Friday, July 22, 2011

93rd Koushien Qualifying - July 13th-21st (Chuubu Prefectures)

Yamanashi
Yamanashi has advanced to the semifinal stages. Let's see how they got there:

Completion of Round 1 saw A seed Koufu Kougyou barely beat out Koma 3-1. My favorite team, A seed Nihon Koukuu (aka Japan Aviation Academy), got a scare from Koufu Shougyou as they rallied with 2 in the top of the 9th to tie the game. But in the end they scored the sayonara run in the 10th. And both Minobu and Nichidai Meisei both won meaning all A & B seeds advanced. In other games, Nirasaki Kougyou blows open a 5-5 tie with Yamanashi Nourin doubling their run total.

Round 3
  • Toukaidai Koufu takes their slight 3-1 win and takes it out on their next opponent Hokuto. 13 runs and 5 innings later they're in the semis.
  • Yamanashi Gakuindai Fuzoku looks to make a return appearance to Koshien and passes Fujikawaguchiko 9-6.
  • Teikyou Dai-san's run ends against A seed Koufu Jyousai but not without a fight. They were tied 2-2 after 8 before Jyousai scored 4.
  • B seed Yoshida becomes the first seeded team to fall as Koufu Minami scores 5 in the 5th in a 7-4 upset.
  • Koufu Kougyou one again wins by the skin of their teeth scoring the winning run in the bottom of the 8th against Koufu Dai-ichi to win 2-1.
  • Nihon Koukuu apparently wants me to sweat out the prefecture as much as possible. Nirasaki Kougyou stays step for step with them then even takes a 4-3 lead. Thankfully (for me anyways), Nihon Koukuu ties it immediately there after then takes the lead for good in the 8th to win 5-4.
  • Over at Prefectural Fujihoku, Minobu has no trouble with Hikawa, but Nichidai Meisei has problems with Tsuru. They take a 4-0 lead, then fall behind 5-4. Then they get ahead 9-5 then immediately fall behind again 10-9. They immediately tie the game, but then fall behind by one in the 9th. Then... they lose 11-10.
Quarterfinals - With the typhoon hitting, the games on the 20th were pushed to the 21st so all 8 teams were in play.
  • Toukaidai Koufu found themselves behind Yamanashi Gakuindai Fuzoku 4-0. Things started to look bleak until the 8th where they scored 4 to tie the game! Shocking of all though was that Yamanashi scored the sayonara run in the 9th to send them home!
  • Koufu Minami kept the upset theme up after ace Tamagawa 3-hits A seed Koufu Jyousai!
  • Minobu looked to make it 3 in a row. When they gave up 2 to Koufu Kougyou in the top of the 1st, they scored 2 of their own. Then they scored a run in the 5th to take the lead! However, Koufukou would fire right back with 2 of their own to take the lead, tack on another in the 7th and one more in the 9th for good measure. Not to mention that in doing so they hit 4 HR's!!
  • And as if to taunt me, Nihon Koukuu had trouble with their 3rd straight opponent in Tsuru. After leading 1-0 early, Tsuru scores 3 unanswered to take the lead. It would stay that way until the bottom of the 9th when they score 2 to push it into enchousen! Then in the 11th Tsuru scores the go-ahead run. Nihon Koukuu though doesn't give up, score two of their own for the sayonara win which is... yeah, you guessed it 5-4. Stop giving me heart attacks!!
Gifu
I always wondered about Gifu's qualifying in that they separate the first full round of play into 2 weekends. That means while some teams get about a week off, others get just 2 days. You can justify perhaps 2 days versus 3, but 2 versus 6??

Anyways, to the recap:

Round 1
  • D Block's 2 seed Tounou Jitsugyou starts with a 9-2 win over Hashima.
  • Oogaki Kougyou scores 6 unanswered late to beat Nakatsugawa Kougyou 6-2.
  • Gujyou down 4-1 to Ginan Kougyou in the bottom of the 9th makes a comeback marked by Shimizu's 3-run HR!
  • C Block's 2 seed Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou(!) mercy ruled Reitaku Mizunami 12-3 in 8.
  • C Blocks top seed Gifu Dai-ichi actually trailed Oogaki Higashi 2-0, then 3-1 before scoring 4 in the bottom of the 8th for the win.
  • D Block's top seed Ginan scores 2 in the 1st which would be the final margin of victroy as they beat Gifu Kakamino 3-1.
  • Ena Minami lets a 3-run lead slip away to Gifu Kita, and while they eventually win 5-4 in 12, the extra innings with just 1 full day off may cost them.
Round 2
  • A Block's 2 seed Seki Shougyou barely gets by Kaidzu Meisei with a run in the 9th, while top seed Oogaki Nichidai mercy rules their 2nd opponent Mizunami in 5 innings.
  • B Block's top seed Oogaki Shougyou gets a 4-1 victory over Oogaki Minami and Gifu Sougou falls to 2 seed Chuukyou. And Shiritsu Gifu Shougyou who has been to Koshien recently but unseeded defeated Kanou 4-2.
  • C Block started the next day. Oogaki Kougyou needed 10 innings, but made no doubt about the winner scoring 4 in the extra frame to win 5-1 over Nakatsu Shougyou. Top seed Gifu Dai-ichi couldn't shake off Gifu Jyouhoku. Everytime they'd score runs, Jyouhoku would score the same one inning later. Then in the 8th Jyouhoku sprung out and scored a run to take the lead! Now it was Dai-ichi who needed to play catch-up! And they did in the top of the 9th tying the game and playing for extras. Except that Jyouhoku wouldn't let them. They score the sayonara run to send the top seed home! Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou wins 10-1 in 7.
  • D Block's top seed Gizan also got the short end of the stick. Having to play from behind, they tie the game at 2 in the 8th. In extras, they get a run in the 12th only to have Minokamo square it up again. And in perhaps the most heartbreaking manner, Minokamo wins the game in the bottom of the 15th inning, the last possible moment. Tounou Jitsugyou had more trouble in their 2nd game unable to pull away until 3 in the 9th over Hashima Kita.
Aichi
With so many games to cover at this point, I'm going to have to condense my coverage a bit to try and catch up...

Round 1
  • Agui and Kouyou were scoreless in 11 before Agui scores 1 and then Kouyou scores 2 for the win.
  • Ichinomiya Minami scores 3 in the 9th for a gyakuten victory over Nisshin.
  • Okazaki Higashi scores a run in the 1st and makes it stick against Anjyou Gakuen.
  • Chiryuu Higashi scores the winning run in the bottom of the 8th to beat Toyota 7-6.
  • Shouwa blows a 4-0 lead, then has to (and does) scores 2 to tie the game at 6 versus Kouzouji. Then they win 9-6 with 3 in the 12th.
Round 2
  • Anjyou holds off a late surge by Anjyou Higashi for a 6-5 win.
  • In the battle of Aichi Sangyoudai schools, Kougyou defeats Mikawa 9-2 in 8.
  • Kounan scores 3 in the 8th to reverse the deficit against Seto Kita Sougou for a 6-5 win.
  • Toyota Kita scores 6 in the 8th to beat Kagaku Gijyutsu Toyota 10-8.
  • Bihoku winds 2-1 in 11 over Toyohashi Kougyou.
  • Tsushima Kita scores 4 runs late to defeat Anjyou Minami 5-4.
  • Kariya Kita gets a lead against Kasugai, loses it ties it up then wins in 11.
Shizuoka
Round 1
  • Gotenba Nishi and Shizuoka Kita go 14 innings before Gotenba wins 5-2.
  • Fujieda Meisei scores 2 to tie it up at 2 versus Itou Shougyou, but Itou prevails in 12 3-2.
  • Hamamatsu Oohiradai took a 3-0 lead against Yoshiwara, saw it evaporate into a 1-run deficit, then tied and eventually won 5-4 in 10.
  • Hamamatsu Kotou scores in each of the last 5 innings, including 2 in the 10th for a 6-4 win over Kagaku Gijyutsu.
  • Itou's Maeshima throws a 1-hitter against Hamamatsu Kaiseikan as they advance 3-0.
  • Hamakita Nishi scores a run in the top of the 9th to defeat Hamamatsu Jyouhoku Kougyou 3-2.
Round 2
  • Well, there goes one of my teams. Tokoha Tachibana loses in their 2nd round game to Nirayama 3-2, though it did take them scoring the 3 runs late for the win.
  • Seikei scores 5 runs in the last 2 innings, including 3 in the bottom of the 9th for the 7-6 sayonara win over Izu Sougou.
  • Fukuroi bids sayonara to one of the Nichidai teams in Nichidai Mishima 3-2.
  • Hamamatsu Tousen pulls it out against Shizuoka Taisei 3-2.
  • Seeded Shizuoka Shougyou has no trouble in their first game, dispatching Gotenba Minami 7-0. Mikkabi, Shizuoka and Hamamatsu Nishi follow suit.
  • Hiryuu on the other hand had issues with Shiritsu Numadzu. Tied 1-1 going into extras, it took 2 tries to put them away. They would finally win 3-2 in 12.
  • My other team, Tokoha Kikugawa started off their summer with a 4-0 win over Shimada.
  • Seisei, who was at senbatsu, won their first game 12-5 over Haibara.
  • St. Christopher (aka Seirei) scores all 7 of their runs in the last 3 innings, then hang on for dear life as Gotenba Nishi rallied to within one in the bottom of the 9th.
  • Shizuoka Minami scores 1 to tie against Shizuoka Higashi, then fires off 2 runs after Minami gets one in the 10th.
  • Hamamatsu Minami with 5 in the bottom of the 8th to beat Fujinomiya Nishi 5-3.
  • Yoshiwara Kougyou and Kakegawa Higashi finish out our coverage of round 2. Down 2, bottom 9, Yoshiwara finds a way to tie the game and send it into extras. Kakegawa Higashi was already on their 2nd pitcher, Yoshiwara would send in their reliever in the 10th. The innings would go by, another reliever would be brought in on both sides, yet the game would end in a 4-4 draw! The replay wouldn't be for another 3 days, giving both sides time to rest. Once again it would be a back and forth affair as Kakegawa jumps out to a 2-0 lead then Yoshiwara firing back with 3 in the middle innings. After a 3 spot by Kakegawa and 2 from Yoshiwara in the 8th inning, they were tied once again. Kakegawa would try to end it in regulation by scoring a run in the 9th, except that it was Yoshiwara who would end it scoring 2 for the 7-6 win!

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