Tuesday, July 7, 2009

How lucky do you feel?

Yamaguchi is home to one of the main fishing grounds for Fugu. Interestingly enough, the people in Yamaguchi-ken call it Fuku for good luck. And you're not really in any danger as those who prepare it have to be certified - and that takes 2-3 years.

We're not here for the fish though, we're here for the qualifiers. A healthy 59 teams make up the field. Ube Koujyou and Shimonoseki Shougyou joins the duo of Iwakuni and Nanyou Kougyou (who have gone 5 of the last 9 years) as the top 4 seeds. The 2nd tier belongs to last year's participant Shimonoseki Kougyou, along with Karyou, Yamaguchi-ken Kougyou, and Iwakuni Shougyou.

Nanyou Kougyou played a solid all-around style of baseball at the spring Senbatsu. I would figure them to be the favorite to advance. If they do, they could very well match Ube Shougyou's 2005 run.

In the interest of getting all the prefectures that start play this weekend, I'm going to jet back across the country through those prefectures, backtracking to the rest after I finish those.

Next stop, Hiroshima!

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