Senbatsu High School Baseball Corona Koshien challenged by children

Senbatsu High School Baseball ended with the fourth victory of Osaka Toin High School.

Participants are players who have been affected by the new coronavirus since they entered high school.

While the usual daily life of "playing baseball" was taken away, the baseball players demonstrated the results of their efforts while devising on the big stage called Koshien.

"With Corona era" ball children

All the players who participated in this year's Senbatsu entered high school after the spread of the new coronavirus.

For the past two years, the school has been closed, there have been times when I couldn't practice the whole thing, and the tournament was canceled, so I've always had difficulties.

Even under such circumstances, the players have continued their efforts by devising practice methods.

Opening ceremony on March 19th.

Kanta Fukushima, the captain of Kurashiki Technical High School in Okayama, expressed the thoughts of the children who have been advancing their steps while facing difficulties in the words of the player's oath.

“It's been three years since we lost our everyday routine.

Pandemics are still happening all over the world, and many people are facing suffering and difficulties.

Still, we are step by step.

Koshien I had a lot of people support me by the time I stood in.

Thanks to those people who are now playing baseball .

I am

grateful to be able to stand on the stage of the sacred place Koshien.

Thank you

, and thank you to our greatest understanding and supportive family. ”

(From Fukushima's oath)

But also the real high school

Due to the influence of the new Corona, some of the participating schools couldn't organize a practice match, so to speak, some teams went to the tournament in a bumping manner.

One of them is Naruto High School in Tokushima.

Pitcher Ryoya Tomita of Ace has been meticulously practicing to aggressively attack the batter's in-course, assuming a battle at Koshien, while he is unable to put up a real battle.

Although he lost to the winner Osaka Toin in the first round, he showed a good throw with three points to keep the strong hit line that marked a double-digit score after the quarter-final.

Pitcher Tomita said, "I'm confident that I was able to throw the ball to the end against Osaka Toin and keep it to 3 points. I want to overcome what didn't work for the summer." I had a happy expression on the harvest I was able to make.

Worth more than winning or losing

At the tournament, Osaka Toin was overwhelmingly strong, but on the other hand, there were many close battles.

Of the 30 games, more than half of the 16 games are up to 9 times within 3 points.

The number of games that were settled in overtime was seven, which is the highest number in the tournament.

In addition, the tiebreaker starting from no-out first base and second base was also the most three games so far.

Keita Kawamura, the captain of Nagasaki Nihondai High School who lost in the tiebreaker, said, "We were all talking that we shouldn't look down because we can play baseball in the place we were aiming for." He talked to me.

In addition, pitcher Soichiro Koshii, the ace of Kisarazu Comprehensive High School in Chiba, who fought two tiebreakers, said, "I enjoyed playing this kind of game at Koshien. I'm excited."

More than winning or losing, it was a great asset to have a fierce battle on the stage of Koshien with rivals who also suffered from Corona.

Everyday life returning

The appearance of the former Koshien has gradually returned to the stand.

From the middle of the tournament, the upper limit of spectators, which had been set at 20,000, was abolished in response to the cancellation of the "priority measures such as spread prevention" issued to Hyogo Prefecture.

Since all the tickets were sold in advance, the number did not exceed 20,000 as a result, but there were also scenes where warm and big applause was sent from the entire stadium to the players who celebrated their birthday on the day of the game. was.

The brass band performance has returned to the Alps seats for the first time in three years.

Although there was an upper limit of 50 people, the powerful performance echoed in the ballpark and pushed the players' backs.

Daisho Ohashi of Ohmi High School in Shiga, who won the runner-up, said, "It helped me to hear the support even when the points were far apart and when I competed." "I was inspired by the support," he said.

Decline in Corona Tournament management

Kyoto International High School declined to participate in this tournament just before the opening because the infection of the new corona spread within the team even though it was decided to participate.

In addition, Hiroshima Commercial, which was supposed to play against Osaka Toin in the second round after breaking through the first round, also declined to participate during the tournament.

The players and managers of the teams that were scheduled to play in the match said, "I can't be crushed" and "I don't know how to look forward if we were ourselves."

As the influence of the new Corona continues, how should the tournament be managed so that the players can demonstrate the results of their efforts?

We need to continue to find ways to do that.