The commander's resolution entrusted to summer national high school baseball by Mitsuo Maeda July 15th, 10:53
Teikyo High School in Tokyo boasts a total of three spring-summer championships at Koshien.
It was also called "East Yokozuna".
Former coach Mitsuo Maeda, who led this team for 50 years, retired last summer, and his former captain, who was a student, became the coach.
For the last 10 years, teams moving away from Koshien are struggling to regain their former brilliance.
(Yuki Matsumoto, Network News Department)
Do you know the word "Teikyo soul"?
"Is it okay for the team to lose due to your mistake?"
The ground of the Teikyo High School baseball club in a corner of a residential area in Itabashi Ward, Tokyo.
The angry issue of 37-year-old director Yuya Kaneda with a knock bat echoed.
Ten minutes later, Director Kaneda, who had a gentle smile, came to me.
"I'm Kaneda, the director. Thank you!" Even if you're
not familiar with baseball, I've heard the words "Teikyo Tamashii" from the Teikyo High School baseball club and the talent Takaaki Ishibashi on TV programs. I think there are many people.
This time, with this "Teikyo soul" as an opportunity, we proceeded with the interview to follow the appearance of the baseball club that is expected to revive.
Once feared as an eastern yokozuna due to the strength of the national district
51 wins in Koshien and 3 wins in spring and summer.
Teikyo High School was not only in Tokyo, but was once a powerful school in the national district called Yokozuna in the east.
Mitsuo Maeda, a famous general who has been in command since the baseball club was established after the official game last summer, has retired.
Mr. Kaneda, who was a coach, will be appointed as a coach, and will be attending the East Tokyo Tournament for the first time this summer when he participated in Koshien.
June before the tournament.
At the time of finishing the team, I thought that I would like to concentrate on the guidance and refused the interview, but Director Kaneda responded.
Director Kaneda
"I want the players to turn the media coverage and the attention of the surroundings into power. I am grateful that they are attracting attention, and if I can not withstand this much attention and pressure, I have to do as a Teikyo player. I am thinking"
I heard about the finish of the team in the interview, and when the story moved to "Teikyo Soul", the expression became cloudy for a moment.
Director Kaneda
"That question is often asked. If you give a model answer, it would be the pride of the strong man that the great seniors have built up, but we have not been in Koshien for 10 years. Change the commander. If I couldn't win this summer, Teikyo wouldn't be able to go to Koshien all the time. I spend one day with such a sense of crisis. Can't do it. "
From that narrative, I felt a strong determination to be entrusted with rebuilding the team.
Suddenly the consultation for the appointment of director
In 2002, when Teikyo OB Director Kaneda was in his second year, he participated in the summer Koshien with a number of 15.
He was appointed captain when he was in the third grade, but was eliminated in the fifth round of the East Tokyo Tournament.
He continued to play baseball at the University of Tsukuba, and after graduating he got a job at a venture company.
However, he said goodbye to his life as a salaryman in two years, and after coaching at another high school, he became a coach at his alma mater in 2011 when he was recalled to former coach Maeda.
Then, at the end of August, just before the city tournament last fall, I was asked to assume the post of director.
Director Kaneda
"I was really surprised. I thought that Director Maeda would continue. But since I was entrusted with it, I wanted to keep the tradition of Teikyo." Director of Teikyo High School "is something that I want to be. I was angry if it wasn't. "
I also asked former coach Maeda why.
Former coach Maeda
"I was fine and my enthusiasm for high school baseball hasn't diminished. However, as the world changed and the teaching method of high school baseball changed dramatically, I couldn't push through the same way as before. There were no results. From the age of 72, I wasn't prepared to take on new challenges. I think the people around me were surprised because I didn't say anything other than my wife to quit until just before. Since I was a player, I had the ability to observe the characteristics of my friends and opponents and read the flow of the game. Even after becoming a coach, I greedily learned teaching methods and baseball theory, and I thought it was suitable for my successor. "
To a team that cannot be exploited due to errors or mistakes
How can we regain our appearance as a strong school that once sprung up Koshien?
The first thing Kaneda started was to be able to play the play that he showed in his practice in the match.
Almost all defensive practice and batting practice are assumed to be actual battles.
Not only the presence or absence of runners and out counts, but also point differences and innings were set, and players were asked to play accordingly.
Director Kaneda
"In my experience, I've been getting a lot of points due to errors and misjudgments in the flow. Powerful schools all over the country take advantage of such errors and mistakes to score points. It was necessary to strengthen the team to be unsuccessful by being aware of the actual battle from the usual practice. "
A “reverse” approach to the former director
In batting practice, carefully check the player's swing from behind the cage.
I'll give you some advice, but I've decided not to talk about the form.
In a sense, it's the opposite approach to Zen Maeda, who creates a batting pattern from scratch.
Director Kaneda
"In many cases, children nowadays find a type that suits them from the hits of professional baseball players on SNS and TV and enter the school. If you teach them about hits from scratch, the form will collapse and players will be accepted. If so, I'm trying to minimize the correction of the form and give a sense of purpose such as what kind of ball to hit. "
Shinya Kojima (3rd grade), the third player, has greatly improved with this teaching method.
He is not as tall as 1 meter and 70 centimeters, but he has a bold swing.
The total number of home runs was 16 as of last fall, but it has been mass-produced since this spring and has reached 37 by mid-June.
Kojima
: "Director Kaneda acknowledges his daringness, so I feel more confident. I think he has become a strength that he can be proud of as a team because he is less likely to lose to a strong school opponent."
Accepting the flow of the times
I would like to practice as much as possible in order to aim for the distant Koshien, but I made a big decision in May.
We set Monday as a holiday to allow players to refresh.
Having a weekly off increases the seriousness of facing baseball.
Rei Watanabe
"Because of my father's influence, I wanted to regain a strong Teikyo, so I entered the school without hesitation. Some players went to other strong schools because they had no holidays. The day is devoted to physical care, so I'm more focused on my practice than ever before. "
What is the reason for entrusting the ace number?
Early July, two weeks before the East Tokyo Tournament, which was about to participate in the summer Koshien.
Teikyo High School played practice games with Koshien regular schools in various places and entered the adjustment stage through actual battles.
We interviewed a practice match with Sakushin Gakuin in Tochigi.
Director Kaneda couldn't decide who would be the number one ace pitcher among the regulars.
Pitcher Daisuke Sakuma, a third-year pitcher who pitched from the sixth inning as the second pitcher, has only pitched a double-digit uniform number so far, and his first pitch in the official game was the "late bloomer" of this spring's city tournament.
He had two goals in the fourth inning, but pitcher Sakuma, who hasn't been very enthusiastic until now, showed a stance of fighting on the mound, such as giving a struck out every time he struck out in a pinch scene.
Manager Kaneda decided to give pitcher Sakuma a uniform number 1 based on the pitching content of this game.
Director Kaneda
"Pitcher Sakuma showed a bullish pitch without being distracted by a strong opponent. I think it is important to properly evaluate the players who have achieved results for the summer tournament."
Pitcher Sakuma
"Last summer, I was mentally driven and I was afraid to throw, but Director Kaneda and my third graders persistently supported me. To give back, this summer I will be a team as an ace. I want to make an impression of the revival of Teikyo by throwing a ball to win. "
OB also wants to see the male figure at Koshien again
Many professional baseball players such as Yasuaki Yamasaki (DeNA), the representative of Japan for the Tokyo Olympics, have been born from Teikyo High School.
We also spoke with Chairman Kazushige Kojima and Vice Chairman Toshiki Yoshioka, who are the organizers of the alumni association.
The two of them participated in Koshien in the Showa era, and I hope that the current players will enjoy the real thrill of playing on the big stage of Koshien.
Chairman Kojima
"I want the children to do their best now, but as an alumnus, I miss Teikyo not appearing in Koshien for 10 years. I don't want to see the weak Teikyo. I'm looking forward to having a good team. "
Former coach Maeda also occasionally visits the ground to observe the practice and sends ale.
Former director Maeda
"Because Director Kaneda is instructing, I will not stay long, but I am energized by seeing the students doing their best. The pressure to carry the Teikyo signboard may be considerable, but I put out the color of Director Kaneda. I want you to make a new shape of Teikyo again. "
I asked former director Maeda about the word "Teikyo soul".
Former coach Maeda
"When I first started the baseball club at Teikyo High School, I started with four members and shared the ground with the soccer club. In such a disadvantaged environment, the environment is in place. From the strong feeling that I can never lose to the traditional school, I think that it is a tradition that players of each generation accumulated the result of victory and inherited it. I've told you that it's not cheap. "
On top of that ...
Former coach Maeda
"Literally," Teikyo soul "is in my heart. I'm sure that players who have endured intense training for the summer tournament will show their soul everywhere in the play. I believe the director did. "
Teikyo High School will be the first Koshien in 11 years if it wins 6 games in the East Tokyo Tournament.
Director Kaneda
: "If you lose in the summer, high school baseball is over in the third grade, so it's a different pressure than last fall or spring. I know that the expectations of those around me are high. But I'm the only one who is bound by the tradition of Teikyo. I want the players to take good care of each and every match in front of them so that they can play baseball with their friends for as long as one day, and I hope that I can stay with them for as long as possible. I want to fight. "
[Postscript] Message included in the uniform
The uniform of Teikyo High School is "Teikyo" in English.
Some teams have different uniforms for practice games and official games, but Teikyo High School has almost the same design.
It is said that this is intended to make players think about the meaning of carrying Teikyo's name even in practice games, and to give them the same tension as in official games.