Monday, August 17, 2015

Day 12, Quarterfinal 1 - Waseda Jitsugyou (Nishi Tokyo) v Kyushu Kokusaidai Fuzoku (Fukuoka)

All right no more mister nice guy for me. As I mentioned on my twitter I am sick and tired of the old establishment so my commentary is a bit different.

Waseda Jitsugyou I dislike and thank at the same time. I dislike them because they defeated Tanaka Masahiro back in 2006. I thank them because I think it motivated him to do better and he wouldn't have become the ace he is without it. And much to my amusement Saitou Yuuki became the pitcher he was, so that is a bonus.

Grudge? Yup. Do I care? Hell no.

If the media didn't already make big news of it, Kiyomiya had his breakout game versus Toukaidai Koufu, pretty much accounting for the final margin. The pitching is still shaky though, so the offense will need to continue producing, Kiyomiya or otherwise.

Kyushu Kokusaidai Fuzoku has had games that title runs are made of. After an easy 1st round win, they survived Osaka Kaisei and then put away Sakushin Gakuin behind a good pitching and defensive effort. Ace Tomiyama was not overly dominating, but still got the job done. The question will be what he has left with just 1 day's rest.

Selfishly, I want Kyukoku to win even though they defeated Osaka Kaisei. Might as well say you lost to the champs, right?

Kyushu Kokusaidai Fuzoku (Fukuoka)
SS Yoshii Kouhei
CF Yamaguchi Youhei
C Iwasaki Kaito
3B Yamamoto Musashi
LF Wakisaka Ryuuji
1B Uto Sou
2B Kameya Shouhei
RF Nakayama Tatasuhide
P Nogi Kaito (#11)

Waseda Jitsugyou (Nishi Tokyo)
3B Yamada Jyunpei
RF Tamagawa Ryou
1B Kiyomiya Koutarou
C Katou Masaki
SS Kaneko Kinsuke
2B Tomita Naoki
LF Miyazaki Renta (#11)
P Matsumoto Kou
CF Watanabe Daichi

____________________________________________________________

08:00 - First Pitch!

Top 1st
Yoshii foul tips an outside fastball into Katou's glove for the 1st out. Yamguchi goes down the same way.

Iwasaki grounds to short and it's a good start for ace Matsumoto.

Bottom 1st
Nogi needs some extra work, getting the count full, to retire leadoff batter Yamada.

Tamagawa strikes out swinging, and the announcers continue their talk of Kiyomiya as he steps in.

Kiyomiya tries to check his swing, but instead hits the ball back to Nogi who goes to 1st for the 3rd out.

Top 2nd
Yamamoto with a liner into center for a base hit to leadoff the frame. Wakisaka not bunting, but chases another high fastball for Matsumoto's 3rd K.

Unfortunately afterwards Uto grounds into the 1-6-3 double play with added announcer emphasis on Kiyomiya.

Bottom 2nd
It would appear that the outside strike is there for both sides if they want it. Katou has to defend it and grounds to short.

Kanko swings at a ball in the dirt, but it gets away from Iwasaki so he's able to reach base.

あ。

Tomita takes the first pitch and hits it to left. Wakisaka runs to the pole, looks up!

HAITAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, that was unexpected. First pitch to Tomita just goes around the foul pole for a HR and gives Waseda the 2-0 lead.

Top 3rd
This looks really bad for Kyukoku. Kaneya goes down swinging and about half the lineup has succumbed to the K already.

Yoshii goes down looking, but the C bought that pitch. That was definitely outside.

Yamaguchi does not strike out, but he grounds to 2nd and Matsumoto is dealing so far.

Bottom 3rd
Nogi has settled back down it seems as he gets a 1-2-3 inning.

Bottom 4th
Kiyomiya adds more fuel to the Kiyomiya firestorm, hitting a HR to right making it 3-0.

After a walk and a bunt, Nogi is replaced by #10 Nakamura.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand..... this game is over.

Tomita hits his 2nd 2-run HR of game making it 5-0 and almost a 100% certainty that Waseda Jitsugyou moving onto the Best 4.

And after a triple, Nakamura is replaced by ace Tomiyama. Might as well have him finish the game. He's earned that much.

Final damage 6-0. And coverage of this game will probably be condensed now that this game has gotten out of hand.

5th Inning
Kyukoku continues to do zip on offense, and Waseda continues to pressure on their end. 6-0 at break.

6th Inning
Kyukoku had a chance with runners at 2nd and 3rd with 1 out, but walked away with a donut instead.

7th Inning
Kyukoku prevents the shutout with a run thanks to a timely hit by Uto. Waseda punished that by having Kiyomiya go off the top of the padded fence as well as scoring 2 runs to put them back in the hole with interest.

Rest of game
The rest of the game goes without much fanfare. Waseda Jitsugyou advances with 8-1 win.

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