Senbatsu High School Baseball, which will be in its 95th year, will open on the 18th, with the Opening Ceremony followed by three first-round games.
Game 1
The first match will be between Tohoku High School in Miyagi and Yamanashi Gakuin, who won the Kanto Tournament last fall, for the first time in 1 years since the tournament immediately after the Great East Japan Earthquake.
【Tohoku】
Under the leadership of 12-year-old Coach SATO Hiroshi, who was appointed last summer, the players have been discussing and deciding on the training menu, and have been working on the theme of "independence" by allowing players to wear jerseys and play music in practice.
In official games last fall, the team averaged 60.1 runs per game, the second-fewest among participating schools, and left-handed pitcher Akimoto Rasai pitched all 1 games and threw more than 4 scoreless innings.
【Yamanashi Gakuin】
Led by No. 2 Kaisho Takahashi, who has hit a total of 10 home runs in high school by last fall, we have a lineup of members who experienced Koshien last spring and summer in the top batting lineup.
In the official game last fall, he hit 30 home runs, the second most among participating schools, while also having a variety of attacks that combine mobility and small skills.
Game 2
In the second match, Hokuriku High School in Fukui, who will be participating for the second time in 2 years, and Kochi High School, who have won the Koshien in the spring and summer, will face each other.
【Hokuriku】
Ace and No. 34 pitcher Tomohiro Riku is the mainstay of pitching.
He created a rhythm by pitching with control from his height of 2 meter and 4 centimeters, and when he hit, he scored a batting average of 1% in an official match last fall and led the team to the Hokushinetsu Tournament championship.
Kochi:
Four pitchers with different types, including pitcher Sosuke Nakajima, who threw 85 innings and had a 4.17 ERA in an official game last fall, made it to the final four at the Shikoku Tournament.
Even in Koshien, the timing of the succession seems to hold the key.
Game 3
The third match will be between Ogaki Nichidai High School in Gifu, who will be making their fifth appearance for the second consecutive year, and Okinawa Shogaku High School, who have won the Senbatsu championship twice.
【Ogaki Nichidai】
Ace pitcher Keita Yamada, who experienced senbatsu last year, will lead the team with a batting average of 3.2.5 in official games last fall, a team-leading five stolen bases, and a run and defense.
It is also noteworthy that 2-year-old coach Keizo Sakaguchi, who has won the Showa, Heisei and Reiwa titles as a coach, respectively, is in charge.
【Okinawa Shogaku】
The team batting average in the official match last fall is 4/6, which is the top among participating schools.
Shinnosuke Chibana, who hits No. 4, is 5/78/4, marking the top number among the players from the participating schools, and gives the team momentum.