高校野球 (Kokoyakyu)

To carry my thoughts on the final to my final thoughts on this Koushien...

I for one was happy so many powerhouses were left out of Koushien this year. If I had my way, Komatsu Ootani and Sekine Gakuen would have been here instead of Seiryou and Nihon Bunri respectively. I root for the underdog whenever I can because I think 甲子園 should not be reserved for the top schools who can recruit and bring in talent. There is so much being made about that there are 3917 schools that compete for the right to get to Koushien every spring and summer.

But realistically, only a fraction of those realistically has a chance. Maybe around 200-300, or about 2.5% of the schools realistically have a chance at just getting to Koushien. Once you get here, the chances of winning it are even slimmer - remember, just by location alone, 20 prefectures have not yet even won 1 Natsu Koushien title.

And so if you're talented ballplayer, what do you think when you live in say Tottori, where no one has won a title, and you aspire to win one?

Of course, you go to a school that has a track record of winning titles - and an already weakened prefecture gets even more so.

You want an immediate example? Ace Fukushima, 3B Katsuki and LF Nakamura all hail from... Fukuoka - where the last title won from there was back in 1992 with Nishi-Nippon Tankidai Fuzoku.

And so the stronger get stronger, and the rest, well... who cares because they're not winners.

It's why I now almost despise the powerhouses with a passion. Their brand name carries them so far, from recruiting all the way to in-game play where the no-names have to fight the constant whipping they receive just to have a chance. And even then, like in the case of Komatsu Ootani and Sekine Gakuen this year and like Kakunodate and Kasumigaura last year, getting the final 3 outs is mentally more tough than anything out there.

And yet, it's Seiryou that's lauded for their comeback because they're Seiryou and they showed their power when I argue that no, it's poor Komatsu Ootani who couldn't overcome the victim mentality when things started to go wrong.

I think my best comparison is saying the powerhouse schools are say the Big 5 conferences in college football, and the rest of the schools are the other Division 1 schools. Yes, they're there, but no, they're rarely if ever going to be considered for the title.

Think about this. With Osaka Touin's win today, they have won 3 of the last 7 Natsu Koushien titles.

Okay, but one could argue to me.. "Well you rooted for Komadai Tomakomai in 2006 and they were going to their 3rd straight Natsu title? What about that?"

Well, for one, they're from Hokkaido - and until they won back in 2004, no team had won from Hokkaido. So I wanted them to make the most of their run while they had it. You can see that they went to Koushien one more year, but after that has faded into almost anonymity.

"And what about rooting for Kouryou back in 2007?"

That's a fair question. And my answer is it was during that time that I still had not seen 高校野球 the way I do now. And I rooted for Kouryou because they seemed like a strong team that deserved to win.

Of course, while I still like Kouryou, if I were to go back to 2007 knowing what I know now, I probably would root for Saga Kita.

And that's why this year I was happy to see the non-powerhouses have their day. Kasukabe Kyouei defeating Ryuukokudai Heian right off the bat, Toyama Shougyou, Mie, Jyouhoku, Moriokadai Fuzoku amongst others. It was fun to see their fanbases be able to cheer for a victory as opposed to just being there.

But in the end Osaka Touin won - and I can understand it because of the dynamic that exists today. But the pessimist in me sees that one tactic in the 7th as something that made the win unbearable - because since they were losing - to Mie no less, they would resort to things like that to gain an advantage and "rightly" claim the title.

In America - I wouldn't doubt it at all. In Japan, in 高校野球, I would have said in the past "Never.". But now I can't discount the possibility, and that is what saddens me and puts a even bigger shadow on something that I liked so much.

We finally have our first full day of competition, and there are a few more things to glean from yesterday's action:

1) Sometimes the stage can be too much for the players.
We saw it not once, but twice yesterday.  First with Shizuoka and the multitude of errors by the infield, and then with Oita and their continued crossup of signs.

You can practice all you want, but when that siren sounds and they start playing, it probably hits the kids that "hey, I've actually done it, I'm here at Koushien".  And that can make a kid play the game a bit too fast, or perhaps misread a sign from their kantoku - and no matter how much you coach them, you can't avoid that human element.

2) Sometimes the stage can be too much for a kantoku.
That would be the case with Fujishiro's Kobari-kantoku.  Staked to an 8-0 lead early, he watched as Oogaki Nichidai started clawing their way back.  And when you saw in the 6th inning him sending in #11 Yamazaki to take the hill, them removing him one batter later after 2 wild pitches and a walk, you knew that basically he was in full panic mode.  (You could also reference Teikyou v. Chiben Wakayama from 2006 which I was a witness for)

I've followed 高校野球 long enough to know when there is a meltdown in progress.  That aforementioned game in 2006 was my first exposure to the Hindenburg-type slow burns that occur more often than you'd think.  A lot of times it's due to the players pressing, but sometimes the kantoku just runs out of ideas and throws everything at the wall hoping something sticks.

3) 高校野球 seems to not have learned the art of letting a team hang themselves... sort of...
The one peeve I had, and it really started back in 2011 with Nichidai-san, was the fact that when a team faces a pitcher that is struggling on the mound - specifically not being able to find the zone, the opposing team doesn't just sit there and let the pitcher hang themselves.

Shizuoka had that opportunity against Seiryou's Iwashita, who seemed to not be able to hit the broad side of the barn, they had worked the counts early.  But as the game progressed, they started swinging earlier in counts and letting Iwashita build confidence.  Same thing with Oita and Nihon Bunri ace Iidzuka.

Now was it because the game was close and the team started pressing? Perhaps.  But then that falls upon the kantoku to keep the kids sticking to the gameplan.

There may be an exception though.  It seemed rather curious that Iidzuka was struggling on the mound and yet his walks all happened to be with one out.  And then Oita's Sano-kantoku would bunt the runner over every time, putting the team with 2 outs and a runner on 2nd looking for a one timer.

Now Oita finally burned Nihon Bunri with Inoue's triple to score a run, but how much you want to bet they had film of Oita doing that exact strategy and gambled that they could bait Oita to doing it and getting free outs knowing that more often than not, the runner would be stranded?

4) For all that 高校野球 is glorified, remember that they are just kids.
That gets forgotten a lot because I think people see them as the best of the best.  And when a comeback occurs or a team wins a close game, we go wild on the efforts of the winners.  But for every winner, there is always a loser and for them the loss can be as crushing as the celebration is for the winners.

That was made more than evident in Fujishiro's loss to Oogaki Nichidai.  Up 8 runs after their part of the 1st, the team watched helplessly as that lead slipped away, as Takeuchi was just plain out of gas and there was no better alternative.

After the game was over, none of the players were consolable.  Especially Takeuchi who could do nothing but just stand there and watch his pitches be drilled over and over again.  Of course, there were cameras taking pictures of them, and while it's certainly their job, it's just another indignity they have to face.

Sure, we'll see post-Koshien videos on Nettoh Koushien with them laughing and seemingly over it, but it doesn't cover the fact that they suffered a very hard loss.  It's the reason why such victories if I celebrate them at all are muted nowadays.

So perhaps keep that in mind as we go forward.

What did we learn from the opening day of the 96th Natsu Koushien tournament?

1) It is really, really hard to complete the haru-natsu renzoku yuushou (春夏連続優勝).
Yes, it's happened twice in the last 5 years, but that doesn't make it any easier to complete the feat.  In both of those cases, the schools had a bonafide ace (Kounan - Shimabukuro Yousuke, Osaka Touin - Fujinami Shintarou), and both had offenses that were less prone to power outages.

Now Ryuukokudai Heian took the model that we saw from Nobeoka Gakuen and Maebashi Ikuei last year and won senbatsu.  But to win both, and especially from a urban prefecture such as Kyoto, requires a lot of games to go undefeated in.

And in the case of Heian, they continued to follow the gameplan sending out Motouji.  This time though it came with disastrous results.  You can throw in the failure of the kantoku to switch pitchers sooner, or the fact that they were not challenged in the prefecturals, but whatever the combination was it equaled an opening day exit.

2) All prefectures are not created equal
That probably goes without saying, but the 16-0 drubbing of Sakaide Shougyou by Tsuruga Kehi puts a huge spotlight on it. Yes, Sakaide Shougyou did win the Kagawa tournament and earned the right to be there, but think about this:

27 of the 47 prefectures have won at least 1 Natsu Koushien title.

That means that 20 have not won even 1 (winning percentages):

Tohoku

• Aomori (0.432)
• Akita (0.364)
• Iwate (0.304)
• Yamagata (0.274)
• Miyagi (0.496)
• Fukushima (0.350)

• Saitama(??!) (0.500)
• Yamanashi (0.437)

• Niigata (0.303)
• Toyama (0.308)
• Ishikawa (0.368)
• Fukui (0.415)

• Shiga (0.397)

• Okayama (0.517)
• Tottori (0.352)
• Shimane (0.337)

• Miyazaki (0.471)
• Nagasaki (0.379)
• Kumamoto (0.509)
• Kagoshima (0.500)

When I first found out about Koushien, I didn't think there was anything more spectacular or honest than high school boys playing a game they love in the hopes of getting to Koushien, playing on the hallowed grounds for a chance to be champions of the country.  And it was the reason why in 2006 I made my 3rd trip to Japan to watch the entire Natsu Koushien for myself.

Having stayed in Tenri during prior trips to the Kansai region, and seeing how dominant they were in-prefecture I wanted them to do well (they didn't).  I thought Fukuchiyama Seibi was a powerhouse team and should be upset by someone (they weren't, they were).  I rooted for Kanzei because of the disasters Dass Romash faced (and faced again when they lost to Bunsei Geidai Fuzoku), and for the underdog Teikyou to defeat Chiben Wakayama (they weren't underdogs, and they lost in spectacular - in a Hindenberg way - fashion).

And I rooted hard for Komadai Tomakomai when they played the history of Waseda Jitsugyou trying to make history themselves because perhaps they may never get this chance again (at least I was right about that - sadly).

I've seen many more Koushiens after that. From the bitter pill when Saga Kita hit that grand slam in the bottom of the 8th to defeat Kouryou, to the joy when Imamura and Seihou won it all, to the Risshoudai Shounan squad who played in the memory of their coach and won several games despite their squad decimated by the flu, to the improbable rally that just fell short by Nihon Bunri against Chuukyoudai Chuukyou in the bottom of the 9th that left me (and the entire Niigata region crushed).

I've learned more about the path to Koushien, the schools that make it there...

...and it has unfortunately taken the luster off what I once saw as an great sport...

Because while at last count 3,957 schools started the journey to Natsu Koushien, I bet that not even 10% of those schools had a realistic chance of getting there.  Now some of that's to be expected, not every school can field a contender.  But then look at these stats:

• 15 of the 32 schools in this field have been to senbatsu in the last 5 years.
• The year before that, 18 of the expanded 36 were.  That's half of the field.
• Last summer 26 of the 49 participants fit that criteria.
• And the year before that, a whopping 32 teams.  That's almost 2/3rds of the field!!

So while we know that the Gonohe's, the Ikoma's, the Chatan's of the world will probably never get as close to a whiff of Koushien because they just aren't good, you have schools like Engaru, Kakunodate, Komatsu Meihou and Misato who field decent squads, but continuously bump their heads into schools like Hokushou, Akita Shougyou, Yuugakukan and Okinawa Shougaku.

Much like other things in life, the established guard generally get the spoils.  And most of the time, these schools are private, which makes it all the more frustrating because if you're a private school chances are you are getting more funding and can therefore can field better teams than a public school.

And so nowadays my allegiances have changed...

It's the reason why I do not generally root for the established guard.  It's the reason why I dislike schools like Nichidai-san, Yokohama, Teikyou, Sendai Ikuei, Waseda Jitsugyou, Osaka Touin, Chiben Wakayama - because they have been here more than enough times and someone else should have a turn.  Even newly formed Waseda Saga (established 2010) I know will become one of those schools.  The Waseda name has made the school already a contender in the weak Saga prefecture.

It's the reason why I root for schools from places that are not successful at Koushien - despite being private schools, if Nihon Bunri or Hachinohe Gakuen Kousei (fka Kousei Gakuin) make the final I will root for them to defeat the old guard (like Chuukyoudai Chuukyou or Osaka Touin/Nichidai-san).

It's the reason why I root for the underdog - like Engaru (though they did get a nod a year later, but much too late to show their potential IMO), or Kakunodate (who just missed out last summer and was passed over in the 21st century selection which admittedly would have been a year late), or Ise (who also got passed over in the 21st century selection).

And sure, some of my allegiances nowadays don't fall into those rules - perhaps Narashino for instance who is a public school, but one of the more successful public schools.  Or Kanzei, who is definitely an above-average private school out of Okayama, because I think they've been snake-bitten more than I think a school deserves.  Or Mie, despite being a private school just because they're a blue-collar gritty from a weaker prefecture.  Or Aikoudai Meiden just because of Ichiro.  Or my real irrational likes of Kasukabe Kyouei and Nishinomiya Kita just because they were the home for anime series.

And if I had the ability to, I would be an English teacher at a public school helping a team get to Koushien, to break through that ceiling of established teams and give that opportunity to kids that perhaps may not get otherwise.

So that's where I stand on things at Koushien now.  I'm sure that most of you who read the blog have your favorite school, and so do I to some extent.  But when someone like Ooshima makes it for instance, I will root hard for them to win a game or two, even if the odds are against them.

So in going through the reviews of teams invited to Senbatsu, you've seen that it can be difficult to get information on players one way or another.  More surprisingly, I have had difficulties with teams in the Kanto region.

But perhaps it shouldn't be surprising at all...

I say this because if I had the chance to help out a team trying to reach Koushien, I would scout the heck out of the schools I might be facing.  Anything to get an advantage, especially against the upper tier schools. In fact, we already see some of it being used in actual gameplay like Saibi vs. Hanamaki Higashi.

So why wouldn't I look on the internet for videos of players from opposing schools? Or games they have played in?

Which brings me to my point.  I already saw signs of it a couple of years back when a YouTube video of a school that had made Koushien was blurred out in places so that it would be difficult to identify players.  If it was like that back then, I would imagine it's still the case now.

So, I guess outside of the real superstar players who many will be taking videos of, it might be a little more difficult to find videos of players.

The new format of Koushien meant that a lot of the big name schools had a higher probability of missing each other in the draw unlike the old way when say Osaka Touin drew into a bracket of 8, the next team had 7 opportunities to draw into that same bracket meaning that they'd have to go through them in all likelihood to get to the best 8.

And not all draws are created equal either. Given the draw this year, the teams not paired with Osaka Touin would love to have gotten the spot against Tokoha Kikugawa, or for Osaka Touin to draw that spot.

• Day 1 (6 teams) fills out Day 7
• Days 2 & 3 (16 teams) fills out Day 8
• Day 4 & Games 1-2 of Day 5 (12 teams) fills out Day 9

So that gets us from Round 1 to Round 2.  Now in theory, all teams are able to draw for either Day 10 and Day 11.

But, it is mandated (so that teams can get rest), that Day 9 teams must draw into Day 11.

Early on, the teams playing first in round 2 have the whole draw available. But because of the stipulation for Day 9 teams, there are really only have 5 slots available in Day 11, even though when they draw, all slots are in the box.

Back in the old format there were 8 blocks and redraws happen at the quarterfinal and semifinal level.

But in the new format once the teams draw into the 3rd round, it's a little different. Teams within each day become locked in their own bracket for the Round of 16 and Quarterfinals. This is again with rest in mind so that those teams playing in Day 11, while playing back-to-back, at least play late in Day 12.

So looking at that format in our current state...

...there is a chance we could have a quarterfinal matchup between a combination of these 3 teams:

• Saibi (Anraku, of course)
• Osaka Touin (defending champions)
• Sakushin Gakuin (quarter-finalists last year)

!!

The teams on Day 11 (especially Yokohama) are thankful they're over there on Day 10.

The draw after today should be very interesting...

Is that in general each prefecture gets one school with the exception of Hokkaido (Kita/Minami) and Tokyo (Nishi/Higashi) who get 2. That makes the field of 49.

Yet last year, in celebrating the 90th summer Koshien, several other prefectures received an extra bid:

• Saitama (Kita/Minami)
• Chiba (Nishi/Higashi)
• Kanagawa (Kita/Minami)
• Aichi (Nishi/Higashi)
• Osaka (Kita/Minami)
• Hyogo (Nishi/Higashi)

That created a field of 55.

I understand the need for Hokkaido and Tokyo getting 2 bids. Tokyo, by 4 million people, has the highest population of all the prefectures. Hokkaido is so big that teams would have to travel exorbitant distances for games.

While there are times that I root for the underdog/rural schools, at the same time it seems unfair that a prefecture that has almost 9 million people in Kanagawa gets the same amount of bids that say Kagawa gets with its 1 million people.

Why not give any prefecture that has over 5 million people an extra bid? That way prefectures with a large contingent of teams would be split. There are a lot of good teams that are denied because they only have one bid. Let's look at who participated last year in those prefectures that got another bid:

• Kita Saitama - Honjyou Dai-ichi
  
• Minami Saitama - Urawa Gakuin
  
• Nishi Chiba - Chiba Keizaidai Fuzoku
  
• Higashi Chiba - Kisaradzu Sougou
  
• Kita Kanagawa - Keiou
  
• Minami Kanagawa - Yokohama
  
• Nishi Aichi - Touhou
  
• Higashi Aichi - Oobu
  
• Kita Osaka - Osaka Touin
  
• Minami Osaka - Kinkidai Fuzoku
  
• Nishi Hyogo - Houtoku Gakuen
  
• Higashi Hyogo - Kakogawa Kita

There are some good schools on that list.

Now, if we were to use the 5+ million rule, the above prefectures would receive an extra bid along with Fukuoka (although they're barely above 5 million)

So why not do it?

After finding out that the Spring participants are derived from the fall tournament, it makes the high school baseball schedule that much more interesting.

• August-September - Fall Tournament Prefectural Qualifiers
• September-October - Fall Tournament Regional Qualifiers (This determines teams to the Spring 甲子園)
• November - National Fall Tournament
• March - Spring 甲子園
• June-August - Qualifiers for the Summer 甲子園
  
• August - Summer 甲子園

There is a LOT going on there. In fact many teams after finishing the Summer Koshien immediately go into qualifiers for the Spring Koshien.

Now given, the teams that qualify in the fall tournament are not the same ones you see at Koshien. These teams are now without their 3rd year players and are pretty much playing new players.

Interestingly enough, that means that there is a lot of pressure on the teams that make it to the Summer Koshien. If you think about the turnaround time, and the time taken off to attend the tournament, it could really affect teams that need to prepare for the fall tournament. There hasn't probably been a study, but let's just take the 2008 Summer Koshien participants and see where they ended up in the fall tournament:

• North Hokkaido - Komadai Iwamizawa - Lost in Hokkaido Regional Semi-finals to Mukawa 14-6.
• South Hokkaido - Hokkai - Lost in 2nd round (had 1st round bye) of the Hokkaido Regional to Mukawa 7-0.
• Aomori - Aomori Yamada - Lost in quarterfinals of the Tohoku Regionals to Ichinoseki Gakuin 7-5.
• Iwate - Morioka Daifuzoku - Lost in quarterfinals of Prefectural Qualifiers to Fukuoka 3-2.
• Akita - Honjyou - Lost in the 2nd round of the Central Sub-Regionals to Akita Shougyou 6-5.
• Yamagata - Sakata Minami - Lost in quarterfinals of the Tohoku Regionals to Rifu 3-2.
• Miyagi - Sendai Ikuei - Lost in 2nd round of the Tohoku Regionals (had 1st round bye) to Seikou Gakuin 4-3.
• Fukushima - Seikou Gakuin - Lost in quarterfinals of the Tohoku Regionals to Kousei Gakuin 3-1.
• Ibaraki - Jyousou Gakuin - Lost in semifinals of the Prefectural Qualifiers to Shimotsuma-ni 5-4.
• Tochigi - Hakuoudai Ashikaga - Lost in quarterfinals of the Prefectural Qualifiers to Kokugakuin Tochigi 5-4.
• Gunma - Kiryuu Dai-ichi - Lost in quarterfinals of Prefectural Qualifiers to Takasaki Kenkou Fukushidai 11-7.
• North Saitama - Honjyou Dai-ichi - Lost in 3rd round of Prefectural Qualifiers to Tokyo Nodai-san 4-2.
• South Saitama - Urawa Gakuin - Lost in 2nd round (had 1st round bye) of Prefectural Qualifiers to Namegawa Sougou 3-0.
• East Chiba - Kisaradzu Sougou - Lost in quarterfinals of the Kanto Regionals to Keio 7-3.
• West Chiba - Chiba Keizaidai Fuzoku - Lost in 1st round of Prefectural Qualifiers to Ryuutsuu Keizaidai Fuzoku Kashiwa 15-8.
• East Tokyo - Kantou Dai-ichi - Lost in Block 13 finals to Meijidai Nakano 1-0 on a sayonara run.
• West Tokyo - Nichidai Tsurugaoka - Lost in 2nd round of Tokyo Regionals to Teikyou 6-5. Nichidai had a 5-0 lead going into the bottom of the 9th. You can figure out the rest.
• North Kanagawa - Keio - Won the National Fall Tournament
• South Kanagawa - Yokohama - Lost in 3rd round of Prefectural Qualifiers to Nichidai Fujisawa 3-2.
• Niigata - Niigata Kenou Kougyou - Lost in 1st round of Prefectural Qualifiers to Teikyou Gakkan Niigata 4-1.
• Nagano - Matsushou Gakuen - Lost in quarterfinals of Prefectural Qualifiers to Tokai Dai-san 10-0.
• Yamanashi - Nihon Koukuu - Lost in 1st round of the Kantou Regionals to Maebashi Shougyou 5-1.
• Shizuoka - Tokoha Kikugawa - Lost in 2nd round of the Prefectural Qualifiers to Shizuoka Shougyou 5-4.
• East Aichi - Oobu - Lost in the quaterfinals of the Prefectural Qualifiers to Kyoei 6-5.
• West Aichi - Touhou - Lost in quarterfinals (1st game) of the Tokai Regionals to Seisei Kougyou 4-3.
• Gifu - Gifu Kenritsu Shougyou - Lost in 2nd round of Prefectural Qualifiers to Gifu Kenritsu Sougou 2-1.
• Mie - Komono - Lost in 2nd round (had 1st round bye) of Prefectural Qualifiers to Nabari Kikyougaoka 2-1.
• Toyama - Takaoka Shougyou - Lost in quarterfinals of Prefectural Qualifiers to Mizuhashi 11-4.
• Ishikawa - Kanazawa - Lost in quarterfinals of Prefectural Qualifiers to Seiryou 5-2.
• Fukui - Fukui Shougyou - Lost in quarterfinals of Prefectural Qualifiers to Fujishima 3-1.
• Shiga - Oumi - Lost in 1st round of Kinki Regionals to Minoshima 5-1.
• Kyoto - Fukuchiyama Seibi - Lost in semifinals of Kinki Regionals to PL Gakuen 2-1.
• North Osaka - Osaka Touin - Lost in quarterfinals of Kinki Regionals to Konkou Osaka 3-2.
• South Osaka - Kinki Daifuzoku - Lost in 5th round of Prefectural Qualifiers to Konkou Osaka 2-0.
• East Hyogo - Houtoku Gakuen - Lost in quarterfinals of Kinki Regionals to PL Gakuen 7-0.
• West Hyogo - Kakogawa Kita - Lost in 2nd round of Prefectural Qualifiers to Miki Kita 8-7.
• Nara - Chiben Gakuen - Lost in 3rd round of Prefectural Qualifiers to Nara Daifuzoku 1-0.
• Wakayama - Chiben Wakayama - Lost in 1st round of Kinki Regionals to Konkou Osaka 7-5.
• Okayama - Kurashiki Shougyou - Lost in 1st round of Prefectural Qualifiers to Kanzei 6-5.
• Hiroshima - Kouryou - Lost in quarterfinals of Prefectural Regionals to Shinjyou 5-3.
• Tottori - Tottori Shougyou - Lost in 1st round of Chuugoku Regionals to Shinjyou 1-0.
• Shimane - Kaisei - Lost in semifinals of Chuugoku Regionals to Nanyou Kougyou 4-1.
• Yamaguchi - Shimonoseki Kougyou - Lost in quarterfinals of Prefectural Qualifiers to Nanyou Kougyou 7-0.
• Kagawa - Kagawa Nishi - Lost in quarterfinals of Prefectural Qualifiers to Takamatsu Shougyou 6-1.
• Tokushima - Naruto Kougyou - Lost in quarterfinals of Shikoku Regionals to Jinsei Gakuen 10-3.
• Ehime - Saibi - Lost in 1st round of Shikoku Regionals to Meitoku Gijuku 3-1.
• Kochi - Kochi - Lost in quarterfinals (bad 1st round bye) of Shikoku Regionals to Imabari Nishi 7-3.
• Fukuoka - Iidzuka - Lost in quarterfinals of Prefectural Qualifiers to Touchiku 10-7.
• Saga - Saga Shougyou - Lost in 2nd round (had 1st round bye) of Prefectural Qualifiers to Kashima Jitsugyou 10-3.
• Nagasaki - Seihou - Lost 2nd round (had 1st round bye) of the National Fall Tournament to Saijyou 12-8.
• Kumamoto - Jyouhoku - Lost in 4th round of Prefectural Qualifiers to Touryou 6-2.
• Oita - Hita-rin Kougyou - Lost in 2nd round (had 1st round bye) of Prefectural Qualifiers to Mie Sougou 5-4.
• Miyazaki - Miyazaki Shougyou - Lost in 1st round of Prefectural Qualifiers to Miyakonojyou Izumigaoka 5-1.
  
• Kagoshima - Kagoshima Jitsugyou - Lost in semifinals of Prefectural Qualifiers to Kawauchi 5-1.
  
• Okinawa - Urasoe Shougyou - Lost in quarterfinals of Prefectural Qualifiers to Miyako 4-1.

So, out of the 55 teams that competed, we have the following stats:

• 2 made the National Fall Tournament - Keio and Seihou. Keio won it all.
• 18 made the Regional Tournaments
• 3 made it to the Prefectural Best 4, but that was as far as it went.
  
• 13 made it to the Prefectural Best 8, but could not go further.
  
• 19 did not make it to the Prefectural Best 8.

So over one-third of all teams from the Summer Koshien didn't even make it to the quarterfinals of their prefectural qualfiers. At the same time, about just as many made it into the regional tournaments. Delving deeper, we see that a lot of the teams that made it to the regional tournaments are teams that are known as perennial contenders. Makes sense since these teams would have a fair amount of depth.

And it seems that the short turnaround doesn't affect these teams for the most part either, which at least for me I find interesting.