Friday, December 25, 2015

Previewing the projected field - Shiga Gakuen (Shiga)

Shiga Gakuen is a surprise, having gone all the way to the super-regional semifinals to earn their first senbatsu bid. Now, they had to fall into the super-regionals after losing to Kita-Ootsu in the prefectural semifinals, but managed to advance where they defeated Houtoku Gakuen and Ryuukokudai Heian before losing to Osaka Touin.

The ace of the staff handed all duties when things mattered. Kamimura Hikari (神村 月光) may throw in the mid 130s, but that's all I know. Whatever the delivery is, it seems effective in earlier competitions, but when pressed versus Ryuukokudai Heian and Osaka Touin, the strikeout rates fall by a good amount. Now, the runs scored have not increased as a result - even against Osaka Touin, so in that respect it doesn't seem to hurt them.

Cleanup batter Umakoshi Daichi (馬越 大地) is by far their best hitter, recording either a hit or an RBI in each of their games. Tokudome Kaito (徳留 魁人) at the top of the order also does his fair share setting the tone for the middle of the lineup.

The loss to Kita-Ootsu in the prefecturals is muted somewhat by the fact that they've had several quality wins and the narrow loss to Osaka Touin. Without much info on the pitching though it's hard to say how far they can go but they probably can be counted on to win a game.

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