Before the Senbatsu High School Baseball Tournament starts on March 18th, the participating schools will practice at Koshien Stadium for the first time in five years. The school's players got a feel for the ground.
The participating schools had not practiced at Koshien Stadium since the spread of the new coronavirus, but this was the first time since the new coronavirus was moved to Category 5, and it was the first time in five years. .
Of the 32 participating schools, 16 schools practiced on the 13th, including last year's champion Yamanashi Gakuin, which aims to become the fourth school in history to win the tournament, and Hokkaido's Betsukai High School, which will be participating for the first time in the 21st century. .
Of these, Yamanashi Gakuin practiced for 30 minutes starting at 2:30 p.m., and carefully checked the handling of fly balls that are susceptible to the effects of the beach winds unique to Koshien Stadium, as well as the handling of batted balls that bounced off the fence.
Yoshitora Nakahara, captain of Yamanashi Gakuin, said, ``It was different from watching from the stands, and I felt a very sacred atmosphere.We want to play our game and give it our all, one game at a time.''
Also, at Betsukai, ace pitcher Tanuki Sakai and others practiced pitching and checked the slope and height of the mound.
16 schools are scheduled to practice at Koshien Stadium on the 14th.
The tournament will begin on the 18th and will be held for 13 days, including two rest days, and if all goes well, the final will be held on March 30th.