Monday, August 16, 2010

Day 10 - Game 4 - Kyushu Gakuin (Kagoshima) vs. Kagoshima Jitsugyou (Kagoshima)

Our final matchup here on day 10 pits 2 teams from neighboring prefectures, Kagoshima Jitsugyou and Kyushu Gakuin.

These teams played just 3 days ago, and both were not really tested. Kagoshima Jitsugyou had no trouble against Noshiro Shougyou, shutting them out 7-0, while Kyushu Gakuin has defeated first timers Matsumoto Kougyou and Yamagata Chuo by a combined score of 21-1.

So there's not a lot we can necessarily gather from the prior games, we'll just have to see how they play here today with a trip to the Best 8 on the line!

Kyushu Gakuin (Kumamoto)
RF I Shouhei
SS Mizowaki Hayato (#15)
CF Yamashita Tsubasa
1B Hagiwara Eiji (#14)
2B Tomitaka Hirotaka
3B Matsunaga Rem
C Sakai Koushirou
P Watanabe Masataka
LF Shimoda Hayato

Kagoshima Jitsugyou (Kagoshima)
CF Fujita Ryouma
2B Kamekou (Takahito)
P Youkai Ryou
LF Kawasaki Tomoyuki
3B Hamada (Tatsuyuki)
1B Agemura Kyouhei
RF Toyozumi Kouta
C Sekiyama Kouhei
SS Hiraiyama ? (#15)

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15:45 - First Pitch!

Top 1st
Youkai off to a good start, retiring the side in order. Kyushu's batters are being aggressive early in counts it seems.

Bottom 1st
Watanabe is hitting his spots early on. Outside of a single to Youkai, he strikes out the side swinging.

Top 2nd
Youkai continuing to get the Kyushu batters to pound the ball into the ground. 3 groundouts to all the fielders who need to make a throw to 1st, and Youkai is back in the dugout!

Bottom 2nd
Hamada with a grounder back up the middle. Mizowaki runs it down, and makes a great throw to 1st for the out! Nice play from the 1st year!

Agemura gets Kajitsu's 2nd hit as he singles to right. Toyosumi tries the sac bunt, but Matsunaga throws to 2nd and gets the force!

Sekiyama becomes Watanabe's 4th K victim, and we move to the 3rd

Top 3rd
One down and Watanabe singles to left. Shimoda with a sac bunt, but Youkai is a bit slow in fielding it! He throws to first and it goes past Agemura! Runners advance 90 feet and Kajitsu is in a pinch!

I singles past a adiving Agemura into right! Watanabe scores! Shimoda is sent home, and he scores! Kyushu is on the board first at 2-0!

Looking for another run, Mizowaki bunts I over to 2nd.

Yamashita with a grounder through to left! I is being send home! Kawasaki with the throw, but I makes a nice slide around Sekiyama and scores! 3-0!!

Miyashita calls a conference - can't let this get too out of hand...

But Hagiwara singles through the right side! Yamashita, who took 2nd on the throw home, is being sent home! Throw home and Yamashita makes another good slide and it's now 4-0 Kyushu!

Tomitaka flies out to left, but Kyushu has bolted to a 4-0 lead!

Bottom 3rd
Watanabe retires the side in order for the first time while adding another K to his total making 5 so far.

Top 4th
Youkai almost gets a 1-2-3 inning, but gives up a 2-out walk to Watanabe. But he gets help from Fujita as Shimoda his a shallow fly that he charges in and makes a great diving catch on!

Bottom 4th
Youkai with his 2nd hit, another single to right. Kawasaki swings away, but ends up grounding to 1st. Pretty much the same as a bunt.

Hamada with a single through the right side. Youkai holds at 3rd. Runners now at the corners with one down for Agemura. He hits a swinging bunt down the 1st base line. Watanabe is letting it run down the line hoping it goes foul and it does.

AH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wild pitch!! A pitch bounces high in the air and gets away from Sakai! Youkai comes in to score, 4-1!

Agemura with a comebacker to Watanabe. He looks Hamada back (who's at 2nd now on the WP), and goes to 1st for the 2nd out.

Toyozumi with a single through the left side, that scores Hamada, making it 4-2! He takes 2nd on the throw home.

Sekiyama with another single through the left side! Toyozumi comes in to score, and Kajitsu has pulled within 1 at 4-3!!!

Hiraiyama grounds into a fielder's choice at 2nd to finally end the carousel. But what seemed like a large lead before has become a tight game now!

Top 5th
Pitching change for Kajitsu. #11 Noda Shougou comes in for Toyozumi and takes the hill. Youkai goes to right.

Noda starts off with a walk to I. He's bunted to 2nd.

Wild pitch from Noda!!! I advances to 3rd.

Yamashita with a grounder through the left side! I comes in to score making it 5-3! And he takes off for 2nd on the first pitch! Sekiyama with the throw, but Yamashita's already slid in!

Hagiwara with a single through the right side! Yamashita's being sent home! Youkai with the throw home and Sekiyama makes the great swipe tag for the out!!

And that play really hurs Kyushu as Tomitaka singles back up the middle! And then Matsunaga is hit by Noda! It's manrui for Kyushu, but they could have had a 2nd run.

Sakai softly lines out to short to end the inning, but Kyushu gets a run back.

Bottom 5th
Watanabe retires the side in order, and as we head to the break, Kyushu Gakuin certainly has had the better of it against Kajitsu. But in this game 2 runs is certainly not impossible.

Top 6th
One down, and Shimoda hits a grounder past Hamada and takes a high bounce off of Hiraiyama for a base hit!

But Noda strikes out I swinging, and gets Mizowaki to hit a liner back to him for the 3rd out!

Bottom 6th
Nice play from Mizowaki! Low liner is just out of Watanabe's reach, but Mizowaki ranges over, mkes the stop and completes the play to 1st!

Tomitaka isn't so lucky on the next play when Agemura's grounder gets away from him. But another grounder to him from Noda is a bit easier and he makes the play at 1st for the 3rd out.

Top 7th
Yamashita with a shallow ball to center. Fujita running in and makes another diving catch!!! Man, that guys' good.

Hagiwara with a drive to right! Youkai running to the wall, tries to climb up on it!

HAITAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1st year Hagiwara with a solo home run! Kyushu with a 6-3 lead now on Kajitsu!

Noda retires the next 2 batters, but that must be a rush to hit a HR at Koushien your first year!

Bottom 7th
Sekiyama with a blooper to left! Hagiwara and Shimoda converge, but it falls in! Sekiyama tries for 2nd! Shimoda with the throw to Tomitaka and he's out by a good margin!!

Can't be giving up free outs now!

Watanabe retires the next two batters, and Kajitsu is down to 2 innings

Top 8th
One down and Watanabe buzzes one into left center! It gets past the outfielders and goes all the way to the wall! Watanabe hustles for a triple!

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

Shimoda lays down the squeeze and it gets past the charging fielders! Hamada picks it up and goes to 1st for the out, but Kyushu scores another run to make it 7-3!

I strikes out to end the inning, but Kyushu continues to play add on!

Bottom 8th
Kajitsu tries to mount a comeback as Kawasaki lines down past a diving Hagiwara into right for a double!

Then Hamada hits one to deep left center! Shimoda and Yamashita converge, but it falls in front of them right at the wall! Kawasaki scores and it's 7-4!

Agemura with a base hit up the middle! Hamada's being sent home! Shimoda with the throw... That's on a line to Sakai! He has it easily in time to get Hamada! 3 outs!!

That was a heck of a throw by Shimoda!!

Top 9th
Mizowaki with the safety bunt! Hamada charges, makes the throw, but Agemura can't hold onto it! E3!

Yamashita tries to bunt him over, but it's right at Noda who goes to 2nd for the force! And then he takes off for 2nd on the next pitch and just slides under the tag!

And now Hagiwara draws a walk. Runners on 1st and 2nd!

AH!!!!!!!!!

Wild pitch from Noda and the runners advance 90 feet!

But he comes right back to strike out Tomitaka on an inside fastball for the 2nd out! Just one more and he's done all he can to keep his team in the game.

Matsunaga flies out to right to end the inning, and Kajitsu will have one more chance to pick up the sticks.

Bottom 9th
Noda first pitch swinging drives one to deep center!! Yamashita running to the wall, but it falls in! Noda's in with a leadoff double!

However, Sekiyama flies out to center for the 1st out.

#16 Kubo Atsuhiro steps in for Hiraiyama.

Kubo lines one to right, and there's runners at the corners for Kajitsu!

Sakai-kantoku calls a conference as #14 Yadori comes in to run for Kubo.

Fujita lines one to right! Noda scores, and it's 7-5! The tying run is on base, and the sayonara run in Kamekou steps in!

Kamekou gets hit flush in the hand, but the umpire calls it a strike as he says he was swinging.

He gets a ton of the "itai" spray on his hand before he returns to the batters box.

Single through the left side! Yadori holds at 3rd! Sayonara runner on base!

Youkai with a single back up the middle! That scores Yadori! 7-6!!!

Kawasaki with a slow grounder to the right side! Tomitaka's only play is at 1st! Fujita scores! Kajitsu has come all the way back from down 7-4 to tie it up!!! 7-7!!!!!

Hamada with a hard shot to 1st! Hagiwara with the stop! Goes to the bag to end the inning!

But Kajitsu has come back with 3 in the 9th to send it into enchousen!!!

Top 10th
#6 Yasuoka Shouhei comes in for PR Yadori and takes over at SS.

Sakai with a grounder to short. Yasuoka with the throw to 1st, but it short hops Agemura! E6!

Watanabe bunts him along for a one-timer.

Shimoda with a ball down the left field line... FAIR!!! The LF umpire calls it fair!

Sakai comes around 3rd and scores! Kyushu retakes the lead at 8-7!!

I and Mizowaki both first pitch fly out, and now Kyushu will have to play hang on once again!!

Bottom 10th
Agemura with a deep shot to center, but Yamashita's under it for the first out.

Noda with a grounder to 1st. Hagiwara takes it to the bag for the 2nd out.

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

Watanabe gets Sekiyama looking at strike 3 and Kyushu Gakuin has held on to win!

What a way to end today's set of games!!!

Kajitsu continued to rally time and time again against Kyushu Gakuin, culminating in the 3-run 9th that sent the game into extras! But they couldn't mount one more rally when Kyushu scored a run in the 10th.

Give credit to Kajitsu though, they continued to fight even when most teams may have just fell flat. They gave their fans and classmates a game to remember, even though it ended in a loss.

For Kyushu Gakin, it's their 1st Best 8 appearance since their first ever Koushien back in 1963. It's a well deserved win, but the road isn't over yet. They'll find out tomorrow who their next opponent will be.

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