Senbatsu High School Baseball will begin on the 18th at Koshien Stadium, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.

Starting this year, a new standard of metal bats with reduced repulsive force will be introduced, so the response from participating schools will be of interest.



In the second half of the article, we will also tell you about the highlights of the three games on the first day of the tournament.

The Senbatsu High School Baseball Tournament will be held at Koshien Stadium, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary this year, and will be held for the 96th time, with 32 schools participating.

Opening ceremony rehearsal (17th)

In addition to Yamanashi Gakuin aiming to become the fourth school in history to win the tournament, attention will also be focused on the performance of Japan Airlines Ishikawa and Seiryo, which were both affected by the Noto Peninsula earthquake.



Three schools will be participating for the first time


: Hokkaido's Betsukai, who will be participating in the 21st century,


Wakayama's Taikyu


, and Kumamoto Kokufu,


all of whom will be stepping onto Koshien soil for the first time in the spring and summer.



Starting this year, a new standard of metal bats with reduced rebound will be introduced in high school baseball to protect pitchers from injury.



It is expected that batted ball speed and flight distance 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.

《Highlights of the first day of the tournament》

The Senbatsu High School baseball season will begin on the 18th, with three games in the first round following the opening ceremony.

◇1st match

The first game will be against Aomori's Hachinohe Gakuin Kosei High School, which will be participating for the 11th time after five years, and Tokyo's Kanto Daiichi High School, which will be participating for the seventh time after eight years.



Hachinohe Gakuin Kosei has three powerful left-handed pitchers, including ace pitcher Hiro Senpei, who helped advance to the top eight in the national high school baseball tournament last summer, and pitcher Tomoharu Morita, who throws a powerful fastball from his side hand. .

In the official games last fall, there were only three errors in nine games, and the pitchers were buoyed by their solid defense.



Kanto Daiichi averaged 9.82 points per game last fall, the most of any participating school, and is known for its high scoring ability.

Captain Teppei Takahashi, who bats No. 4, had hit a total of 44 home runs in his high school career as of last year, leading the team to a strong batting lineup.



With the introduction of a new standard metal bat with reduced repulsive force, the team has been refining its tricks and mobility.

◇2nd match

In the second game, Wakayama's Tanabe High School, which has decided to participate in the 21st century tournament for the first time in 76 years, will face off against Ishikawa's Seiryo High School, which won last year's Meiji-Jingu Tournament.



Tanabe has faced each of the challenges and strengthened his strength by emphasizing dialogue with the players under the guidance of Coach Tanaka Kaku, who has been in charge of educational consultation.

At last fall's prefectural tournament, the players showed their strength in the decisive moments, with No. 4 player Jinyo Yamamoto hitting a come-from-behind home run with the bases loaded against Chiben Wakayama High School, which has won the Koshien championship.



Seiryo's ace left-handed pitcher, pitcher Tsubasa Sasou, is known for his careful control over the course, and he has a wealth of experience, having won a national championship when he was in junior high school and pitching at Koshien this year and last summer.

The batting lineup also has strong players in the center, including captain Kota Ashiya, who scored 6 RBIs in one game at the Meiji-Jingu Tournament.

◇3rd match

The third game will take place in the year before yesterday, when runner-up Omi High School from Shiga will face off against Kumamoto Kokufu High School, who will be appearing in Koshien for the first time throughout the spring and summer.



Omi's ace right-handed pitcher, Tsunesagi Nishiyama, is the pillar of the team.

He mixes two types of sliders that change vertically and horizontally, and creates a flow with his fast-paced pitching, such as his shutout with 76 pitches in the Kinki Tournament last fall.



Kumamoto Kokufu practiced more than half of their practice in actual games, honing their baseball theme of defending and winning, and won the championship in last fall's Kyushu tournament.

Ace pitcher Rito Sakai, a right-handed pitcher, rarely raises his left foot, allowing batters to hit at off-time.



It looks like it will be a close battle with a weight of 1 point.

[NHK special site] Senbatsu High School Baseball 2024