Day 7, Game 3 - Kanzei (Okayama) v. Toyama Shougyou (Toyama)

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Toyama Shougyou (Toyama)
CF Shiina Kouhei
2B Yokomichi Eiji
RF Sakamoto Jyunichirou
LF Kutsuwada Takuma
1B Katou Daisuke
C Tomikawa Seiya
3B Iwase Daiki
SS Yanase Kazuya
P Morita Shunya

Kanzei (Okayama)
P Aizawa Ryousuke (#8)
CF Takahashi Naomasa (#7)
RF Doi Shinji
2B Ogou Yuuya
1B Umino Yuusuke
SS Hirano Seiya
C Umino Takashi
LF Takimoto Naoto (#10)
3B Ichihara Shuuhei

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13:00 - First Pitch!

Top 1st
Boy, not a good start for Aizawa.  Walks Shiina on 4 straight.  Finally fires a strike to Yokomichi who is looking to bunt.  He lays it down, but on a ball near his head.  Not ideal, but it works.

Sakamoto base hit through the left side! Shiina to 3rd, AHHHHHH!!!

Takahashi flubs the ball and has to go back and get it! Shiina comes in to score and Tomishou leads 1-0!

Aizawa's pitching settles down enough to retire the next 2 batters, but it looks sketchy right from the get go.

Bottom 1st
Aizawa scorcher up 3rd base line, but Iwase picks it! Makes throw to 1st for 1st out.

Takahashi another shot to Iwase!  He gets that too!  2 down.

Kanzei really testing the lines as Doi goes up the 1st base line as Katou takes it to himself for the 3rd out.

Top 2nd
Tomikawa liner back up middle, off Aizawa's glove and to the left side!  Hirano out of position and it's a base hit!

Iwase not bunting, but hits to to short! Hirano to 2nd for 1, relay by Ogou in time for the double play!

Yanase grounds to 1st and the side is retired.  Aizawa perhaps settling down after the 1st.

Bottom 2nd
No dice for Kanzei on the bats either right now.  Ogou chases the slider for the first out.  Yuusuke hits a slow chopper back to Morita for the 2nd out, and then Hirano way in front of the ball, rolls a grounder to short to end the inning.

Top 3rd
2 down for Tomishou, and Yokomichi pokes a ball up the middle for a basehit.  But Maezaki tries to push the issue and Takashi throws him out to end the inning.

Bottom 3rd
Takashi doesn't take the bat off his shoulder as Morita fires a strike at the knees for the first out.

Takimoto finally gives Kanzei their first hit, a slicer over Iwase.

Ichihara though grounds to 2nd, Yokomichi goes to 2nd and cuts down the lead runner.

Aizawa goes down swinging and Kanzei's offense is completely stymied.

Top 4th
The game is going at a very quick pace now as Tomishou's batters are swinging early in counts and falling behind.  The side is retired in order with no issues.

Bottom 4th
Kanzei's batters are swinging away early too, the only difference is that they're putting it in play sooner.  Morita just needs 6 pitches to retire the 2-3-4 batters.

Top 5th
It's another clean inning for Aizawa as Tomikawa and Iwase can do no more than roll the ball over to 3rd.  Yanase gets under a ball and pops out to 1st to retire the side.

Bottom 5th
Kanzei trying to get offense in between striking out. One down Hirano manages a full count walk (just).  After the 2nd K, Takimoto squibs a ball through the left side for a base hit.

Time's up though and Ichiihara strikes out to retire the side. The game surprisingly with little offense to speak of as Kanzei struggles to figure out Morita.

Top 6th
Ace Tanaka enters the game for Kanzei for Takimoto.  WIth that Aizawa and Takahashi go back to their numbered positions.

And apparently, this inning is brought to you by the phrase "Cool Play".

Ichihara stops a hit by Morita in foul territory and makes the long throw for the out.  Shiina hits a deep fly to left center, but Takahashi makes a great running catch.  And Tanaka throws in a K for good measure to retire the side.

Bottom 6th
Kanzei still not able to get a hit off of Morita.  Doi gets a 2-out walk, but with no hitting to speak of outside of Takimoto (whi is out of the game), he's stranded.

Top 7th
And with Kanzei just flailing at the plate Tomishou has time to figure out the pitching.

Sakamoto opens the lucky 7th with a gapper to left center.  He's in with a double

But he strays too far from 2nd and Takashi guns him down on the very next pitch!

That's too bad because Kutsuwada ends up hitting a single to left.  After that Katou works the count and draws a walk.

Tomikawa then hits a grounder to the left side, Ichihara can't get it, and Hirano boots it! Kutsuwada scores to make it a 2-0 game!  Iwase follows that up with a blooper to center! Katou scores on that play and it's not 3-0 Tomishou!

Maezaki will leave it up to Morita as Yanase bunts the runner along.  However, he grounds to 2nd to end the inning.  But those 2 runs at this point must feel like 20 to Kanzei.

Bottom 7th
Kanzei has waved the white flag. They're swinging at any ball in the zone it seems.  Morita is able to retire the side in 9 pitches.

Top 8th
Shiina gets on base with a soft single to left.  Maekawa-kantoku tries to play add-on by bunting him over.  But Sakamoto and Kutsuwada both fly out to end the inning

Bottom 8th
There's no need to comment on Kanzei's AB's.  There is no coherent plan to get players on base and score runs.  But if I must comment, Tanaka tries to attack the first good pitch and flies out to center.  Ichihara tries to work a walk, but lets a 3-2 pitch too close to let go... go.  And Aizawa flies out to left. 3 up, 3 down, and soon game set.

Top 9th
At least Kanzei can still play defense.  Katou with a short liner, and Takahashi makes the quick sprint and diving catch for the out.

Tomishou is happy to quickly turn it to the bottom of the 9th to get out of the sun.  Tomikawa and Iwase both ground out to 3rd to end the inning.

Bottom 9th
Takahashi is the first player not named Takimoto to get a base hit off of Morita as he hits one that short hops Iwase into left.  Maekawa-kantoku calls time.

A wild pitch sends the runner to 2nd, but like last game, Tomishou wouldn't mind trading that run for an out.

Doi can't check his swing on a ball in the dirt and there's 1 down.

Ogou works the count full, but falls into the trap of thinking Morita has to throw a strike. He goes down swinging on the slider and there's 2 out.

#15 Okumura to hit for Yuusuke and he bloops one to right.  Sakamoto charging in, slides... but can't get it.  Takahashi scores and the shutout is prevented! 3-1 Tomishou.

#17 Kuyama comes in to run for Okumura.

Hirano tries to drop one into left, Kutsuwada charging, dives... and makes the catch!  Game set!  Morita doesn't get the shutout, but gives up just 4 hits in a 3-1 win!

Kanzei throughout the entire game was disorganized at the plate with little game plan on how to attack Morita  As a result he was able to run free reign on Kanzei's lineup often frustrating them.  This compared to Toyama Shougyou who consistently went deep into counts and made the pitchers work, even if it didn't equate to hits.

And so it looks like Toyama may have another good team in the tournament as long as Morita can carry them.