32 teams in 32 days - Mie (Mie)

So, before I actually did my research on all the schools, I had thought that Mie was a public school.  Color me surprised then when I found out that Miekou was a private school! And it carries the prefecture's namesake!

Despite that, they are an entertaining team to watch in my opinion. They're certainly not the best team, but for some reason I like watching them play.  Dunno if it's becuase of kantoku Okita Nobuo's (沖田 展男) coaching philosophy or what, but I do like seeing them (doesn't change the fact I'd like to see lesser known schools make it (like Ise).

Road to Senbatsu
Matsusaka/ Muro Regionals

• def. Matsusaka 10-0 (5/6 inn)

Mie Prefecturals

• def. Uji-Yamada Shougyou 8-0 (8 inn) [1 hitter!]
• def. Tsu Nishi 8-0 (7 inn)
• def. Inabe Sougou Gakuen 1-0
• def. Ise 5-1

Tokai Super-Regionals

• def. Chuukyoudai Chuukyou 9-2 (7 inn)
• def. Shizuoka Shougyou 10x-0 (6 inn)
• def. Toyokawa 4-3

Meiji Jingu Tournament

• lost Ryuukokudai Heian 5-4

Mie probably had one of the shorter roads to senbatsu. Helps though if you were the summer champion.  That allowed Mie to skip straight to the regional final.

Not to say thought that they didn't deserve it. After wiping out Matsusaka, they basically advanced to ISG where ace Imai Jyuutarou (今井 重太郎) had to put up his best performance.  Pitching opposite ace Ishigaki Koudai, who may have a future in the NPB (he touches 145 but sadly had his defense failed him in the super-regionals) and struck out 12 Mie batters on the night, Imai gave up just 6 hits and shutout ISG 1-0.

With that out of the way, it became a victory lap in the prefecturals as Ise never had a chance.

And so they went to the super-regional where Chuukyoudai Chuukyou awaited. Known more recently for that Koushien final against Nihon Bunri, they haven't quite returned to that form.  Even though they held on for a while, a 6-run 5th pretty much did them in.  Then, against a Shizuoka Shougyou squad who took advantage of ISG errors to advance, Mie put up numbers every inning as they just pulled away for the win.

But the good times came to a halt against Toyokawa in the final.  Imai would give up a point in the first 2 innings and then tacked on 1 more in the 8th for a 3-0 lead.  But Mie didn't give up.  An error  led to the first run for Mie, and then they managed to load the bases with 2 outs.  2B Sada Hiroki (佐田 泰輝) hit a grounder to the left side, Toyokawa SS Takakuｗa Hirashirou (高桑 平士郎) fielded it and made a running throw to 1st.  However, it short-hopped him and it got away. 2 more runners would score giving Mie the 4-3 lead.  Imai would close out the game and secure just their 4th super-regional title and first in 19 years.

But up against Ryuukokudai Heian, Imai struggled yet again as his team fell behind 5-0.  Mie did a good job rallying late, but it wouldn't be enough.

For Imai, I ound just 2 videos.  One from the fall, and the other video I found was this back in Natsu Koushien when he faced of all people Anraku (who he ended up walking) and Saibi.  I don't imagine his speed has improved (high 120s), though given their success I would imagine his control has.

Offensively, Mie's consistent hitters not surprisingly reside at the top of the lineup.  Leadoff batter and captain Nagano Hayato (長野 勇斗), and cleanup batters Seko Ren (世古 錬), and Nishioka Musashi (西岡 武蔵) provide most of the oomph in the offense.

I think Mie can give any team a good challenge - I liken them similar to Hanamaki Higashi in terms of their grittiness, rarely ever losing a game by a blowout loss.  Even against Saibi, they rallied late to make a 9-2 game a 9-7 game - and that was against Anraku no less.  They may not win a game, but they will make it entertaining nonetheless.

32 teams in 32 days - Toukai Dai-san (Nagano)

While perhaps I'm not a fan of Toukaidai Sagami, it doesn't mean I don't like all Toukaidai schools.  There's Toukai Dai-yon up in Hokkaido who is definitely an above-average team, but can't break through.  And in Nagano, Toukai Dai-san is the same.  While I would favor Chikyuu Kankyou (since an environmental school making it sounds really cooler), I kind of wanted Toukai to make it.

And guess what, they did!!

Road to Senbatsu
Nanshin Regionals

• def. Ina Kita 3-1
• def. Okaya Kougyou 3-0
• def. Suwa Seiryou 5-1
• lost Okaya Minami 6-2
• def. Matsukawa 7-6

Nagano Prefecturals

• def. Matsumoto Agatagaoka 4-2
• def. Ueda Higashi 3-0
• def. Matsushou Gakuen 3-1
• def. Iiyama 13-5 (7 inn)
• def. Chikyuu Kankyou 3-2

Hokushinetsu Super-Regionals

• def. Komatsu Ootani 2-0
• def. Niigata Meikun 7-5
• def. Hokuriku 5-2
• lost Nihon Bunri 6-5 (11 inn)

But it doesn't look like they really had an easy time of it.  Two close games to start against relative unknowns and then they lost to Okaya Minami in the Nanshin semi-finals.  With 6 teams advancing though they were fine and finished 3rd in a close game against Matsukawa.

But they really had to put the pedal to the metal once the prefecturals began.  But if by pedal to the metal you mean more close game, then yes they did.  They defeated Matsumoto Agatagaoka (whose campus is kitty corner from the HS from the Onegai! series) and Ueda Higashi, then put up a similar score this time against a weathered Matsushou Gakuen - their first real test.

After that win, they actually had an uncharacteristic blowout win over Iiyama before kantoku Fujii Kouji (藤井 浩二) let his ace rest, and still prevailed over Chikyuu Kankyou to win the prefecturals.

Onto the Super-Regionals and first up was a school that eliminated my friend's former school.  That would be no problem as ace Takai Julian(!!) (高井 ジュリアン) pitched a complete game 6-hitter.

Julian then went on to shut down Niigata Meikun for 8 innings before walking his team home in the 9th.  The worst may have been over, but they still needed at least one more win.  And Julian delivered that as he helped lead them wire-to-wire over Hokuriku to perhaps secure them a spot at senbatsu.

While Nihon Bunri sent their ace Iidzuka out, once again Fujii-kantoku sent out his reserves on the mound.  And you know what? They still almost won the super-regional behind the pitching of Nakamura Kaisei (中村 海誠) and Hirabayashi Shunta (平林 俊太).

So, onto the players.  Ace Julian as you can see is a righty, has the standard fare of pitches, but outside of that, and the fact that his mother is Filipino, I got nothing else on him.  For #11 Kaisei, I have this blurry video of him, and outside of the digests the only thing on Hirabayashi is that he throws in the low-mid 130s.

Offensively, the only player seemingly noted is C Hara Yuuji (原 雄士), who has a twitter account, but I'm not sure why he's mentioned.  One person who had success at the plate (as far as I can tell anyways) is Urano Masaya (浦野 雅也) who has several extra-base hits and is the team's cleanup hitter.  2B Aoki Koudai (青木 洸大) is mentioned as a good player in the field, and did have a triple in the super-regional final.

Pitching and defense certainly can win a title, and Toukai Dai-san seems like the Hokushinetsu version of Touyoudai Himeji, where they try to keep the score low and score enough runs to win.  It's hard to say given the little information we have on the pitching staff, so we'll just have to see how they do in their first test.  But region must be taken into account, and in that sense Toukai Dai-san would fall short. But then again Toyama Dai-ichi fell in that same category, and yet they reached the Best 8.

Next up, one of the more entertaining teams on the field, Mie!

32 teams in 32 days - Nihon Bunri (Niigata)

I've been hoping that Nihon Bunri somehow gets back to that magical year when they almost came back to defeat Chuukyoudai Chuukyou for the Natsu Koushien title.  However, they have for the most part retreated back into a Niigata powerhouse, but a passed over regular at Koushien.

Road to Senbatsu
North Niigata Regionals

• def. Kamo Gyousei 10-0 (5 inn)
• def. Niigata Seiryou 13-0 (5 inn)

Niigata Prefecturals

• def. Sekine Gakuen 8-1 (7 inn)
• def. Hokuetsu 2-1
• def. Sanjyou 3-1
• def. Niigata Meikun 4-3

Hokushinetsu Super-Regionals

• def. Tsuruga Kehi 5-1
• def. Toyama Dai-ichi 4-0
• def. Chikyuu Kankyou 4-3 (10 inn)
• def. Toukai Dai-san 6-5 (11 inn)

Meiji Jingu Tournament

• def. Ryuukokudai Heian 6-5
• def. Imabari Nishi 10x-3 (7 inn)
• lost Okinawa Shougaku 9-8

Interestingly, Nihon Bunri had one of the longer roads to senbatsu, even if perhaps the road isn't as difficult as in other areas.  And yet they almost earned the Hokushinetsu region another bid if not for a comprehensive collapse giving up an 8 run lead against Okishou. Digests of their games can be found following the links.

Ace Iidzuka Satoshi (飯塚 悟史) somehow got known for his bat when in the Meiji Jingu tournament he went 3-8 with not 1, not 2, but 3 HR's!!  This after batting a paltry 0.143 in the Super-Regionals.  But his pitching got some notice when he had a short stint last summer against Osaka Touin and gave up a hit, walked and struck out 1 in 2 innings of work.  He generally throws in the upper 130s, touching 140 with a forkball to go with the standard arsenal.  However, in his final 3 games of work he gave up 5 runs in each outing.

Kodachi Otowa (小太刀 緒飛), who started the game against Osaka Touin was given the ball early in their run, but wasn't really trusted later on by kantoku Ooi Michio (大井 道夫).  Instead against Imabari Nishi, Ooi went with Fujita Yuuhei (藤田 優平), a lefty who doesn't dominate, but in his start against Imabari Nishi pitched efficiently throwing just 86 pitches in his 7 innings of work, striking out 2, walking 2 and giving up 3 runs on 8 hits.

Kodachi appears to be more comfortable at the plate, though in terms of consistently you may want to look at OF Hoshi Kenta (星 兼太), 3B Ikeda Takamasa (池田 貴将) and C Kamakura Kou (鎌倉 航).  These three by far were Nihon Bunri's better hitters, and each hit a HR against Okinawa Shougaku, though in that game, who didn't?

There certainly is a lot to possibly be optimistic about, especially with the Meiji Jingu performance.  But you have to remember it is still the Hokushinetsu region and success doesn't come as often.

Next up, the breakthrough of Toukai Dai-san from Nagano!

32 teams in 32 days - Kanto Dai-ichi (Tokyo)

Kanto Dai-ichi managed to climb out of the Tokyo Super-Regionals to earn the only bid from the JHBF.  In so doing, they revenged a loss to Nisshougakushadai Fuzoku from the summer in the final and unbeknownst to them eliminated their rival from senbatsu.

Road to Senbatsu
Block 8 Regionals

• def. Higashi 9-2 (7 inn)
• def. Komae 10-0 (5 inn)

Tokyo Super-Regionals

• def. Komagome Gakuen 4-3
• def. Ouji Sougou 7-0 (7 inn)
• def. Jyouhoku 6-1
• def. Adachi Nishi 7-0 (7 inn)
• def. Toukaidai Takanawadai 4-0
• def. Nisshougakushadai Fuzoku 7-6 (10 inn)

Meiji Jingu Tournament

• lost Okinawa Shougaku 8-3

Kanto Dai-ichi did not have to face many of the other strong teams as many of them got knocked out elsewhere in the bracket, and as shown in the scores above, decisively beat most of the teams they were supposed to beat.

There were some exceptions.  In the opening round of the Super-Regionals, Komagome Gakuen actually held a 3-0 lead before ace Hachiya fell apart in the final 2 innings.  And in that revenge match versus Nisshougakushadai Fuzoku, they let a 3-run slip away before scrapping out a sayonara win in the 10th.  And then against Okinawa Shougaku, they held a slim 3-2 lead before a puzzling decision by kantoku Yonezawa Takamitsu (米沢 貴光) to go with lightly used #11 Tanabe Ren (田邉 廉)

So now onto the team.

While Haketa Akihiro (羽毛田 晶啓) wears the ace number, he was not predominantly used in the super-regionals.  That goes to #10, rookie lefty Abe Takeshi (阿部 武士).  But we have more information on Haketa.  He throws in the low 130s with a slider and forkball.  We even have more info on Tanabe, who imploded against Okishou, than Abe.  His specs are pretty much average, low 130s fastball with a slider and curve.

Offensively, there is C Ikeda ? (池田 瞳夢) who I don't have any batting info on, but was 2-4 against Okinawa Shougaku, and 1B Ookawa Kouki (大川 公輝) who was 4-4.

Kanto Dai-ichi appears to be a team that can handle its business against weaker competition, something that is very needed in single-elimination tournaments.  However, with just 3 games against tougher competition with mixed results, they may not be able to be considered as a favorite to win it all.

Next up, up to the mountainous Hokushinetsu region and champs Nihon Bunri!

On getting info on teams...

So in going through the reviews of teams invited to Senbatsu, you've seen that it can be difficult to get information on players one way or another.  More surprisingly, I have had difficulties with teams in the Kanto region.

But perhaps it shouldn't be surprising at all...

I say this because if I had the chance to help out a team trying to reach Koushien, I would scout the heck out of the schools I might be facing.  Anything to get an advantage, especially against the upper tier schools. In fact, we already see some of it being used in actual gameplay like Saibi vs. Hanamaki Higashi.

So why wouldn't I look on the internet for videos of players from opposing schools? Or games they have played in?

Which brings me to my point.  I already saw signs of it a couple of years back when a YouTube video of a school that had made Koushien was blurred out in places so that it would be difficult to identify players.  If it was like that back then, I would imagine it's still the case now.

So, I guess outside of the real superstar players who many will be taking videos of, it might be a little more difficult to find videos of players.

32 teams in 32 days - Yokohama (Kanagawa)

For me this selection was made by the JHBF for all the wrong reasons. Yokohama had lost to a 2nd tier team in Sano Nichidai while Nisshougakushadai Fuzoku from the Tokyo Super-Regional had reached the final, defeated several quality teams and almost beat Kanto Dai-ichi who they had beated last summer (remember though that here in the fall the 3rd years are not eligible to play).

So I admittedly will be looking at their resume with a lot of scrutiny now.

Road to Senbatsu
Kanagawa Prefecturals

• def. Yokohama Hayato 6-2
• def. Shounan 5-2
• def. Tachibana Gakuen (橘学苑) 3-2
• def. Keio Gijyuku 6-5 (10 inn)
• def. Toukaidai Sagami 4-0
• def. Nichidai 4-2

Super-Regionals

• def. Shiritsu Kawagoe 5-0
• lost Sano Nichidai 5-3

This resume doesn't help the JHBF's case at all in my opinion and it just furthers my theory that they wanted ratings and selected them over a more deserving Nisshougakushadai Fuzoku.

Against Keio, who was vying for top-tier status in prefecture several years ago, but has fallen to 2nd tier status Yokohama gave them 3 runs in the 8th, then had to rally in the 9th and 10th to pull out the victory.  Now, they did 3-hit Toukaidai Sagami, but Sagami has also kind of fallen to 2nd tier status.  And in the final, the Cinderella Nichidai squad kept up with Yokohama though they lost 4-2.

The Super-regional games do not help either as they expectedly defeated Shiritsu Kawagoe before falling to Sano Nichidai (who would lose one round later).

The ace still remains Itou Masashi (伊藤 将司) who has average velocity on his fastball and has a two-seamer and change in addition to the standard.  During the fall tournament though he only struck out 7.2 per 9 while almost issuing 4 walks in that same interval.  This despite the fact that people look at his 14 K performance against Marugame back in the summer.  Looking at his 9 K performance against Nichidai it was obvious that in that game he got his Ks knowing that Nichidai couldn't hold up on the high strike.

Offensively, probably the 2 consistent performers are the 2-3 combo of 1B Watanabe Yoshiaki (渡辺  佳明) and CF Asama Daiki (浅間 大基).  Cleanup batter Takahama Yuuto (高濱 祐仁), younger brother of Takuya who plays for Chiba Lotte is trying to be part of the power trio but hasn't quite lived up to that just yet.

Can Yokohama win a game?  Certainly. Can they win another one after that? Mm.... not so sure.

32 teams in 32 days - Sano Nichidai (Tochigi)

Sano Nichidai makes their 4th trip to Senbatsu after a 7-year hiatus despite the fact that it would be the 2nd place team in prefecture that would eventually win the Kanto Super-Regionals.

Road to Senbatsu
Tochigi Prefecturals

• def. Ishibashi 10x-0 (5 inn)
• def. Tochigi Shougyou 11-0 (5 inn)
• def. Utsunomiya Minami 5-0
• def. Seiran Taito 9-3
• def. Hakuoudai Ashikaga 5-0

Super-Regionals

• def. Toukaidai Koufu 3-1
• def. Yokohama 5-3
• lost Kiryuu Dai-ichi 5-0

Sano Nichidai pretty much dominated Tochigi, defeating both a more than decent Seiran Taito and prefectural upper tier Hakuoudai.  That continued into the super-regionals where they jumped on Yokohama 5-0 after the 1st inning as ace Tajima Taiki (田嶋 大樹) held off one of the more vaunted teams in kokoyakyu.  Their run would end after kantoku Matsumoto Hiroshi (松本 弘司) decided to start Inaba Kousei (稲葉 恒成) over Tajima.  Inaba would only record 2 outs as Kiryuu would score 4 of their eventual 5 runs in the 1st.

Finally I have some information on players on a team.  First of all ace Tajima.  He's a lefty who throws in the low 140s with a forkball and sinker to go along with the standard fare.  Not necessarily a strikeout pitcher, he still gets his fare share of K's while scattering hits across the innings (like against Yokohama).  There may have been some nerves for Inaba, a freshman who throws in the low 130s with at least a slider.  How much he'll be trusted will be unknown.

Other players who have been noted by various sites include, Yoshida ? (吉田 叡生) who is apparently one of their better power hitters though got this bounding single against Yokohama, Takemura Norio (竹村 律生) and Kakizawa Ikuya (柿澤 郁也).  Not much explaining why necessarily, but perhaps these players will be ones to watch come March.

(Even with some info I think a post will be in order regarding how hard it sometimes can be in obtaining information regarding players.)

Next team up... Yokohama (and IMO I'd better find a good reason to have them selected)...

32 teams in 32 days - Yamanashi Gakuindai Fuzoku (Yamanashi)

Though perhaps we have seen Yamanashi Gakuindai Fuzoku at Koushien a bit recently, this is just their 2nd time to reach senbatsu and it is their first appearance in 20 years!

Road to Senbatsu
Yamanashi Prefecturals

• def. Yamanashi Nourin 11-0 (5 inn)
• def. Yoshida 4-1
• def. Tsuru 5-1
• def. Hikawa 9x-2 (8 inn)
• def. Toukaidai Koufu 8-2

Super-Regionals

• def. Nichidai 5-2
• def. Kendai Takasaki 4-3
• lost Hakuoudai Ashikaga 3-1

So, as I mentioned with Kiryuu Dai-ichi, the Kanto super-regionals do not seem to be rather strong this past fall.  Which to go off topic for a second makes me even more and more furious that Yokohama was invited.  If the region was weak Yokohama should have found a way to get themselves in without the help of the JHBF.

But I digress...

Now, Yamanashi Gakuindai did have some solid games, starting with their semifinals and finals of the prefecturals.  Both Hikawa and Toukaidai Koufu are no slouches and the fact that Yamanashi Gakuindai defeated both handily is a positive sign.

However, go onto the Super-Regionals and it's a different matter.  Nichidai was a good story coming out of Kanagawa, but a 5-2 victory isn't necessarily that impressive despite the fact that Nichidai's 2 runs came in the 9th.  Next up was Kendai Takasaki, who I liken to a poor man's Hanamaki Higashi, and like them they played Yamanashi Gakuindai really close.  It had to take a 3-run bottom 8th for Yamanashi Gakuindai to advance.  And then in the semifinals, they just threw a whole bunch of pitchers at Hakuoudai (4 to be exact), in a 3-1 loss.  But they advanced far enough that the JHBF gave them a call the other day.

Kantoku Yoshida Kouji's (吉田 洸二) ace is Yamaguchi Daisuke (山口 大輔).  But this video is all the information I have on him.  No other data like how hard he throws or what pitches he throws.  Just that he's the ace.  Other than that, there are the other pitchers who threw in the Hakuoudai game such as #10 Ooshiro Teppei (大城 哲平), #3 Uehara Susumu (上原 進) and #18 Miyano Hiromu (宮野 大夢).

I'm surprised I'm able to find out so little on these teams.  If this keeps up I might need to give a post explaining why this might be the case.  Again, with not much to go on, it will be hard to project how far they can go.  To be honest though, given their resume it doesn't look like they'll get that far - though Yoshida-kantoku doesn't seem to be that hesitant to go to the other pitchers.

32 teams in 32 days - Kiryuu Dai-ichi (Gunma)

Kiryuu Dai-ichi perhaps is making a comeback here with their runner-up performance in the Kanto Super-Regionals.  They might still have a bit of a ways to go, but this is a start - especially after being unseeded in the prefecturals.

Road to Senbatsu
Gunma Prefecturals

• def. Isesaki Seimei 3-0
• def. Maebashi 2-1
• def. Kiryuu 6-4
• def. Numata 5-2
• def. Takasaki Shougyoudai Fuzoku 3-2
• lost Kendai Takasaki 3-2 (13 inn)

Super-Regionals

• def. Chiba Keizaidai Fuzoku 3-0
• def. Kasumigaura 2x-1
• def. Sano Nichidai 5-0
• lost Hakuoudai Ashikaga 6-3

Hm, looking at Kiryuu Dai-ichi's resume, it doesn't look all that appealing.  Their only game of note was their loss to Kendai Takasaki in the final, and then in the Super-Regionals they faced 2nd and 3rd tier schools up to (and including) their loss against Hakuoudai Ashikaga.

The good news is that it would appear that their pitching appears to be doing their job against the competition - remember that they put up their relief corps against Hakuoudai (though that could be interpreted now as a possible weakness). The staff is led by ace Yamada Kazuki (山田 知輝) who throws in the upper 120s-lower 130s with a possible slider, curve and changeup.

Behind him is #11 Higashinomiya(?) Kazuo (東宮 万夫) and #18 Nishiyama Yuuto (西山 雄登).  However, they were only used in the final when both teams did not necessarily have incentive to play their 1st team.

Oddly enough, despite Kiryuu Dai-ichi's status as an upper tier team in prefecture, there is very little information on the players outside of the pitchers.  I found a short video with highlights of their game against Sano Nichidai, but that's about it.

That means I have surprisingly very little to go on regarding the Kanto runner-ups.  The record does not suggest a very robust team to handle senbatsu and perhaps highlights how weak the Kanto region might have been (*ahem*Nisshougakushadai Fuzoku*ahem*), but we'll need to put them in context relative to the other regions.

32 teams in 32 days - Hakuoudai Ashikaga (Tochigi)

And now onto the Kanto region, where they were awarded 5 representatives.  First up, the Kanto champs Hakuoudai Ashikaga - who to my surprise had not ever gone to senbatsu before.  This despite the fact that they've been to Natsu Koushien 3 times.

Anyways, here was their road to senbatsu.

Road to Senbatsu
Tochigi Prefecturals

• def. Yasaka Chuo 6-3
• def. Oyama 2x-1 (11 inn)
• def. Tochigi 15-0 (5 inn)
• def. Sakushin Gakuin 3-2
• def. Kokugakuin Tochigi 4x-3 (10 inn)
• lost Sano Nichidai 5-0

Super-Regionals

• def. Hanasaki Tokuharu 6-5
• def. Narashino 3-1
• def. Yamanashi Gakuindai Fuzoku 3-1
• def. Kiryuu Dai-ichi 6-3

Meiji Jingu Tournament

• lost Iwakuni 6-4

Hakuoudai Ashikaga did not have an easy road to winning the Kanto Super-Regionals. Imagine having to play Sakushin Gakuin in the quarterfinals in order to advance.  And yet, they almost dominated the game save for a late rally that almost came back to win.  It would make sense that there might be a letdown in their next game.  So it was against Kokugakuin Tochigi (who by no means is a pushover). Trailing 3-0 with just 3 outs to go, Kokugakuin suffered from the pressure of defeating a big name team. They gave up their 3 run lead and would be bid sayonara one inning later.

Having qualified for the Tohoku Super-Regional, perhaps Hakuoudai finally had their letdown being blanked by Sano Nichidai 5-0.

The loss also put them in a bad spot right off the bat having to play Saitama champs Hanasaki Tokuharu right off the bat.  And yet, they never trailed taking a 6-1 lead before holding on to win 6-5.  Then ace Higa Shin (比嘉 新) limited my Narashino squad to just 1 run in a fairly dominant 3-1 win.  Just a day later, he'd repeat his performance against Yamanashi Gakuindai Fuzoku.

Having gone back-to-back days, kantoku Fujita Shinji (藤田 慎二) let him rest in favor of relief starter Hasegawa Keita (長谷川 慶太) and normal LF Ooshita Seichirou (大下 誠一郎) in the title game against Kiryuu Dai-ichi who also rested their ace.  Again, this probably in the name of not giving up too much information.  Hakuoudai would win the battle of the backup starters 6-3 claiming their first ever Tohoku title and their 1st bid to senbatsu.

Higa would retake the hill in their first game against Iwakuni in the Meiji Jingu tournament, and things looked good as with some well placed balls (including one from himself), they built a 4-1 lead.  However, Higa would lose support in the field in the 8th as SS Kamon Hikaru (下門 光瑠) would go home on a play with the bases loaded, hitting the runner and allowing Iwakuni to eventually take the lead to win 6-4.

Interestingly, ace Higa does not throw particularly hard, somewhere in the low 130s. Reports vary on his repertoire, he has a slider for sure, but either has a curve/change, perhaps a forkball, and might have a cutter as well.

I have to wonder though how much Fujita-kantoku really will lean on the relief staff. Ooshita is more known as a power-hitter on the team more than a pitcher, and yet is turned to more than who would be their reliever in #10 Hasegawa.  And yet, I do not see him pitching outside of the final against Kiryuu Dai-ichi.

Offensively they do not appear to be as strong as perhaps other contenders.  Higa at best seems to be someone that could be Ojima from Urawa Gakuin who doesn't throw hard, but perhaps get the job done.  There doesn't look to be any solid backup behind him, so it'll be boom or bust for the first-timers. Higa can certainly last for 1 or 2 games, but after that the competition will be rough.

Next up today... runner-ups Kiryuu Dai-ichi!