Before the summer national high school baseball season kicked off on the 6th, a rehearsal for the opening ceremony was held at Koshien Stadium with the participation of players from the representative schools.
The 104th summer national high school baseball tournament will be held with the general public for the first time in three years, with 49 representative schools that have won the regional tournaments.
Hamada High School in Shimane, Teikyo Daigo High School in Ehime, and Arita Kogyo in Saga were absent from the opening ceremony due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection within the team. , In addition to four schools, Kyushu Gakuin in Kumamoto, 43 schools participated, excluding Prefectural Gifu Commercial School and Kyushu International University High School in Fukuoka, where multiple players were newly confirmed to be unwell.
Last year's opening ceremony was simplified as a measure against infection, with players wearing masks marching only from the outfield to the infield, but this year the players are prohibited from shouting during the march. On the other hand, for the first time in three years, it will be returned to the format of making one lap around the hall.
During the rehearsal, the players confirmed the flow, and Kanagawa's Yokohama High School captain Haruki Tamaki, who took the oath at the end, practiced to prepare for the 6th.
The tournament will be held for 17 days, including a rest day on the 3rd, starting on the 6th.