Nationwide Prefectural Qualifier Update!

Hooray! We're caught up to yesterday! (I think). So I can now go around the prefectures to see what's up.

We already have our first bid in place in Okinawa's Kounan.

Three more will be given out today:

Minami Hokkaido - Sapporo Dai-ichi vs. Hokushou

Sapporo Dai-ichi has had to go through such teams as Hokkai and Komadai Tomakomai to get to the finals. They squaked through Hokkai and obliterated Komadai. Hokushou had no trouble getting to the finals, with the smallest margin of victory being 5 (semifinals against Hokkaido Sakae).

The game is in the top of the 8th. Sapporo Dai-ichi has pinged Hokushou in multiple innings building a 6-0 lead before Hokushou roars back with 4 in the bottom of the 6th.

Akita - Meiou vs. Honjyou

Honjyou has been the hard-luck team at Koshien (although a team from Akita hasn't won their first game since 1997). They've struggled to get there, needing 11 to defeat Kakunodate in their first game. Then in the quarterfinals against Akita Shougyou, they squandered a 3 run lead before exploding for 4 runs in the bottom of the 8th.

Meiou as the ⑥ seed had little trouble in its games, even against ③ Yokote whom they defeated 10-4. That was until the semifinals where they faced Nishime who upset ② Akita Chuo. Down 1-0, and running out of time, they tied the game in the bottom of the 8th before winning it in 10.

The game is in the bottom of the 8th. Honjyou has had no answer to Meiou and ace Futaki. Meiou scored early in the 1st and 2nd and another in the 5th. They hold a 3-0 lead with 6 outs to go.

Kumamoto - Kagoshima Jyousei vs. Shounan

This is a battle between two opposites. Jyousei has never been to Koushien. Shounan on the other hand has been there 23 times (16 summer, 7 spring)

Jyousei's run started early. In their 2nd game, they faced ③～④ Kagoshima Shougyou. Shougyou scored 6 runs in the first and built an 8-0 lead. Then in the 7th, they scored 4 runs. And in the 8th, they tied the game! 4 innings later, they send the favored team home. Then in the semifinals, they had to face Kamimura Gakuen. When Kamimura scored 1 in the 3rd, Jyousei scored 2 in the bottom of the inning. And Kubota held the ① team scoreless with Nakano recording the final 2 outs.

Shounan has had to deal with close games, even though they were the ② seed. In their 2nd game they got by Izumi Shougyou 2-1. In the quarterfinals against Ibusuki they gave up 2 runs in the 1st and had to play catch-up. They tied it in the 5th and again in the 7th when Izumi Shougyou scored one. It wouldn't be until the 10th until they scored the sayonara run.

Top of the 9th, Shounan plated 3 in the 5th after Jyousei scored 1. Jyousei immediately brought it within 1 in the 6th, but find themselves down 1.

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3:29 PM - After finishing that part of the writeup, Akita has gone final!

The 2nd bid goes to... Meiou Koukou! Futaki shuts out Honjyou for the win! This is their 8th Summer Koshien apperance and 13th overall. This is their first summer appearnce since 1996!

Minami Hokkaido has also gone final! Sapporo Dai-ichi scores 2 more runs and defeats Hokushou 8-4! This is only their 2nd appearance overall, their first being in 2002!

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Let's take a tour around the country before Kagoshima goes final...

Kita Hokkaido
Komadai Iwamizawa falls to Nayoro Kougyou 9-7. Nayoro Kougyou then falls to Bushuukan 4-1. Asahigawadai squeaks by Asahigawa Kougyou 2-1 in 10 innings for the 1st semifinal matchup.

Asahigawa Jitsugyou survives against Kitami Hokuto and will face Obihiro Ootani in the quarterfinals, while Kushine Kounan matches up against Engaru.

Minami Hokkaido
Komadai Tomakimai is routed by Sapporo Dai-ichi 10-2 in 7 innings! They've advanced to the finals where they will meet Hokushou for their bid.

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Kagoshima has gone final! The 4th bid goes to Shounan! Jyousei gave it a great try, but Shounan's 3 runs in the 5th were too much! This is Shounan's 24th apperanace (16 summer and 7 spring before this one). This is their first appearance since 2005!

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Aomori
Aomori Yamada has already upset Seiai 2-0 and has cruised afterwards to the semifinals. The only other Natsu Koshien participant, Kousei Gakuin, has also breezed through the qualifiers. Only Aomori and Hachinohe Koudai Dai-ichi remain as the other seeded teams.


Iwate
Weather continues to push back the schedule but Hanamaki Higashi faced off against Takata. Kikuchi Yuusei has not taken the hill since their first game, but came on here when his team fell behind. He shut Takata down as his team quickly rallied and won 5-3.

Moriokadai Fuzoku continues to march on in the other side of the bracket. A matchup in the final seems inevitable.


Yamagata
The big schools continue on their march to the semifinals where they will clash. One semi is set as Nihon Yamagata meets Sakata Minami. Tomorrow, Haguro looks to join them as they play Shinjyou Higashi. The final semi is a battle of Yonezawa as Yonezawa Chuo clashes against Yonezawa Koujyoukan.


Miyagi
They are in the 3rd round, but the big players still remain. Tohoku and Sendai Ikuei move on while tomorrow Rifu looks to join them.


Fukushima
Play is in the round of 16. All 4 top seeds still remain, Seikou Gakuin, Shirakawa, Nihon Tohoku and Kounan all got through their games.


Gunma
Gunma started play in the round of 16. Not a good day if you were a seeded team though. Both Kiryuu Dai-ichi and Maebashi Shougyou were upset. Tokyo Noudai Dai-ni remains as the only top 4 team left.


Tochigi
Tochigi has entered into the Best 8. Only one top 4 seed remains - Sakushin Gakuin. They'll face Tochigi Kougyou. On a side note, Motegi is also in the best 8 and face Utsunomiya Kougyou.


Ibaraki
The qualifying just finished the 2nd stage. Only one top 4 seed has been eliminated - Fujishiro. Jyousou Gakuin, spring participant Shimotsumi Dai-ni and Mito Sakuranomaki remain.


Saitama
We're in the Sweet 16. Urawa Gakuin has had no trouble getting here, interestingly enough they'll face Seibou Gakuin. That should be an interesting game. Another top seed, Saitama Sakae meets Ooi.

Honjyou Dai-ichi and Washimiya have breezed through their qualifiers so far (not being seeded teams), and meet up for the right to meet the Urawa-Seibou winner.

Nishi Tokyo
They're only in the 3rd round, but things will accelerate as there are many, many sites for games.

Many strong teams still remain - Nihon Dai-san and Souka (who will face each other in the 4th round), Waseda Jitsugyou, and Nihon Tsurugaoka. Other top seeded teams are still around - Toritsu Hino, Hachiouji and Horikoshi.


Higashi Tokyo
Teikyou is still around. Kokushikan too. Another team to look at is Nishogakushadai Fuzoku, who has gone through their first 2 games with ease. Waseda is still around, but has to face Kokushikan.


Chiba
Narashino still continues along, facing Chiba Reimei who had one heck of a game against Narita. Reimei was up early 4-1, but Narita scored 5 in the bottom of the 2nd, leading 6-4. After 4, the game was tied at 7. Narita pulled ahead with 2 runs in the 6th, another in the 7th and 3 more in the 8th. Up 13-7, Narita looked to clear into the next round. That was until Reimei somehow came up with 7 runs in the top of the 9th to take the lead - and hold on 14-13!!


Aack. No time left. I have to get to bed. I'll take request for prefecural updates. I just can't seem to get through a proper review.