Previewing the projected field - Sapporo Dai-ichi (Hokkaido)

In the leadup to next year's senbatsu (and because I have a lot of dead time at work), I'll be getting posts out on the teams in the projected field. First up is the Hokkaido champions Sapporo Dai-ichi.

Sapporo Dai-ichi pretty much handled all the teams they needed to without much issue until they hit the meat of the schedule - which started in the quarterfinals against Hokushou and followed that up with Komodai Tomakomai and Hokkaido Sakae.

For a champion team though, there's little information on them. Ace Kamide Takuma (上出 拓真) throws in the low 130s with a changeup of sorts that he tends to leave up. Here is the game versus Takamatsu Shougyou in the Meiji Jingu Taikai (Skip to 1:03.30 as that is when he comes in relief.). Against lefties, he seems to let the ball fly out early, leaving pitches up and away and not close. Even in general he leaves the fastball up in the zone and is prone to fly balls.

Offensively, their best hitter was their #9 hitter, RF Kanemura Kyousuke (兼村 京佑). He was 4-5 with 2 doubles and 2 RBIs versus Kanto Dai-ichi, and then was 3-4 with a double and 2 RBIs against Takamatsu Shougyou.

With such little information, and from what I could see and read, it doesn't look like Sapporo Dai-ichi is a legitimate title contender. Depending on the rest of the field and their draw, it's possible they could be one-and-done.