86th Haru Koushien - Shikoku champ determined!

The semifinal games were surprisingly not close. First, Kishi wound up giving up a 4-run 4th to Imabari Nishi (Ehime 2) as Meitoku Gijyuku (Kochi 1) couldn't muster any offense losing 4-0.

On the other side, Ikeda's (Tokushima 3) offense gave Myouzai a game off as they scored early and often to defeat Seikou Gakuen (Tokushima 1) 9-3.

Perhaps though, Ikeda should have actually given Myouzai some time off because he was pulled after 6 innings trailing 1-0 to Imabari Nishi. The bullpen would give up 9 runs thereafter as Imabari Nishi claims their 5th title and first in 4 years!

Despite the loss, I do expect Ikeda to receive an invite, given they were a powerhouse in the 1980's and are seemingly experiencing a renaissance. It's not a 100% guarantee, but it looks fairly good.

The fact that Meitoku Gijyuku lost because of one inning probably bumps out Seikou Gakuen from consideration for the floating bid. It also makes things very tough for the Chuugoku region too to put up a team that could compete with them for the bid.

Aki Taikai Recap-to-Date - All Regions

Now that all Super-Regionals are in play, we can do a full recap from the weekend

Kanto ex Tokyo
Their super-regional was actually supposed to start Saturday, but was postponed due to rain. So only 3 games have been played so far, with the other 4 being played today.

It went fairly scratch with one very surprising upset. In the one game at Hitachi-Naka Municipal Stadium, Kiryuu Dai-ichi (Gunma 2) shutout Chiba Keizaidai Fuzoku (Chiba 2) 3-0. Meanwhile, over at Mito Municipal, Narashino (Chiba 1) was deuces wild against Jyousou Gakuin (Ibaraki 2), putting up 4 2-run innings after falling behind 2-0 to win 8-2. The upset was in the 2nd game where Hakuoudai Ashikaga (Tochigi 2) pulled ahead of Hanasaki Tokuharu (Saitama 1) 6-1, then held off a furious rally in the final 2 innings to win 6-5.

In today's action, Kendai Takasaki (Gunma 1) held off Mito Kougyou (Ibaraki 3) 3-2, while Toukaidai Koufu (Yamanashi 2) couldn't get level with Sano Nichidai (Tochigi 1) falling 3-1. Afternoon action sees Nichidai (Kanagawa 2) prevents the shutout, but loses to Yamanashi Gakuindai Fuzoku (Yamanashi 1) 5-2, and Yokohama (Kanagawa 1) shutting out Shiritsu Kawagoe (Saitama 2) 5-0.

Tokyo
The rainout also affected the Tokyo Super-Regionals and as a result only 2 quarterfinals games have been played. Not surprisingly, Nichidai-san and Kanto Dai-ichi shutout their opponents 8-0 and 7-0 and look poised for a finals matchup.

The other two matchups are Toukaidai Takanawadai vs. Koyamadai and Nittai Ebara vs. Nisshougakushadai Fuzoku.

Toukai
Mie (Mie 1) has just annihilated their opponents, defeating Shizuoka Shougyou (Shizuoka 2) 10-0 in 6 innings to reach the finals. Their opponent will be... Toyokawa (Aichi 2)!  While they did give up an early 2-0 lead to Shizuoka (Shizuoka 1), ace Tanaka kept his school in the game and they walked off Shizuoka in the bottom of the 9th!

Given Toyokawa's performance in the Super-Regionals, even if they lose to Mie I expect them to get the 2nd bid.

Kinki
Well, PL Gakuen (Osaka 2) may have made it to the super-regionals finally, but they still have work to do as their triumvirate of pitchers couldn't hold off Fukuchiyama Seibi (Kyoto 1) as they fall 3-2.  Houtoku Gakuen (Hyogo 1) had a surprisingly hard time against Kansaidai Hokuyou (Osaka 3), needing 5 runs late to win 8-6.

Then in the quarterfinals, Ryuukokudai Heian (Kyoto 1) and Chiben Gakuen (Nara 1) were embroiled in a low-scoring affair, but the home cooking couldn't save Chiben Gakuen as could manage just 1 run on 6 hits to lose 2-1.  They will face Riseisha (Osaka 1) as Sanda Shousei (Hyogo 2) just couldn't get any traction managing just 5 hits in a 5-0 loss.

The host prefecture would be completely eliminated on Sunday as Naradai Fuzoku (Nara 2) was completely whitewashed by Chiben Wakayama (Wakayama 1) 10-0 in 5 innings.  They will play a Houtoku Gakuen squad who is probably happy to see a week off.  They and Fukuchiyama Seibi could not generate any offense in their matchup but did push the only run in in the 6th.

Chuugoku
Games were rained out on Friday, so the first two rounds would be played on Saturday-Monday.

At Kurashiki Muscat Stadium, upsets were the story of the weekend. Okayama Ridai Fuzoku (Okayama 4) started off with a 7 inning, 3-hit shutout over Izumo Nishi (Shimane 2).  Then, Soushi Gakuen (Okayama 1) got 4 runs on just 4 hits versus Takagawa Gakuen (Yamaguchi 2), but 10 free passes helped precipitate their downfall as they were upset 7-4. On Sunday, it was an upset by seeding only as Kouryou (Hiroshima 3) defeated Tottori Jyouhoku (Tottori 1) 5-1. With Hiroshima Shinjyou's (Hiroshima 1) Yamaoka delivering a 3-hitter against Iwami (Tottori 3), it sets up a rematch of the Hiroshima semifinals.

Across town at Kurashiki Muscat Stadium, it was all scratch seed-wise. Iwakuni (Yamaguchi 1) started off by dominating Tottori Shougyou (Tottori 2) 7-1. Soutoku (Hiroshima 2) then limited Ube Shougyou (Yamaguchi 3) to just 1 run on 5 hits winning 3-1. Kurshiki Shougyou (Okayama 2) let Daitou back in the game with 4 in the 5th, but pulled away late with 5 runs to win 9-5. And Okayama-ken Kyousei made the score respectable late, but was never in it after falling behind 2-1 in the 3rd, losing 6-3.

The quarterfinals just concluded today, and in early action Takagawa Gakuen actually mercy-ruled Okayama Ridai Fuzoku 11-1, and Iwakuni had to use a 4-run 7th to defeat Soutoku 4-0.

In the late games Kouryou was actually mercy-ruled by Hiroshima Shinjyou 9-2 in 7 innings! And Taisha tried to keep up with Kurashiki Shougyou, but would fall 7-5.

Kyushu
Kyushu, unlike the other super-regionals are just running through their brackets with very few days off. So today they're already in the quarterfinals. As of writing the first half of those games have been completed.

On the upper left side part of the bracket, Yaeyama Shoukou (Okinawa 3) started off struggling against Ibusuki Shougyou (Kagoshima 2) finally getting on the board with a pair of runs in the 6th eventually winning 3-0. Next up was Waseda Saga (Saga 1) who has quickly entered their name into the hat in the prefecture. The game would be yet another low-scoring affair, and when they finally pulled ahead 2-1 in the 12th, all seemed well. But Baba couldn't close out the game, Waseda comes back to score 2 and send the home team packing for the winter.

You'd think that they would have faced Kyushu Kokusaidai Fuzoku (Fukuoka 1), but they needed a run in the 9th just to send the game versus Chinzei (Kumamoto 2) into enchousen. And when they though they had the game won with a run in the 11th, Chinzei comes back to tie the game. 3 innings later, the pitching staff would run out of gas and Chinzei would win 3-2. Chinzei would then use a 4-run lucky 7 to defeat Waseda Saga and advance to the semifinals!

On the lower left quadrant, Hasami (Nagasaki 2) was surprisingly involved in a slugfest against Kitsuki (Oita 1) jumping out to a 7-0 lead, watching it shrivel to a 2-run lead before stabilizing for a 12-9 win. They would play an Okinawa Shougaku (Okinawa 2) squad who got by Nichinan Gakuen (Miyazaki 1) 3-1. Hasami however, couldn't get involved with 2 straight sock 'em games as they were mercy ruled 9-1 in 7 innings.

To the other half, and Misato Kougyou (Okinawa 1) really struggled with Oita Shougyou (Oita 2) 1-0. And now they will have even more trouble with Souseikan (Nagasaki 1) who had no problems with Kashima (Saga 2). Kamimura Gakuen (Kagoshima 1) had surprisingly no trouble with Nishi-Nippon Tankidai Fuzoku (Fukuoka 2) 7-3, and will face a Nisshou Gakuen (Miyazaki 2) squad who has defeated both Ginoza (Okinawa 4) and Taragi (Kumamoto 1).

Well, blow me down - Misato Kougyou shuts out Souseikan 1-0, and Nisshou Gakuen tried to rally a 2nd time against Kamimura Gakuen but the 9-3 deficit was too much, falling 10-6.

Aki Taikai Recap-to-date - Kyushu Super-Regional

Finishing up prefectural play:

Kumamoto
We had not one, but 2 upsets in the semifinals! First, Seiseikou fell behind Chinzei early and with their offense not setup to come from large deficits, 3 runs late for Chinzei was just too much. Seiseikou falls 5-1!

And in the other semifinals, Kyushu Gakuin could only manage 1 run against Taragi and they are upset as well 2-1! So we had a completely different final with Taragi guaranteeing their 1st ever super regional appearance, while Chinzei would be making their 26th appearance, but first in 15 years!

In that final, Taragi jumped out to a 4-0 lead before Chinzei started fighting back in the 5th. They would pull within 1 in the 8th, but it wouldn't be enough as Taragi claims their first ever title with a 4-3 win!

Nagasaki
As I expected, it was Souseikan and Hasami that progressed through the field. Souseikan easily handled Obama and Sasebo Kougyou to reach the finals and a super-regional birth. As for Hasami, they as expected were involved in 2 close games. First they found a response to every Oomura Kougyou score eventually holding on 6-5. They did the same to Nagasaki Shougyou, but Nagashou mounted a late game rally scoring 4 runs in the final 2 innings. It would just fall short as Hasami would win 8-7.

You can only play so many 1-run games though, and in the final Souseikan put up a run in each of the first 5 innings and defeated Hasami 7-1.

Super-Regionals
The super-regional bracket is as follows - they start 10/26

• Waseda Saga (Saga 1) vs. winner of Ibusuki Shougyou (Kagoshima 2)-Yaeyama Shoukou (Okinawa 3)
• Kyushu Kokusaidai Fuzoku (Kyushu 1) vs. Chinsei (Kumamoto 2)
• Kitsuki (Oita 1) vs. Hasami (Nagasaki 2)
• Nichinan Gakuen (Miyazaki 1) vs. Okinawa Shougaku (Okinawa 2)
• Misato Kougyou (Okinawa 1) vs. Oita Shougyou (Oita 2)
• Souseikan (Nagasaki 1) vs. Kashima (Saga 2)
• Kamimura Gakuen (Kagoshima 1) vs. Nishi-Nippon Tankidai Fuzoku (Fukuoka 2)
• Taragi (Kumamoto 1) vs. winner of Nisshou Gakuen (Miyazaki 2)-Ginoza (Okinawa 4)

It looks like the bracket is very lopsided on the left side.

Aki Taikai Recap-to-date - Shikoku Super-Regional

Shikoku is already in the semifinal stages, but we need to get there first.  Kagawa wound up going to Sakaide as after Eimei pinged Sakaide for a run in the 1st and 2nd innings, Sakaide scored 3 in the 3rd and then put the game away with 5 in the 7th.

The brackets then went as follows:

• Sakaide (Kagawa 1) vs. winner of Imabari Nishi (Ehime 2)-Kochi Ootemae (Kochi 3)
• Meitoku Gijyuku (Kochi 1) vs. winner of Komatsushima (Tokushima 2)-Takamatsu Dai-ichi (Kagawa 3)
• Seikou Gakuen (Tokushima 1) vs. winner of Eimei (Kagawa 2)-Teikyou Dai-go (Ehime 3)
• Saijyo (Ehime 1) vs. winner of Kochi Higashi Kougyou (Kochi 2)-Ikeda (Tokushima 3)

Imabari Nishi just made a complete mess of Kochi Ootemae scoring 11 runs in the 3rd in a 22-1 blowout. And as for Sakaide, they put up a 2-spot in the 1st against Imabari Nishi but had to watch as the veterans put up 5 unanswered runs and here they are in the semis.

Komatsushima gets to the super-regionals, but cannot parlay it into a Koushien appearance it seems. Takamatsu Dai-ichi puts up crooked numbers every inning and the game ends 14-3 in 5 innings.  But against Meitoku's ace Kishi...  let's just say they were shutout and mercy ruled in 7 innings 8-0.

What I said for Komatsushima applies for Teikyou Dai-go as well. Eimei proved to be vulnerable this year it seemed and when Teikyou took a 1-0 lead into the mid-game break it seemed they might be able to do it. But once the 2nd half started, Eimei scored 4 runs and that was that.  But against Seikou Gakuen they played catch-up the entire game.  And when they finally leveled the score at 3 in the top of the 8th, it must have taken its toll as ace Akagawa couldn't hold off Seikou anymore and a run in the bottom of the 8th put the nail in the coffin for Eimei.

Probably the team in Shikoku that has had tried the most to get back to their olden days is Ikeda. Having to fight teams like Naruto, Naruto Uzushio, Tokushima Shougyou who have emerged as the new powers has been tough. But under ace Myouzai, they may just have a chance.

First up was a solid 7-2 win over Kochi Higashi Kougyou where he struck out 9.  Then against Saijyo, he was entrenched in an ace matchup with Shimada. After each surrendered a run early, they started putting up donut after donut.  Then in the 9th, with 2 outs Kita draws a walk for Ikeda, not only steals 2nd, but 3rd as well! Myouzai would drive in the run himself with a hit to left.

Now just 3 outs away, Myouzai's defense would let him down. A leadoff error by the SS would get advanced to 2nd on a grounder, and Yanase would hit a double to tie the game. Myouzai would have to load the bases with 2 out, but he got out of the inning with no more damage, sending the game into enchousen.

2 innings later, it would be Saijyo who would return the favor. A one-out error by their 3B would put the gyakuten runner on 2nd, and with 2 out and the runner now at 3rd Fujita delivered the timely hit to put Ikeda up once again 3-2. Yanase would lead off the bottom of the 11th with a base hit and was bunted to 2nd. But he would get hung up with a grounder to short and get tagged out. Shimada, the runner at 1st now would get the douten run back in scoring position with a stolen base but Myouzai would have the final word getting Sakou to fly out to center to end the game and send Ikeda to the semifinals.

Thankfully for Myouzai and Ikeda they have a week off before hitting the mound again.

I'm pulling hard for Ikeda, but I hate to see it be at the expense of a team like Seikou Gakuen if they do win. The losing team will have to hope for the floating bid at that point, and even then remember there is the loser of the Imabari Nishi-Meitoku Gijyuku game to deal with too. If that loser just happens to be Meitoku, forget it - they have 0 chance at the floating bid and may have to be nominated as the 21st century team (if that's even possible).

Aki Taikai Recap-to-date - Chuugoku Super-Regional

Chuugoku's Super-Regionals start this Friday.  Brackets are as follows:

Left Side

• Izumo Nishi (Shimane 2) vs. Okayama Ridai Fuzoku (Okayama 4)
• Soushi Gakuen (Okayama 1) vs. Takagawa Gakuen (Yamaguchi 2)
• Tottori Jyouhoku (Tottori 1) vs. Kouryou (Hiroshima 3)
• Iwami (Tottori 3) vs. Hiroshima Shinjyou (Hiroshima 1)

Right Side

• Iwakuni (Yamaguchi 1) vs. Tottori Shougyou (Tottori 2)
• Soutoku (Hiroshima 2) vs. Ube Shougyou (Yamaguchi 3)
• Daitou (Shimane 3) vs. Kurashiki Shougyou (Okayama 2)
• Okayama-ken Kyouei (Okayama 3) vs. Taisha (Shimane 1)

There are not many A level teams here in the Super-Regionals, and those that are mostly seem to be playing each other!  Should make things interesting.

Aki Taikai Recap-to-date - Kinki Super-Regional

Ok, so the rotation doesn't do the same 2 prefectures every 3 years. This year Kyoto and Wakayama were the odd ones out.

Shiga
Well, it wound up being an all-Oumi final as both Oumi and Oumi Kyoudaisha shutout their opponents soundly to reach the final.  And in the final, Oumi Kyoudaisha claimed their first fall title defeating Oumi yet again 5-3!

What was the stunner was that Youkaichi claimed the 3rd spot, defeating Hikone Higashi 3-2 in an upset!

Kyoto
Nishi-Jyouyou indeed was the odd team out as they were mercy-ruled 11-1 by Ryuukokudai Heian in 6 innings.  The other semifinal wound up not being competitive either as Fukuchiayama Seibi eliminated Ritsumeikan Uji 7-2.

And in the final, Fukuchiyama Seibi seemed to take control with a 5-run 5th to take a 5-1 lead, but Heian just completely wiped that out with 9 unanswered runs in the 7th & 8th innings to win 10-5 and claim their 24th title and first in 6 years.

Nara
I wonder if Chiben Gakuen read my remarks, because after I mentioned that they seemed to be struggling, they outscored their opponents 19-0 to reach the finals.  On the other side, Naradai Fuzoku also had no problems mercy-ruling Heijyou before holding on to defeat Kashihara Gakuin 4-2 to reach the finals as well.

Naradai Fuzoku appears to be making a solid bid to be the 3rd team in the prefecture, and held in there against the favorites.  Not until a 3-run 8th for Chiben Gakuen did they finally seal their title, winning 11-7.

Kashihara Gakuin at least got into the Super-regionals as they ran circles around Kashiba 9-3.

Wakayama
Looks like winning the first tournament does mean something it seems as only Kinkidai Shinguu was the only one who advanced from the teams that played the 2nd tournament, holding off a charge from Shinguu to win 6-4.

Shiritsu Wakayama and Kainan had no problems with their opponents, but Chiben Wakayama struggled with Arita Chuo, using a 3-run 7th to finally separate themselves for the 6-3 win.

Chiben Wakayama continued to struggle, but basically outlast their opponents.  Against Shiritsu Wakayama, they need 3 in the 9th to win 6-3 to advance to the finals.  And against Kainan (who traded runs every half-inning until the winning margin of 3-2 over Kinkidai Shinguu), they scored 4 runs in the 6-7-8th innings to overcome a 5-2 deficit to claim the title.

Osaka
PL Gakuen and Riseisha continued to run roughshot over the field, though both teams had a hiccup along the way.  PL's game was against Uenomiya Taishi where they survived a 1-0 win, while Riseisha in the semifinals only defeated Kansai Hokuryou 4-1.

The final was pretty much as advertized.  Riseisha broke a 1-1 tie with 3 in the 4th, then clung on to the lead as PL launched a 9th inning rally that fell just short as they lost 4-3.

In the 3rd place game. the narrow loss by Kansai Hokuryou was not a fluke as they pulled away from the other semifinal loser Osaka Kaisei Gakuen (fka as Konohana Gakuin until 2013) outscoring them 9-3 in the final trimester to win 11-4.

Hyogo
Yeah, Ichikawa had no chance against Houtoku Gakuen, as back-to-back 4-run innings were all they needed to win 8-0.  The other semifinal was much closer as Sanda Shousei scored the only run of the game in the lucky 7 to defeat Yashiro.

Houtoku closed it out against Sanda Shousei, taking advantage of the free pass to outscore them 9-2 to win the title.  Meanwhile Ichikawa bounced back from the loss to Houtoku to defeat Yashiro 5-3 to claim the final spot.

Super-Regionals
3 of the 4 quadrants have played so far, and it's been not close for the most part:

• Oumi (Shiga 2) was shutout by Ryuukokudai Heian (Kyoto 1) 5-0.
• Youkaichi (Shiga 3) was also blanked by Chiben Gakuen (Nara 1) 8-0 in 7 innings.
• Kainan (Wakayama 2) proved to be a very worthy opponent, holding Riseisha (Osaka 1) to just 2 runs. Problem was, that second run in the bottom of the 8th was the difference...
• Sanda Shousei (Hyogo 2) showed Kashihara Gakuin (Nara 3) that they still had a ways to go. 10 unanswered runs in 4 consecutive innings meant a 7-inning 10-2 win.
• It's hard to say who this game makes a statement for. With Oumi Kyoudaisha's (Shiga 1) 1-0 loss to Naradai Fuzoku (Nara 2). Does it mean that Shiga as a whole is down considering no representative scored even a run?  Does it mean that outside of Oumi Kyoudaisha, Shiga was very weak considering that Naradai played Chiben Gakuen close? Does it mean that both Shiga and Nara are both weak considering Kashihara's loss as well?
• And finally Ichikawa (Hyogo 3) was just outclassed by a Chiben Wakayama (Wakayama 1) squad 10-1 in 7.

Still left to play next weekend will be PL Gakuen (Osaka 2) vs. Fukuchiyama Seibi (Kyoto 2) and Houtoku Gakuen (Hyogo 1) vs. Kansai Hokuryou (Osaka 3).

Aki Taikai Recap-to-date - Tokai Super-Regional

Finishing up the field for Aichi, Touhou took top honors defeating Toyokawa 3-1 in the championship game, while Chuukyoudai Chuukyou took out their frustration on Homare 10-0 in 5 to take the 3rd spot.

The Super-Regional bracket was as follows:

• Touhou (Aichi 1) vs winner of Shizuoka Shougyou (Shizuoka 2)-Inabe Sougou Gakuen (Mie 3)
• Mie (Mie 1) vs winner of Gifu Seitoku Gakuen (Gifu 2)-Chuukyoudai Chuukyou (Aichi 3)
• Shizuoka (Shizuoka 1) vs winner of Ise (Mie 2)-Seki Shougyou (Gifu 3)
• Oogaki Nichidai (Gifu 1) vs winner of Toyokawa (Aichi 2)-Tokoha Tachibana (Shizuoka 3)

Shizuoka Shougyou in what seemed like a tough draw, scored 12 unanswered runs after falling behind 4-0 in the first to defeat Inabe Sougou Gakuen. They showed their resilience again against Touhou, for after giving up 5 runs in the 7th to fall behind 7-3, they score 5 in the final 2 innings to win 8-7!!

So Shizuoka Shougyou will face Mie in the semifinals.  While Chuukyoudai Chuukyou handled Gifu Seitoku Gakuen with no problems, a 6-run 5th by Mie helped put the former Koushien champ out of commission 9-2.

On the other half, Seki Shoukou's sayonara victory over Ise 7-6 did not portend good things for them against Shizuoka, and while they held the early 1-0 lead, 7 runs in the middle 3 innings meant a 7-3 loss.

They will face a game Toyokawa squad who pretty much did what Shizuoka Shougyou did - advance from a tough draw.  First, they put 2 3-run innings together to defeat Tokoha Tachibana 6-4.  And then against Oogaki Nichidai they hit them early and kept them at arms length the rest of the way winning 6-3.

Once again, we could have an intra-prefectural final should Shizuoka Shougyou and Shizuoka win.  Mie and Toyokawa look game though and the games here on out should be closely fought.

86th Haru Koushien - Third Super-Regional Champ crowned, scratch so far

The all-Nagano final was not to be.  Chikyuu Kankyou (Nagano 2) gave Nihon Bunri (Niigata 1) a great fight, sent the semifinal into enchousen, but ace Hoshino couldn't hold on falling 4-3 in 10 innings.

Meanwhile, Toukai Dai-san (Nagano 1) continued their solid run leading Hokuriku (Fukui 2) wire-to-wire 5-2 to make the championship game.

The final finished up a couple of hours ago, and looking at the boxscore, it looks like Toukai Dai-san tried to take the fight to Nihon Bunri early on with a 4-0 lead, but Nihon Bunri rallied not once, but twice sending the game to enchousen tied at 5-5.

In the 11th, Hirabayashi would give it up for Toukai Dai-san, as with one out a walk, single, double steal followed by intentional walk would load the bases for 3B Ikeda who would deliver the sayonara hit to give Nihon Bunri the title.

While Toukai Dai-san's key games are both against the Niigata representatives, I expect them to be the 2nd representative out of Hokushinetsu.

Aki Taikai Recap-to-date - Hokushinetsu Super-Regional

The draw for the Hokushinetsu Super-Regional wound up being very lopsided.  Don't believe it?

Left Side

• Ishikawa-ken Kougyou (Ishikawa 2) vs. Chikyuu Kankyou (Nagano 2)
• Fukui Koudai Fukui (Fukui 1) vs. Shin-Minato (Toyama 3)
• Nagano Nishi (Nagano 3) vs. Toyama Dai-ichi (Toyama 1)
• Tsuruga Kehi (Fukui 4) vs. Nihon Bunri (Niigata 1)

Right Side

• Tsubata (Ishikawa 1) vs. Chuuetsu (Niigata 3)
• Toyama Shougyou (Toyama 2) vs. Hokuriku (Fukui 2)
• Komatsu Ootani (Ishikawa 3) vs. Toukai Dai-san (Nagano 1)
• Niigata Meikun (Niigata 2) vs. Harue Kougyou (Fukui 3)

And the left side of the bracket appears to be more stacked than the right side.

Well, oddly enough the games on the left side were mostly lopsided.  Chikyuu Kankyou, Toyama Dai-ichi and Nihon Bunri were not challenged by their opponents.  In the other game, Shin-Minato used a 5-run 3rd to take a 5-2 lead, but could not hold it the remainder of the game. They pulled within 1 in the 9th, but fell 7-6.

On the other half, it was a little better.  We won't see Harue Kougyou though as they were mercy ruled by Niigata Meikun 12-2 in 8 innings.  And as for Tsubata, they won the prefecture, but didn't get any further losing to Chuuestu 6-0.  But Toyama Shougyou forced enchousen after scoring a run in the final 3 innings.  Sadly in the 11th, the pitching would fall apart giving Hokuriku a 9-3 win.  And Toukai Dai-san made a run in the 1st and 2nd innings hold up in a 2-0 win over Komasu Ootani.

In the quarterfinals, Chikyuu Kankyou and Fukui Koudai Fukui played into enchousen - but just for 1 inning as back-to-back doubles gave Chikyuu Kankyou the win in the bottom of the 10th.  They will face a game Nihon Bunri squad as Toyama Dai-ichi couldn't repeat their performance of the summer as they were shutout 4-0.

We actually have a chance to have the 2nd straight year of Hokushinetsu representatives coming from the same prefecture (Nagano) because Toukai Dai-san pulled off a stunning upset of Niigata Meikun, taking a 7-0 lead before holding on to win 7-5.  They will play Hokuriku who scored a run in the 9th to defeat Chuuetsu 2-1.

86th Haru Koushien - Second ticket punched!

Well, we have our second "automatic" invitation for next year's Haru Koushien!

We had a possibility for an all-Aomori final with Aomori Yamada and (Hachinohe Gakuin) Kousei in the semifnals.

However, in the first semifinal, Touryou actually took hold of the game with a 3-run 2nd inning and eliminated Aomori Yamada 4-1!  So that intra-prefectual final was not possible anymore.

Of course, attention was really focused on the 2nd semifinal with Kousei facing Hanamaki Higashi.  True to form, it was a pitching duel between Hosokawa for Hanamaki Higashi and Nakagawa/Baba for Kousei.  Though Hanamaki Higashi took a 1-0 lead in the 1st, a wild pitch from Hosokawa in the 3rd tied the game.  Then in the 5th, Fukue delivered a timely hit to score the gyakuten run.  Kousei would hold Hanamaki Higashi off to win 2-1.

With that out of the way, they went to their bullpen for the finals against Touryou and easily won 13-2 to claim their 4th title and first in 2 years.  This all but guarantees that Kousei will go to Haru Koushien in the spring.