While the overlying tone of Koushien has been muted a bit because of recent events, the JHBF has decided that the show must go on. Personally, I agree with the sentiment because I think the kids who qualified should get the chance to experience Koushien (especially those who are representing their school's first appearance), and it brings a sense of normalcy to the people. So while things have changed a little (no march-in during the opening ceremony and no cheering in the oen-dan - which I will certainly miss), I believe it will help the people cope.
And with that, the opening game of the 83rd Haru Koushien is about to get underway!
I had always thought that Kagawa Nishi had been a strong team within the prefecture (and even within Shikoku), yet I'm surprised to see that this is actually their first time at senbatsu! Not only will this be their first time, but they get to open up the tournament!
Kagawa Nishi finished runner-up in the Shikoku Super-Regional, yet their fall was a mixed bag. They finished runner-up in the prefecturals, defeating Takamatsu Shougyou and Kanonji Chuo before giving up 2 runs to Sangawa in the bottom of the 9th. Then they edged Jyounan and defeated Kochi, but then was annihilated by Meitoku Gijyuku. So while they qualified, it's hard to judge just exactly how good they are.
Their first round test will be tough as they square off against 2009 Natsu runner-up Nihon Bunri. Nihon Bunri has always been a decent team out of the Hokushinetsu region, regularly reaching both the Haru and Natsu Koushien tournaments. But it wasn't until their 2009 run where they had one of the most exciting finishes in history that finally put them on the map.
While ace Itou Naoki has left, the effects of that game should have lingered on. In at least the short-term this should provide them with an added boost that may help sustain the success of the school.
So, how have they taken advantage of this opportunity?
Nihon Bunri also finished runner-up in their region, but their performance was much more even. They won the prefecturals on the back of good pitching primarily in 2nd year ace Tamura Yuuma. Their excellent pitching continued on through the likes of Matsushou Gakuen and Yuugakukan, but Ooi-kantoku decided to go with fellow 2nd year Hatano Yousuke instead (much like the Matsushou Gakuen game), and Kanazawa was able to take advantage for a 4-2 win.
Nihon Bunri's offense does not seem that extraordinary, so their run may be predicated on how their pitching holds up.
It should be a good game, given that Kagawa isn't a true newcomer, but I think Nihon Bunri should advance from this matchup.
____________________________________________________________
Kagawa Nishi (Kagawa) - Shikoku Runner-up
LF Oota Hiroto
2B Mori Kouichi
CF Kominami Kengo
3B Kobayashi Masakazu
1B Ogawa Shouhei
RF Fujiwara Shigeru
C Nakanishi Daisuke (#12)
P Utsunomiya Kenta
SS Yano Kouhei
Nihon Bunri (Niigata) - Hokushinetsu Runner-up
CF Karasawa Tomoya (#13)
2B Noguchi Tatsuyoshi
LF Yumoto Shouta
C Murakami Masashi
RF Nanba Masaya
1B Yoshida Yuu
SS Akiyama Masaki
3B Takahashi Kou
P Tamura Yuuma
____________________________________________________________
10:10 - Game start!
Top 1st
Tamura off to a good start as Oota pops one out in foul territory. Takahashi is under it for the first out.
Tamura's offerings aren't that fast and Mori shoots one back up the middle for a base hit.
The fastball is sitting in the low 130's and his curve in the mid 110's.
We see a slider against Kominami at the low 120's-high 110's... and Kominami lazily flies out to center.
Cleanup batter Kobayashi is rather patient at the plate, taking the first two pitches for balls and one for a strike.
And Tamura gets Kobayashi to hit an easy fly to right to end the inning. Not a bad start for Tamura, but the batters are taking pitches - 15 for the 1st inning.
Bottom 1st
One pitch, one out. Karasawa takes the first pitch right to Yano. He makes the putout at 1st.
Utsunomiya is about the same as Tamura. Fastball in the mid-130's, just hit 137 against Noguchi, with a curve/slider in the mid-110's.
Noguchi with a fly to center. Kominami running back, still running as it goes over his head! Noguchi in with a double!
Yumoto with a shot to right! That's in for a base hit! Fujiwara bobbles the bounce! They're sending Noguchi in, and the throw is cut off! Noguchi scores giving Nihon Bunri the 1-0 lead!
Murakami going on the first pitch hits one to the right side! Mori with the great backhanded stop! Goes to 2nd for one, throw to 1st by Yano in plenty of time to beat a diving Murakami to end the inning.
But Nihon Bunri gets on the board first!
Top 2nd
After a groundout by Oota to start the inning, Fujiwara takes his time at the plate, gets ahead 3-0, and is plunked for ball 4.
おっと。 The first pitch is high, and now Nakanishi is up 2-0. He's given the green light, but swings away at a high fastball. Slider is wide for ball 3, and Tamura's in danger of walking his 2nd batter. Nakanishi bails him out for a pitch by swinging at another high fastball. Count goes full and after a foul ball, Nakanishi is frozen on a slider for strike 3! Murakami fires to 2nd and Fujiwara is thrown out easily for the strike-'em-out-throw-'em-out DP to end the inning.
Tamura doesn't have the best control right now, and if Kagawa Nishi is patient, they may get that equalizing run sooner rather than later.
Bottom 2nd
Utsunomiya working at a quick pace. Nanba hits the first pitch to 2nd for the first out.
Working on Yoshida, he nibbles on the outside after getting ahead. After running the count full, Yoshida lines one back at Utsunomiya. He stops it with his glove and makes the play at 1st for out #2.
Akiyama also gets to a full count and hits one right to the gap in right center. It isn't hard, but it falls in the right place as Akiyama is in with a 2-out double.
Utsunomiya continues to work the outside corner against right-handed batters, and although he may have been squeezed, he walks Takahashi and it's getting slightly hairy.
But Tamura can't lay off the outside pitches, and he bails on a couple of pitches to end the inning.
Top 3rd
After making Tamura work the last two innings, the batters start swinging away with no results. Utsunomiya strikes out, Yano grounds to short, and Oota takes the first pitch to 1st where Yoshida takes it himself to end the inning.
Bottom 3rd
Back to the top of the order for Nihon Bunri and Karasawa flies out to left. Noguchi with a harmless grounder to 2nd and there's quickly 2 outs.
Yumoto taking a fastball past a diving Mori for his 2nd hit of the day!
But he takes off on the first pitch and Nakanishi makes a great throw to nail him for the 3rd out.
Top 4th
Mori falls behind 0-2, and while he evens the count, he grounds to 2nd.
Kominami once again patient, and he walks on 4 straight! Runner on for Kagawa Nishi.
Murakami perhaps crossed up there, has the ball get away, but Kominami doesn't advance.
Meanwhile, Tamura begins to throw a heavy diet of off-speed pitches, and falls behind Kobayashi 2-1. But Kobayashi hacks away and flies out to right.
Iwagami -kantoku calls for the hit-and-run! And Ogawa puts the ball where Akiyama was! Kominami rounding 2nd, going for 3! Throw from Yumoto not in time and the tying run is 90 feet away!
But Fujiwara gets a bit impatient. He swings at the first pitch, fouling it off - then after falling behind 0-2, swings on a low slider for out number 3.
There's progress, and there's still time, but Utsunomiya has to keep the team in it.
Bottom 4th
Murakami with a fly to right. Fujiwara backpedaling, speeds up at the last second, reaches up and makes the catch. A bit lazy there, but it worked.
おっと。 After getting ahead 1-2, Utsunomiya hits Nanba. Iwagami-kantoku calls for a quick conference.
Utsunomiya hasn't recovered yet, falling behind 2-0 to Yoshida. Two swings later though, and he's back to even. And a late slider fools Yoshida for strike 3.
And Yano snags a liner from Akiyama for the 3rd out.
Top 5th
Oh! The Tohoku squad is in the outfield stands watching the game!
Tamura still having control issues, falling behind Nakanishi 3-1, and issues a leadoff walk!
You have to assume Utsunomiya is bunting, and he is, but Tamura quickly fields it and fires to 2nd to get Nakanishi!
Yano is squaring to bunt as well, but Tamura starts off with 2 balls! #10 Yoshida is in the bullpen warming up.
Yano lays down the bunt, but there's 2 outs now.
Ah! A low pitch from Tamura goes under Murakami and to the backstop, and the runner advances to 3rd.
And now Oota takes a walk! Tamura back in the same pinch as last inning.
Mori looking to extend the inning, works the count full. But a grounder right to Yoshida ends the inning. Another opportunity wasted.
Bottom 5th
Nihon Bunri seems fine heading into the break as Takahashi first pitch swings to right center, and Tamura takes the first pitch to short.
Karasawa though takes a couple of pitches, gets ahead of the count, but he too grounds out to Yano to end the inning.
The lead is 1 for Nihon Bunri, but Kagawa Nishi is getting more opportunities on the basepaths.
Top 6th
Graphic shows that Tamura is already at 80 pitches. Will Kagawa Nishi continue to rack up the pitch count?
Kominami leads off, and is swinging away more now, fouling off several offerings from Tamura. Meanwhile, #11 Hatano is now up in the Nihon Bunri bullpen.
And it looks like Tamura gets the call on a tailing fastball that looked like it still missed the inside corner. Nevertheless, one out.
Kobayashi with an easy grounder to Nogawa for the 2nd out. And Nogawa with a fine throw after charging at a grounder from Ogawa to retire the side.
Bottom 6th
Yumoto collects his 3rd hit of the day with a one-out liner over a leaping Yano into left.
Ah! Ogawa misses the throw from Utsunomiya and it goes into foul territory! Yumoto advances to scoring position!
And now Murakami walks! Runners on 1st and 2nd and there is activity now in the Kagawa bullpen.
Nanba is almost hit by another ball, and the count runs full on him! He checks his swing on the pitch and now the bases are loaded!
Iwagami-kantoku calls for a full conference now as the situation is getting critical for Kagawa Nishi.
And now Ooi-kantoku calls on #15 Usuda to PH for Yoshida. Interesting call here.
Usuda falls behind 1-2 count goes even and Utsunomiya is shaking Nakanishi off over and over. Pitch is in the dirt and the count runs full again...
Slider is fouled off by Usuda...
And Usuda gets under a pitch and lifts it to left center! The outfield was shaded to pull and the fielders can't get to the ball! It falls in front of the wall as Yumoto and Murakami score! 3-0 Nihon Bunri with only one down!!
And Akiyama with a liner past a drawn in infield and that's into center! Kominami's throw is cut off as 2 more runners score making it 5-0 Nihon Bunri!!
Takahashi with a ball to deep left! But it goes foul. Utsunomiya gets him to bail on a low slider for the 2nd out. Tamura does the same to end the inning, but Usuda's timely pinch-hit sparks a 4-run inning giving Nihon Bunri what should be a comfortable lead.
Top 7th
Usuda stays in the game to play 1st.
After 2 quick outs by Fujiwara and Nakanishi, Utsunomiya takes pitches and eventually draws a walk.
That patient sentiment isn't shared by the bottom of the order though. Yano takes the first pitch and lines it just foul down the right field line. And after falling behind 0-2, pops one up. Noguchi moves in just in front of 2nd and makes the catch, retiring the side.
Bottom 7th
Karasawa attempts the safety bunt to get on base, but Kobayashi is there to make a great throw for the first out.
Noguchi dribbles one past the glove of Mori into center for a base hit. Runner on for Yumoto who is perfect on the day.
Noguchi with a great swing getting a low ball from Utsunomiya, but just lines it foul down the right field line.
Sanshin!! Utsunomiya gets Yumoto to swing on a slider in the dirt for strike 3!
Murakami flies out to right to end the inning, but down 5 with 2 innings to go it doesn't look good for the boys from Shikoku.
Top 8th
Oota with a popup in foul territory. Takahashi running towards his dugout, backhands... and falls into the dugout!
But he has the ball!! What a great (if not dangerous) play by Takahashi!
Mori with a bunt, but he pops it up! Tamura quickly off the mound to his left, reaches back and makes the catch!
And with Kominami grounding out to 1st, Nihon Bunri is probably all but assured a spot in the next round.
Bottom 8th
One out, and Usuda gets his 2nd hit lining one to left.
2-2 on Akiyama, and Utsunomiya looks like he was squeezed there by the ump. He subsequently walks Akiyama, putting runners at 1st and 2nd with one out.
Takahashi takes a flat offering from Utsunomiya and drives it to deep left center. That falls in front of the wall! Usuda and Akiyama score on a one-out triple by Takahashi! 7-0 Bunri.
And that'll be hit for Utsunomiya. #10 Okada comes in from the pen to relieve the ace. His compliment of pitches is about the same, as the speed too.
Oy. Okada's offerings too are rather flat, and Tamura plays add on with a liner to right. 8-0.
After a flyout to right, Okada plunks Karasawa, and the game threatens to get really out of control.
Okada does strike out Yumoto to end the inning, but the ending is surely not in doubt anymore. Kagawa will get their last at-bats, then gather their Koushien dirt and head back to Kagawa.
Top 9th
Kobayashi with a looper over Akiyama into left center for a base hit.
#15 Oosako comes into PH for Ogawa, and falls behind 0-2. He eventually swings high on an offspeed pitch and is retired for out #1.
Wild pitch from Tamura sends Kobayashi to 2nd. And another one on the very next pitch brings him to 3rd. Fujiwara then earns a walk, and perhaps Kagawa Nishi can avoid a shutout.
#13 Teraoka comes in to PH for Nakanishi. But he's fooled by the offspeed offerings of Tamura and falls behind 0-2. And he goes down swinging on a high fastball.
It's down to #2 Yamazaki, who is in to PH for Okada.
He hits a dribbler past a diving Noguchi into right! Kobayashi comes home and Kagawa Nishi avoids the shutout! 8-1!
And now Yano gets ahead 3-1 on Tamura. Count goes full, high chopper goes foul.
Yano swings at a low off-speed and it goes right to Noguchi, who retires him for the final out.
Kagawa Nishi put up a good fight early on against Nihon Bunri, but they were unable to get anything going. Eventually the pitching of Kagawa Nishi broke down and Nihon Bunri won going away.
Surely the boys of Shikoku are disappointed, but I think they made a good showing for the opening game.
Notable Players
Kobayashi Masakazu (Kagawa Nishi) - 1-4, R
Yamazaki Yuuichi (Kagawa Nishi) - 1-1, RBI
Yumoto Shouta (Nihon Bunri) - 3-5, R, 2 K
Usuda Hiroya (Nihon Bunri) - 2-2, 2B, R, 2 RBI
Noguchi Tatsuyoshi (Nihon Bunri) - 2-5, 2B, R
Tamura Yuuma (Nihon Bunri) - CG, 1 ER, 6 K, 5 BB
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Brackets and rosters are up (plus some notes)
Brackets and rosters for the 83rd Haru Koushien are now up! I realize that it's less than 24 hours before the first game, but at least they're up now.
A couple of notes for the upcoming Koushien:
A couple of notes for the upcoming Koushien:
- Because of my bowling league on Mondays, the 7th day of coverage may be delayed.
- Unlike in past years where I have to wait for archived footage on the main site, I may be able to liveblog like I have done in the past. Depends on what access I can get.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Senbatsu is on, but with a few changes
Haru Koushien will indeed go on, but there will be several changes which are quite understandable given the circumstances:
- The traditional march of teams into the stadium from the RF entrance will be canceled. As a result, games on Day 1 will be pushed ahead 20 minutes.
- The interval between games will be shortened to limit night games (to prevent usage of the stadium lights per the energy conservation order)
- The Alps stands (where the school's cheering section is - roughly from halfway up from the corner bases to the foul poles) will be prohibiting brabans (brass bands) and cheering. (Unfortunate, but sociologically makes sense)
- A portion of the ticket sales will go to help the victims of the quake/tsunami.
- Donation boxes will also be available for people at the stadium to make their own donations.
- Any ticket holder from the Tohoku region who cannot attend due to the earthquake/tsunami will receive a refund.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
83rd Senbatsu Cancelled?
(Hat tip Gen @ YakyuBaka)
It appears that there is a chance that senbatsu could be canceled due to the Great Tohoku Earthquake. Nothing is decided yet, although we would find out by the 18th at the latest.
I would think that they would consider postponing it in the hopes that things would settle down enough later, and I would think that having Koshien would bring a sense of normalcy, but at the same time canceling it in respect of the people and the situation is completely understandable.
It appears that there is a chance that senbatsu could be canceled due to the Great Tohoku Earthquake. Nothing is decided yet, although we would find out by the 18th at the latest.
I would think that they would consider postponing it in the hopes that things would settle down enough later, and I would think that having Koshien would bring a sense of normalcy, but at the same time canceling it in respect of the people and the situation is completely understandable.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Drawing Completed
The JHBF has decided to go ahead with the Haru Koushien perhaps as a way to bring a sense of normalcy to the country.
Unfortunately, because of Tohoku's issues, it isn't quite out of the picture. As a courtesy, Tohoku was given the final game of Round 1. However, it is still a question as to whether or not they will be able to participate.
So the draw was performed, and here are your brackets. Game will be played in descending order with 3 games a day starting on the 23rd.
Block A
Kagawa Nishi (Kagawa) vs. Nihon Bunri (Niigata)
Maebashi Ikuei (Gunma) vs. Kyushu Kokusaidai Fuzoku (Fukuoka)
Soushi Gakuen (Okayama) vs. Hokkai (Hokkaido)
Oodate Houmei (Akita) vs. Tenri (Nara)
Soushi Gakuen, the all-freshman team who now holds the record as the fastest team to ever reach Koushien, will get a fair test in Hokkai, and Maebashi Ikuei has a bit of an uphill battle against Kyukoku. Nihon Bunri gets an above average team in Kagawa Nishi. Tenri should be okay against Oodate Houmei, but I refuse to predict their potential anymore.
Block B
Yokohama (Kanagawa) vs. Hasami (Nagasaki)
Kanazawa (Ishikawa) vs. Kakogawa Kita (Hyogo)
Nichidai-san (Tokyo) vs. Meitoku Gijyuku (Kochi)
Seisei (Shizuoka) vs. Kyoto Seishou (Kyoto)
Hasami may have rejoiced in reaching Koushien, until they drew Yokohama in the 1st round... Kanazawa and Kakogawa Kita should be a good matchup although Kanazawa should be favored... Nichidai-san and Meitoku Gijyuku will be a good matchup of schools with experience, and Seisei and Kyoto Seishou should be a level match, although either will have a hard time in the 2nd round.
Block C
Suijyou (Ibaraki) vs. Kousei Gakuin (Aomori)
Chiben Wakayama (Wakayama) vs. Sado (Niigata)
Hiroshima Sougou Gijyutsu (Hiroshima) vs. Riseisha (Osaka)
Kokugakuin Kugayama (Tokyo) vs. Kyushu Gakuin (Kumamoto)
Suijyou draws Kousei Gakuin. It's not an ideal matchup, but strictly talking matchups I wonder what the midset of Kousei will be... Sado gets to go to Koushien, but Chiben Wakayama? That's just wrong man.... Riseisha should be favored over Hiroshima Sougou Gijyutus, and could have a chance at the Best 4. And Kyushu Gakuin gets Kokugakuin Kugayama - that should be good.
Block D
Houtoku Gakuen (Hyogo) vs. Jyounan (Tokushima)
Urawa Gakuin (Saitama) vs. Kagoshima Jitsugyou (Kagoshima)
Kanzei (Okayama) vs. Toukaidai Sagami (Kanagawa)
Oogaki Nichidai (Gifu) vs. Tohoku (Miyagi)
Houtoku Gakuen should advance over Jyounan, but Kagoshima Jitsugyou looms in the rear view mirror. I love Kanzei, but Toukaidai Sagami? Really??! And if Tohoku didn't have enough problems, should they be able to make it to Koushien, they have to play Oogaki Nichidai. That hurts.
I'll try to get something more on the matchups in the next couple of days.
Unfortunately, because of Tohoku's issues, it isn't quite out of the picture. As a courtesy, Tohoku was given the final game of Round 1. However, it is still a question as to whether or not they will be able to participate.
So the draw was performed, and here are your brackets. Game will be played in descending order with 3 games a day starting on the 23rd.
Block A
Kagawa Nishi (Kagawa) vs. Nihon Bunri (Niigata)
Maebashi Ikuei (Gunma) vs. Kyushu Kokusaidai Fuzoku (Fukuoka)
Soushi Gakuen (Okayama) vs. Hokkai (Hokkaido)
Oodate Houmei (Akita) vs. Tenri (Nara)
Soushi Gakuen, the all-freshman team who now holds the record as the fastest team to ever reach Koushien, will get a fair test in Hokkai, and Maebashi Ikuei has a bit of an uphill battle against Kyukoku. Nihon Bunri gets an above average team in Kagawa Nishi. Tenri should be okay against Oodate Houmei, but I refuse to predict their potential anymore.
Block B
Yokohama (Kanagawa) vs. Hasami (Nagasaki)
Kanazawa (Ishikawa) vs. Kakogawa Kita (Hyogo)
Nichidai-san (Tokyo) vs. Meitoku Gijyuku (Kochi)
Seisei (Shizuoka) vs. Kyoto Seishou (Kyoto)
Hasami may have rejoiced in reaching Koushien, until they drew Yokohama in the 1st round... Kanazawa and Kakogawa Kita should be a good matchup although Kanazawa should be favored... Nichidai-san and Meitoku Gijyuku will be a good matchup of schools with experience, and Seisei and Kyoto Seishou should be a level match, although either will have a hard time in the 2nd round.
Block C
Suijyou (Ibaraki) vs. Kousei Gakuin (Aomori)
Chiben Wakayama (Wakayama) vs. Sado (Niigata)
Hiroshima Sougou Gijyutsu (Hiroshima) vs. Riseisha (Osaka)
Kokugakuin Kugayama (Tokyo) vs. Kyushu Gakuin (Kumamoto)
Suijyou draws Kousei Gakuin. It's not an ideal matchup, but strictly talking matchups I wonder what the midset of Kousei will be... Sado gets to go to Koushien, but Chiben Wakayama? That's just wrong man.... Riseisha should be favored over Hiroshima Sougou Gijyutus, and could have a chance at the Best 4. And Kyushu Gakuin gets Kokugakuin Kugayama - that should be good.
Block D
Houtoku Gakuen (Hyogo) vs. Jyounan (Tokushima)
Urawa Gakuin (Saitama) vs. Kagoshima Jitsugyou (Kagoshima)
Kanzei (Okayama) vs. Toukaidai Sagami (Kanagawa)
Oogaki Nichidai (Gifu) vs. Tohoku (Miyagi)
Houtoku Gakuen should advance over Jyounan, but Kagoshima Jitsugyou looms in the rear view mirror. I love Kanzei, but Toukaidai Sagami? Really??! And if Tohoku didn't have enough problems, should they be able to make it to Koushien, they have to play Oogaki Nichidai. That hurts.
I'll try to get something more on the matchups in the next couple of days.
Monday, January 24, 2011
83rd Spring Koushien - Probable Teams
After a much needed break (not really a vacation as there's still my regular 9-5 job - whee....), I'm back to start coverage for the new year.
While the field will be announced later this week (the 28th, I think), we can cover most of the participants. This post will be continuously added until I cover all regions.
Edit: Well, after being busy all week, teams have been announced, so it's not probable anymore... heh... Seriously though the teams invited are chalk for the most part with one or two surprises.
Hokkaido Super-Regional (1)
Hokkai - Champions - 12th appearance, 1st in 16 years
Hokkai earns the bid for the Hokkaido region, and while they're a mainstay in the prefecture, it has not been smooth sailing when they head south.
The team is headed by freshman ace Tamakuma Shouichi (玉熊 将一). A righty with a 3/4 delivery, he was the staff ace in middle school as well.
He features a mid 130's fastball, with a mid 120's slider and mid 110's curve that has good break to it. He depends on his control, which will be needed against the tougher competition. This can be seen in their opening round loss in the Meiji Jingu Tournament to Nichidai-san. They'll be the longshot from up north to win it all.
Tohoku Super- Regional (2)
Tohoku (Miyagi) - Champions - 19th appearance, 1st in 3 years
Tohoku has been trying to return to prominence after the Darvish years, but have never really been able to capture that flash.
This time around, the ace number goes to 2nd year utility player Kamimura Kento (上村 健人), a good-sized righty who also is their slugger. He also throws in the mid-130's for his fastball, but has a 120's shuuto and change in addition to his slider. For someone his size, his delivery time from the stretch is a bit above average (1.1-1.2 seconds).
In their appearance at Meiji Jingu, he pitched a complete game shutout against Kanazawa, but surprisingly did not take the mound against Urawa Gakuin where they fell 7-2.
Videos of him are here (Super-regional) and here (Meiji Jingu)。
While he is the ace, he was relieved in early rounds of the prefectural and super-regionals by Natsui Yasukichi (夏井 康吉), a lefty. Interestingly, his oldest brother Natsui Daikichi (夏井 大吉) was a captain at Hanamaki Higashi, and his 2nd oldest Natsui Kenkichi (夏井 健吉) was captain at Meiou! There isn't much information on him, but there is a video of him here.
Kousei Gakuin (Aomori) - Runner-up, - 5th appearance, 1st in 2 years
Kousei Gakuin receives the 2nd bid out of Tohoku. And why not given their performance in the fall tournament?
Kousei is led by 2nd year ace Akita Kyoura (秋田 教良), who can hit 140 on the radar, and features a slider, cut fastball and curve.
But perhaps the two players to watch will be in the infield for Kousei. 2nd year Kanayama Hirotaka (金山 洸昴) and 1st year Tamura Tatsuhiro (田村 龍弘) lie in the heart of the order for Kousei and could provide some much-needed pop for their squad.
It may be a stretch to expect either team from Tohoku to win, but it's possible they could make a decent run as well.
Kanto Super-Regional (4 + at-large bid)
Urawa Gakuin (Saitama) - Champion - 7th appearance, 1st in 6 years
Urawa Gakuin earned every bit of their title, defeating Kanagawa powerhouses Yokohama AND Toukaidai Sagami in back-to-back games to win the fall super-regional!
But I can't find much information on any of their players!
I do know their ace is Satou Takuya (佐藤 拓也). He only reaches the low 130's and has a big curveball. Certainly though, that can't be just it as it wouldn't make sense that someone like him could singlehandedly defeat those Kanagawa schools.
Toukaidai Sagami (Kanagawa) - Runner-up - 9th appearance, 2nd consecutive
So, what is Toukaidai Sagami to do now in the post-Hifumi Shinta era?
Well, looking to fill that void on the mound is Kondou Masataka (近藤 正崇), and he's not that bad himself. He hits the upper 130's and can hit 140, and features a slider, curve and forkball. Relieving him in the key games is Kasama Akira(?) (笠間 圭).
Offensively, the team will be relying on returning players such as 2B Tanaka Shunta (田中 俊太), where baseball runs in the family (brother Kousuke plays for Toukai University), and outfielder Usuda Tetsuya (臼田 哲也) who are returners from last year.
Suijyou (Ibaraki) - 3rd/4th place - 1st appearance
I wanted to cover Suijyou first, mainly because, well... I just like them.
I liked them in their battle against Toukaidai Sagami in last year's Natsu Koushien, and thought the team had promise, even though they didn't have stars to speak of. Nonetheless, without big name players, and losing the majority of their starting squad, they worked their way back to Koushien. Leading them is Satou Kenta (佐藤 賢太), who sports the ace number after wearing #11 last summer.
Outside of him, again there's no real information on the team, so perhaps they may fly under the radar once again...
Yokohama (Kanagawa) - 3rd/4th place - 13th appearance, 1st in 3 years
And now onto Yokohama, who really hasn't been able to find that groove. They're good enough to reach Koushien, but lately not much else.
This time around, their leader on the mound is #10, super 1st-year southpaw Yamauchi Tatsuya (山内 達也) perhaps taking the most of an opportunity after ace Saitou Kenta (齋藤 健汰) injured his non-throwing wrist in an accident on the field. He can throw in the upper 130's with a slider and curve.
Then there's ace number Saitou Kenta (齋藤 健汰) who as mentioned before was the starter before being sidelined with that wrist injury. He's a righty whose fastball matches that of Yamauchi and has a slider, curve and change.
Offensively, there's C Kondou Kensuke (近藤 健介), who hit a scorching 0.481/0.741/0.622 in the prefectural tournament, and RF Otosaka Tomo (乙坂 智) who is supposedly Yokohama's version of Ichiro.
Maebashi Ikuei (Gunma) earns the Kanto/Tokyo at-large bid, probably in response to their strong showing in the quarterfinals against Toukaidai Sagami. Looking back at that game they actually held the lead twice before faltering late. Kasumigaura probably had a chance for the bid as they rallied against Yokohama late, but perhaps Toukaidai Sagami's recent performance gave them the edge.
Leading the team is ace Ikeda Yuuki (池田 悠紀) with Takahashi Hiromi(?) (高橋 拓已) spelling him at times starting games. I don't have much more on them other than that.
Looking at these teams, sadly Maebashi Ikuei and Suijyou probably have the hardest hill to climb (depending on the draw of course). I can't exactly figure out what to make of Urawa Gakuin... Toukaidai Sagami may have pitchers with better control but can the offense keep up? And Yokohama seems to have a solid team, but can they prove it at Koushien?
Tokyo Super-Regional (1 + Meiji Jingu bid)
Nichidai-san - Champion - 18th appearance, 2nd consecutive
So Nichidai-san once again makes a Koushien appearance. And they were oh so close against Haru-Natsu champions Kounan. The question will be can they make another run at it?
Taking the helm is new ace Yoshinaga Kentarou (吉永 健太朗). He was used sparingly last year, and when he was used, was rather ineffective. Somewhere along the line though after he was promoted to the ace number, a switch must have gone on in his head. While not utilized as much in the super-regional, he really shined in the Meiji Jingu tournament, pitching 3 complete games while giving up just 1 earned run in each of them, showing great control walking just 5 batters.
Yoshinaga can hit as high as 147 on the radar, throwing a sinker and curve in addition to a slider with all three being at least 20 kph slower. Here and here are videos of him during the summer in the semifinal against Nichidai Tsurugaoka, while this is him at the Meiji Jingu Tournament. Nichidai-san has always been a solid team, but in recent memory, I can't recall them having a dominating pitcher. That might change this year.
Assisting him are returning starters 3B Yokoo Toshitake (横尾 俊健), CF Azegami Shou (畔上 翔), and RF Takayama Shun (高山 俊).
Yokoo is a power hitting 3rd baseman who neatly hit .458/.480/.708 in last year's senbatsu, then hit the go-ahead homerun against Kagoshima Jitsugyou in the Meiji Jingu final. Azegami is a converted pitcher who has experience in timely spots (he hit the RBI triple there), while Takayama is Nichidai's leadoff hitter. He's not your prototypical leadoff man as he doesn't take walks, but can hit a homerun.
Nichidan-san has been a solid team year in and year out. And they have some good pieces returning. The question is whether the rest of the cast will help lead them to victory this time around.
Kokugakuin Kugayama - Runner-up - 3rd appearance, 1st in 26 years
Kokugakuin Kugayama has Nichidai-san to thank for reaching just their 3rd senbatsu in school history. Now, while the rosters have turned over from last year, they did beat teams such as Obirin, Shuutoku and Waseda Gakuin before falling 4-0 to Nichidai-san in the finals.
And they have ace Kawaguchi Takato (川口 貴都) to thank for that. A first-year ace, he can already hit the low 140's with a good slider. The only question is his stamina. Having pitched 4 complete games, two of which were called after 7, he faltered against Hachiouji giving up 7 runs in a 10 inning affair. Now, while they won, they had to go to backup Sekihashi Jyun(?) (関橋 淳), who did well giving up 2 runs in 6 innings. But as mentioned earlier, the offense could only manage 5 hits against Yoshinaga.
So the 2 questions for Kokugakuin are (1) how long can Kawaguchi last? And (2) can the offense deliver?
Hokushinetsu Super-Regional (2)
Kanazawa (Ishikawa) - Champion - 9th appearance, 1st in 7 years
Kanazawa takes the lead out of the Hokushinetsu region. Leading the charge is ace Kamata Yoshinao (釜田 佳直), who was given the reins as a freshman. All he did was lead them back into the best 4 of the prefectural fall tournament and then held tough against eventual fall champions Takaoka Shougyou, and hitting 145 on the gun.
So how would he follow that up? Well, in the summer he would hit 151 in an escape game against Kanazawa Shiritsu Kougyou before faltering late in the semifinals against fellow seed Oyamadai in the last 2 innings. Then in the fall prefecturals... well, after a 2-1 complete game win against Yuugakukan in the semis, they had a mess of a game against Kanazawa Sakuragaoka of which I have no idea what the team was doing. Still, they managed to win the prefecturals. Then perhaps with the team in order, he had no trouble giving the team the super-regional title and a spot in the 83rd Spring Koushien. And even in the Meiji Jingu tournament loss to Tohoku, he gave up 11 hits and 3 runs in a CG loss, while striking out 7.
Kamata in addition to his blazing fastball, has a variety of other pitches including a two-seamer, slider, change and curveball. So they have the pitcher. But what about the rest?
Nihon Bunri (Niigata) - Runner-up - 4th appearance, 1st in 2 years
Nihon Bunri is yet again at Koushien, and having been able to reach the finals once, hope to do it again. They were always considered the longshot being out of a prefecture not known for baseball, but after the thriller against Chuukyoudai Chuukyou 2 years ago, there's hope.
Leading the charge is Tamura Yuuma (田村 勇磨), a righty who can throw in the low140's with a good slider. Apparently accompanying him are Hatano Yousuke (波多野 陽介), another righty who can almost reach 150, and Yoshino Kazuya (吉野 和也) yet another righty who has a max of 141.
Outside of that, I don't know much more other than that there is still Yumoto Shouta remaining from the runner-up team of 2009 that is on the starting 9 who can provide some experience to the team.
Toukai Super-Regional (2)
Oogaki Nichidai (Gifu) - Champion - 3rd appearance, 2nd consecutive
Oogaki Nichidai returns to senbatsu probably thankful that Kounan (and more importantly Shimabukuro) is gone. Surely the 10-0 loss in the semifinals was a bitter pill to swallow.
Ace Kassai Yukiya (葛西 侑也) must especially be looking forward to this second chance. Since the loss to Kounan, he has buckled down culminating in a CG win against Tenri in the Meiji Jingu tournament. And while they lost to Kagoshima Jitsugyou, he yielded just 3 runs.
He's still not a hard thrower, but his control has improved - especially on his offspeed pitches (slider, change and a curve). In addition, his pitches have good variability in speed which helps keep batters off base (fastball - 136, change - 120's, slider - 110's, curve - 100's).
However, because he's not a hard thrower, he could face issues against high-powered offenses especially later in the tournament as the turnaround between games gets shorter and shorter.
Seisei (Shizuoka) - Runner-up - First appearance
Seisei makes just its 2nd overall Koushien apperance, and first senbatsu appearance. Looking at their road though, and their only probable quality wins were a 4-2 quarterfinal win over Tokoha Kikugawa in the prefecturals, then two extra inning wins against Komono (Mie) and Mie.
But while there may be some skepticism regarding how far they'll go, they did do what was necessary to get here, so they certainly have earned it.
On the mound for Seisei is Nomura Ryousuke (野村 亮介). He took over the ace number in his first year, and has a slider, changeup and an excellent forkball in addition to a fastball in the upper 130s. But with the poor performance against Oogaki Nichidai there is certainly room for improvement.
Kinki Super-Regional (6)
Tenri (Nara) - Champion - 21st appearance, 4th consecutive
Tenri is back yet again at Koushien, but I wonder if the team is frustrated at all that they have not had success in the last couple of years. Or perhaps the team has just began to settle for reaching Koushien. Whatever it is, if you've been reading my blog, you know I root for Tenri, albeit mostly in frustration. I do have to yield the fact that while Tenri has been to Koushien many, many times - when you have just 2 schools that go from Nara (3 if you include Kooriyama), one does have to wonder about the depth of talent.
Although Chiben Wakayama suffers from the same issue and yet they seem to have more success in recent years... *sighs*
Anyways, back on the mound for Tenri is newly promoted ace Nishiguchi Tasuku (西口 輔). In my analysis of Tenri last year, I said that in order for Tenri to advance they had to avoid the bullpen which, yep - you guessed it, included Nishiguchi. And when he did enter the game he was wildly erratic and pretty much sealed the team's fate.
So what changed?
Well for one, it seems like he has cut down on his wildness. While I don't have information on his prefecutral/super-regional play, in the Meiji Jingu game against Oogaki Nichidai, he threw 7 innings and gave up just one run on 4 hits, walked 2, and only struck out 3.
This despite being able to hit 148 on the radar gun, and now sporting a slider, change and curve. He seems to be throwing more downhill now, but he seems to struggle the later he goes into the game. His game against Oogaki Nichidai can be seen here.
So Tenri runs a tandem with 1st year pitcher Nakatani Keita (中谷 佳太), who shows excellent control for a freshman. While he only throws in the low-mid 130's, he not only locates his fastball, but his offspeed pitches which include a slider, curve and forkball. It would appear that this time, Tenri has a bullpen that they CAN use.
But with the entire roster turning over from last year, how will the newcomers fare?
Riseisha (Osaka) - Runner-up - 3rd appearance, 1st in 3 years
Riseisha, on the back of a mostly returning starting 9 from the summer was one game away from winning the Kinki Super-Regional only to lose a close revenge match against Tenri.
Iidzuka Takashi (飯塚 孝史) has been promoted to the ace number. I don't know if he's picked up any speed since we last saw him (he was throwing in the 120's). But he has a game plan for batters. Against righties he uses his slider and curve. On lefties, he utilizes his two-seam fastball.
As mentioned before, Riseisha returns most of its summer team. Some notable names within it are C Sakamoto Seishirou (坂本 誠志郎), 3B Ishii Gen (石井 元), and CF Kaifu Hiroto (海部 大斗).
Houtoku Gakuen (Hyogo) - 3rd/4th place - 18th appearance, 1st in 2 years
Houtoku Gakuen has apparently reloaded after their Best 4 appearance last summer despite having only one person returning from their starting 9.
But they're in good hands. Last year's super 1st year Tamura Ichirou (田村 伊知郎) showed poise beyond his years in the quarterfinal game last summer, pitching 7.2 strong innings against Niigata Meikun, striking out 9 and giving up just 1 run.
Tamura sports a fastball that can hit 140, along with a slider, curve and V-slider. Here he was at Natsu Koushien, and here he is during the fall tournament.
The supporting cast for Tamura is unknown as the roster has almost completely turned over, but they seem to be a strong bunch considering they made it to the super-regional semifinal.
Chiben Wakayama (Wakayama) - 3rd/4th place - 10th appearance, 2nd consecutive
Chiben Wakayama makes yet another appearance at Koushien. But while in past years, the stars were on offense, it seems like the key members of the team are all on the mound.
All 4 of them.
3 of them were on last summer's team. With ace number Yoshimoto graduating, the ace designation fell to Uenoyama Shouma (上野山 奨真). A side-arm pitcher, he can still get it up the high 130's with a slider, curve and shuuto. He hung in there against Narita last summer, but did give up 2 runs in 4.1 innings of work.
Then there's Miyagawa Yuuki (宮川 祐輝) who retains the #10 jersey. He can hit 142 on the gun, but his historical numbers suggest he might be better at the plate than on the mound.
Aoki Yuuto (青木 勇人) gets promoted to the #11 jersey, and may very well be the stronger of the 3. He put in 3.2 innings of scoreless ball against Narita in the summer, then in the fall pitched a CG win over Kyoto Gaidai Nishi before giving up 2 runs in 2.2 against PL Gakuen (he did strike out 6 though). He throws a slider, changeup and curveball.
Who's the 4th? He's a 1st-year by the name of Oojino Masaki (蔭地野 正起). He already has a spot on the main team wearing #12. He, like Miyagawa, can hit 142, but has a curve, slider and forkball to compliment his fastball. In 3 games during the summer qualifying against Kasada, Minoshima and Kouyou, he threw 9.2 innings of shutout ball giving up 6 hits while striking out 6.
4 pitchers on the roster for Chiben, but can the offense get itself going unlike last time?
In a slight shocker, Kyoto Seishou (Kyoto) and Kakogawa Kita (Hyogo) get the final two bids from the Kinki super-region ahead of PL Gakuen. However, Kyoto Seishou defeated Chiben Gakuen in the first round of the super-regional tournament, while Kakogawa Kita defeated Osaka Touin. That combined with their performances in the quarterfinals perhaps gave them the bids.
All I can find on Kyoto Seishou is their ace's name with is Nishino Kentarou (西野 健太郎), and a recap of their game against Nara 2 seed Chiben Gakuen. There's no information on their players, and their qualifying route is rather non-descript. The only notable games are in fact their semifinal loss to Kyoto Gaidai Nishi, and both of their super-regional games - a 3-2 win over Chiben Gakuen, and a 5-4 loss to Houtoku Gakuen blowing a 4-0 lead in the last 2 innings.
For Kakogawa Kita, I can find only information on their ace as well - Inoue-kun (the first name I can't figure out 井上 真伊人). He throws in the mid-upper 130's with a curve - although in this video it seems like the first curve he throws is a slow curve.
Chuugoku Super-Regional (2 + at-large bid)
Kanzei (Okayama) - Champion - 11th appearance, 2nd consecutive
Kanzei once again blew through the fall tournament, yielding just 4 runs in 12 games and shutting out all opponents in the super-regional! Although again it appears that their competition was rather light again.
Kanzei returns both pitchers from last spring - Katada Yuuta (堅田 裕太) and Mizuhara Hiroto (水原 浩登). Katada has added a couple of kph to his fastball, as well as a variety of pitches (a slider and curve for lefties, and a change and screwball for righties). Here was his appearance at last year's senbatsu. Mizuhara has been given the #6 jersey, suggesting that Kanzei may very well be keeping both pitchers on the field much like Sendai Ikuei last year or even Meihou with Imamiya. And in all intents and purposes, he's the right-handed version of Katada - featuring pretty much the same pitches and having a similar max on his fastball. I don't know if that's a plus or not, but it can't hurt.
Offensively, there's 3B Watanabe Yuuki (渡辺 雄貴), who was 3-4 with a double against last year's darling Shimabukuro Yousuke. Watanabe actually has moved from 3rd to LF (if the #7 uniform is any indication), but is apparently your super-utility player.
Soushi Gakuen (Okayama) - Runner-up - 1st appearance
Soushi Gakuen did not have as easy of a road as Kanzei. In fact, outside of the two games against Kanzei in the prefectural and super-regional finals, their games were almost always decided by 2 runs or less.
They depend primarily on 2 pitchers. Ace Yamamoto Ryou (山本 凌), and reliever (#11) Tomita Kazushige (富田 一成). But I don't have any more information on these players.
Hiroshima Sougou Gijyutsu (Hiroshima) - 3rd/4th place - 1st appearance
Perhaps as a result of the selection committee going with 2 teams from Okayama in the Chuugoku super-region, I think they almost had no choice but to give the Chuugoku/Shikoku at-large bid to this region - with Hiroshima Sougou Gijyutsu being the benefactor.
They avenged a 16-6 loss to Onomichi in the prefectural semifinal, then lost a 1-0 game against Kanzei in the super-regional semifinal.
Leading the way is 1st year ace Ida Yuki (伊田 有希), who actually wears #11. He was actually on the mound both times against Onomichi and Kanzei in the super-regional. The only thing I know is that he throws a slider. But then, who doesn't?
Shikoku Super-Regional (2)
Meitoku Gijyuku (Kochi) - Champion - 14th appearance, 1st in 3 years
Meitoku Gijyuku has successfully turned over its roster in the fall, won the Shikoku super-regional and thus an automatic bid.
Last year's #15, Omatsu Yoshio (尾松 義生) has become the new ace. Your average southpaw, he throws a slider, cut fastball, curve and change.
Omatsu has done all of the hard work for Meitoku, but there is note of a 1st year by the game of Fukunaga Tomoyuki(?) (福永 智之). He throws a slider and sinker, but I don't know much else.
Offensively, they have Kitagawa Rintarou (北川 倫太郎), who actually went 2-3 against Shimabukuro and both hits were to center. He's probably manning the cleanup spot again, but he'll definitely need help from the supporting cast.
Kagawa Nishi (Kagawa) - Runner-up - 1st appearance
It's been a while since we've seen Kagawa Nishi. An unknown team, they appeared first in the 2003 Natsu Koushien, and has actually had 3 summer appearances, but this is their 1st senbatsu.
But, the road they took is not all too convincing. The only game in the prefecturals that may garner attention is their 5-4 loss to Sangawa in the finals. Perhaps you can make a case for their semi matchup against Kannonji Chuo, but it's hard to say.
In the super-regional, the 3-1 win against Kochi would be a big plus...
...if not for the 15-1 loss to Meitoku Gijyuku the next day in the finals...
Sure it was raining that game, but unless the conditions were really sloppy, there's not much excuse.
Only player I have real info on is their ace Utsunomiya Kenta (宇都宮 健太). He throws in the upper 130s, with a slider, fork and change.
The loser out in the selection process was probably Kochi as they would have in all certainty earned a bid had Okayama not qualified 2 teams. Alas, they'll have to regroup and make a push for Natsu Koushien.
Kyushu Super-Regional (4)
Kagoshima Jitsugyou (Kagoshima) - Champion - 8th appearance, 1st in 15 years
Kagoshima Jitsugyou has had stretches of appearances followed by rebuilding. They seem to be in an upcycle now having been to Natsu Koushien last year, and returning as the Kyushu super-regional champion to start this year.
Noda Shougo (野田 昇吾) has been promoted to the ace number. Although technically the de facto ace given that all the pitchers from last year's Natsu Koushien team graduated, he's not bad himself. He sports a fastball that can hit the low 140's and compliments that with a slider, curve and change.
After a messy start against Kumamoto Kokufu, he handled Touin, and then performed brilliantly against Kyushu Gakuin and then Kyushu Kokusaidai Fuzoku, yielding a run each.
In the Meiji Jingu tournament he once again had trouble in the first game against Meitoku Gijyuku but managed to yield just 1 run even while giving up 9 walks. He settled down once again versus Oogaki Nichidai, and while he couldn't finish against Nichidai-san, it's not as if his numbers were terrible.
Two possible offensive players to look at are returning 1B Agemura Kyouhei (揚村 恭平), and RF Toyozumi Kouta (豊住 康太). They had good success at Koushien last summer, especially given that both did well against Kyushu Gakuin.
Kyushu Kokusaidai Fuzoku (Fukuoka) - Runner-up - 2nd appearance, 1st in 29 years
Kyukoku as they are called re-emerged on the scene in 2009 thanks to the efforts of Wakao Masahiro, former manager of Tohoku and Yu Darvish.
And they're back again here in the 83rd senbatsu.
And to my surprise, the ace on the mound for Kyukoku was on the 2009 Koushien team, #15 Miyoshi Takumi (三好 匠). He apparently has gone from #15 to #5 to #1. I think. And while they finished 2nd in the Kyushu Super-regionals, the only footage I can find of him pitching is when he was a 1st year. Which doesn't help much, but it certainly is an interesting path to the ace number. Even with that he can hit 143 with the traditional slider, curve and change.
However, the roughness shows. Against Senshuudai Tamana and Hasami he did well giving up 2 runs in 2 CGs. But against Okinawa Shogaku and Kagoshima Jitsugyou he gave up 11 runs and 24 hits again in 2 CGs.
Which means much like their Eastern Japan counterpart Teikyou (several years ago), it may have to be the offense that carries them.
His battery mate, Takajyou Shuuto (高城 俊人), was the backup catcher back in 2009. And he has become quite the player. He's hit 21 homeruns, and as the 3-4 batters respectively in the lineup, provide the heart of the offense.
To boot, he has a good arm and can get a ball to 2nd in 1.86 sec. I don't know if that's really fast, but he's been noted for his arm.
The final player of note is Katou Ryou (加藤 凌), a 2nd year who while hitting in the 7 spot, hit 7 homeruns in the fall tournament.
Kyushu Gakuin (Kumamoto) - 3rd/4th place - 4th appearance, 1st in 9 years
Kyushu Gakuin had fallen out of view over the better part of the last decade. This after experiencing a surge at the end of the last millennia.
Now, they had continued success as one of the better teams in Kyushu... just not good enough to get back to Koushien.
That changed last summer when they won the Kumamoto prefectural tournament and went to Natsu Koushien, and after blowing through the first 2 rounds, faced the aforementioned Kagoshima Jitsugyou, and beat them before losing to Toukaidai Sagami.
But with a young bench, they quickly turned around, finished 2nd to Shuugakukan in the prefecturals, defated last year's haru-natsu champions Kounan before losing a close game to Kagoshima Jitsugyou.
1st year Ootsuka Takahito (大塚 尚仁) has become the new ace for Kyushu Gakuin. I don't have any other information on him.
Where I do have information is on the supporting cast. First and foremost is 3B Hagiwara Hideyuki (萩原 英之), a first year who actually was part of the starting nine (although wearing #14) and who hit a HR at Koushien (5:30 mark). And he's a 1st year!!
Then there's speedy switch-hitting outfielder Yamashita Tsubasa (山下 翼) who hit a neat .353/.476./.412 with 6(!) stolen bases!
Finally, Mizowaki Hayato (溝脇 隼人) has been promoted to the starting SS position, and while he had early success at Koushien, he did struggle as the tournament progressed.
Hasami (Nagasaki) - 3rd/4th place - 1st appearance
Hasami has almost appeared out of nowhere and is back at Koushien. They first came on in the 1996 Natsu Koushien, and then stormed their way to the Best 8. They made a brief appearance in 2001, and now are here again in 2011.
And as with most unknown teams, it's the ace pitcher that is the player of note. Enter super rookie Matsuda Shouma (松田 遼馬). He 3-hit Nagasaki Nichidai and gave up a whopping 5 hits in the final 3 games of the prefecturals (Nagasaki Nichidai included). He then advanced the team into the semifinals where he finally just gave out, giving up 8 hits and 9 walks, and yet only 4 runs. Not sure how that happened.
Anyways, he already has hit 144 on the gun, and outside of the standard slider, curve and change, he supposedly has a cutter and a two-seam. And he's apparently the cleanup hitter as well.
21st Century Teams (3)
Oodate Houmei (Akita) - Akita champions - 1st appearance
Oodate Houmei earns a 21st century bid, but it may not have happened at all. Akita is one of a few prefectures that has a double elimination format. After losing to Noshiro Shougyou in the Kita regionals, they won out in the losers bracket to make the prefecturals. From there they defeated Honjyou en route to defeating Yokote Jyounan to win the #1 seed. They lost to Aomori Yamada 4-3 in the first round, but the committee liked their consistent results in Akita as well as their efforts to balance academics and extracurriculars enough to award them a bid.
As for the team, the man wearing the ace number now is Saitou Kouhei (斉藤 浩平). Don't have much else right now. He takes over on the mound after their original ace Abe Shuntarou (阿部 春太郎) injured his arm.
Sado (Niigata) - Niigata runner-up - 1st appearance
I've had a small place for Sado when I follow teams. It's mostly because it's a school on Sado Island, a fairly large island in a remote area of Niigata. Seeing them continue to do well in Niigata but fall short disappointed me, but the committee this time around rewarded them with a bid in part due to that remoteness.
Sado made it to the prefectural finals only to lose to Nihon Bunri 6-1, and then was shutout by Saku Chousei 6-0.
I have no other information other than the pitcher/catcher combination consisting of Kamata and Watanabe (鎌田 - 渡部), as well as a video of Kamata.
Jyounan (Tokushima) - Tokushima champions - 1st appearance
Jyounan is rewarded by the selection committee after winning the Tokushima prefecturals for the first time in school history.
And outside of a close call against Komatsushima in the semifinals, they actually breezed through the prefecturals! They even defeated Tokushima Shougyou 13-2!
In the super-regionals, they held strong against Kagawa Nishi, and actually had the lead against them. But they faltered late and fell 7-6.
The ace who helped lead the team to their first prefectural title is Takeuchi Yuuta (竹内 勇太), a righty who throws in the high 130s with a two-seamer in addition to the traditional slider, change and curve.
While the field will be announced later this week (the 28th, I think), we can cover most of the participants. This post will be continuously added until I cover all regions.
Edit: Well, after being busy all week, teams have been announced, so it's not probable anymore... heh... Seriously though the teams invited are chalk for the most part with one or two surprises.
Hokkaido Super-Regional (1)
Hokkai - Champions - 12th appearance, 1st in 16 years
Hokkai earns the bid for the Hokkaido region, and while they're a mainstay in the prefecture, it has not been smooth sailing when they head south.
The team is headed by freshman ace Tamakuma Shouichi (玉熊 将一). A righty with a 3/4 delivery, he was the staff ace in middle school as well.
He features a mid 130's fastball, with a mid 120's slider and mid 110's curve that has good break to it. He depends on his control, which will be needed against the tougher competition. This can be seen in their opening round loss in the Meiji Jingu Tournament to Nichidai-san. They'll be the longshot from up north to win it all.
Tohoku Super- Regional (2)
Tohoku (Miyagi) - Champions - 19th appearance, 1st in 3 years
Tohoku has been trying to return to prominence after the Darvish years, but have never really been able to capture that flash.
This time around, the ace number goes to 2nd year utility player Kamimura Kento (上村 健人), a good-sized righty who also is their slugger. He also throws in the mid-130's for his fastball, but has a 120's shuuto and change in addition to his slider. For someone his size, his delivery time from the stretch is a bit above average (1.1-1.2 seconds).
In their appearance at Meiji Jingu, he pitched a complete game shutout against Kanazawa, but surprisingly did not take the mound against Urawa Gakuin where they fell 7-2.
Videos of him are here (Super-regional) and here (Meiji Jingu)。
While he is the ace, he was relieved in early rounds of the prefectural and super-regionals by Natsui Yasukichi (夏井 康吉), a lefty. Interestingly, his oldest brother Natsui Daikichi (夏井 大吉) was a captain at Hanamaki Higashi, and his 2nd oldest Natsui Kenkichi (夏井 健吉) was captain at Meiou! There isn't much information on him, but there is a video of him here.
Kousei Gakuin (Aomori) - Runner-up, - 5th appearance, 1st in 2 years
Kousei Gakuin receives the 2nd bid out of Tohoku. And why not given their performance in the fall tournament?
Kousei is led by 2nd year ace Akita Kyoura (秋田 教良), who can hit 140 on the radar, and features a slider, cut fastball and curve.
But perhaps the two players to watch will be in the infield for Kousei. 2nd year Kanayama Hirotaka (金山 洸昴) and 1st year Tamura Tatsuhiro (田村 龍弘) lie in the heart of the order for Kousei and could provide some much-needed pop for their squad.
It may be a stretch to expect either team from Tohoku to win, but it's possible they could make a decent run as well.
Kanto Super-Regional (4 + at-large bid)
Urawa Gakuin (Saitama) - Champion - 7th appearance, 1st in 6 years
Urawa Gakuin earned every bit of their title, defeating Kanagawa powerhouses Yokohama AND Toukaidai Sagami in back-to-back games to win the fall super-regional!
But I can't find much information on any of their players!
I do know their ace is Satou Takuya (佐藤 拓也). He only reaches the low 130's and has a big curveball. Certainly though, that can't be just it as it wouldn't make sense that someone like him could singlehandedly defeat those Kanagawa schools.
- Video from the fall tournament.
- Video from the Meiji Jingu Tournament. This one has more highlights of Satou.
Toukaidai Sagami (Kanagawa) - Runner-up - 9th appearance, 2nd consecutive
So, what is Toukaidai Sagami to do now in the post-Hifumi Shinta era?
Well, looking to fill that void on the mound is Kondou Masataka (近藤 正崇), and he's not that bad himself. He hits the upper 130's and can hit 140, and features a slider, curve and forkball. Relieving him in the key games is Kasama Akira(?) (笠間 圭).
Offensively, the team will be relying on returning players such as 2B Tanaka Shunta (田中 俊太), where baseball runs in the family (brother Kousuke plays for Toukai University), and outfielder Usuda Tetsuya (臼田 哲也) who are returners from last year.
Suijyou (Ibaraki) - 3rd/4th place - 1st appearance
I wanted to cover Suijyou first, mainly because, well... I just like them.
I liked them in their battle against Toukaidai Sagami in last year's Natsu Koushien, and thought the team had promise, even though they didn't have stars to speak of. Nonetheless, without big name players, and losing the majority of their starting squad, they worked their way back to Koushien. Leading them is Satou Kenta (佐藤 賢太), who sports the ace number after wearing #11 last summer.
Outside of him, again there's no real information on the team, so perhaps they may fly under the radar once again...
Yokohama (Kanagawa) - 3rd/4th place - 13th appearance, 1st in 3 years
And now onto Yokohama, who really hasn't been able to find that groove. They're good enough to reach Koushien, but lately not much else.
This time around, their leader on the mound is #10, super 1st-year southpaw Yamauchi Tatsuya (山内 達也) perhaps taking the most of an opportunity after ace Saitou Kenta (齋藤 健汰) injured his non-throwing wrist in an accident on the field. He can throw in the upper 130's with a slider and curve.
Then there's ace number Saitou Kenta (齋藤 健汰) who as mentioned before was the starter before being sidelined with that wrist injury. He's a righty whose fastball matches that of Yamauchi and has a slider, curve and change.
Offensively, there's C Kondou Kensuke (近藤 健介), who hit a scorching 0.481/0.741/0.622 in the prefectural tournament, and RF Otosaka Tomo (乙坂 智) who is supposedly Yokohama's version of Ichiro.
Maebashi Ikuei (Gunma) earns the Kanto/Tokyo at-large bid, probably in response to their strong showing in the quarterfinals against Toukaidai Sagami. Looking back at that game they actually held the lead twice before faltering late. Kasumigaura probably had a chance for the bid as they rallied against Yokohama late, but perhaps Toukaidai Sagami's recent performance gave them the edge.
Leading the team is ace Ikeda Yuuki (池田 悠紀) with Takahashi Hiromi(?) (高橋 拓已) spelling him at times starting games. I don't have much more on them other than that.
Looking at these teams, sadly Maebashi Ikuei and Suijyou probably have the hardest hill to climb (depending on the draw of course). I can't exactly figure out what to make of Urawa Gakuin... Toukaidai Sagami may have pitchers with better control but can the offense keep up? And Yokohama seems to have a solid team, but can they prove it at Koushien?
Tokyo Super-Regional (1 + Meiji Jingu bid)
Nichidai-san - Champion - 18th appearance, 2nd consecutive
So Nichidai-san once again makes a Koushien appearance. And they were oh so close against Haru-Natsu champions Kounan. The question will be can they make another run at it?
Taking the helm is new ace Yoshinaga Kentarou (吉永 健太朗). He was used sparingly last year, and when he was used, was rather ineffective. Somewhere along the line though after he was promoted to the ace number, a switch must have gone on in his head. While not utilized as much in the super-regional, he really shined in the Meiji Jingu tournament, pitching 3 complete games while giving up just 1 earned run in each of them, showing great control walking just 5 batters.
Yoshinaga can hit as high as 147 on the radar, throwing a sinker and curve in addition to a slider with all three being at least 20 kph slower. Here and here are videos of him during the summer in the semifinal against Nichidai Tsurugaoka, while this is him at the Meiji Jingu Tournament. Nichidai-san has always been a solid team, but in recent memory, I can't recall them having a dominating pitcher. That might change this year.
Assisting him are returning starters 3B Yokoo Toshitake (横尾 俊健), CF Azegami Shou (畔上 翔), and RF Takayama Shun (高山 俊).
Yokoo is a power hitting 3rd baseman who neatly hit .458/.480/.708 in last year's senbatsu, then hit the go-ahead homerun against Kagoshima Jitsugyou in the Meiji Jingu final. Azegami is a converted pitcher who has experience in timely spots (he hit the RBI triple there), while Takayama is Nichidai's leadoff hitter. He's not your prototypical leadoff man as he doesn't take walks, but can hit a homerun.
Nichidan-san has been a solid team year in and year out. And they have some good pieces returning. The question is whether the rest of the cast will help lead them to victory this time around.
Kokugakuin Kugayama - Runner-up - 3rd appearance, 1st in 26 years
Kokugakuin Kugayama has Nichidai-san to thank for reaching just their 3rd senbatsu in school history. Now, while the rosters have turned over from last year, they did beat teams such as Obirin, Shuutoku and Waseda Gakuin before falling 4-0 to Nichidai-san in the finals.
And they have ace Kawaguchi Takato (川口 貴都) to thank for that. A first-year ace, he can already hit the low 140's with a good slider. The only question is his stamina. Having pitched 4 complete games, two of which were called after 7, he faltered against Hachiouji giving up 7 runs in a 10 inning affair. Now, while they won, they had to go to backup Sekihashi Jyun(?) (関橋 淳), who did well giving up 2 runs in 6 innings. But as mentioned earlier, the offense could only manage 5 hits against Yoshinaga.
So the 2 questions for Kokugakuin are (1) how long can Kawaguchi last? And (2) can the offense deliver?
Hokushinetsu Super-Regional (2)
Kanazawa (Ishikawa) - Champion - 9th appearance, 1st in 7 years
Kanazawa takes the lead out of the Hokushinetsu region. Leading the charge is ace Kamata Yoshinao (釜田 佳直), who was given the reins as a freshman. All he did was lead them back into the best 4 of the prefectural fall tournament and then held tough against eventual fall champions Takaoka Shougyou, and hitting 145 on the gun.
So how would he follow that up? Well, in the summer he would hit 151 in an escape game against Kanazawa Shiritsu Kougyou before faltering late in the semifinals against fellow seed Oyamadai in the last 2 innings. Then in the fall prefecturals... well, after a 2-1 complete game win against Yuugakukan in the semis, they had a mess of a game against Kanazawa Sakuragaoka of which I have no idea what the team was doing. Still, they managed to win the prefecturals. Then perhaps with the team in order, he had no trouble giving the team the super-regional title and a spot in the 83rd Spring Koushien. And even in the Meiji Jingu tournament loss to Tohoku, he gave up 11 hits and 3 runs in a CG loss, while striking out 7.
Kamata in addition to his blazing fastball, has a variety of other pitches including a two-seamer, slider, change and curveball. So they have the pitcher. But what about the rest?
Nihon Bunri (Niigata) - Runner-up - 4th appearance, 1st in 2 years
Nihon Bunri is yet again at Koushien, and having been able to reach the finals once, hope to do it again. They were always considered the longshot being out of a prefecture not known for baseball, but after the thriller against Chuukyoudai Chuukyou 2 years ago, there's hope.
Leading the charge is Tamura Yuuma (田村 勇磨), a righty who can throw in the low140's with a good slider. Apparently accompanying him are Hatano Yousuke (波多野 陽介), another righty who can almost reach 150, and Yoshino Kazuya (吉野 和也) yet another righty who has a max of 141.
Outside of that, I don't know much more other than that there is still Yumoto Shouta remaining from the runner-up team of 2009 that is on the starting 9 who can provide some experience to the team.
Toukai Super-Regional (2)
Oogaki Nichidai (Gifu) - Champion - 3rd appearance, 2nd consecutive
Oogaki Nichidai returns to senbatsu probably thankful that Kounan (and more importantly Shimabukuro) is gone. Surely the 10-0 loss in the semifinals was a bitter pill to swallow.
Ace Kassai Yukiya (葛西 侑也) must especially be looking forward to this second chance. Since the loss to Kounan, he has buckled down culminating in a CG win against Tenri in the Meiji Jingu tournament. And while they lost to Kagoshima Jitsugyou, he yielded just 3 runs.
He's still not a hard thrower, but his control has improved - especially on his offspeed pitches (slider, change and a curve). In addition, his pitches have good variability in speed which helps keep batters off base (fastball - 136, change - 120's, slider - 110's, curve - 100's).
However, because he's not a hard thrower, he could face issues against high-powered offenses especially later in the tournament as the turnaround between games gets shorter and shorter.
Seisei (Shizuoka) - Runner-up - First appearance
Seisei makes just its 2nd overall Koushien apperance, and first senbatsu appearance. Looking at their road though, and their only probable quality wins were a 4-2 quarterfinal win over Tokoha Kikugawa in the prefecturals, then two extra inning wins against Komono (Mie) and Mie.
But while there may be some skepticism regarding how far they'll go, they did do what was necessary to get here, so they certainly have earned it.
On the mound for Seisei is Nomura Ryousuke (野村 亮介). He took over the ace number in his first year, and has a slider, changeup and an excellent forkball in addition to a fastball in the upper 130s. But with the poor performance against Oogaki Nichidai there is certainly room for improvement.
Kinki Super-Regional (6)
Tenri (Nara) - Champion - 21st appearance, 4th consecutive
Tenri is back yet again at Koushien, but I wonder if the team is frustrated at all that they have not had success in the last couple of years. Or perhaps the team has just began to settle for reaching Koushien. Whatever it is, if you've been reading my blog, you know I root for Tenri, albeit mostly in frustration. I do have to yield the fact that while Tenri has been to Koushien many, many times - when you have just 2 schools that go from Nara (3 if you include Kooriyama), one does have to wonder about the depth of talent.
Although Chiben Wakayama suffers from the same issue and yet they seem to have more success in recent years... *sighs*
Anyways, back on the mound for Tenri is newly promoted ace Nishiguchi Tasuku (西口 輔). In my analysis of Tenri last year, I said that in order for Tenri to advance they had to avoid the bullpen which, yep - you guessed it, included Nishiguchi. And when he did enter the game he was wildly erratic and pretty much sealed the team's fate.
So what changed?
Well for one, it seems like he has cut down on his wildness. While I don't have information on his prefecutral/super-regional play, in the Meiji Jingu game against Oogaki Nichidai, he threw 7 innings and gave up just one run on 4 hits, walked 2, and only struck out 3.
This despite being able to hit 148 on the radar gun, and now sporting a slider, change and curve. He seems to be throwing more downhill now, but he seems to struggle the later he goes into the game. His game against Oogaki Nichidai can be seen here.
So Tenri runs a tandem with 1st year pitcher Nakatani Keita (中谷 佳太), who shows excellent control for a freshman. While he only throws in the low-mid 130's, he not only locates his fastball, but his offspeed pitches which include a slider, curve and forkball. It would appear that this time, Tenri has a bullpen that they CAN use.
But with the entire roster turning over from last year, how will the newcomers fare?
Riseisha (Osaka) - Runner-up - 3rd appearance, 1st in 3 years
Riseisha, on the back of a mostly returning starting 9 from the summer was one game away from winning the Kinki Super-Regional only to lose a close revenge match against Tenri.
Iidzuka Takashi (飯塚 孝史) has been promoted to the ace number. I don't know if he's picked up any speed since we last saw him (he was throwing in the 120's). But he has a game plan for batters. Against righties he uses his slider and curve. On lefties, he utilizes his two-seam fastball.
As mentioned before, Riseisha returns most of its summer team. Some notable names within it are C Sakamoto Seishirou (坂本 誠志郎), 3B Ishii Gen (石井 元), and CF Kaifu Hiroto (海部 大斗).
Houtoku Gakuen (Hyogo) - 3rd/4th place - 18th appearance, 1st in 2 years
Houtoku Gakuen has apparently reloaded after their Best 4 appearance last summer despite having only one person returning from their starting 9.
But they're in good hands. Last year's super 1st year Tamura Ichirou (田村 伊知郎) showed poise beyond his years in the quarterfinal game last summer, pitching 7.2 strong innings against Niigata Meikun, striking out 9 and giving up just 1 run.
Tamura sports a fastball that can hit 140, along with a slider, curve and V-slider. Here he was at Natsu Koushien, and here he is during the fall tournament.
The supporting cast for Tamura is unknown as the roster has almost completely turned over, but they seem to be a strong bunch considering they made it to the super-regional semifinal.
Chiben Wakayama (Wakayama) - 3rd/4th place - 10th appearance, 2nd consecutive
Chiben Wakayama makes yet another appearance at Koushien. But while in past years, the stars were on offense, it seems like the key members of the team are all on the mound.
All 4 of them.
3 of them were on last summer's team. With ace number Yoshimoto graduating, the ace designation fell to Uenoyama Shouma (上野山 奨真). A side-arm pitcher, he can still get it up the high 130's with a slider, curve and shuuto. He hung in there against Narita last summer, but did give up 2 runs in 4.1 innings of work.
Then there's Miyagawa Yuuki (宮川 祐輝) who retains the #10 jersey. He can hit 142 on the gun, but his historical numbers suggest he might be better at the plate than on the mound.
Aoki Yuuto (青木 勇人) gets promoted to the #11 jersey, and may very well be the stronger of the 3. He put in 3.2 innings of scoreless ball against Narita in the summer, then in the fall pitched a CG win over Kyoto Gaidai Nishi before giving up 2 runs in 2.2 against PL Gakuen (he did strike out 6 though). He throws a slider, changeup and curveball.
Who's the 4th? He's a 1st-year by the name of Oojino Masaki (蔭地野 正起). He already has a spot on the main team wearing #12. He, like Miyagawa, can hit 142, but has a curve, slider and forkball to compliment his fastball. In 3 games during the summer qualifying against Kasada, Minoshima and Kouyou, he threw 9.2 innings of shutout ball giving up 6 hits while striking out 6.
4 pitchers on the roster for Chiben, but can the offense get itself going unlike last time?
In a slight shocker, Kyoto Seishou (Kyoto) and Kakogawa Kita (Hyogo) get the final two bids from the Kinki super-region ahead of PL Gakuen. However, Kyoto Seishou defeated Chiben Gakuen in the first round of the super-regional tournament, while Kakogawa Kita defeated Osaka Touin. That combined with their performances in the quarterfinals perhaps gave them the bids.
All I can find on Kyoto Seishou is their ace's name with is Nishino Kentarou (西野 健太郎), and a recap of their game against Nara 2 seed Chiben Gakuen. There's no information on their players, and their qualifying route is rather non-descript. The only notable games are in fact their semifinal loss to Kyoto Gaidai Nishi, and both of their super-regional games - a 3-2 win over Chiben Gakuen, and a 5-4 loss to Houtoku Gakuen blowing a 4-0 lead in the last 2 innings.
For Kakogawa Kita, I can find only information on their ace as well - Inoue-kun (the first name I can't figure out 井上 真伊人). He throws in the mid-upper 130's with a curve - although in this video it seems like the first curve he throws is a slow curve.
Chuugoku Super-Regional (2 + at-large bid)
Kanzei (Okayama) - Champion - 11th appearance, 2nd consecutive
Kanzei once again blew through the fall tournament, yielding just 4 runs in 12 games and shutting out all opponents in the super-regional! Although again it appears that their competition was rather light again.
Kanzei returns both pitchers from last spring - Katada Yuuta (堅田 裕太) and Mizuhara Hiroto (水原 浩登). Katada has added a couple of kph to his fastball, as well as a variety of pitches (a slider and curve for lefties, and a change and screwball for righties). Here was his appearance at last year's senbatsu. Mizuhara has been given the #6 jersey, suggesting that Kanzei may very well be keeping both pitchers on the field much like Sendai Ikuei last year or even Meihou with Imamiya. And in all intents and purposes, he's the right-handed version of Katada - featuring pretty much the same pitches and having a similar max on his fastball. I don't know if that's a plus or not, but it can't hurt.
Offensively, there's 3B Watanabe Yuuki (渡辺 雄貴), who was 3-4 with a double against last year's darling Shimabukuro Yousuke. Watanabe actually has moved from 3rd to LF (if the #7 uniform is any indication), but is apparently your super-utility player.
Soushi Gakuen (Okayama) - Runner-up - 1st appearance
Soushi Gakuen did not have as easy of a road as Kanzei. In fact, outside of the two games against Kanzei in the prefectural and super-regional finals, their games were almost always decided by 2 runs or less.
They depend primarily on 2 pitchers. Ace Yamamoto Ryou (山本 凌), and reliever (#11) Tomita Kazushige (富田 一成). But I don't have any more information on these players.
Hiroshima Sougou Gijyutsu (Hiroshima) - 3rd/4th place - 1st appearance
Perhaps as a result of the selection committee going with 2 teams from Okayama in the Chuugoku super-region, I think they almost had no choice but to give the Chuugoku/Shikoku at-large bid to this region - with Hiroshima Sougou Gijyutsu being the benefactor.
They avenged a 16-6 loss to Onomichi in the prefectural semifinal, then lost a 1-0 game against Kanzei in the super-regional semifinal.
Leading the way is 1st year ace Ida Yuki (伊田 有希), who actually wears #11. He was actually on the mound both times against Onomichi and Kanzei in the super-regional. The only thing I know is that he throws a slider. But then, who doesn't?
Shikoku Super-Regional (2)
Meitoku Gijyuku (Kochi) - Champion - 14th appearance, 1st in 3 years
Meitoku Gijyuku has successfully turned over its roster in the fall, won the Shikoku super-regional and thus an automatic bid.
Last year's #15, Omatsu Yoshio (尾松 義生) has become the new ace. Your average southpaw, he throws a slider, cut fastball, curve and change.
Omatsu has done all of the hard work for Meitoku, but there is note of a 1st year by the game of Fukunaga Tomoyuki(?) (福永 智之). He throws a slider and sinker, but I don't know much else.
Offensively, they have Kitagawa Rintarou (北川 倫太郎), who actually went 2-3 against Shimabukuro and both hits were to center. He's probably manning the cleanup spot again, but he'll definitely need help from the supporting cast.
Kagawa Nishi (Kagawa) - Runner-up - 1st appearance
It's been a while since we've seen Kagawa Nishi. An unknown team, they appeared first in the 2003 Natsu Koushien, and has actually had 3 summer appearances, but this is their 1st senbatsu.
But, the road they took is not all too convincing. The only game in the prefecturals that may garner attention is their 5-4 loss to Sangawa in the finals. Perhaps you can make a case for their semi matchup against Kannonji Chuo, but it's hard to say.
In the super-regional, the 3-1 win against Kochi would be a big plus...
...if not for the 15-1 loss to Meitoku Gijyuku the next day in the finals...
Sure it was raining that game, but unless the conditions were really sloppy, there's not much excuse.
Only player I have real info on is their ace Utsunomiya Kenta (宇都宮 健太). He throws in the upper 130s, with a slider, fork and change.
The loser out in the selection process was probably Kochi as they would have in all certainty earned a bid had Okayama not qualified 2 teams. Alas, they'll have to regroup and make a push for Natsu Koushien.
Kyushu Super-Regional (4)
Kagoshima Jitsugyou (Kagoshima) - Champion - 8th appearance, 1st in 15 years
Kagoshima Jitsugyou has had stretches of appearances followed by rebuilding. They seem to be in an upcycle now having been to Natsu Koushien last year, and returning as the Kyushu super-regional champion to start this year.
Noda Shougo (野田 昇吾) has been promoted to the ace number. Although technically the de facto ace given that all the pitchers from last year's Natsu Koushien team graduated, he's not bad himself. He sports a fastball that can hit the low 140's and compliments that with a slider, curve and change.
After a messy start against Kumamoto Kokufu, he handled Touin, and then performed brilliantly against Kyushu Gakuin and then Kyushu Kokusaidai Fuzoku, yielding a run each.
In the Meiji Jingu tournament he once again had trouble in the first game against Meitoku Gijyuku but managed to yield just 1 run even while giving up 9 walks. He settled down once again versus Oogaki Nichidai, and while he couldn't finish against Nichidai-san, it's not as if his numbers were terrible.
Two possible offensive players to look at are returning 1B Agemura Kyouhei (揚村 恭平), and RF Toyozumi Kouta (豊住 康太). They had good success at Koushien last summer, especially given that both did well against Kyushu Gakuin.
Kyushu Kokusaidai Fuzoku (Fukuoka) - Runner-up - 2nd appearance, 1st in 29 years
Kyukoku as they are called re-emerged on the scene in 2009 thanks to the efforts of Wakao Masahiro, former manager of Tohoku and Yu Darvish.
And they're back again here in the 83rd senbatsu.
And to my surprise, the ace on the mound for Kyukoku was on the 2009 Koushien team, #15 Miyoshi Takumi (三好 匠). He apparently has gone from #15 to #5 to #1. I think. And while they finished 2nd in the Kyushu Super-regionals, the only footage I can find of him pitching is when he was a 1st year. Which doesn't help much, but it certainly is an interesting path to the ace number. Even with that he can hit 143 with the traditional slider, curve and change.
However, the roughness shows. Against Senshuudai Tamana and Hasami he did well giving up 2 runs in 2 CGs. But against Okinawa Shogaku and Kagoshima Jitsugyou he gave up 11 runs and 24 hits again in 2 CGs.
Which means much like their Eastern Japan counterpart Teikyou (several years ago), it may have to be the offense that carries them.
His battery mate, Takajyou Shuuto (高城 俊人), was the backup catcher back in 2009. And he has become quite the player. He's hit 21 homeruns, and as the 3-4 batters respectively in the lineup, provide the heart of the offense.
To boot, he has a good arm and can get a ball to 2nd in 1.86 sec. I don't know if that's really fast, but he's been noted for his arm.
The final player of note is Katou Ryou (加藤 凌), a 2nd year who while hitting in the 7 spot, hit 7 homeruns in the fall tournament.
Kyushu Gakuin (Kumamoto) - 3rd/4th place - 4th appearance, 1st in 9 years
Kyushu Gakuin had fallen out of view over the better part of the last decade. This after experiencing a surge at the end of the last millennia.
Now, they had continued success as one of the better teams in Kyushu... just not good enough to get back to Koushien.
That changed last summer when they won the Kumamoto prefectural tournament and went to Natsu Koushien, and after blowing through the first 2 rounds, faced the aforementioned Kagoshima Jitsugyou, and beat them before losing to Toukaidai Sagami.
But with a young bench, they quickly turned around, finished 2nd to Shuugakukan in the prefecturals, defated last year's haru-natsu champions Kounan before losing a close game to Kagoshima Jitsugyou.
1st year Ootsuka Takahito (大塚 尚仁) has become the new ace for Kyushu Gakuin. I don't have any other information on him.
Where I do have information is on the supporting cast. First and foremost is 3B Hagiwara Hideyuki (萩原 英之), a first year who actually was part of the starting nine (although wearing #14) and who hit a HR at Koushien (5:30 mark). And he's a 1st year!!
Then there's speedy switch-hitting outfielder Yamashita Tsubasa (山下 翼) who hit a neat .353/.476./.412 with 6(!) stolen bases!
Finally, Mizowaki Hayato (溝脇 隼人) has been promoted to the starting SS position, and while he had early success at Koushien, he did struggle as the tournament progressed.
Hasami (Nagasaki) - 3rd/4th place - 1st appearance
Hasami has almost appeared out of nowhere and is back at Koushien. They first came on in the 1996 Natsu Koushien, and then stormed their way to the Best 8. They made a brief appearance in 2001, and now are here again in 2011.
And as with most unknown teams, it's the ace pitcher that is the player of note. Enter super rookie Matsuda Shouma (松田 遼馬). He 3-hit Nagasaki Nichidai and gave up a whopping 5 hits in the final 3 games of the prefecturals (Nagasaki Nichidai included). He then advanced the team into the semifinals where he finally just gave out, giving up 8 hits and 9 walks, and yet only 4 runs. Not sure how that happened.
Anyways, he already has hit 144 on the gun, and outside of the standard slider, curve and change, he supposedly has a cutter and a two-seam. And he's apparently the cleanup hitter as well.
21st Century Teams (3)
Oodate Houmei (Akita) - Akita champions - 1st appearance
Oodate Houmei earns a 21st century bid, but it may not have happened at all. Akita is one of a few prefectures that has a double elimination format. After losing to Noshiro Shougyou in the Kita regionals, they won out in the losers bracket to make the prefecturals. From there they defeated Honjyou en route to defeating Yokote Jyounan to win the #1 seed. They lost to Aomori Yamada 4-3 in the first round, but the committee liked their consistent results in Akita as well as their efforts to balance academics and extracurriculars enough to award them a bid.
As for the team, the man wearing the ace number now is Saitou Kouhei (斉藤 浩平). Don't have much else right now. He takes over on the mound after their original ace Abe Shuntarou (阿部 春太郎) injured his arm.
Sado (Niigata) - Niigata runner-up - 1st appearance
I've had a small place for Sado when I follow teams. It's mostly because it's a school on Sado Island, a fairly large island in a remote area of Niigata. Seeing them continue to do well in Niigata but fall short disappointed me, but the committee this time around rewarded them with a bid in part due to that remoteness.
Sado made it to the prefectural finals only to lose to Nihon Bunri 6-1, and then was shutout by Saku Chousei 6-0.
I have no other information other than the pitcher/catcher combination consisting of Kamata and Watanabe (鎌田 - 渡部), as well as a video of Kamata.
Jyounan (Tokushima) - Tokushima champions - 1st appearance
Jyounan is rewarded by the selection committee after winning the Tokushima prefecturals for the first time in school history.
And outside of a close call against Komatsushima in the semifinals, they actually breezed through the prefecturals! They even defeated Tokushima Shougyou 13-2!
In the super-regionals, they held strong against Kagawa Nishi, and actually had the lead against them. But they faltered late and fell 7-6.
The ace who helped lead the team to their first prefectural title is Takeuchi Yuuta (竹内 勇太), a righty who throws in the high 130s with a two-seamer in addition to the traditional slider, change and curve.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Nichidai-san, Meiji Jingu Champions!
I found a place where Meiji Jingu HS games were archived (at least the championship), and if you couldn't tell from the title, Nichidai-san wins the Meiji Jingu tournament 4-1 over Kagoshima Jitsugyou!
That means that Kokugakuin Kugayama is the favorite to receive the bid, and the floating bid for the Kanto/Tokyo super-regions will go to Kanto!
I'll give a full game recap of the championship as well as any other games that may be archived as time allows.
(Edit: Well nuts. The place that had the archive deleted all the archives. Probably didn't want to get the channel taken down...)
That means that Kokugakuin Kugayama is the favorite to receive the bid, and the floating bid for the Kanto/Tokyo super-regions will go to Kanto!
I'll give a full game recap of the championship as well as any other games that may be archived as time allows.
(Edit: Well nuts. The place that had the archive deleted all the archives. Probably didn't want to get the channel taken down...)
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Meiji Jingu Semifinals
Man, nothing seems to stop Kajitsu right now. I wonder if the southern prefectures domination of 高校野球 will continue.
They strike first against Oogaki Nichidai and ace Kassai. In the 2nd, with runners on the corners and 2 down, Sasaki gets a timely hit. 1-0.
Oogaki manages to score the douten run in the 4th as Uchino hits a grounder with runners on 2nd and 3rd. The game stays that way until the 7th, when Kassai gives up back to back hits to put runners at the corners. Hayashi then hits a RBI double to give Kajitsu the lead once again, and Hirayama hits a sac fly to stretch the lead to 2 runs.
Oogaki would cut that deficit to 1 immediately as Gotou hits a 2-out RBI single, but when Uchino delivers another RBI via groundout in the 9th, it would be too much for the Toukai champs. Oogaki Nichidai falls 4-2 and with it pretty much the hopes of Aikoudai Meiden or Mie receiving an invitation to Senbatsu. Too bad, as I would have liked to see either team there.
In the other semifinal, Urawa Gakuin and Nichidai-san were scoreless early, but in the bottom of the 4th it fell apart for Urawa ace Satou.
With 2 down and runners on 1st and 2nd, Shimizu delivers an RBI single to give Nichidai the 1-0 lead. Then Satou hangs a slow curve and Suganuma drives it to left for a 3-run homerun. Just like that it was 4-0 and Urawa had to play catch-up. However, starter Yoshinaga for Nichidai-san would not let Urawa back in the game, yielding only 7 hits and 2 runs. And while Satou and Nakayama would give up only 6 hits combined, the hanging curve by Satou proved to be the difference. Nichidai-san advances to the finals with a 5-2 victory.
So the Kyushu and Tokyo super-regional champions will square off. The Kanto super-region will be rooting for their Tokyo counterpart as a victory should mean an extra bid. Kyushu's main backer will be Kyushu Gakuin who probably has a name recognition edge over Hasami should Kajitsu win the title.
They strike first against Oogaki Nichidai and ace Kassai. In the 2nd, with runners on the corners and 2 down, Sasaki gets a timely hit. 1-0.
Oogaki manages to score the douten run in the 4th as Uchino hits a grounder with runners on 2nd and 3rd. The game stays that way until the 7th, when Kassai gives up back to back hits to put runners at the corners. Hayashi then hits a RBI double to give Kajitsu the lead once again, and Hirayama hits a sac fly to stretch the lead to 2 runs.
Oogaki would cut that deficit to 1 immediately as Gotou hits a 2-out RBI single, but when Uchino delivers another RBI via groundout in the 9th, it would be too much for the Toukai champs. Oogaki Nichidai falls 4-2 and with it pretty much the hopes of Aikoudai Meiden or Mie receiving an invitation to Senbatsu. Too bad, as I would have liked to see either team there.
In the other semifinal, Urawa Gakuin and Nichidai-san were scoreless early, but in the bottom of the 4th it fell apart for Urawa ace Satou.
With 2 down and runners on 1st and 2nd, Shimizu delivers an RBI single to give Nichidai the 1-0 lead. Then Satou hangs a slow curve and Suganuma drives it to left for a 3-run homerun. Just like that it was 4-0 and Urawa had to play catch-up. However, starter Yoshinaga for Nichidai-san would not let Urawa back in the game, yielding only 7 hits and 2 runs. And while Satou and Nakayama would give up only 6 hits combined, the hanging curve by Satou proved to be the difference. Nichidai-san advances to the finals with a 5-2 victory.
So the Kyushu and Tokyo super-regional champions will square off. The Kanto super-region will be rooting for their Tokyo counterpart as a victory should mean an extra bid. Kyushu's main backer will be Kyushu Gakuin who probably has a name recognition edge over Hasami should Kajitsu win the title.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Super-Regional Summary & Meiji Jingu Tournament
All right! So the Meiji Jingu Fall Tournament is underway and we're already in the Best 4. Before that, let's summarize the possible qualifiers from the Super-Regionals with # of bids in ()'s. Note that about the only guaranteed invitations are to the super-regional champions.
Also note that there is a floating bid between Tohoku and Kanto, as well as Chuugoku and Shikoku.
Hokkaido Super-Regional (1)
So, onto the Meiji Jingu tournament which will award the winner's super-regional with another bid!
The draw went as follows:
Opening Round
In the 2nd game, Tohoku ace, Kamikura Kendo scatted 9 hits against Kanazawa. Meanwhile, his counterpart Kamata Yoshinao gave up 11 hits, but also 3 runs. So in all likelihood, they and Nihon Bunri will be headed to Koushien in the spring.
Day 2 came around, and so help me Tenri ends up being a middle of the road team. Oogaki Nichidai ace Kassai gives up a run to Tenri in the 2nd, but shuts them down thereafter. Nishiguchi for Tenri on the other hand couldn't hold the 1-run lead and appears to have been relieved for Nakatani after giving up a run in the 6th and 7th innings. Why, oh why Tenri? Why must you disappoint year after year?
In the second game of the day, Hokkaido has yet to find a team to revive the success of Komadai Tomakomai. While Hokkai was able to stay with Nichidai-san for the first 6 innings, they faded late, giving up 5 runs in the last 3 innings to fall 7-1.
(New details on these games)
Onto today's games to fill out the semifinals.
Kagoshima Jitsugyou looked to continue their run against Meitoku Gijyuku. Right off the bat, Toyosumi hits an RBI triple in the top of the 1st, then an infield grounder by Agemura scores him to give Kajitsu a quick 2-0 lead. After Meitoku Gijyuku pulled within 1 in the 2nd, Hamada delivers a 2-run double in the 3rd to extend the lead to 3 runs. While Kajitsu ace Noda gave up 9 walks/hit batters, his defense was flawless and they would advance with a 4-1 win.
In the late morning game, Tohoku's ace Natsui struggled against Urawa Gakuin. He gives up the first run right off the bat in the bottom of the first as Numata delivers a timely hit. Then Ishibashi follows that up with a 2-run triple to make it 3-0 Urawa in the 1st!
It would only get worse for Natsui as Mori and Endou deliver RBI hits in the 3rd to make it 5-0. He would be pulled after that inning.
C Yoshikawa for Tohoku would get 2 runs back in the 6th with a hit to left, but Urawa ace Satou would shut the door in the 7th by hitting a 2-RBI triple. Urawa Gakuin would advance by a score of 7-2 and will have a quick turnaround as they play Nichidai-san in the late game (late being 11 AM).
So the regions still alive to receive the extra bid include Toukai, Kyushu, Kanto and Tokyo.
If we were to take a guess as to who would receive the floating bids, it just might go to Kokugakuin Kugayama for the Kanto/Tokyo floating bid, while I can't decide between Hiroshima Sougou Gijyutsu and Kochi for the Chuugoku/Shikoku floating bid.
So if Kokugakuin Kugayama is slated to receive the floating bid as of right now, you bet that the 5th-8th place schools in the Kanto region are hoping that Nichidai-san wins it all. That would give Kokugakuin Kugayama the Meiji Jingu automatic bid, and send the floating bid their way. At least then they'd have a chance to be invited. Of those teams, Maebashi Ikuei and Kasumigaura might be the front-runners to receive a bid.
Also note that there is a floating bid between Tohoku and Kanto, as well as Chuugoku and Shikoku.
Hokkaido Super-Regional (1)
- Champion - Hokkai
- Champion - Tohoku (Miyagi)
- Runner-up - Kousei Gakuin (Aomori)
- 3rd/4th Place - Aomori Yamada (Aomori), Sendai Ikuei (Miyagi)
- Champion - Urawa Gakuin (Saitama)
- Runner-up - Toukaidai Sagami (Kanagawa)
- 3rd/4th Place - Suijyou (Ibaraki), Yokohama (Kanagawa)
- 5th-8th Place - Kasukabe Kyouei (Saitama), Kasumigaura (Ibaraki), Chiba Keizaidai Fuzoku (Chiba), Maebashi Ikuei (Gunma)
- Champion - Nichidai-san
- Runner-up - Kokugakuin Kugayama
- Champion - Kanazawa (Ishikawa)
- Runner-up - Nihon Bunri (Niigata)
- 3rd/4th Place - Saku Chousei (Nagano), Yuugakukan (Ishikawa)
- Champion - Oogaki Nichidai (Gifu)
- Runner-up - Seisei (Shizuoka)
- 3rd/4th Place - Mie (Mie), Aikoudai Meiden (Aichi)
- Champion - Tenri (Nara)
- Runner-up - Riseisha (Kyoto)
- 3rd/4th Place - Houtoku Gakuen (Hyogo), Chiben Wakayama (Wakayama)
- 5th-8th Place - Kyoto Seishou (Kyoto), PL Gakuen (Osaka), Kakogawa Kita (Hyogo), Murayama (Shiga)
- Champion - Kanzei (Okayama)
- Runner-up - Soushi Gakuen (Okayama)
- 3rd/4th Place - Tottori Ikuei (Tottori), Hiroshima Sougou Gijyutsu (Hiroshima)
- Champion - Meitoku Gijyuku (Kochi)
- Runner-up - Kagawa Nishi (Kagawa)
- 3rd/4th Place - Kochi (Kochi), Niita (Ehime)
- Champion - Kagoshima Jitsugyou (Kagoshima)
- Runner-up - Kyushu Kokusaidai Fuzoku (Fukuoka)
- 3rd/4th Place - Hasami (Nagasaki), Kyushu Gakuin (Kumamoto)
So, onto the Meiji Jingu tournament which will award the winner's super-regional with another bid!
The draw went as follows:
Opening Round
- Kanzei vs. Meitoku Gijyuku
- Tohoku vs. Kanazawa
- Tenri vs. Oogaki Nichidai
- Kagoshima Jitsugyou vs. Opening Round Game 1 winner
- Urawa Gakuin vs. Opening Round Game 2 winner
- Hokkai vs. Nichidai-san
In the 2nd game, Tohoku ace, Kamikura Kendo scatted 9 hits against Kanazawa. Meanwhile, his counterpart Kamata Yoshinao gave up 11 hits, but also 3 runs. So in all likelihood, they and Nihon Bunri will be headed to Koushien in the spring.
Day 2 came around, and so help me Tenri ends up being a middle of the road team. Oogaki Nichidai ace Kassai gives up a run to Tenri in the 2nd, but shuts them down thereafter. Nishiguchi for Tenri on the other hand couldn't hold the 1-run lead and appears to have been relieved for Nakatani after giving up a run in the 6th and 7th innings. Why, oh why Tenri? Why must you disappoint year after year?
In the second game of the day, Hokkaido has yet to find a team to revive the success of Komadai Tomakomai. While Hokkai was able to stay with Nichidai-san for the first 6 innings, they faded late, giving up 5 runs in the last 3 innings to fall 7-1.
(New details on these games)
Onto today's games to fill out the semifinals.
Kagoshima Jitsugyou looked to continue their run against Meitoku Gijyuku. Right off the bat, Toyosumi hits an RBI triple in the top of the 1st, then an infield grounder by Agemura scores him to give Kajitsu a quick 2-0 lead. After Meitoku Gijyuku pulled within 1 in the 2nd, Hamada delivers a 2-run double in the 3rd to extend the lead to 3 runs. While Kajitsu ace Noda gave up 9 walks/hit batters, his defense was flawless and they would advance with a 4-1 win.
In the late morning game, Tohoku's ace Natsui struggled against Urawa Gakuin. He gives up the first run right off the bat in the bottom of the first as Numata delivers a timely hit. Then Ishibashi follows that up with a 2-run triple to make it 3-0 Urawa in the 1st!
It would only get worse for Natsui as Mori and Endou deliver RBI hits in the 3rd to make it 5-0. He would be pulled after that inning.
C Yoshikawa for Tohoku would get 2 runs back in the 6th with a hit to left, but Urawa ace Satou would shut the door in the 7th by hitting a 2-RBI triple. Urawa Gakuin would advance by a score of 7-2 and will have a quick turnaround as they play Nichidai-san in the late game (late being 11 AM).
So the regions still alive to receive the extra bid include Toukai, Kyushu, Kanto and Tokyo.
If we were to take a guess as to who would receive the floating bids, it just might go to Kokugakuin Kugayama for the Kanto/Tokyo floating bid, while I can't decide between Hiroshima Sougou Gijyutsu and Kochi for the Chuugoku/Shikoku floating bid.
So if Kokugakuin Kugayama is slated to receive the floating bid as of right now, you bet that the 5th-8th place schools in the Kanto region are hoping that Nichidai-san wins it all. That would give Kokugakuin Kugayama the Meiji Jingu automatic bid, and send the floating bid their way. At least then they'd have a chance to be invited. Of those teams, Maebashi Ikuei and Kasumigaura might be the front-runners to receive a bid.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Fall Tournament Update #6
This update will finish out all super-regionals. I'll go into the Meiji Jingu Fall Tournament in the next post.
Toukai Super-Regional
When we last left teh Toukai region, all top seeds had advanced to the semifinals.
In the first semi was Mie versus Seisei. Mie had been a strong team over the last couple of years in the region, yet it was Seisei who jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the 2nd. And while Mie pulled within 1 in the 4th, Seisei extended the lead back to 2 in the 7th. Seisei's ace Nomura couldn't hold the lead and yielded a run to Mie in the last 2 innings to tie the game and send it into enchousen. Perhaps making up for it, Nomura would come up in the bottom of the 11th with one down and runners at the corners and deliver a timely hit to right to win the game.
The other semifinal was not nearly as exciting as Oogaki Nichidai ran roughshot over Aikoudai Meiden winning 10-1 in 7 innings.
Seisei was certainly the underdog in the final against Oogaki Nichidai, yet they struck first with 2 in the top of the 1st, then when Oogaki scored 4 in the bottom of the 1st, they came back to tie it with 2 in the next half inning.
Oogaki would retake the lead with a run in the bottom of the 2nd, yet couldn't pull away. That is until the 4th-6th innings where they scored 2 runs apiece, making the game out of reach. Oogaki would win their 2nd consecutive (and overall) title with the victory. Their ace Kassai yielded just 16 hits and 11 runs in the prefecturals and super-regionals combined!
Kinki Super-Regional
The Kinki super-regional was about ready to wrap up 1st round play. In those final games, Hyogo's #2 Kakogawa Kita shutout Osaka champion Osaka Touin in a shocker 2-0 to advance. Wakayama Shougyou couldn't keep up with PL Gakuen losing by the same score. And finally, a 5-run 3rd inning by Chiben Wakayama would help send Kyoto Gaidai Nishi home 6-3.
Moving on to the quarterfinals, it was the battle of 3 seeds as Houtoku Gakuen and Kyoto Seishou squared off. Yet it was the upstarts from Kyoto who built a lead, culminating in a 2-run 8th to give them a 4-0 lead! But perhaps it was the thought of defeating a Best 4 team, or maybe they just never closed out a game against a high quality squad. Whatever it was, Houtoku roared back into the game with a 3-run 8th, and then scored 2 in the 9th inning to send the boys from Kyoto home surely crying with a 5-4 loss. Their opponent in the semifinal would be Riseisha who had no trouble with Shiga's #2 Murayama, winning 11-0 in 8 innings.
On the other half of the bracket, Tenri couldn't really shake off Kakogawa Kita, but did win by a margin of 9-5. They would have to wait for the winner of the PL Gakuen-Chiben Wakayama matchup.
Early on, it was all Chiben Wakayama, scoring in each of the first 4 innings and building a 5-0 lead. PL would reply with 4 in the 5th to pull within 1. It would stay that way until the 8th where Chiben would reclaim those 4 runs and win 9-4.
So the Best 4 would be a field of teams who participated at Koushien this past summer.
Riseisha would take a 1-0 lead right off the bat against Houtoku Gakuen thanks to a timely hit by Oonishi. It wouldn't be until the bottom of the 5th inning where Tani for Houtoku would tie it up with a sac fly. That wouldn't last long as in the next half inning, with one down and runners on 1st and 2nd, Sakamoto would deliver a hit to retake the one-run margin. Riseisha's ace Iidzuka would give up only 3 hits to Houtoku and maintained the slim 1-run margin to win 2-1 and secure a place in the finals.
Tenri's game against Chiben Wakayama was almost a tale of 2 games. Tenri had scored 2 in the 3rd and that had been the only scoring in the game. But when they hit the last third of the game, all heck broke loose.
Top 7, 2 down, Chiben has the bases loaded. Leadoff batter Yamamoto hits a ball to left center, clearing the bases and giving them a 3-2 lead. Then in the 8th, Chiben would tack on two more giving them a 5-2 lead late.
Tenri wasn't about to give in that quickly though. Moriguchi would hit a 2-run blast to pull them within 1. Then in the 9th inning, after Tenri scored the tying run on a passed ball, Yanagimoto lines one to left, scoring the winning run from 2nd, sending Tenri to the championship game!!
Now Tenri had a bone to pick with Riseisha (and so did I for that matter), after Riseisha sent them home with a 4-1 win in the first round of the summer Koushien. Yet it was Riseisha who would strike first with a run in the 4th. Tenri struck back in the 5th after Date delivered a 2-out RBI with runners at 1st and 2nd.
Riseisha would have a golden opportunity with the bases loaded and 2 down in the top of the 8th, but couldn't plate the run.
One would wonder if that deflated Riseisha a bit as Tenri would take the lead in bottom of the inning, but in a most unusual fashion. With one down, Riseisha would walk the bases loaded. That would bring up Higashida, who would get hit by a pitch giving Tenri the 2-1 lead!
The 1-run margin would stick as Tenri would win their 7th fall title, and guaranteeing a spot in the Senbatsu!
Chuugoku Super-Regional
Unlike Riseisha, Kanzei would not allow Soushi Gakuen to exact revenge for the loss in the prefectural final.
Kanzei would take the lead right off the bat in the bottom of the 1st thanks to a timely hit by Watanabe. That lead would be extended to 2 in the 2nd with hits from ace Mizuhara and Seki to left. Then in the 4th, Watanabe would get his 2nd RBI after singles by Ogura and Sejima. Finally, in the 5th, Mizuhara hits a gapper to left center for a double and Seki once again follows that up with a ball to right center for a triple, giving Kanzei a 4-run lead.
That was more than enough for Mizuhara, who limited Soushi Gakuen to 5 hits en route to a 4-0 win, and Kanzei's 5th super-regional title.
Shikoku Super-Regional
In the final, with some rain hampering play, Meitoku Gijyuku and Kagawa Nishi were knotted at 0 before Meitoku blew it open scoring 13 runs in the 6th-8th innings after leading 2-0. A convincing 15-1 win gives Meitoku Gijyuku their 7th title.
Toukai Super-Regional
When we last left teh Toukai region, all top seeds had advanced to the semifinals.
In the first semi was Mie versus Seisei. Mie had been a strong team over the last couple of years in the region, yet it was Seisei who jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the 2nd. And while Mie pulled within 1 in the 4th, Seisei extended the lead back to 2 in the 7th. Seisei's ace Nomura couldn't hold the lead and yielded a run to Mie in the last 2 innings to tie the game and send it into enchousen. Perhaps making up for it, Nomura would come up in the bottom of the 11th with one down and runners at the corners and deliver a timely hit to right to win the game.
The other semifinal was not nearly as exciting as Oogaki Nichidai ran roughshot over Aikoudai Meiden winning 10-1 in 7 innings.
Seisei was certainly the underdog in the final against Oogaki Nichidai, yet they struck first with 2 in the top of the 1st, then when Oogaki scored 4 in the bottom of the 1st, they came back to tie it with 2 in the next half inning.
Oogaki would retake the lead with a run in the bottom of the 2nd, yet couldn't pull away. That is until the 4th-6th innings where they scored 2 runs apiece, making the game out of reach. Oogaki would win their 2nd consecutive (and overall) title with the victory. Their ace Kassai yielded just 16 hits and 11 runs in the prefecturals and super-regionals combined!
Kinki Super-Regional
The Kinki super-regional was about ready to wrap up 1st round play. In those final games, Hyogo's #2 Kakogawa Kita shutout Osaka champion Osaka Touin in a shocker 2-0 to advance. Wakayama Shougyou couldn't keep up with PL Gakuen losing by the same score. And finally, a 5-run 3rd inning by Chiben Wakayama would help send Kyoto Gaidai Nishi home 6-3.
Moving on to the quarterfinals, it was the battle of 3 seeds as Houtoku Gakuen and Kyoto Seishou squared off. Yet it was the upstarts from Kyoto who built a lead, culminating in a 2-run 8th to give them a 4-0 lead! But perhaps it was the thought of defeating a Best 4 team, or maybe they just never closed out a game against a high quality squad. Whatever it was, Houtoku roared back into the game with a 3-run 8th, and then scored 2 in the 9th inning to send the boys from Kyoto home surely crying with a 5-4 loss. Their opponent in the semifinal would be Riseisha who had no trouble with Shiga's #2 Murayama, winning 11-0 in 8 innings.
On the other half of the bracket, Tenri couldn't really shake off Kakogawa Kita, but did win by a margin of 9-5. They would have to wait for the winner of the PL Gakuen-Chiben Wakayama matchup.
Early on, it was all Chiben Wakayama, scoring in each of the first 4 innings and building a 5-0 lead. PL would reply with 4 in the 5th to pull within 1. It would stay that way until the 8th where Chiben would reclaim those 4 runs and win 9-4.
So the Best 4 would be a field of teams who participated at Koushien this past summer.
Riseisha would take a 1-0 lead right off the bat against Houtoku Gakuen thanks to a timely hit by Oonishi. It wouldn't be until the bottom of the 5th inning where Tani for Houtoku would tie it up with a sac fly. That wouldn't last long as in the next half inning, with one down and runners on 1st and 2nd, Sakamoto would deliver a hit to retake the one-run margin. Riseisha's ace Iidzuka would give up only 3 hits to Houtoku and maintained the slim 1-run margin to win 2-1 and secure a place in the finals.
Tenri's game against Chiben Wakayama was almost a tale of 2 games. Tenri had scored 2 in the 3rd and that had been the only scoring in the game. But when they hit the last third of the game, all heck broke loose.
Top 7, 2 down, Chiben has the bases loaded. Leadoff batter Yamamoto hits a ball to left center, clearing the bases and giving them a 3-2 lead. Then in the 8th, Chiben would tack on two more giving them a 5-2 lead late.
Tenri wasn't about to give in that quickly though. Moriguchi would hit a 2-run blast to pull them within 1. Then in the 9th inning, after Tenri scored the tying run on a passed ball, Yanagimoto lines one to left, scoring the winning run from 2nd, sending Tenri to the championship game!!
Now Tenri had a bone to pick with Riseisha (and so did I for that matter), after Riseisha sent them home with a 4-1 win in the first round of the summer Koushien. Yet it was Riseisha who would strike first with a run in the 4th. Tenri struck back in the 5th after Date delivered a 2-out RBI with runners at 1st and 2nd.
Riseisha would have a golden opportunity with the bases loaded and 2 down in the top of the 8th, but couldn't plate the run.
One would wonder if that deflated Riseisha a bit as Tenri would take the lead in bottom of the inning, but in a most unusual fashion. With one down, Riseisha would walk the bases loaded. That would bring up Higashida, who would get hit by a pitch giving Tenri the 2-1 lead!
The 1-run margin would stick as Tenri would win their 7th fall title, and guaranteeing a spot in the Senbatsu!
Chuugoku Super-Regional
Unlike Riseisha, Kanzei would not allow Soushi Gakuen to exact revenge for the loss in the prefectural final.
Kanzei would take the lead right off the bat in the bottom of the 1st thanks to a timely hit by Watanabe. That lead would be extended to 2 in the 2nd with hits from ace Mizuhara and Seki to left. Then in the 4th, Watanabe would get his 2nd RBI after singles by Ogura and Sejima. Finally, in the 5th, Mizuhara hits a gapper to left center for a double and Seki once again follows that up with a ball to right center for a triple, giving Kanzei a 4-run lead.
That was more than enough for Mizuhara, who limited Soushi Gakuen to 5 hits en route to a 4-0 win, and Kanzei's 5th super-regional title.
Shikoku Super-Regional
In the final, with some rain hampering play, Meitoku Gijyuku and Kagawa Nishi were knotted at 0 before Meitoku blew it open scoring 13 runs in the 6th-8th innings after leading 2-0. A convincing 15-1 win gives Meitoku Gijyuku their 7th title.
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