative easier time winning 8-4 to secure a spot in the Super-Regional.
It actually wound up not being easy for any of the powerhouses early as on the other half Seisei and Shizuoka almost stumbled in their first game but made their way to the semifinals. In that matchup Shizuoka would triumph with a 4-2 win, sending Seisei into a winner to Super-Regional game. Sadly for Seisei, they would fall once again to Tokoha Tachibana 3-2 and be eliminated from contention.
And for the title and a bye, Shizuoka would win another extra inning affair with a 3-2 win in 11 innings.
Aichi
I won't even begin to say I understand how Aichi's Aki Taikai works. 52 teams qualified for the prefecturals.
There would be no repeat for Aikoudai Meiden though as they fell hard in the round of 16 to Touhou getting mercy ruled 12-3. In fact, Touhou marched their way all to the final uncontested with their narrowest loss in the first round 5-0 to Komaki Minami!
As for the other half, Chuukyoudai Chuukyou seemed to be back on the rebound as they defeated Shigakukan and Aichi Keisei. However, they were steamrolled in the semifinals by unknown Toyokawa 10-0 in just 6 innings!! So they're sent to the 3rd place game to face Homare for the last bid. Should be no trouble, but you never know...
Gifu
Oh man, I thought Aichi's qualification process was convoluted... Gifu's makes even less sense! Some regions have a semi-round robin where you don't face everyone, instead of separating groups into their own - appearing to make it even less equitable.
Despite all that, Oogaki Nichidai gained momentum in the prefecturals, culminating in a 4-0 win over unknown Gifu Seitoku Gakuen to claim their 6th title.
Shiritsu Gifu Shougyou didn't even make it to the prefecturals, and Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou narrowly lost to Seki Shoukou, who went on the 3rd place game defeating Gifu Kougyou 6-0.
Mie
Mie was totally controlled by Mie, with the only challenge in a win over Inabe Sougou Gakuen in the semifinals (they made a first inning run stick for the entire game). Joining them in an automatic bid is Ise, who had some solid wins against Matsuzaka and Ise Kougyou, but like many couldn't keep up with Mie.
Not surprisingly, Inabe Sougou Gakuen took the 3rd place game easily against Tsuda Gakuen 9-1.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Haru Taikai Recap - Hokkaido to Tokai
So, here's what's going on in the Haru Taikai's.
Hokkaido Super-Regional
In Hokkaido, it's much of the same process, each region qualifies a team - Sapporo has 4 blocks, Hakodate 2. Hokushou and Engaru automatically advance having played at Haru Koushien.
They still won their regionals, but since they got automatic bids, the losers of the finals were guaranteed to advance - Otaru Ouyou out of the Otaru region, and Kitami Hokuto out of Kitami.
Many familiar names reached the 2nd stage. Both Komadai Tomakomai and Komadai Iwamizawa advanced, along with Hokkai and Sapporo Nichidai. Lesser known teams such as Towa no mori san-ai and Hakodate LaSalle both advanced as well.
Missing from the list of teams is Asahikawa Jitsugyou, who lost 4-1 to Asahikawa Ryuukoku as well as Shirakaba Gakuen who fell 8-7 to Obihiro Kita after they rallied for 5 in the 7th before hanging on by the slimmest of margins.
The super-regionals started the other day and we already have a few casualties. Hokkai fell 7-5 to Hakodate LaSalle while Engaru couldn't get past the first round falling to Sapporo Nichidai 4-3. In other games, Komadai Tomakomai had no problems with Wakkanai Ootani, while Otaru Ouyou's reprieve lasted just one game, losing to Kushiro Koryou. Kitami Hokuto and Komadai Iwamizawa has also advanced.
Tohoku Super-Regional
Prefectures have finished up their qualifiers, and there are not many surprises.
In Aomori, Aomori Yamada cleans up on Hachinohe Koudai Dai-ichi with Hachinohe Kougyou taking the 3rd spot.
No Hanamaki Higashi in Iwate, instead Moriokadai Fuzoku outlasts Senshuudai Kitami 7-3 to take the title while Ichinoseki Gakuin loses out yet again, this time a 5-1 loss to Morioka Dai-yon.
Newly formed Noshiro Shouyou (merger between Noshiro Shougyou and Noshiro Kita) takes Akita in sayonara fashion in the 10th over tough-luck Honjyou with Akita Chuo winning the 3rd place match.
We haven't really heard from Haguro recently out of Yamagata recently, but they defeat Kunori Gakuen 5-2 to take the spring title. Sakata Minami was relegated to 3rd after an 11-4 win over Yonezawa Chuo.
Miyagi is still missing Tohoku. Meiji Jingu champ Sendai Ikuei and Rifu have filled the gap in the meantime - though a 16-9 score doesn't exactly instill confidence in the prefecture in the summer. Sendai Dai-san blanked Sendai Shougyou 4-0 to take the last spot.
And in Fukushima, status quo is maintained. Seikou Gakuin wins once again, this time a 25-2 whitewashing over Fukushima Higashi. Odaka Kougyou finishes in 3rd.
Kanto Super-Regional
Kanto for the spring includes Tokyo, so they're grouped in with everyone else in the region. Play has been completed, and it perhaps sheds some light for the summer.
With Tochigi hosting, they receive 4 bids while all others get 1. No real surprise from those 4 teams - Sano Nichidai, Ootawara, Sakushin Gakuin and Hakuoudai Ashikaga.
Urawa Gakuin got a free pass but still won Saitama in an 8-0 win over Hanasaki Tokuharu. That meant that the 3rd place team advanced from Saitama and that team was Washinomiya in a 5-3 win over Saitama Sakae. Going over the results, my Kasukabe Kyouei squad had to face Urawa Gakuin and gave them the best fight in-prefecture, losing 2-1 in 12 inning. I was going to hope those two teams were going to be split up this year (Saitama will be split up this time around along with other major prefectures), but with Kasukabe Kyouei an ~20 min drive to Urawa Gakuin... my guess is no. Darn.
Elsewhere...
Uragaku had an immediate test in the Super-Regionals facing ever-present Sanko. However, they were able to shut them down in a surprising 2-0 score. In fact, Ojima was used just twice. Once in part against Sanko, and then again in the semifinals against Toukaidai Bouyou as Urawa Gakuin took the Kanto Super-Regionals over the aforementioned Maebashi Ikuei.
Hokushinetsu Super-Regional
Ishikawa is the host this year for the Hokushinetsu Super-Regional, so they qualify 4 teams while all others send 2.
And Godzilla's alma mater is trying their darnest to get to Koshien this year. Well, if the spring taikais are any indication. Seiryou had to survive two 8-7 ballgames against Kanazawa and Yuugakukan to take the spring title. On a slightly unrelated note, they also defeated my friend's JET assignment Komatsu Meihou. Joining the trio is Kanazawa Gakuin Higashi.
In Fukui, the secret is out. Tsuruga Kehi is good. So while I suppose you can hide some things, there probably isn't a whole lot to hide anymore. With that said, they won the rematch against Harue Kougyou 6-3 in the final.
I really wish Ueda Nishi would get to Koushien one day. I don't know why Ueda Nishi other than that Ueda was used for bits of the Onegai Twins! series. I guess for now a spring prefectural victory will have to do. They defeated both Matsushou Gakuen and Chikyuu Kankyou before defeating Tokyo Shidai Shiojiri 2-1.
Over in Toyama, Toyama Dai-ichi will look to challenge this summer after defeating both Tonami Kougyou and runner-up Toyama Shougyou. A 3-0 11 inning win though in the final means they'll probably have their hands full.
And finally in Niigata, there are two names I am not totally familiar with. Murakami Sakuragaoka almost fritters away a 6-0 lead, but holds on to defeat Shibata Chuo 6-5. I haven't really been able to find anything about either team, so I will be curious to see the summer taikai as both Nihon Bunri and Niigata Kenou Kougyou both reached the semifinals.
Tokai Super-Regional
Tokai has already completed play and I can't say I'm completely surprised by the teams that made it.
Since it's a non-Koshien taikai, each prefecture sends just 2 teams to the super-regional.
Shizuoka is always a focus for me because of Tokoha Kikugawa and Tohoha Tachibana. Sadly, both were in the same half, and wound up facing each other in the semifinals. Tachibana held the slim 2-1 lead before Kikugawa scores a run in the 8th, then walks off in the 9th to reach the super-regionals. Joining them will be Shizuoka, who never really competed with Kikugawa in the final.
Gifu brings back one of the possible contenders at Haru Koushien - if not for injuries. So how did Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou bounce back?
Well, they did win Gifu, but it looks like they didn't use Fujita. It showed as they went through several close games against many seemingly non-contenders... and still won the prefecture. Oogaki Nichidai joins them, but don't look to be serious contenders at this moment.
In Mie, Inabe Sougou Gakuen takes out a possible contender in Komono in the quarterfinals, then almost coughs up the victory against recent newcomer Tsu Shougyou before winning 6-5 in 11 innings. Not sure that Tsu Shougyou has in their arsenal that has made them contenders in Mie at least, but I don't think we've seen the last of them.
(I did try to look up players from Tsu Shougyou, and all I can find is the battery of Moriyama Takuma 森山 拓魔, and Shimizu Tomoki 清水 智貴 - who happen to be the 3-4 batters for the team)
Aichi happens to be the only surprise out of the 4. Both Chuukyoudai Chuukyou and Aikoudai Meiden both lost in the quarterfinals, opening the field up for the title - which would be taken in spectacular walkoff fashion by Haruhigaoka 3-2 over Eitoku.
Onto the super-regionals and it looks like Fujita isn't 100% yet. He started versus Shizuoka, but did not last long as they got to him early and often in an 8-3 loss. Oogaki Nichidai proved my premise right about Gifu as they lost to Inabe Sougou Gakuen, while Tsu Shougyou only yielded a 9th inning run against Haruhigaoka.
Much to perhaps all the other prefectures' dismay, it was an all-Shizuoka final as Tokoha Kikugawa and Shizuoka squared off yet again. After trading 3-spots in the 1st, another 3-run inning by Kikugawa in the 5th proved to be just enough as they take the spring Tokai tournament 6-5.
The biggest concern has to be for Kengifushou and Fujita. If he's not 100%, they're just another team. They need him to be fully ready for the run this summer... or it really was a pyhrric victory over Osaka Touin.
Hokkaido Super-Regional
In Hokkaido, it's much of the same process, each region qualifies a team - Sapporo has 4 blocks, Hakodate 2. Hokushou and Engaru automatically advance having played at Haru Koushien.
They still won their regionals, but since they got automatic bids, the losers of the finals were guaranteed to advance - Otaru Ouyou out of the Otaru region, and Kitami Hokuto out of Kitami.
Many familiar names reached the 2nd stage. Both Komadai Tomakomai and Komadai Iwamizawa advanced, along with Hokkai and Sapporo Nichidai. Lesser known teams such as Towa no mori san-ai and Hakodate LaSalle both advanced as well.
Missing from the list of teams is Asahikawa Jitsugyou, who lost 4-1 to Asahikawa Ryuukoku as well as Shirakaba Gakuen who fell 8-7 to Obihiro Kita after they rallied for 5 in the 7th before hanging on by the slimmest of margins.
The super-regionals started the other day and we already have a few casualties. Hokkai fell 7-5 to Hakodate LaSalle while Engaru couldn't get past the first round falling to Sapporo Nichidai 4-3. In other games, Komadai Tomakomai had no problems with Wakkanai Ootani, while Otaru Ouyou's reprieve lasted just one game, losing to Kushiro Koryou. Kitami Hokuto and Komadai Iwamizawa has also advanced.
Tohoku Super-Regional
Prefectures have finished up their qualifiers, and there are not many surprises.
In Aomori, Aomori Yamada cleans up on Hachinohe Koudai Dai-ichi with Hachinohe Kougyou taking the 3rd spot.
No Hanamaki Higashi in Iwate, instead Moriokadai Fuzoku outlasts Senshuudai Kitami 7-3 to take the title while Ichinoseki Gakuin loses out yet again, this time a 5-1 loss to Morioka Dai-yon.
Newly formed Noshiro Shouyou (merger between Noshiro Shougyou and Noshiro Kita) takes Akita in sayonara fashion in the 10th over tough-luck Honjyou with Akita Chuo winning the 3rd place match.
We haven't really heard from Haguro recently out of Yamagata recently, but they defeat Kunori Gakuen 5-2 to take the spring title. Sakata Minami was relegated to 3rd after an 11-4 win over Yonezawa Chuo.
Miyagi is still missing Tohoku. Meiji Jingu champ Sendai Ikuei and Rifu have filled the gap in the meantime - though a 16-9 score doesn't exactly instill confidence in the prefecture in the summer. Sendai Dai-san blanked Sendai Shougyou 4-0 to take the last spot.
And in Fukushima, status quo is maintained. Seikou Gakuin wins once again, this time a 25-2 whitewashing over Fukushima Higashi. Odaka Kougyou finishes in 3rd.
Kanto Super-Regional
Kanto for the spring includes Tokyo, so they're grouped in with everyone else in the region. Play has been completed, and it perhaps sheds some light for the summer.
With Tochigi hosting, they receive 4 bids while all others get 1. No real surprise from those 4 teams - Sano Nichidai, Ootawara, Sakushin Gakuin and Hakuoudai Ashikaga.
Urawa Gakuin got a free pass but still won Saitama in an 8-0 win over Hanasaki Tokuharu. That meant that the 3rd place team advanced from Saitama and that team was Washinomiya in a 5-3 win over Saitama Sakae. Going over the results, my Kasukabe Kyouei squad had to face Urawa Gakuin and gave them the best fight in-prefecture, losing 2-1 in 12 inning. I was going to hope those two teams were going to be split up this year (Saitama will be split up this time around along with other major prefectures), but with Kasukabe Kyouei an ~20 min drive to Urawa Gakuin... my guess is no. Darn.
Elsewhere...
- In Ibaraki Kasumigaura held on for dear life to defeat Jyousou Gakuin 3-2.
- Shifting to Gunma, Takasaki Kenkou Fukushidai re-emerges but cannot hold a lead late and falls just short against Maebashi Ikuei losing 5-4 in 12.
- To the southwest in Chiba, Toukaidai Bouyou finally wins the prefecturals, overcoming a 3-0 deficit to Senshuudai Matsudo winning 5-4.
- Tokyo qualified 2 familiar faces with Teikyou defeating Nichidai-san. Teikyou survived back-to-back enchousen games against the aforementioned Sanko and Nichidai Tsurugaoka. Their schedule was littered with Koushien-brand teams - before Nichidai Tsurugaoka was Kanto Dai-ichi, Yasuda Gakuen, and Kokushikan.
- Ace Matsui out of Toukou Gakuen struggles to get more support as they cannot win it all as they fall to Touin Gakuen in the Kanagawa final. This after defeating Yokohama, Yokohama Hayato and Nichidai Fujisawa.
- And finally in Yamanashi, Fuji-kawaguchiko - a team that has done fairly well in the prefecture, reached the final, but couldn't overcome Yamanashi Gakuindai Fuzoku.
Uragaku had an immediate test in the Super-Regionals facing ever-present Sanko. However, they were able to shut them down in a surprising 2-0 score. In fact, Ojima was used just twice. Once in part against Sanko, and then again in the semifinals against Toukaidai Bouyou as Urawa Gakuin took the Kanto Super-Regionals over the aforementioned Maebashi Ikuei.
Hokushinetsu Super-Regional
Ishikawa is the host this year for the Hokushinetsu Super-Regional, so they qualify 4 teams while all others send 2.
And Godzilla's alma mater is trying their darnest to get to Koshien this year. Well, if the spring taikais are any indication. Seiryou had to survive two 8-7 ballgames against Kanazawa and Yuugakukan to take the spring title. On a slightly unrelated note, they also defeated my friend's JET assignment Komatsu Meihou. Joining the trio is Kanazawa Gakuin Higashi.
In Fukui, the secret is out. Tsuruga Kehi is good. So while I suppose you can hide some things, there probably isn't a whole lot to hide anymore. With that said, they won the rematch against Harue Kougyou 6-3 in the final.
I really wish Ueda Nishi would get to Koushien one day. I don't know why Ueda Nishi other than that Ueda was used for bits of the Onegai Twins! series. I guess for now a spring prefectural victory will have to do. They defeated both Matsushou Gakuen and Chikyuu Kankyou before defeating Tokyo Shidai Shiojiri 2-1.
Over in Toyama, Toyama Dai-ichi will look to challenge this summer after defeating both Tonami Kougyou and runner-up Toyama Shougyou. A 3-0 11 inning win though in the final means they'll probably have their hands full.
And finally in Niigata, there are two names I am not totally familiar with. Murakami Sakuragaoka almost fritters away a 6-0 lead, but holds on to defeat Shibata Chuo 6-5. I haven't really been able to find anything about either team, so I will be curious to see the summer taikai as both Nihon Bunri and Niigata Kenou Kougyou both reached the semifinals.
Tokai Super-Regional
Tokai has already completed play and I can't say I'm completely surprised by the teams that made it.
Since it's a non-Koshien taikai, each prefecture sends just 2 teams to the super-regional.
Shizuoka is always a focus for me because of Tokoha Kikugawa and Tohoha Tachibana. Sadly, both were in the same half, and wound up facing each other in the semifinals. Tachibana held the slim 2-1 lead before Kikugawa scores a run in the 8th, then walks off in the 9th to reach the super-regionals. Joining them will be Shizuoka, who never really competed with Kikugawa in the final.
Gifu brings back one of the possible contenders at Haru Koushien - if not for injuries. So how did Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou bounce back?
Well, they did win Gifu, but it looks like they didn't use Fujita. It showed as they went through several close games against many seemingly non-contenders... and still won the prefecture. Oogaki Nichidai joins them, but don't look to be serious contenders at this moment.
In Mie, Inabe Sougou Gakuen takes out a possible contender in Komono in the quarterfinals, then almost coughs up the victory against recent newcomer Tsu Shougyou before winning 6-5 in 11 innings. Not sure that Tsu Shougyou has in their arsenal that has made them contenders in Mie at least, but I don't think we've seen the last of them.
(I did try to look up players from Tsu Shougyou, and all I can find is the battery of Moriyama Takuma 森山 拓魔, and Shimizu Tomoki 清水 智貴 - who happen to be the 3-4 batters for the team)
Aichi happens to be the only surprise out of the 4. Both Chuukyoudai Chuukyou and Aikoudai Meiden both lost in the quarterfinals, opening the field up for the title - which would be taken in spectacular walkoff fashion by Haruhigaoka 3-2 over Eitoku.
Onto the super-regionals and it looks like Fujita isn't 100% yet. He started versus Shizuoka, but did not last long as they got to him early and often in an 8-3 loss. Oogaki Nichidai proved my premise right about Gifu as they lost to Inabe Sougou Gakuen, while Tsu Shougyou only yielded a 9th inning run against Haruhigaoka.
Much to perhaps all the other prefectures' dismay, it was an all-Shizuoka final as Tokoha Kikugawa and Shizuoka squared off yet again. After trading 3-spots in the 1st, another 3-run inning by Kikugawa in the 5th proved to be just enough as they take the spring Tokai tournament 6-5.
The biggest concern has to be for Kengifushou and Fujita. If he's not 100%, they're just another team. They need him to be fully ready for the run this summer... or it really was a pyhrric victory over Osaka Touin.
Friday, November 9, 2012
Fall Taikai Update - Super-Regional Completion
All Super-Regionals are now complete, and there are a couple of surprises mixed in with some of the usual suspects:
Tokyo (1 bid + 1 floating with Kanto)
Nittai Ebara fired the opening salvo in the bottom of the 1st as Tomosato hit a 2-run HR to left. Back-to-back RBI hits by the battery of Kasahara and Minami no less made it a 4-1 game. And then ace Kasahara in his next AB would hit a home run of his own making it 5-1!
But after back-to-back walks by Kasahara, Motohashi-kantoku would replace him with Furukawa. Much to his dismay, Furukawa would hit cleanup batter Takami Shunsuke (深見 俊介) and then give an oshidashi walk to Koyama Shinjirou (小山 新次郎). He'd get out of the inning, but not after yielding another run to make it 5-3.
Things only got worse for Nittai Ebara as the pitching fell apart the very next inning as Yasuda would put a 5-spot on the board taking an 8-6 lead.
Nittai Ebara would mount a rally in the bottom of the 9th. PH Seki would walk, and Tanaka would hit a double to put the tying run in scoring position with just one down. Minami (now pitching) would hit a sac fly to make it a 1-run game.
That brought up Tomosato, who was 4-4 on the day. But Oogane Shintarou (大金真太郎) would finally retire him with a grounder to 2nd to end the game and give his team a chance at Senbatsu!
In the other semifinal Souka ace Uchino collapsed in the 5th inning, giving up 6 runs to Soujitsu. Those 6 runs would wind up being the final margin as they won 11-5.
So Soujitsu would be a likely candidate for the floating bid should they lose (as long as they had a good showing), while Yasuda Gakuen would in all likelihood need to win to get in.
In the 2nd inning of the final, Yasuda gets the benefit of good luck. Takami would reach 2nd on an error by Soujitsu's LF Suzuki. After a bunt and walk, Motomiya Keita (本宮 佳汰) would lay down a successful safety squeeze to give them the first run. They'd continue to press the initiative as Koyama Takuya (小山 拓哉) would try to steal 3rd. But the throw from Toshimitsu Kensaku (利光健作) would actually hit Takuya on the helmet and deflect into left, allowing him to score making it 2-0.
Toshimitsu would get a run back with a HR in the 5th, but that would be all the scoring they could muster as Oogane would shut Soujitsu down to earn Yasuda Gakuen's first ever title!
Kanto ex Tokyo (4 bids + 1 floating with Tokyo)
So when the draw came out, the 4 brackets were as follows (A & B, C & D)
The biggest upset was in block C where Kasumigaura (while not a slouch by any means) never trailed and defeated Toukaidai Sagami 5-3!
The quarterfinals went more scratch. Narashino, who barely got by Kiryuu Dai-ichi, suffered the same problems Yokohama Hayato faced, but were unable to rally at all, getting mercy ruled 12-0 in 6 innings! (awww....)
Sano Nichidai, down 5-0 to Jyousou Gakuin gets all of the runs back in the lucky 7 to send the game into enchousen. However, outside of that one inning outburst, they couldn't muster any other offense and lost 6-5 in 12. Kasumigaura tried to continue their cinderella run as it were, but after taking the 4-2 lead in the bottom of the 6th, relinquished it right back in the lucky 7 to Utusunomiya Shougyou, losing 5-4.
The games (final score-wise) were much closer, but were not competitive. Both Saitama schools advanced wire-to-wire, setting up a rematch of the prefectural final. In that final, a 4-run first gave Hanasaki Tokuharu all the cushion it needed.
This time around they did not get such a cushion, but did lead 2-0 going into the latter innings. But without the cushion, Urawa Gakuin's rally allowed them to tie the game in the 8th and send it into enchousen. One inning later, Urawa's SS Kigure Naito (木暮騎士) would hit a 2-out double to put runners at 2nd and 3rd. After an intentional walk, C Nishikawa Genki (西川元気) would deliver the sayonara hit to give Urawa Gakuin their 3rd straight Kanto Fall title!!
With 4 bids, it seems apparent that the Best 4 participants will get the bids. Kasumigaura, the strongest team of the quarterfinalists will probably not get in because (a) the team they would replace would probably be Utsunomiya Shougyou who defeated them and (b) even if they wanted to make Kasumigaura the 4th team that would put 2 teams from Saitama and from Ibaraki into Senbatsu, which is highly doubtful.
And with Soujitsu losing in the finals to Yasuda Gakuen, the committee will certainly pick them as the floating bid. Had they won, the floating bid may have come back to Kanto.
As it stands, for Kasumigaura to get to Koushien, Yasuda Gakuen or Urawa Gakuin have to win the Meiji Jingu Fall Tournament (If Yasuda Gakuen wins, Soujitsu earns the Meiji Jingu bid and the floating bid shifts back to Kanto. If Urawa Gakuin wins, Kasumigaura earns the Meiji Jingu bid outright). But as you will see later, that will be difficult.
Tokai (3 bids)
And in fact, there was a possibility that neither team would make it as Tokoha Kikugawa had tied the game at 1 in the 8th. Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou though would guarantee that at least one team would make it, making a Tokoha-style finish in the bottom of the 9th to win 2-1.
Komono had done well to make it to the finals, but were boat-raced by Kengifushou falling quickly behind 6-0 and losing 9-3.
This normally would put Komono in a bad situation. As the runner-up, they are first in line to receive the 2nd bid. However, the poor showing would have given the selection committee pause. But with 3 teams advancing, they should be safe.
Kinki (6 bids)
In other games, Yamato Kouryou played Ryuukokudai Heian close, but couldn't get a run on the board losing 2-0. Osaka Shoudai Sakai lasted only 5 innings against Houtoku Gakuen losing 13-0. And finally, Riseisha was fighting for their lives against surging Kyoto Shouei down 1-0 late before tying the game in the 8th. The game would go into enchousen when reliever Sakamoto would finally fail, giving Kyoto Shouei the 3-1 win in 12!
That setup an all-Kyoto final on one side, and a powerhouse matchup on the other.
Kyoto Shouei and Ryuukokudai Heian were up first. Kyoto Shouei didn't have to face Heian in the prefecturals as Heian was paired with Fukuchiyama Seibi. Early on, the teams traded runs with Kyoto Shouei emerging with a 3-2 lead. It stayed that way until the 7th where Heian would get to Enomoto (who came in in relief) for a pair of runs to lead 4-3. However, their reliever Minami fell apart in the next half-inning. He hit back-to-back batters sending in a run, and then ace Enomoto would redeem himself, blasting a manrui home run to blow the game wide open.
Kyoto Shouei seemed to be in full control up 9-4, but Enomoto seemed to be out of sorts coming in relief. He struggled with his control as Heian came back to within 1 with a 4-run 8th! He'd somehow get in together just in time, closing the game out in the 9th to win 9-8!
In the other semi, it was a shocker in that Osaka Touin was not competitive at all against Houtoku Gakuen. In fact they were blanked 8-0 in 7 innings!
So Houtoku Gakuen and ace Inui Youhei (乾 陽平) were the final obstacle in Kyoto Shouei and Enomoto Kazuki (榎本 和輝) bid for their first ever fall title.
There were opportunities for both teams throughout the game as Inui yielded base hits almost every inning, while Enomoto's control issues persisted as he issued free passes. Yet the score was at 1-1 after regulation. Eventually it would become a matter of who would make the first mistake.
And that finally was made by Inui as he yielded 2 runs in the 13th. They still had the bottom half of the inning, and Enomoto was approaching his limit too. He would give up one run, but again found a way to shut the door, win 3-2, and claim Kyoto Shouei's first title!!
Looking at the field for the selection of the half-dozen bids, it almost winds up being as listed above by default. Kyoto Shouei is definitely in, as well as Houtoku Gakuen. While Heian is in the same prefecture as Kyoto Shouei, they didn't play each other in the prefecturals and held their own in the semifinals - so they're in. Those are the definites.
Osaka Touin was uncharacteristically blown out by Houtoku Gakuen. And their wins prior against Kousen and Tenri do not inspire confidence.
But then you look down at the quarterfinalists. Tenri was blown out by Osaka Touin. Daishoudai Sakai too was annihilated. That leaves Riseisha who played Kyoto Shouei close as well and should get in, and Yamato Kouryou who had a nondescript win over Shiga Gakuen before being shutout 2-0 to Heian.
So Osaka Touin now appears safe, as does Riseisha. The question becomes the last bid.
And that boils down to Yamato Kouryou and Tenri.
Tenri in name had the harder opponent in Osaka Touin, but Heian can easily be considered a quality opponent for Yamato Kouryou.
If the committee wants to go by name, then Tenri will go. But I think if they go by play, it may fall to Yamato Kouryou.
Chuugoku (3 bids)
It turns out that not just one, but two prefectures would be eliminated!
So, all else being equal, who has the advantage?
Well, the home team. And that happens to be Yamaguchi-ken.
In fact, all 4 entrants advanced into the second round. Iwakuni Shougyou, Iwakuni and Ube Koujyou all won via the shutout. Hayatomo was able to advance, but only after striking back for a pair of runs right after they gave up the lead in the 7th.
With that alone, Shimane was wiped off the board. Who would be the other prefecture?
In B quadrant, Tottori Jyouhoku started off well against Soutoku, but fell apart in the 2nd half of the game, losing 8-4. Yonago Kita went just 7 innings before they waved the white flag, losing 9-1.
That left 2nd place Yonago Shouin as the last representative. But against Kurashiki Shougyou, that was a tough task. They kept it close, even in fact tying the game at 1-1 in the top of the 5th. Kurashou struck back with 2 in their part of the frame and held on to the 3-1 win.
A valiant effort, but both Japan Sea prefectures were eliminated.
And what appeared to be a blockbuster matchup in the first round wound up being anything but. Jyousuikan would give up after 7 innings, losing to Kanzei 10-0!
This created a bizarre quarterfinal setup:
In the Yamaguchi matchups, Iwakuni Shougyou proved that they were the cream of the crop, as they defeated the only Best 4 team they haven't played - Ube Kougyou, in a shutout 5-0. Iwakuni showed that their 3rd place finish was a product of just being in the wrong half of the bracket. The struggling Hayatomo was unceremoniously upended in a 10-0 defeat in 5 innings.
Soutoku probably wasn't happy to see Kouryou in their crosshairs. They managed to avoid them in the prefecturals, but now when it really matters... it was all Kouryou in a 7-1 win.
That leaves the rematch of Kanzei and Kurashiki Shougyou. Kanzei wouldn't leave anything to chance, scoring 6 runs in the 3rd en route to an 8-4 win.
Another byproduct of the 1st round was that Yamaguchi pretty much guaranteed themselves a team at Senbatsu, especially since due to the 85th tournament, Chuugoku gets an extra bid.
And that would prove key this year as Iwakuni was routed 11-1 by Kanzei, and while Iwakuni Shougyou held with Kouryou, they still lost 2-0.
So we're left with Kouryou and Kanzei in the finals, two teams used to the big game. The game was a low-scoring affair early, then blown open in the span of 2 half-innings where Kouryou scored 3 in the 6th to lead 4-2, only to give up 5 in the lucky 7 to trail 7-4. They'd win 8-5 to take the title.
And on the basis of the semifinal matchups, expect Iwakuni Shougyou to receive the 3rd bid.
Shikoku (3 bids)
In the other games, Imabari Kougyou had a chance to survive as they were deadlocked 1-1 for a long time. Marugame though would bid sayonara to the Ehime representative 2-1. Kochi Shougyou was having a heck of a time in their game, but at 3-3 in the 7th Matsuyama Seiryou scored 6 to pull away. Kochishou would score 3 in the 9th, but it wasn't enough. And Ikeda finally made progress, winning 3-1.
With so many 3 seeds advancing, it would be expected that most if not all of the 1 seeds would advance. And in fact, all did... except for the one team that faced the only #2 seed left.
Nartuo and Kochi had no problems. Ikeda almost got to the semifinals and rallied late, but lost to Saibi 4-3. Tokushou was in another close game. They and Eimei were tied at 2 when Eimei scored a run in the 7th to take the lead. But in the bottom of the 9th they get to ace Akagawa scoring 2 runs for the gyakuten sayonara victory.
Tokushou would try to extend their run against Kochi, and early on the semifinals they held a 2-run lead, even after swapping 3-run innings. But Kochi would put up 2 runs in the 6th, 7th and 8th innings to win 11-7. In the other semifinal, Saibi was in full control, getting 2 insurance runs in the final 2 innings to lead 4-1. Saibi ace Anraku though didn't get the memo that he and his team needed to close out the game. Naruto would rally for 4 runs and win 5-4.
To the final where Kochi would try to preempt the deficit by getting ahead early. Naruto would have none of it and came back to level the score at 6 in the 6th. Kochi though would score 2 in the 8th giving Naruto no time to stage a rally.
The extra bid will probably go to Saibi, who had Naruto dead to rights, right until the bottom of the 9th.
Kyushu (4 bids)
Now all 8 top seeds would be in play, but by the end of the first round over half would go home. But not the half you may have thought.
Nagasaki Nichidai should have been dead to rights. Enchousen, tied at 1 in the 10th, Moji Gakuen scores 4 runs and should have the game wrapped up. Except they don't close it out! Nagasaki Nichidai scores 4 and extends the game further! I'd like to see what happened in that 10th inning. It wouldn't be until the 13th inning where Nagasaki Nichidai would score the sayonara run to win 6-5!
The only non-contested game was surprisingly Kurume Shougyou vs. Meihou. Kurushou scored 4 in the 1st inning and cruised to a 5-2 win.
The reprieve for the top seeds though wouldn't last. All 3 remaining would lose in the quarterfinals. Kurume Shougyou only went 7 against Souseikan losing 9-0. Kumamoto Kougyou had to face Okinawa Shougaku, and narrowly lost 3-2 in 10 innings. And Shoushikan used a 4-run 4th to defeat Nagasaki Nichidai 6-2. The fourth team to advance would indeed be Seiseikou as they shutout the last Nichidai team as Miyazaki would fall 3-0.
That put Souseikan in the crosshairs of Okinawa Shougaku, while Shoushikan and Seiseikou would square off in the other semi.
And neither game was close.
In fact, both would last just 7 innings and both due to a big inning. For Okishou, it was a 4-run 1st in an 8-1 win. For Seiseikou, it was a 5-run 6th in an 8-0 win.
So it'd be Okinawa Shougaku and Seiseikou in the finals, and both pretty much guaranteed a spot in Senbatsu. It would be just a matter now of who would represent Kyushu at the Meiji Jingu Tournament.
And boy was it a pitchers' duel. Seiseikou's Ootake Koutarou (大竹 耕太郎) versus the tandem of Ura Jyun (宇良 淳) and Higa Kenichirou (比嘉 健一朗). Okishou certainly had more opportunities throughout the game, but the game remained scoreless through 8. But in the top of the 9th, it all unraveled for Seiseikou. Okinawa Shougaku would put up 5 runs in the 9th and claim just their 2nd ever fall title!
Rounding out the projected 4 bids are in all probability the two semifinalists - Souseikan and Shoushikan. Yes, they still lost badly in the semifinals, but they had shutout their competition beforehand (though the quality of the opposition can be argued). Shoushikan defeated both Saga Kita and Nagasaki Nichidai and despite their blowout loss, should get in.
The only other team who could make a case would be Kumamoto Kougyou, who was the only team to actually play Okinawa Shougaku close. And bad news for Souseikan, they would probably be the team on the bubble if there were other considerations.
Tokyo (1 bid + 1 floating with Kanto)
- Champion - Yasuda Gakuen - Sumida-ku (First title!)
- Floating Bid - Waseda Jitsugyou
Nittai Ebara fired the opening salvo in the bottom of the 1st as Tomosato hit a 2-run HR to left. Back-to-back RBI hits by the battery of Kasahara and Minami no less made it a 4-1 game. And then ace Kasahara in his next AB would hit a home run of his own making it 5-1!
But after back-to-back walks by Kasahara, Motohashi-kantoku would replace him with Furukawa. Much to his dismay, Furukawa would hit cleanup batter Takami Shunsuke (深見 俊介) and then give an oshidashi walk to Koyama Shinjirou (小山 新次郎). He'd get out of the inning, but not after yielding another run to make it 5-3.
Things only got worse for Nittai Ebara as the pitching fell apart the very next inning as Yasuda would put a 5-spot on the board taking an 8-6 lead.
Nittai Ebara would mount a rally in the bottom of the 9th. PH Seki would walk, and Tanaka would hit a double to put the tying run in scoring position with just one down. Minami (now pitching) would hit a sac fly to make it a 1-run game.
That brought up Tomosato, who was 4-4 on the day. But Oogane Shintarou (大金真太郎) would finally retire him with a grounder to 2nd to end the game and give his team a chance at Senbatsu!
In the other semifinal Souka ace Uchino collapsed in the 5th inning, giving up 6 runs to Soujitsu. Those 6 runs would wind up being the final margin as they won 11-5.
So Soujitsu would be a likely candidate for the floating bid should they lose (as long as they had a good showing), while Yasuda Gakuen would in all likelihood need to win to get in.
In the 2nd inning of the final, Yasuda gets the benefit of good luck. Takami would reach 2nd on an error by Soujitsu's LF Suzuki. After a bunt and walk, Motomiya Keita (本宮 佳汰) would lay down a successful safety squeeze to give them the first run. They'd continue to press the initiative as Koyama Takuya (小山 拓哉) would try to steal 3rd. But the throw from Toshimitsu Kensaku (利光健作) would actually hit Takuya on the helmet and deflect into left, allowing him to score making it 2-0.
Toshimitsu would get a run back with a HR in the 5th, but that would be all the scoring they could muster as Oogane would shut Soujitsu down to earn Yasuda Gakuen's first ever title!
Kanto ex Tokyo (4 bids + 1 floating with Tokyo)
- Champion - Urawa Gakuin - Saitama-shi, Saitama (3rd consecutive title!, 4th overall)
- Runner-Up - Hanasaki Tokuharu - Kazo-shi, Saitama
- Semifinalist - Jyousou Gakuin - Tsuchiura-shi, Ibaraki
- Semifinalist - Utsunomiya Shougyou - Utsunomiya-shi, Tochigi
So when the draw came out, the 4 brackets were as follows (A & B, C & D)
- A - Jyousou Gakuin (Ibaraki 1) vs. Takasaki Kenkoudai Fukushi (Gunma 2)
- A - Sano Nichidai (Tochigi 1) vs. Toukaidai Koufu (Kofu 1)
- B - Narashino (Chiba 1) vs. Kiryuu Dai-ichi (Gunma 3)
- B - Hanasaki Tokuharu (Saitama 1) vs. Yokohama Hayato (Kanagawa 2)
- C - Toukaidai Sagami (Kanagawa 1) vs. Kasumigaura (Ibaraki 2)
- C - Hikawa (Yamanashi 1) vs. Utsunomiya Shougyou (Tochigi 2)
- D - Urawa Gakuin (Saitama 2) vs. Choushi Shougyou (Chiba 2)
- D - Maebashi Ikuei (Gunma 1) - Bye
The biggest upset was in block C where Kasumigaura (while not a slouch by any means) never trailed and defeated Toukaidai Sagami 5-3!
The quarterfinals went more scratch. Narashino, who barely got by Kiryuu Dai-ichi, suffered the same problems Yokohama Hayato faced, but were unable to rally at all, getting mercy ruled 12-0 in 6 innings! (awww....)
Sano Nichidai, down 5-0 to Jyousou Gakuin gets all of the runs back in the lucky 7 to send the game into enchousen. However, outside of that one inning outburst, they couldn't muster any other offense and lost 6-5 in 12. Kasumigaura tried to continue their cinderella run as it were, but after taking the 4-2 lead in the bottom of the 6th, relinquished it right back in the lucky 7 to Utusunomiya Shougyou, losing 5-4.
The games (final score-wise) were much closer, but were not competitive. Both Saitama schools advanced wire-to-wire, setting up a rematch of the prefectural final. In that final, a 4-run first gave Hanasaki Tokuharu all the cushion it needed.
This time around they did not get such a cushion, but did lead 2-0 going into the latter innings. But without the cushion, Urawa Gakuin's rally allowed them to tie the game in the 8th and send it into enchousen. One inning later, Urawa's SS Kigure Naito (木暮騎士) would hit a 2-out double to put runners at 2nd and 3rd. After an intentional walk, C Nishikawa Genki (西川元気) would deliver the sayonara hit to give Urawa Gakuin their 3rd straight Kanto Fall title!!
With 4 bids, it seems apparent that the Best 4 participants will get the bids. Kasumigaura, the strongest team of the quarterfinalists will probably not get in because (a) the team they would replace would probably be Utsunomiya Shougyou who defeated them and (b) even if they wanted to make Kasumigaura the 4th team that would put 2 teams from Saitama and from Ibaraki into Senbatsu, which is highly doubtful.
And with Soujitsu losing in the finals to Yasuda Gakuen, the committee will certainly pick them as the floating bid. Had they won, the floating bid may have come back to Kanto.
As it stands, for Kasumigaura to get to Koushien, Yasuda Gakuen or Urawa Gakuin have to win the Meiji Jingu Fall Tournament (If Yasuda Gakuen wins, Soujitsu earns the Meiji Jingu bid and the floating bid shifts back to Kanto. If Urawa Gakuin wins, Kasumigaura earns the Meiji Jingu bid outright). But as you will see later, that will be difficult.
Tokai (3 bids)
- Champion - Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou - Gifu-shi, Gifu (4th title, 1st in 51 years)
- Runner-up - Komono - Komono-machi, Mie
- 3rd Bid - Tokoha Kikugawa - Kikugawa-shi, Shizuoka
And in fact, there was a possibility that neither team would make it as Tokoha Kikugawa had tied the game at 1 in the 8th. Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou though would guarantee that at least one team would make it, making a Tokoha-style finish in the bottom of the 9th to win 2-1.
Komono had done well to make it to the finals, but were boat-raced by Kengifushou falling quickly behind 6-0 and losing 9-3.
This normally would put Komono in a bad situation. As the runner-up, they are first in line to receive the 2nd bid. However, the poor showing would have given the selection committee pause. But with 3 teams advancing, they should be safe.
Kinki (6 bids)
- Champion - Kyoto Shouei - Uji-shi, Kyoto (First title!)
- Runner-up - Houtoku Gakuen - Nishinomiya-shi, Hyogo
- Semi-finalist -Ryuukokudai Heian - Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto
- Semi-finalist - Osaka Touin - Daitou-shi, Osaka
- 5/6 selection - Riseisha - Toyonaka-shi, Osaka
- 5/6 selection - Yamato Kouryou - Kouryou-machi, Kita-katsuragi-gun, Nara
- Other considerations - Tenri - Tenri-shi, Nara
In other games, Yamato Kouryou played Ryuukokudai Heian close, but couldn't get a run on the board losing 2-0. Osaka Shoudai Sakai lasted only 5 innings against Houtoku Gakuen losing 13-0. And finally, Riseisha was fighting for their lives against surging Kyoto Shouei down 1-0 late before tying the game in the 8th. The game would go into enchousen when reliever Sakamoto would finally fail, giving Kyoto Shouei the 3-1 win in 12!
That setup an all-Kyoto final on one side, and a powerhouse matchup on the other.
Kyoto Shouei and Ryuukokudai Heian were up first. Kyoto Shouei didn't have to face Heian in the prefecturals as Heian was paired with Fukuchiyama Seibi. Early on, the teams traded runs with Kyoto Shouei emerging with a 3-2 lead. It stayed that way until the 7th where Heian would get to Enomoto (who came in in relief) for a pair of runs to lead 4-3. However, their reliever Minami fell apart in the next half-inning. He hit back-to-back batters sending in a run, and then ace Enomoto would redeem himself, blasting a manrui home run to blow the game wide open.
Kyoto Shouei seemed to be in full control up 9-4, but Enomoto seemed to be out of sorts coming in relief. He struggled with his control as Heian came back to within 1 with a 4-run 8th! He'd somehow get in together just in time, closing the game out in the 9th to win 9-8!
In the other semi, it was a shocker in that Osaka Touin was not competitive at all against Houtoku Gakuen. In fact they were blanked 8-0 in 7 innings!
So Houtoku Gakuen and ace Inui Youhei (乾 陽平) were the final obstacle in Kyoto Shouei and Enomoto Kazuki (榎本 和輝) bid for their first ever fall title.
There were opportunities for both teams throughout the game as Inui yielded base hits almost every inning, while Enomoto's control issues persisted as he issued free passes. Yet the score was at 1-1 after regulation. Eventually it would become a matter of who would make the first mistake.
And that finally was made by Inui as he yielded 2 runs in the 13th. They still had the bottom half of the inning, and Enomoto was approaching his limit too. He would give up one run, but again found a way to shut the door, win 3-2, and claim Kyoto Shouei's first title!!
Looking at the field for the selection of the half-dozen bids, it almost winds up being as listed above by default. Kyoto Shouei is definitely in, as well as Houtoku Gakuen. While Heian is in the same prefecture as Kyoto Shouei, they didn't play each other in the prefecturals and held their own in the semifinals - so they're in. Those are the definites.
Osaka Touin was uncharacteristically blown out by Houtoku Gakuen. And their wins prior against Kousen and Tenri do not inspire confidence.
But then you look down at the quarterfinalists. Tenri was blown out by Osaka Touin. Daishoudai Sakai too was annihilated. That leaves Riseisha who played Kyoto Shouei close as well and should get in, and Yamato Kouryou who had a nondescript win over Shiga Gakuen before being shutout 2-0 to Heian.
So Osaka Touin now appears safe, as does Riseisha. The question becomes the last bid.
And that boils down to Yamato Kouryou and Tenri.
Tenri in name had the harder opponent in Osaka Touin, but Heian can easily be considered a quality opponent for Yamato Kouryou.
If the committee wants to go by name, then Tenri will go. But I think if they go by play, it may fall to Yamato Kouryou.
Chuugoku (3 bids)
- Champion - Kanzei - Okayama-shi, Okayama (6th title, 1st in 2 years)
- Runner-up - Kouryou - Hiroshima-shi, Hiroshima
- 3rd Bid - Iwakuni Shougyou - Iwakuni-shi, Yamaguchi
- A - Hamada (Shimane 2) vs. Ube Kougyou (Yamaguchi 4)
- A - Iwakuni Shougyou (Yamaguchi 1) vs. Tamashima Shougyou (Okayama 2)
- B - Soutoku (Hiroshima 1) vs. Tottori Jyouhoku (Tottori 3)
- B - Yonago Kita (Tottori 1) vs. Kouryou (Hiroshima 3)
- C - Kanzei (Okayama 1) vs. Jyosuikan (Hiroshima 2)
- C - Yonago Shouin (Tottori 2) vs. Kurashiki Shougyou (Okayama 3)
- D - Hayatomo (Yamaguchi 2) vs. Shimane Chuo (Shimane 3)
- D - Masuda Shouyou (Shimane 1) vs. Iwakuni (Yamaguchi 3)
It turns out that not just one, but two prefectures would be eliminated!
So, all else being equal, who has the advantage?
Well, the home team. And that happens to be Yamaguchi-ken.
In fact, all 4 entrants advanced into the second round. Iwakuni Shougyou, Iwakuni and Ube Koujyou all won via the shutout. Hayatomo was able to advance, but only after striking back for a pair of runs right after they gave up the lead in the 7th.
With that alone, Shimane was wiped off the board. Who would be the other prefecture?
In B quadrant, Tottori Jyouhoku started off well against Soutoku, but fell apart in the 2nd half of the game, losing 8-4. Yonago Kita went just 7 innings before they waved the white flag, losing 9-1.
That left 2nd place Yonago Shouin as the last representative. But against Kurashiki Shougyou, that was a tough task. They kept it close, even in fact tying the game at 1-1 in the top of the 5th. Kurashou struck back with 2 in their part of the frame and held on to the 3-1 win.
A valiant effort, but both Japan Sea prefectures were eliminated.
And what appeared to be a blockbuster matchup in the first round wound up being anything but. Jyousuikan would give up after 7 innings, losing to Kanzei 10-0!
This created a bizarre quarterfinal setup:
- A - Ube Kougyou (Yamaguchi 4) vs. Iwakuni Shougyou (Yamaguchi 1)
- B - Soutoku (Hiroshima 1) vs. Kouryou (Hiroshima 3)
- C - Kanzei (Okayama 1) Kurashiki Shougyou (Okayama 3)
- D - Hayatomo (Yamaguchi 2) vs. Iwakuni (Yamaguchi 3)
In the Yamaguchi matchups, Iwakuni Shougyou proved that they were the cream of the crop, as they defeated the only Best 4 team they haven't played - Ube Kougyou, in a shutout 5-0. Iwakuni showed that their 3rd place finish was a product of just being in the wrong half of the bracket. The struggling Hayatomo was unceremoniously upended in a 10-0 defeat in 5 innings.
Soutoku probably wasn't happy to see Kouryou in their crosshairs. They managed to avoid them in the prefecturals, but now when it really matters... it was all Kouryou in a 7-1 win.
That leaves the rematch of Kanzei and Kurashiki Shougyou. Kanzei wouldn't leave anything to chance, scoring 6 runs in the 3rd en route to an 8-4 win.
Another byproduct of the 1st round was that Yamaguchi pretty much guaranteed themselves a team at Senbatsu, especially since due to the 85th tournament, Chuugoku gets an extra bid.
And that would prove key this year as Iwakuni was routed 11-1 by Kanzei, and while Iwakuni Shougyou held with Kouryou, they still lost 2-0.
So we're left with Kouryou and Kanzei in the finals, two teams used to the big game. The game was a low-scoring affair early, then blown open in the span of 2 half-innings where Kouryou scored 3 in the 6th to lead 4-2, only to give up 5 in the lucky 7 to trail 7-4. They'd win 8-5 to take the title.
And on the basis of the semifinal matchups, expect Iwakuni Shougyou to receive the 3rd bid.
Shikoku (3 bids)
- Champion - Kochi - Kochi-shi, Kochi (6th title, 1st in 6 years)
- Runner-up - Naruto - Naruto-shi, Tokushima
- 3rd Bid - Saibi - Matsuyama-shi, Ehime
- Kochi (Kochi 1) vs. Imabari Kougyou (Ehime 2)-Marugame (Kagawa 3) winner
- Eimei (Kagawa 1) vs. Tokushima Shougyou (Tokushima 2)-Tosa (Kochi 3) winner
- Naruto (Tokushima 1) vs. Kochi Shougyou (Kochi 2)-Matsuyama Seiryou (Ehime 3) winner
- Saibi (Ehime 1) vs. Takamatsu Shougyou (Kagawa 2)-Ikeda (Tokushima 3) winner
In the other games, Imabari Kougyou had a chance to survive as they were deadlocked 1-1 for a long time. Marugame though would bid sayonara to the Ehime representative 2-1. Kochi Shougyou was having a heck of a time in their game, but at 3-3 in the 7th Matsuyama Seiryou scored 6 to pull away. Kochishou would score 3 in the 9th, but it wasn't enough. And Ikeda finally made progress, winning 3-1.
With so many 3 seeds advancing, it would be expected that most if not all of the 1 seeds would advance. And in fact, all did... except for the one team that faced the only #2 seed left.
Nartuo and Kochi had no problems. Ikeda almost got to the semifinals and rallied late, but lost to Saibi 4-3. Tokushou was in another close game. They and Eimei were tied at 2 when Eimei scored a run in the 7th to take the lead. But in the bottom of the 9th they get to ace Akagawa scoring 2 runs for the gyakuten sayonara victory.
Tokushou would try to extend their run against Kochi, and early on the semifinals they held a 2-run lead, even after swapping 3-run innings. But Kochi would put up 2 runs in the 6th, 7th and 8th innings to win 11-7. In the other semifinal, Saibi was in full control, getting 2 insurance runs in the final 2 innings to lead 4-1. Saibi ace Anraku though didn't get the memo that he and his team needed to close out the game. Naruto would rally for 4 runs and win 5-4.
To the final where Kochi would try to preempt the deficit by getting ahead early. Naruto would have none of it and came back to level the score at 6 in the 6th. Kochi though would score 2 in the 8th giving Naruto no time to stage a rally.
The extra bid will probably go to Saibi, who had Naruto dead to rights, right until the bottom of the 9th.
Kyushu (4 bids)
- Champion - Okinawa Shougaku - Naha-shi, Okinawa (2nd title, 1st in 15 years)
- Runner-up - Seiseikou - Chuo-ku, Kumamoto-shi, Kumamoto
- 3rd Bid - Shoushikan - Shibushi-shi, Kagoshima
- 4th Bid - Souseikan - Isahaya-shi, Nagasaki
- Other Consideration - Kumamoto Kougyou, Kumamoto-shi, Kumamoto
Now all 8 top seeds would be in play, but by the end of the first round over half would go home. But not the half you may have thought.
- Kagoshima Jyouhou probably lacked experience and became Souseikan's 2nd shutout, losing by the slim margin of 1-0. (who by the way is looking to get an invitation this year after being snubbed).
- Miyazaki's Nisshou Gakuen can't be faulted for losing their game, they had to play Okinawa Shougaku. Down 4-0, they rallied late but still lost 4-2.
- Saga Kita reached the Super-Regionals again, but Shoushikan picked up the flag for Kagoshima and used a 5-run 5th to advance 7-3.
- Seiseikou wanted to prove that their appearance last year wasn't just a fluke. To that end they struck early and pulled ahead late, defeating Oita's Youshikan 6-2.
- And Miyazaki Nichidai would pull the upset on Okinawa's Ginoza, shutting them out 5-0!
Nagasaki Nichidai should have been dead to rights. Enchousen, tied at 1 in the 10th, Moji Gakuen scores 4 runs and should have the game wrapped up. Except they don't close it out! Nagasaki Nichidai scores 4 and extends the game further! I'd like to see what happened in that 10th inning. It wouldn't be until the 13th inning where Nagasaki Nichidai would score the sayonara run to win 6-5!
The only non-contested game was surprisingly Kurume Shougyou vs. Meihou. Kurushou scored 4 in the 1st inning and cruised to a 5-2 win.
The reprieve for the top seeds though wouldn't last. All 3 remaining would lose in the quarterfinals. Kurume Shougyou only went 7 against Souseikan losing 9-0. Kumamoto Kougyou had to face Okinawa Shougaku, and narrowly lost 3-2 in 10 innings. And Shoushikan used a 4-run 4th to defeat Nagasaki Nichidai 6-2. The fourth team to advance would indeed be Seiseikou as they shutout the last Nichidai team as Miyazaki would fall 3-0.
That put Souseikan in the crosshairs of Okinawa Shougaku, while Shoushikan and Seiseikou would square off in the other semi.
And neither game was close.
In fact, both would last just 7 innings and both due to a big inning. For Okishou, it was a 4-run 1st in an 8-1 win. For Seiseikou, it was a 5-run 6th in an 8-0 win.
So it'd be Okinawa Shougaku and Seiseikou in the finals, and both pretty much guaranteed a spot in Senbatsu. It would be just a matter now of who would represent Kyushu at the Meiji Jingu Tournament.
And boy was it a pitchers' duel. Seiseikou's Ootake Koutarou (大竹 耕太郎) versus the tandem of Ura Jyun (宇良 淳) and Higa Kenichirou (比嘉 健一朗). Okishou certainly had more opportunities throughout the game, but the game remained scoreless through 8. But in the top of the 9th, it all unraveled for Seiseikou. Okinawa Shougaku would put up 5 runs in the 9th and claim just their 2nd ever fall title!
Rounding out the projected 4 bids are in all probability the two semifinalists - Souseikan and Shoushikan. Yes, they still lost badly in the semifinals, but they had shutout their competition beforehand (though the quality of the opposition can be argued). Shoushikan defeated both Saga Kita and Nagasaki Nichidai and despite their blowout loss, should get in.
The only other team who could make a case would be Kumamoto Kougyou, who was the only team to actually play Okinawa Shougaku close. And bad news for Souseikan, they would probably be the team on the bubble if there were other considerations.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Fall Taikai Update - Tokai & Kinki
Tokai (2 bids)
Tokai is in the semifinal stages, and we could very well be in the same situation as in the Hokushinestu Super-Regionals!
Next was a game against Touhou. A 3-run 2nd inning helped put them into the lead, but Horita would squander the lead making it 3-3 going into the final third of the game. His offense would have his back scoring 3 runs yet again. Horita wouldn't give it away again, and Tokoha Kikugawa would win 6-4.
So our semifinal matches are:
The selection committee may full one Super-Regionals with teams from one prefecture - but two? No way. Never going to happen.
So if that situation arises, you better bet that both teams will pull out all the stops to win, because that would get them a guaranteed bid while the loser may not be invited at all.
Komono and Tokoha Kikugawa better be prepared for the fight of their lives this Saturday.
Kinki (6 bids)
I'm not sure why all 8 games aren't played all on the same weekend, but oddly enough this will hurt two of the possibly favored teams:
As for the last 2 games, they will be played on Saturday with the winners playing the next day:
Tokai is in the semifinal stages, and we could very well be in the same situation as in the Hokushinestu Super-Regionals!
- Shizuoka (Shizuoka 1) vs. Winner of Shiritsu Gifu Shougyou (Gifu 2)-Tsu Shougyou (Mie 3)
- Komono (Mie 1) vs. Winner of Toyokawa (Aichi 2)-Hiryuu (Shizuoka 3)
- Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou (Gifu 1) vs. Winner of Inabe Sougou Gakuen (Mie 2)-Aichi Keisei (Aichi 3)
- Touhou (Aichi 1) vs. Winner of Tokoha Kikugawa (Shizuoka 2)-Oogaki Nichidai (Gifu 3)
Next was a game against Touhou. A 3-run 2nd inning helped put them into the lead, but Horita would squander the lead making it 3-3 going into the final third of the game. His offense would have his back scoring 3 runs yet again. Horita wouldn't give it away again, and Tokoha Kikugawa would win 6-4.
So our semifinal matches are:
- Shiritsu Gifu Shougyou (Gifu 2) vs. Komono (Mie 1)
- Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou (Gifu 1) vs. Tokoha Kikugawa (Shizuoka 2)
The selection committee may full one Super-Regionals with teams from one prefecture - but two? No way. Never going to happen.
So if that situation arises, you better bet that both teams will pull out all the stops to win, because that would get them a guaranteed bid while the loser may not be invited at all.
Komono and Tokoha Kikugawa better be prepared for the fight of their lives this Saturday.
Kinki (6 bids)
I'm not sure why all 8 games aren't played all on the same weekend, but oddly enough this will hurt two of the possibly favored teams:
- Shiga Gakuen (Shiga 2) vs. Yamato Kouryou (Nara 2)
- Chiben Wakayama (Wakayama 1) vs. Ryuukokudai Heian (Kyoto 3)
- Riseisha (Osaka 1) vs. Kansei Gakuin (Hyogo 3)
- Kyoto Shouei (Kyoto 1) vs. Kobe Kokusaidai Fuzoku (Hyogo 2)
- Shiritsu Wakayama (Wakayama 2) vs. Osaka Shoudai Sakai (Osaka 3)
- Houtoku Gakuen (Hyogo 1) vs. Fukuchiyama Seibi (Kyoto 2)
As for the last 2 games, they will be played on Saturday with the winners playing the next day:
- Tenri (Nara 1) vs. Kouyasan (Wakayama 3)
- Kousen (Shiga 1) vs. Osaka Touin (Osaka 2)
Friday, January 27, 2012
Fall tournament recap and possible invitees (Hokushinetsu and Toukai)
Gotta start flying through these, we're 2 days away from the announcement of the field!
Hokushinetsu Super-Regionals (2 bids)
This year, the Hokushinetsu Super-Regionals were held in Nagano, so they received the extra bid as the host prefecture. So once again, let's begin with the hosts!
Nagano
The regional qualifiers saw Matsushiro and Nagano Nichidai advance from the north... but in the 3rd and 4th positions, Ueda Nishi taking the eastern region in a close game against Chikyuu Kankyou, Matsumoto Dai-ichi and Matsushou Gakuen take the central region as expected while last year's representative Tokyo Shidai Shiojiri just making it, and Toukai Dai-san heading up the weaker southern region.
The prefectural draw saw 3 quadrants with pairs of known teams - Ueda Nishi and Tokyo Shidai Shiojiri in the upper left (they drew each other), Matsushou Gakuen and Nagano Nichidai in the lower left (they also draw each other), and Matsushiro and Matsumoto Dai-ichi in the upper right (yes, they too drew each other). Only the lower left quadrant had no real notable names outside of Chikyuu Kankyou, but while they've been above average in the prefecture as of late, they still haven't proven anything.
And almost as expected, the winners of each of the pairs would advance to the semifinals. Ueda Nishi outlasted Tokyo Shidai 8-6, then Nagano 8-5. Matsushou Gakuen just beat out Nagano Nichidai 6-5 before handling Toukai Dai-san 6-1. Matsushiro continues to fade into the background with a 10-0 loss to Matsumoto Dai-ichi who in turn handled Komoro Shougyou. And in the final quadrant, Chikyuu Kankyou at least did perhaps what was expected with two wins over Tagawa and Iiyama Kita.
What happened next was shocking. In looking at the recent history of the prefecture, one would have expected an all-Matsumoto final.
You would be dead wrong.
Ueda Nishi was up first, taking the game to Matsushou Gakuen as ace Shiba would pitch a complete game shutout winning 3-0!
Next was Chikyuu Kankyou. Having been unable to break the ceiling the last couple of years, they finally put their stamp on the prefecture as their ace Shitsudo pitches his own shutout against Matsumoto Dai-ichi!
So both Matsumoto schools go down (though they both qualify this year) and 2 teams desperate for a title get a chance at it!
In the final, both go to their bullpens. Chikyuu Kankyou to Sakai, and Ueda Nishi to Urano. Turns out that perhaps Ueda had the deeper bullpen. Chikyuu Kankyou gives up 10 runs in the 2nd-4th innings and that was all she wrote. Ueda Nishi clinched their 3rd title and 1st in 11 years. Meanwhile, Chikyuu Kankyou (a secret pet favorite of mine) earns their 1st ever birth to the super-regionals! And in a bit of formality, Matsumoto Dai-ichi bests Matsushou Gakuen in their re-match (they played in the regional final) 5-4.
Niigata
In the large draw for the Niigata prefecturals, Hokuetsu, Chuuetsu, and Nihon Bunri occupied one quadrant setting the "directional schools" up for a quarterfinal match, Niigata Meikun had a quadrant to themselves, and Niigata Kenou Kougyou having a full half to themselves save for maybe Jyouetsu.
It would indeed be Nihon Bunri and Hokuetsu in the quarterfinals. Despite mowing down the previous competition Hokuetsu would fight back, and hard. Nihon Bunri would score 8 runs, but it wasn't enough as they would be eliminated 9-8.
Niigata Meikun and Niigata Kenou Kougyou also had no trouble reaching the semis. The final team to round out the quartet was Takada.
Hokuetsu looked to make a run for their 1st Koushien bid and this put Niigata Meikun away 8-4 in the semifinals. Takada indeed was the odd man out in the foursome, falling 7-1.
In the finals, Hokuetsu would not be stopped. They defeat Niigata Kenou Kougyou 3-1 for their 3rd title, and 1st in 61 years!
Joining the twosome would be Niigata Meikun. They dispatched Takada 7-0.
Toyama
Toyama has been a muddy mess as of late. Toyama Shougyou has been the regular entrant from the prefecture, but you had to love the story of Shin-Minato this past summer. I'm not sure I'll ever see such a large contingent dressed up in the school's colors ever again at Koushien.
Both teams could be found on the same half of the bracket.
That left the other half up for grabs. Toyama Dai-ichi and Fujikoshi Kougyou reached the semifinals, and thanks to a 4-run 3rd, Fujikoshi advanced to the finals.
Meanwhile, Shin-Minato looked good in it's first two games, but then had to face Tonami Kougyou. Unfortunately, their offense suffered a power outage at the wrong time as they lost 2-1. While strong, they posed a lesser threat to Toyama Shougyou as they were mercy ruled 7-0 in 7 innings. Toyama Shougyou would take their 18th title (1st in 3 years) with ease demolishing Fujikoshi Kougyou 15-3. Tonami Kougyou defeated Toyama Dai-ichi 10-6 in the 3rd place match to advance.
Ishikawa
Ishikawa perhaps has a void now that Kamata has left Kanazawa. Yuugakukan had challenged for a couple of years so it's possible they may fill the gap. Or perhaps it's finally the time of the cycle where Matsui's alma mater Seiryou to rise to the top again.
Or, it's quite possible the prefecture becomes up for grabs.
Of the three, Yuugakukan is the first to fall losing 2-0 to Kanazawa Shougyou. Next to go was Seiryou who lost in a barn-burner 8-7 to Kanazawa Gakuin Higashi.
That left Kanazawa as the last remaining team. But they too would fall. In a disastrous 6-run inning, the aforementioned Kanazawa Gakuin Higashi forced Kanazawa to fight for their bid as they fell 9-3.
Who would be KG Higashi's opponent? Turns out it would be Kanazawa Nishi. After almost stumbling in the first 2 games, they managed to right the ship culminating in a 13 inning nailbiter against Kanazawa Shougyou which included a swap of runs in the 10th and both aces going all 13 innings!
You'd think then that Kanazawa Gakuin Higashi would have the upper hand, especially since Kanzawa Nishi sent out ace Tsuji once again. And in fact, KG Higashi built a 5-0 lead and the title seemed all but secure.
But perhaps in a twist of irony, KG Higashi suffers their own 6-run disaster in the 7th inning. Trailing 6-5, KG Higashi couldn't find a reply. One more insurance run in the 8th sealed the deal. Kanazawa Nishi would win just their 2nd title (their first was in 2004).
Kanazawa would eventually get their ticket to the super-regional with a 5-1 win over Kanazawa Shougyou.
Fukui
For as long as the schools can remember, 3 teams dominate the small ~30 school prefecutre. Fukui Koudai Fukui (fka Fukui), Fukui Shougyou, and Tsuruga Kehi.
Not surprisingly, the trio along with Hokuriku were the 4 seeded teams. Also not surprisingly, all 4 made the semifinals.
Now unfortunately I don't have information on the games, but if the scores are an indication, perhaps the other schools are finally catching up. All 4 teams experienced at least 1 close game en route to the semis. Schools like Usui or Nyuu had been seeded teams in years past, so perhaps there's some parity coming along in the future.
But that's for the future. For now, it would seem that the usual trio would make yet another appearance in the super-regional. It would just be a matter of order.
For Tsuruga Kehi, their time to reign over the prefecture doesn't seem to be over yet. Though in their semifinal game, they fell behind Fukui Koudai, managed to rally with 2 in the lucky 7 to tie the game at 4, and eventually win it in 10 on a sayonara walkoff.
Their opponent however would not be Fukui Shougyou. No, Hokuriku schocked Fukushou by replying to a 1st inning 2-run deficit with 4 runs of their own. And when Fukushou pulled within 2, Hokuriku re-extended the lead to 5. Fukushou would mount one last comeback in the last 2 innings, but fall 1 run short at 10-9! That meant that one of the powerhouses wouldn't receive an invite to the super-regionals!
That odd team out would be Fukui Shougyou. Perhaps as a punishment for failing to keep the trio together, Fukui Koudai Fukui embarrassed them to the tune of 23-3!
As for the final, Hokuriku actually struck first, going out to a 2-0 lead after 5. But a 3 spot in the 6th for Tsuruga Kehi left Hokuriku playing catch-up to which they could never recover. Tsuruga Kehi wins 8-3 to claim their 3rd consecutive fall title and 24th overall.
Super-Regionals
Now that we had our representatives, the draw would come out and well, it looked odd.
On the other half, Matsushou Gakuen had no trouble with Hokuetsu, and then proceeded to blank the rebuilding Kanazawa team 3-0 for their spot in the semis. And finally, Tonami Kougyou would actually be embarassed with a 15-5, 5-inning mercy rule game to Kanazawa Nishi. That opened the door for Chikyuu Kankyou who beat Hokuriku 8-1, then turned around and mercy-ruled Kanazawa Nishi in the minimum 5 innings.
Onto the semis then, and a rematch of the Fukui prefectural semifinals between Tsuruga Kehi and Fukui Koudai Fukui. This time around, this would not be a close match. Instead, ace Yamamoto for Tsuruga Kehi pitches a complete game shutout against their rivals, slotting them into a probable automatic bid.
The other semi had Chikyuu Kankyou facing another demon in Matsushou Gakuen. They didn't meet in the prefecturals, but it was like they were being tested once again to prove that they belonged. A loss now meant that they would fall short yet again, despite advancing to the super-regionals for the first time.
Instead, Shitsudo goes out and limits Matsushou's offense to just 7 hits in a 4-0 shutout!
So the finals would be Tsuruga Kehi and Chikyuu Kankyou. Pretty much a no-brainer here.
But once again, Chikyuu Kankyou rose to the occasion. Shitsudo takes the hill once again, and throws blanks onto the scoreboard! He continues to keep his team in it as the innings turn to the 8th, 9th, and onto the 10th! Would it be possible that a first time qualifier to the super-regionals actually wins the title?
Sadly no. Bottom 13, 2 outs for Tsuruga Kehi and runners at the corners. Chikyuu elects to walk reliever Yamamoto Shou to get to Yamamoto Ryuu. But in that AB, Shitsudo hits Ryuu, forcing in the sayonara run.
Shitsudo would set records for the longest scoreless innings streak in the super-regional (32), and longest scoreless innings streak in a championship game (12), but in the end his team would fall short as Tsuruga Kehi claims their 1st title in 24 years (5th overall). However, I think despite Chikyuu Kankyou's loss, they will receive their 1st ever bid to Koushien in their 1st ever opportunity.
Automatic Bid - Tsuruga Kehi (Fukui) - 4th appearance, 1st in 2 years
Projected Bid - Chikyuu Kankyou (Nagano) - 1st appearance
By the way, if you were to translate Chikyuu Kankyou's name (地球環境), you'd get "Global Environment". Yep, it's an environmental school. You gotta dig their uniforms, and they even have the word Earth on their hats! And now you know why I root for them.
Now to one of the more all-around competitive regions. Of course, there's only 4 prefectures in this region (yes, I know Shikoku has 4 as well) but the teams are generally competitive.
No additional bids are awarded to host teams (prefectural winners got a 1st round bye).
Shizuoka
Shizuoka too has a form of pool play with repechages that get us to our 25 prefectural qualifiers.
Included in the teams that qualified were both Tokoha Tachibana and Tokoha Kikugawa (though we haven't really heard from them recently), Shizuoka (who's come on as of late), and yet another Toukai school - Toukaidai Shouyou.
The teams were almost separated into different parts of the bracket, but Tokoha Kikugawa and Shizuoka drew the same region.
Of the 4 teams, only 2 advanced to the semifinals. Tokoha Tachibana advanced with little problem, and Shizuoka blanked Tokoha Kikugawa 6-0 to reach the semis. Toukaidai Shouyou lost in their first game to Kakegawa Higashi who in turn lost to semifinalist Fuji Shiritsu while Shizuoka Shougyou advanced from the final quadrant.
Fuji Shiritsu continued to play the role of spoiler in the semifinals, using a 2-spot in the lucky 7 and a great performance by ace Tsukamoto on the mound to send Shizuoka to the 3rd place match. The other semi was not as close. Shizuoka Shougyou put up their own 2-run inning in the 1st and never looked back against Tokoha Tachibana, winning 4-1!
In the final, experience would win out as Shizuoka Shougyou would score in 3 of the first 4 innings as ace Nakamoto gives up just one run in a CG effort. The 3-1 victory would give Shizuoka Shougyou their 12th fall title and first in 2 years. Fuji Shiritsu should still be happy about their efforts as they earned their first trip to the super-regionals, and the Tokoha schools are shutout again as Shizuoka eliminates them in the 3rd place game 3-1.
Aichi
When you talk Aichi, there's really only 2 schools you talk about - and they're about 20 minutes trip from each other - Aikoudai Meiden and Chuukyoudai Chuukyou. Touhou and Shigakukan can be inluded in the conversation in recent years, but they still play second fiddle.
All 4 teams advanced out of round-robin play though, and drew 3 parts of the bracket (Meiden had the upper left, Shigakukan and Chuukyoudai the lower left, and Touhou had the entire right half to themselves).
Fast-forward to the quarterfinal matches, and Aikoudai Meiden pitches yet another shutout, but only in a 2-0 win over Sakuragaoka. Shigakukan continues to try and establish a foothold with an 11-3 win over Chuukyoudai Chuukyou, who perhaps doesn't look the same after the retirement of Oofuji-kantoku. And Touhou does indeed own their half of the bracket, defeating semifinalist Aichi Sangyoudai Kougyou 6-3.
Touhou would face Aikoudai Meiden as they force Shigakukan into a loser-out match with a 6-0 shutout. Meiden would then win their 2nd consecutive title, and 5th overall(!) with a handy 9-6 win. Shigakukan would join them with a 7-0 shutout in the 3rd place game.
Gifu
Gifu has their own triumvirate of Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou, Shiritsu Gifu Shougyou and Oogaki Nichidai. All 3 advanced out of round-robin play, however Ken Gifushou and Oogaki Nichidai wound up drawing the same quadrant. Shi Gifushou were on the other half.
Ken Gifushou and Oogaki Nichidai would meet in the quarterfinals with Nichidai being blanked 3-0. They then perhaps relaxed a bit against Oogaki Nishi because they needed a run in both the bottom of the 8th and 9th innings to reach the finals 2-1!
Shi Gifushou didn't have such trouble, with an average margin of victory of a little over 7 runs, advanced to the finals with a 12-0 win over Oogaki Shougyou.
So it was a battle of business schools in the finals. And in a pitcher's duel, the city school (Shiritsu Gifu Shougyou) outlasted the prefectural school 1-0 for just their 2nd ever fall title! (Their 1st was back in 1974)
And despite being blown out in the semis, Oogaki Shougyou is the 3rd team to advance with a 7-4 win in the 3rd place game.
Mie
Mie also has a soft spot for me, not sure why, perhaps it's because I visited Ise back in 2006 and loved it. And perhaps they're not any different than other rural prefectures, but there was a clip I watched with Mie's 3rd base coach emphatically waving around a runner that seemed to connect with me. So I root for Mie, both the team and the prefecture, though they've only won 1 Haru and Natsu title, and that was almost 50 years ago.
Nowadays, Mie has had to share the spotlight with teams like Komono, Inabe Sougou Gakuen (love their hats) and Uji-Yamada Shougyou.
Uji-Yamada and Komono wound up drawing the same quadrant setting up a quarterfinal match that would in all likelihood determine a qualifier, while Mie and ISG should guarantee themselves a bid should they both reach the semis.
And indeed, after Komono defeated Uji-Yamada Shougyou 8-4, they dispatched Kinkidai Tousen 7-0 in 7 innings. Flipping to the other half, Mie and ISG were in a dogfight of a semifinal with the teams exchanging blows. In the end though, Mie would be victorious 4-3.
Despite having not been to Natsu Koushien in several years, Mie continues to make the super-regionals, winning their 5th straight fall title (and 17th overall) with a 3-1 win over Komono. Joining the pair would be ISG with a 3-2 heart-stopper against Kinkidai Tousen.
Super-Regionals
So the nice thing about being in a 4-prefecture super-regional is that as a prefectural champion, you get a first-round bye, and you only need to win 3 games to get an automatic bid to Haru Koushien. So it behooves teams to get a first-round bye.
Mie got perhaps the easiest possible 2nd round opponent before possibly facing Shiritsu Gifu Shougyou (though Touhou or Inabe Sougou Gakuen might have something to say about it).
On the other side, the winner of the Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou-Shigakukan match might advance to the semis because that's where Shizuoka winner Shizuoka Shougyou resides. Finally, Aikoudai Meiden might have the hardest 2nd round matchup as they will either face Komono or Shizuoka.
The first upset occurred when Shigakukan usurped Ken Gifushou 3-1. After that, 3 of the 4 top seeds advanced to the semis with the only exception being the aforementioned Shizuoka Shougyou who put up a good fight, but fell 4-3 to Shigakukan.
In the semis, Shiritsu Gifu Shougyou couldn't hit Mie's ace Miura. He would scatter 5-hits in a complete game 5-0 shutout. Aikoudai Meiden found themselves in a rematch against Shigakukan, and the results were about the same. Meiden advances to the final with a 4-1 win over their in-prefecture rival.
And in the super-regional championship, Mie's Hamada would spot the Aichi champions 3 runs in the opening innings. Despite making a furious late-inning rally, Mie would come up just a run short losing 4-3 and giving Ichiro's alma mater just their 5th ever super-regional title (their first in 7 years)
Automatic Bid - Aikoudai Meiden (Aichi) - 9th appearance, 1st in 7 years
Projected Bid - Mie (Mie) - 11th appearance, 1st in 2 years
Hokushinetsu Super-Regionals (2 bids)
This year, the Hokushinetsu Super-Regionals were held in Nagano, so they received the extra bid as the host prefecture. So once again, let's begin with the hosts!
Nagano
The regional qualifiers saw Matsushiro and Nagano Nichidai advance from the north... but in the 3rd and 4th positions, Ueda Nishi taking the eastern region in a close game against Chikyuu Kankyou, Matsumoto Dai-ichi and Matsushou Gakuen take the central region as expected while last year's representative Tokyo Shidai Shiojiri just making it, and Toukai Dai-san heading up the weaker southern region.
The prefectural draw saw 3 quadrants with pairs of known teams - Ueda Nishi and Tokyo Shidai Shiojiri in the upper left (they drew each other), Matsushou Gakuen and Nagano Nichidai in the lower left (they also draw each other), and Matsushiro and Matsumoto Dai-ichi in the upper right (yes, they too drew each other). Only the lower left quadrant had no real notable names outside of Chikyuu Kankyou, but while they've been above average in the prefecture as of late, they still haven't proven anything.
And almost as expected, the winners of each of the pairs would advance to the semifinals. Ueda Nishi outlasted Tokyo Shidai 8-6, then Nagano 8-5. Matsushou Gakuen just beat out Nagano Nichidai 6-5 before handling Toukai Dai-san 6-1. Matsushiro continues to fade into the background with a 10-0 loss to Matsumoto Dai-ichi who in turn handled Komoro Shougyou. And in the final quadrant, Chikyuu Kankyou at least did perhaps what was expected with two wins over Tagawa and Iiyama Kita.
What happened next was shocking. In looking at the recent history of the prefecture, one would have expected an all-Matsumoto final.
You would be dead wrong.
Ueda Nishi was up first, taking the game to Matsushou Gakuen as ace Shiba would pitch a complete game shutout winning 3-0!
Next was Chikyuu Kankyou. Having been unable to break the ceiling the last couple of years, they finally put their stamp on the prefecture as their ace Shitsudo pitches his own shutout against Matsumoto Dai-ichi!
So both Matsumoto schools go down (though they both qualify this year) and 2 teams desperate for a title get a chance at it!
In the final, both go to their bullpens. Chikyuu Kankyou to Sakai, and Ueda Nishi to Urano. Turns out that perhaps Ueda had the deeper bullpen. Chikyuu Kankyou gives up 10 runs in the 2nd-4th innings and that was all she wrote. Ueda Nishi clinched their 3rd title and 1st in 11 years. Meanwhile, Chikyuu Kankyou (a secret pet favorite of mine) earns their 1st ever birth to the super-regionals! And in a bit of formality, Matsumoto Dai-ichi bests Matsushou Gakuen in their re-match (they played in the regional final) 5-4.
Niigata
In the large draw for the Niigata prefecturals, Hokuetsu, Chuuetsu, and Nihon Bunri occupied one quadrant setting the "directional schools" up for a quarterfinal match, Niigata Meikun had a quadrant to themselves, and Niigata Kenou Kougyou having a full half to themselves save for maybe Jyouetsu.
It would indeed be Nihon Bunri and Hokuetsu in the quarterfinals. Despite mowing down the previous competition Hokuetsu would fight back, and hard. Nihon Bunri would score 8 runs, but it wasn't enough as they would be eliminated 9-8.
Niigata Meikun and Niigata Kenou Kougyou also had no trouble reaching the semis. The final team to round out the quartet was Takada.
Hokuetsu looked to make a run for their 1st Koushien bid and this put Niigata Meikun away 8-4 in the semifinals. Takada indeed was the odd man out in the foursome, falling 7-1.
In the finals, Hokuetsu would not be stopped. They defeat Niigata Kenou Kougyou 3-1 for their 3rd title, and 1st in 61 years!
Joining the twosome would be Niigata Meikun. They dispatched Takada 7-0.
Toyama
Toyama has been a muddy mess as of late. Toyama Shougyou has been the regular entrant from the prefecture, but you had to love the story of Shin-Minato this past summer. I'm not sure I'll ever see such a large contingent dressed up in the school's colors ever again at Koushien.
Both teams could be found on the same half of the bracket.
That left the other half up for grabs. Toyama Dai-ichi and Fujikoshi Kougyou reached the semifinals, and thanks to a 4-run 3rd, Fujikoshi advanced to the finals.
Meanwhile, Shin-Minato looked good in it's first two games, but then had to face Tonami Kougyou. Unfortunately, their offense suffered a power outage at the wrong time as they lost 2-1. While strong, they posed a lesser threat to Toyama Shougyou as they were mercy ruled 7-0 in 7 innings. Toyama Shougyou would take their 18th title (1st in 3 years) with ease demolishing Fujikoshi Kougyou 15-3. Tonami Kougyou defeated Toyama Dai-ichi 10-6 in the 3rd place match to advance.
Ishikawa
Ishikawa perhaps has a void now that Kamata has left Kanazawa. Yuugakukan had challenged for a couple of years so it's possible they may fill the gap. Or perhaps it's finally the time of the cycle where Matsui's alma mater Seiryou to rise to the top again.
Or, it's quite possible the prefecture becomes up for grabs.
Of the three, Yuugakukan is the first to fall losing 2-0 to Kanazawa Shougyou. Next to go was Seiryou who lost in a barn-burner 8-7 to Kanazawa Gakuin Higashi.
That left Kanazawa as the last remaining team. But they too would fall. In a disastrous 6-run inning, the aforementioned Kanazawa Gakuin Higashi forced Kanazawa to fight for their bid as they fell 9-3.
Who would be KG Higashi's opponent? Turns out it would be Kanazawa Nishi. After almost stumbling in the first 2 games, they managed to right the ship culminating in a 13 inning nailbiter against Kanazawa Shougyou which included a swap of runs in the 10th and both aces going all 13 innings!
You'd think then that Kanazawa Gakuin Higashi would have the upper hand, especially since Kanzawa Nishi sent out ace Tsuji once again. And in fact, KG Higashi built a 5-0 lead and the title seemed all but secure.
But perhaps in a twist of irony, KG Higashi suffers their own 6-run disaster in the 7th inning. Trailing 6-5, KG Higashi couldn't find a reply. One more insurance run in the 8th sealed the deal. Kanazawa Nishi would win just their 2nd title (their first was in 2004).
Kanazawa would eventually get their ticket to the super-regional with a 5-1 win over Kanazawa Shougyou.
Fukui
For as long as the schools can remember, 3 teams dominate the small ~30 school prefecutre. Fukui Koudai Fukui (fka Fukui), Fukui Shougyou, and Tsuruga Kehi.
Not surprisingly, the trio along with Hokuriku were the 4 seeded teams. Also not surprisingly, all 4 made the semifinals.
Now unfortunately I don't have information on the games, but if the scores are an indication, perhaps the other schools are finally catching up. All 4 teams experienced at least 1 close game en route to the semis. Schools like Usui or Nyuu had been seeded teams in years past, so perhaps there's some parity coming along in the future.
But that's for the future. For now, it would seem that the usual trio would make yet another appearance in the super-regional. It would just be a matter of order.
For Tsuruga Kehi, their time to reign over the prefecture doesn't seem to be over yet. Though in their semifinal game, they fell behind Fukui Koudai, managed to rally with 2 in the lucky 7 to tie the game at 4, and eventually win it in 10 on a sayonara walkoff.
Their opponent however would not be Fukui Shougyou. No, Hokuriku schocked Fukushou by replying to a 1st inning 2-run deficit with 4 runs of their own. And when Fukushou pulled within 2, Hokuriku re-extended the lead to 5. Fukushou would mount one last comeback in the last 2 innings, but fall 1 run short at 10-9! That meant that one of the powerhouses wouldn't receive an invite to the super-regionals!
That odd team out would be Fukui Shougyou. Perhaps as a punishment for failing to keep the trio together, Fukui Koudai Fukui embarrassed them to the tune of 23-3!
As for the final, Hokuriku actually struck first, going out to a 2-0 lead after 5. But a 3 spot in the 6th for Tsuruga Kehi left Hokuriku playing catch-up to which they could never recover. Tsuruga Kehi wins 8-3 to claim their 3rd consecutive fall title and 24th overall.
Super-Regionals
Now that we had our representatives, the draw would come out and well, it looked odd.
- Tsuruga Kehi (Fukui 1) oddly would get a first round match against Matsumoto Dai-ichi, but only because they were Nagano 3.
- Fukui Koudai Fukui would actually get a easy draw despite being Fukui 3, with only Niigata Meikun (Niigata 3) perhaps a challenger.
- Even stranger, Matsushou Gakuen, Nagano's 4-seed, was put in a draw with Kanazawa, who was Ishikawa's 3-seed!
- And Tonami Kougyou, despite being Toyama's 3-seed seemed to get an easy draw, with perhaps the breakthrough team of the super-regionals Chikyuu Kankyou (Nagano 2) in the way.
On the other half, Matsushou Gakuen had no trouble with Hokuetsu, and then proceeded to blank the rebuilding Kanazawa team 3-0 for their spot in the semis. And finally, Tonami Kougyou would actually be embarassed with a 15-5, 5-inning mercy rule game to Kanazawa Nishi. That opened the door for Chikyuu Kankyou who beat Hokuriku 8-1, then turned around and mercy-ruled Kanazawa Nishi in the minimum 5 innings.
Onto the semis then, and a rematch of the Fukui prefectural semifinals between Tsuruga Kehi and Fukui Koudai Fukui. This time around, this would not be a close match. Instead, ace Yamamoto for Tsuruga Kehi pitches a complete game shutout against their rivals, slotting them into a probable automatic bid.
The other semi had Chikyuu Kankyou facing another demon in Matsushou Gakuen. They didn't meet in the prefecturals, but it was like they were being tested once again to prove that they belonged. A loss now meant that they would fall short yet again, despite advancing to the super-regionals for the first time.
Instead, Shitsudo goes out and limits Matsushou's offense to just 7 hits in a 4-0 shutout!
So the finals would be Tsuruga Kehi and Chikyuu Kankyou. Pretty much a no-brainer here.
But once again, Chikyuu Kankyou rose to the occasion. Shitsudo takes the hill once again, and throws blanks onto the scoreboard! He continues to keep his team in it as the innings turn to the 8th, 9th, and onto the 10th! Would it be possible that a first time qualifier to the super-regionals actually wins the title?
Sadly no. Bottom 13, 2 outs for Tsuruga Kehi and runners at the corners. Chikyuu elects to walk reliever Yamamoto Shou to get to Yamamoto Ryuu. But in that AB, Shitsudo hits Ryuu, forcing in the sayonara run.
Shitsudo would set records for the longest scoreless innings streak in the super-regional (32), and longest scoreless innings streak in a championship game (12), but in the end his team would fall short as Tsuruga Kehi claims their 1st title in 24 years (5th overall). However, I think despite Chikyuu Kankyou's loss, they will receive their 1st ever bid to Koushien in their 1st ever opportunity.
Automatic Bid - Tsuruga Kehi (Fukui) - 4th appearance, 1st in 2 years
Projected Bid - Chikyuu Kankyou (Nagano) - 1st appearance
By the way, if you were to translate Chikyuu Kankyou's name (地球環境), you'd get "Global Environment". Yep, it's an environmental school. You gotta dig their uniforms, and they even have the word Earth on their hats! And now you know why I root for them.
Toukai Super-Regional (2 bids)
Now to one of the more all-around competitive regions. Of course, there's only 4 prefectures in this region (yes, I know Shikoku has 4 as well) but the teams are generally competitive.
No additional bids are awarded to host teams (prefectural winners got a 1st round bye).
Shizuoka
Shizuoka too has a form of pool play with repechages that get us to our 25 prefectural qualifiers.
Included in the teams that qualified were both Tokoha Tachibana and Tokoha Kikugawa (though we haven't really heard from them recently), Shizuoka (who's come on as of late), and yet another Toukai school - Toukaidai Shouyou.
The teams were almost separated into different parts of the bracket, but Tokoha Kikugawa and Shizuoka drew the same region.
Of the 4 teams, only 2 advanced to the semifinals. Tokoha Tachibana advanced with little problem, and Shizuoka blanked Tokoha Kikugawa 6-0 to reach the semis. Toukaidai Shouyou lost in their first game to Kakegawa Higashi who in turn lost to semifinalist Fuji Shiritsu while Shizuoka Shougyou advanced from the final quadrant.
Fuji Shiritsu continued to play the role of spoiler in the semifinals, using a 2-spot in the lucky 7 and a great performance by ace Tsukamoto on the mound to send Shizuoka to the 3rd place match. The other semi was not as close. Shizuoka Shougyou put up their own 2-run inning in the 1st and never looked back against Tokoha Tachibana, winning 4-1!
In the final, experience would win out as Shizuoka Shougyou would score in 3 of the first 4 innings as ace Nakamoto gives up just one run in a CG effort. The 3-1 victory would give Shizuoka Shougyou their 12th fall title and first in 2 years. Fuji Shiritsu should still be happy about their efforts as they earned their first trip to the super-regionals, and the Tokoha schools are shutout again as Shizuoka eliminates them in the 3rd place game 3-1.
Aichi
When you talk Aichi, there's really only 2 schools you talk about - and they're about 20 minutes trip from each other - Aikoudai Meiden and Chuukyoudai Chuukyou. Touhou and Shigakukan can be inluded in the conversation in recent years, but they still play second fiddle.
All 4 teams advanced out of round-robin play though, and drew 3 parts of the bracket (Meiden had the upper left, Shigakukan and Chuukyoudai the lower left, and Touhou had the entire right half to themselves).
Fast-forward to the quarterfinal matches, and Aikoudai Meiden pitches yet another shutout, but only in a 2-0 win over Sakuragaoka. Shigakukan continues to try and establish a foothold with an 11-3 win over Chuukyoudai Chuukyou, who perhaps doesn't look the same after the retirement of Oofuji-kantoku. And Touhou does indeed own their half of the bracket, defeating semifinalist Aichi Sangyoudai Kougyou 6-3.
Touhou would face Aikoudai Meiden as they force Shigakukan into a loser-out match with a 6-0 shutout. Meiden would then win their 2nd consecutive title, and 5th overall(!) with a handy 9-6 win. Shigakukan would join them with a 7-0 shutout in the 3rd place game.
Gifu
Gifu has their own triumvirate of Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou, Shiritsu Gifu Shougyou and Oogaki Nichidai. All 3 advanced out of round-robin play, however Ken Gifushou and Oogaki Nichidai wound up drawing the same quadrant. Shi Gifushou were on the other half.
Ken Gifushou and Oogaki Nichidai would meet in the quarterfinals with Nichidai being blanked 3-0. They then perhaps relaxed a bit against Oogaki Nishi because they needed a run in both the bottom of the 8th and 9th innings to reach the finals 2-1!
Shi Gifushou didn't have such trouble, with an average margin of victory of a little over 7 runs, advanced to the finals with a 12-0 win over Oogaki Shougyou.
So it was a battle of business schools in the finals. And in a pitcher's duel, the city school (Shiritsu Gifu Shougyou) outlasted the prefectural school 1-0 for just their 2nd ever fall title! (Their 1st was back in 1974)
And despite being blown out in the semis, Oogaki Shougyou is the 3rd team to advance with a 7-4 win in the 3rd place game.
Mie
Mie also has a soft spot for me, not sure why, perhaps it's because I visited Ise back in 2006 and loved it. And perhaps they're not any different than other rural prefectures, but there was a clip I watched with Mie's 3rd base coach emphatically waving around a runner that seemed to connect with me. So I root for Mie, both the team and the prefecture, though they've only won 1 Haru and Natsu title, and that was almost 50 years ago.
Nowadays, Mie has had to share the spotlight with teams like Komono, Inabe Sougou Gakuen (love their hats) and Uji-Yamada Shougyou.
Uji-Yamada and Komono wound up drawing the same quadrant setting up a quarterfinal match that would in all likelihood determine a qualifier, while Mie and ISG should guarantee themselves a bid should they both reach the semis.
And indeed, after Komono defeated Uji-Yamada Shougyou 8-4, they dispatched Kinkidai Tousen 7-0 in 7 innings. Flipping to the other half, Mie and ISG were in a dogfight of a semifinal with the teams exchanging blows. In the end though, Mie would be victorious 4-3.
Despite having not been to Natsu Koushien in several years, Mie continues to make the super-regionals, winning their 5th straight fall title (and 17th overall) with a 3-1 win over Komono. Joining the pair would be ISG with a 3-2 heart-stopper against Kinkidai Tousen.
Super-Regionals
So the nice thing about being in a 4-prefecture super-regional is that as a prefectural champion, you get a first-round bye, and you only need to win 3 games to get an automatic bid to Haru Koushien. So it behooves teams to get a first-round bye.
Mie got perhaps the easiest possible 2nd round opponent before possibly facing Shiritsu Gifu Shougyou (though Touhou or Inabe Sougou Gakuen might have something to say about it).
On the other side, the winner of the Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou-Shigakukan match might advance to the semis because that's where Shizuoka winner Shizuoka Shougyou resides. Finally, Aikoudai Meiden might have the hardest 2nd round matchup as they will either face Komono or Shizuoka.
The first upset occurred when Shigakukan usurped Ken Gifushou 3-1. After that, 3 of the 4 top seeds advanced to the semis with the only exception being the aforementioned Shizuoka Shougyou who put up a good fight, but fell 4-3 to Shigakukan.
In the semis, Shiritsu Gifu Shougyou couldn't hit Mie's ace Miura. He would scatter 5-hits in a complete game 5-0 shutout. Aikoudai Meiden found themselves in a rematch against Shigakukan, and the results were about the same. Meiden advances to the final with a 4-1 win over their in-prefecture rival.
And in the super-regional championship, Mie's Hamada would spot the Aichi champions 3 runs in the opening innings. Despite making a furious late-inning rally, Mie would come up just a run short losing 4-3 and giving Ichiro's alma mater just their 5th ever super-regional title (their first in 7 years)
Automatic Bid - Aikoudai Meiden (Aichi) - 9th appearance, 1st in 7 years
Projected Bid - Mie (Mie) - 11th appearance, 1st in 2 years
Thursday, June 2, 2011
2011 Haru Taikai - Toukai Taikai Final
Well, the short Toukai Taikais are done, and the winner wasn't who I expected.
As expected, Oogaki Nichidai defeated Shizuoka Shougyou but only by the margin of 2-0. Aichi Meisei wound up being no match for Komono losing 11-1 in 6 innings.
And in the semifinals - Komono threw 4 pitchers at Oogaki Nichidai, but to no avail losing 7-0 in 8 innings.
Chuukyoudai Chuukyou was surprised by Oogaki Shougyou. They attempted a 9th inning rally, but lost 2-1. Meanwhile, the hit and miss offense of Tokoha Kikugawa continues as Inabe Sougou Gakuen sends them home in 7 with an 8-1 win.
In the semifinal, the two teams stayed scoreless until the final 3 innings in which ISG took a 4-0 lead.
But it all went wrong for ace Okabe and the boys from Mie. Daishou somehow finds a way to not only find 4 runs, but the winning 5th run, all in the top of the 9th! Daishou comes from behind in spectacular fashion to set up an all Gifu final!
Of course, this is also a rematch of the prefectural final in where Daishou was routed 11-3.
But this rematch went differently. Oogaki Nichidai struggled to get their offense going, but managed to plate a run in the 3rd. Daishou was not facing ace Kassai to start, and finally took advantage in the 5th scoring 2 runs and taking the lead. By the time Kassai entered the game, it was too late. Daishou added an insurance run in the 7th, winning 3-1 as ace Morikawa goes the distance giving Oogaki Shougyou their 1st ever spring title!
As expected, Oogaki Nichidai defeated Shizuoka Shougyou but only by the margin of 2-0. Aichi Meisei wound up being no match for Komono losing 11-1 in 6 innings.
And in the semifinals - Komono threw 4 pitchers at Oogaki Nichidai, but to no avail losing 7-0 in 8 innings.
Chuukyoudai Chuukyou was surprised by Oogaki Shougyou. They attempted a 9th inning rally, but lost 2-1. Meanwhile, the hit and miss offense of Tokoha Kikugawa continues as Inabe Sougou Gakuen sends them home in 7 with an 8-1 win.
In the semifinal, the two teams stayed scoreless until the final 3 innings in which ISG took a 4-0 lead.
But it all went wrong for ace Okabe and the boys from Mie. Daishou somehow finds a way to not only find 4 runs, but the winning 5th run, all in the top of the 9th! Daishou comes from behind in spectacular fashion to set up an all Gifu final!
Of course, this is also a rematch of the prefectural final in where Daishou was routed 11-3.
But this rematch went differently. Oogaki Nichidai struggled to get their offense going, but managed to plate a run in the 3rd. Daishou was not facing ace Kassai to start, and finally took advantage in the 5th scoring 2 runs and taking the lead. By the time Kassai entered the game, it was too late. Daishou added an insurance run in the 7th, winning 3-1 as ace Morikawa goes the distance giving Oogaki Shougyou their 1st ever spring title!
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
2011 Haru Taikai - Toukai Taikai
Even with just 4 prefectures in its region, the quality of baseball here is good enough that it winds up being competitive.
Shizuoka
Shizuoka has 3 regionals and throws in the fall tournament champion (Seisei) for a total of 25 teams.
In the Seibu regionals, Tokoha Kikugawa qualified by making it to the final although they lost to Hamamatsu Nishi 11-10. I remember Iwata Higashi being a decent team, and they qualified though they lost 7-3 to the same Hamamatsu Nishi squad.
To the Chuubu region, Tokoha Tachibana couldn't get past their 2nd game losing to Shizuoka Shougyou. Shizuoka wound up winning the region, defeating Toukaidai Bouyou (who also qualified).
And no one really of note advanced out of the Toubu regionals.
Seisei couldn't continue their run of the fall, losing 3-2 in the quarterfinals to Hiryuu. They faced Tokoha Kikugawa who had just edged Shizuoka 7-6 in their quarterfinals. Hiryuu made things interesting for Tokoha, taking a 2-0 lead early, then rallying after falling behind 3-2, then taking the lead 5-4 late! But Kikugawa would close the book with the equalizer in the 8th and the sayonara run in the 9th. Still, I'd be interested to see how Hiryuu does come summertime.
On the other side, Hamamatsu Nishi continued its strong run in the prefecturals, but for some reason or another, lost all momentum against Shizuoka Shougyou falling 5-1.
That setup a Tokoha Kikugawa-Shizuoka Shougyou final. After a closely contested first half, Kikugawa broke it open to a 6-1 lead. Surprisingly, Seishou did not just roll over. They struck back with 3 runs in the 8th to make it just a 2-run ballgame, and then pulled within one in the 9th! But Tokoha Kikugawa would hold to win their 3rd spring title, and 1st in 7 years.
Aichi
Aichi's tournament structure seems all weird. Each region has round-robin play from which teams are grouped into different sections. In some of those sections those playing in the top flight, such as the Nishi-Mikawa region, all teams automatically qualify for the prefecturals although they still have a regional tournament. In other regions, such as the Higashi-Mikawa region, it's a regular bracket with 2 repechages to qualify teams.
It seems rather convoluted...
Anyways, the main 3 schools in the prefecture, Chuukyoudai Chuukyou, Aikoudai Meiden, and Touhou all qualified, but wound up on the same side of the bracket.
And so began the cannibalization of the good teams. Chuukyoudai Chuukyou and Aikoudai Meiden would meet up first. Chuukyou had struggled a bit earlier against other teams, and did so again against Aikoudai Meiden, but prevailed 6-4. Aikoudai Meiden seems to have fallen upon hard times despite still doing well in the tournament.
They then faced Touhou in the semifinals. After taking a quick 3-0 lead, Touhou scored 4 in the 2nd knocking them back a bit. But only for a bit. 2 runs in the 3rd gave Chuukyou the lead, and for good winning 8-4.
To be honest, it didn't seem to matter who it would be in from the other side, Chuukyou would win their 24th title and 1st in 3 years.
It also probably didn't help that while Aichi Keisei had blown through the brackets, they wound up getting in an extra-innings affair against Aichi going the full 15 innings before Keisei plated the sayonara run against ace Nakashima.
Chuukyoudai Chuukyou though did not elect to start their ace figuring that since Keisei also had to start with their bullpen there was no need to use their ace. However, it allowed them to hang around early to the point of actually pulling ahead twice by a run before being reeled in.
The tide swiftly turned Chuukyou's way with 6 runs in the 5th and 6th innings building an 8-3 lead. Out of nowhere, Keisei scores 5 to tie it up and by this time both aces are now in the game with just a precious inning to go.
With both teams at full strength, Chuukyou looked to neutralize the momentum gained and successfully did so. And in the bottom of the 9th Chuukyou would not give Keisei a chance to reply, scoring the sayonara run in regulation to indeed give them that title.
Gifu
Gifu predominantly has been controlled by a select few schools, mainly Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou, Shiritsu Gifu Shougyou, Toki Shougyou and more recently Oogaki Nichidai. All 4 schools qualified out of regional play.
Kengishou (you can't really call them or Shigishou "Gifushou" for obvious reasons) naturally received a top tier seed, Oogaki Nichidai received a 2nd tier seed but was in the same quadrant as Kengishou, and Shigishou and Tokishou both were unseeded and on the opposite side of the bracket.
The first of the quartet to fall were both unseeded teams, with Shigishou losing a barnburner 9-8 against top-tiered Oogaki Shougyou.
Oogaki Shougyou, for being a top-tiered seed (there's not a 1-8 seed, but 4-top seeds and 4-2nd seeds), wound up playing many close games en route to the finals with their largest margin of victory a 2-0 semifinal win over Gizan.
Their opponent would more than likely be the winner of the Kengishou-Oogaki Nichidai match - as long as they kept on winning of course. They did and the matchup was set.
What was surprising was that it was a blowout and that it was Kengishou was the team blown out. 8-1 to be exact. With that result it would seem that Oogaki Nichidai would be the front-runner to win it all. But in their semis against Gifu Dai-ichi, they received a stiff challenge. Now ace Kassai wound up shutting them out, but Nichidai managed just 2 runs.
Their kantoku must have said something though because in their championship game against Oogaki Shougyou, they routed them 11-3 to win their 1st spring title (really??).
Mie
Mie has regional play with most implementing double-elimination to determine who advances. Some regions, like Muro, had only 3 teams so they wound up doing a round-robin. Others implemented a triple-elimination. This almost ensures (I say almost because freak occurrences do happen) that the established teams make it out of pool play.
That list includes teams such as Mie, Komono, Ujiyamada Shougyou, and Inabe Sougou Gakuen.
Interestingly that team that advanced out of the Muro region, Kimoto, wound up getting a seed. All the other aforementioned teams except for Mie was also awarded a seed.
Komono blew through their side of the bracket, winning their 3 games (which included Kimoto) by a total of 32-10 to reach the finals.
Mie tried to prove that leaving them unseeded was a wrong decision by defeating Yamashou 3-1. They then gave Inabe Sougou Gakuen a run for their money, however they wound up falling 7-6.
ISG then just rolled over Kogakkan 17-3 to reach the finals.
I would want to have been in that final game as I wonder how Komono was able to use 6, yes I did just say that, 6 pitchers! Using 4 in the semis was a bit odd, but to use 6 in a close game no less was rather shocking.
Yamanaka, Urashima, Nishida, Okuda, Mitani (?) and Asagawa held the 3-0 lead winning 3-2 to give Komono their 3rd title and 1st in 3 years!
The super-regional draw is out and we have the following matchups:
Shizuoka
Shizuoka has 3 regionals and throws in the fall tournament champion (Seisei) for a total of 25 teams.
In the Seibu regionals, Tokoha Kikugawa qualified by making it to the final although they lost to Hamamatsu Nishi 11-10. I remember Iwata Higashi being a decent team, and they qualified though they lost 7-3 to the same Hamamatsu Nishi squad.
To the Chuubu region, Tokoha Tachibana couldn't get past their 2nd game losing to Shizuoka Shougyou. Shizuoka wound up winning the region, defeating Toukaidai Bouyou (who also qualified).
And no one really of note advanced out of the Toubu regionals.
Seisei couldn't continue their run of the fall, losing 3-2 in the quarterfinals to Hiryuu. They faced Tokoha Kikugawa who had just edged Shizuoka 7-6 in their quarterfinals. Hiryuu made things interesting for Tokoha, taking a 2-0 lead early, then rallying after falling behind 3-2, then taking the lead 5-4 late! But Kikugawa would close the book with the equalizer in the 8th and the sayonara run in the 9th. Still, I'd be interested to see how Hiryuu does come summertime.
On the other side, Hamamatsu Nishi continued its strong run in the prefecturals, but for some reason or another, lost all momentum against Shizuoka Shougyou falling 5-1.
That setup a Tokoha Kikugawa-Shizuoka Shougyou final. After a closely contested first half, Kikugawa broke it open to a 6-1 lead. Surprisingly, Seishou did not just roll over. They struck back with 3 runs in the 8th to make it just a 2-run ballgame, and then pulled within one in the 9th! But Tokoha Kikugawa would hold to win their 3rd spring title, and 1st in 7 years.
Aichi
Aichi's tournament structure seems all weird. Each region has round-robin play from which teams are grouped into different sections. In some of those sections those playing in the top flight, such as the Nishi-Mikawa region, all teams automatically qualify for the prefecturals although they still have a regional tournament. In other regions, such as the Higashi-Mikawa region, it's a regular bracket with 2 repechages to qualify teams.
It seems rather convoluted...
Anyways, the main 3 schools in the prefecture, Chuukyoudai Chuukyou, Aikoudai Meiden, and Touhou all qualified, but wound up on the same side of the bracket.
And so began the cannibalization of the good teams. Chuukyoudai Chuukyou and Aikoudai Meiden would meet up first. Chuukyou had struggled a bit earlier against other teams, and did so again against Aikoudai Meiden, but prevailed 6-4. Aikoudai Meiden seems to have fallen upon hard times despite still doing well in the tournament.
They then faced Touhou in the semifinals. After taking a quick 3-0 lead, Touhou scored 4 in the 2nd knocking them back a bit. But only for a bit. 2 runs in the 3rd gave Chuukyou the lead, and for good winning 8-4.
To be honest, it didn't seem to matter who it would be in from the other side, Chuukyou would win their 24th title and 1st in 3 years.
It also probably didn't help that while Aichi Keisei had blown through the brackets, they wound up getting in an extra-innings affair against Aichi going the full 15 innings before Keisei plated the sayonara run against ace Nakashima.
Chuukyoudai Chuukyou though did not elect to start their ace figuring that since Keisei also had to start with their bullpen there was no need to use their ace. However, it allowed them to hang around early to the point of actually pulling ahead twice by a run before being reeled in.
The tide swiftly turned Chuukyou's way with 6 runs in the 5th and 6th innings building an 8-3 lead. Out of nowhere, Keisei scores 5 to tie it up and by this time both aces are now in the game with just a precious inning to go.
With both teams at full strength, Chuukyou looked to neutralize the momentum gained and successfully did so. And in the bottom of the 9th Chuukyou would not give Keisei a chance to reply, scoring the sayonara run in regulation to indeed give them that title.
Gifu
Gifu predominantly has been controlled by a select few schools, mainly Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou, Shiritsu Gifu Shougyou, Toki Shougyou and more recently Oogaki Nichidai. All 4 schools qualified out of regional play.
Kengishou (you can't really call them or Shigishou "Gifushou" for obvious reasons) naturally received a top tier seed, Oogaki Nichidai received a 2nd tier seed but was in the same quadrant as Kengishou, and Shigishou and Tokishou both were unseeded and on the opposite side of the bracket.
The first of the quartet to fall were both unseeded teams, with Shigishou losing a barnburner 9-8 against top-tiered Oogaki Shougyou.
Oogaki Shougyou, for being a top-tiered seed (there's not a 1-8 seed, but 4-top seeds and 4-2nd seeds), wound up playing many close games en route to the finals with their largest margin of victory a 2-0 semifinal win over Gizan.
Their opponent would more than likely be the winner of the Kengishou-Oogaki Nichidai match - as long as they kept on winning of course. They did and the matchup was set.
What was surprising was that it was a blowout and that it was Kengishou was the team blown out. 8-1 to be exact. With that result it would seem that Oogaki Nichidai would be the front-runner to win it all. But in their semis against Gifu Dai-ichi, they received a stiff challenge. Now ace Kassai wound up shutting them out, but Nichidai managed just 2 runs.
Their kantoku must have said something though because in their championship game against Oogaki Shougyou, they routed them 11-3 to win their 1st spring title (really??).
Mie
Mie has regional play with most implementing double-elimination to determine who advances. Some regions, like Muro, had only 3 teams so they wound up doing a round-robin. Others implemented a triple-elimination. This almost ensures (I say almost because freak occurrences do happen) that the established teams make it out of pool play.
That list includes teams such as Mie, Komono, Ujiyamada Shougyou, and Inabe Sougou Gakuen.
Interestingly that team that advanced out of the Muro region, Kimoto, wound up getting a seed. All the other aforementioned teams except for Mie was also awarded a seed.
Komono blew through their side of the bracket, winning their 3 games (which included Kimoto) by a total of 32-10 to reach the finals.
Mie tried to prove that leaving them unseeded was a wrong decision by defeating Yamashou 3-1. They then gave Inabe Sougou Gakuen a run for their money, however they wound up falling 7-6.
ISG then just rolled over Kogakkan 17-3 to reach the finals.
I would want to have been in that final game as I wonder how Komono was able to use 6, yes I did just say that, 6 pitchers! Using 4 in the semis was a bit odd, but to use 6 in a close game no less was rather shocking.
Yamanaka, Urashima, Nishida, Okuda, Mitani (?) and Asagawa held the 3-0 lead winning 3-2 to give Komono their 3rd title and 1st in 3 years!
The super-regional draw is out and we have the following matchups:
- Oogaki Nichidai (Gifu 1) vs. Shizuoka Shougyou (Shizuoka 2) - Oogaki Nichidai has seemed to supplant the Gifu Shougyou schools, and had more success at Koushien in recent years.
- Komono (Mie 1) vs. Aichi Meisei (Aichi 2) - Komono was a Koushien participant several years back, but I'd like to see what Aichi Meisei can do too...
- Chuukyoudai Chuukyou (Aichi 1) vs. Oogaki Shougyou (Gifu 2) - If Chuukyou has been able to rebuild quickly, watch out.
- Tokoha Kikugawa (Shizuoka) vs. Inabe Sougou Gakuen (Mie 2) - Man! I loved the Tokoha schools, and I also always thought ISG had a decent team too (plus I like their uniforms).
Monday, November 9, 2009
Super-regional wrap-up (Part 1)
So, all the super-regionals are completed and we have the probable senbatsu participants for next year. Let's take a stroll before the Meiji Jingu tournament this upcoming weekend.
Kanto
Perhaps the sad thing about the super-regionals is that disparity is made readily apparent. We know that in the Natsu Koshien tournament, there are certain prefectures that are generally weaker than others. The super-regionals for the senbatsu is no different.
In the first round alone, 3 prefectures were eliminated.
That left Chiba, Saitama, Gunma and Kanagawa in the quarterfinals.
At Ichihara Rinkai Toukaidai Bouyou had no trouble with Touin Gakuen sending them home empty again 4-1. Meanwhile Hanasaki Tokuharu was making Saitama proud with a 14-2 5-inning win against Shiritsu Funabashi.
Over at Chiba Prefectural, another Toukaidai Sagami (yes, another Toukaidai school) with the counting ace Hifumi sent Urawa Gakuin away with a 7-0 win in 7 innings. The afternoon game between Maebashi Shougyou and Chiba Shoudai Fuzoku featured a lot of scoring. Tied 4-4, Maebashi broke it in the 7th with 3 runs, only to see Shoudai score 4 in the bottom of the frame and take the lead. Fortunately, they would tie it back up in the 8th. The game would go into extras... and keep going... Neither team could break the deadlock. And when the 13th inning ended, the game was called due to darkness.
Which meant a 9 inning replay the next day, and a severe disadvantage going forward. Fortunately, being in the Best 4 would pretty much guarantee a spot at senbatsu.
In the replay, both aces would come out - Hirai for Maebashi, and Hirabe for Shoudai. A 4-run 4th for Maebashi would be the difference in a 4-2 win.
Onward to the semis and Hanasaki Tokuharu continued its great run eliminating Toukaidai Bouyou 4-1. They'd have to face the other Toukaidai school in the finals as Hifumi had no trouble with the fatigued Maebashi squad 8-0.
Hifumi would not be denied. And he backed it up with a 2 run homer in the 2nd inning. They would never relinquish the lead winning 6-3 giving them their 5th title, and first in 5 years.
It looks like we'll be seeing a little more of Hifumi, and that's not a bad thing. So our probable representatives are:
Tokyo
We were in the Best 4 here in Tokyo. And with only one guaranteed bid, it's a race to the finish.
Torisu Hino got off to a great start against Toukaidai Sugao. After falling behind 2-0 in the top of the 1st, a 2-run homer helped Hino take a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the frame. After Sugao leveled the score in the 3rd, a grand slam home run by Hino looked to shut the door.
But if there's anything we've seen, it's that a Toukaidai school is never easy to beat.
And in the 8th inning, Sugao would get to ace Matsumoto and score 4 to take the lead.
Hino would fight back. Bottom of the 8th, bases loaded with one down, they put the squeeze on and was successful. But that would be the only run they would score.
And perhaps not taking advantage of the opportunity and playing it "safe" with the squeeze was fatal. Sugao would retake the lead on a Sakai sac fly. That would prove to be the difference.
Who would be their opponent though?
Ace Itou would do everything in his power to make sure it was Teikyou. Like Hifumi, he would hit a 2-run home run in the 2nd in a 3 run inning.
After adding a run in the 6th, Nichidai-san would finally show signs of life. Aided by a solo HR by Ogiwara, they would score 3 in the 7th and pull within 1. Teikyou though would score one more run in the bottom half of that inning and it would prove to be just enough. Nichidai-san would just manage 1 run in the 9th and Teikyou would advance in the battle of Natsu Koshien participants.
So it would be Teikyou and Toukaidai Sugao in the finals. And Itou wasn't starting the game?!
Questionable at first, but then in the 2nd, Teikyou sends 13 batters to the plate and that's never good. 9 runs later, it was pretty much settled and Itou could rest easy as Teikyou takes the automatic bid 13-1.
Tokai
Oddly, as the lower seeds were battling it out, only one 2-seed managed to escape - Toukaidai Shouyou, Shizuoka's 2nd seed (natch). And handily by the way.
Over at Toyota Undou Kouen, Touhou (Aichi 2) went up 3-0 in the top of the 1st against Tokoha Tachibana (Shizuoka 3). But Tachibana would score 2 runs in the 6th, and then take the lead with 2 in the 8th sending Touhou home.
In the 2nd game, Inabe Sougou (Mie 2) was down against Chuukyou (Gifu 3) late when they scored 3 to tie it up in the bottom of the 8th. They would fall though in the 11th when Chuukyou broke through with a run.
At Okazaki Municipal, Toyokawa (Aichi 3) met up with Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou (Gifu 2). While Toyokawa took the early lead and fought Gifushou hard, 5 unanswered runs in the 3rd and 4th to take a 6-2 lead was more like it for Kenritsu Gifushou. Toyokawa wouldn't go away. They scored 3 in the 5th to pull within 1 to which Gifushou added an insurance run. Another 2 runs tied the game in the 6th, but Gifushou would retake the lead with another run in the bottom of the inning. And finally in the 8th they scored 2 to actually take the lead! And once again Gifushou would add a run, this time to tie the game.
Gifushou would manage to keep Toyokawa at bay, but couldn't stop them. In the 13th Toyokawa would score another 2 runs, and this time Gifushou would have no answer.
Now it was the top seeds' turn in the quarterfinals to step up. At Toyota, Shizuoka Shougyou (Shizuoka 1) had their hands full with Chuukyou. After trading runs in the 1st, Chuukyou would score in the 2nd. Shizuoka Shougyou would tie it up at 2 in the 4th and it would remain that way. That is until the bottom of the 9th. That would be where Chuukyou would score the sayonara run and send the top seed home.
In the matinee game, Tokoha Tachibana had no answer to Oogaki Nichidai (Gifu 1) and were shut out 2-0.
For Chuukyoudai Chuukyou (Aichi 1), they depend on a pitching tandem of Asano and Morimoto. It seemed to work well against Toukaidai Shouyou but the offense couldn't get going either. The game was tied at 1 after Shouyou managed to tie the game in the 4th. It would stay that way until the 8th when Chuukyou would come through against Shouyou. And the Toukai school would fall 2-1.
And in the late game, Toyokawa wouldn't be able to hold against Mie (Mie 1), going down quickly 7-1 and unable to recover.
Interestingly, one semifinal featured 2 teams from Gifu - Oogaki Nichidai and Chuukyou. But they didn't play each other in the prefectural tournament. The teams were evenly matched though, trading a run in the 2nd. But a well-executed squeeze and a triple in the top of the 8th would give Oogaki Nichidai the 3-1 lead. While Chuukyou would pull within 1 in the bottom of the inning, they would never equalize.
In the Chuukyoudai Chuukyou-Mie game, a Mie error in the 5th would lead to 3 runs. And while Mie would get within 1 with 2 runs in the 7th that would be as close as they would get falling 5-3.
While both teams are certainly going to senbatsu, who gets the bragging rights? Oogaki Nichidai would jump on starter Asano scoring 5 in the first 3 innings. Morimoto would shut the Oogaki offense afterwards, but it was too late. The 5 runs would just be enough as they would win 5-4 giving them their 1st championship.
Kinki, Chuugoku, Shikoku and Kyushu wrap-ups will come next.
Kanto
Perhaps the sad thing about the super-regionals is that disparity is made readily apparent. We know that in the Natsu Koshien tournament, there are certain prefectures that are generally weaker than others. The super-regionals for the senbatsu is no different.
In the first round alone, 3 prefectures were eliminated.
- Ibaraki - Mito Sakuranomaki, Hasaki Yanagawa
- Tochigi - Bunsei Geidai Fuzoku, Yaita Chuo
- Yamanashi - Fuji Gakuen, Koufu Shougyou
That left Chiba, Saitama, Gunma and Kanagawa in the quarterfinals.
At Ichihara Rinkai Toukaidai Bouyou had no trouble with Touin Gakuen sending them home empty again 4-1. Meanwhile Hanasaki Tokuharu was making Saitama proud with a 14-2 5-inning win against Shiritsu Funabashi.
Over at Chiba Prefectural, another Toukaidai Sagami (yes, another Toukaidai school) with the counting ace Hifumi sent Urawa Gakuin away with a 7-0 win in 7 innings. The afternoon game between Maebashi Shougyou and Chiba Shoudai Fuzoku featured a lot of scoring. Tied 4-4, Maebashi broke it in the 7th with 3 runs, only to see Shoudai score 4 in the bottom of the frame and take the lead. Fortunately, they would tie it back up in the 8th. The game would go into extras... and keep going... Neither team could break the deadlock. And when the 13th inning ended, the game was called due to darkness.
Which meant a 9 inning replay the next day, and a severe disadvantage going forward. Fortunately, being in the Best 4 would pretty much guarantee a spot at senbatsu.
In the replay, both aces would come out - Hirai for Maebashi, and Hirabe for Shoudai. A 4-run 4th for Maebashi would be the difference in a 4-2 win.
Onward to the semis and Hanasaki Tokuharu continued its great run eliminating Toukaidai Bouyou 4-1. They'd have to face the other Toukaidai school in the finals as Hifumi had no trouble with the fatigued Maebashi squad 8-0.
Hifumi would not be denied. And he backed it up with a 2 run homer in the 2nd inning. They would never relinquish the lead winning 6-3 giving them their 5th title, and first in 5 years.
It looks like we'll be seeing a little more of Hifumi, and that's not a bad thing. So our probable representatives are:
- Toukaidai Sagami (Kanagawa)
- Hanasaki Tokuharu (Saitama)
- Toukaidai Bouyou (Chiba)
- Chiba Shoudai Fuzoku (Chiba)
Tokyo
We were in the Best 4 here in Tokyo. And with only one guaranteed bid, it's a race to the finish.
Torisu Hino got off to a great start against Toukaidai Sugao. After falling behind 2-0 in the top of the 1st, a 2-run homer helped Hino take a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the frame. After Sugao leveled the score in the 3rd, a grand slam home run by Hino looked to shut the door.
But if there's anything we've seen, it's that a Toukaidai school is never easy to beat.
And in the 8th inning, Sugao would get to ace Matsumoto and score 4 to take the lead.
Hino would fight back. Bottom of the 8th, bases loaded with one down, they put the squeeze on and was successful. But that would be the only run they would score.
And perhaps not taking advantage of the opportunity and playing it "safe" with the squeeze was fatal. Sugao would retake the lead on a Sakai sac fly. That would prove to be the difference.
Who would be their opponent though?
Ace Itou would do everything in his power to make sure it was Teikyou. Like Hifumi, he would hit a 2-run home run in the 2nd in a 3 run inning.
After adding a run in the 6th, Nichidai-san would finally show signs of life. Aided by a solo HR by Ogiwara, they would score 3 in the 7th and pull within 1. Teikyou though would score one more run in the bottom half of that inning and it would prove to be just enough. Nichidai-san would just manage 1 run in the 9th and Teikyou would advance in the battle of Natsu Koshien participants.
So it would be Teikyou and Toukaidai Sugao in the finals. And Itou wasn't starting the game?!
Questionable at first, but then in the 2nd, Teikyou sends 13 batters to the plate and that's never good. 9 runs later, it was pretty much settled and Itou could rest easy as Teikyou takes the automatic bid 13-1.
Tokai
Oddly, as the lower seeds were battling it out, only one 2-seed managed to escape - Toukaidai Shouyou, Shizuoka's 2nd seed (natch). And handily by the way.
Over at Toyota Undou Kouen, Touhou (Aichi 2) went up 3-0 in the top of the 1st against Tokoha Tachibana (Shizuoka 3). But Tachibana would score 2 runs in the 6th, and then take the lead with 2 in the 8th sending Touhou home.
In the 2nd game, Inabe Sougou (Mie 2) was down against Chuukyou (Gifu 3) late when they scored 3 to tie it up in the bottom of the 8th. They would fall though in the 11th when Chuukyou broke through with a run.
At Okazaki Municipal, Toyokawa (Aichi 3) met up with Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou (Gifu 2). While Toyokawa took the early lead and fought Gifushou hard, 5 unanswered runs in the 3rd and 4th to take a 6-2 lead was more like it for Kenritsu Gifushou. Toyokawa wouldn't go away. They scored 3 in the 5th to pull within 1 to which Gifushou added an insurance run. Another 2 runs tied the game in the 6th, but Gifushou would retake the lead with another run in the bottom of the inning. And finally in the 8th they scored 2 to actually take the lead! And once again Gifushou would add a run, this time to tie the game.
Gifushou would manage to keep Toyokawa at bay, but couldn't stop them. In the 13th Toyokawa would score another 2 runs, and this time Gifushou would have no answer.
Now it was the top seeds' turn in the quarterfinals to step up. At Toyota, Shizuoka Shougyou (Shizuoka 1) had their hands full with Chuukyou. After trading runs in the 1st, Chuukyou would score in the 2nd. Shizuoka Shougyou would tie it up at 2 in the 4th and it would remain that way. That is until the bottom of the 9th. That would be where Chuukyou would score the sayonara run and send the top seed home.
In the matinee game, Tokoha Tachibana had no answer to Oogaki Nichidai (Gifu 1) and were shut out 2-0.
For Chuukyoudai Chuukyou (Aichi 1), they depend on a pitching tandem of Asano and Morimoto. It seemed to work well against Toukaidai Shouyou but the offense couldn't get going either. The game was tied at 1 after Shouyou managed to tie the game in the 4th. It would stay that way until the 8th when Chuukyou would come through against Shouyou. And the Toukai school would fall 2-1.
And in the late game, Toyokawa wouldn't be able to hold against Mie (Mie 1), going down quickly 7-1 and unable to recover.
Interestingly, one semifinal featured 2 teams from Gifu - Oogaki Nichidai and Chuukyou. But they didn't play each other in the prefectural tournament. The teams were evenly matched though, trading a run in the 2nd. But a well-executed squeeze and a triple in the top of the 8th would give Oogaki Nichidai the 3-1 lead. While Chuukyou would pull within 1 in the bottom of the inning, they would never equalize.
In the Chuukyoudai Chuukyou-Mie game, a Mie error in the 5th would lead to 3 runs. And while Mie would get within 1 with 2 runs in the 7th that would be as close as they would get falling 5-3.
While both teams are certainly going to senbatsu, who gets the bragging rights? Oogaki Nichidai would jump on starter Asano scoring 5 in the first 3 innings. Morimoto would shut the Oogaki offense afterwards, but it was too late. The 5 runs would just be enough as they would win 5-4 giving them their 1st championship.
Kinki, Chuugoku, Shikoku and Kyushu wrap-ups will come next.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Tokai Super-Regional Recap
So now we're going to the small Tokai region consisting of Gifu, Aichi, Shizuoka and Mie.
Gifu
Shiritsu Gifu Shougyou couldn't get past Gifu Sougou in the quarterfinals, losing 2-0. That opened the door for Oogaki Nichidai to reach the finals routing the aforementioned Gifu Sougou 7-1.
Meanwhile Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou was ready to cruise into the finals, but Chuukyou had other plans. The teams traded a 3-spot in the first inning, then couldn't score again in regulation. And then they couldn't score in extras! Approaching the 15 inning limit, the teams were certainly desperate to end it before it reached a tie.
Kenritsu Gifusho managed to end it by plating a run in the top of the 14th inning and holding off Chuukyou to advance to the championship. Of course, that left them pretty tired for the finals the next day, and they were shellacked 13-3 by Oogaki Nichidai.
And for the last bid, Chuukyou stood up to the challenge and routed Gifu Sougou 11-1.
Aichi
Chuukyoudai Chuukyou pretty much marched to the finals, although Toyogawa (not Oobu) did give them a good game in the semifinals. And sure enough, Touhou would be their opponent. But in their semifinal game, Nagoya Kokusai tied the game at 2 with 2 runs in the 8th and it was only when they scored 3 in the bottom of the 8th where they put the game away.
Interestingly enough, neither team started their ace pitcher in the finals. Even more interesting is that it was a low scoring affair. Chuukyoudai Chuukyou pushed in the only run in the 6th for the 1-0 win!
In the consolation game, Toyogawa earned the last bid with a 5-3 win over Nagoya Kokusai.
Shizuoka
Tokoha Tachibana's bid to be the dominant team in the prefecture is still in progress as they couldn't get past Shizuoka Shougyou, falling behind 3-0 in the 3rd and was never able to recover. They had to play Seisei Kougyou, who was upset by Toukaidai Shouyou 2-1 in 10 innings, in the consolation game! And they survived a high-scoring affair 8-6.
With Seisei Kougyou out of the way, Shizuoka Shougyou could cruise to the top seed defeating Shouyou 6-1.
Mie
Admittedly, I'm not familar with any other strong teams out of Mie other than Mie and Ujiyamada Shougyou (who was upset in the first round by Matsusaka).
And that said, it wasn't surprising that Mie made it to the finals without much trouble. The question was who their opponent would be. Matsusaka was defeated by Inabe Sougou 6-1 and Inabe Sougou then used a 4-run 6th inning to hold on against Shiroko 4-3 to set up the finals.
Mie started out with 3 runs in the 2nd, but by the 5th Inabe managed to tie the game. Mie once again re-took the lead with 2 in the bottom of the 5th, but Inabe made a late rally with a run in the 8th and 9th innings to tie it once more. However Inabe Sougou could never take the lead outright in the game and in the 10th Mie scored the sayonara run to take the #1 seed and a first round bye.
The team that would be joining them in the super-regionals would be Tsuda Gakuen, who denied Shiroko the bid with a 6-3 win in the 3rd place game.
So looking to the super-regionals, all the prefectural winners get a first round bye. But that doesn't mean they have an easy road. Oogaki Nichidai gets either Touhou or Tokoha Tachibana. Mie will probably see Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou.
Meanwhile, Shizuoka Shougyou and Chuukyoudai Chuukyou look to be able to win their game into the Best 4 with little trouble.
Gifu
Shiritsu Gifu Shougyou couldn't get past Gifu Sougou in the quarterfinals, losing 2-0. That opened the door for Oogaki Nichidai to reach the finals routing the aforementioned Gifu Sougou 7-1.
Meanwhile Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou was ready to cruise into the finals, but Chuukyou had other plans. The teams traded a 3-spot in the first inning, then couldn't score again in regulation. And then they couldn't score in extras! Approaching the 15 inning limit, the teams were certainly desperate to end it before it reached a tie.
Kenritsu Gifusho managed to end it by plating a run in the top of the 14th inning and holding off Chuukyou to advance to the championship. Of course, that left them pretty tired for the finals the next day, and they were shellacked 13-3 by Oogaki Nichidai.
And for the last bid, Chuukyou stood up to the challenge and routed Gifu Sougou 11-1.
Aichi
Chuukyoudai Chuukyou pretty much marched to the finals, although Toyogawa (not Oobu) did give them a good game in the semifinals. And sure enough, Touhou would be their opponent. But in their semifinal game, Nagoya Kokusai tied the game at 2 with 2 runs in the 8th and it was only when they scored 3 in the bottom of the 8th where they put the game away.
Interestingly enough, neither team started their ace pitcher in the finals. Even more interesting is that it was a low scoring affair. Chuukyoudai Chuukyou pushed in the only run in the 6th for the 1-0 win!
In the consolation game, Toyogawa earned the last bid with a 5-3 win over Nagoya Kokusai.
Shizuoka
Tokoha Tachibana's bid to be the dominant team in the prefecture is still in progress as they couldn't get past Shizuoka Shougyou, falling behind 3-0 in the 3rd and was never able to recover. They had to play Seisei Kougyou, who was upset by Toukaidai Shouyou 2-1 in 10 innings, in the consolation game! And they survived a high-scoring affair 8-6.
With Seisei Kougyou out of the way, Shizuoka Shougyou could cruise to the top seed defeating Shouyou 6-1.
Mie
Admittedly, I'm not familar with any other strong teams out of Mie other than Mie and Ujiyamada Shougyou (who was upset in the first round by Matsusaka).
And that said, it wasn't surprising that Mie made it to the finals without much trouble. The question was who their opponent would be. Matsusaka was defeated by Inabe Sougou 6-1 and Inabe Sougou then used a 4-run 6th inning to hold on against Shiroko 4-3 to set up the finals.
Mie started out with 3 runs in the 2nd, but by the 5th Inabe managed to tie the game. Mie once again re-took the lead with 2 in the bottom of the 5th, but Inabe made a late rally with a run in the 8th and 9th innings to tie it once more. However Inabe Sougou could never take the lead outright in the game and in the 10th Mie scored the sayonara run to take the #1 seed and a first round bye.
The team that would be joining them in the super-regionals would be Tsuda Gakuen, who denied Shiroko the bid with a 6-3 win in the 3rd place game.
So looking to the super-regionals, all the prefectural winners get a first round bye. But that doesn't mean they have an easy road. Oogaki Nichidai gets either Touhou or Tokoha Tachibana. Mie will probably see Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou.
Meanwhile, Shizuoka Shougyou and Chuukyoudai Chuukyou look to be able to win their game into the Best 4 with little trouble.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
第61回東海地区高等学校野球大会 (61st Fall Tokai Baseball Tournament)
Next, we lazily take the Hokuriku line west enjoying the view of the Sea of Japan before heading south to Gifu for the Tokai tournament.
The winner in the 12 team field was Chuukyou Dai Chuukyou (Aichi), defeating Kakegawa Nishi (Shizuoka) handily 5-2 in the final.
Oogaki Nichidai (Gifu) made an appearance here, but lost in the 2nd round to Kakegawa Nishi 2-1, giving up both runs in the bottom of the 9th inning.
Last year's representative from Nishi Aichi, Touhou, lost its first game to Seisei Kougyou (Shizuoka). Behind 3-1, they score 2 runs in the bottom of the 8th before giving up the go-ahead run in the 9th.
Many teams were left out of the tournament.
The winner in the 12 team field was Chuukyou Dai Chuukyou (Aichi), defeating Kakegawa Nishi (Shizuoka) handily 5-2 in the final.
Oogaki Nichidai (Gifu) made an appearance here, but lost in the 2nd round to Kakegawa Nishi 2-1, giving up both runs in the bottom of the 9th inning.
Last year's representative from Nishi Aichi, Touhou, lost its first game to Seisei Kougyou (Shizuoka). Behind 3-1, they score 2 runs in the bottom of the 8th before giving up the go-ahead run in the 9th.
Many teams were left out of the tournament.
- In Aichi, the Higashi Aichi counterpart, Oobu, lost in the quarterfinals to Kyouei 6-5.
- Aikodai Meiden, exited in the 3rd round, losing to Aichi Sangyou Dai Kougyou 6-5.
- In Shizuoka, the top seeds from the Koushien qualifyers exited early as Tokoha Kikugawa lost in the 2nd round to Shizuoka Shougyou 5-4, while their counterpart Tokoha Tachibana lost to Shizuoka Gakuen 8-7, also in the 2nd round.
- In Gifu, Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou lost in the 2nd round to Gifu Sougyou 2-1. Shiritsu Gifu Shougyou, lost in the first round to Ikeda 6-1.
- And in Mie, Ujiyamada Shougyou lost in the quarterfinals to Mie, 7-5, while Komono lost its first game to Nabari Kikyougaoka 2-1.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)