Wednesday, August 17, 2016

98th Natsu Koushien - Day 11, Game 3 - Kisaradzu Sougou (Chiba) v Hiroshima Shinjyou (Hiroshima)

Headache gone, but not 100%. Last game disappointed a bit, let's see if things pick up in the afternoon session.

Kisaradzu Sougou (Chiba)
2B Koike Kouki (小池 航貴)
CF Kido Ryou (木戸 涼)
SS Minemura Takaki (峯村 貴希)
RF Toriumi Ranma (鳥海 嵐万)
1B Yamashita Hikaru (山下 輝)
LF Hosoda Yuuki (細田 悠貴)
3B Inoue Mizuki (井上 瑞樹)
P Hayakawa Takahisa (早川 隆久)
C Oozawa Shou (大沢 翔)

Hiroshima Shinjyou (Hiroshima)
2B Sugimura Hiroyoshi (杉村 泰嘉)
3B Furukawa (田中 政範)
LF (14)Tanaka Masanori (田中 政範)
RF Kitatani Shougo (北谷 奨吾)
1B Ogawa Toranousuke (小河 虎之介)
C Furumoto Kouki (古本 幸希)
CF Kawauchi Kyouei (河内 恭英)
P Hori Mizuki (堀 瑞輝)
SS Tanaka Ryouta (田中 亮太)

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13:27 - First Pitch!

I didn't even get a chance to finish putting my twitter post to this blog post when Kido blasted a ball through the hamazake and out to RF for a home run. 1-0 Kidaradzu Sougou.

I thought perhaps it might be another one of those games. Thankfully it wasn't because Hori would shut it down afterwards.

And actually, both aces would shut things down for a while. Hori wouldn't give up a hit until the 3rd when OOsawa would hit a double to right center, but be stranded. Hayakawa wouldn't give up a hit until the 4th when Sugimura would get a leadoff single back up the middle. He would get picked off by Oozawa, and then on a Furukawa walk Tanaka would ground into the 6-4-3 double play.

The difference is while both were recording their fair share of strikeouts, Hori would get a few flyball outs while Hayakawa were almost all on the ground.

Kisaradzu Sougou would get one more chance to add to their lead in the 5th after a leadoff hit, but Hosoda would be stranded at 2nd as the bottom of the lineup would be unable to deliver.

So at the break the aces combined have given up just 4 hits, 1 walk and stuck out 9. At this point, since Kisaradzu Sougou has the lead, the impetus will be on them to get their offense going soon.

The problem is, they're only with 1 of the 4 hits while Kisaradzu Sougou has had runners on for the last couple. There was the aforementioned 5th, the 6th where they got a 1-out single (that was later picked off), and now int he 7th when Toriumi gets a leadoff single.

Later in the inning, 2 down Toriumi on 2nd, Inoue comes through with a base hit up the middle. Toriumi is waved home and the throw not nearly in time. 2-0 and Hiroshima Shinjyou's task gets that much harder.

And while Hori would only give up 2 runs, his team would only be able to muster just 3 hits against ace Hayakawa as they would indeed fall 2-0. A masterful performance by the Chiba ace. And he must continue that because next up will be Sakushin Gakuin!

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