At Koshien Stadium, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, a rehearsal for the opening ceremony was held before the Senbatsu High School baseball game begins on the 18th.
The rehearsal for the opening ceremony was held at Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture from 10am.
First, to the performance of Aimyon's ``Ai no Hana,'' which was chosen as this year's entrance march, the 32 participating schools, led by last year's winning school Yamanashi Gakuin, which aims to become the fourth school in history to win consecutively, The players confirmed the flow of the entrance procession from south to north.
Among them, athletes from Japan Airlines High School Ishikawa and Seiryo High School in Ishikawa Prefecture, which were affected by the Noto Peninsula Earthquake, marched with lively expressions.
Next, after confirming the opening ceremony procedures such as returning the championship flag, Aomori Yamada High School captain Kosuke Hashiba practiced taking the oath of the players.
Starting this year, high school baseball will introduce a new standard of metal bats with reduced repulsive force to protect pitchers from injury.
It is expected that the speed and flight distance of batted balls will decrease, and that there will be many close games with low scores, so it will be interesting to see how each school responds.
The tournament will be held over 13 days, including two rest days, and if all goes well, the final will be held on the 30th of this month.