High school baseball baseball players who were robbed of the "last summer" due to the Corona disaster interact at Koshien

Highlights: High school baseball baseball players who were robbed of the "last summer" due to the Corona disaster interact at Koshien. This initiative, called "Bring Back That Summer," was organized by baseball players. The players of the participating teams will play games at different stadiums in Hyogo Prefecture to interact with each other. The four teams were selected by lottery and played a match, and all teams knocked for five minutes each, showing a lively performance on the stage they dreamed of in high school.

[NHK] Due to the cancellation due to the influence of the new coronavirus, the baseball players who were in the third grade at the time who lost the opportunity to participate in the national high school baseball in the summer of three years ago ...

Due to the cancellation due to the influence of the new coronavirus, baseball players who were in their third year at the time who lost the opportunity to participate in the national high school baseball tournament in the summer of three years ago gathered at Koshien Stadium and interacted with each other by marching into the stadium.

45 teams from 42 schools participating in "Bring Back That Summer"
Participating ball children "The haze cleared up"

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45 teams from 42 schools participating in "Bring Back That Summer"
Participating ball children "The haze cleared up"

This initiative, called "Bring Back That Summer," was organized by baseball players who were in their third year of high school three years ago when the national summer high school baseball tournament was canceled due to the spread of the new coronavirus.

On the 3th, about 3 baseball players from 29 teams from 45 schools, including alumni of high schools that won their own competitions held in each prefecture at the time, gathered at Koshien Stadium wearing the uniforms of their respective alma maters.

As the summer Koshien march was played, the crowd marched powerfully from south to north, led by Yaeyama High School in Okinawa, and was applauded by many high school baseball fans and others gathered in the stands.

Ryuya Ohashi, an alumnus of Seirei Christopher High School in Shizuoka, said, "We know that we can't undo everything in the past, but we will stick to that summer to put an end to it and face each other's lives. I pledge to fight through every pitch I put my heart into every shot so that I can help this generation that has suffered in various ways due to the new coronavirus."

The four teams were selected by lottery and played a match, and all teams knocked for five minutes each, showing a lively performance on the stage they dreamed of in high school.

Under this initiative, approximately 4 million yen of the operating expenses such as stadium usage fees will be covered by crowdfunding and support from companies and former professional baseball players.

On the 5th and 7000st of December, the players of the participating teams will play games at different stadiums in Hyogo Prefecture to interact with each other.

45 teams from 42 schools participating in "Bring Back That Summer"

【North Hokkaido】Clark Kokusai
[South Hokkaido]Sapporo Daiichi
[Aomori]Aomori Yamada
【Iwate】Ichinoseki Gakuin [Akita]Meizaku
[Yamagata]Tsuruoka Higashi
【Fukushima】Seigakuin

[Ibaraki]Tsuchiura Kohoku
[Tochigi]Sano Nichidai High School
【Gunma】Kiryu Daiichi [Saitama] Sayamagaoka [Yamanashi]Tokai Daikofu
[Chiba]Kisarazu Sogo
[Higashi Tokyo] Teikyo
[Nagano] Sakuchosei
[Niigata] Chuetsu
[Toyama] Takaoka
Daiichi

【Ishikawa】Japan Airlines Ishikawa
【Fukui】Tsuruga Kehi
【Shizuoka】Seirei Christopher
【Gifu】Ogaki Hidai High
School 【Mie】Inabe Sogo Gakuen
【Shiga】Omi
【Kyoto】Ryukoku Daiheianu
【Nara】Tenri
【Osaka】Sekidai Hokuyo
【Hyogo】Mita Matsusei【Tottori】Kurayoshi Higashi
【Shimane】Masuda Higashi
【Yamaguchi】Takakawa Gakuen【Kagawa】Seisei
Gakuen

【Ehime】Matsuyama Seiryo
【Tokushima】Naruto
【Kochi】Kochi
【Fukuoka】Fukuoka Joint Team (Kyushu Kokusai Daisuke, Iizuka, Fukuoka, West Japan Junior College)【Saga】Ryukoku
【Nagasaki】Osaki
【
Kumamoto】Shugakukan
【Oita】Tsukumi
【Miyazaki】Miyazaki Nichidai High School
【Kagoshima】Kamimura Gakuen
【Okinawa】Yaeyama

Participating ball children "The haze cleared up"

One of the participants, Rikuki Okuno, a third-year university student, left his hometown of Osaka to play for Akita's powerhouse, Meizakura High School, with the aim of competing in Koshien.

However, the tournament was canceled in the last summer of Okuno's school year, and although he won the prefecture's own competition, he was unable to participate in Koshien, and he cried in his dorm room, saying, "My mind went blank and I felt an indescribable sadness."

Even after three years, this feeling did not disappear, and although he cheered on the juniors who participated in the national high school baseball tournament this summer from the Alps Stand at Koshien Stadium, he expressed mixed feelings, saying, "To be honest, I am jealous when I think that we could have been on this stage because we won our own tournament."

On the 1th, Mr. Okuno stood on the Koshien ground for the first time in three years.

Of the 3 teammates in the same grade, only 3 were able to get together due to university club activities or work, but he and his friends wore their high school uniforms and stepped on the dirt on the field in the entrance procession.

And in the five-minute knock, he was in the shortstop position and playing with his teammates with a smile on his face.

Mr. Okuno showed a satisfied expression, saying, "The haze that has been lingering in my heart for a long time has been cleared, and I think it will be an important memory in my life to be able to stand in this way, which I have been aiming for for a long time."

He said emphatically, "I was able to have an experience that is unique to my generation, so I want to make use of it in my future life," and it seemed to be an opportunity to take a new step.

Founder Yuto Otake "To the generation that regained that summer"

Yuto Otake, a university student who served as the founder, smiled and said, "I felt happy to see the ball players who were knocking so happily, and I am full of gratitude to the people who supported me."

Looking to the future, he said, "I think we have become the generation that made up for that summer that we overcame together and gained a great deal, not the 'Corona generation,' and I want to take a step forward toward the next step with my friends of the same generation."

What is the tournament of "that summer" that was canceled?

The 3nd summer national high school baseball tournament, which was scheduled for three years ago in August 2020 at Koshien Stadium, was canceled on May 8 amid the spread of the new coronavirus.

Koyaren = Japan High School Baseball Federation, etc. cited the difficulty of holding regional tournaments as reasons for the cancellation, ▽ The risk of infection cannot be completely eliminated, ▽ School closures and club activities suspended for a long time,

and there are concerns about injuries to players due to insufficient practice.

It was the third time that the national high school baseball tournament was canceled in the summer, and the first time since the end of World War II.

According to the Takaya Federation, as of the end of July of that year, there were 102,5 members of the baseball club in their third year of high school.

This generation of baseball players was deprived of the opportunity to play for Koshien in their final summer, and some of them broke down in tears when they were told that the game would be canceled at their school grounds.

After that, as a place to culminate the third-year club members, unique competitions were held in 20 prefectures nationwide.

This year, the spring Senbatsu High School Baseball was canceled just before the start of the season, and the "Inter-High School" tournament, in which more than 3,7 schools from all over the country participate every year, and the National High School Championships were canceled for the first time.