Hirokazu Ibata, manager of the Japanese national team, visited the professional baseball team Softbank's Miyazaki camp to inspect the team. Coach Ibata mentioned Kensuke Kondo, who won the home run and RBI titles last season, as one of his expectations.
Kondo commented through the team, ``I'm happy that people have expectations for me, and I have to do my best.I want to be selected, but I'll do mybest to perform flawlessly throughout the season''