高校野球 (Kokoyakyu)

84th Koushien Field

2012-01-27T17:20:00.000+09:00

So the field has indeed been announced and it is as follows:

Hokkaido

Hokushou

Tohoku

Kousei Gakuin (Aomori)
Seikou Gakuin (Fukushima)
Hanamaki Higashi (Iwate)

Kanto

Urawa Gakuin (Saitama)
Sakushin Gakuin (Tochigi)
Takasaki Kenkou Fukushi (Gunma)
Takasaki (Gunma)
Yokohama (Kanagawa) - 14th appearance, 2nd consecutive

Tokyo

Kanto Dai-ichi

Hokushinetsu

Tsuruga Kehi (Fukui)
Chikyuu Kankyou (Nagano)

Tokai

Aikoudai Meiden (Aichi)
Mie (Mie)

Kinki

Chiben Gakuen (Nara)
Tenri (Nara)
Riseisha (Osaka)
Oumi (Shiga)
Osaka Touin (Osaka)
Toba (Kyoto)

Chuugoku

Tottori Jyouhoku (Tottori)
Kurashiki Shougyou (Okayama)
Hayatomo (Yamaguchi) - 1st apperance

Shikoku

Naruto (Tokushima)
Kochi (Kochi)

Kyushu

Kamimura Gakuin (Kagoshima)
Kyushu Gakuin (Kumamoto)
Beppu Aoyama (Oita)
Miyazaki Nishi (Miyazaki) - 1st appearance

21st Century Bids

Memanbetsu (Hokkaido) - 1st appearance
Ishinomaki Kougyou (Miyagi) - 1st appearance
Sumoto (Hyogo) - 3rd appearance, 1st in 26 years

Wow. Not what I expected.

So first of all, I was 0 for 2 on floating bids. Yokohama, not Teikyou go the floating bid. It could be the redemption card played by the committee to see if Yokohama can correct the debacle they had. Or, perhaps they're expecting the debacle to happen again. The other possibility is that no team from Chiba or Kanagawa earned a bid otherwise. It's possible to keep interest in the surrounding area, they chose a neighboring team in Yokohama over one in Tokyo in Teikyou.

And it's not Meitoku Gijyuku, but Hayatomo who gets the bid. Perhaps with the chalkiness of the field, they wanted to give some teams a first appearance. Or maybe they weighted that 2nd bid to Kochi more than I had thought.

Souseikan getting passed over is a bit of a shame. It's not their fault that they drew a weak bracket. But I suppose it is their fault they were 4-hit in a 7-inning mercy game. Combine that with Miyazaki Nishi limiting the runner-ups to 2 runs may have given them the nod.

Now as for the strength of the 21st century teams, Memanbetsu out of Hokkaido finally gets their first shot at Koushien, and gives Hokkaido a 2nd team. They lost to Hokkai in the 2nd round of the Super-Regional 4-0, so it'll be hard to peg them for a win in the tournament unless they get an easy draw.

Ishinomaki Kougyou. I don't know if this is a がんばれ日本！ type of award given all the things that have happened to them. They lost 8-1 to Kousei Gakuin in the Tohoku Super-Regionals, and did not have a real quality win.

Finally there's Sumoto, who was the odd team out in the Hyogo prefecutral Best 4. They did beat Kobe Kokusaidai Fuzoku, but lost handily to Houtoku Gakuen and Ikuei.

One thing's for sure. One, maybe two, of those three 21st century team will have to thank Miyazaki Nishi for receiving a bid over Souseikan and possibly Takasaki for receiving consideration. Miyazaki Nishi was one of the finalists for the 21st century bids and if not for Souseikan's loss, they may not be going to Haru Koushien. Takasaki was definitely more of a shoe-in for a bid than Miyazaki Nishi, and this reduced the field of possible selections from 9 to 7.

Fall Tournament and Recap and possible invitees (Meiji Jingu + Floating Bids)

2012-01-27T16:37:00.000+09:00

In the interests of getting my projections out before the invitations are posted I am including them here before they are announced.

Meiji Jingu Tournament

With Kousei Gakuin winning it all, Tohoku is awarded the Meiji Jingu bid. The semifinalists were Hanamaki Higashi and Aomori Yamada. Although Aomori Yamada has not been to Koushien in several years, Hanamaki Higashi took Kousei Gakuin to the limit in their semifinal game. Combine that with their constant scrappiness shown during Kikuchi Yuusei's tenure and beyond, the Meiji Jingu bid will be projected to go to:

Meiji Jingu Bid - Hanamaki Higashi (Iwate) - 2nd appearance, 1st in 3 years

Floating Bids

We have our 2 floating bids remaining outside of the three 21st Century Bids.

Kanto/Tokyo Floating Bid
The first is shared between the Kanto and Tokyo regions. The 4 quarterfinalists in the Kanto region were:

Chiba Eiwa (Chiba)
Koufu Kougyou (Yamanashi)
Yokohama (Kanagawa)
Toukaidai Koufu (Yamanashi)

The runner-up in the Tokyo region was Teikyou.

A first glance would probably have the bid awarded to Yokohama or Teikyou. Sorry, but name matters here. However, Yokohama lost to Sakushin Gakuin handily 6-2. Teikyou's loss? They were one-hit by Kanto Dai-ichi. To me, both losses open up the bid to the other 3 teams if they deserve it.

The problem is that none of the other teams made a real strong case to be chosen over the incumbents. Only Toukaidai Koufu had a respectable loss, but it was to Takasaki, who lost 6-3 to Sakushin Gakuin.

So with no clear standout of the 5 teams, either the committee can choose a newcomer or choose an incumbent. I just can't see the committee handing it to any of the "no names". They just don't have the quality wins or quality losses that might make them enticing.

And then it's hard to choose Yokohama given their collapse against Chiben Gakuen this past Natsu Koushien, and Teikyou did defeat Kokugakuin, Nishhou Gakushadai Fuzoku, and Nichidai Tsurugaoka.

So with that resume, and despite the one-hit loss, I have the bid going as follows:

Kanto/Tokyo Floating Bid - Teikyou (Tokyo) - 15th appearance, 1st in 2 years

Chuugoku/Shikoku Floating Bid

The other is shared between the Chuugoku and Shikoku. The semifinalists in the two regions:

Hayatomo (Yamaguchi)
Taisha (Shimane)
Meitoku Gijyuku (Kochi)
Takamatsu Shougyou (Kagawa)

The easy name that stands out is Meitoku Gigyuku. They lost to Kochi after defeating them in the prefectural semifinals. Losing to a team you're facing the 2nd time around probably will benefit them in the committee's eyes.

So in all probability the other 3 teams will have to present a strong case to be selected above Meitoku Gijyuku.

Takamatsu Shougyou lost to Naruto 7-1 in part due to a 6-run inning. They did defeat Naruto Kougyou 1-0, but their only other quality wins was a 2-0 win over Sangawa in the prefectural finals. The 5-3 win over Kannonji Chuo was a gyakuten victory with 4 in the 9th. There doesn't seem to be enough there.

Over to the Chuugoku region, and Hayatomo lost 6-3 to Kurashiki Shougyou due to a 5-run 1st. Outside of that game, all they have is a win against fellow entrant Nanyou Kougyou. Playing someone from the same prefecture here hurts them given the perceived strength of Yamaguchi-ken.

That leaves Taisha. Sadly, with a 7-0 mercy rule loss to Tottori Jyouhoku, and a down year in a super-regionals without big names, I just don't see them making it either.

So by default, the floating bid goes to:

Chuugoku/Shikoku Floating Bid - Meitoku Gijyuku (Kochi) - 15th appearance, 2nd consecutive

There is one caveat though. This floating bid would go to a team that already has one team going. They may be hesitant to award a second team from the prefecture a bid, but I don't think it outweighs the lack of resume strength the other teams carry.

Fall Tournament Recap and possible invitees (Kyushu)

2012-01-27T16:01:00.002+09:00

In the interests of getting my projections out before the invitations are posted I am including them here before they are announced.

Kyushu Super-Regionals (4 bids)

Automatic Bid - Kamimura Gakuen (Kagoshima) - 3rd appearance, 1st in 3 years
Projected Bid - Kyushu Gakuin (Kumamoto) - 5th appearance, 2nd consecutive
Projected Bid - Souseikan (Nagasaki) - 1st appearance
Projected Bid - Beppu Aoyama (Oita) - 1st appearance

Fall Tournament Recap and possible invitees (Chuugoku & Shikoku)

2012-01-27T15:55:00.000+09:00

In the interests of getting my projections out before the invitations are posted I am including them here before they are announced.

Chuugoku Super-Regionals (2 bids)

Automatic Bid - Tottori Jyouhoku (Tottori) - 1st appearance
Projected Bid - Kurashiki Shougyou (Okayama) - 3rd appearance, 1st in 22 years

Shikoku Super-Regionals (2 bids)

Automatic Bid - Naruto (Tokushima) - 7th appearance, 1st in 32 years
Projected Bid - Kochi (Kochi) - 16th appearance, 1st in 2 years

Fall Tournament Recap and possible invitees (Kinki)

2012-01-27T09:46:00.000+09:00

The Kinki region is so big, and with 6 bids at stake, probably deserve their own post (though I'll be having to blow through these to get the rest of the recaps done)

Kinki Super-Regional (6 bids)

With 16 teams going to the super-regional, the prefectures rotate the extra 4 bids amongst themselves. This year Kyoto and Wakayama would be short-changed with just 2 bids.

Shiga
Shiga had some excitement last summer when Hachiman Shougyou shocked Teikyou with 5 runs in the top of the 9th for an unbelievable upset.

Sadly though, they may have been a one-hit wonder (no pun intended). They'd lose in their 1st game 6-4 to Hino.

Looking elsewhere, Cinderella Shiga Gakuen looked to make another run and had the entire half to themselves once Hachiman Shougyou was eliminated. But Yasu spoiled the party defeating them 2-0 in the quarterfinals. They were one win away from a guaranteed spot in the super-regionals, but Minakuchi proved to be a more than formidable opponent. Tied at 1 in the 4th inning, the game would head into extras. But in the 11th, Minakuchi's Ikemoto would deliver the sayonara hit to punch their first ticket in 44 years to the super-regionals.

The two stalwarts in the prefecture - Oumi and Kita-Ootsu occupied the other half of the bracket. But when Kita-Ootsu lost to Ishiyama in their very first game 3-2, the path to the super-regionals was wide open. They didn't hesitate, defeating Ishiyama in the semifinals 14-4 to punch their ticket.

Minakuchi actually put up a good fight early against heavily favored Oumi, taking a 2-run lead. Oumi wiped that completely out with a 3-run 4th and would go on to win 7-2 for their 9th title and 1st in 2 years.

Yasu's good run would be spoiled by Ishiyama, who deservingly earned a spot in the super-regionals with a 2-1 victory in the 3rd place game.

Kyoto
Kyoto has been largely dominated by the 5-kanji schools - Ryuukokudai Heian (龍谷大平安), Fukuchiyama Seibi (福知山成美), and Kyoto Gaidai Nishi (京都外大西).

But while all 3 qualified for the prefectural finals, all 3 were eliminated in quarterfinal play. Fukuchiyama Seibi falls 8-6 to Toba, Ryuukokudai Heian lost a close one 8-7 to Ritsumeikan, and Kyoto Gaidai Nishi had the worst loss (deficit-wise anyways), 6-2 to Kyoto Ryouyou. Kyoto Shouei joins the three in the semifinals.

Now, with only 2 spots available this year, winning the semifinals becomes crucial. Toba grabs one of the two spots after breaking a 3-3 tie with Kyoto Shouei with 2 runs in the bottom of the 8th. Ritsumeikan takes the other one as ace Itou limits Kyoto Ryouyou to just 1 run in a 2-1 win.

The final was a bit nuts. Despite being the underdog, Toba breached the 0-0 deadlock with a run in the 6th. Such a slim margin would be hard to maintain against a team such as Ritsumeikan, and indeed in the 8th they scored 3 to take the lead. But in the bottom of the 9th, Toba found a way to take back every single run to win their 3rd fall title (1st in 11 years), 4-3!

Nara
Chiben Gakuen has supplanted Tenri as the premier team in the prefecture. That after Tenri has frittered away opportunity after opportunity at Koushien.

The teams though were on the same half, so you were almost guaranteed that one would take the title, and the other the 3rd place spot. So any team on that half would have little to no shot to make it. Go to the other side and if Kooriyama could be knocked off, Nara's 2nd seed could be up for grabs.

Chiben Gakuen would get the best of the rivalry yet again and in impressive fashion. Tenri would be relegated to the 3rd place match with an 8-0 mercy rule loss.

The de facto final qualifying spot would go to Naradai Fuzoku. After relinquishing an early 3-0 lead to Ichijyou, they rallied in the late innings to win 6-5.

But Naradai Fuzoku wasn't done! After giving up 2 runs in the 1st to Chiben, they immediately struck back with 4 runs Chiben would narrow the lead to 1 and keep it that way until the 8th when they successfully pulled level at 6.

Naradai Fuzoku would claim their first ever fall title in spectacular fashion as Kudou delivers a sayonara hit to right, winning 7-6!

Wakayama
Wakayama too would only get 2 bids, but assuming that Chiben Wakayama and Kouyou were on opposite sides of the Best 4, there may be no room for anyone else, save for maybe Minabe or Minoshima.

So apparently, Wakayama has changed their qualifying methods. Instead of grandfathering in the Best 4 from last year's they now hold a "newcomers tournament" (高校野球新人戦) right after Natsu Koushien ends, in which the best 4 from that tournament get a pass to the Best 8 of the fall prefecturals. The rest would have to play again in pool play for a spot.

The 4 teams that got a free pass were Naga, Touin, Kainan and of course Chiben Wakayama.

So the remaining 36 teams were in for another grueling single elimination bracket less than 3 weeks later.

Those that were able to endure the 2nd go around were Shiritsu Wakayama (who shut out Minabe 4-0 in the block final), Kokawa (who ended Kouyou's bid with a 2-1 victory), Kenritsu Wakayama Shougyou, and Minoshima.

Chiben Wakayama and Minoshima wound up on different sides of the bracket, so it seemed likely they would be the two entrants.

Nope.

Minoshima bowed out in the very first game 3-2 to Kainan who would eventually reach the finals after a win against Touin. Chiben Wakayama, after barely beating out Shiritsu Wakayama 4-3, was blitzed by Naga to the tune of 8-1!

So it would be a newcomer in Naga, and a forgotten team (last appearance 26 years ago) in Kainan. The question would be who would take the coveted title. Both aces, Kusunoki and Fukui respectively, would be in a pitcher's duel. Naga would claim their first ever fall title with a 1-0 win.

Osaka
Osaka's tourney is basically one bracket, save for a redraw in the best 4.

Block A was dominated by Riseisha. Block B was won by Natsu representative Higashi-Osakadai Kashiwara thanks in part to Toukaidai Gyousei eliminating PL Gakuen 7-0 in the first round and a 3-1 win over Osaka Sangyoudai Fuzoku. Osaka Taiikudai Nami Shougyou (aka Daitoudai Namishou) took Block C after escaping with a 4-3 win over Kansai Souka. Finally, Osaka Touin blew through most of Block D though Osaka Shoudai Sakai did limit them to 3 runs in a 3-0 loss.

The semifinal draw had Higashi-Osakadai Kashiwara looking to prove their trip last summer wasn't a fluke with a 5-1 over Riseisha. Meanwhile, Osaka Touin looked to regain the top spot in Osaka with a 8-3 win over Daitoudai Namishou.

Eventually, Osaka Touin would reassert themselves with a 6-0 shutout win over the summer representatives for their 3rd consecutive and 5th overall fall title.

Joining the pair would be Riseisha as they denied Daitoudai Namisho with a 5-1 win in the consolation game.

Hyogo
Hooray! Nishinomiya Kita made it to the prefecturals after qualifying through the repechage of the Nishi-Hanshin regionals 2-0 against Takaradzuka Kita! By the way, Kansei Gakuin would take top honors in that regional. Yay for improvement!

Joining that pair of teams would be the likes of Houtoku Gakuen, Shinkou Gakuen, Kobe Kokusaidai Fuzoku, and Kakogawa Kita. Touyoudai Himeji immediately got a free pass to the prefecturals being the Natsu Koushien representative.

The prefectural draw had Kobe Kokusaidai Fuzoku in their own quadrant. But Sumoto wrecked the party, eliminating them 13-6 in the round of 16 and taking their spot in the Best 4. Houtoku Gakuen, Kakogawa Kita and Touyoudai Himeji were in the other quadrant. And despite the offensive output shown early in the brackets, Touyoudai Himeji's offense would go astray against tougher competition. Houtoku blanked them 5-0 for a spot opposite Sumoto.

Nishinomiya Kita's time in the prefecturals was cut short in a 5-1 loss to Awaji in the 1st round. Awaji would actually make a deep run before being offed by Ikuei 7-1 in the quarterfinals. So I guess it wasn't a bad loss for the fightin' Haruhi's. Maybe this summer? (No. Probably not.)

Rounding out the field would be Kansei Gakuin, who continues to have a penchant for low-scoring close affairs. Their largest margin of victory? 2.

Despite Sumoto's upset, they were no match for battle-tested Houtoku Gakuen as there were shutout to the tune of 6-0. On the other side, Kansei Gakuin and Ikuei would trade blows in the latter half of the games. Ikuei was actually 3 outs from advancing, but Kansei would tie the game with a clutch run. Ikuei tried once again to leave Kansei behind with a point in the 13th, but Kansei wound up doing one better, bidding Ikuei sayonara 6-5!

That extra inning game may have taken the air out of Kansei as in the final they could only muster 1 run as Houtoku Gakuen would go on to win 3-1 and claim their 10th title (1st in 3 years). Ikuei would be the final qualifier taking their frustrations in losing out on Sumoto 9-2.

Super-Regionals
The draw for the super-regionals put a lot of the strong teams in 1 quadrant.

On the upper left, the winner of the Houtoku Gakuen (Hyogo 1) v. Riseisha (Osaka 3) would definitely reach the semifinals and a projected bid to Koushien. Same goes to the Higashi-Osakadai Kashiwara (Osaka 2) v. Chiben Gakuen (Nara 2) matchup in the lower left.

The upper right was the hell draw. Tenri (Nara 3) v. Ritsumeikan (Kyoto 2) and Osaka Touin (Osaka 1) v. Kansei Gakuin (Hyogo 2). Oumi's (Shiga 1) only competition would be Ikuei (Hyogo 3) in their first game. Win that and they're pretty much guaranteed a bid.

Riseisha allowed 2 runs in junk time as they eliminated Houtoku Gakuen 9-2 and had a quick 6 inning affair against Minokuchi. Meanwhile Chiben Gakuen may be taking the flag even from Chiben Wakayama when comparing the two schools as they blank Higashi-Osakadai Kashiwara 5-0 and they advance to the semis.

Tenri once again struggled in the big lights, going into extras but defeating Ritsumeikan 3-1 in 10. They'd have a familiar opponent as Kansei Gakuin couldn't keep up with Osaka Touin's offensive output lasting just 7 innings in a 9-0 loss. Tenri though was able to take advantage over Touin's eternal weakness - pitching depth as a 4-spot in the 7th proved to be the final margin of victory 8-4.

And lastly, Oumi almost squandered a 6 run lead in the 9th, but won 7-5, then got a strong challenge against a surprisingly strong Naradai Fuzoku squad 2-1.

So all 4 teams were likely to receive a bid. Question would be who would definitely get an invite. Chiben Gakuen's Ono would give up a run to open the game, but the team would come back to take the lead and never trail again winning 4-2. And it would be a grudge match final as Tenri dispatched Oumi 11-1 in 6.

In that grudge match, Chiben Gakuen emphatically put their stamp on the title with a 3-run 1st. And as to add insult to injury, despite Tenri scoring 3 in the 8th to pull within 1, Chiben Gakuen would win their first ever super-regional title not having used their ace Aoyama in the semifinal nor championship game!

Automatic Bid - Chiben Gakuen (Nara) - 8th appearance, 1st in 11 years
Projected Bid - Tenri (Nara) - 22nd appearance, 4th consecutive
Projected Bid - Riseisha (Osaka) - 4th appearance, 2nd consecutive
Projected Bid - Oumi (Shiga) - 3rd appearance, 1st in 9 years
Projected Bid - Osaka Touin (Osaka) - 5th appearance, 1st in 2 years
Projected Bid - Toba (Kyoto) - 4th appearance, 1st in 7 years

The 5th and 6th bids are best guesses. I doubt Minakuchi will earn a bid after losing 15-3 to Riseisha. And as much as Naradai Fuzoku may have earned a bid with a 2-1 loss to Oumi, (a) I doubt the committee will award 3 Nara teams a bid, and (b) Oumi went on to lose to Osaka Touin 11-1.

Fall tournament recap and possible invitees (Hokushinetsu and Toukai)

2012-01-27T05:22:00.001+09:00

Gotta start flying through these, we're 2 days away from the announcement of the field!

Hokushinetsu Super-Regionals (2 bids)
This year, the Hokushinetsu Super-Regionals were held in Nagano, so they received the extra bid as the host prefecture. So once again, let's begin with the hosts!

Nagano
The regional qualifiers saw Matsushiro and Nagano Nichidai advance from the north... but in the 3rd and 4th positions, Ueda Nishi taking the eastern region in a close game against Chikyuu Kankyou, Matsumoto Dai-ichi and Matsushou Gakuen take the central region as expected while last year's representative Tokyo Shidai Shiojiri just making it, and Toukai Dai-san heading up the weaker southern region.

The prefectural draw saw 3 quadrants with pairs of known teams - Ueda Nishi and Tokyo Shidai Shiojiri in the upper left (they drew each other), Matsushou Gakuen and Nagano Nichidai in the lower left (they also draw each other), and Matsushiro and Matsumoto Dai-ichi in the upper right (yes, they too drew each other). Only the lower left quadrant had no real notable names outside of Chikyuu Kankyou, but while they've been above average in the prefecture as of late, they still haven't proven anything.

And almost as expected, the winners of each of the pairs would advance to the semifinals. Ueda Nishi outlasted Tokyo Shidai 8-6, then Nagano 8-5. Matsushou Gakuen just beat out Nagano Nichidai 6-5 before handling Toukai Dai-san 6-1. Matsushiro continues to fade into the background with a 10-0 loss to Matsumoto Dai-ichi who in turn handled Komoro Shougyou. And in the final quadrant, Chikyuu Kankyou at least did perhaps what was expected with two wins over Tagawa and Iiyama Kita.

What happened next was shocking. In looking at the recent history of the prefecture, one would have expected an all-Matsumoto final.

You would be dead wrong.

Ueda Nishi was up first, taking the game to Matsushou Gakuen as ace Shiba would pitch a complete game shutout winning 3-0!

Next was Chikyuu Kankyou. Having been unable to break the ceiling the last couple of years, they finally put their stamp on the prefecture as their ace Shitsudo pitches his own shutout against Matsumoto Dai-ichi!

So both Matsumoto schools go down (though they both qualify this year) and 2 teams desperate for a title get a chance at it!

In the final, both go to their bullpens. Chikyuu Kankyou to Sakai, and Ueda Nishi to Urano. Turns out that perhaps Ueda had the deeper bullpen. Chikyuu Kankyou gives up 10 runs in the 2nd-4th innings and that was all she wrote. Ueda Nishi clinched their 3rd title and 1st in 11 years. Meanwhile, Chikyuu Kankyou (a secret pet favorite of mine) earns their 1st ever birth to the super-regionals! And in a bit of formality, Matsumoto Dai-ichi bests Matsushou Gakuen in their re-match (they played in the regional final) 5-4.

Niigata
In the large draw for the Niigata prefecturals, Hokuetsu, Chuuetsu, and Nihon Bunri occupied one quadrant setting the "directional schools" up for a quarterfinal match, Niigata Meikun had a quadrant to themselves, and Niigata Kenou Kougyou having a full half to themselves save for maybe Jyouetsu.

It would indeed be Nihon Bunri and Hokuetsu in the quarterfinals. Despite mowing down the previous competition Hokuetsu would fight back, and hard. Nihon Bunri would score 8 runs, but it wasn't enough as they would be eliminated 9-8.

Niigata Meikun and Niigata Kenou Kougyou also had no trouble reaching the semis. The final team to round out the quartet was Takada.

Hokuetsu looked to make a run for their 1st Koushien bid and this put Niigata Meikun away 8-4 in the semifinals. Takada indeed was the odd man out in the foursome, falling 7-1.

In the finals, Hokuetsu would not be stopped. They defeat Niigata Kenou Kougyou 3-1 for their 3rd title, and 1st in 61 years!

Joining the twosome would be Niigata Meikun. They dispatched Takada 7-0.

Toyama
Toyama has been a muddy mess as of late. Toyama Shougyou has been the regular entrant from the prefecture, but you had to love the story of Shin-Minato this past summer. I'm not sure I'll ever see such a large contingent dressed up in the school's colors ever again at Koushien.

Both teams could be found on the same half of the bracket.

That left the other half up for grabs. Toyama Dai-ichi and Fujikoshi Kougyou reached the semifinals, and thanks to a 4-run 3rd, Fujikoshi advanced to the finals.

Meanwhile, Shin-Minato looked good in it's first two games, but then had to face Tonami Kougyou. Unfortunately, their offense suffered a power outage at the wrong time as they lost 2-1. While strong, they posed a lesser threat to Toyama Shougyou as they were mercy ruled 7-0 in 7 innings. Toyama Shougyou would take their 18th title (1st in 3 years) with ease demolishing Fujikoshi Kougyou 15-3. Tonami Kougyou defeated Toyama Dai-ichi 10-6 in the 3rd place match to advance.

Ishikawa
Ishikawa perhaps has a void now that Kamata has left Kanazawa. Yuugakukan had challenged for a couple of years so it's possible they may fill the gap. Or perhaps it's finally the time of the cycle where Matsui's alma mater Seiryou to rise to the top again.

Or, it's quite possible the prefecture becomes up for grabs.

Of the three, Yuugakukan is the first to fall losing 2-0 to Kanazawa Shougyou. Next to go was Seiryou who lost in a barn-burner 8-7 to Kanazawa Gakuin Higashi.

That left Kanazawa as the last remaining team. But they too would fall. In a disastrous 6-run inning, the aforementioned Kanazawa Gakuin Higashi forced Kanazawa to fight for their bid as they fell 9-3.

Who would be KG Higashi's opponent? Turns out it would be Kanazawa Nishi. After almost stumbling in the first 2 games, they managed to right the ship culminating in a 13 inning nailbiter against Kanazawa Shougyou which included a swap of runs in the 10th and both aces going all 13 innings!

You'd think then that Kanazawa Gakuin Higashi would have the upper hand, especially since Kanzawa Nishi sent out ace Tsuji once again. And in fact, KG Higashi built a 5-0 lead and the title seemed all but secure.

But perhaps in a twist of irony, KG Higashi suffers their own 6-run disaster in the 7th inning. Trailing 6-5, KG Higashi couldn't find a reply. One more insurance run in the 8th sealed the deal. Kanazawa Nishi would win just their 2nd title (their first was in 2004).

Kanazawa would eventually get their ticket to the super-regional with a 5-1 win over Kanazawa Shougyou.

Fukui
For as long as the schools can remember, 3 teams dominate the small ~30 school prefecutre. Fukui Koudai Fukui (fka Fukui), Fukui Shougyou, and Tsuruga Kehi.

Not surprisingly, the trio along with Hokuriku were the 4 seeded teams. Also not surprisingly, all 4 made the semifinals.

Now unfortunately I don't have information on the games, but if the scores are an indication, perhaps the other schools are finally catching up. All 4 teams experienced at least 1 close game en route to the semis. Schools like Usui or Nyuu had been seeded teams in years past, so perhaps there's some parity coming along in the future.

But that's for the future. For now, it would seem that the usual trio would make yet another appearance in the super-regional. It would just be a matter of order.

For Tsuruga Kehi, their time to reign over the prefecture doesn't seem to be over yet. Though in their semifinal game, they fell behind Fukui Koudai, managed to rally with 2 in the lucky 7 to tie the game at 4, and eventually win it in 10 on a sayonara walkoff.

Their opponent however would not be Fukui Shougyou. No, Hokuriku schocked Fukushou by replying to a 1st inning 2-run deficit with 4 runs of their own. And when Fukushou pulled within 2, Hokuriku re-extended the lead to 5. Fukushou would mount one last comeback in the last 2 innings, but fall 1 run short at 10-9! That meant that one of the powerhouses wouldn't receive an invite to the super-regionals!

That odd team out would be Fukui Shougyou. Perhaps as a punishment for failing to keep the trio together, Fukui Koudai Fukui embarrassed them to the tune of 23-3!

As for the final, Hokuriku actually struck first, going out to a 2-0 lead after 5. But a 3 spot in the 6th for Tsuruga Kehi left Hokuriku playing catch-up to which they could never recover. Tsuruga Kehi wins 8-3 to claim their 3rd consecutive fall title and 24th overall.

Super-Regionals
Now that we had our representatives, the draw would come out and well, it looked odd.

Tsuruga Kehi (Fukui 1) oddly would get a first round match against Matsumoto Dai-ichi, but only because they were Nagano 3.
Fukui Koudai Fukui would actually get a easy draw despite being Fukui 3, with only Niigata Meikun (Niigata 3) perhaps a challenger.
Even stranger, Matsushou Gakuen, Nagano's 4-seed, was put in a draw with Kanazawa, who was Ishikawa's 3-seed!
And Tonami Kougyou, despite being Toyama's 3-seed seemed to get an easy draw, with perhaps the breakthrough team of the super-regionals Chikyuu Kankyou (Nagano 2) in the way.

Tsuruga Kehi would get past Matsumoto Dai-ichi 7-2, and thus breezed to the semifinals. Meanwhile, with Niigata Meikun's complete collapse in the late innings to Kanazawa Gakuin Higashi (9 runs in the last 3 innings!), Fukui Koudai's path to the semis was complete.

On the other half, Matsushou Gakuen had no trouble with Hokuetsu, and then proceeded to blank the rebuilding Kanazawa team 3-0 for their spot in the semis. And finally, Tonami Kougyou would actually be embarassed with a 15-5, 5-inning mercy rule game to Kanazawa Nishi. That opened the door for Chikyuu Kankyou who beat Hokuriku 8-1, then turned around and mercy-ruled Kanazawa Nishi in the minimum 5 innings.

Onto the semis then, and a rematch of the Fukui prefectural semifinals between Tsuruga Kehi and Fukui Koudai Fukui. This time around, this would not be a close match. Instead, ace Yamamoto for Tsuruga Kehi pitches a complete game shutout against their rivals, slotting them into a probable automatic bid.

The other semi had Chikyuu Kankyou facing another demon in Matsushou Gakuen. They didn't meet in the prefecturals, but it was like they were being tested once again to prove that they belonged. A loss now meant that they would fall short yet again, despite advancing to the super-regionals for the first time.

Instead, Shitsudo goes out and limits Matsushou's offense to just 7 hits in a 4-0 shutout!

So the finals would be Tsuruga Kehi and Chikyuu Kankyou. Pretty much a no-brainer here.

But once again, Chikyuu Kankyou rose to the occasion. Shitsudo takes the hill once again, and throws blanks onto the scoreboard! He continues to keep his team in it as the innings turn to the 8th, 9th, and onto the 10th! Would it be possible that a first time qualifier to the super-regionals actually wins the title?

Sadly no. Bottom 13, 2 outs for Tsuruga Kehi and runners at the corners. Chikyuu elects to walk reliever Yamamoto Shou to get to Yamamoto Ryuu. But in that AB, Shitsudo hits Ryuu, forcing in the sayonara run.

Shitsudo would set records for the longest scoreless innings streak in the super-regional (32), and longest scoreless innings streak in a championship game (12), but in the end his team would fall short as Tsuruga Kehi claims their 1st title in 24 years (5th overall). However, I think despite Chikyuu Kankyou's loss, they will receive their 1st ever bid to Koushien in their 1st ever opportunity.

Automatic Bid - Tsuruga Kehi (Fukui) - 4th appearance, 1st in 2 years
Projected Bid - Chikyuu Kankyou (Nagano) - 1st appearance

By the way, if you were to translate Chikyuu Kankyou's name (地球環境), you'd get "Global Environment". Yep, it's an environmental school. You gotta dig their uniforms, and they even have the word Earth on their hats! And now you know why I root for them.

Toukai Super-Regional (2 bids)

Now to one of the more all-around competitive regions. Of course, there's only 4 prefectures in this region (yes, I know Shikoku has 4 as well) but the teams are generally competitive.

No additional bids are awarded to host teams (prefectural winners got a 1st round bye).

Shizuoka
Shizuoka too has a form of pool play with repechages that get us to our 25 prefectural qualifiers.

Included in the teams that qualified were both Tokoha Tachibana and Tokoha Kikugawa (though we haven't really heard from them recently), Shizuoka (who's come on as of late), and yet another Toukai school - Toukaidai Shouyou.

The teams were almost separated into different parts of the bracket, but Tokoha Kikugawa and Shizuoka drew the same region.

Of the 4 teams, only 2 advanced to the semifinals. Tokoha Tachibana advanced with little problem, and Shizuoka blanked Tokoha Kikugawa 6-0 to reach the semis. Toukaidai Shouyou lost in their first game to Kakegawa Higashi who in turn lost to semifinalist Fuji Shiritsu while Shizuoka Shougyou advanced from the final quadrant.

Fuji Shiritsu continued to play the role of spoiler in the semifinals, using a 2-spot in the lucky 7 and a great performance by ace Tsukamoto on the mound to send Shizuoka to the 3rd place match. The other semi was not as close. Shizuoka Shougyou put up their own 2-run inning in the 1st and never looked back against Tokoha Tachibana, winning 4-1!

In the final, experience would win out as Shizuoka Shougyou would score in 3 of the first 4 innings as ace Nakamoto gives up just one run in a CG effort. The 3-1 victory would give Shizuoka Shougyou their 12th fall title and first in 2 years. Fuji Shiritsu should still be happy about their efforts as they earned their first trip to the super-regionals, and the Tokoha schools are shutout again as Shizuoka eliminates them in the 3rd place game 3-1.

Aichi
When you talk Aichi, there's really only 2 schools you talk about - and they're about 20 minutes trip from each other - Aikoudai Meiden and Chuukyoudai Chuukyou. Touhou and Shigakukan can be inluded in the conversation in recent years, but they still play second fiddle.

All 4 teams advanced out of round-robin play though, and drew 3 parts of the bracket (Meiden had the upper left, Shigakukan and Chuukyoudai the lower left, and Touhou had the entire right half to themselves).

Fast-forward to the quarterfinal matches, and Aikoudai Meiden pitches yet another shutout, but only in a 2-0 win over Sakuragaoka. Shigakukan continues to try and establish a foothold with an 11-3 win over Chuukyoudai Chuukyou, who perhaps doesn't look the same after the retirement of Oofuji-kantoku. And Touhou does indeed own their half of the bracket, defeating semifinalist Aichi Sangyoudai Kougyou 6-3.

Touhou would face Aikoudai Meiden as they force Shigakukan into a loser-out match with a 6-0 shutout. Meiden would then win their 2nd consecutive title, and 5th overall(!) with a handy 9-6 win. Shigakukan would join them with a 7-0 shutout in the 3rd place game.

Gifu
Gifu has their own triumvirate of Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou, Shiritsu Gifu Shougyou and Oogaki Nichidai. All 3 advanced out of round-robin play, however Ken Gifushou and Oogaki Nichidai wound up drawing the same quadrant. Shi Gifushou were on the other half.

Ken Gifushou and Oogaki Nichidai would meet in the quarterfinals with Nichidai being blanked 3-0. They then perhaps relaxed a bit against Oogaki Nishi because they needed a run in both the bottom of the 8th and 9th innings to reach the finals 2-1!

Shi Gifushou didn't have such trouble, with an average margin of victory of a little over 7 runs, advanced to the finals with a 12-0 win over Oogaki Shougyou.

So it was a battle of business schools in the finals. And in a pitcher's duel, the city school (Shiritsu Gifu Shougyou) outlasted the prefectural school 1-0 for just their 2nd ever fall title! (Their 1st was back in 1974)

And despite being blown out in the semis, Oogaki Shougyou is the 3rd team to advance with a 7-4 win in the 3rd place game.

Mie
Mie also has a soft spot for me, not sure why, perhaps it's because I visited Ise back in 2006 and loved it. And perhaps they're not any different than other rural prefectures, but there was a clip I watched with Mie's 3rd base coach emphatically waving around a runner that seemed to connect with me. So I root for Mie, both the team and the prefecture, though they've only won 1 Haru and Natsu title, and that was almost 50 years ago.

Nowadays, Mie has had to share the spotlight with teams like Komono, Inabe Sougou Gakuen (love their hats) and Uji-Yamada Shougyou.

Uji-Yamada and Komono wound up drawing the same quadrant setting up a quarterfinal match that would in all likelihood determine a qualifier, while Mie and ISG should guarantee themselves a bid should they both reach the semis.

And indeed, after Komono defeated Uji-Yamada Shougyou 8-4, they dispatched Kinkidai Tousen 7-0 in 7 innings. Flipping to the other half, Mie and ISG were in a dogfight of a semifinal with the teams exchanging blows. In the end though, Mie would be victorious 4-3.

Despite having not been to Natsu Koushien in several years, Mie continues to make the super-regionals, winning their 5th straight fall title (and 17th overall) with a 3-1 win over Komono. Joining the pair would be ISG with a 3-2 heart-stopper against Kinkidai Tousen.

Super-Regionals
So the nice thing about being in a 4-prefecture super-regional is that as a prefectural champion, you get a first-round bye, and you only need to win 3 games to get an automatic bid to Haru Koushien. So it behooves teams to get a first-round bye.

Mie got perhaps the easiest possible 2nd round opponent before possibly facing Shiritsu Gifu Shougyou (though Touhou or Inabe Sougou Gakuen might have something to say about it).

On the other side, the winner of the Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou-Shigakukan match might advance to the semis because that's where Shizuoka winner Shizuoka Shougyou resides. Finally, Aikoudai Meiden might have the hardest 2nd round matchup as they will either face Komono or Shizuoka.

The first upset occurred when Shigakukan usurped Ken Gifushou 3-1. After that, 3 of the 4 top seeds advanced to the semis with the only exception being the aforementioned Shizuoka Shougyou who put up a good fight, but fell 4-3 to Shigakukan.

In the semis, Shiritsu Gifu Shougyou couldn't hit Mie's ace Miura. He would scatter 5-hits in a complete game 5-0 shutout. Aikoudai Meiden found themselves in a rematch against Shigakukan, and the results were about the same. Meiden advances to the final with a 4-1 win over their in-prefecture rival.

And in the super-regional championship, Mie's Hamada would spot the Aichi champions 3 runs in the opening innings. Despite making a furious late-inning rally, Mie would come up just a run short losing 4-3 and giving Ichiro's alma mater just their 5th ever super-regional title (their first in 7 years)

Automatic Bid - Aikoudai Meiden (Aichi) - 9th appearance, 1st in 7 years
Projected Bid - Mie (Mie) - 11th appearance, 1st in 2 years

Fall tournament recap and possible invitees (Kanto & Tokyo)

2012-01-26T12:58:00.003+09:00

Moving on south, we hit the Kanto region where 4 bids are at stake, and Tokyo where they get a single bid.

First off, Tokyo.

Tokyo Super-Regional (1 bid + 1 floating bid w/Kanto)

Tokyo once again broke up into their 24 blocks, which probably reflects in some ways the 23 wards.

Except I looked up the schools in the first bracket of the first block... and that certainly wasn't the case.

Our qualifiers from block play were as follows:

Block 1

Sundai Gakuen - An above-average team in recent years, Sundai had no trouble in their 3 games.
Toua Gakuen - A solid team as of late, but stumbled a bit against Toritsu Kunitachi winning 6-4.

Block 2

Meisei - Much like Toua Gauen, they cruised early, but had to win a 9-7 shootout against Toritsu Matsubara to advance.
Rikkyo Ikebukuro - Easily cleared their two matchups to advance.

Block 3

Toritsu Higashi-Yamato - Survived their first game against Senshuudai Fuzoku 9-6, but then was clear sailing afterwards.
Toritsu Hachiouji Kita - No problems in their 2 games to advance.

Block 4

Ikubunkan - They perhaps had the upset of their school's history. Squaring off against Natsu Koushien champs Nichidai-san, their ace Tobayashi gave up 1 earned run and 5 hits, striking out 0(!) and walking 1 in a 4-2 upset of Sanko at their home field!! You can read a recap on their website here.
Kokugakuin Kugayama - It seems that Block 4 was supposed to be the powerhouse block, but it looks like Kokugakuin Kugayama will be the only one advancing. They won their 2 games by a total of 34-1.

Block 5

Adachi Gakuen - Offensive showing on their part against Toritsu Sakuragaoka and Toritsu Mastugaya to advance to super-regional play.
Toritsu Nerima - Nerima had a close call against Toritsu Machida Kougyou 3-2 before smoking Toritsu Musashi Murayama 12-4.

Block 6

Toritsu Adachi Nishi - Adachi Nishi was helped by a forfeit against Nihon Wellness, but then had to face Kokushikan. They were able to move on with a 2-1 win!
Komazawa Daigaku - Komazawa University's high school shutout their 2 opponents in advancing out of block play.

Block 7

Teikyou - Teikyou as expected had no trouble in their 2 games, winning by the mercy rule each time.
Kokugakuin - The parent school is able to join their sister school (Kugayama), though not without some difficulty. They just beat Toritsu Jyousui 2-1 in their first game, then edged out Waseda 4-3 to advance.

Block 8

Houyuu Gakuin - No issues with them, lowest margin of victory was 5 in their 3 games.
Nittai Ebara - The home field in this block certainly helped Nittai Ebara in their 2 victories.

Block 9

Iwakura - They needed their home field advantage as they barely beat Toritsu Shouyou 5-4, then Setagaya Gakuin 4-3 to advance to super-regional play.
Toritsu Kassai Kougyou - They needed a hard-fought win over Shiba (2-0) to advance out of their part of the block.

Block 10

Hachiouji - Combined score of 32-4 meant they breezed on through.
Yasuda Gakuen - This part of the block all games were mercy ruled with the lowest margin of victory being 9 runs. Chuodai Suginami was the last team to fall at 10-0.

Block 11

Horikoshi - A solid team as of late, they edged out Aoyama Gakuin 4-2 in the block final.
Toritsu Bunkyou - Bunkyou scored a minor upset when they defeated Toritsu Hino in the block final 4-3 to advance. Hino has been a perennial contender in the last couple of years, so this is a bit surprising.

Block 12

Meijidai Nakano-Hachiouji - Another solid school in Tokyo, Nakano-Hachiouji beat out Toritsu Higashi-Yamato Minami 3-1.
Toritsu Momijigawa - Momijigawa was not threatened in any of their 3 games, defeated Tokyo Noudai Dai-ichi 6-3 in the finals.

Block 13

Oberlin - It continues to amaze me that a school more known for arts than baseball has a strong team. After starting slow against Toritsu Nagayama, they cleared their last 2 games with ease.
Toritsu Kodaira - It was not so easy for Kodaira as they went to the limit against Ueno Gakuen in the block finals, eventually winning 7-6.

Block 14

Toukaidai Sugao - We finally see our first Toukaidai school here in block 14. A 4-2 win over Kinjyou Gakuen started their bid, then won their next 2 games 16-0 and 6-0.
Toritsu Fuchuu Higashi - Fuchuu Higashi struggled in a 6-4 win against Shouwa Dai-ichi Gakuen before shutting out Kyouei Gakuen 4-0 in the final.

Block 15

Nichidai Buzan - No problems in their 3 games flying through block play.
Toritsu Sougou Kouka - They had even less trouble at their home field winning all games via the mercy rule.

Block 16

Toritsu Adachi Niita - Hounan gave them a run in their first game falling 6-5, but it was much easier thereafter for Adachi Niita.
Kousei Gakuen - Not to be confused with Kousei Gakuin, Kousei Gakuen had made a name for themselves with ace Mizoguchi. He's since moved on, and now Isozaki takes over. He wasn't worked hard in block play as his team won via mercy rule in all games.

Block 17

Nisshou Gakushidai Fuzoku - In another powerhouse block, Nishhou Gakushadai won 12-1 and 9-0 to advance.
Kanto Dai-ichi - Joining them would be Kanto Dai-ichi who perhaps wasn't offensively dominant, but still limited opponents to 2 runs in 2 games.

Block 18

Toukaidai Takanawadai - Another Toukaidai school advances here in block 18 with a 17-0 combined score.
Nichidai Sakuragaoka - They defeated home team Toritsu Fuchuu Kougyou on their way to super-regional play.

Block 19

Toritsu Yukigaya - Yukigaya has been one of the stronger teams in Tokyo (though never able to get over the top), and had no trouble in block 19.
Shuutoku - Shuutoku falls in that category as well. But they almost lost to Toritsu Jyoutou 3-2.

Block 20

Seiritsu Gakuen - We see more solid teams advancing as both Seiritsu Gakuen...
Souka - and Souka advance out of Block 20. Souka did get a scare against Nichidai-ichi but won 1-0.

Block 21

Nichidai Tsurugaoka - How did Nichidai Tsurugaoka, Meijidai Meiji and Waseda Gakuin all end up in one part of one block?? Tsurugaoka survived defeated Meiji 2-1, and then Waseda 3-2 in the final to advance.
Toritsu Koyamadai - Koyamadai moves on with a good win over Toritsu Fujimori 5-1.

Block 22

Seisoku Gakuen - Seisoku almost didn't make it out of the first round, defeating Toritsu Arakawa Kougyou 4-3 before blitzing Seijyou 8-1.
Toritsu Katakura - No problems for the host team here. 2 and on for them.

Block 23

Waseda Jitsugyou - Back to form in block play anyways, Soujitsu advances with ease..
Toritsu Igusa - Igusa joins the ranks with victories similar to Soujitsu.

Block 24

Nichidai-ni - Well, Nichidai-ni once again advances into super-regional play, but still lives in the shadows of their brethren Sanko.
Taisei - Rounding out the field is Taisei who without a field of their own, beat Tokyo and Jyuunten to move on.

Super-Regionals
The draws for the super-regionals saw the following:

Toua Gakuen gets a quadrant mostly to themselves, but Waseda Jitsugyou and upset-minded Ikubunkan lurk in the bracket.
Kanto Dai-ichi occupy the other quadrant on the same side. Nichidai Buzan and possibly Oberlin await, but it feels like smooth sailing to the semifinals.
Teikyou seems to possibly have the hardest road with possible opponents along the way including Kousei Gakuen, Toukaidai Sugao, Nichidai Tsurugaoka, and Kokugakuin. To a lesser extent Toritsu Yukigaya and Nichidai-ni are present as well.
Finally, Shuutoku and Kokugakuin Kugayama round out the last quadrant, though Nichidai Sakuragaoka and Sundai Gakuen could provide some added competition.

In quadrant 1, Toua Gakuen got an immediate scare against Toritsu Adachi Nishi (who had actually defeated Souka 6-2). They fell behind 3-1 early, but was able to scratch runs in the later innings to come back and win 4-3. Afterwards, they flew through to the semifinals, including a 7-0 mercy win over aforementioned Ikubunkan.

Their opponent in the semis would indeed be Kanto Dai-ichi. But they too were almost sent home. Their quarterfinal matchup was indeed Nichidai Buzan, who then took a 3-0 lead, and then a 4-2 lead. However, their pitching staff couldn't hold the lead and gave up 5 runs in the last 3 innings.

Teikyou, for all the good teams in the bracket, actually had trouble against Houyuu Gakuin in the 2nd round - scratching together just 3 runs in an uncharacteristic 3-1 victory. Otherwise, they defeated Kokugakuin, Nisshou Gakushadai Fuzoku and Nichidai Tsurugaoka with little trouble.

Finally, the two incumbents in the final quadrant both fell in the round of 16. Toritsu Fuchuu Higashi outlasted Kokugakuin Kugayama scoring 4 runs in the last 2 innings to win 4-2, while Shuutoku was blitzed by Sundai Gakuen 9-0 in 7 innings. And in the matchup for a spot in the semis, Sundai was able to recover after relinquishing a 2-0 lead with a run in the bottom of the 8th. Ace Kitagawa was able to shut the door in the 9th for the win.

The semis though went scratch. Toua Gakuen still cannot break the ceiling into the realm of the contenders as Kanto Dai-ichi put them out of their misery winning 13-0 in 7. Meanwhile, Teikyou put Sundai Gakuen behind the 8-ball early with 4 runs on their way to a 6-1 win.

That put two familiar faces in the finals with Kanto Dai-ichi and Teikyou. Yet in the championship game, Teikyou experienced a power outage unseen for such a team. Ace Kitagawa held the offensive-minded team to just 1 hit in a CG shutout! That means that the Tokyo representative is:

Automatic Bid - Kanto Dai-ichi (2nd title, 1st in 3 years) - 4th appearance, 1st in 4 years

Kanto Super-Regional (4 bids + 1 floating bid with Tokyo)
Kanto's Super-Regional this year is being held in Yamanashi. As such, they will receive one extra bid to the Super-Regional this time around.

So, let's go backwards from Yamanashi and head northeast!

Yamanashi
My favorite team here is no secret, it's Nihon Koukuu (i.e. Japan Aviation Academy). I mean how often is it you have an aviation school actually decent in baseball? Ok, that's an obvious question, but you get my point.

Sadly, those days seem to be behind them. They fell 4-1 to Fuji Kawaguchiko in the quarterfinals.

The vacuum in the prefecture has been fought over in recent years. Yamanashi Gakuindai Fuzoku laid claim to it for a while, but also lost in the quarters to Kofu Kougyou. The same fate (and same score) befell Fuji Gakuen as well to Kofu Nishi.

The team to carry the flag (for now anyways), is Toukaidai Kofu. They blanked Kofu Nishi 7-0 to claim their 7th title and 1st in 6 years.

Joining Toukaidai Kofu and Kofu Nishi would be Kofu Kougyou. They edged out Fuji Kawaguchiko 4-3 in the 3rd place game.

Kanagawa
Kanagawa has small round-robin play that sends players to the prefecturals. 89 teams plus the Natsu Koushien representative Yokohama would advance.

A lot of the usual subjects advanced into prefectural play, so let's head straight there.

The draw saw Yokohama occupied the upper left hand corner of the bracket. The only notable name in their bracket is Toukou Gakuen. Their only other competition in the other quadrant to Yokohama could be Yokohama Shoudai and Touin Gakuen. That meant a lot of the well known names drew themselves on the other half. And in the upper right quadrant, there were quite a few of them. Toukaidai Sagami, Nichidai Fujisawa and Yokohama Hayato. Finally, Keiou occupies the lower right part of the bracket.

As expected, Toukou Gakuen gave Yokohama a good run for their money, but Yokohama prevailed 4-3. They then breezed through to the semis. Also as expected Yokohama Shoudai advanced without issue, as Touin Gakuen fell 9-0 to Tachibana Gakuen (立花学園).

Toukaidai Sagami only had to face Nichidai Fujisawa and defeated them 6-2. Shounan Gakuen was the last line of defense before the semis, but they were shutout 4-0. Their opponent though would not be Keiou, They were breezing through the quadrant until they faced Busou. Someone actually put the game up here. Busou managed to pull off the upset 4-2 and advance to the semis!

However, their run would end there. Toukaidai Sagami would jump out to an early lead and not relinquish it. Busou fought back to make the score respectable, but they lost 8-6.

Their fellow finalist would be no surprise as Yokohama won 5-1 over Yokohama Shoudai. In that final, Yokohama would once again build an early lead, and almost like their game against Chiben Gakuen, almost gave it up. Sagami scored 2 runs before reliever Souma would record the final out to preserve Yokohama's back-to-back fall titles (15th overall).

Chiba
Summer representative Narashino would get a free pass to the prefectural brackets. Everyone else would have to qualify in pool play (Chiba has 1 round of pool play, and then a repechage between all pool non-winners).

Notable teams to advance in the 1st stage were Chiba Meitoku, Kei-ai Gakuen, Shiritsu Funabashi, Senshuudai Matsudo, Chiba Eiwa, Narita, and Kisaradzu Sougou.

Teams that advanced out of the 2nd stage included Shigakukan, Chiba Keizaidai Fuzoku, Toukaidai Urayasu, Seibudai Chiba, Toukaidai Bouyou, and Chiba Kei-ai.

The draw for the prefecturals left some pretty barren areas. The only name in the upper left quadrant was Kisaradzu Sougou. Joining them in the lower left quadrant was Chiba Keizaidai Fuzoku, Kei-ai Gakuen, Toukaidai Urayasu, Chiba Eiwa and Seibudai Chiba.

On the other side, Narashino would have to take the long road to the title, one that would have to include a 2nd round match with Narita. But if they were able to survive that, the road would get much easier.

Furthermore, only Toukaidai Bouyou and Senshuudai Matsudo remained in the final quadrant.

Despite having the quadrant all to themselves, Kisaradzu Sougou was unable to advance to the quarterfinals after losing to Matsudo Kokusai 12-7. That opened the door in the quadrant and Kashiwa Nittai flew right through leveling the aforementioned Matsudo Kokusai 10-0 to advance to the semis. Their opponent would be Chiba Eiwa who just got by Chiba Keizaidai Fuzoku 3-2.

Unfortunately for Kashiwa Nittai, Chiba Eiwa's been looking for this moment to get to the finals for a while now and Nittai would never lead in the game, falling 6-1.

Meanwhile, Narashino indeed was in a dogfight with Narita but prevailed 5-4. However in the quarterfinals they struggled against Shiritsu Kashiwa. While apparently there is video of this game, I haven't watched it, but Narashino would wind up falling 4-3! Toukaidai Bouyou and Senshuudai Matsudo did meet in the quarterfinals and while Senshuudai appeared score-wise to be better, Toukaidai Bouyou won the game 4-2.

And in the semis, Toukaidai Bouyou continued their run with a slim 1-0 win over the upstart Kashiwa squad.

So the finals were between 2 teams that had been close before, but had been unable to break through in recent years. The game was scoreless for the first couple of innings, but Bouyou finally opened the scoring in the 5th and added an insurance run in the 6th. Satou was holding Chiba Eiwa scoreless, but when he gave up a 1-out double to Kimura, the ball would be handed to Noma who had helped in the 1-0 shutout.

That's when it went horribly wrong.

His first batter, Sekimoto, would single to left scoring Kimura to make it 2-1. Nemoto then singled back to Noma and Ogino would reach on an error to load the bases. Noma would only get out of the mess by getting the next 2 batters to ground out.

The 9th wouldn't give Noma any respite either. After retiring the first batter, he would give up a walk and 2 consecutive hits to load the bases. Sekimoto would once again be Noma's worst enemy, delivering yet another single scoring 2 and giving Chiba Eiwa the lead.

Noma would be eventually charged with 5 runs and Chiba Eiwa would win their 2nd fall title, and 1st in 18 years.

Saitama
Saitama still amazes me in that they seem to be a metropolitian prefecture, and yet they cannot for some reason produce a Koushien championship-type team. They give average teams, but not the calibur that we might think. Hanasaki Tokuharu, Urawa Gakuin, and Seibou Gakuen dominate the scene, only Seibou's championship run in the 2008 Haru Koushien stands out (which when I look back at it, they defeated Riseisha, Ryuukokudai Heian and Chiba Keizaidai Fuzoku before losing to Higashihama's Okinawa Shoukagu.

So it's no surprise that all three made it out of pool play (Natsu Koushien representative Hanasaki Tokuharu has to qualify like everyone else). Joining them would be Kasukabe Kyouei, home of Lucky Star and a good baseball team that just can't get past the Big 3.

It's also no surprise that all 4 made it to the quarterfinals (being seeded and all). Only Urawa Gakuin though had no trouble in their games leading up to the Final 4 - Seibou Gakuin beat Oomiya Higashi 1-0 in their first game, Kasukabe Kyouei defeated Shouhei 1-0 in the quarterfinals, and Hanasaki Tokuharu beat Oomiya Nishi 3-2 also in the 1st round.

In the semis, Seibou Gakuen rallied in the 7th and 8th innings to take a 1-run lead over Urawa Gakuin. It looked like perhaps Urawa Gakuin's hard game may prove fatal.

But in the bottom of the 9th Urawa would come from behind and rally for a 5-4 sayonara win.

In the other semi, Kasukabe Kyouei's struggles continue. They spot 6 runs right off the bat to Hanasaki Tokuharu, and while they rally to within 1 in the 5th inning, it's wiped away in one fell swoop when Tokuharu scores 5 in the 6th. They'll have to wait for the summer once again falling 12-10.

The finals started out to be a closely contested match as Urawa would go up 3-0 only to see Tokuharu tie it up shortly thereafter. However, the pitching would fail them late as Urawa Gakuin claims their 3rd consecutive fall title and 12th overall with an 11-3 win.

Gunma
As much as I lament about Saitama, I think the same thing about Gunma as well. Taking it further I can only remember Kiryuu Dai-ichi and this past summer's representative Takasaki Kenkoudai Fukushi. Only after going back I am reminded that Tokyo Noudai-ni was from Gunma too (when an agricultural school makes it I tend to root for them as again, when do you see a school for agriculture developing a good baseball team?).

But outside of those 3, I couldn't name any other team without looking (Maebashi Ikuei for instance).

So when Kiryuu Dai-ichi lost to Maebashi Ikuei 9-0, who in turn lost to Takasaki 4-3 in the quarterfinals, it seemeed all but secured for Takasaki Kenkoudai Fukushi.

And in fact, with a 7-2 win over the aforementioned Takasaki, Takasaki Kenkoudai Fukushi secured their first ever fall title!

Tochigi
It's funny to think that I remember more teams from Tochigi than Gunma and Saitama, and yet I don't recall outside of Sakushin Gakuin this past summer any team really making any significant run once they reach Koushien. In fact when I looked it up, it was Kokugakuin Tochigi that made the last type of run in 2000 making it to the semifinals losing to Chiben Wakayama.

As of late, the teams competing for the prefecture include the aforementioned Sakushin Gakuin, Bunsei Geidai Fuzoku and Hakuoudai Ashikaga.

Now both Sakushin and Hakuoudai both breezed through the early stages setting up a semifinal match between the two. Meanwhile Bunsei Geidai had 3 tough games against Yaita Chuo, Oyama Minami and Utsunomiya Kita - not especially strong teams. They'd draw Utsunomiya Kougyou, a team that's been to Koushien before - just not in a while.

In that semifinal, Utsunomiya Kougyou was able to stifle Bunsei's offense early, but as they headed into the late innings, Bunsei Geidai was finally able to pull away in the 6th for a 6-1 win guaranteeing a spot in the Super-Regionals.

Meanwhile, Sakushin was getting all they could handle from Hakuoudai Ashikaga. After trailing 3-0 in the first, they quickly rally to take a 5-3 lead... only to see that evaporate just as quickly. And when they tried to pull away with a run in the 4th and 5th, Hakuoudai pulled within one again in the 6th. Finally Sakushin would close the door with a pair of runs late to reach the finals.

Now, despite the struggles for Bunsei Geidai Fuzoku, they proved to be a formidable opponent in the final. The teams continued to throw donuts onto the scoreboard inning after inning. It soon looked like we'd be headed into extras.

But in the top of the 9th, Takayama for Sakushin finally had enough. He blasts a 2-run homerun giving them the lead and most probably the win. Ootani would throw one more shutout inning his team's 15th victory and 1st since 2002.

Ibaraki
Despite having just 98 teams, Ibaraki elects to put their teams through pool play.

And until recently, the prefecture was dominated by Jyousou Gakuin. Fun fact, going through the history of Ibaraki's representatives, they actually had won a spring and summer title early in the 'aughties. I randomly picked the 2003 title and wouldn't you know, they defeated Darvish and Tohoku for the title!

What's happened since then to the prefecture? Jyousou has relinquished their place at the top to teams such as Shimotsuma Dai-ni and Suijyou (who showed so much promise, but now appears to have been a one-hit wonder despite continuing to be at the top of the prefecture).

Now all 3 teams made it out of pool play and were seeded along with Mito Shougyou. Other notable teams to have advanced included Kasumigaura (home to the Hiiragi shrine from Lucky Star, though their baseball team has gotten better in recent years - how come Nishinomiya Kita hasn't??), Tsuchiura Nichidai and Mito Sakuranomaki (that's Ken's team due to their uniforms). The latter two drew each other in the first round.

Not surprisingly, all 4 seeded teams advanced to the semifinals. Kasumigaura gave Jyousou Gakuin a scare in the quarterfinals, but ultimately fell 3-2 in 10 innings.

The semifinals though, were not as contested as I expected. Suijyou, despite not giving up a run to this point was instead shutout 5-0 to Jyousou Gakuin. On the other side, Mito Shougyou was outclassed by Shimotsuma Dai-ni 4-2. Despite the score, they were never in it.

So 2 chalk teams advance to the Super-Regionals. Questioin was, who would claim the title. Though Shimotsuma would make the first strike, it was Jyousou Gakuin who had the final laugh, winning 3-1. Interestingly enough, despite dominating the Natsu qualifying, it has been 11 years since they have won the fall title (5th overall).

Super-Regionals
So we had our teams, now came the draw. And again, the randomness comes into play. Upper left quadrant has teams the likes of Takasaki Kenkoudai Fukushi (Gunma 1), Bunsei Geidai Fuzoku (Tochigi 2), Chiba Eiwa (Chiba 1) and Kofu Nishi (Yamanashi 2). Not exactly a list of champions.

Meanwhile in the lower left, Urawa Gakuin (Saitama 1), Toukaidai Sagami (Kanagawa 2), Jyousou Gakuin (Ibaraki 1) and Kofu Kougyou (Yamanashi 3) filled in the half. Much harder.

It got worse. Occupying the upper right was Sakushin Gakuin (Tochigi 1), Hanasaki Tokuharu (Saitama 2), Yokohama (Kanagawa 1) and Shimotsuma Dai-ni (Ibaraki 2).

Finally, rounding out the field was Toukaidai Bouyou (Chiba 2), Takasaki (Gunma 2), and Toukaidai Koufu (Yamanashi 1). Certainly a weak quadrant that was already short of teams.

Unsurprisingly, quadrant 1 saw three shutouts. The winner was the team who was a summer representative, Takasaki Kenkoudai Fukushi as ace Miki threw back-to-back complete games.

Ibaraki's futility continues as Jyousou Gakuin was not competitive against the weakest team in the bracket, Kofu Kougyou losing 5-3. Toukaidai Sagami's offensive appears to have left them as Urawa Gakuin beats them in the middle innings 3-1.

Sakushin Gakuin successfully proved that their run in the summer was not a fluke as they not only defeated Hanasaki Tokuharu handily, but also defeated Yokohama 6-2! 6-2! Yokohama's troubles at the end of games continues as they gave up a pair of runs in the 8th and 9th innings in the loss.

Finally, Takasaki manages to defeat both Toukai schools, both by a score of 4-2, and both in the latter half of the game! Though they're not of the caliber as Sagami, it's still a good feat.

Semifinal action saw Takasaki Kenkoudai Fukushi unable to keep up with Urawa Gakuin, despite scoring 2 quick runs in the 1st. Urawa would score 7 unanswered runs and cruise from there winning 11-7. Takasaki too was outmatched by Best 4 Sakushin Gakuin. They lost 6-3.

This almost all but guaranteed that Urawa Gakuin and Sakushin Gakuin would earn Haru Koushien invites. But to guarantee themselves one, they had to win one more game.

The winner would be Urawa Gakuin. Though Sakushin's 4 different pitchers limited damage to 3 innings, they were not able to record a run against Urawa's triumvirate of pitchers. Urawa Gakuin would win their 2nd consecutive title (3rd overall) and another bid to Koushien!

Automatic Bid - Urawa Gakuin (Saitama) - 8th appearance, 2nd consecutive
Projected Bid - Sakushin Gakuin (Tochigi) - 9th appearance, 1st in 8 years

Projected Bid - Takasaki Kenkoudai Fukushi (Gunma) - 9th appearance, 1st in 8 years
Projected Bid - Takasaki (Gunma) - 2nd appearance, 1st in 31 years

Fall tournament recap and possible invitees (Hokkaido & Tohoku)

2012-01-16T12:18:00.002+09:00

So now we move onto the next baseball year. 2nd years and 1st years will continue on as seniors cheer them on. Unlike previous years, I am scaling back on coverage such as brackets because it was very time consuming working on them alone and led to my recent burnout.

But without further ado... off we go!

Hokkaido Super-Regional (1 bid)

So Hokkaido was back to it's block play to determine the prefectural field. Of the 19 blocks, 4 made a return after a long hiatus, and 2 were complete newcomers. Your field was as follows:

Sapporo A - Sapporo Shinkawa (4th appearance, 1st in 5 years). Received scare from Sapporo Kaisei in the semis, but cleared otherwise.
Sapporo B - Sapporo Ryuukoku (1st appearance) - Always appeared to be a solid team, finally broke through this year defeating such teams as Hokkai Gakuen Sapporo and Toukai Dai-yon!
Sapporo C - Hokkai (37th appearance, 6th consecutive) - Outscored their opponents 16-2 in their 4 games which included 3 shutouts. Fairly low scoring for a team of that calibur.
Sapporo D - Sapporo Dai-ichi (19th appearance, 3rd consecutive) - Showed more offensive output winning their 4 games 35-5
Muroran A - Hokkaido Sakae (14th appearance, 2nd consecutive) - No issues for Hokkaido Sakae though started slow against Tomakomai Kougyou.
Muroran B - Shizunai (1st appearance) - Shizunai earned their 1st appearance as they defeated a well-known Mukawa 8-7! Then they held on against Urakawa 5-4 to make it to the show (prefectural anyways).
Hakodate A - Hakodate Kougyou (20th appearance, 1st in 4 years) - Hakodae Kougyou won their first 3 games 2-0, 2-0 and 1-0 before exploding for 8 runs to deny Hakodate LaSalle 8-3.
Hakodate B - Hakodatedai Yuuto (33rd appearance, 4th consecutive) - Hakodatedai Yuuto breezed through their block in a bid to make it back once again.
Otaru - Hokushou (33rd appearance, 11th consecutive) - Hokushou continues to dominate the town known for its canals and the anime Saishuu Heiki Kanojyou. 49-3 in their 3 games.
Sorachi - Takikawa Nishi(16th appearance, 3rd consecutive) - With Komadai Iwamisawa eliminated at the hands of Takikawa Kougyou, it was an all-Takikawa final. Nishi would beat the industrial school 3-1.
Asahikawa A - Asahikawa Kougyou (9th appearance, 3rd consecutive) - Asahikawa Kougyou almost didn't make it for the 3rd straight year. Asahikawa Nougyou gave them a run but fell short 6-5.
Asahikawa B - Furano (6th appearance, 1st in 45 years) - Furano returns after 45 years having to get there the hard way winning 4 games topping it off with a 3-0 shutout of Asahikawa Jitsugyou.
Nayoro - Teshio (3rd appearance, 1st in 23 years) - When Wakkanai Ootani fell to Shibetsu Shouun 3-2, it opened the door in the regional. Teshio had to beat out Nayoro Sangyou 2-0 before thanking Shibetsu Shouun by defeating them 10-2.
Kitami A - Memanbetsu (2nd appearance, 2nd consecutive) - Memanbetsu earns their 2nd consecutive appearance with ease.
Kitami B - Kitami Shougyou (2nd appearance, 1st in 28 years) - Kitami Shougyou almost stumbles right out the blocks just sliding by Abashiri Minamigaoka 4-3.
Tokachi A - Shirakaba Gakuen (10th appearance, 7th consecutive) - Shirakaba Gakuen was tested immediately against Obihiro Ryokuryou but prevailed 3-2. After that it was a breeze winning their next 2 games by the 10-0 mercy rule.
Tokachi B - Obihiro Hakuyou (10th appearance, 1st in 46 years) - Obihiro Hakuyou similarly had a close game against Obihiro Nougyou, but had no issues otherwise.
Kushine A - Nayoro Kougyou (12th appearance, 2nd consecutive) - Nayoro Kougyou was challenged by Nakashibetsu in the finals, but returns to the prefectural finals 5-3.
Kushine B - Bushuukan (5th appearance, 1st in 2 years) - Bushuukan needed 3-1 victories over Kushine Koryou and Kushine Shougyou.

And with that the field was set.

When the draw came out, Hokkai had a quadrant mostly to themselves. Joining them in the same half was Hokushou, Shirakaba Gakuen and Asahikawa Kougyou. On the other side, Hakodatedai Yuuto had a quadrant to themselves with Sapporo Dai-ichi and Bushuukan on the other quadrant.

As the games played out, Hokkai advanced, but still seemed a bit lackluster on offense. Asahikawa Kougyou soundly defeated Shirakaba Gakuen, but fell to Hokushou... who then mercy ruled Hokkai 9-1!

Their opponent in the finals became clearer as Hakodatedai Yuuto lost 1-0 to the hungry Furano squad. They almost made the semifinals, but fell to Sappporo Shinkawa. It would be an all-Sapporo semifinal as Sapporo Dai-ichi had no problems with Bushuukan. And while Sapporo Shinkawa has done better as of late - the powerhouse Dai-ichi moved to the finals.

In that final, it was as expected hotly contested. Sapporo Dai-ichi took a 2-1 lead early only to see it slip away in the later innings. But in the bottom of the 9th, with 2 out and a runner on 3rd, Sapporo Dai-ichi managed to tie the game, sending it into extras and the chance to earn their 1st title.

But it was not to be. In the first extra frame Hokushou's #9 batter Takayama delivered a 2-out single to center to break the tie. Ace Oogushi Kazuya closed out the frame and earned Hokushou their 4th title, 1st in 2 years. More importantly, they will receive an invitation to Haru Koushien.

Automatic Bid - Hokushou - 4th appearance, 1st in 2 years

Tohoku Super-Regional (2 bids)

Tohoku at least baseball-wise is getting back to some normalcy. Now it will never be the same for schools that were say in places such as Minami-Sanriku or Iwaki, but it probably helps them cope with the events of the past year.

Each prefecture would receive 3 bids for the super-regionals. They were awarded as follows:

Aomori
Because of their summer qualification, Kousei Gakuin got an automatic pass to the prefectural finals. Everyone else had to go through block play.

Of the ones that qualified, the most notables were Aomori Yamada, Touou Gijyuku, Hachinohekoudai-ichi, and Oominato.

Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately depending on who you were), the major players were split up into the different quadrants. Oominato and Touou Gijyuku were on one side while the more prominent teams in Kousei Gakuin and Aomori Yamada on the other. Hachinohekou Dai-ichi drew the short straw and was stuck with Kousei Gakuin.

The tournament though wasn't close. At least for the title anyways. Kousei Gakuin's lowest margin of victory was 6 (7-1 against both Hachinohekoudai-ichi and Aomori Yamada), and they demolished Oominato 21-3 in the final earning their 4th consecutive fall title and 13th overall. Joining the pair would be Aomori Yamada, who defeated Touou Gijyuku 5-2.

Akita
Similar to Kousei Gakuin, Noshiro Shougyou also got a free pass to the fall prefectural. Always nice to get a free pass when you can in single elim tournaments. On the other side, Akita Chuo and Oodate Houmei were in one quadrant while Akita Kougou held the other quadrant down.

The draw was not as kind though as both Akita Shougyou and Meiou both were drawn into the same quadrant. Thankfully for them they'd have to face only one of the 2 teams. Honjyou did not make out of pool play, losing immediately to Akita Shougyou and Akita.

It seemed apparent that it was a matter of who could stop Noshiro Shougyou. Akita Shougyou almost pulled off the feat, but fell 5-4. Otherwise, it was a breeze for the Natsu Koushien representative shutting out Akita Kougyou in the finals 9-0. Akita Chuo would shutout Oomagari 3-0 for the final spot.

Iwate
Hanamaki Higashi had no such help - they'd have to qualify like everyone else. Not that it was hard, mind you. Other notable teams joining them were Moriokadai Fuzoku, Ichinoseki Gakuin, and Kuji.

The tournament itself was barely a challenge. Hanamaki Higashi did get a small challenge against Moriokadai Fuzoku, but won 5-2. Ichinoseki Gakuin, despite their continued futility in the super-regionals made it to the finals despite a challenge from Fukuoka Kougyou.

The final was all Hanamaki Higashi, shutting out Ichinoseki Gakuin 6-0. Meanwhile in the battle of Morioka schools Morioka Dai-san, who had defeated Kuji, defeated Morioka Dai-yon 7-1 for the final bid.

Yamagata
Yamagata saw a lot of the prefecture's main players make it out of pool play. Nichidai Yamagata, Sakata Minami both advanced along with secondary players Haguro, Yamagata Chuo and Tsuruoka Higashi.

The team though that surprised the field was Toukaidai Yamagata. They not only shutout Yamagata Chuo, but then broke a 4-4 deadlock in the 9th with 7 runs against Nichidai Yamagata guaranteeing themselves a spot in the super-regionals.

Now, to win the title, they would have to face Sakata Minami, who uncharacteristically had close games against Yamamoto Gakuen and Yonezawa Chuo.

Toukaidai more than held their own against Sakata Minami, but couldn't form a reply to a 2-spot in the 6th - right after they had tied the game at 1. Sakata Minami would earn their 7th title and 2nd consecutive fall title.

Joining the pair would be Nichidai Yamagata, who denied Yonezawa Chuo 8-3.

By the way, I would almost like to see Toukaidai Yamagata make it because of their pitcher's last names:

飯屋崎 - Iyazaki
勅使河原 - Deshigawara

Miyagi
Looking at who qualified out of block play, we found new powerhouse Rifu as well as Sendai Ikuei. Cinderella story Furukawa Kougyou's road ended in double defeat to Furukawa Gakuen and Iwagasaki.

Missing from the picture was Tohoku. They were sent immediately into the repechage with a 5-0 loss to Sendai Shougyou. And after working their way up through, they were finally sent home by Seiwa Gakuen 5-4.

In the prefecturals, once Sendai Ikuei was laid to the roadside by Ishinomaki Shougyou 3-2, the title was Rifu's to lose.

They almost did.

In the semifinals, down to their last 3 against Furukawa Gakuen, Rifu's Sasaki hits a sayonara 3-run homerun to guarantee them a spot in the super-regionals. Only Ishinomaki Kougyou stood in their way to the title. In an 11-6 shootout, they claimed their 2nd title in 3 years.

Furukawa Gakuen then outlasted the aforementioned Ishinomaki Shougyou 13-7 for the 3rd spot.

Fukushima
As muddled as Fukushima's baseball picture is, there is apparently one shining light when it comes to the fall tournament.

That team would be Seikou Gakuin. Advancing straight to the prefectural finals, they had just one hiccup when Kounan limited them to 2 runs. Too bad they only managed 1. And while Shouin Gakuin Fukushima also limited the Seikou offense, they were still shutout 3-0. It would be Kousei's 6th consecutive fall title.

Fukushima Shougyou, who was mercy ruled by Seikou, edged out fellow mercy ruled opponent Tajima 4-3 to fill out the field.

Super-Regionals
The super-regional draw split up the 4 main contenders into each quadrant. Kousei Gakuin (Aomori) and Hanamaki Higashi (Iwate) on one side, Seikou Gakuin (Fukushima) and Aomori Yamada (Aomori) on the other.

All 4 teams managed to advance to the semifinals with ease except for Hanamaki Higashi. In usual fashion, they came from behind to defeat Nichidai Yamagata (3 runs in the bottom of the 9th), and Shouin Gakuin Fukushima (a run in the 8th and 9th innings) to advance.

In the semifinals, Hanamaki Higashi found the tables turned on them as they went up on Kousei early only to watch them rally for 2 in the 8th and 1 more in the 9th to pull off the 9-8 win. Kousei's Tanaka Tatsuhiro went 3-4 with 2 HR's in the effort.

Joining them would be Seikou Gakuin who led wire-to-wire against Aomori Yamada 6-2. None of Aomori's 5 pitchers could stop Seikou from a rematch.

Seikou looked to claim the title early after Saitou hit a solo HR in the 1st. But there after, Kousei's ace Kanazawa would limit them to just one more hit in the game. That allowed many opportunities to equalize the score - which Kimura did in the 4th with a 2-out 2-run double. Another insurance run the next inning mean that Kousei Gakuin would claim the Tohoku title (3rd overall, 1st in 3 years)!

Automatic Bid - Kousei Gakuin (Aomori) - 5th appearance, 2nd consecutive
Projected Bid - Seikou Gakuin (Fukushima) - 3rd appearance, 1st in 4 years

And to a rather anti-climactic finish...

2012-01-10T17:15:00.000+09:00

Day 14 was the semifinal games. But in reality it really felt that the winner of the Nichidai-san v. Kanzei game would have the definitive inside track to the title.

No offense to our first semifinal participants Sakushin Gakuin or Kousei Gakuin, but barring a Nihon Bunri type run (with a happier ending), neither team really had shown that they would be able to withstand a finals matchup.

Nevertheless, the winner of the game would be able to at least claim that they reach the Natsu Koushien final.

And the game was a relative runaway. Kousei Gakuin would score 2 in the bottom of the 1st. In the top of the 3rd, we had a 95+ minute rain delay where I sat for a while then had to evacuate to the concourse because well... it was pouring like no other.

Despite the break, Sakushin couldn't get any traction as they just managed 6 hits against ace Akita and fell 5-0, giving Kousei Gakuin Aomori's 2nd finals representative since Misawa in 1969.

So were were onto the main event. Kanzei's Mizuhara versus Sanko's Yoshinaga...

Eh? Mizuhara's not starting? It's Katada?? I hope they know what they're doing...

What? Yoshinaga's not starting either? It's Saitou?? What's going on here? Is this a case of who blinks first?

Well, whatever it was, it seemed Kanzei's gamble wasn't paying off. Right off the bat in the bottom of the 1st Katada hits Shimizu and walks Kaneko, which can't be a good thing as Azegami singles up the middle to give Sanko the quick lead.

Kanzei though struck back in the 2nd. Two solid hits by Watanabe and Katada lead off the inning, and Seki's fielder's choice tied the game at 1.

Now, Katada was more than holding his own against Sanko. So much so that it seemed like if Kanzei could take advantage, they may have a chance at the upset after all!

But despite my analysis showing that perhaps batters should be more patient against Yoshinaga, Kanzei wound up swinging away time and time again - with little results.

Yoshinaga would finally enter the game in the 5th after #9 batter Fukui got a bunt single and Ogura worked a walk. He got Sanko out of the mess and continued to shut down the Kanzei offense.

And so the game continued tied at 1 apiece......

Until the 7th...

That was when Katada issued a leadoff walk to Suzuki. Then he should have been picked off, but Katada's throw was short and they were unable to get him.

So he was bunted to 2nd, and then Katada hit Shimizu for the 2nd time - loading the bases. This was the first serious pinch he was in since the 1st.

Kaneko would make sure Katada paid for it, driving a single through the right side plating Suzuki and giving Sanko the 2-1 lead. Eura-kantoku, hoping to stem the losses sent in Arihara.

But throwing your ace into a bases loaded pinch already down 2-1...

It almost worked.

A grounder to 2nd may have been an inning ending double play, but Fukui instead goes home...

...and his throw short hops home and gets away from Seki allowing one more run to score making it 4-1.

That play seemed to open the flood gates as the next 4 people would reach safely - with Suganuma's 3-run HR in between.

By the time the carnage was over, Arihara was relieved from the mound and Sanko led 9-1.

And while Kanzei would finally get to Yoshinaga with 3 runs, it was far from enough. Sanko would win 14-4.

So that would setup the finals the next day between Kousei Gakuin and Nichidai-san.

But really going into the game it felt like not a matter of if, but when Nichidai-san would just take control of the game.

While Kousei's Akita would manage to stave them off, the answer was the 3rd inning.

2 down, and in an attempt to pitch inside, he hits Azegami. Then with the outfield playing WAAAAAYYY back, Yokoo bloops one to right. And the coup de grâce was Takayama blasting a 3-run HR to center.

Kousei did show some life in the 5th when a single and walk put runners at 1st and 2nd with just one down. Though Matsumoto would fly out to left, Akita delivered a single to right. Trying to plate the run they send Kanayama home, only to get gunned down by Takayama.

Sanko would then decide to add an insurance run to punish Kousei for trying to score... then added 5 more in the 7th for good measure.

An 11-0 victory would give Sanko their 2nd Natsu Koushien title. It gave Deanna's team the victory, and my teams left on the side of the road for dead.

*sighs* There's always next year?

Round the final turn to the home stretch...

2012-01-09T18:04:00.000+09:00

(I've taken a badly needed break from burnout, and with Haru Koushien around the corner, I'd better get this done so I can recap the fall tournament)

So, by the time we reached Day 10, I was exhausted from lack of sleep, the opening day sunburns were finally wearing off, and I cared less about the stats and more about the teams. We were after all in the block finals.

Arriving late, I had to settle for the 1st Base Alps section. Which wasn't bad necessarily if not for the fact I was in direct sun. Ugh.

But I was in the Shin-Minato section as they faced off against Toyoudai Himeji. I was shocked before when their oen-dan stretched all the way from the oen-dan section almost all the way to home plate. It was as if the whole town had come down there. And with 37,000-ish in the town (as their Wiki entry of 2003 says), it's quite possible that half made the trip!

That morning was no different. Looking down the 1st base side, the light blue extended down just as far. After winning their first ever game, and now playing a well-known squad for a spot in the best 8, it had better been.

But ace Futadani perhaps let the moment get to him early. A wild pitch scores the first run, and a good squeeze bunt gave Himeji a 2-0 lead.

Shin-Minato then tried to get to work. A leadoff triple cut the deficit in half, and it seemed that they might yet have another late-inning burst ahead of them. But a one-out walk by Sawada was cut down trying to steal 2nd. Which was a shame as Hayashi would double to right-center. This after Futadani had held Himeji scoreless.

The loss of that moment seemed to be a turning point, as Futadani fell apart in the top of the 8th to the tune of 9 runs. They had no other pitcher, so he had to stand out there and take it all.

The next game was between Kousei Gakuin and Tokushima Shougyou. The game started off as a complete disaster. Pitchers weren't really effective, there were fielding blunders on both sides which included a ball flicked in the outfield away from other fielders, and a whiff on a ball that causes an inside-the-park HR. At the end of the 3rd inning, the score was 6-5 Kousei. There on, the game settled down, and in fact no more runs were scored.

After that game, it was off to the 3rd base oen-dan because Kanzei was up next against Meihou. I really couldn't believe that Kanzei was on the verge of a Best 8 appearance given that I had left them for dead when their opening round draw was Kyukoku.

Kanzei dominated the opening stages of the game, building a 6-0 lead. But there were cracks - cracks that I hoped wouldn't be a repeat of the collapses during the Dass era (sorry Dass, guess we have to call it something).

First, 2 walks and a single to the bottom 3rd of the order in the 5th loads the bases with nobody out. But a K looking and a 1-2-3 double play negates the threat. Then an error in the 7th leads to a bases-loaded 2-out situation, but another K looking ends that too. 2 singles in the 8th got Mizuhara into trouble again, but he spins out of that one.

And if that wasn't enough to get me riled up, 2 singles to start the 9th, and then a base hit after the CF loses the ball on the catch after colliding with the wall loads the bases yet again with no one out. It's as if the baseball gods were trying to tell me Kanzei was destined to be the ultimate bad-luck team.

Thankfully, Mizuhara didn't read up on recent history and he retired the next 3 batters to end the game 7-1.

And ending the first set of block final games was Chiben Gakuen against Yokohama. Fortunately for me Yokohama was in the same section as I refuse to root for Chiben Gakuen as I am a Tenri fan (despite the headaches the seem to give me year after year). Also fortunate was that I had got a digital SLR with an extra lens so I could zoom in to spot Otosaka Tomo's dad (which I did). I got a quick chance to talk to him right before the game started, and while we didn't talk for long, I was really happy to have met him.

Early on, it was the Tomo show. He led off the 1st, 3rd and 5th innings, got on base each time and scored each time.

By the 9th inning, it was a 4-1 game and Yokohama was on their way to the Best 8...

And then it all blew up in their faces.

Ace Yanagi started giving up hard hits all over. Urano and Aoyama hit hard singles through the infield. Nakamichi and Onoyama drove balls to deep center which were caught. By this time, I know there was someone in the bullpen warming up. Yet Watanabe-kantoku stuck with his ace.

Another hard single up the middle and a hit-by-pitch meant the score was 4-2 with the bases loaded and 2 down.

I think had it not been 2 outs, Watanabe-kantoku would have send in someone from the bullpen. Yet perhaps without thinking about how those outs were recorded, he kept him in.

That's when PH Yoshimura singled to right tying the game. A final 4-pitch walk to Sumitani to load the bases yet again finally pulled the plug on Yanagi's night.

But what was even more bizarre was what happened next. #10 Souma comes in, throws a wild pitch, then gives up a 2-run double and is immediately pulled. #17 Mukai follows, walks a batter, gives up a triple and a single before being yanked. Finally #11 Yamauchi retires Onoyama to end the inning.

Final damage? 13 batters, 8 runs on 7 hits, and one stunned oen-dan (which included myself).

Day 11
Day 11 got me to the stadium early so I could get a good seat in the Narashino oen-dan. They'd need all the help they could get against Kanzawa's flame-throwing ace Kamata.

And yet when the lineup was announced, it was #8 Arihara who was taking the mound! I had to flip through my books to figure out what was going on. He hadn't pitched before in the tournament, and I began to wonder if there was something wrong with their ace.

Yet, Kobayashi-kantoku must've known what he was doing because Arihara did one hell of a job against Kanazawa. Fukuyama opened the scoring in the game as his timely hit gave Narashino a 1-0 lead. Arihara couldn't keep the shutout though, and a single to left by top batter Sakurakichi tied the game.

It was really unnerving sitting in the oen-dan as I was cheering about as hard as everyone else and the game was too close for my comfort.

Yet Arihara would make me worry me a bit less as with 2 down he leads a 3-batter rally that culminated with Katagiri's single to left, re-taking the lead.

The game wasn't over, and in the 9th Arihara would walk leadoff batter Ishida, and after a sac bunt Uono singles to right putting the tying run 90 feet away.

That's when Kobayashi-kantoku decided that it was a day for Arihara and sent in #10 Kimura Itsuhiko.

And Kanazawa tried a squeeze bunt! But it was fielded and PR Iwasaki at 3rd was caught! The tag was made and now there were 2 outs with the tying run at 2nd now!

Tanbo grounded to 2nd and that was the game! Narashino was in the Best 8!

With both of my teams into the best 8 now, I retreated to the 1st base side and the shade for the next 3 games - starting with Sakushin Gakuin vs. Hachimian Shougyou.

I don't remember much about the game other than Hachiman being outplayed by Sakushin and falling 6-2.

The afternoon session began with Noshiro Shougyou and Jyosuikan. And to be honest, I'd figure it'd be another yawner as I'd just as well assumed that Jyosuikan would send the Akita team home.

Boy was I wrong. Not only did Noshiro Shougyou open the scoring in the game, but ace Hosaka held the Hiroshima representatives at bay.

Fast forward to the bottom of the 9th and Jyosuikan threatened to end it in regulation. Yasuhara opened the frame with a single and advanced to 2nd. When P Hamada doubled to the wall, the 3B coach sent him home. But a perfect relay from Yoshino to Hatakeyama to Hirakawa cut him down at home, eventually sending the game into extras.

And in the 10th, it happened again. This time, a leadoff double by Kanao looks to be stranded there after 2 outs are recorded. But Kimura singles to right and they send him home once again. This time, RF Yamada makes a strong throw and guns him down continuing the deadlock.

Surely, cutting down 2 runners at home should give momentum to Noshiro Shougyou, and indeed finally in the 12th, an untimely error by SS Monden gives them a 2-1 lead!

But as my video states here, I figured something might be up. And sure enough it was.

Monden, who made the error the last half inning to give up the lead, works a walk. Then with one down, Kanao singles to left. Monden presses the initiative by stealing 3rd (though it was really close) and when a grounder to the right side is charged at by 1B Okada past 1st base, Monden holds up. But there's no one covering 1st and Okada instead of running towards the batter-runner Shimazaki, he doubles back to 1st! Monden seizes the opportunity and dashes home! Okada fires the throw home, and it beats him, but Hirakawa can't hold on to it, and the game is tied!

There's still 2 outs though and all Hosaka needed was one more to keep the game going.

Uda hits a grounder to Hosaka, but he can't field it cleanly and it deflects to short!

The dagger was finally put in when a grounder by Kimura dribbles past a diving Ogawa into left.

So 7 of our 8 teams were set. And they then had the draw for the Best 8 (remember that they do draws for the Best 8 and Best 4 matchups). And when they came out, I was non-plussed.

First, Kanzei had to draw against Jyosuikan in an all-Chuugoku matchup. But worst of all was that Narashino would face the winner of the final game... Chiben Wakayama vs. Nichidai-san.

REALLY? REALLY???????? Do the baseball gods hate me that much?

I continued to think about that as I watched Chiben Wakayama fall behind 5-0 in the first 2 innings.

But if there was one thing I could depend upon, it was Nichidai-san's ace Yoshinaga being wild. Sure enough, 2 walks in the 5th made it a 5-2 game. Then a 2-out walk in the 7th, and a fielding misplay at the LF wall made it a 5-4 game. That'd be as close as they would get as Suganuma shut the door with a solo HR in the bottom of the 8th.

Great. Just great. My Narashino was going to face Nichidai-san.

And then I remembered that they had a hotel list for all the teams outside the stadium.

I jotted down the hotel and was going to dash back when I ran into several people from the Narashino oen-dan. I figured perhaps I could convey the message to them instead.

Turned out they were just HS baseball fans who were cheering for Narashino. I managed to talk to them for a bit, ate dinner, but then rushed back to Osaka to find the hotel. I seriously considered going there and somehow giving a message telling them to be patient against Yoshinaga...

But I chickened out. I figured I'd be a crazy gaijin. And while a crazy American gaijin wouldn't be out of the ordinary, a crazy, koukouyakyuu-baka gaijin would be unbelievable.

So yeah. I never went there. I wish I did.

Day 12

With 2 games per day, it would be over quickly, but I would still have to be at the stadium early for the 8 AM start... Ugh.

Game 1 of the quarterfinals was Kousei Gakuin versus Touyoudai Himeji. Sure, Himeji beat Shin-Minato earlier, but man there just wasn't anything compelling about them. Fortunately, they had an easier matchup in the boys from Aomori.

The game opened with leadoff batter Sawa for Kousei tripling off of the top of the padding in center... then getting stranded. It then went at light speed as Himeji would swing away early in the count, and while Kousei was a little more patient, it was just.

The teams would trade runs in the middle of the game, but Himeji almost got the lead back in the 5th. A single followed by not 1 but 2 runs by ace Akita put the go-ahead run 90 feet away. But cleanup batter Masuda grounds into the 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.

Then in the 7th, a wild pitch by Hara helps score the go-ahead run for Kousei. Himeji wouldn't get another chance thereafter.

Next was was my boys from Okayama, Kanzei. They'd face off against their neighbors to the west, Jyosuikan.

When the lineups were announced, it seemed Jyosuikan's manager was looking to all areas for help. 3B Shimazaki was starting on the mound.

Early on, it seemed to work. But come the 2nd inning, a walk and a hit batter both come around to score - and the experiment was over. But it wasn't ace Hamada, but rather #11 Sakamoto who took the hill. He held down the fort as his team went on the comeback trail.

That started in the 4th as a 2-out error by SS Sejima would score 1, then one inning later Kanao would hit a timely single to left to tie the game up. And in fact, it would be the end for Mizuhara as he would shift to SS and 3B Katada would take the hill.

By this time, ace Hamada had taken the mound for Jyosuikan and it was now a 5-inning game.

And that's when the wheels fell off.

Shimazaki first commits an error on Fukui's leadoff grounder, then gets charged another error when Fukui on 3rd decoys him making his throw to 1st late and wide. It all goes terribly downhill from there as Kanzei scores 4 in the frame to take a 6-2 lead. Reliever Katada would make that lead stick, as Kanzei cruised to a 8-3 win and a spot in the Best 4! Hooray!

Day 13
This was the day I was dreading in some ways. This was the day Narashino would go into battle against vaunted Sanko. But before that was the other battle of well-known but not necessarily powerhouse teams: Sakushin Gakuin versus Chiben Gakuen. We already know where my loyalties lie here.

But Chiben continued their momentum from the Yokohama game, breaking out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the 1st. Starting pitcher #10 Ono though makes a pickoff error, helping Sakushin pull within 1 just a half-inning later. An inning after that, they almost bat around, scoring 3 and forcing ace Aoyama to the mound.

Before I continue, let me state that it is a balancing at that managers have to do when they have one main ace. You have to play 5-6 games to win Koushien, and sometimes you're unsure if your ace can make it all the way through. So do you pitch him until his arm falls off, or do you try to rest him hoping your relief corps is good enough to get you through?

Because as Aoyama entered the game... he shut down the Sakushin offense.

Meanwhile, Chiben worked on their 2-run deficit, getting one back immediately in the 3rd without the benefit of a hit (Aoyama walk, Nakamichi HBP, WP by Ootani, sac fly by Onoyama).

Then an error by Itazaki which would have ended the inning in the 5th, instead leads to a run as the following batter Yokohama singles to left.

Ootani would then be relieved by Oogaki in the 6th. That lasted all of 2 batters. A double and a sac bunt were the results. 1B Iino would then be sent to the mound. But a wild pitch to Urano would complete the comeback for Chiben Gakuen as they would take the 6-5 lead. And there was no relief in sight for the offense it seemed against Aoyama.

But remember that discussion I had regarding ace pitchers that many managers face? Yeah, that was answered in the top of the 9th as Aoyama just ran out of gas.

Two singles through the right side and another to center immediately tied the game up. 2 batters later, Naitou hit a sac fly to give Sakushin the 7-6 lead.

This time around there would be no comeback for the boys from Nara.

Before the fated matchup between my team and Deanna's team, there was the matter of the Best 4 draws...

AW C'MON!!!!! NOT AGAIN!!!!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME????????

As if the insult of the first draw wasn't enough, the Best 4 draw had Sakushin Gakuin versus Kousei Gakuin...

Which meant that Kanzei would have to face the winner of the Narashino-Sanko game!!!!!! ARE YOU SERIOUS?????!!!!! WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS??????

While this did mean that if Narashino could win their game, I'd have a team guaranteed in the finals, it also meant that there was no possibility that I would have a team guaranteed to win the tournament.

I couldn't worry about that because it was game time...

Narashino sent out ace Arihara to face the Sanko squad. And Narashino had a great opportunity to score first. Bottom 1, a walk by Miyauchi, a subsequent steal and sac bunt put a runner at 3rd with just one down.

But they try to immediately bank the run on a squeeze. Fujii fails on the attempt and Miyauchi is run down...

And wouldn't you know it, the bottom of the order for Sanko gets to Arihara in the 2nd as Yoshinaga and Shimizu bring in 3 runs.

Now Narashino was behind the 8-ball. Could they be patient during the times Yoshinaga went wild?

Fast forward to the bottom of the 3rd. Koyama singles to lead off the inning and Miyauchi works a walk. Nakamura bunts the runners along and there's a good scoring chance.

But it's frittered away as Fujii swings on the 1-1 pitch and pops out to 2nd. Matsuyama then strikes out looking to end the inning.

An inning later, a leadoff double by Katagiri and a sac bunt once again provide an opportunity. But neither Minagawa nor Arihara can drive him home.

Yet again, in the 5th Miyauchi works a one-out walk and steals his 2nd base of the game. But Nakagawa is impatient, flying the 1-0 pitch to left. Fujii goes to 3-1 then hits a swinging bunt down the 3rd base line and then he steals 2nd. Once again though, new cleanup batter Saitou (#16) can't lay off the pitches, falls behind and grounds out to 2nd.

Katagiri would get things started in the 6th with a single. He'd get himself to 2nd on a SB, but alas would be stranded.

By this time I'm yelling from the oen-dan (in English) that for heaven's sake be patient. But by this time it was too late. We had reached the latter third of the game, and Narashino had gotten desperate. And that's where Yoshinaga would love to have them. He retired the last 9 batters for Narashino shutting them out 5-0.

And that meant (to me anyways) that the winner of the Kanzei v. Nichidai-san game would be the 93rd Natsu Koushien champion....

Day 9 Recap

2011-10-24T16:09:00.001+09:00

Well, I'm finally getting around to posting the rest of the tournament. It's been 2 months since, but I do remember some things. If you're wondering about the fall tournament, I'll give an overview eventually as well, but I think I would do a better service to focus more on players to watch than tournament brackets. As much as I would like to provide complete coverage - it takes up too much of my time and in reality it's more about the star players or the magical teams.

I have to admit, by this time of the tournament my body was starting to fatigue under the lack of sleep and hot weather. There were times when I was nodding off because I couldn't physically stay awake.

Day 9 was a short 3 game day, which allowed me to at least catch up a little.

First up was Eimei vs. Noshiro Shougyou. While neither team were favored to win the tournament, Eimei had finally broken through to get to Koushien, which I was happy about, although they defeated Itoman - which I was conflicted about. While Noshiro Shougyou had also gotten their first win against a decent Kamimura Gakuen team.

I think I've said it before, when it comes to games between teams of prefectures not generally considered contenders, it's usually either a blowout, or a low scoring game.

Bottom 1, Eimei immediately had a chance. But a lot of self-inflicted wounds cost them as leadoff batter Nishioka drew a walk, failed to get moved over to 2nd on a bunt, advanced to 2nd on a hit on a single by Watanabe, then after a pickoff error advancing the runners got run down on a failed squeeze by cleanup batter Nakauchi.

The advantage seemed to stay with Eimei despite that when #9 batter Hashimoto got a leadoff single in the 3rd. But Nishioka's scorched comebacker was snagged by Hosaka who started the 1-6-3 double play. Undeterred, Iguchi hit one back up the middle that Hosaka couldn't get, and Watanabe seemed to continue the rally with a single up to left center, but Iguchi tried to stretch it out to 3rd and got gunned down by CF Yoshino.

But after that it was Noshiro Shougyou. Back-to-back hits by Yamada Katsuki and Ogawa scored the first run, and added one more in the 6th when an leadoff error scored thanks to a hard hit ball off 1B Kamon.

Eimei had one last opportunity in the 6th, but again the team couldn't execute, failing to lay down a bunt, and failing to score the runners from 2nd and 3rd with just 1 down. Noshiro Shougyou wins 2-0.

Next up was Shirakaba Gakuen versus Chiben Wakayama. I remembered Shirakaba Gakuen from 2006 when I was there last, though I think their uniforms were different. To be honest, with Hokkaido falling back down the baseball ladder, as it were, I expected this to be all Chiben. Yes, they have a weakness in that their pitching is not as strong, but that doesn't usually show up until later rounds.

I was surprised then when leadoff batter Satou hit a triple to the RCF wall on the 2nd pitch of the game. That opportunity though was wasted when the next two batters couldn't get the ball past the outfield and Omote struck out looking after a walk to cleanup batter Okada.

Things seemed to be all right in the world after ace Kobayashi walked two of the first 3 batters, who then later scored when Michibata hit the first pitch from reliever Kawagoe.

Though Shirakaba would get a run back on an uncharacteristic error by the Chiben defense, Chiben would extend the lead to 4 runs after 6 innings.

Then things, much like this entire tournament, went nuts.

After giving up a one out walk to last batter Nakamura, and a single to Satou, Uenoyama yielded to Furuta, who hit Ohara, loading the bases.

Next think I know, Kobayashi hits the first pitch down the left field line for a game-tying manrui home run!

And my jaw hits the floor.

Yet, Takashima-kantoku keeps Furuta in the game, and in the 8th, first batter Sasaki gets into a ball and sends it up the LF bleachers, giving Shirakaba Gakuen a shocking 6-5 lead with just 2 innings left to play! Takashima-kantoku finally sends in ace number Aoki. who was shaky himself, but manages to get out of the inning.

The only thing is, when underdogs are leading against established teams, there is always the propensity for teams to realize the gravity of the moment and struggle to close the game.

I had such a feeling and when Moriya's throw on a Kawasaki's grounder was off, the opportunity presented itself. Nakamura, a defensive replacement in the 7th, took the 1st pitch to left center field and all the way to the wall, scoring Kawasaki and tying the game.

Into extras we went, and Moriya would get a one-out double. Satou hits a blooper to center, and despite Kawasaki being closer to the ball, Nakamura comes running in trying to make the catch, but can't giving Shirakaba the lead!

But I've learned never to count Chiben Wakayama out, and they immediately went to work in the bottom of the 10th.

Nakamura opened with a single to center. After a popup to short by cleanup hitter Michibata, Miyakawa doubled down the left field line tying the game up.

After an intentional pass to Hiraoka to create a double play opportunity it felt like Shirakaba was trying to survive now.

And when Ogasawara laid down the bunt, Omote's throw to 1st is low and gets away from Okada, allowing Miyakawa to score the sayonara run.

It's certainly painful to see a team fight hard not once, but twice only to lose, but Shirakaba didn't give up and I hoped then and still do that Hokkaido will rise up the ranks again.

Last up was the blockbuster with Kaisei's towering duo of Shirane and Mori versus the juggernaut that was Nichidai-san. I expected a pitching duel.

Instead, I got an offensive explosion.

And in the beginning, it was all Nichidai-san. Shirane did not look good on the mound right from the get-go and Sanko took advantage, sending their entire lineup to the plate in the 1st inning, scoring 3 and immediately putting the Shimane representatives in a hole. And when back-to-back doubles by Takayama and Suganuma both came in to score in the 3rd making the deficit 5, I figured it would be all but over.

I apparently figured wrong.

5th inning now, and Kurosaki reaches on an error by Suganuma. Innocent enough as Oohata singles to left, and Akikuni bunts the runners along. At this point, they hope to get a one-shot timely from their big bat Shirane.

Instead he hits a soft liner to center, scoring both runs and making it 5-2, which was still fairly comfortable.

That was until Mori drove a pitch from Yoshinaga to deep center for a 2-run home run! Now it was just a 1-run affair and we had a ballgame!

Now, by this time I had figured that the main key to defeating Sanko was to let Yoshinaga hang himself. What I meant was that as good as he was, he had his moments when he lost his control. Yet no other team had realized it to try and take walks when he was offering them.

Move onto the 6th and Kanayama draws a leadoff walk. Yasuhara pops a safety bunt and lands in behind the defense for a base hit!

I'm also always one to call for the bust-and-run because most teams are expecting bunt. And Yasuda must've been thinking the same thing! He slaps one hard to LCF! Azegami dives, but can't get to it! It goes all the way to the wall as Kanayama and Yasuhara score!

But then they wave Yasuda home! The relay from Yokoo nails him at the plate! With no down, I didn't know about that decision.

Regardless, Kaisei erased a 5-run deficit and now held a 6-5 lead! Here was the game I was looking for!

And then the bottom of the 6th came...

Mori, who had come in for Shirane in the 3rd, suddenly fell apart. After a leadoff single to Shimizu, Yasuda flubs a bunt from Kaneko. Mori then walked Azegami to load the bases, and Yokoo would single back up the middle, giving Sanko the lead right back. Eventually 12 batters would come to the plate, scoring 6 runs and placing Kaisei back in the 5-run hole they dug themselves out of.

You might be able to manage one comeback against Sanko, but 2 is almost impossible.

Yet in the 8th, there was hope. 3 consecutive hits leading off the inning from their 7-8-9 batters made it a 11-8 game. And when Akikuni singled through the left side, putting runners at the corners with just one down, you had the feeling that Shirane or Mori would be able to tie the game, or at least pull within 1.

While I didn't have a good view of the pitch sequence to Shirane, I would have had them be patient at the plate as I would be certain that Yoshinaga would try to pitch around the duo as much as possible.

Shirane though got himself in defensive mode after reaching a 2-2 count and going down swinging. Akikuni took the opportunity to take 2nd on the K putting both runners in scoring position.

2 down and Mori was up, but with 1st base open. Certainly at this point Yoshinaga would pitch around him. Instead, Mori tried to attack the pitches thrown when it was obvious that Yoshinaga was indeed giving him nothing to hit. Mori grounds out to short, and that was that. Unable to pull within a reasonable amount, the game was all but over for Kaisei.

Indeed they fell 11-8.

Now perhaps Mori rightly assumed that if he was walked, their chances of scoring would be diminished. But down 3 with 4 outs remaining in the game, you have to keep the inning going at all costs, no matter what. Even if it means you hand the baton off to someone else.

Nonetheless, Sanko survives the scare from Kaisei and moves on, one step closer to the title.

I'm sure anyone who's been following the tournament by now...

2011-08-20T14:00:00.002+09:00

...knows that Sanko (aka Nichidai-san) won the 93rd Natsu Koushien outright against Kousei Gakuin. As expected, the Kousei batters did not let Yoshinaga get himself into trouble and thus had a relatively easy final.

I got a beer in the 8th, talked to the girl and told her this one was to "celebrate" their victory though I don't particularly like them for the reasons I stated earlier. She replied it was still the 8th, I said to be realistic and that down 9 runs it's not going to happen.

Oh, and how is it that the beer in Japan doesn't totally make me red in the face as much as it does in the states? I generally hate beer, but getting it here isn't bad. And no, it's not because the girls make the experience better (though they do). Oh to be young again.

Day 8 Recap

2011-08-18T15:05:00.004+09:00

Day 8 started off great for me as I was able to sit in the Narashino oen-dan again before retreating to the shade of the infield.

Game 1- Meitoku Gijyuku (Kochi) vs. Narashino (Chiba)

So the game was pretty much all Narashino from start to finish. They scored 3 in the first, 2 in the 2nd and never looked back. Oono was on the mound today for Narashino and was dominant outside of a homerun he gave up to Kitagawa in the 4th.

About the only downside to the game was that there were 4 hit batters - the #3 and #4 batters Fujii and Minagawa, last batter Koyama, and pitcher Oono.

I know there's little retaliation in Japan baseball, though if you watched Mr. Baseball you'd think otherwise. But that's an odd bunch to hit.

Game 2 - Hachiman Shougyou (Shiga) vs. Teikyou (Higashi Tokyo)

The problem with leaving the alps section was that I needed to buy a ticket to get back in (they sell tickets based on sections, not individual seats).

Problem was, it was Obon and when I walked out there were lines everywhere. If I had ANY hope of getting back it I had to hop into the shortest line, which was the 3rd base alps.

By the time I had gotten back into the stadium, the game was entering the 4th inning. It was hot and miserable outside (as with every single day - when did it stop raining in Japan?) so about the top of the 7th inning I had to retreat into the concourse.

But what struck me about the game was that Itou wasn't starting for them for some reason. I can't read minds nor have I done any research since the game to figure out why this wasn't the case.

I did say before that Teikyou will never win Koushien until they get a true ace, and I didn't think Itou qualified, but he certainly seemed like their best option.Now that's not to say it was a bad decision per se, after all through 8 innings starter Watanabe had just given up 2 hits.

But as I watched on the monitors and heard the crowd outside, I saw with one down the next 3 batters for Hachiman reach base.

And then when Matsumoto bobbled that ball which brought in a run, well I though it was intersesting sure, but still down 2 and needing a base hit it didn't seem likely.

By this time many of the younger kids had run outside. I was a little lightheaded still so I watched on TV the amazement of Endou's ball just clearing the right field fence. Right field! Hitting a HR there is almost like hitting one to LF at Safeco, it rarely ever happens!

But more importantly, it was a manrui homerun that gave Hasshou the 5-3 lead!

Masano would come in to relieve Watanabe, but not before the big damage had been done. Instead of winning the game by 2, they were now trailing by 2 with just 3 outs left to go!

And I watched in amazement as the Teikyou batters went fairly quietly in the bottom of the 9th
as Hachiman Shougyou pulled off the upset!

So first it was Kyukoku, now Teikyou. Who would be next?

Game 3 - Sakushin Gakuin (Tochigi) vs. Karatsu Shougyou (Saga)

Looking at this game, did I think Karatsu Shougyou have a chance to win it all? Not especially, and when you think about Kitakata Yuujyou's control, it seems like they may have little at all.

But I did think they stood a better chance than Sakushin Gakuin. In most cases, a pitcher's control issues will usually fail them a little later (though in Teikyou's case it was much earlier).

And early on in the game, it was Karatsu Shougyou who was leading the way with a run inthe 1st and another in the 3rd.
Sakushin would finally get a run thanks to a wild pitch on a strikeout no less.

And then one inning later, a hit batsmen combined with a relay throw error by Matsumoto led to the tying and the gyakuten run in the 5th! This while ace Ootani was shutting down the Karatsu offense.

With time running down, Karatsu did start creating scoring opportunities. The 7th they had the tying run in scoring position with 2 outs, then in the 8th with just one, and in the 9th with none! But in every single case, both Ootani and reliever Iino would shut down the threat meaning that Sakushin Gakuin advances to take on to face the aforementioned Hachiman Shougyou.

Game 4 - Jyosuikan (Hiroshima) vs. Higashi-Osakadai Kashiwara (Osaka)

Each of the teams playing here defeated an opponet who has pulled off an upset in their prefectural taikais. Jyosuikan in Seki Shoukou (Oogaki Nichidai) and Shigakukan (Aikoudai Meiden) for Higashi-Osakadai.

Again, I went and favored the team that had the experience, which would be Jyosuikan.

As the game started though, it was a lot closer. Jyousuikan had the early opportunity in the 1st, but it was Kashiwara who scored the first run on a double by Matsunami in the bottom of the 2nd. An RBI triple by Kanao though the very next inning tied it right back up again.

Once again, in the 5th Kashiwara would retake the lead on a double by Matsumoto Taiki.

And with the score still at 2-1, things would start to get really weird in the 7th.

With 2 down for Jyosuikan, Kanao gets hit, Shimazaki doubles, and then Tanaka walks to load the bases.

Kimura then hits a groundball right to 2B Nakagawa...

...except it goes right through the wickets! 2 runs come in to score on the error and now Jyosuikan leads 3-2. Add in one more when Yasuhara singles and it's a 2-run lead! Kashiwara's own Shirane comes in to record the final out, but Jyosuikan might be finally hitting it's stride.

Bottom 7 now and the top of the order is due up for Kashiwara. Izumi comes in to PH for Mochidzuki and promptly singles to center. After a bunt and another single, there's runners at the corners for Ishikawa.

Ishikawa hits a grounder to 3rd. Higuchi's throw causes a collision between 1B Kanao and Ishikawa. Izumi scores on the error, but unbenounced to Kanao, Taiki had been running from 1st the whole time and was heading home! By the time Kanao realized this it was too late and it was a tie ball game!

But though it was a tie game, the pressure was on Higashi-Osakadai Kashiwara. Jyosuikan was putting undo pressure on Shirane. If Kashiwara was going to win this, they'd have to do it in regulation. And they had that chance in the 9th. 2 outs, runner on 1st, Ishikawa singles then Nishida gets an infield single when no one was covering 1st. The winning run 90 feet away, Yamazaki stands in to get the run home. But he strikes out looking to end the inning.

And by this time it was too late. Jyosuikan would put 3 on the board in the 10th and that was all she wrote for the newcomers.

Before I work on more recaps...

2011-08-18T14:25:00.000+09:00

...I will never, ever, EVER, root for Nichidai-san. They are officially my arch-nemesis. And I don't particularly want to talk about the game even though Narashino deserved to lose that game.

Day 7 Recap

2011-08-17T23:00:00.002+09:00

Yeah, the lack of sleep really got to me. I wound up oversleeping on Day 7 and arriving at Koushien late. By the time I had gotten there, the first two innings of the first game had completed.

Game 1 - Tokyo Shidai Shiojiri (Nagano) vs. Meihou (Oita)
Well, to say that Meihou would have been a favorite in this game probably would have been right, but then again a lot of Meihou's success before was with Imamiya, and of course he's not there anymore, so it's really up to the next group to pick up the flag as it were. And if nothing else, they did get back here.

And after quickly settling in, it was apparent that Tokyo Shidai Shiojiri was struggling on offense, while Meihou was putting pressure on ace Sagamihara.

The flood gates finally opened in the 6th. After back-to-back triples, Satou is called out on strikes. However, C Furuya goes to the home plate umpire and has the K recalled back as a foul ball. Mind you, this was on a 3-2 count. With new life, he actually earns a walk and continues what would be a 6-run inning.

Tokyo Shidai Shiojiri made a late run and actually cut the deficit in half, but Okamoto who had come in to relieve Takao closed the job.

Game 2 - Tsuruoka Higashi (Yamagata) vs. Chiben Gakuen (Nara)
So Chiben Gakuen should have just been defaulted in as the Nara representative when Tenri withdrew. It's almost like clockwork how those two teams qualify.

But if there's one thing I've learned, it's that generally without competition it's hard to take the team to the next level.

While Nara has 2 teams, Yamagata is a bit jumbled with several teams that are above the prefectural average, but no one that really stands out.

Neither team really gained any traction in the game until the 4th when the first 3 batters for Chiben Gakuen reached safely eventually resulting in 2 runs. Tsuruoka came back and manufactured a run in the 5th but never really challenged with any scoring chances thereafter. Chiben Gakuen wins rather pedestrianly 2-1.

Game 3 - Takasaki Kenkoudai Fukushi (Gunma) vs. Yokohama (Kanagawa)
So Takasaki Kenkoudai's day of reckoning with Yokohama finally came. As much as I was down on Yokohama, I didn't think this would be the game they would trip up in.

And after quickly building a 5-0 lead, it seemed like it was all by the book.

Then in the post-break inning for Takasaki Kenkoudai Fukuishi, the unthinkable started happening.

Yanagi who had given up some hits here and there, started giving them up in bunches. Outside of a sac bunt, 5 batters reached safely with a double from Uno making it 5-3 that would knock him out. Souma was one out away from getting out of the jam when top batter Koike tripled to right tying the game at 5!

I mean, I knew Yokohama was beatable, but not like this!

Worse yet, Yokohama's offense had stalled against ace Katagai! Now all Takasaki had to do was to score a run and the upset may be theirs!

The problem was they couldn't get anything going either.

So the game went into enchousen where Nagasaka had a 2-out single and stole 2nd. Uno put a ball through the left side, but when Nagasaka was rounding for home, it was obvious that he'd be out. I think it was a matter of desperation as they need a run soon because I don't think they could have lasted much longer.

And sure enough in the bottom of the 10th, the game ended when Takasaki singled in Date.

Game 4 - Kanazawa (Ishikawa) vs. Seikou Gakuin (Aomori)
If there was one thing that I could tell about Kanazawa is that ace Kamata had learned to dial it down a bit to gain control.

And it was showing against Seikou Gakuin. He was limiting the offense quite a bit but still gave up the opening run.

That lasted for 2 inning when errors by Seikou Gakuin led to Kanazawa taking the lead 2-1. They extended the lead to 3 thanks to some errors and the lead seemed to be dormy.

Seikou Gakuin though started making some runs when they manufactured one in the 8th to cut the lead to 2, and then in the 9th worked the bases loaded with 2 outs. However Nakamura would not be able to get the timely hit and Kaanzawa would advance.

Day 6 Recap

2011-08-17T14:30:00.004+09:00

Day 6
Day 6 is where I think my body started to hit a wall. I hadn't been getting much sleep each night (about 4-5 hours) and the extra walking plus being outside took it's toll to the point that (a) I got sick partially thanks to the A/C, and (b) I started nodding off at games.

Game 1 - Kaisei (Nagasaki) vs. Touyoudai Himeji (Hyogo)
So the other Kaisei got to play today against no pushover in Touyoudai Himeji. Last time ther were at Koushien was when I was there last.

They actually did keep up with them for 3 innings before giving up their first run, but their offense never really did get started and as a result went down quietly 4-0. If not for the 3-run HR given up in the 8th it would probably more reflect thier performance as ace Makise and reliever Nagae (who had to come in because of an injury in the 4th) held the Himeji offense in check.

Game 2 - Kousei Gakuin (Aomori) vs. Senshuudai Tamana (Kumamoto)
I was actually excited to see Senshuudai Tamana. It seemed like there were competing year after year, but never making it. So to seem them here was great.

And then the game started...

It was innocent at first, with both teams being held scoreless. But then in the 3rd, after the first 3 peopel reach, Ameku singled to right, then Kawakami hit a grand slam homerun and the game was blown wide open. The final damage would be 16-1 in favor of Kousei.

Game 3 - Fujishiro (Ibaraki) vs. Tokushima Shougyou (Tokushima)
Fujishiro was one of those "cardiac kid" teams that won their bid by coming back to beat Kasumigaura 6-5. They drew Tokushima Shougyou who isn't a bad team for being where they're from.

In the game itself, it was Fujishiro who opened the scoring with a run in the first. And perhaps I thought that there was more to this team. However Tokusho was able to string some hits together for a pair of runs in the 4th, and add another in the 5th to give them a 3-1 lead. Tatsuta did the rest, giving up just 1 run on 4 hits for the win.

Game 4 - Kyushu Kokusaidai Fuzoku (Fukuoka) vs. Kanzei (Okayama)
As much as I irrationally like Kanzei, I am a realist for the most part and I realized that drawing Kyukoku was probably one of the worst 1st round draws to have.

Early on though, while Miyoshi was having little problem with the Kanzei batters, Kanzei ace Mizuhara was actually standing up well to the Kyukoku hitters.

But when Mizuhara walked in a run in the 4th I thought this was where Kanzei was going to break down.

On the contrary, in the bottom half cleanup batter Watanabe hits a ball deep to left and to my surprise leaves the yard for a solo shot tying the game at 1!

Even more surprising was that as I checked my scorebook in the 8th I had to do a double take. Not only had Mizuhra held his own, he had limited Kyukoku to just 4 hits! 4!!

And when an error leads to a run for Kanzei in the bottom of the 8th I thought to myself, "Surely I can't be seeing what I'm seeing, right?"

Well going to top 9 and the last 3 outs for Kyukoku, they had their 3-4-5 batters coming up.

And naturally Miyoshi hits a ball that deflects off a diving 3B for a double.

"It's never easy with Kanzei", I said to myself.

And after a K, Ryuu lines a double to right and just like that we were tied back up at 2. Mizuhara would shut it down from there, but into enchousen we would go.

Looking at the scorebook, I noticed that not only did Kanzei was the home team, but that they had their middle of the lineup coming first before Kyukoku.

But after Mizuhara sits down the 8-9-1 batters with little trouble and a nice play from the defense, Kanzei too would go down in order as their 3-4-5 batters were retired in relatively quick succession.

So while the game continued, the advanage at this point was back in Kyukoku"s favor.

But once again, Mizuhara works the count a bit high, but gets the job done.

Kanzei in the bottom half of the 11th gave themselves their own sayonara opportuniy with a 1-out double by Mizuhara himself. After Seki Takanori K's it'd be down to #9 batter Fujii.

And he singles to right! Mizuhara is being waved in but...

Well, let's just say they were a little too ambitious... and we went to the 12th.

There Mizuhara continued to dominated the Kyukoku offense to my surprise while opportunites abounded for Kanzei.

Bottom 12, leadoff walk to Ogura. Successfully sacrificed over, he advances to 3rd on a wild patch on ball 4 to Satou.

So the sayonara run is 90 feet away with cleanup batter Watanabe up.

He hits a hard ball to the right side where Hirabaru takes it and fires home...

but Ogura is called safe! Kanzei wins! Kanzei wins!

KANZEI WINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Needless to say I was shocked, along with the majority of people at the stadium (except for the homers from Okayama of course).

So one of the favorites went down, and to one of my irrational favorites to boot.

And it wouldn't be the last one.

Small jump ahead

2011-08-17T00:36:00.002+09:00

So just do I don' fall completely behind, I'm going to quickly go over the Best 8 matchups:

Day 12, Game 1 - Touyoudai Himeji (Hyogo) vs. Kousei Gakuin (Aomori)
So these two teams probably came out of the weakest brackets in the field. With no Ryuukokudai Heian to challenge them, Himeji cleared the 4-team bracket, though Shin-Minato gave them fits for 8 innings.

Kousei Gakuin did struggle with Tokushima Shougyou who is an upper mid-range team.

Neither team really stood out to me in any way, though if I were to pick a winner I may go with Kousei Gakuin.

Day 12, Game 2 - Jyosuikan (Hiroshima) vs. Kanzei (Okayama)
Um, even though I irrationally root for Kanzei, can I raise my hand and say I never saw this coming?

First defeating Kyukoku, one of the favorites to win it all, then Meihou who isn't quite the same without Imamiya.

Jyosuikan basically outlasted all three of their opponents, which in a close game as this one may very well be, it could be to their advantage. The only thing is, it's arguable now that Kanzei is none of those teams.

I'd like Kanzei to win, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Day 13, Game 1 - Chiben Gakuen (Nara) vs. Sakushin Gakuin (Tochigi)
Yokohama was supposed to win Chiben Gakuen's bracket, but something funny happened on the way there. I did think Yokohama was beatable, but not in the manner they lost.

Also, it was supposed to be the familiar Chiben Wakayama that had a better chance of being here than their Nara counterpart, yet the reverse is true. If nothing else, Chiben Gakuen has the no-panic attitude of their well known sister school.

The same could be said for Sakushin Gakuin. Teikyou was by far the favorite, but their lack of a true ace cost them in the end. With them gone, the bracket opened up. Now Sakushin Gakuin did have good wins against Karatsu Shougyou and the surprise Hachiman Shougyou.

I remember telling someone that I'd not root for Chiben Gakuen, and I think I'll favor Sakushin Gakuin. Outside of the 9th inning against Yokohama, they have shown little.

Day 13, Game 2 - Narashino (Chiba) vs. Nichidai-san (Nishi Tokyo)
Deanna, I guess we're on different sides again.

I like what I've seen out of Naraahino, though the game yesterday vs. Kanazawa scared me to death.

Nichdai-san has been, well... Nichidai-san showing their scoring abilities against squads like Kaisei (Shimane) and Chiben Wakayama.

But, like Yokohama, I think there's a good sized weak spot that I think they recognize they'll significantly increase their chances.

I want to pick Narashino, but it's not a guarantee at all.

Day 5 Recap

2011-08-16T00:00:00.003+09:00

Day 5

Game 1 - Nichidai-san (Nishi Tokyo) vs. Nihon Bunri (Niigata)
Nihon Bunri outside of the magical year of 2009 had not done a whole lot, much like many of the teams out of Niigata.

And they had about a tough of a first round as you could get in Nichidai-san.

But it was them that opened the scoring in the 2nd with 2 extra base hits and an error from the Sanko defense.

It felt like it might actually be competitive...

...and then it wasn't.

14 runs later and well, we know who was the better team.

Game 2 - Yanai Gakuen (Yamaguchi) vs. Kaisei (Shimane)
I thought it unfortunate that two Chuugoku schools had to play each other. I'd like to see these teams advance, but not through cannibalizing each other.

But when Yanai Gakuen manages just 3 hits off of Shirane... Well, never mind...

Game 3 - Shin-Minato (Toyama) vs. Ryuukokudai Heian (Kyoto)
This on paper seemed like a yawner. Heian who defeated both Fukuchiyama Seibi and Ritsumeikan Uji versus a rural prefecture team.

Let me say this... I will never doubt the power of an oen-dan ever again.

Shin-Minato's oen-dan extended past the designation section. It was like the whole 3rd base side was from Shin-Minato. I had retreated to the upper sections of the 3rd base side and it seemed there there was supporters as far as the eye could see.

And in this case the oen-dan didn't necessarily stop the Heian offense per se. Instead it seemed to help them primarily get out of pinches throughout the game. Which meant that they hung in there until they finally got timely hitting to put runs on the board. And when they took the lead in the 8th 3-1, the place went nuts and I couldn't believe my eyes that Heian was losing.

In fact Heian had runners in scoring position in 7 of the 9 innings, and in one of those innings they didn't, Takahashi hit a home run.

And when the last out was recorded, the place just went nuts. I don't blame them - they did in fact defeat a well-known team from a powerful prefecture.

Little did I know that this upset would be one of more to come...

To Mr. Otosaka...

2011-08-15T23:10:00.002+09:00

If you happen to stumble upon this blog, it was a pleasure meeting you today, even though it wasn't for that long. I would have liked to have talked more about your son, how you came to Japan and how you've settled in amongst other things.

As it stood it felt like a rushed conversation as the game was about to begin and you were being moved about.

I thought I was going to be able to talk to you again considering how the game was going, but well... we know how it ended.

And I was going to offer my condolences after the game, but I think you had probably left to be with your son who I'm sure was crushed by the loss.

But I'm glad I got a chance to meet you even if for a moment.

Two other things about Days 3 and 4...

2011-08-15T23:02:00.002+09:00

First on Day 3, I was in the center seats trying to let my skin rest from being burnt to a crisp. Literally.

Then during the 1st game, people start emerging from the "underground" area that you can see behind home. There were a lot of cameras and the person they were hovering around sat one row and a couple of seats to my right. The way the cameras were positioned I would have been in the background if there was any.

I tried not to look directly over because I hate it when other people do that on TV. But about halfway through the interview, I realized who it was.

It was Sawa Homare from the Women's World Cup Champions!

When the interview was over I was going to say something to the tune of "Congratulations", but I think the last thing I needed was to have her give me a blank stare at a person who spoke in English.

On Day 4 when I was in the Chiben Wakayama section, I was thinking about what I'd do if a foul ball went my way.

Then one of the batters hit one deep down the left field line, and it was coming right at me. I was so dumbfounded though, I just reached my hand out like an idiot and the ball deflected off my upper arm. There's a good size bruise there now. If I had actually done what I had planned on doing, I'd have my 2nd ball in the 2 Koushien's I've attended.

Day 4 Recap

2011-08-13T01:26:00.003+09:00

Onto Days 4-8 as best as I can...

Day 4

Game 1 - Eimei (Kagawa) vs. Itoman (Okinawa)
Eimei has come on in the last two years to represent Kagawa. In fact, these last 2 years have been their only appearances. They're not a new school per se, so I wonder if it's a managerial change or just the personnel they have. I'm beginning to think that to better cover teams/players I'm better off not doing brackets. Too much work for one person.

I was happy in some ways to see Itoman make it. They seemed to be one of the better teams in Okinawa but would get eliminated before the finals - this year they made it and I wondered how they'd fare.

Sadly, not very well. Their performance against Eimei was far from stellar as they managed just 4 hits and the one run they did score was unearned.

Game 2 - Noshiro Shougyou (Akita) vs. Kamimura Gakuen (Kagoshima)
Noshiro Shougyou made it for the 2nd straight year as well, and were facing a Kamimura Gakuen squad that I was happy to see there.

And early on it looked like the squad that defeated a formidable Kagoshima Jitsugyou would have the better hand. A leadoff hit batter and subsequent error in the 3rd led to 2 runs. Another hit batter in the 5th would make it 2 runs again at 3-1. But in the span of 6 batters in the 6th, the game had completely reversed. Instead of leading, they now were trailing 5-3.

Considering their runs up until this point were done thanks to mistakes by Noshiro Shougyou, it followed that all they needed to do was not make any and they'd advance. They didn't and they won.

Game 3 - Shirakaba Gakuen (Kita Hokkaido) vs. Tottori Shougyou (Tottori)
This game was between two teams from prefectures that haven't had much success at Koushien in recent years. So it wasn't a surprise when it was a low-scoring affair between the two teams.

Shirakaba Gakuen held a slim 2-1 lead going into the bottom of the 9th only to see it immediately evaportate when Yasumoto Shinnosuke singles and Yoshida triples to left. Suddenly Shirakaba not only had lost the lead, but had the sayonara run just 90 feet away!

Kawagoe would need to clamp it down and he did inducing an strike out, and fly to shallow left, and a groundout.

The game would go into extras where Shirakaba Gakuen would win in the 11th.

There wasn't anything else really memorable other than the fact that though Tottori Shougyou lost, oh my god, the girls continually went, "kyaaaa!!!!" over the team. You could hear numerous individual "Ganbare!" screams amongst others. You'd think the team was rock stars - which they might be.

Game 4 - Chiben Wakayama (Wakayama) vs. Hanasaki Tokuharu (Saitama)
I had left the stadium to re-enter in the Chiben cheering section to see it first-hand. And since I didn't realize I had no more blank box scores in the book I brought with me, I was just enjoying the game.

Chiben Wakayama did indeed kick the daylights out of Hanasaki Tokuharu, but there were two things to note.

First, the oen-dan up close for some reason isn't the same as seeing it from a distance.

Second, I may have been suffering from exhaustion because there was a foul ball just inside the pole that was headed right at me. I had already run through the scenario of what I would do if this would happen, but suffice it to say I blanked. I reached out my hand like an idiot, and the ball deflects off my upper right arm. It's still bruised.

Day 1-3 Recap

2011-08-12T23:31:00.000+09:00

So, I was all ready for Koushien today, and while the games were great, it felt like my mind was somewhere else all day. And I mean that in the sense that I don't know what the heck I was doing for most of it.

I got up at the right time, headed to the subway to go to Umeda so I could withdraw money. I got off at Nanba and started walking around, not finding the Japan Post office I had researched online. Kept walking, tried asking, gave up and went to Koushien. Noting it was 7:50 AM already, and I was supposed to be there at 8, I was screwed already.

Then on the train I realized my mistake. Why the heck did I get off at Nanba?

Crap, now not only did I not get money, I'd get there even later.

8:30 later...

All inside seats were sold out so I went to the 1st alps stands where Takasaki Kenkoudai Fukushi Takasaki, Kanazawa and Seikou Gakuin were.

Then proceeded to burn up in the heat. Suffice it to say I'm red all over, and I forgot my sunblock... and now I look like someone that nobody would want to deal with.

And in the rush I had no time to buy drinks before getting to the stadium, so I was paying 250 instead of 150 yen. More doh.

I did get to talk to 2 nice young women who I think were attending Ritsumeikan University. No pictures for those of you wondering. I get a bit hesitant asking girls about taking pictures. They soon realized my strange understanding of Japanese. I can read most kanji, understand what they're saying (though I think not as much as I actually can - that one's for you Deanna), so yeah.

Also, I need to figure out my purpose at Koushien. I can enjoy it, which means no scoring, I can do what I normally do which is scoring and no pictures, or I can figure out some way to incorporate it all, but the biggest problem is taking pictures. I don't want to leave the camera out in the sun, or hold it with my sweaty hands, but if I put it away I'm going to miss stuff. And if I take pictures I can't score.

Aack.

So today I scored the games, had thoughts on the oen-dans though I didn't take pictures or videos during the games. Suffice it to say today was a test run and it went about as poorly as possible.

But the games themselves were good, I'll recap as best I can though from the alps stands it was harder to gauge stuff.

Day 1
Game 1 - Takasaki Kenkoudai Fukushi (Gunma) vs. Imabari Nishi (Ehime)
Gunma has been one of those prefectures that I can't figure out. It seems like they're more metropolitan than not, but they have little success at Koushien. Takasaki Kenkoudai Fukushi having played none of the "big" name teams in the prefecuture discounts their performance a bit. Imabari Nishi defeated a resurging Niita for the title, but not much else of note.

When the game started, it seemed evident who was the better team. Imabari Nishi ace Hayashi had problems with control and it was made worse whenever there were runners on base as he would throw constantly to keep the runners on (though it was later found to be a necessary evil).

Compounding things was what seemed like a shaky defense as well. 3B Suehiro took the brunt of it early, but the team suffered as a whole.

On the other hand was #10 Hayashi who was keeping everything in check it seemed. In fact, he didn't even give up a hit in the first 3 innings, though that would change.

Scoring came first for Takasaki Kenkoudai Fukushi. After another walk and a single, Hayashi would finally be relieved of his duties once Uchida successfully sac bunted.

When Yanagisawa laid down the squeeze, I thought one was going to score before I was surprised to see Kadomura coming home too! The throw was late and Kadomura seemed to make a great slide.

The key I think was Nakanishi's hesitation in coming in to field it. I think he was waiting for it to see if it went foul. But that allowed Kenkoudai to send the trailing runner home successfully. So 2-0 in favor of my alps stands.

Another run in the 4th after Yumoto singles, steals 2nd and scores on the hit and run and things looked good at 3-0.

But then it went all wrong for Hoshino. After a solid one-out single by Gouta, it seemed that Hoshino was the victim of unfortunate luck as one ball gets by the 3B, and the 2nd was missed by a diving Uno, though you can't really fault him.

That was followed by a double from Itou and a 2-run single from Suehiro, and it was now 4-3 Imabari Nishi.

Two batters and one more run later, and Hoshino was pulled for #11 Miki. Why ace Katagai hadn't come in yet I don't know.

But Takasaki Kenkoudai is fortunate when on a single by top batter Minomi, they aggressively send Ishimaru home - and when I mean aggressively, I mean no matter what - and is out by a mile.

Though they managed to stop the bleeding, the problem was new pitcher #10 Yano. His delivery, which I think would endear himself to Deanna, was very odd and probably threw off the timing on the batters. And while they struggled, an insurance run scored without a benefit of a hit in the 6th (walk, bunt FC E1, sac bunt, wild pitch) made it 6-3.

Kenkoudai would finally get to Yano in the 7th thanks to a leadoff triple by cleanup batter Kadomura. He'd be sac-flied home by Yanagisawa and the deficit was now 2 at 6-4.

It wouldn't be until the 9th when Kenkoudai would strike again and boy did they ever. Bloop since, double to left immediately put the tying runners on base.

And who else but Yanagisawa would drive them in with a gapper to LCF past the fielders to tie the game!

But after Yanagisawa is tagged out on a contact play, it didn't seem like they'd be able to push the gyakuten run through.

But after a groundout advancing Nagatomo to 2nd, it was ace Katagai (who had come in in the 6th) who blooped one down the left field line, scoring the go-ahead run!

And with their ace on the mound, it was curtains for the team from Ehime. 7-6 and Takasaki Kenkoudai Fukushi's reward is.... Yokohama.

Game 2 - Kanazawa (Ishikawa) vs. Ise Kougyou (Mie)
Now don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't like Kamata from Kanazawa, it was just that I didn't get the big deal about him.

Yes, he can throw 150km/h. But without control it's no good and that's where my problem with him lied.

But this game was different. A lot of breaking balls early, and a fastball that wasn't even approaching 150. And much like how they dialed down Felix Hernandez in Seattle, a dialed down version of Kamata works too. And when he decided to hit 150 and more, once again the control wasn't there it seemed.

We may never have figured that out had 2nd batter for Isekou, Hashimoto, not missed 2nd on his way to 3rd.

Instead, it was Kanazawa who would score first in the 2nd with a double by Koshida to left.

While the game stayed at 1-0 for a while, it never seemed like Kanazawa was in any danger.

That was made even more apparent when Koshida up again in the 6th hits what I though was a flyball to left... only to see it leave for a 3-run HR??!!!

Kamata throws a complete game 5-hit shutout, striking out 10!

Game 3 - Nichinan Gakuen (Miyazaki) vs. Seikou Gakuin (Fukushima)
So the one thing I was wondering was if Seikou Gakuin would lift the curse of Fukushima.

Early signs didn't look promising though ace Saiuchi seemed to be the victim of some bad luck, or perhaps some poor defense as a ball hit to left by Nichinan's cleanup Sakiyo catches the LF off guard somehow as he sprints at the last minute and winds up being behind it for a 2-run double!

Things continued to be going against Saiuchi when he throws a wild pitch with the bases loaded in the 5th. By now, down 3-0, I'm thinking that it's another failed year for Fukushima.

However, Saitou Yuuki (the 2B), triples to right center, helping to get one run back.

By the way, it was interesting to hear one Saitou Yuuki, but 2? And then to have the announcer have to repeat the name, first name and number?

Anyways, the tide seemed to start turning in the 6th when after issuing 2 walks to start the inning, Furuichi was replaced by #10 Murata. Though he was able to get out of the inning, once the Seikou batters started being patient, Murata started walking batters of his own.

Walking the top 2 batters more than likely spelled disaster and when a single by Mashiro turns into a double thanks to an error by the RF making it 3-2, it seemed inevitable. Haga brings in the douten run with a ball off the 2B, and Fukuda completes the comeback with a sac fly to right.

By this time Saiuchi had settled down and the win was in sight. Top 9, one down, but a chop single by Kasaoka followed by a clean one by Saikyo and Saiuchi wasn't in good shape. But after striking out Yamamoto he was just one out away.

Except that when he struck out Kakemoto, the ball got away from Fukuda and the run scored anyway!

Now Saiuchi would get out of the mess, but not before they'd have to start from scratch. And after they couldn't turn a one out double into the sayonara run, enchousen it was. Saiuchi would hold down the fort on the top half, and finish it quickly in the 10th when he gets his first hit of the game to score Nakamura.

Day 2
Game 1 - Narashino (Chiba) vs. Shizuoka (Shizuoka)
This had to be the game I was really waiting for. I mean, I would actually get to sit in the Narashino oen-dan. How cool is that? Well, for me at least.

Oh yeah, and their baseball team isn't half bad either.

But early on against a Shizuoka squad that had become one of the powerful teams in Shizuoka, They managed just 1 run amidst their multiple chances,

The offense would finally start turning around right after Shizuoka tied the game up in the 6th.

Shizuoka's ace Harazaki also helped via a couple of walks. 5 runs later and that's all she wrote. It's not a complete victory, but as long as they learn from it, I don't see any problems... yet.

Game 2 - Hokkai (Minami Hokkaido) vs. Meitoku Gijyuku (Kochi)

2 powerhouses in 2 rural prefectures generally means a good game especially when they`re upper level talent.

Early in it was a case of both teams getting scoring chances but neither able to cash them in.

So instead, the first run comes off a solo shot by Kitagawa for Meitoku Gijyuku.

Hokkai ties it up when Zeniya lines a solid double down the left center field alley, then takes the lead thanks to an error by Umeda that extended the inning.

The lead wouldn't last very long though. Not even an inning as 2 consecutive dead balls can't be good in any circumstance.

And in the bottom of the 9th, an unfortunate error that would have sent the game into extras instead leads to the winning run.

Game 3 - Teikyou (Higashi Tokyo) vs. Hanamaki Higashi (Iwate)
As the game progressed, the personalities of each school were easily present. Even when they had Kikuchi Yuusei, Hanamaki Higashi was a plucky squad that just would never quit. No matter what the deficit it seemed like there was a way for them to get back into it.

For Teikyou, perhaps the best example was back when I went in 2006. Best 8 game versus Chiben Wakayama, down 8-4 top 9. Teikyou comes roaring back with 8 runs, capped off by a pinch-hit 3-run HR!

However, the PH was for their last pitcher and come bottom 9, no one, no matter who it was that they threw onto the mound could record 3 outs. Chiben Wakayama came back to win on a walk-off walk 13-12.

And I'll go ahead and say this now, but until Teikyou has a true ace (and at this point I don't think even Itou Naoki qualifies), they will never win Koushien.

Teikyou got ahead 2-0 in the first, but thanks to some patience and timely hitting they tied the game. They were aggressive in the top of the 1st after scoring the tying run (albeit a bit too aggressive).

Then down 5-2, they used some nice decoy running to tie it up again. And one more time in the 6th.

However, when Teikyou gets ahead one final time, Hanamaki Higashi is unable to come back. Not to mention that a dubious ruling of obstruction really costed them a scoring opportunity. I don't know what you're supposed to do if you're trying to bunt and have to get out of the way.

Day 3

Game 1 - Sakushin Gakuin (Tochigi) vs. Fukui Shougyou (Fukui)
Game 2 - Kuratsu Shougyou (Saga) vs. Furukawa Kougyou (Miyagi)

There isn't much to say about either game, except that both Fukui Shougyou and Furukawa Kougyou can't both be this bad... right?

I mean Fukui is not a great baseball prefecture per se, but to get hammered the way they did? And Furukawa Kougyou defeated both Tohoku AND Rifu to win the bid. How did they ever do that?

Now given, both teams did for the most part held their own - though Fukui Shougyou not as much and Furukawa Kougyou did show their tough side later on, but still fell.

Also, I'm not sure what to make of Kuratsu ace Kitakata. He has power, and seems to control it at times. I wonder though if he`s not another Itou Naoki.

Game 3 - Seki Shoukou (Gifu) vs. Jyosuikan (Hiroshima)
For a team that had to beat Oogaki Nichidai, they have to be somewhat decent. But it`s not a given that they`ll be able to handle Jyosuikan.

As the game progressed, there wasn`t anything that really stood out about either team. No star P, good defense on both sides, and perhaps a little light on the offensive side.

I did find it odd that Seki Shoukou would go to their 2nd pitcher Yasue in the 6th. Naijyou had been more than servicable, though the dead balls and and walks might have been a bit much.

Yet he was having his own troubles in the 7th but got saved thanks to a strike 'em out, throw 'em out double play.

Moving to the 8th, Yasue seems to disagree with a ball 4 call, and then proceeds to give up a lined shot to Shinozaki. Again though the defense bails him out, getting the runner at home which included a collision that I don't see in kokoyakyu.

The game would go into extras where I really started to like it. There was a lot of good defense, especially on the Seki Shoukou side. Twice they got out of a jam with a very nicely turned double play. Then it was a great stop by 3B Komatsu.

Oddly enough, it might have been a defensive nuance that cost them the game.

Bottom 13, chopper to the right side. Yasue goes off the mound and reaches up for a ball that's a ways away. But I think as a result it froze his own defense, after which both the 1B and 2B went for the ball, and Yasue himself didn't realize he had to cover the bag.

Then I think he was still dwelling on that when his throw on the proceeding bunt went awry. Sayonara runner on 3rd with no down, and there's only so much you can luck you can pull...

Game 4 - Shigakukan (Aichi) vs. Higashi-Osakadai Kashiwara (Osaka)
I wondered aloud if it was a bad omen when the coach of the Osaka squad wasn`t able to hit the last ball in their pregame practice.

What I didn't wonder was whether it was a bad omen for both teams because as much as the last game was exciting, this one was horrible to watch.

There was errors everywhere, poor judgement by the defenses, and Higashi-Osakadai advances.

WTF?

2011-08-11T19:17:00.003+09:00

Okay, I decided to get the post done at an internet cafe in Osaka because it`s just too hard for me to do it when I get back to my room. Too tired and waiting too long to take a shower waiting for the AC to cool the room down again.

But first, WTF??? First Shin-Minato defeats Ryuukokudai Heian and now Kanzei (a team I irrationally root for) defeats Kyushu Kokusaidai Fuzoku?? The Kyukoku?

WTF man?

I`m not dead...

2011-08-08T19:47:00.000+09:00

...but in my infinite wisdom I left my laptop A/C charger in Nagoya. It`s in transit and I`ll have all my thoughts out there eventually.

No live blogging this year...

2011-08-05T22:14:00.002+09:00

So, as you can see from the subject line, there is no liveblogging.

But there's a reason for that...

I'm in Osaka, and will personally be attending Natsu Koushien!

So, if you want to see the games, they'll be broadcast on the links to the left. There may be broadcasts on Justin.tv as well, which would give you good quality at higher resolutions, just follow RealKenDick on twitter. He'll let you know.

There is also a chatroom where people watching the game can talk about kokoyakyu or even daigaku yakyu or pro yakyu (in Japan). That's at Japanesebaseball.com.

I would put my pictures from the trip on my daily recap posts, but I also realized that since my Sony Vaio was stolen when our house was robbed, I don't have a good laptop with a CD/DVD drive. And since the saying goes that pictures are better taken in RAW status then converted, I don't know how this is going to work.

Anyways, I have a long day ahead. I've sweated through 3 shirts and 2 shorts in 2 days, visited Aikoudai Meiden, Chuukyoudai Chuukyou, almost got in trouble for visiting Oogaki Nichidai and skipped Kyoto Gaidai Nishi for now because I was getting dead tired from the walking in the heat. Assuming they're still open, I'm getting a massage in Nanba.

The odd thing is that I don't think I've gotten sunburnt even with all the time outside. Why is that? I have however reminded myself for the umpteenth time that traveling light is a necessity, not a virtue, and that I really need a case with multi-directional wheels so I don't feel like my arm is about to fall off. I may just get one anyways.

The place where I'm staying (Banana House), is closer to Osaka than Tenri, which is where I stayed for the 2006 Natsu Koushien. It's not bad, but I need to remind myself to get some sheets to cover the futon tomorrow. And a blanket. Unless what I think is the thing that goes on top of the futon is the blanket in which... I still need a blanket (that's OCD me for you). Oh, and the fridge doesn't want to work but the freezer does (what??). Supposedly the population here is half-Japanese and half-foreign. Perhaps if I were a bit more extroverted I might like the people I've seen so far more, but it's not terrible, and I have multiple options to get back here in case the clock strikes midnight (there are only 2 lines to Tenri, and one real viable option). Tenri was nice in that it definitely felt secure, there was no one around the dormitory at the time, and I had my own shower (though not necessarily hot water).

I'm just waiting for the A/C to cool the room down to the point where if I take a shower and come back to the room (communal bath - ok, communal toilet - oy) I won't sweat again.

Prolly will stop by the FamilyMart for yogurt milk and regular milk for my evening drinks. Oh how I missed the yogurt milk here.

93rd Koushien Field

2011-08-03T18:00:00.002+09:00

So there's still the Osaka and Hyogo recaps for me to do, but in the meantime here is the complete field.

It's an interesting one that's for sure.

And with the draws out, it gets even more interesting.

So, lets start from the Day 1 bracket (That's Bracket H) and work our way around...

Bracket H
Big names here are Yokohama and Chiben Gakuen. While Chiben Gakuen is one of two schools to come out of Nara perenially, it doesn't necessarily equate to a deep run. Yokohama has had their issues getting to Natsu Koushien in recent years but when they did in 2008, they can make a deep run. Problem is, their Kanagawa taikai was less than impressive.

Joining them are the likes of Imabari Nishi - who was a wild card for a couple of game in 2006, Tsuruoka Higashi - who hasn't been in a while, and Takasaki Kenkou Fukushidai who hasn't been at all.

I expect the big names to meet in the bracket final, and despite Yokohama's struggles, get out of this bracket.

Bracket A
As one of my favorite teams, Narashino finds themselves in this bracket. Unfortunately, while I wouldn't call it the bracket of death per se, it is a trap bracket (THE CAKE IS A LIE!).

Seriously though, they face Shizuoka first, who have come on as of late, then can face Meitoku Gijyuku or Hokkai, both of which are perennial teams and can be a stumbling block if not taken seriously, then there's the possibility of facing Kanazawa's Kamata, or Koushien semi-regulars Seikou Gakuin or Nichinan Gakuen.

I don't believe that there are any teams that play at a level equal to Narashino, but at the same time in any given game I think there's a tangible chance they do. I like them to advance, but at the same time I'm crossing my fingers.

Bracket B
Teikyou drops into this bracket, with former darling (albeit just because of Kikuchi Yuusei) Hanamaki Higashi.

Teikyou's bracket is fairly light on compeition, with only regulars Sakushin Gakuin and Fukui Shougyou occupying the other half of the bracket (though they do face each other first!)

A possible wild card in this whole scenario is Furukawa Kougyou. Though this is their first time to Koushien, they defeated both Tohoku and Rifu to win their bid. That's no small feat for sure.

I do expect Teikyou to be the favorite here, though I am intrigued by Furukawa Kougyou.

Bracket C
There are a lot of recent middle-of-the-road Koushien teams paired along with first timers here. Jyosuikan, Eimei, Kamimura Gakuen and Noshiro Shougyou have been to Kousien in recent years, but have little to show for it (yes, Kamimura Gakuen did make the finals in the spring).

Then there's teams like Higashi-Osakadai Kashiwara who defeated Osaka Touin for their title, Itoman who finally made it after years of frustration, Seki Shoukou who defeated Oogaki Nichidai, and Shigakukan who denied Aikoudai Meiden their chance.

It's up in the air really, and I don't really have a favorite to come out of this bracket.

Bracket D
Sanko (aka Nichidai-san) plops themselves down into this bracket, and draws Nihon Bunri first. I like Nihon Bunri, and I loved their run in 2009, but in reality this is Niigata we're talking about here. It doesn't look good for them.

Chiben Wakayama also finds themselves here, though on the opposite side of the bracket. Hanasaki Tokuharu will get first crack.

Though these two are the favorites to meet in the bracket final, a wild card here will be Kaisei (Shimane - there are 2 Kaisei's this year) and the re-emergence of Nonomura-kantoku. He ran a pretty tight ship over there, but lost his job due to remarks he made regarding 21st century teams in senbatsu. Probably considered one of the old-time hard-liners, he's sure to have his team in top condition. Whether that will translate to an upset of Nichidai-san is another story.

Sanko will be the favorite for now, but I'd like to see how this year's Chiben Wakayama plays. Seriously... there's no point in looking at their prefectural taikai.

Bracket E
This is the first of the 3 4-team brackets.

Ryuukokudai Heian is here along with Touyoudai Himeji, the other Kaisei (Nagasaki), and Shin-Minato. Heian certainly has more overall expereience, but it seems whenvever Touyoudai Himeji makes it in recent years, you'd better watch out.

Bracket F
Bracket F may be the weakest of the 8 on paper, with Kousei Gakuin perhaps being the front-runner, if you can call anyone one at this point.

It may mean there's a chance for Senshuudai Tamana to advance, and I'd like that since I root for them each year.

Bracket G
REALLY??? REALLY????!!! ARE YOU FREAKING SERIOUS???!!!

Kanzei draws Kyukoku (Kyushu Kokusaidai Fuzoku)??!!!

That's like saying, "Congratulations for reaching Koushien, now bend over."

I guess I'd better sit in Kanzei's section that day. They're not getting past the first game.

The real loser I think winds up being first-timers Tokyo Shidai Shiojiri. Meihou is their first opponent, and even if they win that, they get Kyukoku. Not fun.

Judging from my reaction, I think you know who I expect to get out of Bracket G.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

And that's it! Games start in 2 days... let the battles begin!

93rd Koushien Qualifying - Osaka & Hyogo

2011-08-02T08:06:00.005+09:00

Osaka and Hyogo do things a little differently than most prefectures. Like Wakayama, they do redraws, but they do more redraws in different places.

Osaka
Osaka does 2 redraws, one at the round of 32, another at the round of 8. With so many teams in the round of 32, it's unlikely that favorite teams could find each other. That was the case here as a lot of the powerhouses drew different brackets. And all of them advanced out of the 2nd level into the Best 8.

Here, there was a clash in the first round of the 2nd redraw. Konkou Osaka and Riseisha would square off first with the winner probably facing Osaka Touin. Meanwhile, PL (Perfect Liberty) Gakuen had the other half all to themselves.

Osaka Touin won their quarterfinal game 10-0 in 5. Riseisha managed to do more with their 6 hits than Konkou Osaka, winning 3-1. And in the other matchup Higashi-Osakadai Kashiwara won 6-3.

But the biggest surprise was Toukaidai Gyousei vs PL Gakuen. In the bottom of the 2nd, score tied at 1, Gyousei goes off for 7 runs on PL! Now, it was still early, and this was PL we're talking about so all is not lost.

And indeed PL gets back 4 runs in the top of the 3rd. Trailing 8-5 isn't great, but it isn't bad either.

However, reliever Ogawa coudn't put up a 0 for PL and Gyousei took back all 4 runs! PL found themselves back down 7! And when they got a run in the 4th, so did Gyousei.

Things did not look good for PL at all now. After a couple of zeroes, PL finally scored again, once again getting back those 4 runs and making it a 3-run game. But they would scuffle to score any more runs. One additional run in the 8th put the cherry on top of Toukaidai Gyousei's 14-10 upset!

That certainly shook up the bracket. Now, it seemed like the Osaka Touin-Riseisha winner would have the inside track to the title.

Osaka Touin took grab of that opportunity, scoring 5 early and never letting Riseisha gain any traction. They won 5-1.

After the upset, and this late in the tournament, you'd think that perhaps there wouldn't be a letdown for Toukaidai Gyousei....

You'd be wrong.

Higashi-Osakadai Kashiwara scores 5 of their own in the first 2 innings, and bookends that with 6 in the 8th for an 11-0 win!

So they would try and get a crack at vaunted Osaka Touin for their first ever title.

And early on, they would get the first attack in with a run in the bottom of the 1st. Osaka Touin countered with 4 in the 3rd and 2 in the 4th and they certainly were in control. Sure, they gave a run back in the bottom half of the 4th, but it was still a 4-run lead.

In the 7th though, things would change. Fujinami started giving up hits, and before the inning was complete, he would be relieved by Nakano, but more importantly Higashi-Osaka had scored 3 to make it a 1-run ball game!

Worse yet for Osaka Touin, the trouble continued with Nakano. Bottom 8, Kashiwara gets the bases loaded with 1 down, and a sac fly by Nakagawa gets the douten run home! While Nakano is able to prevent the gyakuten run from scoring, it seemed like they were in trouble.

And after a quick inning from Osaka Touin, Kashiwara had a sayonara opportunity.

Hanamoto immediately puts the pressure on Osaka Touin with a leadoff triple! Now any form of sac fly and the game is over!

Instead of loading the bases, they elect to pitch to Ishikawa, and manage to retire him.

Now with a double play ending the inning, they walk Nishida and Yamazaki to load the bases. Nowhere to put Matsune, but also they have a force at home.

But Nakano errs! He hits Matsune for a dead-ball sayonara! Higashi-Osakadai Kashiwara defeats Osaka Touin 7-6 on a dead-ball sayonara!

For such as team as Osaka Touin, it's got to be one of the toughest ways to lose. But for now first-timers Higashi-Osaka Kashiawara, it's the greatest feeling in the world...

Hyogo
The reason why Hyogo is weird is that they do a redraw for the Round of 16, then in Best 8, and finally for the Best 4. Almost like what they to at Koushien (They do Best 8 and Best 4).

In the redraw, all major teams avoided each other and were able to move on. Houtoku Gakuen, Kakogawa Kita, and Kobe Kokusaidai Fuzoku all advanced - though Kobe Kokusaidai slid by Akou 3-1. Touyoudai Himeji advanced too, though it's been a couple of years since they went to Koushien.

The next redraw for the Best 8 almost had all 4 teams avoiding each other, except that Kobe Kokusaidai Fuzoku and Houtoku Gakuen did draw each other. That game went down to the wire with Houtoku Gakuen taking a 1-run lead in the bottom of the 8th before Kobe Kokusaidai scored 3 in the top of the 9th for the 5-3 win.

Touyoudai Himeji shutout Akashi Shougyou 3-0 while Kakogawa Kita had to go 10 innings to defeat Suma Higashi. In the last matchup Kawanishi Midoridai defeated Yashiro 3-1.

The semi redraw had Touyoudai Himeji get the easy draw with Kawanishi Midoridai, and proceeded to win 13-1 in 7. As much as Kakogawa Kita seemed to struggle in the last matchup, they rose to the occasion in this one. After they fell behind 3-1, they scrapped back to take the lead in the 7th, then re-take it in the 9th for a 5-4 win.

So it would be Touyoudai Himeji and Kakogawa Kita in the finals, and it turned out to be another good game. Scoreless for the first 6 innings, they each score a run in the 7th, and another in the 9th. The game would continue that way until it ended in a 2-2 draw.

That meant they'd have to do it all over again the next day. So the question would be which of the aces, Inoue (Kakogawa Kita) or Hara (Touyoudai Himeji), would break first.

The replay saw more 0's piling up over the first 4 innings. But Hara was holding up much better than Inoue. Touyoudai Himeji finally broke through with a run in the 5th, but it was 5 in the 7th that made the difference. Hara would throw a 2-hit shutout as Touyoudai Himeji won their 12th title, and first in 5 years.

93rd Koushien Qualifying - Shikoku/Kyushu Update

2011-08-01T16:29:00.002+09:00

Kagawa
So the Kagawa semis outside of last year's representative Eimei had some former participants, though it was a while ago. As a result, Eimei advanced from one semi, and Marugame from the other would meet up.

But it was all Eimei in the final as they won 8-0 for their 2nd consecutive title.

Tokushima
We almost had 2 upsets in the semifinals. First, Seikou Gakuen shocked seeded Naruto scoring 3 runs on just 4 hits. Naruto only had 2 hits and still managed to score 1 run.

In the other semi, Komatsushima was leading seeded Tokushima Shougyou 1-0. But Tokushou scored a run in the 8th and one in the 9th for a gyakuten sayonara win.

In the final, Tokushima Shougyou led 2-1 heading into the 9th when Seikou Gakuen tied the game! The game would be sent into extras, and while Seikou was able to hold on for a while, reliever Okigaki finally folded in the 13th, giving up the sayonara run giving Tokushou their 23rd title and their first appearance since 2007.

Ehime
As Ehime passed onto the semis, most of the expected teams made it such as Imabari Nishi, last years winner Uwajima Higashi. They'd have to face Touon and Nitta respectively.

And while Imabari Nishi did their job, seeded Nitta did theirs by defeating last year's representative 2-1 on the strength of a 3-hitter by the tandem of Hino and Nakagawa.

In the finals though Nitta decided to go Hino then Yuyama then Nakagawa. Whether or not it proved to be fatal is unknown, but righter after tying the game at 1 in the 6th, Yuyama gives up 2 runs with prove to be the final margin.

Kochi
So looking at the matchups, you had to figure it would be Meitoku Gijyuku versus either Kochi school (which would be a challenge).

Meitoku Gijyuku did make it to the finals, but they did it with the benefit of just 1 hit (and 7 free passes). Ace Omatsu would only give up 2 hits to Tosa himself. They would face Kochi, though only because they scored 7 in the 8th to win 7-3 over Kochi Shougyou.

In the final, Omatsu once again shut the door on Kochi's offense! He once again limited them to just 1 hit, though striking out just 3 giving Meitoku Gijyuku their 13th title and 2nd consecutive.

Kyushu
Just to show how good Kyushu Kokusaidai Fuzoku (aka Kyukoku) is, they used backup pitcher Ooe in the semifinals against Oomuta for 8 innings before turning to Miyoshi, and he gave up just 5 hits. Miyoshi completed the shutout.

In the other semi, Touchiku surprised Fukuoka Koudai Jyoutou with 3 in the bottom of the 8th for the gyakuten 4-3 win.

The finals was all Kyukoku, who won 11-2 for their 4th title, and their first appearance since 2009.

Kumamoto
The final was a pitchers' duel as the teams only combine for 9 hits. Senshuudai Tamana makse the most of their 4 hits and plates a run - the only one scored in the game. Kumamoto Kougyou falls 1-0 and Senshuudai Tamana finally gets their first appearance at Koushien!

Oita
One could have argued that this was Meihou's tournament. Except for the fact that in the semifinals against Oita Shougyou, they fell behind 4-0 before scoring in the 2nd half of the game to win 10-5. Nihon Bunridai Fuzoku seemed to be the better team coming out of the semis with a 4-0 win over Hita Rinkou.

Yet in the finals, Meihou's ace Takao throws a CG 1-hitter giving them their 4th title as well and first since 2009.

Miyazaki
In the finals between Nobeoka Gakuen and Nichinan Gakuen, Nichinan Gakuen would get the better of the matchup, winning 4-3 and earning their 6th title and first in 4 years.

93rd Koushien Qualifying - Honshu Update (ex Osaka & Hyogo)

2011-07-31T09:57:00.006+09:00

So since prefectures have wrapped up play, I can go over full coverage... except for Osaka and Hyogo. Their formats are weird.

Aomori
So the battle of the older brother versus younger brother went... well... as expected.

Kousei Gakuin defeated (Kousei Gakuin) Noheji Nishi 9-1 for their 4th title, and first since 2003.

Yamagata
So Yamagata's semifinals had Tsuruoka Higashi surprisingly end Nichidai Yamagata's run scoring 6 in the first 3 innings and using that to win 6-5.

Meanwhile, my irrational pick Haguro was down 5-1 to Yamagata Chuo, then rallied to get up 6-5, blew that lead in the top of the 9th then lost it in the 10th. Nuts.

So it would be either Tsuruoka Higashi, who hadn't been in 30 years or Yamagata Chuo, who hadn't been at all.

It was Tsuruoka Higashi who scores 1st with 2 in the 3rd. Ace Furuichi had been holding Yamagata Chuo at bay until Takahashi hits a 2-run HR in the 6th to reset the game! Sugai with new life tried to keep things level until his team could score, but it wasn't to be. Tsuruoka Higashi would score in the next inning, giving them a 3-2 victory and their 3rd summer title!

Miyagi
In the Miyagi final, Rifu was certainly in the drivers seat against B seed Furukawa Kougyou. Yet Rifu couldn't get to Furukou's ace Yamada. In fact, it was Furukou that got the first lead, scoring on Katou. Rifu responded by firing right back to tie the game.

But when Furukou was threatening once again, Katou would be relieved by Mizuochi, but he was unable to clamp it down. Furukou takes the lead.

Furukawa Kougyou would add one more run in the 8th, and earn their first ever Koushien appearance, defeating both Tohoku and Rifu in the process!!

Fukushima
So, in the semifinals, it really was Seikou Gakuin and everyone else it seemed. They easily handled Iwaki Kouyou 5-0. Their opponent would be Sukagawa who scored the gyakuten 4-3 win over Odaka Kougyou with 2 runs in the 9th.

In the end, it'd be ace Saiuchi for Seikou Gakuin who would 3-hit Sukagawa and earn their 5th consecutive appearance!

Tochigi
So Tochigi was finally able to have their final, but it was rather lopsided. Utsunomiya Shougyou gave it their best, but lost 17-5 to Sakushin Gakuin. It's their 7th title and first in 2 years.

Nishi Tokyo
The semis for the Nishi Tokyo region almost went as expected. Waseda Jitsugyou (aka Soujitsu) defeated Kousei Gakuen 11-5, while Nichidai-san (aka Sanko) had early offensive struggles against Nichidai Tsurugaoka but pulled away in the 2nd half of the game, winning 9-3.

So, what's new? It's a finals matchup between two Tokyo powerhouses - Soujitsu and Sanko.

And this is one final that you know won't disappoint. And it didn't.

Aces Uchida (Soujitsu) and Yoshinaga (Sanko) were going to start and finish the game come hell or high water.

So it began, and the aces dominated the opening innings as neither team could score. Then in the 5th, after Taniguchi for Sanko gets hit in the head (ouch), he steals second and scores on a double to center, making it 1-0 Sanko.

Then in the very next inning, Uchida leaves one up for Suganuma and he bombs one to make it 2-0!

And in a game like this, a 2-0 deficit is rather huge. Soujitsu uses their lucky 7 to get a run back. Though it was via a double, bunt and wild pitch.

Yoshinaga though would not let another run cross the plate. He shuts down the Soujitsu offense and sends Nichidai-san to their 14th appearance and first in 2 years.

Kanagawa
In the Kanagawa final, Yokohama looked to be more than beatable and Toukou showed a lot of fight. And it continued here.

Matsui opened for Toukou Gakuen and held Yokohama scoreless for 4+ innings. In the 5th though, after a couple of hits, he would be relieved by Kashiwara. Yokohama though would push home a run in the 5th.

Yet, the deficit would remain at 1, and in the 7th Toukou would find an equalizer! And it would be a new game once again.

Top 9, Toukou Gakuen gets a hit and after a walk with 2 down, Yokohama sends in #11 Souma. He strikes out the next batter to end the threat.

Yokohama looked to end things right in the 9th as Kashiwara hits the first batter, who was leaning waaaaaaaaaayyyy in. The dead ball stands, and the next batter takes advantage of a defense expecting bunt, and bounces one over the infield for a base hit! Now Toukou was in real trouble!

But when they tried to execute a bunt, Kashiwara charges in and makes a great throw to 3rd to get the lead runner! One down, but Toukou isn't out of it yet.

And a base hit to right is quickly fielded by RF Fujishima holding the lead runner at 3rd. Manrui with 1 down, normal baseball strategy would call for a bunt.

But there was none from Nakase and he goes down swinging! I wonder why they didn't try it.

2 down, and Aoki is up, but he pops it up! 2B Suzuki secures it and they go into extras!

However, given Yokohama's threats in the last couple of innings and the momentum they seemed to have, I thought Toukou would have to win this now, or they might lose immediately in extras.

Sure enough, Toukou goes down in order, and Otosaka starts things off in the 10th with a double. Another quick single to right puts the sayonara run 90 feet away...

...and C Kondou doesn't miss. He chops one up the middle for the win! Yokohama wins 2-1 in 10 for their 14th title and 1st in 3 years.

Niigata
So in Niigata, it's 2 strong teams in the final. Nihon Bunri, the almost cardiac kids in 2009, versus Niigata Meikun.

And as expected it would be a low scoring affair at Hard-Off Eco Stadium.

In fact, it'd be another enchousen game. Niigata Meikun would have first crack, getting a runner on 3rd with 2 outs. But a flyout to left ends that.

#20 Tamura for Nihon Bunri (teams are allowed 20 on their roster during prefecturals). hits a double to left-center! But when he's bunted over, P Machinaga fields it and throws to 3rd getting Tamura out by a mile! What the heck happened there??

A base hit to left by Noguchi put runners at the corners.

Yumoto finishes the deal with a drive to right center giving Nihon Bunri their 6th title and 1st appearance since their final game in 2009.

Toyama
In the Toyama finals, Toyama Kokusaidai Fuzoku down 1-0 quickly scored 4 to take a 4-1 lead over Shin-Minato. Kokusaidai ace Gotou continues to shut down the Shin-Minato offense, but in the 8th Shin-Minato breaks out with 3 runs to take a 5-4 lead! With just 3 outs left, Toyama Kokusaidai Fuzoku couldn't get to ace Hakamatani who denies them their first ever Koushien appearance! Instead it will be Shin-Minato who earns their 5th summer title and first since 1999!

Mie
As the tournament progressed, it seemed like some of the pre-tournament favorites didn't look to be actual favorites. Mie in the round of 16, struggled against Matsusaka Kougyou needed to score 2 in the 9th for the 4-3 gyakuten win.

Inabe Sougou was not as fortunate losing 3-2 to Kuwana Kougyou.

But Mie wouldn't be too far behind. Ise Kougyou, despite giving up the tying run in the 9th, defated Mie 2-1 in 11! Tsu Nishi bid sayonara to Tsu 5-4 in 9.

So Inabe Sougou was gone... now so was Mie. That left Komono as the only major team left.

Except they lost too in the quarterfinals to Kinkidai Tousen 6-3.

So that meant the entire field is wide open. And the semifinals really showed that.

Kinkidai Tousen vs. Tsu Nishi went something like this...

Tsu Nishi down 0-4, 1-4, 1-6, 1-7, 4-7, 4-8, then up 9-8, down 9-11, 10-11, 10-13...

And 5 runs in the bottom of the 8th gave them a 15-13 lead. With 28 runs already, 2 more seemed like a possibility.

But Tsu Nishi's 4th and 5th pitchers, Morimasa and Itou would put the games 4th zero (on either side), as they win 15-13.

The other semifinals was much more tame. Yokkaichi gets a 3-0 lead in the 3rd, Kurokawa can't hold it, gives up 4 in the 6th to Ise Kougyou en route to a 5-3 loss.

The final would be unpredictable given these teams, but Ise Kougyou took control early, jumping to a 6-1 lead. Tsu Nishi though would chip away, closing to within 2 in the 6th. But 3 in the 8th meant that Ise Kougyou wins just their 2nd title (their first was in 1988).

Kyoto
So, in Kyoto we had 3 well-known (and fairly long-named) schools in Ryuukokudai Heian, Fukuchiyama Seibi, and Ritsumeikan Uji, and a not-so much imposter in Kyoto Ryouyou (they did after all beat what could have been the 4th long-named team in Kyoto Gaidai Nishi).

Kyoto Ryouyou did show they belonged though, as they held with Ritsumeikan Uji, taking a 2-0 lead and a 3-2 lead. However, Ritsumeikan Uji took control in the 5th, scoring 5 runs and a 7-3 lead. Ryouyou scored 2 to cut the deficit in half, but Ritsumeikan put it away with a pair in the 7th to win 9-5.

Fukuchiyama Seibi is working to rebuild after their withdrawal following some rather offensive actions last year. They're back to the Best 4, but could not keep up with Ryuukokudai Heian. There were pinged in the middle innings to death and a 6-3 loss.

In the finals it was all Heian as they win their 31st title and a trip to Koushien after a year off.

Nara
Chiben Gakuen wins.

(What? What else do you want me to say? That they won their 5 games by a combined 45-6???)

Wakayama
Chiben Wakayama wins.

Ok, so in this case there's a little more to this. First Chiben Wakayama actually got a scare. Block semifinals against Hidaka, Hidaka actually took the lead 2-1 in the 3rd, then extended it by a run in the 5th! But it's a 9-inning game, and in the 8th Kadoguchi couldn't hold Chiben off. 3 in the 8th meant they were behind, and they never caught up.

But after Kouyou fell to Ito in the Block D final, that left only Minabe to challenge Chiben Wakayama. And suffice it to say, Minabe is no Kouyou, nor Minoshima (who lost earlier).

So Chiben Wakayama wins their 7th consecutive title. Chiben Wakayama winning Wakayama is like Tenri/Chiben Gakuen winning Nara. Just check the box and move on.

Okayama
Championship game in Okayama, and Kanzei was poised to win another title. But Konkou Gakuen had other ideas. After falling behind 2-0, Konkou Gakuen scored 5 unanswered to take a 5-2 lead late.

Kanzei though showed fight by coming all the way back in the bottom of the 9th! 2 innings later, they secure their 8th appearance and first since 2006.

Shimane
Perhaps as expected, it was Iwamichisuikan and Kaisei in the finals, though it almost wasn't. Iwamichisuikan needed to score 5 runs in the last 2 innings to pull out a 6-5 sayonara win.

And in that sense, it wasn't surprising then that Kaisei routed Iwamichisuikan 12-2 for the title.

Hiroshima
Jyosuikan would be in the finals, that seemed assured (and it was with a 3-1 win). The question would be who would they face.

Soutoku was the seeded team, but Hiroshima Shinjyou was the one taking the initiative. After falling behind 3-1 they rallied for 3 to re-take a one run lead, eventually winning 5-4 in 10.

In the final, Jyosuikan did take the 1-0 lead, but then Shinjyou pinged one run, then another and perhaps we'd see an upset. But when Jyosuikan scored a pair in the 7th and 8th, it was all but over as they won their 7th title.

Yamaguchi
In the final, Yanai Gakuen would manage just 5 hits and 1 run. But their ace Yazawa held Sakuragaoka to just 2 hits and 0 runs meaning that they would earn their 1st ever appearance!

93rd Koushien Qualifying - Hokushinetsu/Chuubu Update

2011-07-29T11:00:00.008+09:00

Niigata
With games spaced out, Niigata wasn't affected as much by the rain. Round of 16 action at Sanjyou Kikai wound up being a surprise as both seeded teams, #3 Nagaoka Oote and 5-8 Sado both lost! Nagaoka Oote gave up 4 in the 1st and never recovered against Niigata Kenou Kougyou while Niigata Meikun scored all 3 of their runs in the bottom of the 9th to defeat Sado 3-2!

Nihon Bunri led 4-0 over Teikyou Nagaoka before Teikyou scored 6 to take the lead! But Nihon Bunri had time to recover, tied the game in the 6th and won 10-6.

#2 Hokuetsu too would fall at Shibata Ijimino as Shirone scores 3 in the bottom of the 8th for the gyakuten 6-5 win.

Onto the quarterfinals and Nihon Bunri got involved in one heck of a battle with Murakami Sakuragaoka! After falling behind 3-0 in the top of the 1st, they score 5, then give 4 right back! Things got worse in the 6th after Murakami scored 2 more. That meant they were trailing 9-5! But Nihon Bunri would finally respond. 3 in the 6th and one more in the 7th finally brought them level. And in the bottom of the 9th, they score the winning run, but a rather unusual game from them here in the quarterfinals.

Shirone on the other side surprised yet another team as Katou shut out Gosen 2-0!

To the semis, and Nihon Bunri struggled again, this time against Chuuetsu. Managing just 1 run early, Chuuetsu took the 2-1 lead in the 6th. It would be 1 inning later where they'd take a 3-2 lead, but even though they reach the finals, I don't know if they can get away with it against Niigata Meikun. They mercilessly end Shirone's run with a 9-1 mercy game.

Nagano
In what could be considered a big upset, unknown Komoro Shougyou and ace Niimi(?) shutout Saku Chousei 3-0! That still leaves some big name teams, but it sure opens the door!

Joining Komoro Shougyou would be Tokyo Shidai Shiojiri, who scored 4 in the 4th but that was all they needed to beat Toukai Dai-san 4-3.

Meanwhile, emerging power Nagano Nichidai goes down in a shocker to to Matsumoto Dai-ichi 6-4!

Matsushou Gakuen does advance to the semis, but with a less than convincing 4-2 win over Iiyama.

In the semis, Matsushou Gakuen advanced to the finals with little resistance from Komoro Shougyou. It would seem like no matter the opponent, they should have no problem. After all, neither of them had been to Koushien before.

Their opponent would be Tokyo Shidai Shiojiri who won 2-0...

In the beginning though, it was Shidai who took the lead first. 3 runs in the 2nd and Matsushou was on their heels. It wouldn't be until the 6th inning when Matsushou would finally get on the board against ace Aibara. And the very next inning they knocked him out and scored 3 runs to boot to take the lead.

Things looked well for Matsuhou after that. All Kumatani had to do was close it out. But in the 9th he faltered. Shidai would score 3 runs in the 9th to take a 1 run lead. Matsushou once again was on the verge of being knocked out. Once again, they manufactured a run against reliever Kaneko to send it into extras.

That would be it for starter Kumatani as Miwa would relieve him, but 2 hits and only 1 out later, he would be relieved by their 3rd pitcher Hara. He gets them out of the mess, but he may be the end of the line for Matsushou.

As the game progressed, neither team was able to manufacture a run.

That was until the 13th when Shidai was able to push in a run, once again putting Matsushou on their heels.

This time though, there would be no comeback. The middle of the lineup couldn't deliver for Matsushou and Tokyo Shidai Shiojiri earns their 1st ever Koushien appearance!

Toyama
Toyama had the benefit of going slowly given the number of teams. They've actually been able to go through just 2 games a day each at 2 sites.

One of those games was in the 2nd round when Sakurai and Shin-Minato go extras, with Sakurai taking a 2-1 lead in the 12th only to have Fukushima falter in the end giving up 2 for the loss.

Shin-Minato's next game against Fushiki was even crazier. Down 4-0 before getting their first AB, they quickly got 3 back. After trading some runs in the next couple of innings, Shin-Minato scores 6 in the 6th to take a 11-6 lead! That lasted all of... almost nothing. Fushiki scores 5 in the lucky 7 and we were tied! Shin-Minato finally puts it away with 3 in the 8th for a 14-11 win!

Even by the Best 8, things had going pretty much as normal. The top 2 seeds advanced, but certainly not convincing. Toyama Kokusaidai Fuzoku managed just 6 hits against Namerikawa but scored the only run. Takaoka Shougyou limited Fujikoshi Kougyou to just 2 hits, but won 4-1.

Shin-Minato's quarterfinal game had to be pushed back due to rain, but when it finally got underway, it was another nail-biter. Takaoka Nishi kept the game close until the 8th when Shin-Minato scored 3 for the eventual 5-3 win.

In the semifinals, Toyama Kokusaidai Fuzoku uses a 4-run 5th to distance themselves from Tonami Kougyou for a 6-3 win. Shin-Minato will be their opponent as they win 15-6 over Takaoka Shougyou. Interestingly, it's Shin-Minato who's been to Koushien before, and seeded Takaoka Kokusaidai Fuzoku who hasn't!

Fukui
Not surprisingly, 3 of the 4 semifinalists were Fukui Koudai Fukui, Fukui Shougyou and Tsuruga Kehi. The 4th seeded team, Nyuu, who seems to at least be above average, lost to Takefu Shougyou in the round prior.

So in the semis, Koudai Fukui had no trouble with the outlier of the bunch as they won 6-0. The Fukushou-Tsuruga Kehi game on the other hand was close as expected. Neither team was able to scratch out a lead bigger than 2 until the bottom of the 8th as Fukushou got to Tsuruga Kehi's ace Yamamoto for 2 to get a 3-run lead. It was left to Fukushou's Yamamoto to shut things down. Except he wasn't able to cleanly. 1 run was in for Kehi, then 2... But Yamamoto managed to record the 3rd out and it setup a familiar final between two powerhouse schools.

Sadly though the finals were all Fukui Shougyou. Despite keeping the deficit at 1 early, they couldn't stop Fukushou from scoring in the middle innings. When all was said and done, Fukushou had earned their 2nd consecutive appearance and 21st overall.

Ishikawa
As the tournament moved into the round of 16 we could start noting some of the favored teams such as Kanazawa and Yuugakukan though you could be assured they'd advance far.

Looking at the other teams, there were some interesting battles. Komatsu defeats Hakui 3-2 in 12, Kanazawa Sakuragaoka rallies from down 6-0 to defeat Kanazawa Izumigaoka 9-6.

But in the end it would be Kanazawa and Yuugakukan who would meet in the final. Kanazawa would build a 4-0 lead early and not relinquish it, winning 8-5 for their 13th appearance and first since 2008.

Shiga
Much like other rural prefectures, certain teams dominate the area. Here in Shiga, it's primarily Kita-Ootsu and Oumi.

Yet this year they didn't seem as dominating. While Oumi won their first games 4-1 and 5-0, Kita-Ootsu won 3-1, then won 1-0 in 12 over Hikone Higashi (who really isn't that bad of a team).

That meant the door was possibly opened for other teams. Takashima, down 5-1 to Youkaichi in the bottom of the 9th score 5 to win the game and earn a crack at Kita-Ootsu.

Surpringly, it was not Kita-Ootsu, but Oumi who would fall first. Seta Kougyou scores 4 in the 8th and 9th innings to win 9-6! Kita-Ootsu survived yet again with a 3-1 win over Takashima.

Perhaps the only team that showed some domination was a different seeded team - Hachiman Shougyou who had won their first games combined 15-2 before defeating Kawase 4-1.

In the semis, Hachiman Shougyou flexed its muscle again, mercy-ruling Seta Kougyou 7-0 in 7. Kita-Ootsu makes it to the final with another close game against Oumi Kyoudaisha 4-2.

To the finals, and Kita-Ootsu seemed to be destined to be one of those teams who liked playing low scoring affairs. They build a 3-0 lead early, and looked to be in control. But in the 5th, Hachiman Shougyou out of nowhere goes on a run and scores 6 runs! Kita-Ootsu, who has played a low scoring strategy suddenly needs to keep up. But trying for runs at this point is difficult and as a result they lose 6-4 and Hachiman wins their 7th title and heads to Koshien for the first time in 5 years!

Yamanashi
So in the semifinals, Yamanashi Gakuindai Fuzoku had no trouble with Koufu Shougyou after pulling off the upset on A seed Toukaidai Koufu. Meanwhile Nihon Koukuu had their own upset to pull off against Koufu Kougyou and succeeded 6-4. Interestingly, all 4 semifinals were a Natsu Koushien representative in each of the last 5 years except last year (Hikawa).

In the finals, Gakuindai opened the scoring in the 4th with a run but JAA responded with 3 in their half. But Gakuindai started chipping away in the 6th, tying it in the 7th then blowing it open with 7 runs in the last 2 innings for the 10-3 win. This is their 5th title, and 1st in 2 years.

Gifu
Well, for almost all seeded teams remaining in the block semifinals, they all advanced. Though for teams like Seki Shoukou, they went from tied at 1-1 into the 9th, to down 4-1, to a sayonara 5-4 win!

The only seeded team remaining not to advance was Tounou Jitsugyou. They fell 9-5 to Gujyou.

To the block finals, and the shocker of them all came in the first game. Block A saw Seki Shoukou take a 4-1 lead over Oogaki Nichidai with 4 in the 5th! After extending it to 4 with a run in the 7th, ace Naijyou(?) gave it all right back, and was knocked out. And so, Oogaki Nichidai with new life, seemed to be back in control of the game. But Oogaki's 3rd pitcher of the game, Ueki, couldn't record an out. 2 hits later, and Kassai was tasked to save the inning.

Yet, he would be unable to do so. Seki Shoukou plates a run and takes the lead once again. Reliever Yasue shuts the Nichidai offense down, and they pull off the 6-5 upset!

Joiing Seki Shoukou would be Oogaki Shougyou, Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou, and Gujyou.

In the redraw for the semis, the expected blockbuster matchup game not in the finals, but the semis. Yes, Oogaki Shougyou and Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou drew each other. The game started off competitive as Oogaki Shougyou nudged out to a 2-1 lead. But in the 7th, Oogaki Shougyou scored 6 runs putting Kengishou on mercy watch. And sure enough, they were unable to score and Oogaki Shougyou advanced to the finals.

And though Seki Shoukou advanced to meet them, it was all but a certainty that Oogaki Shougyou would go to Koushien.

Whoops.

No one told Seki Shoukou that...

In the 2nd and 3rd innings, Seki Shoukou scores 2 runs apiece to take a shocking 4-0 lead on the favorites! Meanwhile, Naijyou scatters 7 hits across the board as he gives his team their 1st ever Koushien appearance!

Aichi
Almost 2 full weeks after the first games started in Aichi, the seeded teams finally start their games in their blocks. This is because the format chosen means these teams get not 1, but 2 bye rounds before they even play a game.

All the seeded teams did advance, though some not without some difficulty. Block A, Shigakukan scored 4 in the 9th to beat Douhou 10-7. In Block D, Kikuka needed all 15 innings before scoring the sayonara run to beat Niwa 3-2. And in Block F, Oobu gave up a 1-run lead to Bihoku before winning in 10.

In other block games, Kira scored in each of the last 3 innings to defeat Kariya Kita 3-2. Meijyoudai Fuzoku and Shouwa played to a 2-2 draw. The following day, it would be Meijyoudai who jumped out to an early lead and win 8-5.

There'd be more trouble for the seeded teams in the block semis. Shigakukan got into trouble yet again, but not in the way you'd think. Down 3-0 To Aichi Sangyoudai Kougyou they score 7 in the 7th and the game seems to be under control. Yet the very next half-inning Sangyoukou scores 6 to retake a 2-run lead! Well, with just 2 innings to go, and getting punched in the mouth like that it seemed like this time it would be the end. Yet they score 3 in the bottom of the 9th and advance 10-9!

Oobu too was in trouble. Down 3 to Tojyaku in the bottom of the 9th, they find a way to tie the game up and win 5-4 in 10.

Aichi was not so lucky in Block B. They fall 3-2 to Toyokawa and become the first casualty. Next, and perhaps most surprising of all was 2009 Natsu Koushien winner Chuukyoudai Chuukyou who lost to Jishuukan 3-2!

We also had our 2nd draw as Chiryuu and Aichi Shougyou played to a 5-5 draw. Chiryuu would win the replay 6-2.

Of the 8 seeded teams, the 6 remaining after the upsets did advance.

Perhaps the weakest of the bunch may have be Oobu who though seeded played 3 consecutive enchousen games, including their block final against Chiryuu. That went the full 15 before they scored 2, and yet almost blew it again (Chiryuu scored 1).

The Final 8 was redrawn, and it was very lopsided. The 2 favorites, Aikoudai Meiden and Touhou were on one side of the draw, along with Aichi Keisei who while never has to Koushien, has fared really well in the prefecture. On the other side the only team to have advanced to Koushien was Oobu.

Aikoudai Meiden and Touhou did win their games, though by margins of 5-2 and 3-1. Oobu's run did indeed run out against Toyokawa 6-3, and Shigakukan went 14 innings against Kikuka before winning 2-1.

In the semis, Aikoudai Meiden was able to edge out Touhou 6-5 through a 5-run 5th. Shigakukan would be their opponent as they jumped out to a 4-0 lead after 1 and used the cushion to win 10-7.

The finals were held the very next day amidst not to friendly clouds. The conditions seemed to favor Shigakukan as they overcame a 2-0 deficit in the first to lead 4-2 when the game went into rain delay at the end of 5. When the game resumed, Aikoudai Meiden would immediately pull within 1 against 3rd pitcher Iwata.

But Iwata would be able to shut down Ichiro's alma mater and Shigakukan earns their 1st ever Koushien appearance with a 4-3 win!

Shizuoka
As Shizuoka moved on in their tournament, the teams to watch out for would be Tokoha Kikugawa, Shizuoka and Seisei.

In the meantime, the other teams needed to keep advancing to even have a shot, no matter how small. Iwata Kita almost blew that chance twice. First, they lose a 2-run lead to Seikei in the top of the 9th, then Seikei scored a run in the 11th. Iwata Kita was able to score 2 to advance 6-5. Fuji Shiritsu had to go 15 innings against Hamakita Nishi to win 3-1.

Seeded Hamamatsu Nishi was not so fortunate, having to rally against Touyou from down 3-0 early, but lost 4-3 in the bottom of the 9th. Shizuoka Shougyou was next in the round of 16, falling 9-1 in 7 innings to Iwata Higashi!

So on one side of the best 8, all 4 seeded teams advanced. On the other side, only Nirayama remained.

The quarterfinals saw Nirayama and Iwata Higashi advancing on one side with 5-0 victories, Shizuoka defeating the weak link Hiryuu, and Tokoha Kikugawa and Seisei battling the full 9 innings before Tokoha Kikugawa made the sayonara victory 3-2.

In the semis, the last seeded team on the left side of the bracket finally fell as Nirayama lost to Iwata Higashi 6-3. But to win their first ever natsu title, they'd have to go through Shizuoka who dominated Tokoha Kikugawa 12-4.

But Iwata Higashi put up a great fight. Ace Abe kept Shizuoka to 1 run early, and allowed them to tie it up in the 4th with a HR from 1B Moriguchi. Except he'd give the 1-run lead right back to them. An insurance run in the bottom of the 8th spelled doom for the potential first-timers as Harazaki gives Shizuoka their 22nd title and first in 8 years!

93rd Koshien Qualifying - Kanto Update

2011-07-27T04:16:00.005+09:00

By the time I have come back to the Kanto region, we're pretty much approaching the finals in all prefectures. Such is the price of me trying to update every single bracket and trying to blog it while holding a regular 9-5 job. There's got to be a better way of doing it, but I need to book up on excel, access or something to figure out how...

Gunma
As the rounds progressed from the 3rd (which is what they were starting last I recapped), the lower seeded teams such as #7 Maebashi Ikuei, started falling by the wayside. In their case it was a shutout to Oomama (Please, no jokes here).

Also in the 3rd round, Shiritsu Isesaki, held scoreless for 6 innings and down 8, score 11 runs in the final 3 innings for the gyakuten win over Takasaki Keizaidai Fuzoku.

But the first real shoe to drop came in the quarterfinals. Top seed Maebashi Shougyou broke out to a 6-1 lead over Maebashi Kougyou before Maekou scored 4. Then when Maeshou extended the lead back to 3, Maekou got all those runs in the 9th to send it into extras. And in 12, Maekou would score the eventual winning run for the upset!

And if that weren't enough, in the very next game Takasaki Kenkoufukushi scores a run in the 9th to break a 4-4 tie with Jyutoku (who never led), to send the #2 seed home 5-4!

In a more milder upset, #5 Takasaki Shougyou scores 7 in the 8th to defeat #4 Takasaki 7-4.

The semis were not blowouts, but you seemed to know who was in control early. Takasaki Shougyou and Takasaki Kenkoufukushi advance to the finals, with one looking for their first Natsu Koushien appearance in over 2 decades, and the other looking for their first ever.

The final got off to a roaring start. Each team scored in the first two innings. The difference however is that Takasaki Kenkoufukushi continued scoring. For each of the next 5 innings. Takasaki Shougyou couldn't keep up with the scoring and as a result Takasaki Kenkoufukushi earns their first ever appearance with a 10-6 win!

Tochigi
Tochigi has gone from wrapping up the 2nd round to the semifinals (which is still going).

Finishing up Round 2, we had Ashikaga Minami scores 5 in the 8th to defeat Kurubane 5-3.

Round 3 saw another seeded team fall in Oyama who lost to Ashikaga Koudai Fuzoku 3-2 in 13.

But for the most part, things have gone as "planned" with the seeded teams advancing on. So the semifinals had Sakushin Gakuin defeating Bunsei Keidai Fuzoku 5-3 to reach the finals. But their opponent is not yet determined.

That's because the last remaining unseeded team in Utsunomiya Shougyou and Kokugakuin Tochigi battled to a 4-4 draw! This after Kokugakuin had to stave off elimination twice, down 2 in the 10th and down 1 in the 12th.

In the replay, seeded Kokugakuin Tochigi struggled. Despite giving up just 7 hits, Utsunomiya Shougyou made the most of those hits scoring 5 runs en route to a 5-1 win. So it's heavily favored Sakushin Gakuin versus the underdog Utsunomiya Shougyou, whose last Natsu Koushien appearance was in 1923. That's 88 years ago!

Ibaraki
Wrapping up the 2nd round, some of the seeded teams had trouble with their very first game. Tsuchiura Kohoku barely beat Tamataukuri Kougyou 1-0, and Mita Kiryou edging Ina 3-2 in 11.

Sadly for one of those teams, their run wouldn't last much longer. Mita Kiryou loses in the next round 6-4 to Tsukuba Shuuei.

In the round of 16 there were some close calls. #4 Fujioka almost got upset by Ishioka Dai-ichi, but won 2-1 in the bottom of 9th. Tsuchiura Kouhoku gets another scare as they were in a scoreless draw with Hasaki Yanagawa. In the 14th, Hasaki would score 2 putting a ton of pressure on the 7 seed. But I'm not sure how, but they found enough strength to rally for 3 runs and the win!

And finally there was Shimotsuma Dai-ni who had to stave off elimination in the 9th with 3 runs before defeating Tsuchiura Nichidai 8-7 in 12.

Remarkably, the entire bracket with the exception of Mito Kiryou went chalk. All higher seeds won their quarterfinal games and while not blowouts, they weren't in stressful situations either.

And yet for some reason, after going scratch for pretty much the entire tournament, it decides that the semifinals is a good time to turn everything on its head.

First, Fujishiro, despite being outhit 9-6 and committing 2 errors, find a way to upset top seed Jyousou Gakuin 2-0! Then Kasumigaura's ace Itou limits Suijyou to just 4 hits as they beat them 2-1!

So the top 2 seeds are gone, and it's the 4 and 6 seeds battling for the title! Kasumigaura had never been to Natsu Koushien (they did have a spring appearance in 1990), and Fujishiro went back in 2005 (plus 2 spring appearances in the early 2000's).

It was a back and forth battle as Kasumigaura came out to a 2-0 lead after 2, then Fujishiro came back with 2 in the next 2. Kasumigaura with 3 in the 5th retake the lead, but 2 in the 6th make the deficit 1. Fast forward to the bottom of the 9th, and Fujishiro is still down 1. #16 Yamaguchi had taken over for ace Itou on the hill and had gotten himself into some messes, including a bases loaded jam that he got out of with no damage.

3 outs to go and Fujishiro leadoff batter starts it off with a base hit. Needing only one run, they bunt the runner along. After a grounder to 1st, there were one out away. Cleanup batter Nakamura would step in. Yamaguchi gets strike 2 and gets excited. But on a full count, Nakamura walks! The sayonara run now was on base! Mitsu now stood in and once again Yamaguchi gets ahead 0-2, and again he's fired up. But then Mitsu hits one to left! The LF comes in but then pulls up! The ball falls in and Fujishiro ties the game! The LF didn't want to risk a miss on a diving catch and allowing the sayonara run to score! So it was now 5-5!

Satou up now and on any base hit they're sending the runner home...

2-0 pitch and the ball hits Satou. It's originally called a strike, but the umpire has to go over and call it a ball.

So 3-0 now and the risk of a manrui situation...

But Satou takes the pitch the other way into the right center field gap! Neither of the outfielders can get to it and it falls in! Nakamura scores as Yamaguchi falls to the ground. What was on the verge of excitement and joy was completely reversed for Yamaguchi and Kasumigaura... Whether it may have been the extra delay to get the count right, or the excitement that Yamaguchi may have felt being just 1 pitch away, it slipped away. And as much as we should congratulate Fujishiro for not giving up, Kasumigaura and more importantly Yamaguchi should be consoled for their loss.

Saitama
We were wrapping up the 3rd round in Saitama, and today are the finals.

Rounding up the 3rd round, Honjyou Dai-ichi down 3 scores 4 in the bottom of the 9th for the win over Fukaya Dai-ichi. They continued it in the next round winning in 10 over C seed (5-8) Shiritsu Kawagoe 3-2.

Kawagoe Higashi scores 4 in 9th reverse 2-run deficit to crush Kawagoe Nishi's hopes 4-2.

Just to show how hard it can be to win a prefecture, of the 16 seeds (2 A, 2 B, 4 C, 8 D), 8 advanced to the round of 16. 1 B seed , 2 C seeds and 5 D seeds all fell before then.

And just because you got here, doesn't mean you're there yet. Ageo though reaching the round of 16 was upset by Sayamagaoka 2-1 in the bottom of the 9th! Oomiya Higashi and Washimiya were fall here as well - along with powerhouse Seibou Gakuin who were defeated by Kasukabe Kyouei 4-2.

In the quarterfinals, all teams were in play on the 24th instead of on 2 separate days. Hanasaki Tokuharu, the only A seed remaining left, advanced without issue, much like the other games. Kasukabe Kyouei, thanks Sayamagaoka for defeating Ageo by letting them enjoy their summer with a 4-1 win. Urawa Gakuin, a faux D Seed mercy rules C Seed Oomiya Higashi. And unseeded Honjyou Dai-ichi upsets their 2nd seeded team in B seed Urawa Jitsugyou 4-2!

We had quite the semifinal battle early between Hanasaki Tokuharu and Urawa Gakuin. But tied at 2-2 after 5, Hanasaki pulls away with 4 runs in the next 3 innings for the 6-2 win. Battling them for the title would be Kasukabe Kyouei who had no trouble with Honjyou Dai-ichi 5-2.

The finals were set, and it slated to be a great matchup. And it was. The game was scoreless for the first 3 innings before C seed Kasukabe opened the scoring with a run. But an inning later, Hanasaki Tokuharu would respond with 2 runs to take the lead! It would be up to ace Kitagawa to hold it down for the top seed, and in the end he would, shutting down the Kasukabe offense and given Hanasaki Tokuharu their 2nd Natsu Koshien appearance, and 1st in 10 years!

Chiba
As Chiba was going into the Round of 16, when in theory all seeded teams could be remaining, we had our biggest upset of this tournament this year when Senshuudai Matsudo, an A seed, was upset by unseeded Tokyo Gakkan Urayasu 3-2!

More C & D seeds fell going into the round of 16, but in some cases it was unseeded vs. unseeded. Such was the case between Chiba Kokusai versus Chiba Shougyoudai Fuzoku. Shougyoudai had a 1-0 lead early, but the pitching couldn't hold Kokusai scoreless forever. As they started scoring from the 7th inning on, it seemed like Shougyoudai was lost. But they scored 4 in the 8th to comeback and win the game 5-4!

In another unseeded match last year's representative Narita went the distance against Tateyama Sougou before losing 3-2 in the bottom of the 15th.

Needless to say though, that the 2nd day of action to determine the round of 16 was much more kinder to the very top seeds. All in all, only 1 A seed (1-4) and 1 B seed (5-8), were lost.

In the round of 16, Tokyo Gakkan Urayasu in another unseeded game, fell behind 5-0 in the 1st 3 innings then came back to score a pair of runs in each of the next 3. Add an insurance run in the 9th and they were in the quarterfinals with a 7-5 win. Other than that everything went as expected though B seed Shigakukan was blitzed by C seed Kashiwa Nittai 6-1.

The quarterfinals began with an scare for A seed Narashino. Up 2 in the 9th against Chiba Keizaidai Fuzoku, reliever Kimura squandered the lead allowing Keizaidai to tie the game! Luckily for Narashino though, they were able to regroup one inning later and score the sayonara run.

Toukaidai Urayasu though wasn't as fortunate. Takushokudai Kouryou would score 6 in the middle innings and take a commanding 6-0 lead. The A seed would try to make a comeback late, but there just wasn't enough time. 3 runs in the 9th were not enough as they fell 6-4!

And finally, Tokyo Gakkan Urayasu would upset their 2nd seeded team in Awa by a comfortable margin of 5-1!

The semifinals saw more of the usual with Narashino as Takushokudai Kounan was mercy ruled in 7. But the 2nd semifinal was another shocker in the making. Right out of the gate, Tokyo Gakkan Urayasu would build a 5-0 lead on the A seed Ryuukeidai Kashiwa. Ryuukeidai would score 4 in the 4th to pull within 1. They kept the deficit at 1 after trading a pair of runs later on. And then in the 9th, they'd finally pull level with Tokyo Gakkan Urayasu. It seemed like perhaps the tide was changing.

But in the bottom of the 9th, TGU would open the inning with a ball over the outfielder's head for a leadoff triple! Instead of loading the bases, they elect to pitch to the next batter... who hits a single for the sayonara walk-off! Unseeded Tokyo Gakkan Urayasu upsets their 2nd A seed this tournament and 3rd seeded team overall and found themselves in the finals!

In the finals though, stood a stout and formidable Narashino squad, who mercilessly opened the game with runs in the first 3 innings to get a 4-0 lead. TGU was unable to get any timely hits to narrow the deficit. While the relief staff was able to stop the bleeding, the offense was unable to make any ground.

Eventually the relief corps would break down, first with a run in the 7th, then 5 in the 8th and 4 in the 9th. And while Tokyo Gakkan Urayasu would prevent the shutout in the bottom of the 9th, Narashino would win their 8th summer title and go to Koushien for the first time in 10 years with a 14-2 win!

Nishi Tokyo
When it comes to prefectures, or in case part of a prefecture, where there are a lot of teams, it takes a while for the good teams to emerge. I always wonder if it's worth it to mention those teams that will in all likelihood never make it, but pull off comeback victories and the like because at that time it continues their summer.

For instance, Eimeikan versus Kodaira Minami down 3-1 tie the game in the 8th and go into extras. Threatened with elimination again in the 12th, they score a run to extend the game. Then in the final inning, the bottom of the 15th, they score the winning run to advance.

But as we approached the Best 8 is when the good teams (or perhaps lucky) started to shake out. 2 instances were Kokugakuin Kugayama blowing a 4-run lead in the 9th to Toukaidai Sugao before winning 6-4 in the 11th on a 2-run HR by ace Kawaguchi. The 2nd was Horikoshi who down 1 in the bottom of the 9th tied, then scored the sayonara run with 2 down.

Meanwhile Oberlin, despite 2 HRs from 3B Yamaguchi, were only able to hold the lead of a half-inning before Eimeikan took the lead for good winning 7-5. On a similar note, Shouwa, who may not be long for the tournament after this game (as they're facing Waseda Jitsugyou aka Soujitsu), down 1 in the 9th to Meijidai Meiji, scores 2 for the walkoff win.

And while I could say, "and so it was" since Soujitsu did indeed beat them, but despite getting 10 hits and 6 free passes, they managed just a 2-1 win. Nichidai-san (aka Sanko), had some trouble with Hino... for a while. Up 7-0, Hino started chipping into the lead. 2 in the 4th, 3 in the 5th, and one more in the 7th off Yoshinaga (who came in part-way through the 5th), meant that Sanko's lead was just 1!

Then Sanko decided to floor it. 8 runs later and Hino was threatened with the mercy rule. 3 runs against ace Yoshinaga in 1 inning was too much to ask, and that was that. Waseda Gakuin reached the round of 8 again, with a 9-7 win over Kougakuindai Fuzoku that was less competitive than the score indicated, and Kousei Gakuen who has submariner Mizoguchi.

In an odd turn, and I'm not sure if it was to prevent games possibly running late, or of it was due to not wanting both Waseda schools at the stadium, but Waseda Gakuin's game versus Nichidai Tsurugaoka was moved to Hachiouji Municipal. The game was close early, as Waseda quickly closed a 2-run deficit early. But Tsurugaoka started pulling away late, capped off with 4 in the 9th for an 8-2 win.

The other quarterfinals, were just not competitive at all. In fact, Soujitsu, Sanko and Kousei combined shut out their opponents to the tune of 34-0, and all but Kousei went 5 (Kousei played just 1 inning more).

Higashi Tokyo
Higashi Tokyo, also had similar stories. For instance, Nittai Ebara bids sayonara to Sumida Kougyou right after Sumida scored a run in the 9th to tie the game up. Nichidai Buzan rallied with 2 in the the 8th and 9th innings to wipe out a 3-run deficit incurred after giving up 7 in the 7th to Sundai Gakuen.

In what could be considered a quarterfinal-type matchup, Kanto Dai-ichi survives against Yukigaya in the 3rd round 3-2.

And in perhaps an example of needing those extra vowels, Shutoku wins their game over Tokyo Shidai Todoroki and will play Shuutoku (the more well-known school) who shut-out Shouin.

Going to the round of 16 we had teams like Nisshougakushadai Fuzoku who scored 3 in the top of the 9th to defeat Tokyo Jitsugyou 4-2 interdispersed with quite a few regulars.

I think what's been surprising about the Tokyo tournaments is that the quarterfinals have been so lopsided. All 4 games ended via the mercy rule. That leaves us Teikyou v. Seiritsu Gakuen, and Nishogakushadai Fuzoku v. Kanto Dai-ichi.

Kanagawa
Kanagawa had some good stories in the beginning. Yamakita scored 3 in the bottom of the 9th to defeat Seya 7-6. Course, they faced Yokohama next. But they put a good fight against Yokohama. In fact, ace Dotemoto limited Yokohama to just 3 hits. 3! And Yamakita out-hit Yohohama 5-3! But it's the final score that matters, and that was 2-0 Yokohama.

Keiou oddly had trouble with their 3rd round opponent Yurigaoka. The final score was 3-2 and they managed just 7 hits. Nichidai Fujisawa would be next. And in that game, Keiou just didn't look the same. No offense, no pitching, and no win. Nichidai Fujisawa moves on with a 5-2 win.

Chigasaki Nishihama had a sayonara homerun from no other than their ace Furumura to win 6-3! And in the next round they almost did the same thing against Touin Gakuen. Down 3-0 in the bottom of the 9th they once again made their push. But it fell one run short as they lost 3-2.

In a bit of a surprise, Hosei Dai-ni advances to the round of 16 with a 4-0 win over Kamakura Gakuen. I don't think I can recall a time when I really mentioned a Hosei team.

The round of 16 saw my dream of a back-to-back haru-natsu renzoku yuushou disappear. An early HR from Usuda wasn't enough for them as Yokohama scores 3 to end Toukaidai Sagami's bid. Next up would be Tachibana Gakuen (立花学園 - that one) who handled Nichidai 5-0.

Koujyou would have to wait one more day to figure out their opponent. Yokohama Sougakukan and Yokohama Ouyou both scored a run in the 6th, both aces - Sueyoshi and Sawada went the full distance, and the teams combined for just 11 hits in a 1-1 draw. Possible note for the replay, Ouyou batters struck out 19 times.

So onto the next day of games, and I don't think I had talked about Toukou Gakuen in years past, but here they are in the round of 16 beating Nichidai Fujisawa 2-1! Next up would be Hosei Dai-ni and ace Asano who shutout Sagamihara Sougou 1-0.

Touin Gakuen is looking to make a deep run yet again, and perhaps not get disappointed as in years past. They draw Busou next.

And finally, in the replay of the 1-1 tie, Yokohama Ouyou did indeed have problems, though they only struck out twice. Yokohama Sougakukan alone had 14 hits, more than the 1st game in total. And it would be Yokohama Sougakukan who would advance with a 3-0 win.

To the quarterfinals and Tachibana Gakuen gave Yokohama yet another challenge. Behind 3-0 they score 3 in the 7th to tie the game! Yokohama though would eventually win the game with a run in the 8th. But they've had some very close calls throughout the tournament. Yokohama Sougakukan would give it a crack next as Koujyou fell to them 5-1.

On the other side, Hosei Dai-ni's run ended rather flat against Toukou Gakuen 10-3 in 7. Touin Gakuen would be their opponent, though it required 12 innings to do so. One letter kanji difference between the two schools. Just a random observation.

To the semifinals and yet again, Yokohama gets a scare. Scoreless for the first 5 innings, they score 4 in the 6th. Despite that, Yokohama Sougakukan would start a comeback. Down 0-4, to 1-4, 1-5, 2-5, then 2 in the bottom of the 8th to make it just a 1 run ball game! Ace Souma retakes the hill in the 9th for the win, and they're in the finals - though perhaps not necessarily in the manner perhaps we were expecting.

And the other semifinal was a tug of war between Toukou and Touin, with neither side really able to break free from the other. That was until Kubota hit a 2-run HR in the 6th to give Toukou a 5-3 lead. But that wouldn't last either as Touin brought the deficit to 1 again. Though they had their chaces, Touin couldn't get that equalizer and as such Toukou advances to meet Yokohama!

93rd Koushien Qualifying - Chuugoku/Shikoku Update

2011-07-26T11:33:00.002+09:00

Tottori
Yazu seemed to have the game in control after scoring 4 in the 3rd. But they had other opportunities to extend the lead and was not able to. That would hurt them in the end as Sakai would score a pair of runs in the 7th and 8th for a gyakuten 5-4 victory!

Sakai's opponent in the championship would be Tottori Shougyou as ace Hashimoto throws a 4-hit shutout over Tottori Ikuei.

In the finals, Sakai would have to play catchup, not once, but twice. Right after Tottori Shougyou scored their 2nd run in the 5th, Sakai scored a pair of their own. Same thing happened right after Tottori Shougyou scored a run in the bottom of the 6th. While it gave them the tie once again, they were unable to take the outright lead.

And Tottori Shougyou would ensure Sakai would have no time to rally. They score the sayonara run for the win and only their 2nd title - the first being 7 years ago.

Okayama
Kanzei and Okayama Rikaidai Fuzoku was easily the most competitive game of the 4 quarterfinal games. Both teams struggled to get hits, though Rikaidai did get the opening run in the 1st on a HR by Fujioka. Kanzei tried fighting back throughout the game, and finally broke through in the 8th scoring the douten run. In the 9th, they would get to reliever Fujioka and score the gyakuten run. Rikaidai was not able to mount a 9th inning rally and fell 2-1.

Outside of that game, Okayama Gakugeikan, Sakuyou and Konkou Gakuen all advanced with little difficulty.

And the semifinals were actually much of the same. Okayama Gakugeikan got mercy ruled in 5 by Okayama 12-2, and while Sakuyou managed to get a 2-0 lead early, a 10-1 run by Konkou Gakuen in the 3rd-6th innings made the game out of reach.

So it'll be Kanzei and Konkou Gakuen for the final.

Shimane
It seemed to be getting easier for top seed Iwamichisuikan. In the quarterfinals they won 11-0 over Iinan in 5 innings. Their opponent would be #4 Taisha, though it didn't seem that way at first. Masuda Higashi scored 7 unanswered to take a 8-1 lead going into the 5th. Then suddenly Taisha went on their own run the next two innings, scoring 10 unanswered!! Masuda wouldn't give it up that easily as they scored 3 to tie the game at 11! Taisha would finally put Masuda Higashi away with 2 in the 9th for the 13-11 win!

On the other half of the bracket, 2 seed Kaisei under the managing of Nonomura-kantoku again helped rally the troops against Yasugi. 3 runs in the 5th would tie the game, and a pair of runs in the 7th and 8th gave them the win. 3 seed Matsue Shougyou would make it a scratch bracket as they used a 4-run 5th to defeat Izumo 7-5.

The semis have been postponed to today due to rain.

Hiroshima
Our 3rd seeded team in Hiroshima was to fall in the 4th round. Hiroshima Kokusaidai Gakuin after building a 4-1 lead on Shiritsu Kure, saw that lead turn into a one-run deficit before tying it at 6 in the 8th. But it would be Kure who would have the final laugh, scoring the sayonara run in the 11th.

Kinkidai Fukuyama who had beaten Kouryou, got mercy ruled by Hiroshima Kougyou 11-0 after they scored 10(!) in the 5th.

Hiroshima Sougyou Gijyutsu for the 2nd game in the tournament showed offense, scoring 10 runs in a 10-5 win over Miyajima Kougyou. They did give up the runs late which could be worrysome against harder competition.

Miyoshi, who had upset Hiroshima Shougyou was soundly defeated by Hiroshima Shinjyou 13-5.

Soutoku went from mercy rule to enchousen back to mercy rule as took take care of Aki Minami 10-0 in 6.

Onomichi Shougyou would be the next to fall by the wayside. They trailed 2-1 to Hatsukaichi Nishi in the bottom of the 9th when they were able to force extras. Yet they still had trouble getting to ace Nakai. And in the 13th it would be Hatsukaichi who would get to ace Maeda, scoring a run in the 13th. With no response from Onomichi they would fall 3-2.

And finally Jyousuikan advances with a 4-2 win over Onomichi Higashi.

So moving onto the quarterfinals at Shimanami Stadium, Soutoku stayed with Hiroshima Sougou Gijyutsu responding to each score that they put on the board. But when Sougou Gijyutsu scored a run in the 6th to take the lead, not only did they tie it in the 7th, they scored again in the 8th to take their first lead! Down 1 with just 3 outs to go, Sougou Gijyutsu was unable to plate the tying run.

In the matinee game, Jyousuikan and Hiroshima Kougyou battled it out in the middle innings, with Jyousuikan maintaining the one-run lead they held in the first. An insurance run in the 7th to make it 6-4 is enough for a ticket to the semis.

Over at Kure Nikou, Sanyou completely had their way with Hatsukaichi Nishi, getting their 4th mercy win in as many games, 15-0!

The field would be rounded out by Hiroshima Shinjyou who only trailed 0-1 in the 1st inning. 7 innings later, they had a 15-8 mercy win.

Yamaguchi
The round of 16 was predominantly dominated by low-scoring affairs.

Yanai Gakuen woke up to find themselves in a pitchers' battle with Suou-Ooshima. Making things worse was that Suou-Ooshima tied the game at 1 in the 8th. In the end though they would pull it out, but not until the bottom of the 9th. Fellow B seed Onoda had the same issue with Ube Kougyou, except for the fact they were actually down 1! They won the game by scoring a run in the final 2 innings.

We would have an upset though, Shimonoseki Kougyou ace Matsumoto would limit A seed Shimonoseki Shougyou to just 1 run on 8 hits in a 4-1 win.

And despite getting just 2 hits, Shimonoseki Kokusai makes those count as LF Fujita hits a home run in the 7th to give them a 1-0 win over Hayatomo!

The quarterfinals would see every single favorite lose save for one.

Yanai Gakuen would limit Ube Koujyou to just one run in a 2-1 win.
Nanyou Kougyou and Shimonoseki Kokusai are in a close game until Nanyou gives up 4 in the 8th for the upset!
Iwakuni never takes the lead over Onoda and falls 5-2!
The only favored team to win is Sakuragaoka, who defeats Shimonoseki Kougyou 12-1 in 8.

That meant that no A seed would be in the semifinals, only 3 B seeds. Yanai Gakuen would dispatch the only unseeded team, defeating Shimonoseki Kokusai 7-0. In the other semi, Onoha would have to play catchup the entire game, and while they tied the game in the 2nd at 2, that's the furthest they get. Down 7-2 in the 7th they'd rally for 4 but could never tie the game again.

Kagawa
After blowing a 6-1 lead to Miki in the 3rd round, Sakaide Shougyou scores more runs in the 13th inning then they did the entire game. They win 15-6.

Shoudoshima, down 1 in the 9th ties the game then wins it in 12 against Takamatsu.

Onto the quarterfinals and Eimei, though unseeded, advances with at 5-1 win over Takamatsu Shougyou. Sakaide Shougyou comes from behind against Shoudoshima to win 7-6 in the bottom of the 9th. Marugame uses a 5-run 5th and uses it to hold onto a 6-5 win over Sangawa. And finally, Kanonji Dai-ichi just takes Marugame Jyousei to task, mercy ruling them 8-0 in 7!

Tokushima
After rain washes out a couple of days, play get back on track on the 21st. Tomioka Nishi allows Anan Nishi to tie the game in the 9th, but it only extends it for one more inning.

In the quarterfinals, Jyounan gets shocked by Seikou Gakuen (no, not Seikou Gakuin) who despite getting just 4 hits, scores the one and only run in the ballgame!

Naruto Kougyou's bid gets derailed by Komatsushima as they score a run in the bottom of the 8th and 9th for the win.

And the remaining seeded teams, Naruto and Tokushima Shougyou advance with ease.

Ehime
Let's see, what to note...

Matsuyama Kougyou gets its 2nd close game in as many played. Up 6-1 after 1 they allow Niihama Minami to tie the game, the after taking the lead, they give it up. Down 10-8, they score 3 to take the lead this time for good.

Teikyou Dai-go scores just 1, which is enough to beat Yawatahama, though it's not a great start.

Tanbara not only upsets #2 Kawanoe, they mercy rule them in 8 innings 9-2!

Either Nitta likes the score 7-5, or they like the game close. Up 6-0, they allow Saijyou (albeit a good team) to score 5 in the last two innings. An insurance run in the 9th gives them their 2nd 7-5 win.

Saibi ends Teikyou Dai-go's season early yet again with a 6-2 win. And Uwajima Higashi will be their next opponent as they defeat Matsuyama Kougyou 2-1.

Kochi
Well, things were pretty much going as planned, with games not really being a tug of war so to speak. Meitoku Gijyuku advances to the semis, though they did have a bit of a scare against Kochi Chuo. They didn't win that game until the bottom of the 8th.

Okou and Tosa played to a scoreless draw in regulation, and it wouldn't be until the 11th when Kakehi would drive in the sayonara run for Tosa and send their team to the semis.

Joining them would be Kochi and Kochi Shougyou. That should setup to be an amazing game.

But as is the case during this time of year, rain gets in the way again.

93rd Koushien Qualifying - Kyushu Update

2011-07-26T07:33:00.004+09:00

Fukuoka
Fukuoka had wrapped up regional play and was about to start the prefectural brackets.

Round 1 of the prefecturals didn't see anything too out of the ordinary. Oomuta mercy ruled Asakura 12-5 in 7. Kokura held on 2-1 over Hokuchiku... and oh yeah, in the game between Iidzuka and Higashi-Fukuoka, the game was tied at 2 going into extras - which isn't surprising - but Iidzuka scored 9 in the 11th. That is.

Obviously, there are certain teams to key on for the prefecturals, Iidzuka and Higashi-Fukuoka were 2, Kyushu Kokusaidai Fuzoku is another, Jiyuugaoka, the other university schools - Nishi Nippon Tankidai Fuzoku and Fukuoka Koudai Jyoutou, and to a lesser extent Touchiku.

Kyukoku having to play on back to back days, almost had a hiccup in the quarterfinals against Fukuoka Kougyou. The game was tied 4-4 before they scored 5 in the 9th to put it away.

Jiyuugaoka in their first game against Touchiku fell flat losing 4-3! Touchiku followed up that win scoring 5 in the 2nd inning against Iidzuka and putting them on their heels early. While Iidzuka was able to tie the game 2 innings later it may have taken something out of them as they were unable to respond when Touchiku scored 2 in the 7th!

Meanwhile Oomuta continued to surprise everyone giving Tankidai a punch in the gut scoring 5 to take the lead in the 3rd after Tankidai has scored a pair of runs in the first 2 innings. Tankidai was able to tie the game, but wound up losing 8-7! Combine that with a 3-2 win over Touyou and they're into the semis against Kyukoku.

Fukuoka Koudai Jyoutou advanced to the quarters with little issue, probably could consider them having the easiest time getting to the semis.

Saga
We left Saga in the middle of the quarterfinals and with Karatsu Shoguyou and Saga Nishi playing to a 2-2 draw. They'd have to play the next day along with the other 2 quarterfinals. In that replay (which was the last game of the day), it was all Karatsu Shougyou winning 7-3.

They'd wind up playing Saga Gakuen, who needed 2 in the bottom of the 9th to bid Kashima Jitsugyou sayonara 3-2. Saga Kita, who has won their game the prior day would play Saga Kougyou who nursed a 1-run advantage over Kyuuragi to the semis.

The semis were rather anti-climactic. Karatsu Shougyou, despite the extra game controlled the game against Saga Gakuen winning 11-5. And as nice as Saga Kita was a few years ago, Saga Kougyou showed no mercy, winning 11-2.

And in the finals, it was the Kitagata Yuujyou show. He throws a 2 hitter in the finals striking out 12 in a 2-0 win giving them their 4th title and 1st in 27 years!

Nagasaki
The semifinals here was just as anti-climactic as in Saga. Both Kaisei and Seihou mercy ruled their games, so it was onto the finals.

The finals were nuts. Kaisei got a 3-0 lead after 2 only to see Seihou tie it in the bottom of the 2nd. Kaisei rebuilt the lead to 4 by the 9th, but Seihou somehow scored 4 in the bottom of the 9th to send it into extras! The game would be scoreless for 2 innings until Kaisei scored a run in the 12th. Seihou had no response this time and Kaisei earns their 16th appearance and first in 9 years!

Kumamoto
Kumamoto was going into their quarterfinals. Kumamoto Kougyou was the first to advance with a 1-0 win over Kumamoto Gakuendai Fuzoku despite being outhit 6-4. They'd play Kyushu Gakuin who had a less than convincing win over Buntoku 7-4.

The 22nd had the 2nd set of games. Both seeded teams, Shuugakukan and Senshuudai Tamana both advanced.

Which brings us to the semis. Kumamoto Kougyou and Kyushu Gakuin could easily be seen as a good matchup and indeed it was. Both teams managed just 5 hits the entire game. However, Kumamoto Kougyou managed to score 3 runs on those 5 hits and they proceed to the finals with a 3-0 win! The other semi looked to be all Shuugakukan's. They had built a 4-0 lead and seemed in control. But in the 8th Senshuudai Tamana scores 5 for a successful reversal!

And so it's Kumamoto Kougyou versus Senshuudai Tamana for the title!

Oita
Interestingly enough, all seeded teams advanced into the Best 8... though Touin needed the 4 runs in the 6th through 8th innings to win 5-3 over Nakatsu Higashi, and Hita Rinkou needed 3 in the bottom of the 9th to defeat Beppu Shougyou.

Onto the quarterfinals, and A seed Meihou out-dueled Oita Houfu 1-0, who really took the loss hard. Oita Shougyou was barely able to beat Oita 2-1. Nihon Bunridai Fuzoku scores a sayonara run to defeat Tsurusaki Kougyou 2-1. And in the only upset, Hita Rinkou holds off a late charge by Touin to win 4-3.

Miyazaki
The final round of 16 games went to the seeded teams Houshou and Miyazaki Shougyou with little resistance.

Onto the quarterfinals with all but one seeded team playing. Nobeoka Gakuen behind 4-3 was able to push through 4 runs late to defeat Miyazaki Kita 7-5. Nichinan Gakuen got involved in a pitchers duel with unseeded Miyakonojyou Higashi. The one run they scored in the 2nd proved to the only one as they advanced.

The next day, Miyazaki Shougyou held a comfortable lead before watching Miyakonojyou Shougyou started rallying in the 9th. Though they scored 3 runs, Miyashou still won 10-7. And in the final quarterfinal, Miyazaki Nichidai and Houshou each got 7 hits, but it was Houshou who scored the only and sayonara run.

The semifinals have been played yesterday, which is where we stand presently. Miyazaki Shougyou could not recover from a 7-0 deficit after just 2 innings. Nobeoka Gakuen would advance with a 10-6 win. And in the 2nd semifinal. Nichinan Gakuen and Houshou who were both in 1-0 games were evenly matched with the game tied at 3 heading into extras. Not until the 12th did the stalemate get broken when Nichinan scored 3. Houshou was unable to make a reply and Nichinan Gakuen will meet Nobeoka Gakuen in the finals.

Kagoshima
Probably one of the biggest shocks of the tournament, unseeded Satsuma Chuo scored a pair of runs in the 6th & 7th innings and defeated Kagoshima Jitsugyou 4-2!!

With that upset, it seemed that the road was wide open for Kamimura Gakuen to reach Koushien. And yet they almost blew it. Kanoya Chuo scored 3 runs early and held a 2 run advantage for a couple of innings. Kamimura then scored a run in the 4th to make it just a 1-run deficit and 2 more in the 5th to finally take the lead. Ace Kubo, who actually came in relief, made the lead stick.

And finally given the opportunity to go to Koushien, they take it. Satsuma Chuo can only manage 3 hits off of Kubo as Kamimura Gakuen goes to just their 2nd Natsu Koushien - the other appearance being 4 years ago.

93rd Koushien Qualifying - Hokkaido/Tohoku Update

2011-07-25T15:07:00.003+09:00

Ok, we're at the point now where I can throw out the dates and just cover the games.

Minami Hokkaido
As much as Komadai Tomakomai dominated the early-mid 2000's as of late they've struggled to get back there since 2007 - the year after Tanaka Masahiro left.

Yet here they are in 2011, just one game away from returning to Koushien.

Just one problem.

Hokkai and their 34 appearances stood in their way.

So off we went in the championship game. While Komadai Tomakomai scored the opening run in the bottom of the 1st, Hokkai would score one in the next half inning. Then proceed to score 2 in the 5th and one in the 9th for a 4-2 lead. But Komadai would find a way against ace Tamakuma to score 2 and extend the game!

Except that in the next half inning Hokkai would put the pressure once again on Komadai. They'd score a run in the 10th.

Tamakuma would not let Komadai Tomakomai extend the game. He shut them down to give Hokkai their 35th appearance and 1st in 3 years.

Aomori
In the final 2 quarterfinals, Kidzukuri pulls off their 2nd upset in as many games by defeating Top 4 seed Towada Kougyou 8-4!

And in a surprising twist, the game between Kousei Gakuin and Aomori Yamada is not a low scoring affair, but a high scoring one! After Aomori Yamada scores 2 in the bottom of the 1st, Kousei scores 9(!) in the 2nd and 6 more in the 4th! That's a 15-2 lead after 4!

Aomori Yamada isn't a team to give up, and facing the mercy rule go into action. 3 runs in the 4th cut the deficit to 10, which still isn't enough. So they score 5 more in the 5th to make it 15-10 and thus avoid both mercy rules (10 after 5 or 6 innings, 7 from the 7th to 9th).

But just as surprising, no further scoring is done! The final score is 15-10 in favor of Kousei Gakuin!

Onto the semifinals. Kousei Gakuin Noheji Nishi and Seiai battled in the first one. It seemed like Noheji Nishi had the game in control after 2 runs in the 7th gave them a 8-2 lead. But ace Kobayashi Taisei couldn't hold the lead. 3 runs in the 7th and 3 in the bottom of the 9th meant that they'd have to played extras. The game would remain at 8 until the 14th inning where Noheji Nishi would score 3 for the 11-8 win.

The question then would be, would they face their parent school Kousei Gakuin?

The short answer is, yes.

Kidzukuri's run was impressive, but when facing prefectural stalwart Kousei Gakuin, it ran into a wall.

Hard.

Kousei Gakuin wins 10-0 in 6 innings setting up a sibling rivalry of sorts for the title.

Iwate
The championship game was all that was left between Morioka Dai-san and Hanamaki Higashi. And while Morioka Dai-san kept up early with Hanamaki Higashi, they would give up 3 runs in the 5th and 2 in the 6th. 5 runs would be all that ace Ohara(?) would need as he shuts out Morioka's offense. Hanamaki Higashi earns their 6th appearance and 1st in 2 years.

Yamagata
Yamagata had their 2nd set of quarterfinals. 4 seed Yamagata Chuo was barely able to get by Shinjyou Kita 2-1. And my Haguro squad mercy ruled Toukaidai Yamagata 8-0 in 7!

Miyagi
Oh my....

I wasn't expecting this.

In the semifinals of Miyagi, top seed Tohoku... lost! 4 seed Furukawa Kougyou and their tandem of Uemura and Katagai limit Tohoku to just 1 run! And combined with 3 runs scored against Tohoku ace Yamada, and Furukawa Kougyou advances to the finals, not Tohoku!

Their opponent, not surprisingly will be Rifu after all. 6 runs in the 1st means they were able to cruise to a 7-2 win.

Both teams will be playing for their first Natsu Koushien appearance.

Fukushima
Fukushima had their quarterfinal action. On one end, Seikou Gakuin easily handles Shirakawa 7-1. They'll play Iwaki Kouyou who defeated Higashi Nippon Kokusaidai Shouhei 3-2.

The other semifinal will have Sukagawa, who upset #2 seed Shouin Gakuin Fukushima 4-3, versus Odaka Kougyou who too pulled off an upset against #3 seed Nichidai Tohoku 6-3!

That means that only Seikou Gakuin, the top seed, is the only seeded team left in the tournament!

93rd Koushien Qualifying - July 13th-23rd (Kinki Region)

2011-07-24T07:39:00.004+09:00

A lot to go over here, but it will have to be summarized more than usual.

Mie
Games began at Yokkaichi on the 15th with Tsu Nishi mercy ruling Subaru Gakuen 8-1 in 8. Since then we have reached the round of 16.

After the opening game all teams started play. Hisai Nourin scores 3 runs late to beat Matsusaka Shougyou 4-3. Akatsuki Gakuen scores 6 in the 5th, but needs every run as Yokkaichi Yogou scores 5 in the last 4 innings to barely get beaten 7-6. Tsu Shougyou fights back to tie the game at 5, after being down 3, in the 8th then goes on to beat Hisai in the bottom of the 12th. Yokkaichi scores the sayonara run over Yokkaichi Chuo Kougyou 2-1.

Rain started to impede play on the 18th. Games at Ise and Tsu were cancelled. After Ouka's 7-3 win over Toba, Yokkaichi Minami and Kinan can only get through 4½ before the game is called. Yokkaichi was the only place to play a full slate. And that wound up being fortunate for Kawagoe, not so much for Nabari Kiyougaoka. Nabari held a 7-1 lead through 7 innings. Kawagoe scores 4 in the 8th and 3 in the 9th for the 8-7 sayonara victory. The rained out games would be played on the 21st. Owase scores 3 in the 9th for a 6-4 win over Asake.

Onto the 2nd round, Tsu outlasts Nissei Gakuen Dai-ichi 2-1 in 12. And Tsu Higashi plates the only run in the top of the 9th to beat Kogakkan. Kaisei and Ouka tango for 13 innings, with Kaisei prevailing 3-2. Kawagoe continues its narrow escapes, scoring their runs late to win 2-1 over Minami-Ise.

Kyoto
When we last left Kyoto, they were in the middle of round 2.

Kyoto Kyouei scores late to beat Tanabe 4-3. Kumiyama down 5-1 in the bottom of the 9th scores 5 for the win! Yes, it's heartbreaking for Nantan, but at the same time it's what kokoyakyu is all about.

3rd round and Kyoto Gaidai Nishi defeats Kyoto Gakuen 7-2. Suzaku outlasts Rakutou 5-4 in 12. Yamashiro scores 3 in the 10th to defeat Ayabe. Ryuukokudai Heian scores 1 run in the 1st against Kyoto Kyouei, and surprisingly that's the only run scored!

Round of 16 play and my team - Kyoto Gaidai Nishi gets blitzed by a 5-run 5th from Kyoto Ryouyou 10-5... My more irrational team in Kyoto, Kyoto Subaru, scores in each of the last 5 innings, but can't make up for its pitching. They fall 11-8 to Toba.

In one of the most bizarre games, Ritsumeikan Uji had just scored 3 in the top of the 7th to lead 6-1 when Kumiyama out of nowhere scores 8! Not only that, but Uji comes back with 3 the very next inning to tie the game! The game would only go one more inning as Uji would win 12-9.

The next game that day would also go into extras where Yamashiro scored 3 in the 8th to tie it up. And even though they scored 2 in the 10th, they almost blew that lead.

What those first 2 extra inning games meant though was that Ryuukokudai Heian's game against Higashiyama, which they were winning 7-2 after 5½ was called a no-game expending extra effort. Fortunately for them they had 2 days off due to the rain. When play resumed Ryuukokudai Heian won 8-1 in 7.

The last games finished up with Fukuchiyama Seibi shutting out Doushisha Kokusai, and Nishi-Jyouou mercy ruling Rakuhoku.

Onto quarterfinal action, and Kyoto Ryouyou continues their surprising run with a 5-2 win over Toba. But they'd face their toughest test against Ritsumeikan Uji who handled Fukuchiyama 8-1 in 7. Meanwhile, Ryuukokudai Heian was in trouble versus Yamashiro, but scored 6 in the 8th for a gyakuten win! There'll be a blockbuster game next as they face Fukuchiyama Seibi who themselves had to hold off Nishi-Jyouyou 4-3.

Nara
Until I see someone challenge Chiben Gakuen, it's almost pointless covering this prefecture.

But to note some close games:

Round 2 - Sakurai scores 4 in the 9th to beat Heijyou 7-5.
The coverage in Nara could be made even more pointless as the only other team to break the Tenri-Chiben Gakuen barrier, Kooriyama, loses in their first game to Unebi 3-1.
Gose Jitsugyou gets the lead against Yamato Kouryou with 3 in the 8th for a 1 run lead, loses it with 2 in the top of the 9th, then wins it 7-6 with 2 in the bottom of the 9th!
Ichijyou wins 6-5 in 10 over Kashihara Gakuin.
Round 3 - Nara Jyouhou Shougyou pulls off the sayonara win after allowing Takatori Kokusai to score 2 in the 9th to tie it up.
Nara scores 4 in the 8th and achieves the gyakuten win over Ichijyou!

Wakayama
While there are some competitors now to Chiben Wakayama, which include Minoshima and Kouyou, it's still Chiben Wakayama's prefecture.

We advance to coverage of the 3rd round which sees one contender in Minoshima faltering late, giving up the tying and sayonara runs to Shiritsu Wakayama 2-1, and Touin taken to 14 by Hatsushiba Hashimoto but winning 4-2.

Osaka
Looking at block play we had the following notable games:

Kantodai Dai-ichi ties the game in the bottom of the 9th against Sakuranomiya, but loses 9-7 in 11.
Osaka Shougyoudai scores 2 in the bottom of the 9th for the gyakuten sayonara win over Momoyama Gakuin.
Nougei and Izumi-Ootsu start scoring runs like there's no tomorrow. Nougei leads 5-0, then Izumi-Ootsu leads 6-5, then Nougei leads 8-6. Izumi-Ootsu would try to come back, but Nougei just had one more run, winning 11-10.
Tondabayashi, just 6 outs away from elimination, rallies to tie the game then wins 5-4 in 10 against Yuuhigaoka.
Takatsuki Kita scores 3 in the bottom of the 9th to force enchousen, but ultimately falls 6-4 in 12 to Minoo Gakuen.
Fukui tries repeatedly to put away Settsu even in the 12th inning, but Settsu rallies time and again, eventually winning 5-4 in 13.
Kishiwada Sangyou scores 3 in the bottom of the 8th for a 8-7 win over Ootsuka.

Hyogo
Block play was going on in Hyogo. Notable games include:

Block 11 Seed Touban Kougyou looks to be in dire straits against Himeji, but they score 5 in the 8th for a 7-6 gyakuten win.
Kobe Kita rallies late to send it to extras, then wins in 14 over Koudera.
Akashi Tousen barely beats out the transition team of Amagasaki Higashi/Amagasaki Sousei 1-0.
Kenritsu Itami and Amagasaki Kita finally get their game in, and sure enough it goes into extras. Amagasaki Kita forces enchousen, but loses in 10.
Right before the aforementioned game,Block 4 seed Mukonosou Sougyou looked to have the game in hand scoring 2 in the 9th to go up 3. But Ikawadani rallies for 3 to tie it, then also won in 10.
Block 12 seed Sanda Shousei with 3 runs in the 7th and 8th innings tie the game at 7 with Himeji Kougyou. They would win in 12.
In another 8-7 game, Aboshi scores 6 unanswered after Nishinomiya Kabutoyama scored 6 in the 3rd. And in 12, Aboshi would finish the job.
Block 14 seed Touyoudai Himeji is yet another seeded team that has trouble in their first game. Against Takaradzuka Kita, they were 1-1 going to extras. Not until they scored 5 in the 11th did they finally win the game.
Kawanishi Midoridai pushes Akashi into enchousen where they win 9-6 in 12.
In Block 16, seeded Awaji Mihara loses a 3-run lead to Seiryou, giving up 2 in the bottom of the 9th in the process. Seiryou completes the comeback with a run in the 10th.
Block 7 seed Kobe Murano Kougyou becomes the next seeded team to fall, as Himeji Nishi upsets them 2-0.
Block 2 seed Kansei Gakuin behind late to Amagasaki Sangyou 7-5 scores 6 in the 8th to win 11-7.
Mikage scores the sayonara run to beat Higashi-Nada 4-3.
Kounan and Iwa play the first 9 innings without either scoring a run. It isn't until the 11th before Kounan scores the only run.
Himeji Higashi tries to rally against Kenritsudai Fuzoku, but falls one run short 8-7.
And anime-related, Nishinomiya Kita wins a game! They beat Hokuetsu Sanda 8-0 in 7 innings!

Block Semifinals

Block semis started on the 17th. Takigawa Dai-ni, seeded team from Block 5, becomes the next to fall, losing 3-2 to Wadayama. Shinkou Gakuen, Block 6 seed, has similar troubled though they defeat Kakogawa Nishi 4-3.
Sumoto scores 5 runs in the last 3 innings to defeat Kita-Suma 6-4.
Part of the games on the 18th were rained out, but it wasn't a total loss of games. Sanda Shousei got another score from Aioi Sangyou, but won 4-3. Hyogo Shougyou outlasts Akashi Kita 2-1 in 11. Seiryou continues their run with a 4-3 win over Nagata.
Ikawadani's run end in the 3rd round as Suma Higashi scores the winning run in the 11th.
Oh my gosh! Nishinomiya Kita wins a 2nd game! They hold on to beat Kenritsu Itami 4-3 after Itami scores 3 in the 9th!
Shiritsu Shinkou scores the only run in their game against Sayou. Suma Gakuen wins 1-0 over Kobe Tousen as well.
Kansei Gakuin's run ends in their 2nd game. They rally, but fall to Himeji Shikisai 4-3.
Mikage goes 13 against Takaradzuka Higashi winning 2-0.

Block Finals

Despite there being just 1 day turnaround, Suma Gakuen rises to the occasion to defeat Wadayama 4-3 to win block 5!
Houtoku Gakuen finishes out strong with a 8-1 win in 8 over Sumoto in Block 1.
Touban Kougyou survives to win Block 11 with a 1-0 win over Himeji Minami.
Kakogawa Higashi after defeating seeded Izushi moves on from Block 15 with a 4-3 sayonara win over Akashi Nishi. This inlcuded having to score a run in the 10th to keep the game alive!
Touyoudai Himeji shuts out Hyogo Shougyou 4-0 to advance out of Block 14.
Akou upsets Sanda Shousei 2-1 to win Block 12!
Suma Higashi defeats Shiritsu Shinkou 3-2 to win Block 4.
Shinkou Gakuen mercy rules Kobe Kouryou Gakuen to win Block 6.
Himeji Shikisai rallies in the last 2 innings, but falls short against Nigawa Gakuin 4-3 in the Block 3 final. Kawanishi Midoridai survives in Block 2 over Kotogaoka by the same score.
Oh well, it was good while it lasted. Yashiro advances out of Block 9 with a 7-0 win over Nishinomiya Kita. At least they weren't mercy ruled.
Block 10, Kakogawa Kita has no problem with Kobe Takatsuka.
Block 13, Ichikawa was the seeded team, Kobe Kokusaidai Fuzoku was the favorite. They win 8-2.
Migake suffers whiplash in the Block 7 final. Ono mercy rules them 10-0 in 5.
Akashi Shougyou calmly advances out of Block 8, defeating Shikama 4-1
And rounding out things, in Block 16 Seiryou edges out Suma Shoufuu 2-1.

93rd Koushien Qualifying - July 16th-23rd (Hokkaido & Tohoku Region)

2011-07-23T05:03:00.007+09:00

Ok, so I still haven't been able to get to the Kinki prefectures. I need to quickly double back and do Hokkaido and Tohoku before prefectures finish. (Too late)

Kita Hokkaido
Round of 16

Asahikawa Kougyou kicked off play with a 7-3 win over Wakkanai. They'll play Komadai Iwamizawa who shutout Obihiro Ryokuyou 3-0.
Kushiro Kounan down 3-0 to Kitami Hakuyou in the bottom of the 9th scores 3 to tie the game! And they then go on to win the game 4-3! They get Engaru who blew out Hiro-o.
Memanbetsu handles Kushiro Kougyou and will play Iwamizawa Higashi who scored a minor upset in beating Bushuukan 3-2.
Shirakaba Gakuen, one of the teams on the inside track, used a 5-run 1st inning to cruise over Asahikawa Minami 9-5. Asahikawa Nishi looks to avenge them in the quarterfinals after almost blowing an 8-0 lead to Wakkanai Ootani.

Quarterfinals

Komadai Iwamizawa continues on a collision course with Shirakaba Gakuen with a mercy win over Asahikawa Kougyou. The last obstacle to the finals is Engaru who recorded their 2nd mercy win and 2nd double digit offensive output.
Memanbetsu moves one step closer to the finals with a convincing 8-2 win over Iwamizawa Higashi. Only problem is, Shirakaba Gakuen stands between them and a finals appearance.

Semifinals

Engaru ace Furugoe(?) Tomoaki (古越友章) seems to come out of nowhere in terms of being able to manage a game. Despite giving up 9 hits and 5 free passes, he limits Komadai Iwamizawa to just 2 runs! Combine that with their 3 in the 3rd and it's Engaru who finds themselves in the finals!!
It started to look like it was going to be an all-new final as Engaru has never been to Koushien, and neither had Memanbetsu. Yet here was Memanbetsu holding a 2-1 lead over Shirakaba Gakuen! But in the 4th Shirakaba showed they have staying power, scoring 3 and putting Membanbestu behind the 8-ball. Surprisingly though, Memanbetsu did not fold. They scored one in the lucky 7 to pull within 1. However, that would be as close as they would get as ace Kobayashi would shut them down.

So it's rookie Engaru versus the one-timers Shirakaba Gakuen for the Kita-Hokkaido bid!

But in reality, feel good stories only go so far. Engaru fought hard, but in the end was shutout by Shirakaba Gakuen who will make their 2nd appearance at Koushien! But kudos to Engaru. I really wish they made it this year.

Minami Hokkaido
Round of 15

Hokkai gets a bye here, but needs to rest up as they're matched up with another favorite team of mine, Hakodatedai Yuuto who won their game over Toukai Dai-yon 4-0.
Tomakomai Chuo used a 5-run 8th to defeat Eniwa Kita 7-3. Next up will be Shiriuchi who went on a 3-0 run for a gyakuten victory over Otaru Chouryou.
On the other side of the bracket, Sapporo Minami edges out Hokkaido Sakae 3-2, but will have their hands full with Sapporo Dai-ichi who had a 5-inning mercy win over Sapporo Kousei.
And in the last pairings, Komadai Tomakomai was tasked with a difficult challenge in Hokushou, but was able to pull it out with a 5-3 win. Shoushi Gakuen will have to take up the flag against them next after they beat Hakodate Chuubu 3-1.

Quarterfinals

Sadly for my team, Hakodatedai Yuuto can't keep up with Hokkai. They fall 6-2. Tomakomai Chuo will step into the ring next as they defeat Shiriuchi 4-1.
Sapporo Minami's Ooma 4-hits Sapporo Dai-ichi and will look to reach the finals with a victory over Komadai Tomakomai who won 6-3.

And finally to the semis. Once could almost see it coming given the teams involved. Komadai Tomakomai may finally be surging once again after 4 years of anonymity. They shutout Sapporo Minami 4-0 to advance to today's final. As for Hokkai, they take it to Tomakomai Chuo 7-0 in 8.

So we're back to the days of umm.... last decade? Hokkai and Komadai Tomakomai for the Minami Hokkaido bid!

Aomori
As the first 2 rounds ended, we had some interesting games such as Goshogawara Nourin scoring 4 in the 9th for a gyakuten victory over Shoufuu Jyuku, Aomori Toyama giving up a 5-1 lead to Hirosaki before winning 6-5 in 11, St. Ursula and Hachinohe Suisan in a barnburner with Hachinohe winning 12-11 in 10, Hachinohe Koudai Dai-ichi needing 4 in the 8th to beat Goshogawara 5-4, and biggest of all A seed Hachinohe being mercy ruled by Seiai 11-2 in 7!

So all seeded teams outside of A seed Hachinohe advanced to the round of 16...

...and for the most part, things went status quo. B seed Touou Gijyuku was the next seeded team to fall, losing 3-2 to Kidzukuri. And those teams that pulled off upsets (Noheji Nishi and Seiai) continued on with convincing victories.

In the quarterfinals, the trend continued. So far Noheji Nishi fell behind Aomori 2-0, scored 3 to take the lead, watched Aomori tie it in the bottom of the 8th and plated the winning run in the 9th. Seiai ace Naraoka held Hachinohe Nishi to just 1 run, and their 2 runs was just enough to advance to the semis.

Akita
Teams started to stumble as early as the 2nd round. First of those was actually the top seed Oomagari Kougyou who could only muster just 6 hits and 1 run on Nishime as they lost 2-1! 5 seed Akita Kougyou almost lost too if it weren't for a 3-run 9th for a gyakuten victory over Oodate Kokusai. 7 seed Akita Hokuyou did lose, getting shutout 2-0 by Akita Chuo.

In the round of 16, Akita Kougyou did lose but not just to any team though. Noshiro Shougyou, last year's representative, defeated them 4-1.

Even though Akita Shougyou was a #3 seed, the team has had so much experience, it's no surprise that they're advancing through the brackets with as much relative ease as possible. The same can't be said for #2 seed Honjyou as they were the next team to fall. Akita Chuo took them to the limit, scoring 2 runs in the 11th after Honjyou did the same, and slayed their 2nd seeded team, 5-4 in 12 innings! In other games, Nishime's run ends at the hands of #8 seed Kanaashi Nougyou 7-4 and Noshiro Shougyou continues their repeat bid with an impressive 7-1 win over 4-seed Oodate Houmei.

The semis continued to impress. Noshiro Shougyou moves just one game away from a back-to-back appearance defeating Kanaashi Nougyou 6-3. In the other semi, Akita Shougyou looked to be in full control of the game early, getting 4 runs in the 2nd and another in the 7th to lead 5-1 over Akita Chuo. But if there was a time perhaps to have a lucky 7, it was now. Chuo scored 4 runs to tie the game and now Shougyou had to be nervous. They had every right to because 1 inning later, they'd plate another run and take a 6-5 lead! Shougyou tried to comeback, but could not - meaning that Akita Chuo will face Noshiro Shougyou for the title!

In the final again, it was a nice run for Akita Chuo, but in the end it was the "favorite" in Noshiro Shougyou that prevailed. They get 2 in the 1st, and 4 more in the 4th spelled doom. Noshiro Shougyou earns their 2nd consecutive appearance and 3rd overall.

Iwate
Running through the 2nd round we had Daitou breaking a 2-2 tie against Iwate with 4 runs in the 9th, but needing all 4 as Iwate scored 3. Morioka Kita allowed Morioka Nougyou to score 3 in the bottom of the 9th extending the game, but 5 runs in the 10 settled matters.

Round 3 saw Hanamaki Higashi get their 2nd mercy rule game in as many played. Miyako Kougyou brings some joy to their city as they move on with a 5-4 win over Ichinoseki Kougyou. Oofunato does the same as they mercy rule Kitakami Shounan. Karumai scores 7 runs in the last 4 innings to bid sayonara to Morioka Shougyou 9-8.

Onto round 4 and Kamaishi does their town proud as they score 4 in the 8th to pull off the upset over Ichinoseki Gakuin 7-6!

As we entered into the Round of 16, those nice stories start facing realities. Kamaishi fall 5-2 to Ichinohe. Miyako Shougyou is mercy ruled by Morioka Dai-san. Kuji Higashi gives Hanamaki Higashi the fight of their lives, but Hanamaki Higashi scores the sayonara run to win 5-4. Morioka Chuo ends Miyako Kougyou's run with a 12-5 win. Only Oofunato remained, though they had to beat Kuji 6-4 to do so.

Quarterfinal play say Morioka Dai-shi with 3 runs in the luck 7 to defeat Ichinohe 4-3. They will play Hanamaki Higashi as they end Oofunato's run 6-2.

In the battle of Morioka schools, Dai-san shuts out Dai-ichi 4-0 to advance to the semifinals. They will play Moriokadai Fuzoku as they win over Morioka Chuo 4-1.

So Hanamaki Higashi was the "odd man out" as it were. 3 Morioka schools and 1 Hanamaki school. To boot we could have had something similar to Nichidai-san v. Nichidai-ni a couple of years back if Morioka Dai-shi and Morioka Dai-san had won their games.

That was not to be though as Kikuchi Yuusei's alma mater crashed the party. They built a 4-0 lead on Dai-sh1 but almost frittered it away in the top of the 9th. Dai-shi pulls within 1, but reliever Ohara shuts it down just in time.

The other semifinal was hotly contested. Moriokadai Fuzoku and Morioka Dai-san were tied at 1 until the lucky 7th. That's when Moriokadai Fuzoku scored 1 to break the deadlock, but then Dai-san responded with 4. That would prove to be the difference as Dai-san advances to face Hanamaki Higashi 5-2.

Yamagata
Yamagata's first full day included Kunori Gakuen and Yamagata Shougyou playing to a 4-4 draw! In the replay, Kunori Gakuen would advance with a 3-1 win.

In other games in the 1st round, Yamagata Meisei rallied for 3 in the 9th, but fell short 4-3 to Shinjyou Higashi. My irrational favorite team here, Haguro had to go 12 against Yamamoto Gakuen to win 6-5.

Round 2 saw the first seeded teams to fall. 5-8 seed Kita-Murayama falls to Yamagata Jyouhoku 5-1. Fellow seed Sakata Kougyou lost 3-1 to Toukaidai Yamagata as well as Tsuruoka Kougyou who lost 6-5 to Yonezawa Chuo. Haguro continued shutting out their opposition as Tateoka failed to score.

Outside of that it was mainly status quo to the Best 8 with one exception. My Haguro upset Sakata Minami to the tune of 9-3!! Toukaidai Yamagata will be next up in the quarterfinals.

The first day of quarterfinal action was yesterday. Tsuruoka Higashi finally was put to the test by Yamagata Kougyou. Ace Furuichi(?) was up to the task still, limiting them to 1 run on 9 hits. The offensive output was limited to 3 runs, but was more than plenty. Their opponent will be 4-seed Nichidai Yamagata who mercy ruled Yamagata Jyouhoku.

Miyagi
As the field of 16 started to form we saw some familiar names. Tohoku made it without breaking a sweat. So did the other seeded teams - Sendai Ikuei, Touryou, and Furukawa Kougyou. Joining them was Rifu - who almost let the game slip away against Shibata.

Because of the rainouts, they condensed Round of 16 play into 2 days with all seeded teams in play on the 21st. All 4 advanced. In the other games:

Tome def. Sanuma 6-3
Sendai Shougyou def. Sendai Dai-ichi 5-2
Tohoku Gakuin def. Kogota Nourin 3-2
Rifu def. Ishinomaki Kougyou 3-2

Yesterday was quarterfinals, with all teams at Kleenex Stadium Miyagi. First up was top seed Tohoku, who had no trouble with Tome 13-1 in 5. 4-seed Furukawa Kougyou was up next and while they never trailed Tohoku Gakuin, it took 2 runs in the 8th to finally stay ahead and win 6-5. Doubt they'll be able to get away with that against Tohoku.

Afternoon session began with Touryou playing Rifu. Needless to say Rifu as of late has been a very good team in Miyagi. Rifu's Katou shuts the 3-seed out 6-0 and advances to the semis!

And if one upset wasn't enough, we had 2! 2-seed Sendai Ikuei was in a fight with Sendai Shougyou early. But then Sendai Shougyou scores 3 in the 6th to pull away! Ace Kome doesn't allow a run after the 3rd and it's a 5-1 upset!

Fukushima
As Round 2 concluded, there we had some interesting games such as Iwaki Kaisei who rallied from down 5-1 scoring 2 in the bottom of the 9th to defeat Fukushima Minami. Fukushima Higashi stems the scoring from Yotsukura with 4 in the bottom of the 8th and hangs on to win 9-8.

The 21st saw all teams in play across 7 stadiums. Aidzu and Hobara were involved in a scoring affair, with Hobara scoring in the middle innings, but it's Aidzu's bookend scoring that leads to a 10-8 win. Iwaki Kouyou wins late with a pair of runs over Fukushima Shougyou. And Shirakawa Asahi scores the only run in the bottom of the 8th over Futaba.

After a day off, the round of 16 saw all teams in play, and the games were either blowouts or close affairs.

Top seed Seikou Gakuin records their 3rd mercy and double-digit game.
4-seed Haramachi is unceremoniously upset as Higashi Nippon Kokusaidai Shouhei scores 8 in the 6th to win 12-2.
Shirakawa defeats Aidzu 8-0 in 7.
Despite only getting 4 hits, Iwaki Kouyou scores the only run versus Gakkouhoujin Ishikawa.
Odaka Kougyou mercy rules Naganuma 13-1 in 7.
Sukagawa holds off a 9th inning charge from Shirakawa Asahi to win 4-3.
Nichidai Tohoku needs 10 to defeat Aidzu Kougyou 2-1.
2-seed Shouin Gakuen Fukushima scores a run in the 1st and ace Yachi makes it stick over Kooriyama Shougyou.

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

2011-07-22T13:06:00.003+09:00

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!

93rd Koushien Qualifying - July 13th-21st (Chuugoku Region)

2011-07-22T00:45:00.005+09:00

Well, I'm heading towards the middle, mostly because I know updating the Kinki and Chuubu regions will be a pain in the...

Yamaguchi
Day 1 of games at Yamaguchi featured Shimonoseki Nishi giving up the tying run in the bottom of the 9th against Ube Nishi, but winning 1 inning later and Houfu responding to Ooshima Shousen Tousen's 3 runs in the 6th with 3 of their own in the 7th and a sayonara run in the 9th.

Day 2 (17th) had Tokuyama Shoukou holding on against Iwakuni Kougyou 4-3. Saikyou and Keishin were tied at 3 after Keishin scored 2 in the bottom of the 9th. Saikyou though tripled their run total in the 11th scoring 6 out of nowhere to win 9-3. Top 4 seed Shimonoseki Shougyou got the short end of the seeded teams having to play an extra game, but breezed against Seiryou 14-4. And finally Tokuyama and Hikarigaoka were scoreless through 9, but the game wouldn't need to go further into extras. Tokuyama scores the sayonara run in the bottom of the 9th for the win, this despite Tawara and Yasuno combining for 9 free passes.

Day 3 rounded out 1st round play. 5-8 seed Yanai Gakuen advances easily over Shin-Nanyou and will play neighbor Yanai Shoukou. Fellow seed Onoda has no trouble with the transition team of Ootsu Ryokuyou/Yamaguchi Suisan. They'll play Nagato (no, not that Nagato - although I bet she could beat a team all by herself) who pulled it out in 11 against Yamaguchi-ken Koujyou.

We did have our first upset in day 3 when 5-8 seed Shimonoseki Chuo Kougyou was actually shutout by Hayatomo 5-0 (in fact they were 5-hit!). And in another minor upset, Karyou loses their 1st round game when Takamizu scores 3 in the bottom of the 8th to take a 3-2 lead.

Round 2 was slated to start on the 19th, but in a repeating story Typhoon Ma-on delayed things a bit. Games finally got underway 2 days later, and with the few teams that are participating the entire 2nd round was played on the 21st so all teams were in play.

Busicom Yanai

Top 4 seed Iwakuni started play but didn't pull away until late defeating Kumage Minami 10-6. Yanai will be their opponent as they beat Tokuyama Shoukou 9-4.
Yanai Gakuen gets its second shutout in as many games. Suou-Ooshima is next on the docket.

Ube Municipal

Top 4 seed Ube Koujyou finds themselves immediately in the trenches against Onoda Kougyou. Onoda ties the game at 3 in the 9th sending it into extras. Ube Koujyou survives scoring the sayonara run in the 11th. Saikyou steps up to take them on in the round of 16.
Onoda moves on defeating Nagato 6-1. Ube Kougyou, who scores its 2nd mercy win will be up next.

Shimonoseki

Shimonoseki Shougyou gets some trouble from Shimonoseki Nishi, winning only by the margin of 2-0. They must be feeling like this is preseason because they'll face another Shimonoseki school in Shimonoseki Kougyou, who kept up with Toyora and pulled ahead when it matted with a sayonara run in the 10th.
Hayatomo continues their run with another shutout, this time over Hagi Shoukou. Shimonoseki Kokusai, who edged Nishiichi will try to stop the Cinderella run.

Houfu Sports Center

Nanyou Kougyou gets through its first game, defeating Seikou 5-0. They play Takagawa Gakuen, who had to survive a late charge from Houfu.
5-8 seed Sakuragaoka trailed Iwakuni Shougyou for much of the game. But again, it's not how you start, but how you finish. Sakuragaoka takes a 1-run lead in the top of the 9th with a pair of runs, and after Iwakuni tied it up, put them to the test again with a run in the 10th. Iwakuni had no response this time and Sakuragaoka survives. Takamizu and Tokuyama were involved in an offensive affair with Takamizu coming back and winning 9-8.

Hiroshima
Round 2 (16th-17th)

The 16th saw the first of the seeded teams take the field. Personal favorite Kouryou handled Shoubara Jitsugyou with ease 10-1. Hiroshima Sougou Gijyutsu, who made a decent showing at Koshien, and is seeded this year beats Numata 13-6. Sanjyou mercy ruled Yoshida in 5.
The biggest shock happened at Miyoshi Kinsai. Seeded Hiroshima Shougyou scored 2 in the 8th to take a 4-2 lead over Miyoshi. Then out of nowhere it appears Hiroshima Shougyou suddenly forgot how to play baseball. Despite relievers Tasaka and Shimotake giving up just 5 hits, the defense fails them as Miyoshi scores 8 in the top of the 9th! Hiroshima Shougyou shocked tries to rally, but down 6 can only muster 2.
In other games on the 16th, Funairi scores the go-ahead run in the 8th against Kannabe to win 2-1. Takeda manages just 6 hits but gets the only run in their game versus Kannabe Asahi. Fukuyama Myououdai blows a 3-0 lead to Sera but recovers to win the game 5-4 in the bottom of the 9th. Onomichi moves on with a 7-1 win over Fukuyama Kougyou. Kinkidai Fukuyama almost blows a 5-0 lead in the top of the 9th to Fukuyama Shougyou but win a nailbiter 5-4.
Moving along to the 17th and Onomichi Shougyou and Jyousuikan win their first game with little resistance while Hiroshima Kokusai Gakuin just gets a 5-2 win over Mihara.
Fukuyama Seishikan scores 7 unanswered runs late to defeat Hiroshima Kanon 8-7. Hasukaichi Nishi responds to Gokou's 3 runs early with 4 runs late for a 4-3 win.

Round 3

Hiroshima Sougyou Gijyutsu continues on its march of redemption defeating perennial power Onomichi 2-1. Sanyou has no problem with Saijyou Nougyou.
Miyoshi continues their run by defeating Hiroshima Kokutaiji 7-2.
Well, #^$*... Kouryou struggles against Kinkidai Fukuyama, and when Kinkidai scores 3 in the 7th, to take a 5-3 lead Kouryou has to scramble. Unfortunately for them, they can only manage 1 run and their summer end prematurely. At least I have Hiroshima Sougou Gijyutsu to root for.
Hatsukaichi Nishi makes a comeback to defeat Kamo 5-4 in 10.
Jyousuikan advances easily, but Soutoku is pushed into extras by Eishin before winning 5-2 in 10.
Shiritsu Kure defeats Kure Shougyou 2-1 in 10.

Shimane
Round 1 came and went, with little that was notable outside of Risshoudai Shounan winning their first game against Matsue Kougyou.

Round 2 got the majority of teams involved, including the favorites.

Top seed Iwamichisuikan shuts out Hamada 4-0 as Kawano throws a 4-hitter.
#2 seed Kaisei struggles against Izumo Koigyou but advances 4-3.
Masuda Higashi ekes out a 1-0 win over Matsue Higashi.
Goutsu uses a 6-run 5th to defeat Matsue Minami 9-7.
#4 seed Taisha mercy rules Hirata 8-0.
Jyouhou Kagaku, down 6-1 mounts a comeback capped by a 2-run bottom of the 9th to defeat Matsue Nourin 7-6.
Daitou scores 3 in the top of the 9th to reverse the game against Matsue Kita and win 6-5.
#3 seed Matsue Shougyou wins 5-2 over Ooda.

Luckily for Shimane, their days off coincided with the Typhoon so they didn't lose any days on the schedule.

Round 3

Iwamichisuikan gets back on track as a #1 seed defeating Masuda Shougyou 8-1 in 7.
Iinan gets the gyakuten victory as 4 in the 8th gives them the 7-6 victory over Izumo Shougyou.
Masuda Higashi matches Masuda run for run, but breaks free at the right time, scoring a run in the bottom of the 9th for the win.
Masuda Higashi will play Taisha who score 8 runs for the 2nd consecutive game in a 7-inning win over Goutsu.
Kaisei too gets on track with a 10-1 win over Meisei. They get Yasugi next.
Matsue Shougyou survives a 2-1 win over Daitou. They'll need to get their act together before playing Izumo.

Okayama
Hm. In the time range I'm recapping, Okayama has gone all the way from starting to the Best 8.

Oy. There's a lot to go through.

Oddly enough, B seed (5-8 seed) Kurashiki Kougyou plays on the first day. No matter as they beat Okayama Hakuryou 7-3.
Kanzei plays on day 2 (and isn't seeded), and defeats Okayama Daianji 10-0 in 6.
Okayama Rikaidai Fuzoku, who made some good runs recently starts off scoring in every inning aginast Tamano Shougyou en route to a 10-0 win in 5.
Tsuyama allows Tsuyama Higashi to tie the game in the top of the 9th but win in the bottom half.
Wakeshizutani get the one and only run in the bottom of the 9th over Meisei Gakuin.
Kurashiki Washuu scores all 5 runs in the last 4 innings to defeat Mimasaka 5-3.

Round 2

B seed Kurashiki Kougyou will be Rikaidai Fuzoku's next opponent, though they scored just one run in the bottom of the 9th to beat Kasaoka Kougyou.
Kurashiki Shougyou almost fell out right from the start. Kouyou's ace Takada held them scoreless for 10 innings. But there's only so far a pitcher can go sometimes, and Takada's limit was the 11th. 4 runs later and Kouyou was eliminated.
B seed Tamano Kounan has little trouble winning 9-0 in 7 over Tsuyama.
Kanzei moves on with a 1-hitter against Higashi-Okayama Kougyou.
Kasaoka Shougyou breaks a 3-all tie against Okayama Higashi Shougyou in the top of the 9th to win 4-3.
A seed Mizushima Kougyou responds after Okayama Jyoutou scores a run to tie it at 1 in the bottom of the 8th. Mizushima scores 2 in the top of the 9th for the win, but it's not comfortable at all of a start.
A seed Sakuyou has no problems with Soujya Minami, winning 7-1.
B seed Okayama Kyousei gives up 2 in the first to Kurashiki Washuu, but dominates thereafter winning 14-2 in 8.
Closing out round 2, A seed Soushi Gakuen rallies to go extra innings against Katsuyama, but it's Katsuyama who wins in the bottom of the 12th!

Round 3

The upsets continue as Kanzei upsets Kurashiki Shougyou, shutting them out 4-0 (though this isn't a real "upset" considering Kanzei's status in Okayama. They'll play Okayama Rikaidai Fuzoku who mercy ruled B seed Kurashiki Kougyou 7-0. (Not a good day for Kurashiki it seems)
The other quarterfinal will be the status quo as A seed Okayama Gakugeikan and B seed Tamano Kounan will square off.
On the other side of the bracket, Sakuyou beats out Okayama Minami late 3-1, and will play Okayama Kyousei, though they needed 3 in the top of the 9th just to tie before winning it in the 10th.
Katsuyama's high from beating Soushi Gakuen ends after Konkou Gakuen spoils the party with a 10-0 rout. They play Mizushima Kougyou who won 2-0 despite giving up 9 hits and walking 4.

Tottori
Tottori in just one week has already reached the quarterfinals. Such is the case with a rural prefecture where populations continue to migrate to cities.

Round 1

Sakai, after scoring 2 in the first to Yonago Higashi, give up 5 to fall behind. But they had the rest of the game to catch up and they did. They'd tie the game in the 6th and take the lead in the 7th winning 7-5.
Tottori Kouryou just beats out Yonago Kita 3-2.
Tottori Shougyou in a back and forth game versus Kurayoshi Kita, and score the go-ahead run in the 8th for a 6-5 win.

Round 2

Sakai continues to look strong as ace Inori throws a 3-hit shutout over Tottori Kougyou.
Tottori Higashi scores 3 in the bottom of the 8th to separate themselves from Tottori Nishi 5-2.
Tottori Shougyou 3-hits Kurayoshi Sougou in a 4-0 win.
Outside of these games, most were uncontested.

The trend seemed to continue in the quarterfinals (yes, 2 games and you're in the quarterfinals). Yasu mercy ruled Yonago Shouin, and Sakai defeated Tottori Higashi 6-1.

Then things finally got interesting...

Tottori Shougyou, who had just gone down 1-0 to Kurayoshi Higashi, scores 4. Kurayoshi Higashi immediately replies with 3 to tie the game. It stayed that way until the 8th when Tottori Shougyou got to the 3rd pitcher, Ishikawa for the winning run.

And in the last quarterfinal, Tottori Jyouhoku got a 3-2 lead in the 1st inning. They maintained it after trading a run in the 3rd. But Tottori Chuo Ikuei scored 2 in the 5th to take the lead. An insurance run in the 7th proved to be the difference as Tottori Jyouhoku scored a run in the 8th to pull within 1.

93rd Koushien Qualifying - July 15th-20th (Shikoku & Kyushu Prefectures)

2011-07-20T13:40:00.008+09:00

Okinawa
I'm working backwards here now because Kyushu is entering final stages. In Okinawa's case, they've actually crowned a champion - which for those who follow kokoyakyu obsessively, already know.

The semifinals were as billed. Okinawa Shougaku, who had been looking to return to Koushien again facing Itoman who is looking for their first.

Itoman, sensing that this may be finally their time get out early, scoring in each of their first 3 innings, building a 4-2 lead. Okishou scores 1 in the 4th to keep themselves in the game. 2 in the 6th gave Itoman some breathing room, and ace Yamashiro (Tsubasa?) brought it home. Okinawa Shougaku would score 1 in the top of the 9th, but still falls 6-4.

So next up it was Kounan's turn. They're just 2 steps away from returning to Koushien - even after losing the face of their team, Shimabukuro Yousuke.

Standing in their way was Chuubu Shougyou who earlier had upset seeded Urasoe Shougyou.

Yet from the opening salvo it seemed like Kounan was in control. 4 in the first inning boded well. Chuubu did score 1 in the 3rd, which wasn't totally scary, but then in the 4th they came out for 5 runs suddenly taking a 6-4 lead. Kounan looked to be in bad shape, but was able to respond with 2 in the 6th to tie the game! The game stayed that way until the 8th inning when Chuubu would once again take the lead at 7-6! Kounan was now tasked with trying to find one more run in 2 innings.

And yet, they weren't able to deliver that tying run home. Chuubu Shougyou denies Kounan a chance at back-to-back titles and now was on the precipice of their own title!

The stage was set then for Itoman and Chuubu Shougyou. Could Itoman finally make good? Could Chuubu get their 3 appearance in the last 10 years?

Chuubu would open the game early notching a run in the top of the 1st. Indeed, they had opportunities to score, but Itoman denied them the ability to expand the lead. That meant that Itoman was still in the game. Indeed, in the 4th they found an equalizer. And then in the very next inning they score the go-ahead run! Now Yamashiro had to bring the game home.

And he did! Itoman holds on for the 2-1 win and earns their first trip to Koushien!

Kagoshima
The round of 16 wound up being filled with upsets. Over at Kamoike Municipal, Reimei was the first seeded team to fall, falling behind Kagoshima Jyouhou 3-0 before trying a comeback in the 9th. That fell short by 1 and Reimei bows out.

Right behind them was Kanoya. Taking a 2-0 lead in the top of the 3rd, they had to scramble after Ijyuuin scored 4 in their next 2 turns. They successfully tied the game in the 5th but could never find the go-ahead run. That would be unfortunate as Ijyuiin scores the sayonara run in the 9th to send the 2nd seeded team home.

Over at Kamoike Prefectural, the favorites held court. Kagoshima Jitsugyou wins in 7 over Kanoya Chuo, while Satsuma Chuo who earlier upset Kagoshima Jyousei defeated Kajiki 5-4, having to scramble when Kajiki scored 4 in the 5th to take a 1-run advantage.

On the 2nd day of the round of 16 games, Shounan methodically build a 9-0 lead over the first 6 innings only to see it mostly evaporate as Yakushima scored 7 over the next 2. That would be the closest they get as Shounan scores 4 to put the nail in the coffin.

Kagoshima Kougyou meanwhile advances with ease as ace Tomishige throws a complete game 4-hitter over Kagoshima Gyoukuryuu.

Things were much harder for the seeded teams at Kamoike Prefectural. Kamimura Gakuen was first up against Sendai. Kamimura Gakuen was in control and looked to have the game in hand, holding a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the 9th. But a lapse was all Sendai needed as they tied the game! The game stayed in a tenuous draw until the 12th where Kamimura scored 3. Yet again Sendai looked to mount a rally. Sendai was able to score 1, but that would be it.

Kanoya Chuo was in even worse shape against Kagoshima Minami. They were down for most of the game and as the late innings approached were down 3-1. However Minami may have been caught up in the moment. Kanoya Chuo scores 3 in the 8th to take the 4-3 lead. Kagoshima Minami couldn't recover in time and as a result their summer came to an end.

Quarterfinal games have been completed as Typhoon Ma-on cancelled games across the country for a day or two (depending on where you are). Kagoshima Jitsugyou ended Kagoshima Jyouhou's run with a convincing 13-3 win. Satsuma Chuo continues to look impressive mercy ruling Ijyuuin 13-3 in 5. But they will be tested against the formidable Kajitsu squad.

Those delayed quarterfinal games had Shounan sticking tough against Kamimura Gakuen... until Kamimura scored 7 in the bottom of the 7th to invoke the mercy rule. Tough loss for them. The other quarterfinal was Kanoya Chuo shutting out Kagoshima Kougyou 7-0 in 7.

So it's Kajitsu v. Satsuma Chuo in one semi and Kamimura Gakuen v. Kanoya Chuo.

Odds are, we're seeing a Kajitsu v. Kamimura Gakuen final. But anything can happen, it's the reason why we love this game, right?

Miyazaki
Round 2

Seeded teams had mixed results, though all advanced. Miyazaki Kita wound up going 14 innings with Kobayashi Nishi, but won 5-4. Houshou 3-hits Tsuno, winning 3-0. Nichinan Gakuen defeats Miyakonojyou Nishi 7-2.

Round 3

Nobeoka Gakuen advanced via the mercy rule so no trouble there, but Miyazaki Nichidai wins by just 2-0 over Hyuuga Gakuin though they did 3-hit them. Miyakonojyou Higashi, who had just upset Miyakonojyou Izumigaoka, advanced with a 9-3 win over Nichinan.
After a day off because of rain, the the 3 seeded teams who played yesterday all advanced - Miyakonojyou Shougyou, Miyazaki Kita and Nichinan Gakuen.

Oita
Round 2

5-6 seed Oita separates themselves from Yanagigaura with 3 in the 8th for a 6-3 win.
Kunisaki blows an early 5-0 lead but eventually defeats Oita Tsurusaki 7-6 in 11.
Nihon Bunridai Fuzoku needed the bottom of the 9th to score their only 2 runs beating Tsukumi 2-1.
Mori's run ended when they lost 10-2 to 7-8 seed Tsurusaki Kougyou.
3-4 seed Touin used a 6-run 8th to beat Beppu Aoyama 7-4.
5-6 Hita Rinkou had a 5-run 5th en route to a 6-2 win over Usuki.

In the only Round 3 game before the rainouts, Meihou needed 6 innings before scoring their first run against Saiki Kakujyou, once they scored, it was all over. 7-0 called after 8.

Kumamoto
Finishing up Round 2, Aso Chuo outlasted Touryou 5-4, while Jyouhoku and Kumamoto combined for just 7 hits with Jyouhoku getting the 1-0 win.

Round 3

Seeded Chiharadai after a shaky start mercy ruled Kumamoto Denpa Tousen 14-4 in 6. Next up for them will be Kumamoto Kougyou.
Yatsushiro Higashi also moves on to the next round after recording their 2nd 8-1 win in as many games. Kumamoto Gakuendai Fuzoku will be their opponent in the round of 16.
Kyushu Gakuin advanced easily and will play Amakusa Kougyou next.
Luther Gakuin, who is seeded only wins 1-0 over Tamana Kougyou.
Shuugakukan is also cruising through the brackets and is on a collision course with Toukaidai Fuzoku Dai-ni though they only won 3-2 over Yatsushiro.
Senshuudai Tamana is trying once again to make their first Koushien appearance, and advances 9-4 over Minamata.
Kumamoto Kokufu draws Jyouhoku after both face little opposition.

Round 4

We get our first seeded casualty as Kumamoto Kougyou mercy rules Chiharadai 9-2 in 8.
Yatsushiro Higashi would fall next as Kumamoto Gakuendai Fuzoku scores 5 in the 1st en route to a 7-6 win.
Kyushu Gakuin early on in their match against Amakusa Kougyou looked to be the 3rd straight team to fall, but a 9-2 run in the 5th-8th innings save their season as they move on 11-8.
Kyushu Gakuin's win though did not stop the bleeding. Luther Gakuin watched as Buntoku scored 2 in the 7th to pull ahead for good at 4-2.
Shuugakukan becomes just the 2nd seeded team to advance to the Best 8 with a 3-0, 4-hit shutout over Uto.
Chinzei continues the upset trend scoring the go-ahead run in the 8th to defeat Toukaidai Fuzoku Dai-ni 3-2.
Senshuudai Tamana would be the 3rd and final seeded team to advance with a 4-1 win over Ariake. This is because Kumamoto Kokufu would give up 4 in the 8th to Jyouhoku and fall 6-3.

So after all 8 seeded teams made the round of 16, only 3 survive to the Best 8 - Kyushu Gakuin, Shuugakukan and Senshuudai Tamana. These 3 have been stalwarts in Kumamoto, so in some ways this is no surprise. What will be interesting is if they can continue carrying the flags.

Nagasaki
Round 2 play continued on the 15th...

Shimabara and Gotou were in a low-scoring affair, but Shimabara got the better of it with a sayonara run to win 4-3.
Keihou pulled off the upset against Nagasaki Nanzen winning 2-1 in 12!
And to make it 3 straight close games at Sasebo, Nagasaki Kougyou scored their only run in the 9th, but fell 2-1 to Kyushu Bunka.
Nagasaki Nichidai cruised over Iki and will face seeded Seihou. How this is only a round of 16 matchup I have no idea.
Kaisei (no, not that Kaisei) defeated Sasebo Nishi 11-0 in 6.
Souseikan became another seeded casualty as they lost to Sasebo Jitsugyou 5-3.
Obama invoked the presidential rallies of the man with the same name, tying the game at 1 versus Shimabara Nougyou in the bottom of the 9th and winning the game just 1 inning later.

Round 3

Well, that powerhouse matchup between Seihou and Nagasaki Nichidai wound up being a bit one sided. Seihou scores 6 after falling behind 2-0 and won 8-5.
Isehaya separates themselves from Sasebo Tousen with 4 in the 9th to win 10-6.
Seiryou continues its run after upsetting Hasami by beating Shimabara 8-1.
Kaisei with their 2nd mercy-rule win moves on to play Isahaya.
Sasebo Jitsugyou up 2 watches Sasebo Minami score 5 in the 6th to find themselves down 3. But they come back to score a pair of runs in the 7th and 8th to come back and win 8-7!
Keihou after their upset also won their game against Kawatana 9-6.
Finally Obama made their lives a bit easier after a stressful game, winning 7-3 over Kyushu Bunka.

Quarterfinals

Seiryou seems to be showing themselves to be a contender. Obama is no match for them as they get mercy ruled 9-2 in 8. They will play Kaisei who also invoked the mercy rule, defeating Isahaya also by the score of 9-2 (in 7 innings).
Seihou advances to the Best 4 with an 8-4 win over Sasebo Jitsugyou. Their opponent will be Keihou who pulls off their 2nd upset against Sasebo Kougyou 8-1 in 7 innings!

Saga
Round 3

Seeded Karatsu Shougyou with a 5-2 win over Hokuryou moves on to face Saga Nishi who faced no opposition from Tosu Shougyou.
Same with Saga Gakuen as they defeat Shiroishi. They'll play Kashima Jitsugyou who will get rest after winning 2-1 in 11 against Tosu Kougyou.
Deanna's pet team, Saga Kita looks to be a team of destiny again. They bookend the game with runs, defeating seeded Ryuukoku 5-4 in 10! They get Miyaki next.
And in what will be the final quarterfinal matchup, Waseda Saga is blanked by Kyuuragi 10-0 while Saga Kougyou mercy rules Saga Nougyou.

Quarterfinals

Quarterfinal 1 had Karatsu Shougyou and Saga Nishi. The game was tied at 1 at the end of regulatio. Saga Nishi tried to put the game away with a run in the top of the 10th. But when Karatsu Shougyou tied the game in the bottom half, the game bogged down. Neither team was able to score after that and the game ended in a 2-2 draw! That means they'll have to replay the game and make it that much more difficult to advance.
In the 2nd quarterfinal on the 20th, Saga Kita gives up a late pair of runs to Miyaki but it's in consequential as they win 4-2.

Fukuoka
Fukuoka by the 20th had finished regional play and had their redraw for the prefectural bracket.

July 15th

Kurume had the Minami Block B, C & D finals. In the Block B final, Itoshima defeated Mizuma 4-2 to advance. Nishi Nippon Tankidai Fuzoku secured the Block C bid after a 3-run 7th gave them a 4 run lead. They would win 5-2 over Shuuyuukan. Finally, Kurume Shougyou scores 4 runs on just 7 hits and advances 4-0 over Kurume.
Kasuga had the Minami A, E, F finals. Fukuoka Koudai Jyoutou wins Block A as expected 7-1 over Chikushi. Higashi-Fukuoka's Mori 4-hits Chikushidai in a 4-0 shutout in Block E, Musashidai's 3-run 1st is the final margin as they win 7-4 over Hakata in Block F.
Ootani had Kita Block A and E finals. Touchiku slips by Ikutokukan 2-1 in the A final. Inatsuki Shikoukan can only muster a run in the 9th against Jiyuugaoka as they fall 6-1.
Chikuhou Ryokuchi was host to the Kita Block C & F finals. Touyou defeated Noogata 12-0 in 5 to move out of Block C. Kokura, who mercy ruled seeded Orio, advances out of Block F with a 10-2 win in 8 over Kurate.
Kita-Kyushu Municipal has the B & D finals. Kyushu Kokusaidai Fuzoku easily goes to prefectural play from Block B with a 10-1 win over Kokura Nishi. Moji Gakuen scores 3 in the 8th to shock Houkoku Gakuen 3-2 in Block F.

July 16

Kurume again had 3 games - Blocks I, J and K finals. Chikuyou easily handles Nanchiku 11-2 in 7. Fukuoka Kougyou mercy rules Fukushou 9-0 in 7, and in a shocker, Asakura rallies with 3 runs in the last 2 innings to defeat Yanagigawa 6-5!
Kasuga with Block G & H finals. Oomuta shocks Kyushu Sangyoudai Kyushu leading wire to wire to advance 4-2! Fukuoka Kaisei does the same thing to Block H seed Toukaidai Dai-go winning 5-1!
Finally in Kita Block G & H over in Kita-Kyushu, Hokuchiku shuts out seeded Kita-Kyushu Shiritsu as ace Imanaga throws a 6-hitter! Iidzuka rounds out the field defeating Yahata Minami 6-2.

The prefectural draw was not kind to some teams. Not only did Higashi-Fukuoka and Iiduzka draw an extra game, they drew each other. Not only that, but the winner in all likelihood will play Jiyuugaoka. Certainly a hell quadrant if there was one.

For others, their path is a bit easier. Kyukoku does face competition that has Koushien experience, but not recently. Same with Nishi Nippon Tankidai Fuzoku and Fukuoka Koudai Jyoutou.

Kochi
Day 1 for Kochi went by with little fanfare or excitement. All games were called and the minimum losing margin was 7.

The 17th was better in terms of closer games. 4 of the 7 were decided by 1:

Kochi Chuo's Ishigaki throws a 3-hit shutout as they win 1-0 over Sukumo Kougyou.
Kochi Minami's 4 runs early are enough to beat Kochi Higashi Kougyou 4-3.
Kochi Nishi down 7-0 to Odzu scores 1 in the 7th then 5 more in the 8th. But the tying run was left begging.
Susaki and Kochi Tousen each scored a run in the 7th, but it would be Kochi Tousen who would score the sayonara run to win 2-1.

Meanwhile, Kochi always a favorite to make Koushien wins 13-1 over Sukumo. Kochi Shougyou, who was strong back in the day starts off with a 11-1 win over Hata Nougyou.

The first game of the 3rd round had Meitoku Gijyuku continued on with their 2nd mercy game while Tosa pulled away after Kochi Kougyou scored 5 in the 6th to make it a 6-5 ballgame.

Ehime
1st round play at the start about as exciting as watching paint dry. Games for the most part were not totally competitive. Imabari Nishi this year was not a seeded team and thus had to play the first round where they dispatched Komatsu 13-0. Saibi too had to play and they beat Matsuyama Chuo 7-0.

The only exception it seemed was a game between Oozu Nougyou and Imabari Kita Oomishima. Tied at 2 going into extras, Oozu scores 3 to seemingly put the game away. Except that Oomishima decided that they weren't ready to go home yet and scored 3 of their own. This after being 2-2 through 9??! Anyways, Oomishima didn't seem to have any choice about going home as Oozu scores 3 more in the 11th, and that was game.

But turn the calendar to the 17th and we started having drama.

Yawatehama held off a charge by Houjyou that saw their lead shrink to 1 at 3-2 before recording the final out.
Niihama Tousen, down 7-3 to Matsuyama Minami finds a way to score 4 in the 9th to tie the game. 2 innings later, they score 4 more to win 11-7.
Niihama Kougyou, much like their bretheren team, scores a run in the 9th to send it into enchousen against Ehimedai Fuzoku where also 2 innings later they score the go-ahead run to win 6-5.
Finally Matsuyama Kita gets out to an early lead, but watches as Nomura slowly whittles away at it. They pull within 1 twice, but can never find the equalizer, falling 5-4.

Typhoon Ma-on cancelled games here too with the 1st round finally finishing on the 21st.

Tokushima
Not much to report here out of Tokushima. Most games are going by uneventful, and the 2nd round was started just before the typhoon hit.

Jyounan was able to get their game in, though there were trailing for the first part of it against Awa before scoring 7 in the 7th to call the mercy rule.

Kagawa
Much was the same in Kagawa. Though unseeded Eimei advanced with a 7-3 win over Ishida. And 4 seed Sakaide was shutout by Sakaide Shougyou 2-0! Sangawa did indeed advance with a 13-0 win in 5 over Takamatsu Chuo.

93rd Koushien Qualifying - July 13th-19th (Hokushinetsu Prefectures)

2011-07-19T16:17:00.004+09:00

Niigata
With a day off on the 12th, play would begin on the 13th with the 2nd round.

5-8 seed Sado, who made it to senbatsu, starts their run with a 12-1 win over Kamo.
3 seed Nagaoka Oote finds themselves having to rally multiple times against Takada Kitashiro including scoring 3 in the 9th just to tie the game! They would advance with a 8-7 win in 10, but it has to be a wakeup call for them. We'll have to see how they do against Tookamachi Sougou.
At Midori-no-mori, 5-8 seed Tookamachi wins easily over Sanjyou Sougou.
Top seed Nihon Bunri methodically picks apart Kashiwazaki 7-0 in 7 innings. Odjiya Nishi is next on the docket.
2 seed Hokuestu lets Niigata pull within 1 in the bottom of the 8th but 2 in the 9th gives them enough cushion.
4 seed Chuuetsu too has issues in their first game. They fall behind 3-0, then 5-1 to Sanjyou before scoring 2 in the 7th and in the bottom of the 9th to win 6-5.
5-8 seed Sekine Gakuen wins handily 6-2 over Arai and will play Nagaoka Kougyou next.
It seems like the 5-8 seeds are having a better time of things as Gosen defeats Aikawa 11-1 in 6.
Teikyou Nagaoka continues to carry the name of their parent university as they win 1-0 over Takada.
Niigata Meikun takes a 5-2 lead and cruises to a 6-4 win over Muikamachi.
Niigata Dai-ichi comes back with 2 in the bottom of the 9th to steal the win away from Niigata Kouyou.

No day off between Rounds 2 and 3, as teams start turning around faster between games.

Nagaoka Oote recovers after the shaky start to mercy rule Tookamachi Sougou.
Niigata Kenou Kougyou needed their early 3-0 lead as Niitsu Kougyou would start trying to make a comeback. However Kenou continued to score runs to keep the distance. Niitsu would pull within 1 at 9-8 but could never pull level.
Nihon Bunri will play Teikyou Nagaoka as both win their games with little trouble.
Hokuetsu after stumbling in the 1st against Niigata Kougyou, scores 10 unanswered to win 11-5. Their opponent will be Shirone who themselves score 10 unanswered in the last 3 innings to defeat Niigata Shougyou 11-8.
Chuuetsu plays yet another close game, this time against Niigata Sangyoudai Fuzoku once again scoring a sayonara run in the bottom of the 9th. Their next opponent will be Bunsui as Sanjyou Higashi cannot prevent the mercy rule from being called in the 7th.
Sado advances with a 5-1 win over Nagaoka, but will have a tough test against Niigata Meikun.
Tookamachi is the first seeded team to fall as Murakami Sakuragaoka mercy rules them 10-2 in 7.
Gosen and Maki will face off in the round of 16 with solid wins.
Sekine Gakuen's victory in the 3rd round means that Tookamachi, Nihon Bunri's seeded opposition in their quadrant was the only one not to advance to the round of 16. Sekine's opponent will be Niigata Dai-ichi.

Nagano
Round 2

Saku Chousei shows little rust in their first game mercy ruling Iiyama Kita.
Maruko Shigakukan edges out Nagano Shougyou 3-2.
Toukai Dai-san has no trouble with Nakano Risshikan 10-0 in 6.
Matsumoto Kougyou down 6-1 scores 10 (10!) in the top of the 8th to win 11-7 over Ina Yayoigaoka.
Nagano Nichidai easily dispatches Matsumoto Arigasaki 10-2 in 7.
Iiyama scores 3 in the 8th to defeat Okaya Kougyou 4-3.
At Ueda Prefectural on the 13th we had 3 close games as Shinonoi records a sayonara victory against Matsumoto Misuzugaoka 4-3, Hotaka lets Suzuka Engei pull within 1 in the bottom of the 9th but win 3-2, and Shimo-Suwa Kouyou pulls off a last minute win over Ikeda Kougyou.
Matsushou Gakuen, absent as of late in Nagano looks to make a comeback with a 7-0 win over Tatsuno.
Shimo-Ina Nougyou score 4 in the 8th to cut a 5-0 deficit down to 1, but can't find the equalizer to Nozawa Kita.
Chikyuu Kankyou (translated means Global Environment) has actually done decently in recent years, starts their run with a 7-2 win over Tagawa.
Koumi scores a run in the 8th and 9th to defeat Nagano Minami 2-1.

Round 3

Saku Chousei struggles against Shinonoi winning 2-1 though they did only give up 4 hits.
Hotaka Shougyou pulls a minor upset against Maruko Shigakukan 8-5.
Toukai Dai-san moves onto the round of 16 with a 3-1 win over Suwa Seiryou.
Nagano Nichidai wins its 2nd consecutive game 10-2 in 7. Ina Kita is their victim this time.
Akaho pings Shima-Suwa Kouyou for a run in 4 consecutive innings to win 5-4.
Nagano tries to make a game out of it, pulling within 1 right after Komoro Shougyou expanded their lead to 5, but can't produce the douten run.
Chikyuu Kankyou 1-hits Okaya Minami winning 6-0.
Matsushou Gakuen spots 6 runs to Kami-Ina Nougyou in the top of the 1st, but slowly works their way back culminating with 2 in the 9th for the win!

Round 4

Saku Chousei is back on track with a 9-0 win over Akaho in 7.
Chikyuu Kankyou's run ends with a 4-1 loss to Tokyo Shidai Shiojiri. Too bad, they had interesting uniforms.

We're in the best 8 now and the matchups are as follows:

Saku Chousei v. Nagano
Iiyama v. Matsushou Gakuen
Matsumoto Dai-ichi v. Nagano Nichidai
Toukai Dai-san v. Tokyo Shidai Shiojiri

I wouldn't be surprised to see Saku Chousei v. Matsushou Gakuen, and Nagano Nichidai v. Tokyo Shidai Shiojiri in the semis.

Toyama
Round 1 came and gone without much excitement save for a 5-5 game between Takaoka and Tonami before Takaoka scores 5 to decide the issue, and Toyama hanging on for dear life against Fukuoka winning 9-8.

Round 2 so far has also gone by without much excitement save for Kouhou winning 8-6 in extra innings against Kamiichi, and... oh yeah... Toyama Higashi, a 3-4 seed, manages just 5 hits and strikes out 10 times, rallies for 2 in the 9th, but loses to Takaoka Nishi 3-2!

Fukui
Fukui's 1st day of action ended with a high-scoring affair between Usui and Maruoka. Usui build an 8-4 lead, and seemed to be in control. However in the bottom of the 8th, Maruoka scores 6 and shocks Usui by taking a 10-8 lead! But they say the last 3 outs are the hardest to get and in this case it was. Usui scores 4 to retake the lead! Maruoka tries to mount a final rally but falls a run short losing 12-11.

Final day of 1st round games saw the following:

Koshi use a pair of runs in the 6th and 7th to beat Asuwa 4-2.
Fujishima using a 4-run first to win 5-4 over Tsuruga.
Takefu Higashi outscoring Katsuyama 2-1 in the 6th. That was the final score too.

Ishikawa
The opening game in Ishikawa started off with a 14-9 win by Terai over Tsurugi.

The games on the first full day of competition included some wacky scores. Most notably was a 9-4 run by Noto to defeat Kanazawa Kouyou 12-11.

In other 1st round games, Daishouji Jitsugyou made a late comeback against Komatsu Kougyou, but would fall 1-run short at 7-6. Ootori Gakuen scores a run in the 8th and 9th innings to defeat Houdatsu 3-2.

Komatsu Shiritsu reversed a 4-run 8th but Kanazawa Fushimi to win 5-4. Nanao Shimonome down 7-1 score 4 in the 8th and 3 in the 9th to bid sayonara to Touka Gakuen Oyamadai. Finally Daishouji scores 2 in the 10th to beat Suisei 6-4.

Shiga
Shiga opened play on the 14th with an extra inning affair. Mizoguchi outlasts Hikone Kougyou 2-1 in 11. Other 1st round games included:

Hikone Higashi, not seeded this year begins their march to Koushien with a 12-3 win over Yasu.
Maibara scoring 2 in the 9th to beat Shiga Tankidai Fuzoku 4-2.
Youkaichi withe 3 late runs, including the sayonara run in the bottom of the 9th to defeat Shiga Gakuen 6-5.
Hino's run in the 6th was enough to defeat Nagayama 5-4.
Kousen and Hachiman Kougyou do all their scoring in the final 4 innings capped off by 3 in the bottom of the 9th to give Kousen the 5-4 sayonara win.
Ika and Kousei spread their runs throughout the game, though Kousei wins by the same 5-4 score.
Kawase allows Higashi-Ootsu to come back from 4 down to send it into extras, though they win with a run in the 11th.
Rittou scores 2 in the bottom of the 8th to take a 6-3 lead over Notogawa. With just 3 outs to go, Notogawa scores 4 to take a 1-run lead! Rittou is unable to respond and Notogawa advances.
Ishiyama pulled off a miraculous comeback against Torahime. Down 6-0, Ishiyama begins their comeback with 3 in the lucky 7. Torahime scores 4 to make it a 7-run deficit. Ishiyama only manages 2 putting them down 10-5. In the bottom of the 9th, neither ace Fujimoto nor reliever Takahashi can prevent Ishiyama from scoring 6 to complete the comeback and win 11-10!

The first game of the 3rd round as well as games on the 19th were rained out due to Typhoon Ma-on.