..
Hikawa (Yamanashi)
SS Hirose Katsumi
3B Mikami ?
P Yamada Motoki
LF Yamagata Shouichi
1B Sano Yuugo
CF Sano Takuya
RF Saitou Susumu
C Yamamoto Yuuga
2B Teramoto Shunya
Minoshima (Wakayama)
CF Morishita Yuuto
3B Ageto Ryouta
SS Nakanishi Akito
RF Yamashita Takuma
LF Ueno Kouki
2B Izumi Hiromu
1B Murata Takumi
P Susami Shouma
C Kenjyou Shuuin
____________________________________________________________
15:40 - First Pitch!
Top 1st
Not a bad start for Susami as he gets Hirose to chase for the first out. Mikami though follows that up with a hard liner that Ueno needs to track down..
Uh oh...
Ace Yamada with a drive to left! Ueno running back to the wall..
HAITAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Must be a day for HR's as Yamada gives Hikawa the 1-0 lead as the ball lands in the netting!
Yamagata flies out to fairly deep right, and I wonder if Susami might be in a bit of trouble today...
Bottom 1st
Not a good start either for Yamada as he seems to be flying open and his balls are going wide and he walks Morishita after running the count full. Ageto bunts him promptly to 2nd.
Yamada seems the run of the mill ace with a fastball in the high 130s-low 140s and a slider that Nakanishi just chased for the 2nd out in the low 120s.
Yamada's wildness continues as he goes up and in hitting Yamashita. Chance for Minoshima, but Ueno prefers not to wait - swinging on the first pitch and grounding to Hirose who goes the short way to 2nd for the 3rd out.
Top 2nd
Outside of the HR, Susami hasn't looked that bad. Fastball in the mid-upper 130s, as Yuugo strikes out swinging... and a slider in the high 110s-low 120s.
Takuya gets frozen on a fastball for the 2nd out, and Saitou pops out to Kenjyou near the back screen for the 3rd out.
Bottom 2nd
On the other hand, Yamada's control still seems a bit off. After inducing a groundout to Izumi, he falls behind Murata before working the count full and getting him to chase a slider down and in for the 2nd out.
Susami is not waiting for Yamada to hang himself, he's swinging away, fouling pitches but not necessarily making good contact. And what happens instead? He's frozen on a fastball on the outside corner for strike 3. Side retired.
Top 3rd
Yamamoto starts off the 3rd with a liner back up the middle into center. Ikeya-kantoku calls for the bunt for #9 batter Teramoto, who obliges.
Hikawa meanwhile plays their own version of "Keio Chance" as Hirose steps in.
After a rather patient AB, Hirose singles back up the middle! Morishita fires it home, but way high! Susami backing up play catches it, but the throw allows Hirose to advance to 2nd. Susami in a pinch early...
Mikami up and has been feigning squeeze bunt to put pressure on the Minoshima battery. When he does swing away though he fouls the ball off and thus the count goes to 2-2 and he probably will swing away.
OR NOT.
Ikeya-kantoku goes for the squeeze, the pitch is way outside so that Mikami can't get it and it's a strike em out, run em out double play to end the inning. *sighs*
Bottom 3rd
For those wondering why I sigh, it's not because I'm rooting for Hikawa. It's because the squeeze bunt is used way too often for my liking in kokoyakyu. I don't mind it, but it's not a surprise when teams use it. In fact I think it's more expected.
Anywaya, Minoshima not wasting much time against Yamada. If you blinked, you missed the bottom of the 3rd.
Kenjyou flies out to left on the first pitch, Morishita grounds out to 1st and Ageto grounds to 3rd on a nice pick by Mikami. 6 pitches for 3 outs.
Top 4th
Susami cruising along as Yamada pops out to Murata in foul territory.
あ。
Yamagata with a blast to left center! Morishita chases it back to the wall.. looks up!
HAITAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What is with Hikawa and HR's?! Yamada in the 1st and now Yamagata putting up some fireworks with a solid shot to left center and it's 2-0 Hikawa!
Yuugo follows that up with a ball to the left side! Nakanishi can only knock it down in the hole as his recovery and throw is late.
Ikeya-kantoku not going for the bunt this time, but instead goes for the hit-and-run as Takuya fouls it off. It's put on again, and fouled off again, and again.
This time, no hit-and-run, Yuugo takes off and the pitch is outside! Kenjyou has no throw! Now a base hit can possibly score a run!
Instead though Susami gets him to ground to short for the 2nd out. And Saitou flies out to center to end the inning. But Hikawa perhaps knowing if they win they have to play Osaka Touin are showing the bats themselves - though if they had them, perhaps they should have waited to spring it on them instead.
Bottom 4th
Nakanishi with a hard liner... right at Mikami for the first out. Yamada has a "look what I found" moment when a comebacker from Yamashita ends up in his glove.
Ueno though wants none of it! He hits a ball that goes through the left side for Minoshima's first hit! And a wild pitch from Yamada puts him into scoring position!
Izumi works the count full looking for a timely hit, but all he can do is look back at the umpire as he's called out on a fastball on the outside corner yet again! Yamada has settled down quite a bit since the opening innings.
Top 5th
Hikawa's ouen-dan plays Train-Train as Susami now has trouble finding the zone going behind 3-0 before firing a strike. He does get Yamamoto to ground to Nakanishi to start off the inning.
Teramoto, swinging away for the first time, goes down to hit the ball, and it's a decent liner - but it's right to Yamashita for the 2nd out.
えええええ？？！！
Hirose with a blast to left! No way. Not even possible.
HAITAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now leadoff batter Hirose hits a HR into the alley in left and Susami can only shake his head as 3 of the 6 hits he's given up have been HRs. 3-0 Hikawa!
Mikami grounds out to 2nd, but if you can believe it, Hikawa has more HR's than Osaka Touin. Read that again.
Bottom 5th
So, a bit of work for Minoshima now. Murata with a gapper to left center gives his team a leadoff double! Bitou-kantoku will play for the run as Susami bunts the runner along.
Oh! Kenjyou with a blast to right center! Yakuya sprinting back, goes into a slide and makes the catch! He almost overruns it, but slides to slow down and make the great catch! Murata easily tags up to make it a 3-1 game.
Uh oh! Morishita with a low scorcher to the right side splits the defense and goes all the way to the wall for a triple! Minoshima in business once again!
あ！！！！！！！！！！！！
Yamada uncorks a wild pitch and Morishita comes in from 3rd to make it a 3-2 ballgame! Things are going all wrong for Hikawa here in the 5th!
And perhaps the break is coming at the right time as Ageto lines out to Teramoto to end the inning. But Minoshima has found something here, the question now is - can they continue it?
Top 6th
With new life (of sorts), Susami once again buckles down, jamming Yamada into a 6-3 groundout. Yamagata meanwhile continues his hot hitting with a liner to left.
And with 2 out, Yamagata is caught off 1st, but the throw from Kenjyou is dropped by Murata and he reaches 2nd safely!
AH!! Kenjyou throws it away! Yamagata going for 3rd and the throw goes into left! Yamagata comes home and it's 4-2 Hikawa!
Now Takuya grounds out to end the inning, but this has been a bit of a bizarre game.
Bottom 6th
Nakanishi with a ball down the right field line.. fair! He hurries into 2nd and Minoshima looks to rally yet again! Yamashita bunts him along to 3rd.
But Ueno, who is swinging away grounds to 3rd! Nakanishi has to hold as Ueno is retired at 1st.
And Izumi goes after the first pitch and flies out to Saitou to end the inning! Yamada gets out of the pinch!
Top 7th
Susami continuing to get routine outs despite the poor defense. Saitou flies out to right, Yamamoto swings and misses on a high changeup, and Teramoto grounds to short. 1-2-3 inning versus the bottom of the order and he gives his team a chance to come back again on the bats.
Bottom 7th
Perhaps though their chances have already passed. Murata grounds out to 1st where Yuugo takes it himself.
#12 Nakao to hit for Susami, his day is done.
Nakao with a comebacker through to center for a base hit! Bitou-kantoku tries the bust-and-run, but when it fails, he has Kenjyou bunt him to 2nd looking for a one-timer from Morishita.
But Yamada clamps down and gets Morishita to swing and miss on a change outside for the 3rd out! Minoshima running out of time with just 2 innings to go...
Top 8th
#10 Takagawa comes in for PH Nakao and takes the hill. He's not a fireballer by any means, as I'm not sure he even hits 130 and he has a curve in the mid 100s.
In fact he's in the 120s as he walks Hirose to start the inning. But he turns around and gets Mikami to ground into a neat 4-6-3 double play (which included a nice flip from Izumi).
Yamada out in front of a ball, grounds to short and perhaps now the bats are too fast for Takagawa's pitches as they go 1-2-3 once again!
Bottom 8th
Still, they need 2 runs in the next 2 innings...
And the offense is spinning their wheels.
Ageto with a decent drive to center, but it hangs up and Takuya runs it down. Nakanishi's timing is way off and hits a dribbler back to Yamada.
Yamashita not playing desperate, takes his pitches and earns a 2-out walk. Ueno steps in now to try and continue the inning.
Down two, Bitou-kantoku tries to put pressure with the hit-and-run, but Ueno winds up chasing a high pitch and flies out to left to end the inning. Just one set of ABs left...
Top 9th
Yamagata putting on a clinic with a ball past a diving Ageto into left. Yuugo squaring to bunt, takes a couple and falls behind 1-2. And yet he executes a perfect three-bunt to move Yamagata along.
Back to "Keio Chance" as Takuya feigns a safety bunt, causing Bitou-kantoku to call time.
That gets Ikeya-kantoku to send in #14 Maeda to run for his cleanup batter.
The bunt is off for Takuya, as he gets ahead 3-0. But he doesn't swing as Takagawa fires 2 in there to fill up the count.
Grounder to 3rd! Ageto tags Maeda sprinting to 3rd, throws to 1st... But Murata is off the bag and backs into foul territory allowing Takuya to get into 1st safely! Almost a great DP there!
The inning only goes one pitch longer as Saitou grounds to short.
Bottom 9th
Last chance for Minoshima! Maeda stays in to play left.
Izumi up, 0-3 on the day. He works the count full... hits a hard liner, but right at Yuugo for the first out!
Murata, 1-3 with that double to left center... He laces one to right! Saitou takes it on the high hop and the douten runner will come to bat! #14 Morikawa comes in to run for Murata.
Takagawa in to bat, watches 2 strikes go by... then swings at a pitch way out and high and knows he messed up... 2 outs!
Last chance in #9 batter Kenjyou. Wild pitch from Yamada allows Morikawa to advance, but the concern should be at home plate.
And Yamada falls behind 3-0. He doesn't want to face Morishita and fires a strike in.
Kenjyou with a drive to right! Saitou heading back... heading back... and it dies in deep right as Saitou makes the catch and Hikawa moves on!
Despite the loss, Susami didn't do that bad of a job. Yes, he gave up 3 HRs, but otherwise kept Hikawa at bay. And the 4th run came on defensive miscues that would have wiped out the runner. Yes, the pictures have him crying, but he really did a great job on the mound.
Offensively, they had their chances too. They didn't hit homeruns, but they did have a span there in the 5th and 6th where they had several extra base hits. So they may have lost, but they played fairly well.
As for Hikawa, perhaps they let the cat out of the bag early with 3 solo HRs to make people think that perhaps they can compete with Osaka Touin.
Okay, that's a bit of a stretch, but still, 3 HRs in one game is rather impressive. The rest of the time though they were pretty much limited to singles and didn't threaten otherwise.
I think they know though that this will be just as much of an uphill battle as it was for Nihon Bunri. They'll have 5 days to plan, which might help.
Notable Players
Yamada Motoki (Hikawa) - CG, 2 ER, 6 H, 5 K, 2 BB, HBP
Yamagata Shouichi (Hikawa) - 3-4, HR, 2 R, RBI
Hirose Katsumi (Hikawa) - 2-3, HR, R, RBI
Yamada Motoki (Hikawa) - 1-4, HR, R, RBI
Susami Shouma (Minoshima) - 7 IP, 4 R, 3 ER, 7 H, 5 K
Murata Takumi (Minoshima) - 2-4, 2B, R
Morishita Yuuto (Minoshima) - 1-3, 3B, R, BB
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Day 1 - Game 2 - Nihon Bunri (Niigata) vs. Osaka Touin (Osaka)
(Sorry, no time for writeup. I'm undermanned on the computer... will have one later, but suffice it to say, Nihon Bunri is in for an uphill battle...)
Nihon Bunri (Niigata)
CF Takeishi Ryou (#7)
LF Watanabe Ryuuhei (#15)
1B Iidzuka Satoshi (#1)
RF Oguro Kazuki
2B Watanabe Taiga
SS Shiraishi Takayo
3B Ikeda Takamasa
C Kamakura Kouta
P Ooyachi Atsunori (#10)
Osaka Touin (Osaka)
LF Minemoto Takumi (#4)
CF Takagi Toshiki
C Mori Tomoya
1B Kinden Takuya
3B Kasamatsu Yuuya
2B Katsuki Kazuya (#14)
RF Fukumori Hiroto (#7)
SS Mizutani Yukiya
P Kuzukawa Tomoya
____________________________________________________________
12:59 - First Pitch!
Top 1st
Oy, first pitch and it hits Takeishi before the siren even ends.
Kuzukawa looks bad on the mound with two more off pitches. But Ooi-kantoku tries to hit-and-rub, but Ruuuhei misses and while the throw is offline, there's enough time to still tag Takeishi for the out.
Which is a shame because Ryuuhei singles through the right side. And then a wild pitch sends him to 2nd!
He even falls behind Iidzuka but gets bailed out when he swings at a bad pitch and flies out to left.
Cleanup batter Oguro up, and I don't know why they're not taking pitches seeing as Kuzukawa looks off on the mound. Instead he's swinging away on outside pitches and fouling them off.
Oguro grounds out to short to end the inning, but Nihon Bunri helped Kuzukawa out on that one.
Bottom 1st
Minemoto swinging away early in count, hits ball to right side. Taiga makes great diving stop but throw to 1st is just a hair late.
Nishitani-kantoku goes for the hit-and-run, Takagi grounds out to 2nd for the 1st out.
Finally focusing on Ooyachi, he's a lefty who throws in the high 120s-low 130s touching mid 130s, with a curve in the mid 110s, and maybe some type of slider in the low 120s. That's not a good sign - he'd better stay accurate.
Uh oh. Ooyachi goes careful on Mori, runs the count full and walks him to bring up Kinden.
Count runs full on Kinden too as Ooyachi tries not to give up the big hit. Instead he hits Kinden and it's manrui for Oosaka Touin!
Back against the wall, a sac fly from Kasamatsu isn't the worst thing that can happen. Takeishi tries to get the runner going to 3rd, but no dice. 1-0 Osaka Touin.
Katsuki with a poke into left center and that falls in! Mori scores to make it 2-0 now.
Things go from bad to worse as Ooyachi hits Fukumori to load the bases again...
But mercifully, Mizutani chases a ball in the dirt for strike 3 to end the inning. 9 batters, 2 hits, 3 walks/hit batters and 2 runs. Could have been worse...
Top 2nd
Taiga works count full on Kuzukawa, hits blooper to right that Fukumori just can't slide and reach. Katsuki runs it down but Taiga ends up on 2nd, make that 3rd after the bunt from Shiraishi.
Ikeda with a blast to center! Takagi running it down at the wall, but can't get there! Taiga scores and Nihon Bunri gets a run back at 2-1!
Oh... but he follows that up with a mistake. Grounder to 2nd by Kamakura and Ikeda tries for 3rd, but gets rundown 4-5-6 for the 2nd out.
Ooyachi flies out to right and that ends the threat. But Nihon Bunri does get a run back!
Bottom 2nd
Osaka Touin continues to hit. Kuzukawa hits one down the right field side for a leadoff double An immediate bunt to 3rd, followed by a slow grounder to the right side brings him in, clockwork style. 3-1.
Oh.
Mori just hit a ball to left that kept on carrying for a HR. 4-1 Touin.
Oh boy...
Kinden just hit a no-doubter to left that rocketed out in a hurry. Back-to-back jacks and it's 5-1 and ugly.
And believe you me, Kasamatsu is trying his hardest to go back-to-back-to-back. Instead he grounds out to 3rd.
No matter. They're well on their way to a win.
Top 3rd
Nihon Bunri is trying at the plate, I'll give them that, but it's not getting results. Takeishi strikes out swinging on 3 straight, Ryuuhei works the count full, but grounds out to 2nd, and Iidzuka strikes out looking for a 1-2-3 inning.
Bottom 3rd
A bit late, Ooyachi is replaced by #17 Kanno Koujiryou.
And he does rather well in relief to start. Katsuki with a routine grounder to 2nd, and though Fukumori hits a hard single through the right side, Mizutani quickly grounds to 3rd and Kuzukawa strikes out swinging to end the inning.
Top 4th
Just to show how badly it's going for Nihon Bunri, Oguro hits a ball off of Kasamatsu. It deflects right to Mizutani who easily throws out Oguro for the first out.
And while Shiraishi inside outs a pitch inside back up the middle, Mizutani makes an over the shoulder catch on a pop fly from Ikeda to end the inning.
Bottom 4th
Just when I think Kanno is cruising in relief - Minemoto flies out to right, and Takagi routine grounder to 3rd, Mori does it again. This time he pulls one to right off the righty Kanno and it's 6-1.
Kanno then wants nothing to do with Kinden and walks him on 4 straight. Kasamatsu still trying to join HR party, grounds to short to end inning.
Top 5th
Nihon Bunri just swinging away now, two quick outs and almost 3 if Kasamatsu didn't throw the ball away. Takeishi goes to 2nd, but he's stranded when Ryuuhei strikes out swinging.
Bottom 5th
Katsuki hits a gapper to left center for a leadoff double and is bunted to 3rd by Fukumori. Need those fundamentals just in case you can't hit the HR.
Mizutani can't bring him home even though he hits a chopper to Shiraishi (just not high enough).
And Kanno can't put up another bagel. Kuzukawa slices one over a leaping Ikeda fair for a double to make it 7-1.
For those wondering about Kanno, he's a side-armer who throws in the mid-upper 130's with an apparent sinker in the high 120s-low 130s.
Oh dear. After a walk to Minemoto, Takagi laces one to right. Kuzukawa is held up at 3rd and it's manrui for Mori. So, nowhere to put him.
Ooi-kantoku sends in #11 Kodachi to try and get Mori out... to no avail. He lines one to right, and while I think Oguro may have had the shoestring catch, it's waved off and 2 runners score to make it 9-1.. Suppose it's not a HR which is a victory, I guess...
Kinden grounds out hard to Ikeda at 3rd for the last out, and Nihon Bunri may not want the break so they can just finish the game faster...
Top 6th
Iidzuka leads off the post-break action with a drive over Minemoto's head. He calmly walks it down as Iidzuka strolls in with a double.
Oh, I guess I should talk about Kuzukawa. He's a side armer who in some ways reminds me of Hifumi Shinta. Doesn't throw as hard (high 130s-low 140s), not as much side action on his pitches, and therefore not as many hit batters - but just as inconsistent. Has some type of change in the high 110s-low 120s.
Sadly, despite a wild pitch that gets Iidzuka to 3rd, neither Taiga nor Shiraishi can drive him in as Nihon Bunri tries to hit against the wildly effective Kuzukawa.
Bottom 6th
Kasamatsu almost gets into the HR parade. He crushes one to left center that I swear was going to go out, but instead it hits the wall for a double. Almost Kasamatsu, almost.
And it's hard to pitch around Osaka Touin's lineup, so even while Katsuki walks on 4 straight, Fukumori bunts one to the left side that Ikeda is late to. His throw can't be cleanly picked by Iidzuka and it's manrui for Mizutani, who is the only Touin batter left without a hit.
Ooi-kantoku calls time, since at this point it's just trying to get home.
Kodachi almost doesn't give Mizutani a chance, falling behind 3-1. But Mizutani rips one... right to Ikeda for the 1st out.
Kuzukawa despite the two doubles, gives a half-hearted swing on a ball in the dirt for the 2nd out.
Kodachi almost gets out of trouble... until he uncorks a wild pitch allowing Kasamatsu to score putting Osaka Touin in double digits. 10-1.
And in a bit of mercy, a wild pitch that goes over everything is not capitalized upon by the runners even though it's ball 4.
Takagi mercifully ends the inning striking out swinging.
Top 7th
If I were Osaka Touin with a 10-1 lead, I'd try to get my bullpen some work. Heaven knows they're probably going to need it.
Kamakura with 1-out gets around on a Kuzukawa offering singling past Kasamatsu. Sadly, PH #16 Iwano lines out right to Kinden who doubles off a helpless Kamakura.
Bottom 7th
Ace number Iiduzka finally takes the mound, with #3 Oota taking over for PH Iwano and going to 1B, while #8 Hoshi comes in for Takeishi and goes to CF.
I realize that it's a blowout and all and Osaka Touin probably wants to get out of the heat as well, but Iidzuka looked pretty good in a a 1-2-3 inning. He finally retired Mori on a grounder to 2nd, Kinden lined out to right, and Kasamatsu hit a lazy fly to left.
Top 8th
Kuzukawa still out there, and after getting the low strike 3 on Hoshi, he hits Ryuuhei.
But in more insult to injury, Iidzuka lines out to Mizutani who doubles off Ryuuhei for another DP.
Bottom 8th
Iidzuka doesn't throw any softer (mid-upper 130s), with a slider and presumably change, and has an interesting over the top delivery, that reminds me of a Dodgers P who I can't remember.
Nishitani-kantoku starts emptying the bench.
Top 9th
Tamura stays in to play RF, Tsujita in LF, Minemoto moves to 2B, Fukuda goes to SS, and #11 Takanishi takes the hill.
Oho! Nihon Bunri doesn't totally capitulate as with one down, Taiga drives a ball to left field that carries into the ouen-dan for a HR! It's 10-2, but at least they're not giving up. Shiraishi follows that up with a base hit through the right side.
With 2 out, Kamakura fights hard against the reliever, fouling off several balls. However, he's called out on a check swing and the game is over.
It certainly was bad for Nihon Bunri, but at least they finished out the game right. It's hard to hold your head high after a game like that, but they should take pride in getting there at least, even if their performance wasn't what they wanted.
As for Osaka Touin, today's game was a statement to the field. They will punish you if you make mistakes on the mound. Yes, there is their pitching that can be a big chink in their armor, but you need to shut down the offense if you're going to have any chance.
Who, if anyone will be able to step up? All we know is, either Minoshima or Hikawa will be the next team up.
Notable Players
Kuzukawa Tomoya (Osaka Touin) - 8 IP, ER, 6 H, 6 K, 2 HBP
Mori Tomoya (Osaka Touin) - 3-4, 2 HR, 3 R, 4 RBI, BB
Kinden Takuya (Osaka Touin) - 1-3, HR, R, RBI, BB, HBP
Kuzukawa Tomoya (Osaka Touin) - 3-5, 2 2B, 2 R, RBI, 2 K
Iidzuka Satoshi (Nihon Bunri) - 2 IP, 0 ER, H, K, BB
Watanabe Taiga (Nihon Bunri) - 2-4, 2B HR, 2 R, RBI
Ikeda Takamasa (Nihon Bunri) - 1-4, 2B, RBI
Nihon Bunri (Niigata)
CF Takeishi Ryou (#7)
LF Watanabe Ryuuhei (#15)
1B Iidzuka Satoshi (#1)
RF Oguro Kazuki
2B Watanabe Taiga
SS Shiraishi Takayo
3B Ikeda Takamasa
C Kamakura Kouta
P Ooyachi Atsunori (#10)
Osaka Touin (Osaka)
LF Minemoto Takumi (#4)
CF Takagi Toshiki
C Mori Tomoya
1B Kinden Takuya
3B Kasamatsu Yuuya
2B Katsuki Kazuya (#14)
RF Fukumori Hiroto (#7)
SS Mizutani Yukiya
P Kuzukawa Tomoya
____________________________________________________________
12:59 - First Pitch!
Top 1st
Oy, first pitch and it hits Takeishi before the siren even ends.
Kuzukawa looks bad on the mound with two more off pitches. But Ooi-kantoku tries to hit-and-rub, but Ruuuhei misses and while the throw is offline, there's enough time to still tag Takeishi for the out.
Which is a shame because Ryuuhei singles through the right side. And then a wild pitch sends him to 2nd!
He even falls behind Iidzuka but gets bailed out when he swings at a bad pitch and flies out to left.
Cleanup batter Oguro up, and I don't know why they're not taking pitches seeing as Kuzukawa looks off on the mound. Instead he's swinging away on outside pitches and fouling them off.
Oguro grounds out to short to end the inning, but Nihon Bunri helped Kuzukawa out on that one.
Bottom 1st
Minemoto swinging away early in count, hits ball to right side. Taiga makes great diving stop but throw to 1st is just a hair late.
Nishitani-kantoku goes for the hit-and-run, Takagi grounds out to 2nd for the 1st out.
Finally focusing on Ooyachi, he's a lefty who throws in the high 120s-low 130s touching mid 130s, with a curve in the mid 110s, and maybe some type of slider in the low 120s. That's not a good sign - he'd better stay accurate.
Uh oh. Ooyachi goes careful on Mori, runs the count full and walks him to bring up Kinden.
Count runs full on Kinden too as Ooyachi tries not to give up the big hit. Instead he hits Kinden and it's manrui for Oosaka Touin!
Back against the wall, a sac fly from Kasamatsu isn't the worst thing that can happen. Takeishi tries to get the runner going to 3rd, but no dice. 1-0 Osaka Touin.
Katsuki with a poke into left center and that falls in! Mori scores to make it 2-0 now.
Things go from bad to worse as Ooyachi hits Fukumori to load the bases again...
But mercifully, Mizutani chases a ball in the dirt for strike 3 to end the inning. 9 batters, 2 hits, 3 walks/hit batters and 2 runs. Could have been worse...
Top 2nd
Taiga works count full on Kuzukawa, hits blooper to right that Fukumori just can't slide and reach. Katsuki runs it down but Taiga ends up on 2nd, make that 3rd after the bunt from Shiraishi.
Ikeda with a blast to center! Takagi running it down at the wall, but can't get there! Taiga scores and Nihon Bunri gets a run back at 2-1!
Oh... but he follows that up with a mistake. Grounder to 2nd by Kamakura and Ikeda tries for 3rd, but gets rundown 4-5-6 for the 2nd out.
Ooyachi flies out to right and that ends the threat. But Nihon Bunri does get a run back!
Bottom 2nd
Osaka Touin continues to hit. Kuzukawa hits one down the right field side for a leadoff double An immediate bunt to 3rd, followed by a slow grounder to the right side brings him in, clockwork style. 3-1.
Oh.
Mori just hit a ball to left that kept on carrying for a HR. 4-1 Touin.
Oh boy...
Kinden just hit a no-doubter to left that rocketed out in a hurry. Back-to-back jacks and it's 5-1 and ugly.
And believe you me, Kasamatsu is trying his hardest to go back-to-back-to-back. Instead he grounds out to 3rd.
No matter. They're well on their way to a win.
Top 3rd
Nihon Bunri is trying at the plate, I'll give them that, but it's not getting results. Takeishi strikes out swinging on 3 straight, Ryuuhei works the count full, but grounds out to 2nd, and Iidzuka strikes out looking for a 1-2-3 inning.
Bottom 3rd
A bit late, Ooyachi is replaced by #17 Kanno Koujiryou.
And he does rather well in relief to start. Katsuki with a routine grounder to 2nd, and though Fukumori hits a hard single through the right side, Mizutani quickly grounds to 3rd and Kuzukawa strikes out swinging to end the inning.
Top 4th
Just to show how badly it's going for Nihon Bunri, Oguro hits a ball off of Kasamatsu. It deflects right to Mizutani who easily throws out Oguro for the first out.
And while Shiraishi inside outs a pitch inside back up the middle, Mizutani makes an over the shoulder catch on a pop fly from Ikeda to end the inning.
Bottom 4th
Just when I think Kanno is cruising in relief - Minemoto flies out to right, and Takagi routine grounder to 3rd, Mori does it again. This time he pulls one to right off the righty Kanno and it's 6-1.
Kanno then wants nothing to do with Kinden and walks him on 4 straight. Kasamatsu still trying to join HR party, grounds to short to end inning.
Top 5th
Nihon Bunri just swinging away now, two quick outs and almost 3 if Kasamatsu didn't throw the ball away. Takeishi goes to 2nd, but he's stranded when Ryuuhei strikes out swinging.
Bottom 5th
Katsuki hits a gapper to left center for a leadoff double and is bunted to 3rd by Fukumori. Need those fundamentals just in case you can't hit the HR.
Mizutani can't bring him home even though he hits a chopper to Shiraishi (just not high enough).
And Kanno can't put up another bagel. Kuzukawa slices one over a leaping Ikeda fair for a double to make it 7-1.
For those wondering about Kanno, he's a side-armer who throws in the mid-upper 130's with an apparent sinker in the high 120s-low 130s.
Oh dear. After a walk to Minemoto, Takagi laces one to right. Kuzukawa is held up at 3rd and it's manrui for Mori. So, nowhere to put him.
Ooi-kantoku sends in #11 Kodachi to try and get Mori out... to no avail. He lines one to right, and while I think Oguro may have had the shoestring catch, it's waved off and 2 runners score to make it 9-1.. Suppose it's not a HR which is a victory, I guess...
Kinden grounds out hard to Ikeda at 3rd for the last out, and Nihon Bunri may not want the break so they can just finish the game faster...
Top 6th
Iidzuka leads off the post-break action with a drive over Minemoto's head. He calmly walks it down as Iidzuka strolls in with a double.
Oh, I guess I should talk about Kuzukawa. He's a side armer who in some ways reminds me of Hifumi Shinta. Doesn't throw as hard (high 130s-low 140s), not as much side action on his pitches, and therefore not as many hit batters - but just as inconsistent. Has some type of change in the high 110s-low 120s.
Sadly, despite a wild pitch that gets Iidzuka to 3rd, neither Taiga nor Shiraishi can drive him in as Nihon Bunri tries to hit against the wildly effective Kuzukawa.
Bottom 6th
Kasamatsu almost gets into the HR parade. He crushes one to left center that I swear was going to go out, but instead it hits the wall for a double. Almost Kasamatsu, almost.
And it's hard to pitch around Osaka Touin's lineup, so even while Katsuki walks on 4 straight, Fukumori bunts one to the left side that Ikeda is late to. His throw can't be cleanly picked by Iidzuka and it's manrui for Mizutani, who is the only Touin batter left without a hit.
Ooi-kantoku calls time, since at this point it's just trying to get home.
Kodachi almost doesn't give Mizutani a chance, falling behind 3-1. But Mizutani rips one... right to Ikeda for the 1st out.
Kuzukawa despite the two doubles, gives a half-hearted swing on a ball in the dirt for the 2nd out.
Kodachi almost gets out of trouble... until he uncorks a wild pitch allowing Kasamatsu to score putting Osaka Touin in double digits. 10-1.
And in a bit of mercy, a wild pitch that goes over everything is not capitalized upon by the runners even though it's ball 4.
Takagi mercifully ends the inning striking out swinging.
Top 7th
If I were Osaka Touin with a 10-1 lead, I'd try to get my bullpen some work. Heaven knows they're probably going to need it.
Kamakura with 1-out gets around on a Kuzukawa offering singling past Kasamatsu. Sadly, PH #16 Iwano lines out right to Kinden who doubles off a helpless Kamakura.
Bottom 7th
Ace number Iiduzka finally takes the mound, with #3 Oota taking over for PH Iwano and going to 1B, while #8 Hoshi comes in for Takeishi and goes to CF.
I realize that it's a blowout and all and Osaka Touin probably wants to get out of the heat as well, but Iidzuka looked pretty good in a a 1-2-3 inning. He finally retired Mori on a grounder to 2nd, Kinden lined out to right, and Kasamatsu hit a lazy fly to left.
Top 8th
Kuzukawa still out there, and after getting the low strike 3 on Hoshi, he hits Ryuuhei.
But in more insult to injury, Iidzuka lines out to Mizutani who doubles off Ryuuhei for another DP.
Bottom 8th
Iidzuka doesn't throw any softer (mid-upper 130s), with a slider and presumably change, and has an interesting over the top delivery, that reminds me of a Dodgers P who I can't remember.
Nishitani-kantoku starts emptying the bench.
- #9 Tamura comes in to hit for Katsuki, strikes out looking,
- #13 Tsujita in for Fukumori, flies out to center,
- #17 Fukuda in for Mizutani, draws full count walk,
- #12 Kume in for Kuzukawa (his day is done), liner to right for runners at the corners.
Top 9th
Tamura stays in to play RF, Tsujita in LF, Minemoto moves to 2B, Fukuda goes to SS, and #11 Takanishi takes the hill.
Oho! Nihon Bunri doesn't totally capitulate as with one down, Taiga drives a ball to left field that carries into the ouen-dan for a HR! It's 10-2, but at least they're not giving up. Shiraishi follows that up with a base hit through the right side.
With 2 out, Kamakura fights hard against the reliever, fouling off several balls. However, he's called out on a check swing and the game is over.
It certainly was bad for Nihon Bunri, but at least they finished out the game right. It's hard to hold your head high after a game like that, but they should take pride in getting there at least, even if their performance wasn't what they wanted.
As for Osaka Touin, today's game was a statement to the field. They will punish you if you make mistakes on the mound. Yes, there is their pitching that can be a big chink in their armor, but you need to shut down the offense if you're going to have any chance.
Who, if anyone will be able to step up? All we know is, either Minoshima or Hikawa will be the next team up.
Notable Players
Kuzukawa Tomoya (Osaka Touin) - 8 IP, ER, 6 H, 6 K, 2 HBP
Mori Tomoya (Osaka Touin) - 3-4, 2 HR, 3 R, 4 RBI, BB
Kinden Takuya (Osaka Touin) - 1-3, HR, R, RBI, BB, HBP
Kuzukawa Tomoya (Osaka Touin) - 3-5, 2 2B, 2 R, RBI, 2 K
Iidzuka Satoshi (Nihon Bunri) - 2 IP, 0 ER, H, K, BB
Watanabe Taiga (Nihon Bunri) - 2-4, 2B HR, 2 R, RBI
Ikeda Takamasa (Nihon Bunri) - 1-4, 2B, RBI
Day 1 - Game 1 - Arita Kougyou (Saga) vs. Oogaki Nichidai (Gifu)
And with the grand opening ceremonies out of the way, Arita Kougyou and Oogaki Nichidai turn right back around and head to the dugouts under the sold out crowd!
Oogaki Nichidai prevailed in a prefecture that wound up having a quarterfinalist. Plus, they beat both Kenritsu and Shiritsu Gifu Shougyou. Ace Takada Kouki gave up no more than 1 run in any outing until the final where he may have been fatigued, he seems to top out around 140 kph and I don't really have any other info otherwise.
Offensively, look for #2 batter Ookubo Takashi and #3 Naitou Hiroki to deliver the punch for the offense.
Arita Kougyou reached Koushien without having to face many of the mainstays in Saga. Kanzaki Seimei is definitely an above average team, and with Waseda Saga starting to assert themselves it may in hindsight prove to be a strong matchup after all.
Considering the low scoring affairs they went through, the key to the team's success lies in their ace Furukawa Yuri. He struck out just over 9 per CG in the last 3 games and is reported to hit 146 on the gun (90 mph) featuring a slider and changeup.
Offensively, it appears the team across the board are solid enough, but SS Fujikawa Shuu and 3B Kuwahara Kousei may be the most consistent of them all.
Considering the fact that Oogaki Nichidai has the prior experience, they are probably favored. It's hard to gauge how Arita Kougyou will do considering their competition in the prefecturals, but if ace Furukawa isn't a total "fraud" on the mound (i.e. stats are inflated), they may make things interesting since K's means no baserunners and no stress on the defense.
Anyways the teams head to home plate and away we go!!
Arita Kougyou (Saga)
2B Hyakutake Shoutarou
LF Kishigawa Yui
SS Fujikawa Shuu
P Furukawa Yuri
RF Senba Kouya
3B Kuwahara Kousei
1B Kawamoto Sora
C Kusano Yoshihiko
CF Fukuda Kousuke
Oogaki Nichidai (Gifu)
CF Shibata Yuushi
2B Ookubo Takashi
1B Naitou Hiroki
3B Takino Yoshi
RF Kaneda Kai
LF Tanaka Ken
SS Tatsuno Rikiya
C Yokoe Taisei
P Takada Kouki
____________________________________________________________
10:30 - First Pitch!
Top 1st
Ok, so some of the crowd has left, but it's still rather full.
Hyakutake giving Takada an easy first batter, chasing a ball out of the zone for an opening K.
Looks like Takada hits 130 at best so far with a fastball? That's not so good. But Kishigawa swings on a 2-0 ball and grounds easily to 2nd.
And Fuijikawa makes contact on the first pitch, but it's a lazy fly to end the inning. 7 pitches, 3 outs. Not a bad way to start.
Bottom 1st
First pitch 141 and over Shibata's head. Oy.
Grounder to short on the next pitch, Fujikawa ranges over, makes a strong throw that just beats Shibata for the first out.
As expected, he sits in the upper 130's, oh - and there's a slow curve in the 100s that Ookubo pops foul down the left field side. Kuwahara makes the catch near the fence for the 2nd out.
And a change perhaps to Naitou who grounds to 3rd. Kuwahara with a good throw to 1st for the 3rd out and so far so good, if not a little nerves.
Top 2nd
Yeah, sliders in low 120s Takada doesn't throw hard at all.
Furukawa with grounder to short, 5-hole! It goes right under Tatsuno for an E6! Arita Kougyou taking advantage immediately with a sac bunt from Senba.
That brings up Kuwahara who had some nice plays to start the game. Oogaki's strategy apparently is to pitch predominantly on the outside and let the batters get themselves out.
Of course as I say that, they go inside and Kuwahara pops it up. Yokoe and Takino collide but Yokoe makes the catch for the 2nd out.
Kawamoto pops out to 2nd and another stressless inning for Takada. A bit concerned though about his velocity though and if Arita will eventually line things up.
Bottom 2nd
Takino grounder to left side, nice range by Kawamoto who flips to a covering Furukawa just beating Takino for the 1st out.
Furukawa's control seems to be still a little off as his waste pitch on 0-2 goes 145 and high, then 146 and higher.
Then throws a great change at 120 for the karaburi sanshin.
The high pitches aren't good for Oogaki I guess as Tanaka flies out to left to end the inning.
So Oogaki's ace doesn't throw hard at all, and Arita's ace has early control issues. This should be interesting.
Top 3rd
Kusano gets ahead 2-0 before chasing a pitch outside. Next ball is a flyout right at Kaneda for out #1.
Fukuda makes decent contact, but it too is right at an outfielder. Tanaka secures it for the 2nd out.
And Hyakutake quickly ends the side, hitting a pop fly to Ookubo who is a bit busy to start. If nothing else, when Takada is in the zone he's low and Arita's batters are golfing it for easy outs.
Bottom 3rd
Hyakutake ranging over to his right on a grounder by Tatsuno, and hastily throws to 1st with the ball up the line a bit. Kawamoto makes a great stretch to record the out.
Furukawa not afraid to go inside jamming Yokoe into a pop fly he catches for the 2nd out.
And apparently Furukawa wants to go higher on the radar, hitting 147 to counterpart Takada before he gets way in front of a change and grounds weakly to Fujikawa to end the inning.
With temperatures at 37C, he may want to tone that down a bit.
Top 4th
Arita Kougyou's offense still yet to figure out Takada as Kishigawa hits a harmless comebacker to Takada to start the inning.
Perhaps Uematsu-kantoku is telling his players to hit ground balls because Fujikawa follows suit with a groundout to 2nd.
And while Furukawa hit a scorcher foul up the 3rd base line, he wound up just swinging at air on a slider in the left handed batter's box for the 3rd out.
Bottom 4th
Spoke too soon on the high pitches, Shibata blasts one to right center that is out of the reach of Senba and goes to the wall! Shibata running all the way, reaches 3rd easily! 1st hit for either team and Oogaki has a great chance to open the scoring!
But Ookubo hits a fly too shallow to center! Fukuda with it and Shibata has to hold.
Infield in to Naitou, but Furukawa not in the zone at all.
WHOA! Sakaguchi-kantoku calls for the squeeze, Furukawa's pitch is almost at Naitou's hip and he still lays it down beautifully! Only play is to 1st and Shibata scores to make it 1-0 Oogaki!
Uh oh. Takino lines a ball back up the middle for a base hit. That's not good if they're hitting balls back up the middle.
But Kaneda grounds out to short. Fujikawa with another good throw to 1st for the 3rd out (Arita's strength is definitely on the defensive side). But a leadoff triple leads to trouble for Arita Kougyou and Oogaki takes the 1-0 lead!
Top 5th
Arita still unable to crack Takada. Senba tries to attack early, but lazily flies out to center. Kuwahara tries to work the count, but swings on 3-1 and flies out to left. Kawamoto swings on an inside pitch and fouls out to Yokoe near Arita's on-deck circle for the 3rd out.
I think Arita's best shot is to work the count. Oogaki is trying to hit the edges of the zone, and keeping him honest - if possible, might be best.
Bottom 5th
Looks like Fujikawa is in for treatment, and after a while, it looks like the nifty SS has to leave the game! #14 Yamaguchi Yuuji takes his place and goes to 3B, Kuwahara goes to SS. That might hurt them a lot defensively, we'll have to see.
Tanaka though decides to go back up the middle and it gets past Furukawa into center for a leadoff single. Furukawa trying to give Tatsuno nothing to bunt, but goes down 3-0 instead before firing a strike. And then on 3-1 he goes change away for strike 2.
Sakaguchi-kantoku goes for the hit-and-run, but all Tatsuno can do is foul off the high pitch.
Tatsuno with the ball back up the middle! New SS Kuwahara makes a great pick, but in trying to set his feet for the DP, gives Tanaka time to slide in safely! Kuwahara though alertly finishes the play at first for at least one out.
End result is a sac bunt with Yokoe up to bat. Once again though, Furukawa having trouble hitting the strike zone as he falls behind 3-0 before getting the high strike call.
Yokoe with a grounder to 3rd, and it's off Yamaguchi and into left! Kishigawa comes in to field it, and he misplays it! Tanaka coming home and the throw is late giving Oogaki a 2-0 lead.
Furukawa gets a little reprieve with a K looking on counterpart Takada, but that is short-lived! Shibata comes through again with a ball that whizzes by Furukawa's head into center! Yokoe sent home, throw in from Fukuda...Safe! Yokoe just beats the swipe tag and it's a 3-0 lead for Oogaki Nichidai!
Ookubo with a blast to center. Fukuda backing up makes the catch for the 3rd out. As we head to break though Oogaki has taken advantage of Furukawa's control issues to take a 3-0 lead.
Top 6th
Arita Kougyou still cannot make solid contact on any of Takada's offerings as Kusano and Fukuda both fly out to the outfield - thout Fukuda at least makes Tanaka sprint into shallow left-center for the 2nd out.
Hyakutake gets Arikou's 2nd baserunner as he's hit by a pitch - still no hits yet though.
Check that! Kishigawa on the hit-and-run grounds a ball past a diving Naitou into right! Hyakutake easily takes 3rd and Arikou has their first hit and a chance for a run!
Aw, but Yamaguchi up for his first AB in place of Fujikawa flies out to right to end the inning.
Bottom 6th
Furukawa still with some control issues does jam Naitou. Kuwahara makes the shoestring catch for the first out. Still, Takino makes great contact on a 0-0 pitch and singles past Hyakutake into center.
I lost connection there for a sec, but it appears that Kaneda was jammed and fouled out to Yamaguchi, and though there was a WP, Tanaka grounds out to 1st to end the inning.
Top 7th
Furukawa starts off the lucky 7 with a grounder past Takino into left for a base hit! That brings out a conference from Sakaguchi-kantoku.
After a bunt from Senba, Kuwahara postures the bust-and-run, and hits one down the left field line... past Tanaka and to the wall! Furukawa coming home and it's Arita Kougyou is on the board at 3-1!
OOHH!! Kawamoto with a ball through the left side! Kuwahara is aggressively being sent home and the throw from Tanaka is offline! Back-to-back RBI doubles make it a 3-2 ballgame!!
After a flyout to left by Kusano, Sakaguchi-kantoku pulls his starter. #10 Hashimoto comes in relief to try and get out of the pinch.
Meanwhile Uematsu-kantoku makes his own moves. #16 Sakamoto comes in to run for Kawamoto while #15 Nagamatsu hits for Fukuda.
But Oogaki's Hashimoto rules the day as he gets Nagamatsu swings and misses for the 3rd out. But is indeed the lucky 7 for Arita Kougyou as they pull within 1!
Bottom 7th
#13 Urazato comes in for PR Sakamoto takes over at 1B. Nagamatsu stays in to play CF.
With new life, Furukawa looks better on the mound.
Tatsuno hits a hard liner, but right at Yamaguchi who snags it for the 1st out. Furukawa paints the outside corner to get Yokoe on 3 straight, and Hashimoto in his 1st AB in relief, just waves at a pitch outside for the 3rd out.
That definitely looks promising if you're Arita Kougyou.
Top 8th
Uh oh. Hashimoto walks leadoff batter Hyakutake on 4 straight, Uematsu-kantoku calls for the immediate bunt which Kishigawa executes.
Hashimoto finally fires a strike to Yamaguchi, but his velocity is about as low as Takada's with less control! His fastball is low 130s at best.
After getting Yamaguchi to swing at a couple to level the count at 2-2, he misses high to fill up the count. Yamaguchi semi bails him out chopping a high pitch to 1B Naitou who applies the tag for the 2nd out. Hyakutake advances to 3rd, but there's 2 out for Furukawa.
And they're intentionally walking him! They're taking the bat away from their best hitter! This is rather rare in a situation where you're not doing it for the force out!
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Senba drive to left center!! Shibata chasing it to the wall... over his head! Hyakutake scores... Furukawa rounding 3rd.... he scores all the way from 1st! Senba, gyakuten 2-run double makes it 4-3 Arita Kougyou!!!
Kuwahara with a grounder through the right side! Senba is being sent home! Throw in.. not in time! It's 5-3 Arita Kougyou!!
That's it for Hashimoto as #11 Wakuda comes in to try and stop the bleeding.
Kuwahara actually bails out Arita Kougyou as he tries to steal 2nd, but is thrown out easily. But it all goes wrong for reliever Hashimoto as the 1st timers take the lead late!
Bottom 8th
Shibata the right man up for Oogaki Nichidai... and he gaps one into left center for a leadoff double! Oogaki looking to strike back immediately!
Ookubo not bunting, hits it right to Kuwahara! He goes to 3rd, but Yamaguchi can't hang onto the ball! All safe!
Oh, why not get the guaranteed out there up 2...
Ookubo taking off for 2nd, throw from Kusano, goes into center! Shibata walks home and it's now 5-4 Arita Kougyou!
Sakaguchi-kantoku has Naitou bunt the runner along to 3rd and it looks like Arikou will surrender the lead!
But on Takino's bunt attempt on what looked like a safety squeeze, Ookubo is caught off 3rd! He's run down 2-5-2 and the douten runner is wiped out! Takino grounds out to 3rd and the inning is over with the lead in tact! What a disaster for Oogaki Nichidai!
Top 9th
One down for Arita Kougyou and Kusuno hits a weak grounder back up the middle. Ookubo takes it in front of Tatsuno and his throw across his body isn't in time! One down, runner at 1st. Uematsu-kantoku plays for the one run as Nagahama bunts the runner along.
Hyakutake takes a 4 pitch walk to brings up Kishigawa who is 1-3 on the day.
Make that 1-4 as he fouls out to Takino for the 3rd out. It's hang on time for Arita Kougyou!
Bottom 9th
Kaneda first pitch swings and grounds to 2nd for the first out!
Tanaka falling behind quickly 0-2, fights off a pitch, but chases a head-high pitch and pops up to Kusuno for the 2nd out!
It's up to Tatsuno to keep the game alive...
Fouls off a couple of pitches... and another... and yet another.... He's not making it easy for Furukawa.
SANSHIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tatsuno can only lean back as he is called out on a fastball on the outside corner! Arita Kougyou pulls of the gyakuten win 5-4 over Oogaki Nichidai!
I am shocked! Arita Kougyou instead of getting to ace Takada, gets to the relief staff and comeback for the victory! And Hashimoto can be seen crying - certainly he feels bad for giving up the lead that Takada had maintained.
But the low velocity meant that Oogaki had to be exact, and they weren't - and they paid for it. It's a disappointing loss for sure for a school such as theirs.
But for the timers from Saga, they do indeed continue! They gritted out a win against an above average school and will move on! Where they play next I'm not sure yet, but they did hold the drawing.
Notable Players
Senba Kouya (Arita Kougyou) - 1-2, 2B, R, 2 RBI
Kuwahara Kousei (Arita Kougyou) - 2-4, 2B, R, 2 RBI
Shibata Yuushi (Oogaki Nichidai) - 3-4, 2B, 3B, 2R, RBI
Takino Yoshi (Oogaki Nichidai) - 2-4, SB
Oogaki Nichidai prevailed in a prefecture that wound up having a quarterfinalist. Plus, they beat both Kenritsu and Shiritsu Gifu Shougyou. Ace Takada Kouki gave up no more than 1 run in any outing until the final where he may have been fatigued, he seems to top out around 140 kph and I don't really have any other info otherwise.
Offensively, look for #2 batter Ookubo Takashi and #3 Naitou Hiroki to deliver the punch for the offense.
Arita Kougyou reached Koushien without having to face many of the mainstays in Saga. Kanzaki Seimei is definitely an above average team, and with Waseda Saga starting to assert themselves it may in hindsight prove to be a strong matchup after all.
Considering the low scoring affairs they went through, the key to the team's success lies in their ace Furukawa Yuri. He struck out just over 9 per CG in the last 3 games and is reported to hit 146 on the gun (90 mph) featuring a slider and changeup.
Offensively, it appears the team across the board are solid enough, but SS Fujikawa Shuu and 3B Kuwahara Kousei may be the most consistent of them all.
Considering the fact that Oogaki Nichidai has the prior experience, they are probably favored. It's hard to gauge how Arita Kougyou will do considering their competition in the prefecturals, but if ace Furukawa isn't a total "fraud" on the mound (i.e. stats are inflated), they may make things interesting since K's means no baserunners and no stress on the defense.
Anyways the teams head to home plate and away we go!!
Arita Kougyou (Saga)
2B Hyakutake Shoutarou
LF Kishigawa Yui
SS Fujikawa Shuu
P Furukawa Yuri
RF Senba Kouya
3B Kuwahara Kousei
1B Kawamoto Sora
C Kusano Yoshihiko
CF Fukuda Kousuke
Oogaki Nichidai (Gifu)
CF Shibata Yuushi
2B Ookubo Takashi
1B Naitou Hiroki
3B Takino Yoshi
RF Kaneda Kai
LF Tanaka Ken
SS Tatsuno Rikiya
C Yokoe Taisei
P Takada Kouki
____________________________________________________________
10:30 - First Pitch!
Top 1st
Ok, so some of the crowd has left, but it's still rather full.
Hyakutake giving Takada an easy first batter, chasing a ball out of the zone for an opening K.
Looks like Takada hits 130 at best so far with a fastball? That's not so good. But Kishigawa swings on a 2-0 ball and grounds easily to 2nd.
And Fuijikawa makes contact on the first pitch, but it's a lazy fly to end the inning. 7 pitches, 3 outs. Not a bad way to start.
Bottom 1st
First pitch 141 and over Shibata's head. Oy.
Grounder to short on the next pitch, Fujikawa ranges over, makes a strong throw that just beats Shibata for the first out.
As expected, he sits in the upper 130's, oh - and there's a slow curve in the 100s that Ookubo pops foul down the left field side. Kuwahara makes the catch near the fence for the 2nd out.
And a change perhaps to Naitou who grounds to 3rd. Kuwahara with a good throw to 1st for the 3rd out and so far so good, if not a little nerves.
Top 2nd
Yeah, sliders in low 120s Takada doesn't throw hard at all.
Furukawa with grounder to short, 5-hole! It goes right under Tatsuno for an E6! Arita Kougyou taking advantage immediately with a sac bunt from Senba.
That brings up Kuwahara who had some nice plays to start the game. Oogaki's strategy apparently is to pitch predominantly on the outside and let the batters get themselves out.
Of course as I say that, they go inside and Kuwahara pops it up. Yokoe and Takino collide but Yokoe makes the catch for the 2nd out.
Kawamoto pops out to 2nd and another stressless inning for Takada. A bit concerned though about his velocity though and if Arita will eventually line things up.
Bottom 2nd
Takino grounder to left side, nice range by Kawamoto who flips to a covering Furukawa just beating Takino for the 1st out.
Furukawa's control seems to be still a little off as his waste pitch on 0-2 goes 145 and high, then 146 and higher.
Then throws a great change at 120 for the karaburi sanshin.
The high pitches aren't good for Oogaki I guess as Tanaka flies out to left to end the inning.
So Oogaki's ace doesn't throw hard at all, and Arita's ace has early control issues. This should be interesting.
Top 3rd
Kusano gets ahead 2-0 before chasing a pitch outside. Next ball is a flyout right at Kaneda for out #1.
Fukuda makes decent contact, but it too is right at an outfielder. Tanaka secures it for the 2nd out.
And Hyakutake quickly ends the side, hitting a pop fly to Ookubo who is a bit busy to start. If nothing else, when Takada is in the zone he's low and Arita's batters are golfing it for easy outs.
Bottom 3rd
Hyakutake ranging over to his right on a grounder by Tatsuno, and hastily throws to 1st with the ball up the line a bit. Kawamoto makes a great stretch to record the out.
Furukawa not afraid to go inside jamming Yokoe into a pop fly he catches for the 2nd out.
And apparently Furukawa wants to go higher on the radar, hitting 147 to counterpart Takada before he gets way in front of a change and grounds weakly to Fujikawa to end the inning.
With temperatures at 37C, he may want to tone that down a bit.
Top 4th
Arita Kougyou's offense still yet to figure out Takada as Kishigawa hits a harmless comebacker to Takada to start the inning.
Perhaps Uematsu-kantoku is telling his players to hit ground balls because Fujikawa follows suit with a groundout to 2nd.
And while Furukawa hit a scorcher foul up the 3rd base line, he wound up just swinging at air on a slider in the left handed batter's box for the 3rd out.
Bottom 4th
Spoke too soon on the high pitches, Shibata blasts one to right center that is out of the reach of Senba and goes to the wall! Shibata running all the way, reaches 3rd easily! 1st hit for either team and Oogaki has a great chance to open the scoring!
But Ookubo hits a fly too shallow to center! Fukuda with it and Shibata has to hold.
Infield in to Naitou, but Furukawa not in the zone at all.
WHOA! Sakaguchi-kantoku calls for the squeeze, Furukawa's pitch is almost at Naitou's hip and he still lays it down beautifully! Only play is to 1st and Shibata scores to make it 1-0 Oogaki!
Uh oh. Takino lines a ball back up the middle for a base hit. That's not good if they're hitting balls back up the middle.
But Kaneda grounds out to short. Fujikawa with another good throw to 1st for the 3rd out (Arita's strength is definitely on the defensive side). But a leadoff triple leads to trouble for Arita Kougyou and Oogaki takes the 1-0 lead!
Top 5th
Arita still unable to crack Takada. Senba tries to attack early, but lazily flies out to center. Kuwahara tries to work the count, but swings on 3-1 and flies out to left. Kawamoto swings on an inside pitch and fouls out to Yokoe near Arita's on-deck circle for the 3rd out.
I think Arita's best shot is to work the count. Oogaki is trying to hit the edges of the zone, and keeping him honest - if possible, might be best.
Bottom 5th
Looks like Fujikawa is in for treatment, and after a while, it looks like the nifty SS has to leave the game! #14 Yamaguchi Yuuji takes his place and goes to 3B, Kuwahara goes to SS. That might hurt them a lot defensively, we'll have to see.
Tanaka though decides to go back up the middle and it gets past Furukawa into center for a leadoff single. Furukawa trying to give Tatsuno nothing to bunt, but goes down 3-0 instead before firing a strike. And then on 3-1 he goes change away for strike 2.
Sakaguchi-kantoku goes for the hit-and-run, but all Tatsuno can do is foul off the high pitch.
Tatsuno with the ball back up the middle! New SS Kuwahara makes a great pick, but in trying to set his feet for the DP, gives Tanaka time to slide in safely! Kuwahara though alertly finishes the play at first for at least one out.
End result is a sac bunt with Yokoe up to bat. Once again though, Furukawa having trouble hitting the strike zone as he falls behind 3-0 before getting the high strike call.
Yokoe with a grounder to 3rd, and it's off Yamaguchi and into left! Kishigawa comes in to field it, and he misplays it! Tanaka coming home and the throw is late giving Oogaki a 2-0 lead.
Furukawa gets a little reprieve with a K looking on counterpart Takada, but that is short-lived! Shibata comes through again with a ball that whizzes by Furukawa's head into center! Yokoe sent home, throw in from Fukuda...Safe! Yokoe just beats the swipe tag and it's a 3-0 lead for Oogaki Nichidai!
Ookubo with a blast to center. Fukuda backing up makes the catch for the 3rd out. As we head to break though Oogaki has taken advantage of Furukawa's control issues to take a 3-0 lead.
Top 6th
Arita Kougyou still cannot make solid contact on any of Takada's offerings as Kusano and Fukuda both fly out to the outfield - thout Fukuda at least makes Tanaka sprint into shallow left-center for the 2nd out.
Hyakutake gets Arikou's 2nd baserunner as he's hit by a pitch - still no hits yet though.
Check that! Kishigawa on the hit-and-run grounds a ball past a diving Naitou into right! Hyakutake easily takes 3rd and Arikou has their first hit and a chance for a run!
Aw, but Yamaguchi up for his first AB in place of Fujikawa flies out to right to end the inning.
Bottom 6th
Furukawa still with some control issues does jam Naitou. Kuwahara makes the shoestring catch for the first out. Still, Takino makes great contact on a 0-0 pitch and singles past Hyakutake into center.
I lost connection there for a sec, but it appears that Kaneda was jammed and fouled out to Yamaguchi, and though there was a WP, Tanaka grounds out to 1st to end the inning.
Top 7th
Furukawa starts off the lucky 7 with a grounder past Takino into left for a base hit! That brings out a conference from Sakaguchi-kantoku.
After a bunt from Senba, Kuwahara postures the bust-and-run, and hits one down the left field line... past Tanaka and to the wall! Furukawa coming home and it's Arita Kougyou is on the board at 3-1!
OOHH!! Kawamoto with a ball through the left side! Kuwahara is aggressively being sent home and the throw from Tanaka is offline! Back-to-back RBI doubles make it a 3-2 ballgame!!
After a flyout to left by Kusano, Sakaguchi-kantoku pulls his starter. #10 Hashimoto comes in relief to try and get out of the pinch.
Meanwhile Uematsu-kantoku makes his own moves. #16 Sakamoto comes in to run for Kawamoto while #15 Nagamatsu hits for Fukuda.
But Oogaki's Hashimoto rules the day as he gets Nagamatsu swings and misses for the 3rd out. But is indeed the lucky 7 for Arita Kougyou as they pull within 1!
Bottom 7th
#13 Urazato comes in for PR Sakamoto takes over at 1B. Nagamatsu stays in to play CF.
With new life, Furukawa looks better on the mound.
Tatsuno hits a hard liner, but right at Yamaguchi who snags it for the 1st out. Furukawa paints the outside corner to get Yokoe on 3 straight, and Hashimoto in his 1st AB in relief, just waves at a pitch outside for the 3rd out.
That definitely looks promising if you're Arita Kougyou.
Top 8th
Uh oh. Hashimoto walks leadoff batter Hyakutake on 4 straight, Uematsu-kantoku calls for the immediate bunt which Kishigawa executes.
Hashimoto finally fires a strike to Yamaguchi, but his velocity is about as low as Takada's with less control! His fastball is low 130s at best.
After getting Yamaguchi to swing at a couple to level the count at 2-2, he misses high to fill up the count. Yamaguchi semi bails him out chopping a high pitch to 1B Naitou who applies the tag for the 2nd out. Hyakutake advances to 3rd, but there's 2 out for Furukawa.
And they're intentionally walking him! They're taking the bat away from their best hitter! This is rather rare in a situation where you're not doing it for the force out!
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Senba drive to left center!! Shibata chasing it to the wall... over his head! Hyakutake scores... Furukawa rounding 3rd.... he scores all the way from 1st! Senba, gyakuten 2-run double makes it 4-3 Arita Kougyou!!!
Kuwahara with a grounder through the right side! Senba is being sent home! Throw in.. not in time! It's 5-3 Arita Kougyou!!
That's it for Hashimoto as #11 Wakuda comes in to try and stop the bleeding.
Kuwahara actually bails out Arita Kougyou as he tries to steal 2nd, but is thrown out easily. But it all goes wrong for reliever Hashimoto as the 1st timers take the lead late!
Bottom 8th
Shibata the right man up for Oogaki Nichidai... and he gaps one into left center for a leadoff double! Oogaki looking to strike back immediately!
Ookubo not bunting, hits it right to Kuwahara! He goes to 3rd, but Yamaguchi can't hang onto the ball! All safe!
Oh, why not get the guaranteed out there up 2...
Ookubo taking off for 2nd, throw from Kusano, goes into center! Shibata walks home and it's now 5-4 Arita Kougyou!
Sakaguchi-kantoku has Naitou bunt the runner along to 3rd and it looks like Arikou will surrender the lead!
But on Takino's bunt attempt on what looked like a safety squeeze, Ookubo is caught off 3rd! He's run down 2-5-2 and the douten runner is wiped out! Takino grounds out to 3rd and the inning is over with the lead in tact! What a disaster for Oogaki Nichidai!
Top 9th
One down for Arita Kougyou and Kusuno hits a weak grounder back up the middle. Ookubo takes it in front of Tatsuno and his throw across his body isn't in time! One down, runner at 1st. Uematsu-kantoku plays for the one run as Nagahama bunts the runner along.
Hyakutake takes a 4 pitch walk to brings up Kishigawa who is 1-3 on the day.
Make that 1-4 as he fouls out to Takino for the 3rd out. It's hang on time for Arita Kougyou!
Bottom 9th
Kaneda first pitch swings and grounds to 2nd for the first out!
Tanaka falling behind quickly 0-2, fights off a pitch, but chases a head-high pitch and pops up to Kusuno for the 2nd out!
It's up to Tatsuno to keep the game alive...
Fouls off a couple of pitches... and another... and yet another.... He's not making it easy for Furukawa.
SANSHIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tatsuno can only lean back as he is called out on a fastball on the outside corner! Arita Kougyou pulls of the gyakuten win 5-4 over Oogaki Nichidai!
I am shocked! Arita Kougyou instead of getting to ace Takada, gets to the relief staff and comeback for the victory! And Hashimoto can be seen crying - certainly he feels bad for giving up the lead that Takada had maintained.
But the low velocity meant that Oogaki had to be exact, and they weren't - and they paid for it. It's a disappointing loss for sure for a school such as theirs.
But for the timers from Saga, they do indeed continue! They gritted out a win against an above average school and will move on! Where they play next I'm not sure yet, but they did hold the drawing.
Notable Players
Senba Kouya (Arita Kougyou) - 1-2, 2B, R, 2 RBI
Kuwahara Kousei (Arita Kougyou) - 2-4, 2B, R, 2 RBI
Shibata Yuushi (Oogaki Nichidai) - 3-4, 2B, 3B, 2R, RBI
Takino Yoshi (Oogaki Nichidai) - 2-4, SB
95th Koushien Rosters (in progress)
The rosters can be found here, but are not fully translated yet. Should be done after today's games. However, translations are the best I can do, and are not guaranteed to be 100% accurate - will update as I get more information.
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
95th Natsu Koushien Title Contenders
Well, at least as best as I can anyways:
Title Contenders
Urawa Gakuin (Saitama) - 2nd straight time a school goes haru-natsu?
Ok, I panned Uragaku for the longest time back in Senbatsu (Haru Koushien). But Ojima Kazuya (小島 和哉) proved me wrong time and time again - and laughed all the way to the title.
As much as I still may have my doubts regarding him as an ace, you have to be special if you can throw a perfect game. Yes, that's right, Ojima in the quarterfinals against Saitama Heisei went 27 up, 27 down. That's saying something.
It looks like his stuff hasn't changed. Still has a change and a screwball to go with the normal slider and curve. Reports have him in the low 140s but I don't necessarily buy it especially since smaller stadiums seem to have faster radars.
And the team is on a roll - the last tournament game they lost was in the quarterfinals of the 2012 Meiji Jingu Tournament against Harue Kougyou. The most runs Ojima's given up in a game during that timespan? 2 - against Toukaidai Bouyou in the Kanto Spring Super-Regional Tournament.
If he continues to pitch like this, despite not being a "fireballer", watch out. We may have back-to-back Haru-Natsu Renzoku Yuushou (spring-summer champions).
Speaking of which...
Osaka Touin (Osaka) - 6th ever back-to-back Natsu champion?
Osaka Touin had a chance in the spring to be the first ever 3-time calendar consecutive Koushien champion. But injuries to key players - Mori Tomoya (森 友哉) and Kinden Takuya (近田 拓矢) crippled their offense as they fell to Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou.
Now, both of the lynchpins are back, and the offense is chugging along as good as new. Their weakness is probably back to where it was before Fujinami - their pitching. Ace Kuzukawa Tomoya (葛川 知哉) and reliever Amimoto Kousuke (網本 光祐) are definitely above average, but nothing about either stands out.
But if one or both of them can be good enough, Osaka Touin may just defend their title. This is a short blurb, on a title contender, but when you talk Osaka Touin, the story is generally the same - 打て、打て、打て!
Saibi (Ehime) - Can Anraku carry the team all the way?
The story of Anraku Tomohiro (安楽 智大) has been well heard of, 232 pitches in his first game, velocity dropped immensely by the final due to flat out fatigue.
Now it would be just a matter of if Saibi could give Anraku another chance at Koushien this summer this year. And with the exception of a scare against Kawanoe which required a late-game comeback, Anraku pitched all but 2 outs in his team's run to the title.
Saibi has the opposite problem of Osaka Touin. Great pitching, average offense. We saw it at Senbatsu, the offense on average scoring 3-4 runs a game. That's not bad, but it's not dominating either. They will need to avoid the "bad day" as Anraku can't carry the team if the team can't score.
Which brings us back to Anraku himself. Certainly he won't suffer the same workload early as he did at Senbatsu, but it's possible he could play 4 of the last 5 calendar days of the tournament. He's throwing faster than ever, reportedly hitting 157 on the gun - but as perhaps he may have learned, hitting the high numbers on the gun doesn't mean a whole lot if you can't deliver when it really matters. If Anraku's stamina can hold up under the summer humid heat, Saibi may just challenge for the title yet again - and this time win.
Potential Contenders
Nichidai-san (Nishi Tokyo)
For those that know me and my coverage, I really don't like Nichidai-san. My fellow colleagues would say, "Why don't you like them? I like X player, and Y player - they're really good". Well, to be honest they ruined my 2011 Natsu Koushien trip by defeating both Kanzei and Narashino.
But before all that went down, Nichidai-san and Osaka Touin to me epitomizes the one thing about kokoyakyu I really don't like. Strong teams with pedigrees will continue to accumulate talent at the expense of weaker schools. There is no parity in kokoyakyu - quite the opposite in fact.
But regardless of my feelings toward them, Sanko I have to begrudgingly admit can be a title contender. The only reason why I don't have them in the upper tier is two-fold.
First, the team was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the fall taikai to Souka (though they did avenge that with a 7-0 victory in the summer) and second, outside of Hino - and no offense to them it's a bit of a stretch - they did not face a quality opponent towards the title. So the gaudy 75-9 score they accumulated is a bit inflated.
However, they did get a chance to play Urawa Gakuin in the Kanto Spring Super-Regionals, and though they lost 2-0, ace Ooba Ryoutarou (大場 遼太郎) limited Uragaku to just 4 hits while racking up 10 on Ojima. The top half of the lineup is especially dangerous for teams that are not careful.
Shuutoku (Higashi Tokyo)
Tokyo for as big as the field is was barely contested this year. Shuutoku almost as easily blew through the field. Their only close game was their 5th round game when they had to play Teikyou. But as Teikyou is wont to do, their pitching failed them later allowing Shuutoku to tie and eventually win the game. And while the score in the final versus Nishougakushadai Fuzoku looked rather ugly (13-6), the game was never really in doubt.
Looking at the pitching staff, there is ace Nishibayashi Kenshin (西林 賢人) and reliever Yusa Kazuki (遊佐 和輝). Interestingly in that game against Teikyou, CF Iino Shouta (飯野 周太) started the game (not well mind you) with Yusa coming in relief for 7 innings. That is an interesting call for a team to make knowing you're playing in a key game. Does that mean that Shuutoku has two pitchers they can call on? Not sure, but if they do it may help their chances.
Yokohama (Kanagawa)
I have to admit, Yokohama is kind of like the teams I described when talking about Nichidai-san. They have represented Kanagawa 7 times (including this year) since 2000. In their prior 6 Natsu appearances, they have reached the quarterfinals and semifinals 2 times each though recently they haven't been as successful.
Yokohama's road to Koushien at least by name was probably one of the hardest. Starting from the Round of 16, they played in order:
From my fellow kokoyakyu sources #3 and #4 batters Asama and Takahama were ironically labeled "Matsui-killers" and did in fact cause his downfall. Who knows if the articles and discussion got to both sides' heads.
The only problem with Yokohama is that their offense looks a bit below average, despite the HRs in the Toukou Gakuen matchup.
On the mound is ace Itou Masashi (伊藤 将司), who apparently has a twitter account if you want to send him your best wishes. A lefty, he apparently throws in the mid-130's which would put him in the Ojima range.
What seems to perhaps benefit Yokohama is that at least 7 of their starting 9 are 2nd years! For a school such as Yokohama that has such a big pool of players to draw from, to predominantly use 2nd years means a lot. And since they theoretically have one more year of chances at Koushien, they may be able to play with nothing to lose - because they don't. That's scary - and something you cannot measure.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
To be honest, outside of these 6 teams I don't know who else could really be a challenger for the title. Sure, there will be other teams who will go deep, but if they run into any of these teams they will certainly be an underdog.
Title Contenders
Urawa Gakuin (Saitama) - 2nd straight time a school goes haru-natsu?
Ok, I panned Uragaku for the longest time back in Senbatsu (Haru Koushien). But Ojima Kazuya (小島 和哉) proved me wrong time and time again - and laughed all the way to the title.
As much as I still may have my doubts regarding him as an ace, you have to be special if you can throw a perfect game. Yes, that's right, Ojima in the quarterfinals against Saitama Heisei went 27 up, 27 down. That's saying something.
It looks like his stuff hasn't changed. Still has a change and a screwball to go with the normal slider and curve. Reports have him in the low 140s but I don't necessarily buy it especially since smaller stadiums seem to have faster radars.
And the team is on a roll - the last tournament game they lost was in the quarterfinals of the 2012 Meiji Jingu Tournament against Harue Kougyou. The most runs Ojima's given up in a game during that timespan? 2 - against Toukaidai Bouyou in the Kanto Spring Super-Regional Tournament.
If he continues to pitch like this, despite not being a "fireballer", watch out. We may have back-to-back Haru-Natsu Renzoku Yuushou (spring-summer champions).
Speaking of which...
Osaka Touin (Osaka) - 6th ever back-to-back Natsu champion?
Osaka Touin had a chance in the spring to be the first ever 3-time calendar consecutive Koushien champion. But injuries to key players - Mori Tomoya (森 友哉) and Kinden Takuya (近田 拓矢) crippled their offense as they fell to Kenritsu Gifu Shougyou.
Now, both of the lynchpins are back, and the offense is chugging along as good as new. Their weakness is probably back to where it was before Fujinami - their pitching. Ace Kuzukawa Tomoya (葛川 知哉) and reliever Amimoto Kousuke (網本 光祐) are definitely above average, but nothing about either stands out.
But if one or both of them can be good enough, Osaka Touin may just defend their title. This is a short blurb, on a title contender, but when you talk Osaka Touin, the story is generally the same - 打て、打て、打て!
Saibi (Ehime) - Can Anraku carry the team all the way?
The story of Anraku Tomohiro (安楽 智大) has been well heard of, 232 pitches in his first game, velocity dropped immensely by the final due to flat out fatigue.
Now it would be just a matter of if Saibi could give Anraku another chance at Koushien this summer this year. And with the exception of a scare against Kawanoe which required a late-game comeback, Anraku pitched all but 2 outs in his team's run to the title.
Saibi has the opposite problem of Osaka Touin. Great pitching, average offense. We saw it at Senbatsu, the offense on average scoring 3-4 runs a game. That's not bad, but it's not dominating either. They will need to avoid the "bad day" as Anraku can't carry the team if the team can't score.
Which brings us back to Anraku himself. Certainly he won't suffer the same workload early as he did at Senbatsu, but it's possible he could play 4 of the last 5 calendar days of the tournament. He's throwing faster than ever, reportedly hitting 157 on the gun - but as perhaps he may have learned, hitting the high numbers on the gun doesn't mean a whole lot if you can't deliver when it really matters. If Anraku's stamina can hold up under the summer humid heat, Saibi may just challenge for the title yet again - and this time win.
Potential Contenders
Nichidai-san (Nishi Tokyo)
For those that know me and my coverage, I really don't like Nichidai-san. My fellow colleagues would say, "Why don't you like them? I like X player, and Y player - they're really good". Well, to be honest they ruined my 2011 Natsu Koushien trip by defeating both Kanzei and Narashino.
But before all that went down, Nichidai-san and Osaka Touin to me epitomizes the one thing about kokoyakyu I really don't like. Strong teams with pedigrees will continue to accumulate talent at the expense of weaker schools. There is no parity in kokoyakyu - quite the opposite in fact.
But regardless of my feelings toward them, Sanko I have to begrudgingly admit can be a title contender. The only reason why I don't have them in the upper tier is two-fold.
First, the team was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the fall taikai to Souka (though they did avenge that with a 7-0 victory in the summer) and second, outside of Hino - and no offense to them it's a bit of a stretch - they did not face a quality opponent towards the title. So the gaudy 75-9 score they accumulated is a bit inflated.
However, they did get a chance to play Urawa Gakuin in the Kanto Spring Super-Regionals, and though they lost 2-0, ace Ooba Ryoutarou (大場 遼太郎) limited Uragaku to just 4 hits while racking up 10 on Ojima. The top half of the lineup is especially dangerous for teams that are not careful.
Shuutoku (Higashi Tokyo)
Tokyo for as big as the field is was barely contested this year. Shuutoku almost as easily blew through the field. Their only close game was their 5th round game when they had to play Teikyou. But as Teikyou is wont to do, their pitching failed them later allowing Shuutoku to tie and eventually win the game. And while the score in the final versus Nishougakushadai Fuzoku looked rather ugly (13-6), the game was never really in doubt.
Looking at the pitching staff, there is ace Nishibayashi Kenshin (西林 賢人) and reliever Yusa Kazuki (遊佐 和輝). Interestingly in that game against Teikyou, CF Iino Shouta (飯野 周太) started the game (not well mind you) with Yusa coming in relief for 7 innings. That is an interesting call for a team to make knowing you're playing in a key game. Does that mean that Shuutoku has two pitchers they can call on? Not sure, but if they do it may help their chances.
Yokohama (Kanagawa)
I have to admit, Yokohama is kind of like the teams I described when talking about Nichidai-san. They have represented Kanagawa 7 times (including this year) since 2000. In their prior 6 Natsu appearances, they have reached the quarterfinals and semifinals 2 times each though recently they haven't been as successful.
Yokohama's road to Koushien at least by name was probably one of the hardest. Starting from the Round of 16, they played in order:
- Yokohama Hayato - 2-run 6th gave them the final 3-2 margin
- Toukou Gakuen - Lack of offense plus pair of HR's from Takahama Yuuji (高浜 祐仁) and Asama Daiki (浅間 大基) spell doom for heralded ace Matsui.
- Toukaidai Sagami - Sagami's pitching has not been the same, and yielded all 7 runs in the 6-8 innings for the mercy-rule loss.
- Hiratsuka Gakuen - While not a powerhouse, Hiratsuka is actually one of the best "3rd tier"* teams out of Kanagawa and did only lose to Yokohama 3-0.
From my fellow kokoyakyu sources #3 and #4 batters Asama and Takahama were ironically labeled "Matsui-killers" and did in fact cause his downfall. Who knows if the articles and discussion got to both sides' heads.
The only problem with Yokohama is that their offense looks a bit below average, despite the HRs in the Toukou Gakuen matchup.
On the mound is ace Itou Masashi (伊藤 将司), who apparently has a twitter account if you want to send him your best wishes. A lefty, he apparently throws in the mid-130's which would put him in the Ojima range.
What seems to perhaps benefit Yokohama is that at least 7 of their starting 9 are 2nd years! For a school such as Yokohama that has such a big pool of players to draw from, to predominantly use 2nd years means a lot. And since they theoretically have one more year of chances at Koushien, they may be able to play with nothing to lose - because they don't. That's scary - and something you cannot measure.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
To be honest, outside of these 6 teams I don't know who else could really be a challenger for the title. Sure, there will be other teams who will go deep, but if they run into any of these teams they will certainly be an underdog.
Monday, August 5, 2013
95th Natsu Koushien Draw is out, and holy....
... well you know.
The acutal format of Natsu Koushien has changed! And boy is it a doozy.
No longer are the blocks of death. Instead, teams depending on where they initially draw, will redraw once their game is completed into a designated day pool. So:
So why the change? Well, I think the issue is that with fixed draws until the Best 8, there was the chance for "groups of death" as it were. Strong teams could draw the same group and thus knock each other out in the early stages.
With the new format, there is still the chance after round 1, but even if strong teams drew lots close to each other, the redraw after each round lessens the chance that they'll play each other early in the tournament.
This format also makes sure that teams get rest days as often as possible before the schedule finally can't afford it. Teams are guaranteed at least one day of rest until the quarterfinals. After that, teams that play on Day 11 will play on the latter of Day 12 on no rest before having a day off for the semifinals.
While the format appears to be more equitable, it does probably mean one thing:
The chance that powerhouse teams will win Natsu Koushien will increase.
Why?
With powerhouse teams like Osaka Touin and Nichidai-san with increased chances of missing each other early on, it means they'll be feasting on lower level schools until then.
For instance, Osaka Touin will play one of the following schools in the 2nd round:
And your chances of drawing Nichidai-san in the 3rd round, should both of them get there will either be 1 in 9 if they draw 7-2 (7th day, 2nd game), 1 in 8 if they drew 7-3, or even 0 if one of the prior schools drew Nichidai-san. And if they don't draw the same day in the 3rd round, and if I understood the rules correctly, they will not face each other until the semifinals at the earliest!
So the revised draw means that for the underdog schools, your chances of winning Natsu Koushien just got that much harder. *sighs*
The acutal format of Natsu Koushien has changed! And boy is it a doozy.
No longer are the blocks of death. Instead, teams depending on where they initially draw, will redraw once their game is completed into a designated day pool. So:
- The team that drew #1 and all the first day's winners will draw into a pool for Day 7.
- Day 2 and 3 winners will draw into Day 8.
- Day 4 winners and winners of games 1 and 2 of Day 5 will draw into Day 9.
- Day 6 and 7 competitors will immediately draw for 3rd round.
- In 3rd round draw, all slots are open except for those playing in Day 9. Winners of those games will draw into Day 11 guaranteed.
- Winners of Day 10 will draw into first two games of Day 12 (Quarterfinals), and Day 11 will draw into the last 2 games of Day 12.
- And I believe as normal, winners of Day 12 will redraw for semifinals. But there will be a day off for all teams.
So why the change? Well, I think the issue is that with fixed draws until the Best 8, there was the chance for "groups of death" as it were. Strong teams could draw the same group and thus knock each other out in the early stages.
With the new format, there is still the chance after round 1, but even if strong teams drew lots close to each other, the redraw after each round lessens the chance that they'll play each other early in the tournament.
This format also makes sure that teams get rest days as often as possible before the schedule finally can't afford it. Teams are guaranteed at least one day of rest until the quarterfinals. After that, teams that play on Day 11 will play on the latter of Day 12 on no rest before having a day off for the semifinals.
While the format appears to be more equitable, it does probably mean one thing:
The chance that powerhouse teams will win Natsu Koushien will increase.
Why?
With powerhouse teams like Osaka Touin and Nichidai-san with increased chances of missing each other early on, it means they'll be feasting on lower level schools until then.
For instance, Osaka Touin will play one of the following schools in the 2nd round:
- Tokoha Kikugawa
- Oogaki Nichidai
- Arata Kougyou
- Minoshima
- Hikawa
And your chances of drawing Nichidai-san in the 3rd round, should both of them get there will either be 1 in 9 if they draw 7-2 (7th day, 2nd game), 1 in 8 if they drew 7-3, or even 0 if one of the prior schools drew Nichidai-san. And if they don't draw the same day in the 3rd round, and if I understood the rules correctly, they will not face each other until the semifinals at the earliest!
So the revised draw means that for the underdog schools, your chances of winning Natsu Koushien just got that much harder. *sighs*
Remaining prefectural titles recap (Part 3)
(My apologies to everyone reading the blog, I will probably not be able to finish these recaps before Natsu Koushien begins on Thursday. I was unusually busy during the prefectural taikai's and was not able to keep up as in past years. I will get to these when time allows, but I need to focus on Natsu Koushien itself.)
Gunma - Maebashi Ikuei (1st appearance)
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Tochigi - Sakushin Gakuin (9th appearance, 3rd consecutive)
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Saitama - Urawa Gakuin (12th appearance, 2nd consecutive)
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Kanagawa - Yokohama (15th appearance, 1st in 2 years)
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Aichi - Aikoudai Meiden (11th appearance, 2nd consecutive)
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Shizuoka - Tokoha Kikugawa (4th appearance, 1st in 5 years)
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Osaka - Osaka Touin (7th appearance, 2nd consecutive)
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Hyogo - Nishiwaki Kougyou (1st appearance)
Oh my god. First of all, can Hyogo figure out a better way to reschedule games than the current system? Teams were reassigned to different stadiums, some who were playing before other teams originally got rescheduled for after those same teams. It can't be that hard can it?
Yet despite rain-outs and bonkers rescheduling, 75% of the 16 block seeds actually advanced out of the block. The 4 that failed was Block 4 Kobe Kokusaidai Fuzoku (!), Block 9 Himeji Kougyou, Block 10 Houjyou, and Block 15 Kakogawa Kita (!). Of the seeds that advanced only Shiritsu Amagasaki and Yashiro actually blew through the block field. Everyone else seemed to struggle:
However, our first major casualty from the Round of 16 was Takigawa Dai-ni. They never led against Shiritsu Amagasaki, and despite a 2-run 8th fell 4-3. Houtoku Gakuen tossed a 4-hit shutout over Suma Shoufuu, and Touyoudai Himeji despite just 3 hits defeated Sanda Shousei 2-1 (How??!).
The other surprising things was that 3 of the 4 no-seeds to advance to the Round of 16 advanced to the Best 8. Though admittedly Block 4 Rokko Island has been an above average team.
The redraw for the Best 8 again had the powerhouse teams avoiding each other.
Mukonosou Sougou had the unfortunate draw of Houtoku Gakuen, and promptly were shutout - but not mercy ruled, which is good. Shiritsu Amagasaki's run ended at the hands of Touyoudai Himeji.
Rokko Island met fellow no-seed Ikuei... and were mercy ruled.
And then there was the curious case of Nishiwaki Kougyou. Never heard of them, never been to Koushien before.
In block play they started strong with a mercy-rule win over Aboshi. After that though, things got really hairy for them. Starting off with a 14 inning 4-3 win over Awaji Mihara, they broke a scoreless draw in the 7th over Ichikawa with 4 runs to advance out of the block. Then against Kakogawa Nishi, the fell behind 5-0, immediately clawed back to within 1, took the the lead late only to blow it in the bottom of the 9th - then won with 2 in the 10th.
If that wasn't enough, against Akashi Shougyou in the Best 8, they trailed 2-0 before rallying to win in the bottom of the 9th 3-2.
The cardiac kids decided comebacks were a bit too much, and while they gave up 2 runs in the first, quickly recovered and used a 5-run 7th to hold on for a 10-7 win. Quite nuts.
Meanwhile, Touyoudai Himeji and Houtoku Gakuen actually had a more normal game, but Houtoku Gakuen couldn't recover from a 2-run deficit falling 4-3.
So realistically, it looked like Touyoudai Himeji would ascend to the throne, because surely Nishiwaki Kougyou couldn't pull off the upset...
Right?
Not so fast there. In the 5th, Takami and Murakami would actually give Nishiwaki Kougyou a 2-0 lead. Ace Outa (翁田) would give up back-to-back timely hits to tie the game.
But bottom 9, LF Murakami starts off with a base hit to left center. He books it to 2nd and just beats the throw. After a sac bunt, Nishiwaki Kougyou has the sayonara run 90 feet away. They have no choice but to intentionally walk Nishizawa and Hieda to load the bases. That would bring up last batter Ishii. Nishiwaki would try the squeeze bunt, but Ishii popped it up and C Uraoka scampered back and made a great diving catch for two outs.
That left it up to leadoff batter Imai who was just 1-4 on the day. Two foul balls meant he was behind quickly. But on the very next pitch he'd hit a blooper to the right side. 2B Nishida would scramble back, dive.. but it would just be out of his reach! It falls in for the sayonara RBI as Nishiwaki Kougyou heads to their first Koushien tournament!
Gunma - Maebashi Ikuei (1st appearance)
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Tochigi - Sakushin Gakuin (9th appearance, 3rd consecutive)
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Saitama - Urawa Gakuin (12th appearance, 2nd consecutive)
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Kanagawa - Yokohama (15th appearance, 1st in 2 years)
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Aichi - Aikoudai Meiden (11th appearance, 2nd consecutive)
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Shizuoka - Tokoha Kikugawa (4th appearance, 1st in 5 years)
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Osaka - Osaka Touin (7th appearance, 2nd consecutive)
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Hyogo - Nishiwaki Kougyou (1st appearance)
Oh my god. First of all, can Hyogo figure out a better way to reschedule games than the current system? Teams were reassigned to different stadiums, some who were playing before other teams originally got rescheduled for after those same teams. It can't be that hard can it?
Yet despite rain-outs and bonkers rescheduling, 75% of the 16 block seeds actually advanced out of the block. The 4 that failed was Block 4 Kobe Kokusaidai Fuzoku (!), Block 9 Himeji Kougyou, Block 10 Houjyou, and Block 15 Kakogawa Kita (!). Of the seeds that advanced only Shiritsu Amagasaki and Yashiro actually blew through the block field. Everyone else seemed to struggle:
- Block 2 Houtoku Gakuen? They had an 11 inning affair against Shiritsu Himeji.
- Block 5 Defending Champion Takigawa Dai-ni? Ooh, not so good. Two low scoring affairs versus Ikuno and Hyogo Shougyou.
- Block 8 Touyoudai Himeji? 2-1 over Touban Kougyou in their 2nd game.
However, our first major casualty from the Round of 16 was Takigawa Dai-ni. They never led against Shiritsu Amagasaki, and despite a 2-run 8th fell 4-3. Houtoku Gakuen tossed a 4-hit shutout over Suma Shoufuu, and Touyoudai Himeji despite just 3 hits defeated Sanda Shousei 2-1 (How??!).
The other surprising things was that 3 of the 4 no-seeds to advance to the Round of 16 advanced to the Best 8. Though admittedly Block 4 Rokko Island has been an above average team.
The redraw for the Best 8 again had the powerhouse teams avoiding each other.
Mukonosou Sougou had the unfortunate draw of Houtoku Gakuen, and promptly were shutout - but not mercy ruled, which is good. Shiritsu Amagasaki's run ended at the hands of Touyoudai Himeji.
Rokko Island met fellow no-seed Ikuei... and were mercy ruled.
And then there was the curious case of Nishiwaki Kougyou. Never heard of them, never been to Koushien before.
In block play they started strong with a mercy-rule win over Aboshi. After that though, things got really hairy for them. Starting off with a 14 inning 4-3 win over Awaji Mihara, they broke a scoreless draw in the 7th over Ichikawa with 4 runs to advance out of the block. Then against Kakogawa Nishi, the fell behind 5-0, immediately clawed back to within 1, took the the lead late only to blow it in the bottom of the 9th - then won with 2 in the 10th.
If that wasn't enough, against Akashi Shougyou in the Best 8, they trailed 2-0 before rallying to win in the bottom of the 9th 3-2.
The cardiac kids decided comebacks were a bit too much, and while they gave up 2 runs in the first, quickly recovered and used a 5-run 7th to hold on for a 10-7 win. Quite nuts.
Meanwhile, Touyoudai Himeji and Houtoku Gakuen actually had a more normal game, but Houtoku Gakuen couldn't recover from a 2-run deficit falling 4-3.
So realistically, it looked like Touyoudai Himeji would ascend to the throne, because surely Nishiwaki Kougyou couldn't pull off the upset...
Right?
Not so fast there. In the 5th, Takami and Murakami would actually give Nishiwaki Kougyou a 2-0 lead. Ace Outa (翁田) would give up back-to-back timely hits to tie the game.
But bottom 9, LF Murakami starts off with a base hit to left center. He books it to 2nd and just beats the throw. After a sac bunt, Nishiwaki Kougyou has the sayonara run 90 feet away. They have no choice but to intentionally walk Nishizawa and Hieda to load the bases. That would bring up last batter Ishii. Nishiwaki would try the squeeze bunt, but Ishii popped it up and C Uraoka scampered back and made a great diving catch for two outs.
That left it up to leadoff batter Imai who was just 1-4 on the day. Two foul balls meant he was behind quickly. But on the very next pitch he'd hit a blooper to the right side. 2B Nishida would scramble back, dive.. but it would just be out of his reach! It falls in for the sayonara RBI as Nishiwaki Kougyou heads to their first Koushien tournament!
Remaining prefectural titles recap (Part 2)
Okay, more prefectures here below:
Ishikawa - Seiryou (16th appearance, 1st in 6 years)
In recent years, Seiryou has surged back into the discussion of teams in Ishikawa. To a bit of a surprise, I noticed that Ishikawa in 8 of the last 10 years has been represented by either Kanazawa or Yuugakukan (4 times each). Nihon Koukuu Ishikawa and Seiryou make up the other 2 appearances.
Yet, Matsui Hideki's alma mater has been on the precipice of reaching Koushien having reached the semifinals and finals the last 2 years eliminated by - yup, you guessed it, Kanazawa and Yuugakukan.
And so the big 3 started on their journey, and to Seiryou's benefit, the twin threats to their title run were on the other side of the bracket. That allowed Seiryou a straight shot to the title game - so long as they didn't trip themselves up. And for the most part they didn't. They weren't mercy-rule dominating, but they still weren't really challenged.
Surprisingly though the other two did have some difficulty. In #2 Yuugakukan's first game, they briefly held the lead after a 3-run 4th versus Komatsu, but were either tied or trailing otherwise. In fact, they were down to their last 3 outs before scoring 2 runs to advance. #3 Kanazawa looked rather mortal versus Komatsu Shougyou and #5-8 seed Komatsu Ootani. Which had to be good for Seiryou. Even better was that in the semifinal, the pair would go 13 innings with both sides emptying their bullpen before 2B Fujiguchi for Yuugakukan would decide things with a sayonara home run!
In the final, Yuugakukan's pitching staff was indeed depleted as Seiryou would take a 1-0 lead in the 2nd and never relinquish it. Seiryou would use their own trio of pitchers (Iwashita, Muroki and Hatakenaka) to secure the 5-2 win and their 16th trip to Koushien on the year that their famous player retired from baseball.
Shiga - Hikone Higashi (1st appearance)
Shiga is kind of the same way as many other rural prefectures - a handful of teams control the bids to Natsu Koushien. In this case, there are 4 repeat winners who account for 9 of the last 10 titles - Oumi (4), Kita-Ootsu (3), and Hachiman Shougyou (2) with the other being Shiga Gakuen.
So here, too many of the other schools are looking up at a select few who decide amongst themselves who goes - generally.
This year though, only Oumi was seeded out of the "Big 3". Instead, it would be Hieizan (who was better in the 2000's), Hachiman Kougyou, and Hikone Higashi.
And when both Hachiman Shougyou and Kita-Ootsu eliminated early on, and Oumi playing fairly strong, perhaps they would claim yet another title.
But out of the best 4, one seeded team did not make it. Hieizan would be ousted by unknown Oumi Kyoudaisha 3-1, behind a 10 strikeout performance by ace Sasaki. Another win put them in the semifinals to face Oumi. In that semifinal, Oumi quickly got to Sasaki for 3 runs, only to see Kyoudaisha fight back with 3 in the 3rd off Oumi ace Kikubayashi. It would stay that way until the 9th when Horii would give Oumi the 4-3 lead. Kyoudaisha though, somehow didn't get the memo that weaker teams fold at the end, because down to their last out Naka delivers the douten run with a single to right, and with the bases loaded Noguchi would single to right center for the gyakuten sayonara win!
So Oumi was gone, which was a great relief to the other semifinalists. Sadly, while Hachiman Kougyou did manage to reach the semis, they didn't look all that impressive. And paired against Hikone Higashi - who probably is one of the better 2nd tier teams in Shiga, and had defeated Kita-Ootsu earlier, it would be a disaster. A 5-inning mercy-rule win later and Hikone Higashi would be one step away from their first ever Natsu Koushien bid.
Oumi Kyoudaisha's intimidation factor continued to be 0 as they actually scored right off the bat in the top of the 1st. And while Sasaki would relinquish the lead one inning later, he performed very will. Unfortunately, Hikone Higashi got timely hits from Yamanaka and Takeda later on and would win 3-2 for their first title.
Hats off to Oumi Kyoudaisha though. I don't know if we'll ever see them again, but man it was a great run they had... just a bit short.
Kyoto - Fukuchiyama Seibi (4th appearance, 1st in 5 years)
Kyoto has been the same as Shiga. 3 teams have gone to Koushien in the last 10 years - Kyoto Gaidai Nishi (4), Ryuukokudai Heian (4, one as Heian in 2003), Fukuchiyama Seibi (2). Lately though Heian has been the representative with 3 of their 4 appearances happening in the last 4 years.
So to see another team breakthrough would be a rarity. And it would probably be prudent to see how each of the teams progressed.
Well, first my favorite powerhouse in the prefecture - Kyoto Gaidai Nishi... lost in their first game to Tounan 10-5. There goes that.
Fukuchiyama Seibi struggled in their first game against Rakutou. Despite just getting 1 run on 2 hits they somehow won 1-0. After that was smooth sailing to the Best 8. Ryuukokudai Heian had no such trouble getting to the Best 8, but was paired with the Kyoto representative in Senbatsu - Kyoto Shouei. And despite their lackluster performance at Koushien, ace Enomoto limited them to just a run on 6 hits in a 3-1 victory.
They would play a Fukuchiyama Seibi squad who survived a Kita-Saga game where they blew a 2-run lead in the bottom of the 9th, then in the 11th almost blew another 2-run lead winning 4-3.
In that blockbuster semifinal (which could have easily been a final), offense was at a premium with Enomoto and Seibi's ace Nakamura combining to give up just 9 hits. But a timely hit by Sano for Seibi would be the only run in the game as they would move to the finals.
Now, since all 3 of the powerhouses were on one side of the bracket, it was just a matter of who would try to challenge them for the title.
Kyoto Kougakkan was able to slip their way through the field, including a 4-1 win over Kyoto Subaru (I'm only mentioning them because they're my irrational cheering team) to setup a quarterfinal match versus Ritsumeikan Uji - a team that could be considered 2nd tier. A 3-run 8th would help them pull off the upset.
They'd play a Toba squad (who back in 2012 went to Senbatsu) who breezed through the field. Sadly for Kyoto Kougakkan, their run ended here in a mercy-rule loss.
So that meant Toba would be the last barrier between Fukuchiyama Seibi and their 3rd title in the last 8 years. Toba sadly would not be up to the task as 5 errors would lead to a 5-0 loss.
Ishikawa - Seiryou (16th appearance, 1st in 6 years)
In recent years, Seiryou has surged back into the discussion of teams in Ishikawa. To a bit of a surprise, I noticed that Ishikawa in 8 of the last 10 years has been represented by either Kanazawa or Yuugakukan (4 times each). Nihon Koukuu Ishikawa and Seiryou make up the other 2 appearances.
Yet, Matsui Hideki's alma mater has been on the precipice of reaching Koushien having reached the semifinals and finals the last 2 years eliminated by - yup, you guessed it, Kanazawa and Yuugakukan.
And so the big 3 started on their journey, and to Seiryou's benefit, the twin threats to their title run were on the other side of the bracket. That allowed Seiryou a straight shot to the title game - so long as they didn't trip themselves up. And for the most part they didn't. They weren't mercy-rule dominating, but they still weren't really challenged.
Surprisingly though the other two did have some difficulty. In #2 Yuugakukan's first game, they briefly held the lead after a 3-run 4th versus Komatsu, but were either tied or trailing otherwise. In fact, they were down to their last 3 outs before scoring 2 runs to advance. #3 Kanazawa looked rather mortal versus Komatsu Shougyou and #5-8 seed Komatsu Ootani. Which had to be good for Seiryou. Even better was that in the semifinal, the pair would go 13 innings with both sides emptying their bullpen before 2B Fujiguchi for Yuugakukan would decide things with a sayonara home run!
In the final, Yuugakukan's pitching staff was indeed depleted as Seiryou would take a 1-0 lead in the 2nd and never relinquish it. Seiryou would use their own trio of pitchers (Iwashita, Muroki and Hatakenaka) to secure the 5-2 win and their 16th trip to Koushien on the year that their famous player retired from baseball.
Shiga - Hikone Higashi (1st appearance)
Shiga is kind of the same way as many other rural prefectures - a handful of teams control the bids to Natsu Koushien. In this case, there are 4 repeat winners who account for 9 of the last 10 titles - Oumi (4), Kita-Ootsu (3), and Hachiman Shougyou (2) with the other being Shiga Gakuen.
So here, too many of the other schools are looking up at a select few who decide amongst themselves who goes - generally.
This year though, only Oumi was seeded out of the "Big 3". Instead, it would be Hieizan (who was better in the 2000's), Hachiman Kougyou, and Hikone Higashi.
And when both Hachiman Shougyou and Kita-Ootsu eliminated early on, and Oumi playing fairly strong, perhaps they would claim yet another title.
But out of the best 4, one seeded team did not make it. Hieizan would be ousted by unknown Oumi Kyoudaisha 3-1, behind a 10 strikeout performance by ace Sasaki. Another win put them in the semifinals to face Oumi. In that semifinal, Oumi quickly got to Sasaki for 3 runs, only to see Kyoudaisha fight back with 3 in the 3rd off Oumi ace Kikubayashi. It would stay that way until the 9th when Horii would give Oumi the 4-3 lead. Kyoudaisha though, somehow didn't get the memo that weaker teams fold at the end, because down to their last out Naka delivers the douten run with a single to right, and with the bases loaded Noguchi would single to right center for the gyakuten sayonara win!
So Oumi was gone, which was a great relief to the other semifinalists. Sadly, while Hachiman Kougyou did manage to reach the semis, they didn't look all that impressive. And paired against Hikone Higashi - who probably is one of the better 2nd tier teams in Shiga, and had defeated Kita-Ootsu earlier, it would be a disaster. A 5-inning mercy-rule win later and Hikone Higashi would be one step away from their first ever Natsu Koushien bid.
Oumi Kyoudaisha's intimidation factor continued to be 0 as they actually scored right off the bat in the top of the 1st. And while Sasaki would relinquish the lead one inning later, he performed very will. Unfortunately, Hikone Higashi got timely hits from Yamanaka and Takeda later on and would win 3-2 for their first title.
Hats off to Oumi Kyoudaisha though. I don't know if we'll ever see them again, but man it was a great run they had... just a bit short.
Kyoto - Fukuchiyama Seibi (4th appearance, 1st in 5 years)
Kyoto has been the same as Shiga. 3 teams have gone to Koushien in the last 10 years - Kyoto Gaidai Nishi (4), Ryuukokudai Heian (4, one as Heian in 2003), Fukuchiyama Seibi (2). Lately though Heian has been the representative with 3 of their 4 appearances happening in the last 4 years.
So to see another team breakthrough would be a rarity. And it would probably be prudent to see how each of the teams progressed.
Well, first my favorite powerhouse in the prefecture - Kyoto Gaidai Nishi... lost in their first game to Tounan 10-5. There goes that.
Fukuchiyama Seibi struggled in their first game against Rakutou. Despite just getting 1 run on 2 hits they somehow won 1-0. After that was smooth sailing to the Best 8. Ryuukokudai Heian had no such trouble getting to the Best 8, but was paired with the Kyoto representative in Senbatsu - Kyoto Shouei. And despite their lackluster performance at Koushien, ace Enomoto limited them to just a run on 6 hits in a 3-1 victory.
They would play a Fukuchiyama Seibi squad who survived a Kita-Saga game where they blew a 2-run lead in the bottom of the 9th, then in the 11th almost blew another 2-run lead winning 4-3.
In that blockbuster semifinal (which could have easily been a final), offense was at a premium with Enomoto and Seibi's ace Nakamura combining to give up just 9 hits. But a timely hit by Sano for Seibi would be the only run in the game as they would move to the finals.
Now, since all 3 of the powerhouses were on one side of the bracket, it was just a matter of who would try to challenge them for the title.
Kyoto Kougakkan was able to slip their way through the field, including a 4-1 win over Kyoto Subaru (I'm only mentioning them because they're my irrational cheering team) to setup a quarterfinal match versus Ritsumeikan Uji - a team that could be considered 2nd tier. A 3-run 8th would help them pull off the upset.
They'd play a Toba squad (who back in 2012 went to Senbatsu) who breezed through the field. Sadly for Kyoto Kougakkan, their run ended here in a mercy-rule loss.
So that meant Toba would be the last barrier between Fukuchiyama Seibi and their 3rd title in the last 8 years. Toba sadly would not be up to the task as 5 errors would lead to a 5-0 loss.
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Remaining prefectural titles recap (Part 1)
All right, for all the remaining prefecutures (well part of them anyways):
Fukushima - Seikou Gakuin (10th title, 7th consecutive)
With Chiben Wakayama's loss, the longest current consecutive streak to reach Koushien belongs to Seikou Gakuin who had 6 straight coming into this year.
The interesting thing is, despite Fukushima not necessarily being known as a strong prefecture, Seikou Gakuin has been able to hold their own at Koushien (even to my surprise). If we looked at their last 8 appearances over the last 9 years, they have reached the Best 8 twice, and only exited after their first game just one in 2009. They actually have a winning record (11-8) during that time span.
With that in mind, we enter the taikai. But it so came to pass that one of the seeded teams would fail to reach the Best 8. #7 seed Shouin Gakuen Fukushima would lose to Hobara 7-6 in their very first game.
But the remaining teams needed to see if Seikou Gakuin would falter. And against #8 Gakkouhoujin Ishikawa it looked like they might. Starter Ishii was rocked for 8 runs in just 1.1 innings and Seikou trailed 8-4. The lead however would be short-lived as Seikou would respond with 5 unanswered runs to overtake. Reliever Ima would shut the door (just) to win 10-9.
In comparison the #5 seed Odaka Kougyou was a breeze advancing to the finals yet again.
Their opponent would be #6 Nichidai Tohoku. They had relatively little opposition in reaching the finals, including an 8-2 win over #2 Fukushima Higashi.
Seikou Gakuin would actually be in jeopardy again. Nichidai Tohoku got out to a 2-0 lead, and then when Seikou leveled the score in the 6th, Nichidai would score a pair in the top of the 8th to perhaps seal the upset.
But as is the case when you are dealing with a dynasty of any sort in kokoyakyu, the team trying to break through has not learned how to win the big game (because if they did, well... there'd be no dynasty, right?).
And so it was that in the 8th, Seikou would claim one of those runs back. Bottom 9, yep, you guessed it - they tied the game.
Once you lose the lead, the underdog is pretty much doomed unless they can immediately reply.
Nichidai Tohoku did not, and Seikou bid farewell to them just one inning into enchousen.
*One thing I did want to note, there has been a combined team consisting of the players from Futaba, Haramachi and Souma Nougyou borne out of the earthquake and tsunami of 2011. Referred to as Sousou Fukushima (相双福島), they successfully won their first game, a 6-4 win over Adachi Higashi. In their next game against #5 seed Odaka Kougyou, they went 12 innings before the pitching finally gave up in the 13th as they fell 4-1. But it was a rather great effort in my opinion and wanted to give them their due credit.
Miyagi - Sendai Ikuei (24th title, 2nd consecutive)
Sendai Ikuei felt like a disappointment in the Haru Koushien. Having won the Meiji Jingu Tournament and earning their super-region an extra bid, they looked rather average up until their quarterfinal loss to Kochi.
Did that wake them up? Well, they won the Spring Tohoku Super-Regional tournament, though in their Miyagi taikai , had a real close call versus Shibata, then later was in a brawl versus Rifu.
Now in the Natsu taikai, they continue to soldier forward. Yes, there was a quick scare when they spotted Oosaki Chuo 5 runs in the 1st during their quarterfinal game, but they quickly recovered and went on to win 9-5.
Before we proceed though, I want to give credit to Kesennuma. Considering what their city has had to deal with since the 2011 earthquake & tsunami, the fact that they got to the quarterfinals - while defeating Tohoku (yes, I know they're not as good nowadays, but still) is an accomplishment to be proud of. I hope for future success for their school in the years to come.
Remember I mentioned Shibata earlier, in that they gave Sendai Ikuei a scare in the Haru Taikai?
Well, what do you know, they worked their way through the bracket. An enchousen game against Tohoku Gakuin did scare them, but otherwise they reached the finals in a revenge match against Sendai Ikuei - but this time it really mattered.
Shibata made a statement right off the bat, battering relief starter Baba for 5 runs in the 1st inning. I was watching other games, but thought that perhaps Sendai Ikuei were getting their just desserts. But when I checked the score again it was 5-3 after 6 and now we were in the danger zone where the underdog could collapse due to the pressure. (see Fukushima)
Next thing I know I see that Uebayashi has hit a HR, I switch to the game just to see Sendai Ikuei tying the game in the bottom of the 8th.
Shibata ace Iwasa looked done. But after a scoreless top of the 9th, he'd be sent out again for the 9th.
Leadoff batter Kumagai would get on base. Kikuna would bunt him along, but in a complete lapse of judgement there was no one covering 3rd and Kumagai would take it outright.
Iwasa and Shibata had no choice but to put Kikuna and Uebayashi on to create the force. Any successful sac fly or squeeze would end the game. PH Abe would come in, but Iwasa induced a foul fly up the 1st base line that would be caught for the 2nd out.
That would bring up C Kobayashi Ryou. Iwasa would fight, but the count would run full. The payoff pitch... would be thrown high.
An oshidashi sayonara walk would end Shibata's season - perhaps one of the saddest, most heartbreaking ways to lose.
Nishi Tokyo - Nichidai-san (16th title, 4th consecutive)
Ugh, I refuse to recap in detail this taikai. Nichidai-san outscores their opponents 75-9 and are not contested.
AT ALL.
Hino reached the finals looking really good, and had a statement game in the semfinals. In the same manner as Nichidai Tohoku, Hino blows a 6-1 lead in the final 2 innings, but unlike Nichidai Tohoku scores 3 in the 10th to defeat Kokushikan. But they get 2-hit in the finals, and it's all for naught.
Ugh.
Nagano - Ueda Nishi (1st appearance)
Nagano is another random place where I have an interest in. Now, they're not known for their baseball. In the last decade, representatives from Nagano have won a total of 3 games - Matsushiro one in 2009, and a pair for Nagano Nichidai in 2009.
But I take an interest because I've traveled there several time thanks to anime. As a result of being there and how beautiful it is, I root for the area. Specifically, I root for both Ueda-Chikuma and Ueda Nishi because they're near where my friends runs a ryokan. Both are actually above average teams, but neither have been to Koushien despite the fact that only Matsushou Gakuen has been the only team in the past decade to have gone to Natsu Koushien more than once.
Nonetheless, Ueda Nishi was the #1 seed, while Ueda-Chikuma was a 5-8 seed.
Now, despite the fact that there has been generally a lot of flux in the Nagano representative, of the 8 seeded teams, only 5-8 seeds Ina Yayoigaoka and Nagano Higashi would fall before the Best 8 to Tagawa and Iida OIDE Osahime respectively.
However, the roads for almost all of the seeded teams were not without some games a bit too close for comfort. Ueda Nishi almost lost in their first game against Matsumoto Dai-ichi if not for a 3-run 9th. After that was a 1-0 nail-biter against Anan. Interestingly, after that the games were actually a little easier for him, even against #4 Chikyuu Kankyou in the semifinals - and they probably looked like one of the more impressive teams up until the loss.
Interestingly their finals opponent would be someone they would be very familiar with. Defending champs and #3 seed Saku Chousei actually was scheduled to be the game after Ueda Nishi up until the quarterfinals. As Ueda Nishi progressed, so did Saku Chousei, which included a mercy rule win over Ueda-Chikuma. Yet in the semifinals, against unknown Nagano Shougyou, they somehow managed to win despite scoring just 1 run on 4 hits.
The finals would be just as offense starved. However, Ueda Nishi would make the most of their 6 hits, scoring 3 runs while the tandem of Yanagaizawa and Urano combine for a 4-hit shutout - thus securing their first ever title!
Mie - Mie (11th appearance, 1st in 4 years)
Mie has been a rather chaotic prefecture over the past decade. No school has claimed the title more than twice (Mie, Komono, Uji-yamada Shougyou), and as a result of no team dominating has done rather poorly at Natsu Koushien. Ujiyamada Shougyou would be the only team to not initially lose to Saga Kita (they played to a 4-4 draw), and Mie had defeated Kumamoto Kougyou in extras back in 2009 before being wiped out by Miyakonojyou Shougyou.
And yet even still, the 3 schools that had the most success wound up in the Best 4. Mie went off to a slow start in a 2-0 win over Matsusaka Shougyou, then were able to upset seeded Inabe Sougou Gakuen 2-1 in the very next round. It was smooth sailing after that to the semifinals. Komono had a similar stumble edging Yokkaichi Minami 4-3, but was fine otherwise. Uji-yamada Shougyou had no such hiccups, incurring 4 mercy rule wins - even one against seeded Kinkidai Koutousen.
The final team to make it was seeded Tsu Shougyou. They wound up playing one less games after Ishiyakushi forfeited to them in the first round, then broke ties in the 9th against Shiroko and Kaisei to get to the semis.
Mie's Wakabayashi would shut down Uji-yamada Shougyou in their game cruising to a 6-0 win. Komono would score 5 straight unanswered runs in the middle innings to reverse a 3-0 deficit as Yamanaka made the lead stick winning 5-4.
The final however would be a bit of a letdown. Mie scored 5 in the 4th to put the game into an eventuality as they would win 7-1.
Nara - Sakurai (1st appearance)
So I'll just remind you anyways that in Nara, Tenri (7) and Chiben Gakuen (5) have claimed the title the last 12 years. Being a school from Nara looking up at these two behemoths must be rather discouraging.
But if there seemed to be a chink in the twin towers, it was this year. It was Yamato Kouryou, not either of the stalwarts, who represented Nara in senbatsu, and Tenri wasn't even seeded for the natsu taikai! So the rest of Nara probably had one eye on their game and another to see if the two would fall and finally open the gates for someone else to walk through.
Tenri would be the first to fall, losing 12-4 to Naradai Fuzoku in the 3rd round. Only Chiben Gakuen remained, and perhaps in a bit of irony, lost in sayonara fashion to senbatsu representative Yamato Kouryou 4-3 in the quarterfinals!
Which meant that the spell would be broken and all would be up for grabs! But by the time Chiben Gakuen lost, just 3 other teams would remain - Sakurai and Yamato Kouryou who already advanced, and soon thereafter the only seeded team left in Naradai Fuzoku, and Nara Suzaku who soundly defeated seeded Kashihara 7-2.
You'd think that Yamato Kouryou would be the favorite now -they did go to Senbatsu after all. But before that Chiben Gakuen upset, they had endured two 11 inning games. And so it was against Sakurai that C Shimada would deliver the sayonara hit in the 10th inning to send them home. In the other semifinal, Naradai Fuzoku would keep Nara Suzaku at bay long enough to wear out Suzaku's ace Iwaki to score 6 runs late winning 11-6, guaranteeing that we would have a first time winner out of Nara.
The final would not be dominated by Sakurai as the triumvirate of Takeno, Kinoshita and Kaji would clamp down the 4-1 and claim their first title!
Hiroshima - Setouchi (2nd appearance, 1st in 13 years)
Hiroshima, for most of the past decade has been dominated by either Jyosuikan or Kouryou. They account for 7 of the last 10 titles. It's not to the level of say a Chiben Wakayama or a Tenri/Chiben Gakuen, but it's pretty impressive nonetheless.
Last year Hiroshima Kougyou was able to break through. Could a team breach the twin towers for the 2nd straight year?
Well, both were one of the 8 seeded teams assigned by the baseball federation. And once we had reached the Best 8 where if all went scratch it would be populated by seeded teams, they were still around. Jyosuikan did need late runs to defeat Shiritsu Kure in their first game, while Gion Kita kept the game close against Kouryou in the 2nd round.
There were 3 casualties. Onomichi (who I'm guessing will need to reload now to make another run at Koushien), Kouyou Higashi, and Hiroshima Kokusai Gakuin. The former 2 were eliminated in their very first game.
Replacing the three were (in order), Eishin (who isn't a bad team at all), Kinkidai Fukuyama (which is out of my friend's city, but he's teaching in Daimon), and Gokou.
Oddly enough, while Gokou looked the best score-wise getting to the Best 8, they were the worst routed, losing 12-0 in 5 to Hiroshima Kougyou. Eishin didn't play bad, but lost 4-1 to Hiroshima Shinjyou. And Kinkidai Fukuyama did best of all, actually holding a 6-4 lead over Jyosuikan... until they scored 5 in the 6th to take the lead for good.
The only fully seeded matchup was Setouchi and Kouryou. Kouryou was having a devil's of a time, and when Setouchi took a 3-1 lead with a pair in the top of the 8th, Kouryou was done for! They'd fall 3-2 and one of the pillars had fallen.
The 2nd pillar would fall unceremoniously as Jyosuikan went through 7 (yes 7!) pitchers as they flailed for 7 runs in a 7-2 loss to Hiroshima Shinjyou! In fact, only 2 pitchers actually went over 1 inning, and 3 of them actually just recorded 1 out!
So we would have a first time winner in Hiroshima Shinjyou, or Setouchi going for just their 2nd time.
But something happened on the way to the title. Setouchi's Yamaoka would pitch a one-hit shutout, striking out 15 batters while walking 3. Hiroshima Shinjyou's ace Taguchi would give up 13 hits while striking out 19.
The only problem? He also gave up no runs!
That's right, somehow with all the opportunites Setouchi had, and the performance their ace gave them, the teams actually played to a 0-0 draw! And so the game would have to be replayed - though the game was not scheduled for the next day, but the day after.
Certainly, in the replay the pitchers would not be as sharp, and they werent. Both aces did take the hill to start the game, and Yamaoka struck out just 6 while Taguchi only 3. Both aces gave up just 5 hits, though Yamaoka offered 3 free passes to Taguchi's 0. And as the game progressed, I bet the attendees were wondering if they were watching the same game - because the game was again deadlocked at 0 through 7!
In the bottom of the 8th though C Oomachi would actually drive in a run with his only hit of the game. Yamaoka managed to record the final 3 outs to finally claim the title.
Yamaguchi - Iwakuni Shougyou (4th appearance, 1st in 27 years)
For as few teams as there are in Yamaguchi, the top teams dominated the field once again (well, almost).
1-4 seeds Hayatomo, Iwakuni Shougyou and Takagawa Gakuen all advanced to the semifinals without much resistance. The only exception was Ube Kougyou who had played several low scoring affairs before being unable to rally against 5-8 seed Iwakuni falling 3-2.
Iwakuni would try to give Takagawa Gakuen a run for their money with a 5-run 3rd. However, ace Azuma would soon fritter that lead away, and with their own 5-run inning, Takagawa would take a 9-5 lead and never relinquish it. That would actually be the close game of the bunch as Hayatomo was completely railroaded by Iwakuni Shougyou. 10 runs, and a 3-hit shutout later, Iwakuni Shougyou was in the finals.
The final was delayed a day due to rain, but Takagawa Gakuen, looking for their first Natsu title, surely gave Iwakuni Shougyou a run for their money. Ace Hamamoto struck out 11, and only gave up a pair of runs in the 4th. However, his offense could fare no better as they could just claim back one of those runs 2 innings later. Iwakuni Shougyou would be able to follow up their senbatsu appearance with a return here in the summer.
Fukushima - Seikou Gakuin (10th title, 7th consecutive)
With Chiben Wakayama's loss, the longest current consecutive streak to reach Koushien belongs to Seikou Gakuin who had 6 straight coming into this year.
The interesting thing is, despite Fukushima not necessarily being known as a strong prefecture, Seikou Gakuin has been able to hold their own at Koushien (even to my surprise). If we looked at their last 8 appearances over the last 9 years, they have reached the Best 8 twice, and only exited after their first game just one in 2009. They actually have a winning record (11-8) during that time span.
With that in mind, we enter the taikai. But it so came to pass that one of the seeded teams would fail to reach the Best 8. #7 seed Shouin Gakuen Fukushima would lose to Hobara 7-6 in their very first game.
But the remaining teams needed to see if Seikou Gakuin would falter. And against #8 Gakkouhoujin Ishikawa it looked like they might. Starter Ishii was rocked for 8 runs in just 1.1 innings and Seikou trailed 8-4. The lead however would be short-lived as Seikou would respond with 5 unanswered runs to overtake. Reliever Ima would shut the door (just) to win 10-9.
In comparison the #5 seed Odaka Kougyou was a breeze advancing to the finals yet again.
Their opponent would be #6 Nichidai Tohoku. They had relatively little opposition in reaching the finals, including an 8-2 win over #2 Fukushima Higashi.
Seikou Gakuin would actually be in jeopardy again. Nichidai Tohoku got out to a 2-0 lead, and then when Seikou leveled the score in the 6th, Nichidai would score a pair in the top of the 8th to perhaps seal the upset.
But as is the case when you are dealing with a dynasty of any sort in kokoyakyu, the team trying to break through has not learned how to win the big game (because if they did, well... there'd be no dynasty, right?).
And so it was that in the 8th, Seikou would claim one of those runs back. Bottom 9, yep, you guessed it - they tied the game.
Once you lose the lead, the underdog is pretty much doomed unless they can immediately reply.
Nichidai Tohoku did not, and Seikou bid farewell to them just one inning into enchousen.
*One thing I did want to note, there has been a combined team consisting of the players from Futaba, Haramachi and Souma Nougyou borne out of the earthquake and tsunami of 2011. Referred to as Sousou Fukushima (相双福島), they successfully won their first game, a 6-4 win over Adachi Higashi. In their next game against #5 seed Odaka Kougyou, they went 12 innings before the pitching finally gave up in the 13th as they fell 4-1. But it was a rather great effort in my opinion and wanted to give them their due credit.
Miyagi - Sendai Ikuei (24th title, 2nd consecutive)
Sendai Ikuei felt like a disappointment in the Haru Koushien. Having won the Meiji Jingu Tournament and earning their super-region an extra bid, they looked rather average up until their quarterfinal loss to Kochi.
Did that wake them up? Well, they won the Spring Tohoku Super-Regional tournament, though in their Miyagi taikai , had a real close call versus Shibata, then later was in a brawl versus Rifu.
Now in the Natsu taikai, they continue to soldier forward. Yes, there was a quick scare when they spotted Oosaki Chuo 5 runs in the 1st during their quarterfinal game, but they quickly recovered and went on to win 9-5.
Before we proceed though, I want to give credit to Kesennuma. Considering what their city has had to deal with since the 2011 earthquake & tsunami, the fact that they got to the quarterfinals - while defeating Tohoku (yes, I know they're not as good nowadays, but still) is an accomplishment to be proud of. I hope for future success for their school in the years to come.
Remember I mentioned Shibata earlier, in that they gave Sendai Ikuei a scare in the Haru Taikai?
Well, what do you know, they worked their way through the bracket. An enchousen game against Tohoku Gakuin did scare them, but otherwise they reached the finals in a revenge match against Sendai Ikuei - but this time it really mattered.
Shibata made a statement right off the bat, battering relief starter Baba for 5 runs in the 1st inning. I was watching other games, but thought that perhaps Sendai Ikuei were getting their just desserts. But when I checked the score again it was 5-3 after 6 and now we were in the danger zone where the underdog could collapse due to the pressure. (see Fukushima)
Next thing I know I see that Uebayashi has hit a HR, I switch to the game just to see Sendai Ikuei tying the game in the bottom of the 8th.
Shibata ace Iwasa looked done. But after a scoreless top of the 9th, he'd be sent out again for the 9th.
Leadoff batter Kumagai would get on base. Kikuna would bunt him along, but in a complete lapse of judgement there was no one covering 3rd and Kumagai would take it outright.
Iwasa and Shibata had no choice but to put Kikuna and Uebayashi on to create the force. Any successful sac fly or squeeze would end the game. PH Abe would come in, but Iwasa induced a foul fly up the 1st base line that would be caught for the 2nd out.
That would bring up C Kobayashi Ryou. Iwasa would fight, but the count would run full. The payoff pitch... would be thrown high.
An oshidashi sayonara walk would end Shibata's season - perhaps one of the saddest, most heartbreaking ways to lose.
Nishi Tokyo - Nichidai-san (16th title, 4th consecutive)
Ugh, I refuse to recap in detail this taikai. Nichidai-san outscores their opponents 75-9 and are not contested.
AT ALL.
Hino reached the finals looking really good, and had a statement game in the semfinals. In the same manner as Nichidai Tohoku, Hino blows a 6-1 lead in the final 2 innings, but unlike Nichidai Tohoku scores 3 in the 10th to defeat Kokushikan. But they get 2-hit in the finals, and it's all for naught.
Ugh.
Nagano - Ueda Nishi (1st appearance)
Nagano is another random place where I have an interest in. Now, they're not known for their baseball. In the last decade, representatives from Nagano have won a total of 3 games - Matsushiro one in 2009, and a pair for Nagano Nichidai in 2009.
But I take an interest because I've traveled there several time thanks to anime. As a result of being there and how beautiful it is, I root for the area. Specifically, I root for both Ueda-Chikuma and Ueda Nishi because they're near where my friends runs a ryokan. Both are actually above average teams, but neither have been to Koushien despite the fact that only Matsushou Gakuen has been the only team in the past decade to have gone to Natsu Koushien more than once.
Nonetheless, Ueda Nishi was the #1 seed, while Ueda-Chikuma was a 5-8 seed.
Now, despite the fact that there has been generally a lot of flux in the Nagano representative, of the 8 seeded teams, only 5-8 seeds Ina Yayoigaoka and Nagano Higashi would fall before the Best 8 to Tagawa and Iida OIDE Osahime respectively.
However, the roads for almost all of the seeded teams were not without some games a bit too close for comfort. Ueda Nishi almost lost in their first game against Matsumoto Dai-ichi if not for a 3-run 9th. After that was a 1-0 nail-biter against Anan. Interestingly, after that the games were actually a little easier for him, even against #4 Chikyuu Kankyou in the semifinals - and they probably looked like one of the more impressive teams up until the loss.
Interestingly their finals opponent would be someone they would be very familiar with. Defending champs and #3 seed Saku Chousei actually was scheduled to be the game after Ueda Nishi up until the quarterfinals. As Ueda Nishi progressed, so did Saku Chousei, which included a mercy rule win over Ueda-Chikuma. Yet in the semifinals, against unknown Nagano Shougyou, they somehow managed to win despite scoring just 1 run on 4 hits.
The finals would be just as offense starved. However, Ueda Nishi would make the most of their 6 hits, scoring 3 runs while the tandem of Yanagaizawa and Urano combine for a 4-hit shutout - thus securing their first ever title!
Mie - Mie (11th appearance, 1st in 4 years)
Mie has been a rather chaotic prefecture over the past decade. No school has claimed the title more than twice (Mie, Komono, Uji-yamada Shougyou), and as a result of no team dominating has done rather poorly at Natsu Koushien. Ujiyamada Shougyou would be the only team to not initially lose to Saga Kita (they played to a 4-4 draw), and Mie had defeated Kumamoto Kougyou in extras back in 2009 before being wiped out by Miyakonojyou Shougyou.
And yet even still, the 3 schools that had the most success wound up in the Best 4. Mie went off to a slow start in a 2-0 win over Matsusaka Shougyou, then were able to upset seeded Inabe Sougou Gakuen 2-1 in the very next round. It was smooth sailing after that to the semifinals. Komono had a similar stumble edging Yokkaichi Minami 4-3, but was fine otherwise. Uji-yamada Shougyou had no such hiccups, incurring 4 mercy rule wins - even one against seeded Kinkidai Koutousen.
The final team to make it was seeded Tsu Shougyou. They wound up playing one less games after Ishiyakushi forfeited to them in the first round, then broke ties in the 9th against Shiroko and Kaisei to get to the semis.
Mie's Wakabayashi would shut down Uji-yamada Shougyou in their game cruising to a 6-0 win. Komono would score 5 straight unanswered runs in the middle innings to reverse a 3-0 deficit as Yamanaka made the lead stick winning 5-4.
The final however would be a bit of a letdown. Mie scored 5 in the 4th to put the game into an eventuality as they would win 7-1.
Nara - Sakurai (1st appearance)
So I'll just remind you anyways that in Nara, Tenri (7) and Chiben Gakuen (5) have claimed the title the last 12 years. Being a school from Nara looking up at these two behemoths must be rather discouraging.
But if there seemed to be a chink in the twin towers, it was this year. It was Yamato Kouryou, not either of the stalwarts, who represented Nara in senbatsu, and Tenri wasn't even seeded for the natsu taikai! So the rest of Nara probably had one eye on their game and another to see if the two would fall and finally open the gates for someone else to walk through.
Tenri would be the first to fall, losing 12-4 to Naradai Fuzoku in the 3rd round. Only Chiben Gakuen remained, and perhaps in a bit of irony, lost in sayonara fashion to senbatsu representative Yamato Kouryou 4-3 in the quarterfinals!
Which meant that the spell would be broken and all would be up for grabs! But by the time Chiben Gakuen lost, just 3 other teams would remain - Sakurai and Yamato Kouryou who already advanced, and soon thereafter the only seeded team left in Naradai Fuzoku, and Nara Suzaku who soundly defeated seeded Kashihara 7-2.
You'd think that Yamato Kouryou would be the favorite now -they did go to Senbatsu after all. But before that Chiben Gakuen upset, they had endured two 11 inning games. And so it was against Sakurai that C Shimada would deliver the sayonara hit in the 10th inning to send them home. In the other semifinal, Naradai Fuzoku would keep Nara Suzaku at bay long enough to wear out Suzaku's ace Iwaki to score 6 runs late winning 11-6, guaranteeing that we would have a first time winner out of Nara.
The final would not be dominated by Sakurai as the triumvirate of Takeno, Kinoshita and Kaji would clamp down the 4-1 and claim their first title!
Hiroshima - Setouchi (2nd appearance, 1st in 13 years)
Hiroshima, for most of the past decade has been dominated by either Jyosuikan or Kouryou. They account for 7 of the last 10 titles. It's not to the level of say a Chiben Wakayama or a Tenri/Chiben Gakuen, but it's pretty impressive nonetheless.
Last year Hiroshima Kougyou was able to break through. Could a team breach the twin towers for the 2nd straight year?
Well, both were one of the 8 seeded teams assigned by the baseball federation. And once we had reached the Best 8 where if all went scratch it would be populated by seeded teams, they were still around. Jyosuikan did need late runs to defeat Shiritsu Kure in their first game, while Gion Kita kept the game close against Kouryou in the 2nd round.
There were 3 casualties. Onomichi (who I'm guessing will need to reload now to make another run at Koushien), Kouyou Higashi, and Hiroshima Kokusai Gakuin. The former 2 were eliminated in their very first game.
Replacing the three were (in order), Eishin (who isn't a bad team at all), Kinkidai Fukuyama (which is out of my friend's city, but he's teaching in Daimon), and Gokou.
Oddly enough, while Gokou looked the best score-wise getting to the Best 8, they were the worst routed, losing 12-0 in 5 to Hiroshima Kougyou. Eishin didn't play bad, but lost 4-1 to Hiroshima Shinjyou. And Kinkidai Fukuyama did best of all, actually holding a 6-4 lead over Jyosuikan... until they scored 5 in the 6th to take the lead for good.
The only fully seeded matchup was Setouchi and Kouryou. Kouryou was having a devil's of a time, and when Setouchi took a 3-1 lead with a pair in the top of the 8th, Kouryou was done for! They'd fall 3-2 and one of the pillars had fallen.
The 2nd pillar would fall unceremoniously as Jyosuikan went through 7 (yes 7!) pitchers as they flailed for 7 runs in a 7-2 loss to Hiroshima Shinjyou! In fact, only 2 pitchers actually went over 1 inning, and 3 of them actually just recorded 1 out!
So we would have a first time winner in Hiroshima Shinjyou, or Setouchi going for just their 2nd time.
But something happened on the way to the title. Setouchi's Yamaoka would pitch a one-hit shutout, striking out 15 batters while walking 3. Hiroshima Shinjyou's ace Taguchi would give up 13 hits while striking out 19.
The only problem? He also gave up no runs!
That's right, somehow with all the opportunites Setouchi had, and the performance their ace gave them, the teams actually played to a 0-0 draw! And so the game would have to be replayed - though the game was not scheduled for the next day, but the day after.
Certainly, in the replay the pitchers would not be as sharp, and they werent. Both aces did take the hill to start the game, and Yamaoka struck out just 6 while Taguchi only 3. Both aces gave up just 5 hits, though Yamaoka offered 3 free passes to Taguchi's 0. And as the game progressed, I bet the attendees were wondering if they were watching the same game - because the game was again deadlocked at 0 through 7!
In the bottom of the 8th though C Oomachi would actually drive in a run with his only hit of the game. Yamaoka managed to record the final 3 outs to finally claim the title.
Yamaguchi - Iwakuni Shougyou (4th appearance, 1st in 27 years)
For as few teams as there are in Yamaguchi, the top teams dominated the field once again (well, almost).
1-4 seeds Hayatomo, Iwakuni Shougyou and Takagawa Gakuen all advanced to the semifinals without much resistance. The only exception was Ube Kougyou who had played several low scoring affairs before being unable to rally against 5-8 seed Iwakuni falling 3-2.
Iwakuni would try to give Takagawa Gakuen a run for their money with a 5-run 3rd. However, ace Azuma would soon fritter that lead away, and with their own 5-run inning, Takagawa would take a 9-5 lead and never relinquish it. That would actually be the close game of the bunch as Hayatomo was completely railroaded by Iwakuni Shougyou. 10 runs, and a 3-hit shutout later, Iwakuni Shougyou was in the finals.
The final was delayed a day due to rain, but Takagawa Gakuen, looking for their first Natsu title, surely gave Iwakuni Shougyou a run for their money. Ace Hamamoto struck out 11, and only gave up a pair of runs in the 4th. However, his offense could fare no better as they could just claim back one of those runs 2 innings later. Iwakuni Shougyou would be able to follow up their senbatsu appearance with a return here in the summer.
Saturday, August 3, 2013
7/27 Title Games
And now for those that happened on the 27th:
Higashi Tokyo - Shuutoku (5th title, 1st in 9 years)
I realize I'm cheating in covering Higashi Tokyo, but for a reason.
Almost no one (Teikyou) was able to stop Shuutoku.
No one.
How bad was it for the field? Well, Shuutoku in their 8 games had 2 non-mercy rule games - their 4-2 defeat of Teikyou, and the final (which has no mercy rule).
But Teikyou did have the best shot at Shuutoku. In fact, they had the 2-1 lead through 6 innings. But as is the case - and will always be the case until they prove me otherwise - until they can develop an ace, they will never win Koushien. And so it was that Teikyou would give up 3 runs in the final 3 innings to fall 4-2. That would be the best shot any team would have at stopping them.
Credit should be given though where credit is due. All of the other seeded teams at the edges of the bracket advanced to the semifinals. #2 Nishougakushadai Fuzoku did not dominate at all, save for the semifinal where they defeated #3 Kanto Dai-ichi who save for a narrow win over Adachi Gakuen did dominate the field (Hope you caught all that). And finally, Tokyo Jitsygyou who out of nowhere won their 4 games as the #4 seed location on the bracket to reach the semifinals where they, like many, got mercy ruled.
Chiba - Kisaradzu Sougou (4th title, 2nd consecutive)
Chiba breaks my heart so hard, I really don't want to talk about it. Not that it probably wasn't expected, but that my hopes were brought up really high, only to have them crushed like a spider on the heel of someone's shoe.
Despite 171 teams playing in the Chiba taikai, out of the 16 seeded teams, 10 were able to advance to the Round of 16. Some of the notable casualties? Choushi Shougyou, Shigakukan, and Kashiwa Nittai.
Now, the reason why I cannot be unbiased really regarding Chiba is the fact that I am unapologetic in rooting for Narashino. They're a public school who consistently does well and has been good enough to break through and get to Koushien on several occasions.
However, despite my homerism, I'm still a realist at heart (okay, pessimist). I knew Narashino wasn't as good this year, and was a B (5-8) seed for the summer taikai. But, they did make it into the round of 16 and that was a start. A solid 5-2 win over unseeded Nichidai Narashino wasn't convincing, but they were still alive. Next up was C (9-16) seed Narita. I remember seeing the end part of that game, Narashino trailing 5-3. Somehow, and I still can't believe it, Narashino comes back to score a pair of runs to tie the game. 3 innings later, they win the game and I'm running around at home hooting and hollering. Perhaps it may still be their year after all. And when they soundly defeat a Toukaidai Bouyou squad who was a bit inconsistent but still cut their way through the field, it was just one more game. One more game to win and Narashino will get back to Koushien!
On the other side, things did not as clear. Only Senshuudai Matsudo, Kisaradzu Sougou and Takushokudai Kouryou were left of the seeded teams. The former and latter would meet in the quarterfinals, and A seed Senshuudai would win... 1-0. That would put them in a matchup against Kisaradzu Sougou who had easy games versus unseeded Ryuukeidai Kashiwa and Keiyou.
In that semi Kisaradzu Sougou held the 2-1 lead going to the top of the 9th. But top seed Senshuudai failed to give in scoring the douten run to send it into extras. As the innings ticked off, it became clear that Matsudo's ace Takahashi looked finished. In the 11th inning the sayonara run stood at 2nd, in the 12th he fought off a sanrui, 1 out pinch. Then in the 13th, after yet again facing sanrui, 1 out pinch then intentional walks to load the bases (again), Takahashi almost gets out of the pinch, but with 2 down it's a full count oshidashi sayonara walk to send Kisaradzu Sougou to the finals yet again. For Senshuudai Matsudo, it's their 3rd straight year being eliminated in enchousen.
So the finals were B seeds Narashino and defending champion Kisaradzu Sougou. I wound up missing the game because I forgot about the early start time.
Perhaps it would have been a good thing.
See, Narashino jumped out to a 4-1 lead after a 3-run 2nd. Things looked good, and my earlier concerns about Narashino's pitching (from the Narita game) were waning.
But ace Matsuyama (who came in the 2nd inning) to reliever relief starter Matsumoto, faltered. Kisaradzu would sclore 4 in the 4th to take the lead and then 1 more an inning later for a 6-4 lead. Narashino would be scrambling after that, reclaiming one back in the 7th.
That's as close as they'd get as Chiba would be able to finish the game giving his team their 2nd straight title (and breaking my heart).
Yamanashi - Hikawa (4th title, 1st in 3 years)
Oh how I longed for Nihon Koukuu (aka Japan Aviation Academy) to return to Koushien. But since their appearance in 2008, have kind of fallen off the map, despite being seeded several times.
This year, they were not only unseeded, but buried in the bottom of the bracket.
The early leader in the clubhouse was Yamanashi Gakuindai Fuzoku, who won 2 of the last 4 Natsu titles and posted double digit wins in their first two games. All the other teams at least had one game where they were tested - even the other 1-4 seeds. Toukaidai Koufu had to hold off Koufu Shougyou 7-6, Hikawa despite getting just 8 hits against Tsuru won 2-1, and Fujikawaguchiko flat out lost giving up a 4-2 lead in a 5-4 loss to Koufu Jyousai.
The only other team to have any type of blowout was actually Nihon Koukuu! But they're not the pretty type of blowouts. They're the ones where they just decide to outscore you, pitching be damned. For after an innocent looking 7-3 win over Shirane, they go 13-7 and 13-6 (8 inn) there after. Certainly a valid strategy, but one that generally doesn't work as you move up.
But, when faced with Yamanashi Gakuindai Fuzoku, they were able to get out to a 5-1 lead! With just 3 outs to go, the Nihon Koukuu kantoku elects to move ace Tanaka off the mound for Nakano to get the last 3 outs.
Except he doesn't. He gives up 4 runs tying the game! He would get bailed out big time by cleanup batter Ishida whose 2nd hit of the game is of the sayonara variety. Headed to the semifinals, they'd face the other top seed in their half of the bracket, Toukaidai Koufu who had to rally from down 5-2 to defeat Minobu. Despite that close game, Toukaidai would build a 7-3 lead... only to see Nihon Koukuu score a gyakuten 6 runs in the 7th for a 9-7 win and a chance for the Yamanashi title!
Going back to the other half, upset minded Koufu Jyousai's run lasted just one more game as they fell 5-0 to Sundai Koufu. Meanwhile, Koma was giving Hikawa fits as they led 3-0. Hikawa though would fight back like quality teams would and win 4-3. And in the semifinals it was a rare 9-1 blowout to move to the finals.
And so it was that Nihon Koukuu would play Hikawa for the Yamanashi title. In the end, Nihon Koukuu outrun strategy would fail as their offense struggled against ace Yamada, only putting up more than 1 run in an inning in the 9th, when the game was already out of reach. Hikawa wins 8-5 to claim the title.
Wakayama - Minoshima (8th title, 1st in 29 years)
With Wakayama it was always was going to be a question of how Chiben Wakayama was going to win their nth straight title (9th in this case).
Or was it? During Chiben Wakayama's run at Natsu Koushien, they reached the semifinals once and the Best 8 three times. However, all but one occurred in the first 3 years of that run. In more recent years, Chiben Wakayama has seemed to weaken, even failing to win their first game 2 of the last 3 years. It's really attributed to growing weaknesses both at the plate and on the mound. Last year, 3 of their 5 games to the title were decided by 2 runs or less - hardly the mark of a dynastic team.
So perhaps it was no surprise then when in the 2nd round Kihoku Kougyou, behind the HR from Horita and a solid outing from ace Nakai, would dethrone the 8-time defending champions 2-1 (though perhaps the school performing the feat may have been a surprise).
Now the question was, who would take their place?
It wasn't going to be Kihoku Kougyou. Despite handing the ball off to Nakai with a 3-2 lead through 4, he would give up 4 runs (most importantly 2 in the 9th) to fall 6-5 to Wakayama Higashi in the block final (remember that Wakayama has 4 blocks which then redraw for the semifinals).
Realistically, the team that has risen most to challenge Chiben Wakayama in recent years has been Minoshima. In first started in their first appearance in any Koushien in 19 years, where they went to the quarterfinals of the 2009 senbatsu before losing to eventual champions Seihou.
Of course, that was 4 years ago and they haven't been back since. The team has suffered through fits of inconsistency, but over the past year split a series with them with both games going by the final of 2-1.
Some inconsistency remained as put up a rather average 4-1 win over Kenritsu Wakayama Shougyou in the 2nd round. But they still advanced out of their block.
The other would-be contenders would be seeded Minabe out of Block B, and surprise team Hidaka Nakatsu who after a strong 2 games upset seeded Kinkidai Shinguu then held off Minabe Ryuujin 9-6 to advance out of Block C.
The semifinal draw would not be kind for Wakayama Higashi as they drew Minoshima and proceeded to fall 8-0. For Minabe, a 5-run first helped provide a cushion for starter Matsuda as they would defeat Hidaka Nakatasu 8-5.
And so Minabe would be the final opponent standing between Minoshima and their first appearance in almost 3 decades. Sadly for Minabe, they were not able to put up a fight and lost 10-1. A bit of a sad way to lose in the final, but congrats of course go out to the new champions Minoshima!
Tottori - Tottori Jyouhoku (3rd appearance, 2nd consecutive)
Despite just having 25 teams, it was not good to be a seeded team.
Why?
Because 3 of the 4 seeded teams - Yonago Kita, Iwami, and Kurayoshi Sougou Sangyou, all lost in their first games! Yonago Kita was soundly defeated by defending champs Tottori Jyouhoku (who wasn't seeded!), Iwami was done in by a sole RBI from Yonago Shouin's Tsuchie, and despite more chances for Kurayoshi Sougou Sangyou thanks to walks from Tottori Nishi's ace Mastuoka, Tottori Nishi would get to reliever Sawada as he entered in the 10th for the sayonara victory.
Tottori Jyouhoku's only challenge on their way to the final was in semifinal opponent Kurayoshi Higashi. Ace Uehara struggled in the game, giving up 3 runs after his team had just taken a 2-0 lead. But reliever Fukuiwa would clamp things down for Tottori Jyouhoku as they would eventually get to Higashi ace Tamagawa for 3 more runs, knocking him out of the game. Itou would clamp things down there after, and Kurayoshi Higashi would get a run off of Fukuiwa in the 8th... but Uehara would come back in the 9th and close it out for the 5-4 win and a spot in the finals.
On the other half, the 2 prior champions to Tottori Jyouhoku wound up advancing through the brackets. 2010 champion Yazu had no problems reaching the semis with 2 sound victories. Conversely, 2011 winner Tottori Shougyou needed 2 runs in the bottom of the 9th to defeat Tottori Ikuei 3-2, and then after blowing a 3-0 lead to aforementioned Tottori Nishi, scored 2 in the bottom of the 8th to win 5-3.
Perhaps playing from the lead was something Tottori Shougyou was unable to do this year, because in the semifinal, they had a 4-1 lead over Yazu heading to the top of the 9th. There Yazu would score 5 runs to take a 6-4 lead, leaving Tottori Shougyou almost no time to rally. Indeed they would fail to come back and Yazu would be in the final.
In the final, Yazu and Tottori Jyouhoku would trade blows several times, leaving the teams tied at 2 after the first 3, then again at 5 after 7. However, reliever Kamatani for Yazu would break down in his 5th inning of work giving up 3 runs in the 8th inning.
That would prove to be too much as Tottori Jyouhoku would claim their 2nd consecutive title.
Tokushima - Naruto (8th title, 2nd consecutive)
In Tokushima there seemed no clear front-runner for the title. Even the top tier teams struggled at some point in the tournament.
Defending champion Naruto even suffered from it as well. Despite the first round bye and 6-2 opening win over Tomioka Nishi, they played a Tokushima Kagaku Gijyutsu squad who blew a 5-run lead to Awa only to win 10-8, then down 3-0 in the bottom of the 9th, came back to tie off Jyounouchi ace Yanagimoto and then win in 10.
In that game Bandou would be stung for 4 runs in the 7th, falling behind 4-2. However, Naruto would recover quickly scoring 3 in their 7th and 2 more for good measure in the 8th to win 7-4.
The next challenge would be Naruto Uzushio, who blew past their first 2 opponents before hitting resurging Ikeda. They slowly were able to overcome a 5-run 3rd, getting to every one of Ikeda's 4 pitchers they would throw out there, winning 6-5.
Both pitching staffs would be rocked early, with Naruto taking a 6-5 lead after 2. From then on though, Bandou would keep Uzushio at bay just enough to make that lead stick winning 8-7 for a spot in the finals.
On the other side, many teams were under the banner of survive and advance. For Seikou Gakuen, after an easy first round, ace Tokuda almost let a 4-1 lead slip away against Anan Tousen, but won 4-3. After that, they trailed Aratano 5-2 before scoring 4 runs in the final 2 innings to tie the game up at 6. Aratano reliever Fukuzumi was anything but, relinquishing the 5-1 lead then giving up 5 more in the 10th for an 11-6 loss.
They would face a Kawashima team who beat Tokushima Kita in the opening round 3-1, upset powerhouse Tokushima Shougyou 3-2 in the next round, and then if that weren't enough, outlasting Komatsushima 4-3 in 13 innings!
Interstingly enough, the semifinal game would be a cakewalk compared to their previous games. Ace Ueda would make a 4-run 4th stick, giving up 3 runs on 7 hits for a 5-3 win.
But for Kawashima, facing Naruto for their first title would be a lot to ask. Indeed, after giving up 5 runs in the first two innings, it was a formality thereafter.
Ehime - Saibi (4th title, 1st in 5 years)
All eyes in Ehime would be on Saibi and ace Anraku. Given his performance at Senbatsu, many were eager to see him at Natsu Koushien.
Jyoukou-kantoku continued to take no chances, throwing Anraku out there in every game save for the last two outs of their win against Matsuyama Chuo. Saibi would outclass their opponents early with Anraku giving up just 1 run on 11 hits while striking out 29 in 20.1 IP.
So the question would be, who could challenge them?
Well, #4 seed Tanbara actually got shutout by Imabari Kita 5-0. Filling the gap would be Kawanoe, who themselves had 3 mercy rule games to meet Yawatahama in the quarterfinals. And despite just 1 run on 5 hits, the tandem of Oonishi and Doi would give up just 3 hits and strike out 16 Yawatahama batters to win 1-0 to meet Saibi.
In that semifinal, a timely hit by Takahara and an error from Saibi gave Kawanoe a 2-0 lead. Meanwhile, Oonishi and Doi were shutting down the Saibi offense and things started to look bleak.
But Kawanoe's kantoku had pulled Oonishi after 2.2 IP, and Doi was trying to finish the game. But Yamashita blasted a HR in the 8th to pull them within 1. And in the 9th, he would relinquish the lead with RBI hits from Kaneko and Hayashi Kanya. Senba would get the last 2 outs of the inning, but the damage had been done. Anraku closed it out for the win.
So, who would be the last barrier between Anraku and Natsu Koushien?
Well, despite Tanbara's loss, both #2 Imabari Nishi and #3 Matsuyama Seiryou both marched towards the semifinals. Both though faced a different challenge in the quarterfinals. Imabari Nishi played Touon and despite getting just 4 hits, won 2-0. As for Matsuyama Seiryou, instead of a pitching affair they were in a brawl with Niihama Higashi using 5 runs in the 6th and 7th to win 13-9.
So #2 and #3 would meet to face Saibi. Ace Kanno for Imabari Nishi would give them a 1-0 lead with his only hit of the ballgame. But it would be all he would need as he pitches a 3-hit shutout to move to the finals.
Imabari Nishi would try to implement a rotation of Kanno and Ishigaki on the mound for the finals, but Kanno was rocked right off the bat for 4 runs in 1+ innings of work. While the rotation would give up just 1 run thereafter, it was too late. Anraku would allow Imabari Nishi to pull within 2, but that would be as close as they would get, meaning that Saibi and Anraku would return to Koushien once again!
Kochi - Meitoku Gijyuku (15th title, 4th consecutive)
It was not business as usual in Kochi, despite the 2 teams who wound up in the final. Not sure what is going on, but it almost signifies a loss of talent among the upper teams.
Why do I say that? Well, Tosa lost right off the bat to Kochi Minami 6-0. Now, one might say, "that's not terrible, Tosa was a decent team sure, but not one who was one of the powerhouses."
Sure, I could go with that, but following that Kochi Shougyou lost in the 2nd round after ace Uemoto collapses in the 8th inning, giving up 3 runs to Kochi Nougyou and losing 3-2.
"Okay, Kochi Nougyou got lucky in one inning. Still not necessarily a big deal."
Well, what about the fact that while Kochi and Meitoku Gijyuku did manage to advance, their victories were not as sweeping as one might think?
Kochi's 2nd round win over Kochi Nishi 7-1 was helped by a 4-run 8th. Meitoku actually trailed Kochi Kougyou before a 5-run 6th distanced themselves enough to win 7-3. Move onto the quarterfinals, and Kochi started reliever Sakai against Sukumo Kougyou. Having just gone up 4-0 through 7, Sakai falters almost giving up the entire lead. Ace Sakamoto has to come in to shut the door advancing 4-3. Meitoku had no such luxury facing Okou, who is probably on the same level as Tosa. Kishi though gives up 2 early runs leaving them to chase. And while a 2-run 5th would be enough, it would be just enough as Okou would keep it close falling by the same 4-3 score.
Now, both teams would actually win their semifinals with relative ease (at least compared to the games above). Nakamura would fall to Kochi 5-1, while Kochi Chuo (who in their 2nd round game against Yusuhara trailing 3-0 going into the final 3 innings would score 10 runs to send the game into enchousen, winning 1 inning later!) would be shutout by Kishi & Ogata 6-0.
Kochi would turn to Sakai again to start the game against Meitoku Gijyuku and ace Kishi. And while he was able to go head-to-head for a little while, he would give up a run in the 5th and another in the 7th. That would be all Kishi would need, though he survived the 9th to win 2-1 and give his team their 4th consecutive Natsu title!
Fukuoka - Jiyuugaoka (1st appearance)
When block play finally ended on the 14th, the likes of Jiyuugaoka, Kurume Shougyou and Teikyou Dai-go all joined the field in the 2nd stage.
In the second stage, the story early on was Moji Gakuen. Facing unknown Fukushou, they fritter away a 3-1 lead in the last 2 innings, head into extras, and down 4-3 in the 10th they score 2 to win. Then against Fukuoka Koudai Jyoutou this happened. Talk about comeback kids.
It perhaps looked like they'd do it again in the semifinals against Nanchiku, tying the game late and going into extras. Nanchiku for their part, had just upset Higashi-Fukuoka. But when Doi gave up a run in the 11th, Moji couldn't find anything left in the tank as they fell 3-2.
On the other half, everyone who advanced had blowouts save for Jiyuugaoka who had to play Kurume Shougyou and escaped with a 5-3 win. After that was a quarterfinal game against Jiyuugaoka. And much like Moji Gakuen had done in the 2nd stage, they staged a comeback in the bottom of the 9th for 2 runs to send Teikyou Dai-go home falling short yet again. Their opponent in the semifinals would be Kyusandai Kyushu who mercy-ruled Tobata and Yuusei to get there. Still, against a upper level team, they would fall short losing 6-1, setting tup the final matchup.
And perhaps as expected Nanchiku would give up quick runs early and was not in contention. Jiyuugaoka would go on to win 9-1. What surprised me the most was that it was their first ever title!
Higashi Tokyo - Shuutoku (5th title, 1st in 9 years)
I realize I'm cheating in covering Higashi Tokyo, but for a reason.
Almost no one (Teikyou) was able to stop Shuutoku.
No one.
How bad was it for the field? Well, Shuutoku in their 8 games had 2 non-mercy rule games - their 4-2 defeat of Teikyou, and the final (which has no mercy rule).
But Teikyou did have the best shot at Shuutoku. In fact, they had the 2-1 lead through 6 innings. But as is the case - and will always be the case until they prove me otherwise - until they can develop an ace, they will never win Koushien. And so it was that Teikyou would give up 3 runs in the final 3 innings to fall 4-2. That would be the best shot any team would have at stopping them.
Credit should be given though where credit is due. All of the other seeded teams at the edges of the bracket advanced to the semifinals. #2 Nishougakushadai Fuzoku did not dominate at all, save for the semifinal where they defeated #3 Kanto Dai-ichi who save for a narrow win over Adachi Gakuen did dominate the field (Hope you caught all that). And finally, Tokyo Jitsygyou who out of nowhere won their 4 games as the #4 seed location on the bracket to reach the semifinals where they, like many, got mercy ruled.
Chiba - Kisaradzu Sougou (4th title, 2nd consecutive)
Chiba breaks my heart so hard, I really don't want to talk about it. Not that it probably wasn't expected, but that my hopes were brought up really high, only to have them crushed like a spider on the heel of someone's shoe.
Despite 171 teams playing in the Chiba taikai, out of the 16 seeded teams, 10 were able to advance to the Round of 16. Some of the notable casualties? Choushi Shougyou, Shigakukan, and Kashiwa Nittai.
Now, the reason why I cannot be unbiased really regarding Chiba is the fact that I am unapologetic in rooting for Narashino. They're a public school who consistently does well and has been good enough to break through and get to Koushien on several occasions.
However, despite my homerism, I'm still a realist at heart (okay, pessimist). I knew Narashino wasn't as good this year, and was a B (5-8) seed for the summer taikai. But, they did make it into the round of 16 and that was a start. A solid 5-2 win over unseeded Nichidai Narashino wasn't convincing, but they were still alive. Next up was C (9-16) seed Narita. I remember seeing the end part of that game, Narashino trailing 5-3. Somehow, and I still can't believe it, Narashino comes back to score a pair of runs to tie the game. 3 innings later, they win the game and I'm running around at home hooting and hollering. Perhaps it may still be their year after all. And when they soundly defeat a Toukaidai Bouyou squad who was a bit inconsistent but still cut their way through the field, it was just one more game. One more game to win and Narashino will get back to Koushien!
On the other side, things did not as clear. Only Senshuudai Matsudo, Kisaradzu Sougou and Takushokudai Kouryou were left of the seeded teams. The former and latter would meet in the quarterfinals, and A seed Senshuudai would win... 1-0. That would put them in a matchup against Kisaradzu Sougou who had easy games versus unseeded Ryuukeidai Kashiwa and Keiyou.
In that semi Kisaradzu Sougou held the 2-1 lead going to the top of the 9th. But top seed Senshuudai failed to give in scoring the douten run to send it into extras. As the innings ticked off, it became clear that Matsudo's ace Takahashi looked finished. In the 11th inning the sayonara run stood at 2nd, in the 12th he fought off a sanrui, 1 out pinch. Then in the 13th, after yet again facing sanrui, 1 out pinch then intentional walks to load the bases (again), Takahashi almost gets out of the pinch, but with 2 down it's a full count oshidashi sayonara walk to send Kisaradzu Sougou to the finals yet again. For Senshuudai Matsudo, it's their 3rd straight year being eliminated in enchousen.
So the finals were B seeds Narashino and defending champion Kisaradzu Sougou. I wound up missing the game because I forgot about the early start time.
Perhaps it would have been a good thing.
See, Narashino jumped out to a 4-1 lead after a 3-run 2nd. Things looked good, and my earlier concerns about Narashino's pitching (from the Narita game) were waning.
But ace Matsuyama (who came in the 2nd inning) to reliever relief starter Matsumoto, faltered. Kisaradzu would sclore 4 in the 4th to take the lead and then 1 more an inning later for a 6-4 lead. Narashino would be scrambling after that, reclaiming one back in the 7th.
That's as close as they'd get as Chiba would be able to finish the game giving his team their 2nd straight title (and breaking my heart).
Yamanashi - Hikawa (4th title, 1st in 3 years)
Oh how I longed for Nihon Koukuu (aka Japan Aviation Academy) to return to Koushien. But since their appearance in 2008, have kind of fallen off the map, despite being seeded several times.
This year, they were not only unseeded, but buried in the bottom of the bracket.
The early leader in the clubhouse was Yamanashi Gakuindai Fuzoku, who won 2 of the last 4 Natsu titles and posted double digit wins in their first two games. All the other teams at least had one game where they were tested - even the other 1-4 seeds. Toukaidai Koufu had to hold off Koufu Shougyou 7-6, Hikawa despite getting just 8 hits against Tsuru won 2-1, and Fujikawaguchiko flat out lost giving up a 4-2 lead in a 5-4 loss to Koufu Jyousai.
The only other team to have any type of blowout was actually Nihon Koukuu! But they're not the pretty type of blowouts. They're the ones where they just decide to outscore you, pitching be damned. For after an innocent looking 7-3 win over Shirane, they go 13-7 and 13-6 (8 inn) there after. Certainly a valid strategy, but one that generally doesn't work as you move up.
But, when faced with Yamanashi Gakuindai Fuzoku, they were able to get out to a 5-1 lead! With just 3 outs to go, the Nihon Koukuu kantoku elects to move ace Tanaka off the mound for Nakano to get the last 3 outs.
Except he doesn't. He gives up 4 runs tying the game! He would get bailed out big time by cleanup batter Ishida whose 2nd hit of the game is of the sayonara variety. Headed to the semifinals, they'd face the other top seed in their half of the bracket, Toukaidai Koufu who had to rally from down 5-2 to defeat Minobu. Despite that close game, Toukaidai would build a 7-3 lead... only to see Nihon Koukuu score a gyakuten 6 runs in the 7th for a 9-7 win and a chance for the Yamanashi title!
Going back to the other half, upset minded Koufu Jyousai's run lasted just one more game as they fell 5-0 to Sundai Koufu. Meanwhile, Koma was giving Hikawa fits as they led 3-0. Hikawa though would fight back like quality teams would and win 4-3. And in the semifinals it was a rare 9-1 blowout to move to the finals.
And so it was that Nihon Koukuu would play Hikawa for the Yamanashi title. In the end, Nihon Koukuu outrun strategy would fail as their offense struggled against ace Yamada, only putting up more than 1 run in an inning in the 9th, when the game was already out of reach. Hikawa wins 8-5 to claim the title.
Wakayama - Minoshima (8th title, 1st in 29 years)
With Wakayama it was always was going to be a question of how Chiben Wakayama was going to win their nth straight title (9th in this case).
Or was it? During Chiben Wakayama's run at Natsu Koushien, they reached the semifinals once and the Best 8 three times. However, all but one occurred in the first 3 years of that run. In more recent years, Chiben Wakayama has seemed to weaken, even failing to win their first game 2 of the last 3 years. It's really attributed to growing weaknesses both at the plate and on the mound. Last year, 3 of their 5 games to the title were decided by 2 runs or less - hardly the mark of a dynastic team.
So perhaps it was no surprise then when in the 2nd round Kihoku Kougyou, behind the HR from Horita and a solid outing from ace Nakai, would dethrone the 8-time defending champions 2-1 (though perhaps the school performing the feat may have been a surprise).
Now the question was, who would take their place?
It wasn't going to be Kihoku Kougyou. Despite handing the ball off to Nakai with a 3-2 lead through 4, he would give up 4 runs (most importantly 2 in the 9th) to fall 6-5 to Wakayama Higashi in the block final (remember that Wakayama has 4 blocks which then redraw for the semifinals).
Realistically, the team that has risen most to challenge Chiben Wakayama in recent years has been Minoshima. In first started in their first appearance in any Koushien in 19 years, where they went to the quarterfinals of the 2009 senbatsu before losing to eventual champions Seihou.
Of course, that was 4 years ago and they haven't been back since. The team has suffered through fits of inconsistency, but over the past year split a series with them with both games going by the final of 2-1.
Some inconsistency remained as put up a rather average 4-1 win over Kenritsu Wakayama Shougyou in the 2nd round. But they still advanced out of their block.
The other would-be contenders would be seeded Minabe out of Block B, and surprise team Hidaka Nakatsu who after a strong 2 games upset seeded Kinkidai Shinguu then held off Minabe Ryuujin 9-6 to advance out of Block C.
The semifinal draw would not be kind for Wakayama Higashi as they drew Minoshima and proceeded to fall 8-0. For Minabe, a 5-run first helped provide a cushion for starter Matsuda as they would defeat Hidaka Nakatasu 8-5.
And so Minabe would be the final opponent standing between Minoshima and their first appearance in almost 3 decades. Sadly for Minabe, they were not able to put up a fight and lost 10-1. A bit of a sad way to lose in the final, but congrats of course go out to the new champions Minoshima!
Tottori - Tottori Jyouhoku (3rd appearance, 2nd consecutive)
Despite just having 25 teams, it was not good to be a seeded team.
Why?
Because 3 of the 4 seeded teams - Yonago Kita, Iwami, and Kurayoshi Sougou Sangyou, all lost in their first games! Yonago Kita was soundly defeated by defending champs Tottori Jyouhoku (who wasn't seeded!), Iwami was done in by a sole RBI from Yonago Shouin's Tsuchie, and despite more chances for Kurayoshi Sougou Sangyou thanks to walks from Tottori Nishi's ace Mastuoka, Tottori Nishi would get to reliever Sawada as he entered in the 10th for the sayonara victory.
Tottori Jyouhoku's only challenge on their way to the final was in semifinal opponent Kurayoshi Higashi. Ace Uehara struggled in the game, giving up 3 runs after his team had just taken a 2-0 lead. But reliever Fukuiwa would clamp things down for Tottori Jyouhoku as they would eventually get to Higashi ace Tamagawa for 3 more runs, knocking him out of the game. Itou would clamp things down there after, and Kurayoshi Higashi would get a run off of Fukuiwa in the 8th... but Uehara would come back in the 9th and close it out for the 5-4 win and a spot in the finals.
On the other half, the 2 prior champions to Tottori Jyouhoku wound up advancing through the brackets. 2010 champion Yazu had no problems reaching the semis with 2 sound victories. Conversely, 2011 winner Tottori Shougyou needed 2 runs in the bottom of the 9th to defeat Tottori Ikuei 3-2, and then after blowing a 3-0 lead to aforementioned Tottori Nishi, scored 2 in the bottom of the 8th to win 5-3.
Perhaps playing from the lead was something Tottori Shougyou was unable to do this year, because in the semifinal, they had a 4-1 lead over Yazu heading to the top of the 9th. There Yazu would score 5 runs to take a 6-4 lead, leaving Tottori Shougyou almost no time to rally. Indeed they would fail to come back and Yazu would be in the final.
In the final, Yazu and Tottori Jyouhoku would trade blows several times, leaving the teams tied at 2 after the first 3, then again at 5 after 7. However, reliever Kamatani for Yazu would break down in his 5th inning of work giving up 3 runs in the 8th inning.
That would prove to be too much as Tottori Jyouhoku would claim their 2nd consecutive title.
Tokushima - Naruto (8th title, 2nd consecutive)
In Tokushima there seemed no clear front-runner for the title. Even the top tier teams struggled at some point in the tournament.
Defending champion Naruto even suffered from it as well. Despite the first round bye and 6-2 opening win over Tomioka Nishi, they played a Tokushima Kagaku Gijyutsu squad who blew a 5-run lead to Awa only to win 10-8, then down 3-0 in the bottom of the 9th, came back to tie off Jyounouchi ace Yanagimoto and then win in 10.
In that game Bandou would be stung for 4 runs in the 7th, falling behind 4-2. However, Naruto would recover quickly scoring 3 in their 7th and 2 more for good measure in the 8th to win 7-4.
The next challenge would be Naruto Uzushio, who blew past their first 2 opponents before hitting resurging Ikeda. They slowly were able to overcome a 5-run 3rd, getting to every one of Ikeda's 4 pitchers they would throw out there, winning 6-5.
Both pitching staffs would be rocked early, with Naruto taking a 6-5 lead after 2. From then on though, Bandou would keep Uzushio at bay just enough to make that lead stick winning 8-7 for a spot in the finals.
On the other side, many teams were under the banner of survive and advance. For Seikou Gakuen, after an easy first round, ace Tokuda almost let a 4-1 lead slip away against Anan Tousen, but won 4-3. After that, they trailed Aratano 5-2 before scoring 4 runs in the final 2 innings to tie the game up at 6. Aratano reliever Fukuzumi was anything but, relinquishing the 5-1 lead then giving up 5 more in the 10th for an 11-6 loss.
They would face a Kawashima team who beat Tokushima Kita in the opening round 3-1, upset powerhouse Tokushima Shougyou 3-2 in the next round, and then if that weren't enough, outlasting Komatsushima 4-3 in 13 innings!
Interstingly enough, the semifinal game would be a cakewalk compared to their previous games. Ace Ueda would make a 4-run 4th stick, giving up 3 runs on 7 hits for a 5-3 win.
But for Kawashima, facing Naruto for their first title would be a lot to ask. Indeed, after giving up 5 runs in the first two innings, it was a formality thereafter.
Ehime - Saibi (4th title, 1st in 5 years)
All eyes in Ehime would be on Saibi and ace Anraku. Given his performance at Senbatsu, many were eager to see him at Natsu Koushien.
Jyoukou-kantoku continued to take no chances, throwing Anraku out there in every game save for the last two outs of their win against Matsuyama Chuo. Saibi would outclass their opponents early with Anraku giving up just 1 run on 11 hits while striking out 29 in 20.1 IP.
So the question would be, who could challenge them?
Well, #4 seed Tanbara actually got shutout by Imabari Kita 5-0. Filling the gap would be Kawanoe, who themselves had 3 mercy rule games to meet Yawatahama in the quarterfinals. And despite just 1 run on 5 hits, the tandem of Oonishi and Doi would give up just 3 hits and strike out 16 Yawatahama batters to win 1-0 to meet Saibi.
In that semifinal, a timely hit by Takahara and an error from Saibi gave Kawanoe a 2-0 lead. Meanwhile, Oonishi and Doi were shutting down the Saibi offense and things started to look bleak.
But Kawanoe's kantoku had pulled Oonishi after 2.2 IP, and Doi was trying to finish the game. But Yamashita blasted a HR in the 8th to pull them within 1. And in the 9th, he would relinquish the lead with RBI hits from Kaneko and Hayashi Kanya. Senba would get the last 2 outs of the inning, but the damage had been done. Anraku closed it out for the win.
So, who would be the last barrier between Anraku and Natsu Koushien?
Well, despite Tanbara's loss, both #2 Imabari Nishi and #3 Matsuyama Seiryou both marched towards the semifinals. Both though faced a different challenge in the quarterfinals. Imabari Nishi played Touon and despite getting just 4 hits, won 2-0. As for Matsuyama Seiryou, instead of a pitching affair they were in a brawl with Niihama Higashi using 5 runs in the 6th and 7th to win 13-9.
So #2 and #3 would meet to face Saibi. Ace Kanno for Imabari Nishi would give them a 1-0 lead with his only hit of the ballgame. But it would be all he would need as he pitches a 3-hit shutout to move to the finals.
Imabari Nishi would try to implement a rotation of Kanno and Ishigaki on the mound for the finals, but Kanno was rocked right off the bat for 4 runs in 1+ innings of work. While the rotation would give up just 1 run thereafter, it was too late. Anraku would allow Imabari Nishi to pull within 2, but that would be as close as they would get, meaning that Saibi and Anraku would return to Koushien once again!
Kochi - Meitoku Gijyuku (15th title, 4th consecutive)
It was not business as usual in Kochi, despite the 2 teams who wound up in the final. Not sure what is going on, but it almost signifies a loss of talent among the upper teams.
Why do I say that? Well, Tosa lost right off the bat to Kochi Minami 6-0. Now, one might say, "that's not terrible, Tosa was a decent team sure, but not one who was one of the powerhouses."
Sure, I could go with that, but following that Kochi Shougyou lost in the 2nd round after ace Uemoto collapses in the 8th inning, giving up 3 runs to Kochi Nougyou and losing 3-2.
"Okay, Kochi Nougyou got lucky in one inning. Still not necessarily a big deal."
Well, what about the fact that while Kochi and Meitoku Gijyuku did manage to advance, their victories were not as sweeping as one might think?
Kochi's 2nd round win over Kochi Nishi 7-1 was helped by a 4-run 8th. Meitoku actually trailed Kochi Kougyou before a 5-run 6th distanced themselves enough to win 7-3. Move onto the quarterfinals, and Kochi started reliever Sakai against Sukumo Kougyou. Having just gone up 4-0 through 7, Sakai falters almost giving up the entire lead. Ace Sakamoto has to come in to shut the door advancing 4-3. Meitoku had no such luxury facing Okou, who is probably on the same level as Tosa. Kishi though gives up 2 early runs leaving them to chase. And while a 2-run 5th would be enough, it would be just enough as Okou would keep it close falling by the same 4-3 score.
Now, both teams would actually win their semifinals with relative ease (at least compared to the games above). Nakamura would fall to Kochi 5-1, while Kochi Chuo (who in their 2nd round game against Yusuhara trailing 3-0 going into the final 3 innings would score 10 runs to send the game into enchousen, winning 1 inning later!) would be shutout by Kishi & Ogata 6-0.
Kochi would turn to Sakai again to start the game against Meitoku Gijyuku and ace Kishi. And while he was able to go head-to-head for a little while, he would give up a run in the 5th and another in the 7th. That would be all Kishi would need, though he survived the 9th to win 2-1 and give his team their 4th consecutive Natsu title!
Fukuoka - Jiyuugaoka (1st appearance)
When block play finally ended on the 14th, the likes of Jiyuugaoka, Kurume Shougyou and Teikyou Dai-go all joined the field in the 2nd stage.
In the second stage, the story early on was Moji Gakuen. Facing unknown Fukushou, they fritter away a 3-1 lead in the last 2 innings, head into extras, and down 4-3 in the 10th they score 2 to win. Then against Fukuoka Koudai Jyoutou this happened. Talk about comeback kids.
It perhaps looked like they'd do it again in the semifinals against Nanchiku, tying the game late and going into extras. Nanchiku for their part, had just upset Higashi-Fukuoka. But when Doi gave up a run in the 11th, Moji couldn't find anything left in the tank as they fell 3-2.
On the other half, everyone who advanced had blowouts save for Jiyuugaoka who had to play Kurume Shougyou and escaped with a 5-3 win. After that was a quarterfinal game against Jiyuugaoka. And much like Moji Gakuen had done in the 2nd stage, they staged a comeback in the bottom of the 9th for 2 runs to send Teikyou Dai-go home falling short yet again. Their opponent in the semifinals would be Kyusandai Kyushu who mercy-ruled Tobata and Yuusei to get there. Still, against a upper level team, they would fall short losing 6-1, setting tup the final matchup.
And perhaps as expected Nanchiku would give up quick runs early and was not in contention. Jiyuugaoka would go on to win 9-1. What surprised me the most was that it was their first ever title!
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