Fall tournament recap and possible invitees (Hokushinetsu and Toukai)

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

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

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

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

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

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

You would be dead wrong.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Toukai Super-Regional (2 bids)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fall tournament recap and possible invitees (Kanto & Tokyo)

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

First off, Tokyo.

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

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

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

Our qualifiers from block play were as follows:

Block 1

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

 Block 2

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

 Block 3

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

 Block 4

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

Block 5

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

Block 6

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

Block 7

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

Block 8

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

Block 9

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

Block 10

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

Block 11

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

Block 12

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

Block 13

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

Block 14

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

Block 15

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

Block 16

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

Block 17

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

Block 18

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

Block 19

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

Block 20

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

Block 21

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

Block 22

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

Block 23

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

Block 24

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That's when it went horribly wrong.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fall tournament recap and possible invitees (Hokkaido & Tohoku)

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

But without further ado... off we go!

Hokkaido Super-Regional (1 bid)

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

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

And with that the field was set.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tohoku Super-Regional (2 bids)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• 飯屋崎 - Iyazaki
• 勅使河原 - Deshigawara

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

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

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

They almost did.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And to a rather anti-climactic finish...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


Until the 7th...

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

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

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

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

It almost worked.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*sighs*  There's always next year?

Round the final turn to the home stretch...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And then it all blew up in their faces.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Day 12

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And that's when the wheels fell off.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Day 9 Recap

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And my jaw hits the floor.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Instead, I got an offensive explosion.

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

I apparently figured wrong.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Indeed they fell 11-8.

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

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