高校野球 (Kokoyakyu)

We have another region in jeopardy of being eliminated in this game, and it's Kyushu's neighbor Chuugoku. Their champs are in play as the last team, facing the always scrappy Kendai Takasaki.

Kendai Takasaki (Gunma)
2B Souma Yuuto
SS Hayashi Kenya
C Tsuge Sena
3B Shibahiki Ryousuke
RF Satou Nozomu
CF Kasuga Yuuma
LF Higa Tsubasa (#14)
P Kawai Tomoya

Ube Koujyou (Yamaguchi)
2B Fujita Tsukasa
P Uenishi Ranma
RF Ueda Rikiya
LF Okada Katsuki
1B Nakanishi Atsuhisa
C Machida Shouhei
CF Umemoto Daiki
SS Umeoka Ryouta
3B Yoshiura Tomoki

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11:35 - First Pitch!

Top 1st
Souma draws a 4-pitch walk and let's see if Kendai does their running. They didn't do a lot of it in the super-regionals.

And he does take off! But the pitch from Uenishi almost takes off Hayashi's head! Machida has to chase it down and Souma goes to 3rd!

The umpires converge to talk about things as Ozaki-kantoku maintains the ball hit Hayashi's bat when he ducked for cover. But after discussion it was ruled to not be the case.

Hayashi gets a chance to plate the first run, but he hits a shallow fly to center! Umemoto is there and Souma can't score.Tsuge with the next chance to plate the run.

But Uenishi intends to to shut them down! He strikes out Tsuge on a slider right on the corner for the 2nd out! Shibahiki last chance to get the runner in this inning.

Ball back up the middle, through for a base hit! Souma finally scores and it's 1-0 Kendai!

Ooshima grrounds to 3rd to end the inning, but Kendai Takasaki takes the quick lead!

Bottom 1st
Fujita starting the rally right off the bat with a base hit up the middle! Uenishi with the bunt, but Shibahiki sells out! He crashes in and is right on the ball! Goes to 2nd for 1, throw to 1st... double play!! Risk from the 3B, but it pays off!

Ueda goes down swinging and the inning is over.

Top 2nd
Satou with a ball back up the middle himself for a leadoff single.

Kasuga not bunting, instead hits a blooper to the left side! Umeoka turning back and.. can't get it! Everyone's safe! Kendai Takasaki threatening again.

Higa lays down the bunt, and this time it's Uenishi who crashes in! He goes to 3rd and they cut down the lead runner! One down.

Kawai now with a slow grounder to short, toss to 2nd. SAFE?!


Fujita stretching for the ball, goes off the bag! Higa slides in ahead of the re-establishment and all safe! Manrui!

Souma up, and the infield is playing in looking for the squeeze.

But he swings away! The outfield is in and Okada has to turn tail! All 3 runners are going to score on the play! Souma's in with a bases clearing triple! Kendai Takasaki leads 4-0!

After some discussion by the umpires and some direction, Ube Koujyou appeals that the runner didn't touch 2nd, but the umpires show safe.

Hayashi tries to hit a sac fly, but hits it too shallow.

Tsuge grounds to 3rd to end the inning, but it's a big hit instead of their running that scores the runs!

Bottom 2nd
Okada line drive down the left field line... Fair! Higa runs it down, but not before Okada reaches 2nd!

No bunting down 4, but Nakanishi bites on a slider for the 1st out.

And Machida does the same on a changeup! 2 down and Kawai might get out of the jam!

Umemoto hits a single to center... it falls in! They're waving Okada home! Throw from Kasuga... is on a line and right to Tsuge! It's in plenty of time and Okada is out to retire the side. That's a bit too aggressive there when there's plenty of time.

Top 3rd
Uenishi looking for a bagel, or more importantly a quick inning. And he gets Shibahiki and Ooshima to groundout.

Satou swings and misses on a slider, but the ball gets away from Machida and Satou reaches 1st!

Once again the runners are allowed to run wild and Satou takes off for 2nd, and gets no throw!

But Satou goes a bridge too far! Machida pops out after the 1-2 pitch and pumps his throw before having Satou in no-man's land! He's run down and the inning is over.

Bottom 3rd
Meanwhile, Ube Koujyou's offense can't get anything started against Kawai. The 8-9-1 batters are retired in 10 pitches and things do not look good.

Top 4th
Kasuga with a base hit to right gets Kendai's offense going again. No running or bunting though, looks like Aoyagi-kantoku is playing it straight at the bottom of the lineup.Last batters Higa and Kawai both fly out to center.

Souma comes up ready to do more damage, but Uenishi ends up hitting him.

Hitting him isn't good, but that brings up Hayashi who is 0-2 on the day. Uenishi pits him away with a slider and that's the inning.

Bottom 4th
Despite the troubles, Ube Koujyou has gotten leadoff men on base. This time it's Uenishi who draws a walk.

Ueda follows that up with a line single to right! 2 on, no out and Ube Koujyou threatening!

Ah, but Okada hits a ball up in foul territory! Satou and Ooshima collide and it's Satou with the catch! But Ooshima looks hurt. He's slow to get up and hobbles back to his position.

Now the umpires call time as they notice blood from Ooshima. They roll up his left leg and there is indeed blood. He has to leave to get treatment, and is visibly limping towards the stairs.

After a while, Aoyagi-kantoku goes over to where Ooshima went, and scrambles back, making a change.

#16 Minakawa comes in for Ooshima and goes to RF, Satou goes to 3B and Shibahiki goes to 1B.

Nakanishi up after the delay to try and get the timely hit.

And it seems like the break has affected Kawai! He can't throw a strike and falls behind 3-0! He fights back to level the count.

SANSHIN!!!

It's a fastball on the outside corner for the 2nd out!

Machida the last chance here after a great start to the inning.

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

Machida can only walk back towards the dugout after he watches a slider hit the inside corner for strike 3! 3 out!

Top 5th
Tsuge with a liner down the left field line for a long single.

Uenishi paying a lot of attention to him, and then catches Tsuge taking off early for 2nd! Uenishi runs him down for the first out.

Shibahiki makes contact and does a bat flip?

Umemoto runs over to left center, and back to the wall... 待って。。本当に？？！！

HAITAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I guess he knew something we didn't because that ball clears the fence! It's 5-0 Kendai Takasaki!

Minakawa and Satou are retired afterwards, but the lead is extended!

Bottom 5th
Ube Koujyou needs the break as the offense is on it's heels with Kawai hitting the corners. In fact, he strikes out the bottom of the lineup and Kendai Takasaki looks in total control.

Top 6th
Kasuga with a drive to left, and again the outfield is in! Okada has to chase after it and Kasuga presses to 3rd! The throw in... and he's safe! He's keeping his toe on the bag, but he's safe!

Higa hot shot to 1st, but Nakanishi is there! He looks Kasuga back and goes to 1st for the out.

Kawai still looking for his first hit but he chases a slider for the 2nd out.

And Uenishi prevents any further damage. Souma flies out to left to retire the side.

Bottom 6th
Make that 4 Ks in a row! Fujita goes down swinging on a changeup and that's Kawai's 10th K!

Uenishi puts the bat on the ball and guides it to left, but Hayashi jumps and high points the ball for the out.

And Ueda hits a weak comebacker to Kawai. That's 9 consecutive batters retired and Kawai appears to be in cruise control.

Top 7th
Hayashi draws the leadoff walk.

Tsuge swinging away, but hits one up the middle to Umeoka. But he drops the ball! His only play is to 1st for one.

And Hayashi makes him pay! He steals 3rd without a throw!

And Shibahiki drives in his 3rd run! Just a clean single to right. 6-0.

#7 Chinen in to hit for Minakawa. And he singles to left! Everything going Kendai's way.

2 down now for Kasuga, and he hits a single through the left side! Shibahiki is given the green light around 3rd, but Okada is firing home! Throw in... OUT!

The throw is on line and Shibahiki didn't have a chance!

Bottom 7th
Ube Koujyou finally gets their first hit in 3 innings as PH #13 Nakamura, hitting for Nakanishi, hits a liner to left.

That's all they get though as Machida and Umemoto are retired thereafter.

Top 8th
Nakamura stays in to play 1B.

Kendai Takasaki content with their lead, go down in order to shorten the game.

Bottom 8th
One down and captain #15 Makihata comes is sent in to hit for Yoshiura.

Sharp ball to the left side, Hayashi runs it down in the gap, but the throw is wide and Makihata has a base hit!

That seems to spur on the team! Fujita follows that up with a single to left!

And now Uenishi singles back up the middle! Makihata holds up at 3rd, but it's manrui for Ube Koujyou!

Ueda with a slow grounder to the right side... Souma goes to 2nd for 1, and that's it! Makihata scores and Ube Koujyou is finally on the board at 6-1.

Unfortunately, the momentum dies there as Okada grounds out to 2nd. But the shutout is prevented.

Top 9th
Kendai Takasaki scores 3 more runs, which included the following:

• #10 Nakasugi coming in for 1 batter, then relieved by #11 Kiba.
• Aoyagi PH for his cleanup hitter, drawing questions from the announcers.
• A catcher's interference that instead of an out at home, resulted in a manrui situation.
• A HBP that the umpires had to converge on.
• An attempt to score 2 runs on a squeeze play that resulted in a 1-3-2 double play.

Bottom 9th
Ube Koujyou goes down in order in the 9th, and the game ends mercifully.

Ube Koujyou just got off to a weird start. From talking to the umpire about the wild pitch in the 1st thinking it was a foul ball, to the appeal at 2nd, it felt like they were trying to buy as many breaks as possible. And I think it took away from the team a little. By the time they had chances, it seemed like they were already pressing and it was over from there.

With that loss Chuugoku, along with Kyushu, have been eliminated.

Kendai Takasaki looked like the team we're used to seeing. Aggressive on the basepaths and solid defense. We really didn't see the grittyness, as the game was never in doubt, but they look like a contender yet again. Kawai isn't as good as he showed today, but he was hitting his spots and forcing the Ube Koujyou batters into bad swings, or none at all sometimes.If his control can keep up throughout, they could be scary yet again. Tenri may be next, but it's certainly a winnable game.

Now we make our way to the western part of Japan, starting with the Chuugoku champions Ube Koujyou. They're only making their 2nd appearance overall, and their 1st in 12 years.

And now our last game to fill out our Best 8.  The winner of this game will face last year's Best 4 finisher Sakushin Gakuin 2 days from now.

Wouldn't it be something if one of those teams was a first timer to Natsu Koushien?

Not only have the won their first aggregate (Spring/Summer) game, but they are one win away from reaching the Best 8!  They've certainly exceeded my expectations this Koushien.

Toukaidai Koufu has basically breezed through Koushien.  And I don't refer to blowout wins.  I mean more in that their games have taken 72 and 90 minutes.  That's fast.

I'm not sure if this is their pace, but it seems to work, and keep them out of the sun too.  Today, they're giving ace Kanbara a rest, though he's thrown the least amount of pitches for any player who's pitched 2 full games.  In fact, Muranaka-kantoku's sitting 2 of his normal starting OF too.

OH.  He going for an all RH lineup against Sasanaga.


Ube Kougyou (Yamaguchi)
LF Tomonaga
SS Yamaoka
RF Hinoguchi
CF Kanemaru
3B Oono
P Sasanaga
C Nishino
2B Yasuda
1B Sugita

Toukaidai Koufu (Yamanashi)
SS Watnanabe
2B Shinkai
LF Yamamoto
C Ishii
1B Akiya
3B Aihara
RF Tanaka (#15)
P Honda (#10)
CF Itahashi (#18)

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15:32 - First Pitch!

Top 1st
Strikeout of Tomonaga is a good way to start if you're spot starter Honda.

But then he goes full and loses Yamaoka.

And then after a quick flyout to left, he goes full again to Kanemaru and walks him.

Oono with a short flyer to right. Itahashi sprinting in from his position, reaches out and makes the stumbling catch!  The wind is really blowing in from RF today, so he really had to book it.

Bottom 1st
Watanabe with a comebacker off Sasanaga's glove!  It deflects to Yamaoka who goes to 1st for the out!

Shinkai goes down on a slider and there's 2 out.

Figures that the only lefty left in the lineup - Yamamoto, draws a walk against Sasanaga.

Ishii grounds to 3rd, who goes to 2nd for the force to retire the side.

Top 2nd
One down and Nishino registers Ube Koujyou's first hit with a ball clean through the right side.

Yasuda with a grounder to short, Watanabe with the shovel toss to Shinkai and he fires to first for textbook 6-4-3 double play.

Bottom 2nd
Akiya starts off with a single to left.  Aihara tries to bunt him over, but Sasagawa goes to 2nd and gets the lead runner!

Tanaka with a comebacker to Sasanaga!  He decides to go to 2nd, but Aihara's safe!  Throw to 1st, Tanaka's also safe!  Toukaidai Koufu with a developing situation!

But Honda grounds to 2nd!  Yasuda with the tag of Tanaka, goes to 1st for the double play!

I dunno about that tag, but it's called and the side is retired.

Top 3rd
It's finally a quiet inning for Honda.  He strikes out Sugita to start the inning, then gets Tomonaga to ground out.

Yamaoka tries the safety bunt, Akiya with the ball flips to Honda who just beats out Yamaoka to the bag.

Bottom 3rd
The game is starting to go at Toukaidai Koufu's pace.  They're swinging away early in counts, as Itahashi grounds to short, Watanabe to 3rd, and Shinkai with a pop to Yamaoka in shallow left.

Top 4th
Hinoguchi works the count full, but is jammed and lines out to Watanabe.

Kanemaru swings on the first pitch and hits a can of corn to Watanabe as well.

And Oono gets frozen on a fastball across the plate and the side is retired.

Bottom 4th
The only theory I have about Toukaidai Koufu's fast play lies in the fact they have no errors.  If they can play fast and have no errors, and other teams aren't used to the quick pace, perhaps they can force them into errors if they get them to play fast as well.

Sasanaga gets the call on a fastball on the outside corner for a 3 pitch strikeout.  Ishii swings on the first pitch (much like Kanemaru!) and flies out to right.

Akiya with a hard grounder to the left side.  Oono makes a great stop!  Throws to 1st and Sasanaga is cruising along!

Top 5th
And if they're rushing at the plate too, perhaps they'll swing at pitches they wouldn't.

One down for Ube Koujyou and Nishino hits a ball to right center!  The wind knocks it down, but Nishino's still in with a double!

Ace Kanbara is warming up in the bullpen.

Yasuda with a hard hit, past a diving Aihara down the left field line!  That'll go for extra bases!  Nishino scores on the double by Yasuda! 1-0!

Sugita with a drive to center!!  Tanaka running back to the fence, it's over his head and bounces to the wall!  Yasuda scores as Sugita hits the 3rd straight double!  2-0 Ube Koujyou!

Back to the top of the order and Tomonaga, but he goes down looking on a fastball.

Yamaoka to try and add one more run, and Honda helps out by throwing a wild pitch!  Sugita advances to 3rd!

And now he hits a hard liner!  But it's right to Shinkai for the 3rd out.  But the 7-8-9 hitters go back-to-back-to-back doubles to give them a 2-0 lead!

Bottom 5th
One down and Tanaka hits a grounder to the left side.  Yamaoka runs it down, tries to throw to 1st, but it's not in time.  Good effort though!

#13 Ishiwa to hit for Honda - his day is done as Kanbara continues to warm up.

Ishiwa with a base hit to left!  Douten runner is on for Toukaidai!  Ozaki-kantoku calls time as #14 Kuriyama comes in to run for Ishiwa.

Itahashi in and showing bunt.  But he takes a couple of pitches and falls behind 0-2.  Takes one too many as he takes one at the knees for strike 3!  2 down!

Up to Watanabe who's hitless on the day. 

Down 1-2, he desparately fighting at the plate.

Watanabe with a drive to right center!  Kanemaru and Hinokuchi are chasing back after it!  It falls in at the wall  Tanaka scores!  Kuriyama being sent around 3rd, he scores!  Watanabe with a timely triple and we're all square at 2-2!!

Shinkai pops out to short, but an eventful 5th inning here!  We hit the break all square at 2-2!  And now Toukaidai's ace Kanbara will be entering the game.

We're playing a 4-inning ballgame!

Top 6th
And yes, ace Kanbara comes in for PR Kuriyama and takes the hill.

One down and Kanemaru chops a ball over Kanbara and into center for a leadoff single.  Ozaki-kantoku tries to start the hit-and-run, but Oono flies out to right.

Sasanaga turns on a fastball and singles past a diving Shinkai into right.

Small chance for Ube Koujyou though quickly ends when Nishino chases a forkball in the dirt for strike 3.

Bottom 6th
Grounder back up the middle by Yamamoto gives them the leadoff runner.  Ishii shows bunt and lays it down.  Sasanaga is there quickly, but falls down!  That forces him to go to 1st.

Yamamoto advances another 90 feet when Akiya grouds to 2nd, but now they have to have a base hit or error.

Aihara up, works the count full, then takes a pitch way inside for ball 4!  Ozaki-kantoku calls for time.

Tanaka now steps in, he started that 2-run 5th with a single.

But Sasanaga won't let him have one this time!  He grounds to short where Yamaoka makes the throw to 1st to retire the side!

Top 7th
Kanbara cruising along at ludicrous speed.  This time around he retires both Yasuda and Sugita, and then freezes Tomonaga again on a fastball.

Bottom 7th
Kanbara with a grounder to short.  Yamaoka throws it away, and it goes into the camera well!  Kanbara goes to 2nd.

Itahashi lays don the great sac bunt down the 3rd base line and he would ahve been safe had he not dove.

And they basically intentionally walk Watanabe to set up a double play opportunity.

Ozaki-kantoku calls time as Shinkai steps in.  He was batting in the 9-spot last game, but now is batting in the 2-spot in the order.

Slow chopper to the left side!  Oono can't get to it!  Yamaoka gets there, makes the throw to 1st, and gets Shinkai!

But Kanbara scores to make it 3-2 Toukaidai, and Watanabe, alertly seeing that both Oono and Yamaoka were going for the play, advance to 3rd!

Sasanaga though limits the damage to just the one run as he gets Yamamoto to groundout to short.

Top 8th
One down, Hinokuchi singles to left center!  He thinks about 2, but scrambles back when Yamamoto gets to the ball and fires it in.

Kanemaru hits a comebacker to Kanbara!  Throw to 2nd, almost too high but Watanabe has it!  Throw to 1st... double play!

Kanbara turns the inning-ending 1-6-3 double play!  Ube Koijyou will be to their final 3 outs!

Bottom 8th
Ishii starts off the inning with a 7 pitch walk.  Muranaka-kantoku tries to send him to 2nd, but Nishino guns him down, erasing the runner.

Furthermore, Akiya goes down swinging on the very next pitch.  2 down.

Aihara keep the inning going with a single through the left side.

Now Sasanaga walks Tanaka on 4 straight and there's a runner in scoring position for Kanbara.

And another baserunning error!  Sasanaga picks off Aihara at 2nd and the inning is over.  Now it's hang on time if you're Toukaidai Koufu

Top 9th
And if you're Ube Koujyou, you got 3 outs left in your Cinderella run.

Oono with a drive to center!  Tanaka back and makes the catch!  One down!

Sasanaga with a hard hit to the left side!  Watanabe with a great backhanded stop!  Throw to 1st, beats out Sasanaga!

One out left!  Nishino steps in, swings on the first pitch!  Grounder to 2nd!  Shinkai charging in, picks it, throws.

OUT!  The throw beats out a diving Nishino and Toukaidai Koufu advance to the Best 8 for the 3rd time in school history!

Ube Koujyou had one heck of a run in my opinion.  Sure, they didn't beat any of the big names in Toyama Kougyou or Sasebo Jitsugyou, but to win 2 games in your first ever Natsu Koushien I think is impressive.  So while they didn't reach the Best 8, they had a great Koushien tournament.

For Toukaidai Koufu, they're onto the Best 8, and surprisingly every time except once they've at least reached the Best 8 at Koushien (Spring or Summer), they've advanced to the semifinals and lost.

They'll look to at least continue that trend with their fast play style against Sakushin Gakuin.  It's seemed to work so far.


Notable Players
Kanbara Yuu (Toukaidai Koufu) - W, 4 IP, 3 K, 2 BB
Watanabe Ryou (Toukaidai Koufu) - 1-3, 3B, 2 RBI, BB
Sasanaga Minori (Ube Koujyou) - 8 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 6 H, 3 K, 5 BB
Nishino Koutarou (Ube Koujyou) - 2-4, 2B, R
Yasuda Shou (Ube Koujyou) - 1-3, 2B, R, RBI

Our penultimate matchup in the 2nd round has teams looking to enter or are in uncharted territory.

For Ube Koujyou, they're already there.  They're appearing at their first Natsu Koushien, and have won their first game.  Now they're looking to advance for a chance at the Best 8.

Against fellow first-timers Toyama Kougyou, they put runners on base almost every inning putting pressure on their ace Kamezawa, rallying from an early deficit to walk off 5-4.

Their ace Sasanaga as mentioned struggled, giving up 4 runs in the first 3 innings, capped off with a 3-run HR by Toyama Kougyou cleanup hitter Araki.  He settled down afterwards, but he needs to avoid the big inning early if he want to help Ube Koujyou advance.

Meanwhile Sasebo Jitsugyou will be looking for their 2nd win this summer, something they haven't been able to do.

In their first round win against Sapporo Dai-ichi, Sajitsu like Ube Kougyou put runners on every inning with less than 2 outs, and always were just a step ahead of the Minami Hokkaido representatives.  They had quite a few base hits, but were also taking their fair share of walks.

Ace Kimura scattered 10 hits, 6 of which were thanks to 2 Sapporo Dai-ichi batters.  I'm not sure how Ube Koujyou would compare to Sapporo Dai-ichi, especially since the lack of K's in prefectural play did not correlate once they got to Koushien.

Ube Koujyou's done well for their first Natsu Koushien, but I do expect their run to end here in the 2nd round.


Ube Kougyou (Yamaguchi)
LF Tomonaga
C Nishino
SS Yamaoka
RF Hinoguchi
CF Kanemaru
3B Oono
P Sasanaga
1B Sugita
2B Yasuda

Sasebo Jitsugyou (Nagasaki)
CF Nagatani
C Ura
3B Yamaguchi Akira
2B Matsuyama
RF Tateishi
P Kimura
LF Sakai (#17)
SS Yamaguchi Makoto
1B Nagayama (#13)

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10:45 - First Pitch

Top 1st
Tomonaga swings on the first pitch, ball deflects off Kimura to the right side, as Matsuyama picks it and throws to 1st to record the first out just as the siren trails off.

After a strike out swinging on an inside slider, Hinoguchi hits a ball past the infield into right.

But Kanemaru flies to right to end the inning.

Bottom 1st
Nagatani goes down looking on a fastball for the first out.

Ura stands in, takes a 5-pitch walk.  Akira laying down the bunt, and it's a safety bunt!  Ball goes towards the right side as both Sugita and Yasuda go for the ball.  Sugita gets the ball, but no one's covering 1st!  Everyone's safe!

But Matsuyama bails Sasanaga out by grounding into the 6-4-3 double play to end the inning!

Top 2nd
Oono with a drive to deep right center!  Nagatani and Tateishi head towards the wall and it falls in just in front of it!  He goes for 3rd as the relay throw goes wide!  And he's in safely!

Sasanaga with a chance to put Ube Koujyou up early, but he sofly lines out to 2nd!

Nishino gets the job done with a fly to right!  Tateishi there to make the catch and Oono scores to make it 1-0 Ube Koujyou!

Yasuda follows that up by blooping a ball over Akira's head for a base hit!

Kimura ends the inning by freezing Sugita on a fastball, but the newcomers strike first!

Bottom 2nd
Sasanaga with a quick inning as he induces 2 groundouts from Tateishi and Kimura and throws 3 strikes to Sakai for a clean sheet in the 2nd.

Top 3rd
Tomonaga with a drive to left!  Sakai to the wall as the ball bounces off the fence!  Leadoff double for Ube Koujyou!

Yamaoka with the sac bunt threatens to extend their lead!

Hinoguchi hits a fly to center, but it's short!  Kanemaru with it and Tomonaga can't tag up!

And cleanup batter Kanemaru grounds to 2nd for the 3rd out!

Bottom 3rd
One down, new 1B Nagayama (in because Sasahara was injured last game) draws a walk and flips the lineup back to Nagatani.

Hit-and-run!  Nagayama takes off as Nagatani singles through the infield to right!  Hinokuchi fires to 3rd, but Nagayama is in safely!  And Nagatani smartly advances to 2nd on the throw!

Big chance for Ura if he can at least get a sac fly.

But he goes down on a slider inside and there's 2 down!

Up to Akira now to get the douten run home.  He fights off a couple after the count goes 2-2.

Single through to left!  Nagayama scores!  Nagatani being waved around!  Throw from Tomonaga...not in time!  Akira with the 2-out 2-run double gives Sajitsu the 2-1 lead!

Now Sasanaga walks Matsuyama and Ube Koujyou really in trouble here!

Tateishi with a first pitch line shot to left!  Akira holds up at 3rd. Manrui now for Kimura.

But he swings away and hits a fly to right!  Hinokuchi back and makes the catch for the 3rd out!  Sasanaga limits the damage, but can't preserve the lead.

Top 4th
Oono with a shot to deep left!  Sakai running back, reaches out his glove, and makes the catch as he tumbles in front of the wall!  Nice play!

Sasanaga gets on base with a single back up the middle.

Ozaki-kantoku puts on the hit-and-run,and Nishino singles through to left!  Sasanaga holds at 2nd.

Chance for Ube Koujyou to score the douten run, but Yasuda hits a fly to center!  Nagatani with the catch and Sasanaga doesn't tag up!

Doesn't matter though as Sugita rolls a grounder to 1st.  Nagayama takes it to the bag to retire the side.

Bottom 4th
Sakai with a sharp liner to right for a leadoff single.  Makoto lays down the bunt, Nishino goes to 2nd, but the throw is wide!  Everyone's safe!

Nagayama successfully lays down the bunt and now a base hit can really expand the lead.

But Sasanaga catches Makoto off base!  He throws to 2nd and that's the 2nd out!  One more and he's out of the pinch!

Nagatani gets the bat around on an inside pitch and singles to left again!  Sakai scores to make it 3-1 Sajitsu!

Ura with a grounder that deflects off Sugita!  Nagatani rounding 2nd pressing for 3rd, and is in safely!

Ura taking off for 2nd, throw from Nishino there, but the ball is knocked out and goes into center!  Nagatani scores on the error and it's now 4-1!!

Akira grounds to 3rd to end the inning, but Sajitsu doubles their run total here in the 4th!

Top 5th
Kimura leaves one up and Tomonaga lines it down the left field line fair!  He's in with his 2nd double of the day!

Yamaoka with a ball to right center!  Tateishi, playing in ranges to his right, dives, and misses it!  It goes to the wall with Nagatani in chase!  Tomonaga scores as Yamaoka has an RBI triple! It's 4-2!!

Hinoguchi now with a single to right!  Yamaoka scores to make it a 1-run ball game!  It's 4-3!!

Shimizu-kantoku calls for a pitching change.  #11 Yamashita comes in for Nagayama and takes over on the mound.  Kimura moves to 1B.

But to Kinoshita's first batter, he falls behind Kanemaru 3-0 before getting a strike.

Kanemaru completely crushes a hanging slider from Kinoshita!!  There's no doubt about this one!  The ball clears by a wide margin as Kanemaru hits a gyakuten 2-run HR to give Ube Koujyou the 5-4 lead!

Kinoshita finally gets the first out of the inning as Oono flies out to right.  But Sasanaga keeps the hit parade going with a chopper back up the middle!

But Kinoshita finally shuts the door on the inning as Nishino grounds to 1st and Yasuda to short.  But 4 consecutive hits, capped of by Kanemaru's 2-run HR has given newcomers Ube Koujyou the lead!

Bottom 5th
Matsuyama looks to get the lead back for Sajitsu as he flares one to center.

He then takes off on the 2-2 pitch!  Ball inside and dropped by Nishino and Matsuyama reaches safely.

Tateishi tries to keep his AB going, but his attempt to foul one off leads to a flyout to shallow center to Yamaoka.

Kimura with a fly ball to center, but Kanemaru is there for the out.  And Yamaoka makes a great stop on a grounder by Sakai for the 3rd out.

We hit the break with Ube Koujyou having come through big in the 4th to take the lead and knock out the ace of the Sajitsu staff.  The question will be if the relief staff can hold on and if the offense can mount a rally.

Top 6th
Sugita reaches out and grounds one through the right side for a leadoff single.  Nagatomo lays down the bunt to put him in scoring position for Yamaoka.  He first pitch singles past a diving Makoto.  Runners on 1st and 3rd now for Ube Koujyou!

Hinokuchi slices a ball past Akira, fair!   It's fair down down the left field line as Sugita scores!  Hinokuchi with a RBI double to make the lead 6-4!

Kanemaru up with 1st base open, they can be careful with him.

Or not.

Kinoshita puts once over as Kanemaru singles to right!  Yamaoka and Hinokuci both score and now it's Ube Koujyou who has doubled up Sajitsu at 8-4!

Oono goes down swinging for the 2nd out.

Kanemaru now takes off for 2nd during Sasanaga's AB and he just beats the throw from Ura.

Sasanaga flies out to center to end the inning, but it is starting to look clear that Sajitsu does not have the armpower to stay in this game.

Bottom 6th
One down, and Kinoshita, who I guess is not used to going up to bat, arrives late then hits a single to center!

Nagatani gets the green light on 3-1 and grounds into the 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.

Top 7th
One down and Yasuda hits a letter high fastball to left for a base hit.

Sugita with a grounder to 2nd, and it goes under Matsuyama's glove into right!  Runners on 1st and 3rd now for Ube Koujyou on the error!

Tomonaga with the bunt, but Yasuda not going home!  So only Sugita advances on the bunt.  2 down.

Yamaoka with a liner... fair!  Fair down the 3rd base line!  Sakai quickly gets it in, but not before both runners score to make it 10-4.

Hinokuchi strikes out swinging to end the inning, but they've extended their lead.

Bottom 7th
It's an easy inning for Sasanaga as he strikes out 2 in a clean 1-2-3 inning.

Top 8th
Kanemaru reaches down and his one down the right field line.  Tateishi running over, puts his glove out but can't catch it!  He chases it down as it goes to the wall and Kanemaru slides in with a triple.

Oono with a hit past a diving Makoto into center for a base hit.

Shimizu-kantoku decides at this point to probably let his ace finish it, so Kimura takes the hill once again with #14 Yoshitake coming in for Kinoshita and going to 2st.

Sasanaga with his 3rd hit of the day, a single to left.

Nishino reaches down and hits one to center.  Nagatani makes the running catch and makes the easy toss to 1st for the third out.

Bottom 8th
Sasanaga records 3 more groundouts here in the 8th as they are dormy to advance now.

Top 9th
Yasuda with another ball slicing past Akira down the left field line.  Sakai there to, he slips!  Sakai slips and falls as the ball follows the curvature near the foul pole!  Yasuda continuing to run to 3rd, and turns for home!  Throw in in not in time and it's a running HR for Yasuda.  12-4.

Kimura retires the next 3 batters to end the inning, and now it's last call for Sasebo Jitsugyou.

Bottom 9th
#7 Tanaka in to hit for Makoto, draws a 4 pitch walk.  #10 Koyanagi in for Yoshitake also draws a walk (he's replaced by #15 Fukuda).

Nagatani with a ball to left.  That's over Tomonaga's head.  Tanaka scores on the double to make it 12-5.

Ura follows that up with a ball to the left center field gap.  It rolls all the way to the wall as both Fukuda and Nagatani score to make it 12-7 on the double.

Akira tries to go for it all with a drive to left.  But Tomonaga is there near the foul pole for the 1st out.  If the rally was to be serious, he needed to try and draw a walk.  The HR would have still put them down 3.

Matsuyama does indeed sit, and he walks on 4 straight.

Ozaki-kantoku's waited as long as he could, but before it gets out of hand, he sends in Kanemaru from center to take the mound.  Sasanaga goes to replace him in center.

Tateishi flies out to right for the 2nd out.

Last chance for Sajitsu lies with ace Kimura.

Kimura pops it up.  Nishino under it and makes the catch to send Ube Koujyou to the round of 16 with a 12-7 win!  Sajitsu tried to mount a last minute rally, but it was just too much  Ube Koujyou pounded out too many hits against an ineffective Sajitsu staff.

So for Sajitsu their road ends in the 2nd round, unable to win their 2nd consecutive game.  Things did look good early as they were able to get to a 4-1 lead, but Ube Koujyou was able to figure out ace Kimura and it was game over.  Still, getting a win is getting a win, so they should be proud of that, though it still hurts.

For Ube Koujyou, their cinderella run at Koushien continues as they wait for the winner of the next game in the 3rd round for a spot in the Best 8.  For a first timer team, they certainly aren't playing like one.  And I'm not impressed by their hitting because their hitting is for the most part hard and low.

And I guess I was dead wrong about Ube Koujyou in this game.  Not gonna jinx them now.


Notable Players
Kanemaru Shou (Ube Koujyou) - 3-5, 2B, HR, 2 R, 4 RBI
Yamaoka Yuuki (Ube Koujyou) - 3-5, 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI
Hinokuchi Yoshio? (Ube Koujyou) - 3-5. 2 R, 2 RBI, K
Yasuda Shou (Ube Koujyou) - 3-5, Running HR, 2 R, RBI
Nagatani Ryouya (Sasebo Jitsugyou) - 3-5, 2B, 3 R, RBI
Yamaguchi Akira (Sasebo Jitsugyou) - 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI

Onto our first afternoon game and we have a matchup of two newcomers to Natsu Koushien - Ube Koujyou and Toyama Kougyou!

Ube Koujyou did appear in the 2003 senbatsu, but were shutout by Heian (now Ryuukokudai Heian).  This year, they had to defeat not only senbatsu participant Hayatomo, but regular seeded teams Iwakuni and Ube Shougyou culminating with a gyakuten win over Yamaguchi Koujyou for their 1st ever summer title.

With the exception of their first round game, all of Ube Koujyou's games were contested.  What's more, they struck out a combined 8 times in their 6 games.  That is an impressive feat by any measure and gives a little more credit to their team 0.352 batting average.

What will be the most problematic for the team will be its pitching.  Sasanaga and to a smaller extent Kanemaru were always in stressful situations on the mound, either defending a small lead or holding a deficit.  They'll certainly be put to the test against tougher competition, but perhaps they get a break by facing a fellow first-timer.

That team would be Toyama Kougyou.  But first, a question:

How does a team put up an amazing 0.456 team batting average??!!  Because that's the number Toyama put up while averaging just over 11 runs per game!  I mean, I know that we've seen batting averages close to 0.400, but 0.456 is ridiculous by any stretch of the imagination!  Even if we were to adjust it due to prefectural strength, it'd be hard to envision the offense completely falling off a cliff.

On the mound, Suga-kantoku uses a mix of ace Kamezawa and #10 Murobayashi which was effective until the final where Toyama Shougyou roughed up reliever Murobayashi for at least 5 runs (I don't have full box scores).  It certainly does indicate though that Kamezawa is the better option.

This will certainly be an interesting game.  Competitive? Not sure.  But it may very well be entertaining.  If I was pressed to choosing a team, I'd probably go with Toyama Kougyou.


Toyama Kougyou (Toyama)
3B Okamoto
SS Atoshi
LF Moritake
1B Araki
RF Mukoujima
2B Hyougo
CF Yamamoto
C Nishino Seita
P Kamezawa

Ube Kougyou (Yamaguchi)
C Nishino Koutarou
SS Yamaoka
RF Hinoguchi
CF Kanemaru
3B Oono
P Sasanaga
1B Shouda
2B Yasuda
LF Tomonaga

____________________________________________________________

13:03 - First Pitch!

Top 1st
Okamoto starts the offense flicking the pitch the other way for a base hit.  Atoshi bunts the runner along.

Moritake puts a good bat on the ball, but the wind coming down at 4m/s accoring to the graphic knocks it down for Kanemaru.  Okamoto does tag up on the play, 2 down.

Sanshin!  Araki can't catch up to the inside fastball and Sasanaga starts off on the right foot!

Bottom 1st
Koutarou goes down swinging and is thrown out 2-3.  Well, that's 1 K of a limit of 2.

Yamaoka is laying off some close pitches, and hits a swinging bunt down the 3rd base line!  Okamoto's throw to 1st is offline and Araki's attempt to field it almost clotheslines Yamaoka!  Yamaoka gets up and goes to 1st while Araki has his hand worked on a bit.  (It was more of a knockdown than a clothesline).

Ozaki-kantoku starts the hit-and-run!  But Hinoguchi fouls it off.  He manages to work the count full and hits a slow grounder to 2nd.  Hyougo's only play is to 1st.

Kanemaru seings on the first pitch and pops it up.  Atoshi secures it for the 3rd out.

Top 2nd
Mukoujima with a liner to right to get another leadoff runner on base.  Hyougo looks to bunt the runner along, but after getting up 3-0, Sasanaga fills up the count.

Hit-and-run!  Hyougo hits a single past 1st and into right!  Runners at the corners for Yamamoto! Ozaki-kantoku calls for time.

Hyougo takes off for 2nd on the 2-2 pitch and Yamamoto strikes out.  The throw goes to 2nd and Yamaoka starts the rundown, cognizant of the runner on 3rd.  But the rundown is executed very poorly with the ball thrown too early, and when Sugita throws the ball back to Yasuda at 2nd, Mukoujima breaks for home!  The throw is wide and Mukoujima slides around the swipe tag and is in safely!  Toyama Kougyou take the lead on the trick play 1-0!

Sasanaga retires the last two batters without trouble, but true to their form in the prefecturals, they get on the board first!

Bottom 2nd
Oono works the count full and singles to left for a leadoff single.  Sasanaga lays down the bunt putting the runner in scoring position for Sugita.

Hey, it's the Eva theme!

After working the count in his favor, he swings away, but flies out to right.

Yasuda goes down swinging for the 2nd K on the team.  They've hit the limit from the prefecturals.

Top 3rd
Okamoto gets his 2nd hit in as many AB taking the curve the other way for another single.

Atoshi not bunting, instead it's a hit-and-run!  Atoshi hits it to Oono whose only play is at 1st.

Moritake with a soft liner over a leaping Sugita into right!

Araki with a drive to left center!  Tomonaga running back to the fence!  Looking up!!!

HAITAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The ball lands at least 10 rows up as Araki pumps his fist in the air!  Toyama's offense comes in full display here are the 3-run HR gives them a 4-0 lead!

Mukoujima with a grounder to 2nd.  It takes an irregular hop and deflects off of Yasuda and into center!

It's a bit late to mention, but Sasanaga has a cutter, slider and changeup in his arsenal to go with his high 120s-low 130s fastball.

Anyways, Sasanaga retires Hyougo and Yamamoto to end the inning, but Toyama Kougyou is starting to pull away in this matchup.

Bottom 3rd
Tomonaga up for Ube Koujyou and he hits one just past the outstretched glove of Hyougo.

After a soft liner to short, Yamaoka works the count to 3-1 before Kamezawa plunks him.

Suga-kantoku calls for time as Hinoguchi is due up next.

Hinoguchi with a base hit to right!  Tomonaga scores as the throw comes in from Mukoujima.  Seita then fires to 2nd to try and get the trailing Hinoguchi, but the throw is high and goes into center!  Yamaoka breaks from 3rd and scores on the error!  It's 4-2!!

Kanemaru with a hit to shallow left center.  Moritake and Yamamoto charge in, Yamamoto dives AND MISSES IT!

The ball is out of his reach and falls in!  Hinoguchi rounds 3rd and the throw goes into the infield!  They concede the run as Ube Koujyou pulls within 1!  They get the 3-run homer back and it's 4-3!!

Oono with a drive to deep left!  Moritake back towards the wall... and makes the catch right in front for the 2nd out!  Kanemaru tags up to 3rd.  He's stranded when Sasanaga flies out to center to end the inning.

Top 4th
One down, Kamezawa hits a ball to 2nd, but Yasuda flubs it!  Okamoto tries the safety bunt, and Oono has to rush his throw thanks to a speeding Okamoto.  Sugita makes a great pick on his end on the short hop.

Atoshi is retired when Oono makes a great catch near the camera well.

Bottom 4th
One down and Yasuda hits a ball back up the middle.  Hyougo runs it down, but that's all he can do.

Tomonaga up and Yasuda breaks on the 0-1 pitch.  The throw leads Atoshi into the runner and he bails on it giving Yasuda the stolen base.

Meanwhile Tomonaga chases a fastball high and away and becomes the 3rd strikeout victim.  That's more than in any individual game during their prefecturals. (That's just a testament to how good you have to be to achieve that).

Koutarou grounds out to 2nd to end the inning.

Top 5th
Moritake gets a lucky hit when a ball back up the middle deflects off of Sasanaga and dribbles towards Yasuda who has no play.

Araki up and he's jammed!  Yasuda starts the 4-6-3... yes!  They get the double play!

The runners are erased as Mukoujima is jammed as well and lines out to right to end the inning!

Bottom 5th
For the 2nd straight AB, Yamaoka is hit by Kamezawa.

Will Ozaki-kantoku have Hinoguchi bunt?  Doesn't look like it as he checks his swing, but the ball finds the bat and fouls off anyways.

Then he shows bunt and takes it back.  And now it's the hit-and-run, but Hinoguchi only fouls it off!

The hit-and-run is on again!  Hinoguchi with a scorcher past Araki into right!  Yamaoka easily into 3rd!  Runners at the corners with nobody out for cleanup batter Kanemaru!!

Down 0-2 he takes a pitch just outside for a ball.  Hinoguchi goes for 2nd on the next pitch and there's no throw!

Now Kanemaru with a base hit to right!  Yamaoka scores and we're all tied up at 4-4 with runners at the corners!

SQUEEZE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ozaki-kantoku calls for the squeeze, but Oono misses!  Hinoguchi is hung out and is run down for the 1st out.

Another hit-and-run!  Kanemaru breaks for 3rd, but Oono pops it up!  Atoshi near the mound makes the catch for the 2nd out.

Sasanaga flies out to right to end the inning, and while the inning seemed promising to score more than one run, they at least get the douten run and we have a new ballgame at the break!

Top 6th
Sasanaga paints the outside corner on Hyougo for the first out.  Yamammoto reaches on a slider way down and outside and rolls it to Sugita for the 2nd out.

Sasanaga can't seem to find the plate againt Seita and walks him on 4 straight.  Now to Kamezawa he's thrown 2 more balls prompting Koutarou to go out and talk to him.

The talk works as Kamezawa grounds to short to end the inning.

Bottom 6th
I think what has allowed the Ube Koujyou batters to strike out so few times is the fact they all have a good vision of the strike zone which allow them to take pitches other might swing at.

Kamezawa starts the inning getting Sugita to grounds out to short.  Yasuda becomes the 4th K though he had to try and make contact with a good fastball inside.

Tomonaga down 0-2 connects on a ball and singles to center.  He then takes off on a low pitch from Kamezawa and there's no throw!  Then on a ball in the dirt that gets away from Seita, he takes 3rd!

Meanwhile, Koutarou takes the 3-2 pitch for ball 4!

Now he takes off for 2nd on the 0-1 pitch and there's no throw there either!  Now a base hit could net 2 runs!

Yamaoka though grounds out to 2nd to end the inning.  Now, the inning may have yielded no runs, but I think it's a good example of the smart baseball they're playing.

Top 7th
Lucky 7 time for Toyama.  Okamoto first pitch flies out to center.  Atoshi grounds out to 2nd after falling behind 1-2.

Moritake though breaks the clean inning by hitting a single to center.  That brings up Araki.

And you know, I just noticed that the "TK" letters remind me of Tokoha Kikugawa's hat.

Back to the game and Araki takes his helmet off in frustration as he can't connect on a fastball outside for strike 3!

Bottom 7th
Hinoguchi golfs a slow curve and pops out to Atoshi for the first out.  Kanemaru gets under a pitch too and hits a routine fly to center.

We're seeing a bit more of the slow curve in the 90s as his fastball only reaches the upper 120s.

On one of the few times a Ube Koujyou batter is really fooled, Oono turns his back on a pitch inside, but is rung up for Kamezawa's 5th K.

Top 8th
Mukoujima runs a long AB against Sasanaga, but on the 10th pitch, Sasanaga wins with a line out to center.

After a routine grounder, Yamamoto takes the first pitch and singles to center.

Now Suga-kantoku tries the hit-and-run on the 2-2 pitch, but Seita fouls it off Koutarou, who needs a minute.

Next pitch to Seita is a slider away that he misses for strike 3!  Koutarou tosses to 1st to complete the out and the game remains at 4!

Bottom 8th
Sasanaga remains hitless on the day, rolling a grounder to 2nd.

Behind 1-2, Sugita puts a level swing on the ball and singles to right.

Yasuda, who already has 2 K's on the day, is asked to bunt, but he can't lay it down and falls behind 1-2.  Hit-and-run, but Yasuda fouls it off!

Yasuda gets the last laugh with a liner back up the middle for a single!  Runners on 1st and 2nd for Tomonaga!!

But Kamezawa gets him to pop it up!  Infield fly is called as Araki waits for it to come down.

So it's back to the top of the order and Koutarou.

Kamezawa gets ahead 0-2.  He fists the 1-2 pitch, but it's in play!  Okamoto running into foul territory has it go off his glove!  New life for Koutarou!!

But Kamezawa jams him!  He hits a grounder to 2nd and Kamezawa is out of the pinch!  We head to the 9th inning still tied at 4!!

Top 9th
The numbers look almost identical 4-10-1 for Toyama, 4-11-1 for Ube.

Kamezawa levels those numbers as he slices one to left for his first base hit!  Go-ahead runner is on as Ozaki-kantoku calls time.

Kamezawa takes off for 2nd on the 1-1 pitch, and slides in safely!  Go-ahead runner in scoring position!

But Okamoto bends his knees and takes a slider over the plate for strike 3! One down.

Atoshi with the bunt!  Sasanaga fields it and throw just beats out Atoshi for the 2nd out!  Kamezawa on 3rd with 2 outs for Moritake - and he's 3-4 on the day!

Sasanaga gets ahead 1-2 after Moritake chases and fouls off a ball outside the zone.

Moritake drives one to left!  Tomonaga runs back, but is there to make the catch and the side is retired!

Bottom 9th
Ube Koujyou now with the opportunity to achieve a sayonara victory.  Yamaoka-Hinoguchi-Kanemaru due up.

Yamaoka gets caught looking for the 6th K on a fastball just on the outside corner.

Hinoguchi with a ball to deep center!  Yamamoto running to get the ball, it goes off the base of the fence!  Hinoguchi rounding 2nd, takes too big of a round!  The throw comes into 2nd, but I think the 1B Araki doesn't realize it's a tag out and Hinoguchi dives back safely!  Sayonara run in scoring position!

Kanemaru with a grounder to AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The grounder to 2nd goes under Hyougo's legs and unto the outfield!  Hinoguchi rounds 3rd and dives in for the sayonara run!!

It's a scene of exhilaration for Ube Kougyou, but you have to feel bad for Toyama Kougyou.  It was a hard fought game for 8-and-a-half innings, and for it to end on two mental errors is just too bad.  Not to make light of the other losses, but this one really felt like a truly hearbreaking loss.

You can understand if I feel really bad for Tomikou.  We saw the best of two teams here in this game, and it's sad to see one team leave now like Toyama Kougyou is.  Hopefully we'll see them at Koushien next year.

As for Ube Kougyou, they really do have a good sense at the plate and rarely cheat themselves out of any AB.  Combine that with level swings and you have a really solid team representing Yamaguchi.  Good job to the boys from Ube.


Notable players
Hinokuchi Yoshio (Ube Koujyou) - 3-5, 2B, 2R, RBI
Kanemaru Susumu (Ube Koujyou) -2-5, 2B, 2 RBI
Araki Eiji (Toyama Kougyou) - 1-4, HR, R, 3 RBI, 2 K
Moritake Yuuya (Toyama Kougyou) - 3-5, R

Incoming to Natsu Koushien this year are 5 schools who are making their first ever appearance.  What is their story, and how did they get here this year?


Seiritsu Gakuen (Higashi Tokyo)
Seiritsu Gakuen qualified out of Higashi Tokyo in what had to be one of the toughest runs ever.  Not necessarily in teams played, but the margin by which they won:

• Momijigawa - 2x-1 in 10 innings
• Kanto Dai-ichi - 6x-5 taking the lead in the 7th, losing it in the 8th, then tying and winning it.
• Hiro-o - 3-2 in 10 innings
• Nisshou Gakushadai Fuzoku - 8-6, scored 4 runs in bottom of 8th
• Iwakura - 5-1, scoreless through 5 before breaking through
• Kokushikan - Up 3-1 going to top 9th, cannot close out, recovers in bottom of 9th for sayonara win.

The ace of the staff is Tanioka Ryouhei(?) (谷岡竜平), who pitched in every game of the taikai.  He's pretty much an average P, with a fastball in the high 130's with the complementary slider. Yubiki(?) Keita (綿引啓太) is a 2nd year and did pitch in the Kanto Dai-ichi and Hiro-o games, but was not present in the final 3 games.

The team offensively batted 0.268 in the Higashi Tokyo taikai, so that will definitely be an issue, especially since they do not steal bases.

Interesting note - Sugasawa(?) Gou (菅沢剛), Seiritsu's kantoku, is an alumni of Iwakura - the team he defeated in the semifinals!


Matsusaka (Mie)
Matsusaka finally broke through after years of being above average.  However, they also did not have to face any of the real strong teams until the finals where they held off Inabe Sougou Gakuen 3-2.

The key cog in Matsusaka's run was ace Takeuchi Ryou (竹内諒).  He throws in the high 140's, and supposedly features a slider and curve.　Kantoku Matsuba Kenji (松葉健司) doesn't have many options outside of Takeuchi, though he did start Matsue in the 2nd round game against Tsu.


The team batted 0.293, and averaged slightly less than 4 runs a game.  They'll be hard-pressed to win their first round game.


Toyama Kougyou (Toyama)
Outside of a comeback 5-4 win against Fujikoshi Kougyou in the 3rd round, Toyama Kougyou ran roughshot through the field, including semifinal and final drubbings of Takaoka Shougyou and Toyama Shougyou - who combined have 31 Toyama summer titles.  The smallest margin of victory outside of that same game? 7.

But, this is Toyama, they have never won a Koushien title (spring or summer) and they've never gotten past the 3rd round since 1973.  Shin-Minato gave hope to the prefecture with a win against a quality Ryuukokudai Heian (who is back again this year), and man to see the fans take up not only the oen-dan, but the stands all the way to the dugout was a sight to see.

So the torch is passed to Toyama Kougyou, who makes their first ever appearance.  And up until this point, they hadn't had sustained success in the prefecture, so this is a big surprise.

There's little information on their pitching staff who appears to consist of ace Kamezawa (亀沢) and reliever Murobayashi (室林).  Offensively, the team batted an impressive 0.428.  But again, this was in Toyama.



Ube Koujyou (Yamaguchi)
In looking at the Yamaguchi final, Ube Koujyou was facing Yamaguchi Koujyou.  I'd never seen Koujyou repeated like that before, so I looked for translation.  From what I can tell, it probably means "vast castle".  Either that or "swan castle".

Anyways, I was actually hoping that Hayatomo would qualify out of the region, partially because outside of a 5-run inning against Chiben Gakuen, they looked really good against one of the better teams at Senbatsu.

Alas that was not to be as they ran into the eventual Ube Koujyou and couldn't get to ace Sasanaga Minori(??) (笹永弥則) .  Actually, Ube Koujyou's game against Hayatomo was actually their easiest game outside of the 1st round matchup against Hagi Shoukou.  All their other games were decided by 1 or 2 runs.  Sasanaga pitched all games, and while CF Kanemaru was used in early stages, he was nowhere to be found in the final games.

The team as a whole batter 0.352, and scored just a shade under 6 runs a game, with very little variability.   But the one statistic that completely floors me is that the team struck out 8 times in the taikai.

Yes, you heard me right - they struck out 8 times in 6 games.  Better yet, they did not strike out more than twice in any game.  It may be Yamaguchi prefecture, but you can't just luck into that - that is a remarkable contact rate.

I am very curious to see if that contact rate continues once they hit the hallowed grounds of Koushien.


Kitsuki (Oita)
Unlike Engaru, who almost made it to Koushien from Kita Hokkaido, Kitsuki actually did it.  Kitsuki is a city with a population of just over 30,000.

It has to be said though that while Kitsuki did win their first ever Oita title, their path only included one team that had previously won a summer title, and that was in the final against Touin (they went in 1990).  Looking at it that way, it has to be one of the more easier fields a team has faced.

To their credit, they did face Oita Jyouhou Kagaku and the aforementioned Touin, who both went to last fall's Kyushu Super-Regionals.  So in that sense, they did beat some of the stronger teams this year.  And they never failed to score at least 5 runs in any of their games.

Kitsuki uses primarily a tandem of 2 pitchers, Nagano Daisuke (永野大輔) and Shiotani Yuusuke (塩谷優祐).   The team as a whole batted 0.362, but once again, I'll be curious to see what happens when they face competition out of prefecture.