Senbatsu High School Baseball will open at Koshien Stadium on the 18th. This year's 95th anniversary tournament featured 4 schools, four more than usual. Osaka Toin High School will be aiming to win the tournament for the second time in its history, and Sendai Ikuei High School in Miyagi will aim to win the championship following last summer, when the Tohoku team became the first team to win the championship.
"A new star is born?"
has compiled a list of players to watch in the tournament.
《Pitcher》
Osaka Toin (Osaka) Yugo Maeda
He is a left-handed pitcher who throws straight balls with a maximum speed of 148 km and good control of various change balls.
I contributed to the championship at last year's Senbatsu, which I participated in as a sophomore. In last summer's national high school baseball tournament, which was aiming to win back-to-back spring and summer titles, they lost in the quarterfinals. Using that frustration as a springboard, he has been leading the team as captain since autumn.
Sendai Ikuei (Miyagi) Takahashi Yoshiki
He is a right-handed pitcher with stable control.
In last summer's national high school baseball tournament, he posted a record of 0 runs, contributed greatly to the Tohoku team's first championship and became the winning pitcher. In this tournament, he will wear the ace number "1".
Sendai Matsudo (Chiba) Hirano Daichi
He is a right-handed pitcher with a maximum speed of over 150 km. At the Kanto Tournament last fall, he pitched as a reliever due to injury, but he contributed to the runner-up finish with pitching that struck out in key spots. He switched to pitching after entering high school, and his rapid growth has attracted the attention of professional baseball scouts.
Clark International (Hokkaido) Ayuki Shinoka
It is characterized by variable pitching that throws eight types of change balls from three types of pitching forms: three-quarter, side-throw, and underthrow.
Last year, I participated in the summer national high school baseball tournament with my brother, who is one year older, but lost the first game. Senbatsu, who will play as captain and ace, will aim for the team's first Koshien victory.
《Fielder》
Hotoku Gakuen (Hyogo) Hori Hiirina
He is a catcher with three strikeouts. At the Tournament last fall, his batting average far exceeded 3%, and he contributed to the runner-up finish by stealing a base in the game.
Defensively, the time from catching the ball to sending the ball to second base is in the 1.8-second range, which is comparable to that of professional players, and he saves the team from a pinch with his strong shoulder.
Koryo (Hiroshima) Kei Manabe
He is a left-handed hard-hitting infielder who has been a center fielder since freshman year at Senbatsu three-time champion Koryo and has hit 3 home runs in high school as of last fall.
The team is called "Bonds" after Barry Bonds, who hit 762 home runs, the most in Major League Baseball history.
Keio (Kanagawa) Katsuji Kiyohara
He is attracting attention as the second son of Kazuhiro Kiyohara, who once played at PL Gakuen in Osaka and hit a total of 13 home runs, the most in history at the spring and summer Koshien.
He is an infielder who led the batting order with two home runs and 2 RBIs, the second most on the team, in official games last fall.
Toho (Aichi) Eiki Ishikawa
He is the younger brother of professional baseball player Saya Ishikawa. He has a long hitting ability and hits No. 4, and he leads the team as captain. The position is infielder.
Following in the footsteps of his brother, who won the tournament four years ago, which became the last Koshien in the Heisei era, he aims to win the Senbatsu championship.
Okinawa Shogaku (Okinawa) Shinnosuke Chibana
He is the No. 1 batter with his quickness and strong hitting, and his team batting average is 4/7, which gives momentum to the powerful batting line of the top of the participating schools. In the official game last fall, his batting average was 6/7/6, which was the highest number among the main players of the participating schools.