[Keio University High School Baseball Team Appears at Koshien] The High Wall of "Common Sense": Participating in the 95th Senbatsu, and Heading Toward Summer

2023/05/09

"Overturning common sense and changing high school baseball" is the slogan held by the Juku High School Baseball Team, led by Captain Hirotsugu Omura of the 75th graduating class. While many teams set goals like becoming number one in Japan or appearing at Koshien, changing high school baseball—which has a long history—is a truly grand and ambitious goal. In fact, as the manager, there are moments when I feel nervous that we might provoke backlash. However, there is no room for doubt in the value of pursuing baseball where each player thinks for themselves, builds the team through mutual exchange of opinions, and plays proactively with strong will. The so-called "high school baseball" cultivated over a long history and the new high school baseball aimed for by the Juku High School Baseball Team should not, needless to say, be expressed in such a simple binary opposition. Nevertheless, the good news that reached the players who wanted to cast a stone into the world of high school baseball felt like a "right to challenge." On January 27, our participation in the 95th Memorial Selected High School Baseball Tournament was decided. It is our first Senbatsu Koshien in five years.

Our position as challengers then became even clearer. At the pairing lottery held on March 10, it was decided that we would face Sendai Ikuei High School, who became the first team from the Tohoku region to win Koshien last summer and are aiming for consecutive summer and spring titles. Furthermore, Sendai Ikuei retains seven members from their summer championship team, including their three pillars: pitchers Takahashi, Yuda, and Nita. It was an extremely tough draw, but on the other hand, I felt the players' resolve harden. What we had to do was simple. It was the team's keyword since last autumn: "Challenge." The pairing lottery determines more than just the opponent. The game was set for March 21. Being the Vernal Equinox Day, many Keio University alumni would be able to pack into Koshien. Coincidentally, vocal cheering became possible for the first time in four years starting from this tournament, and the stage was truly set.

On the day of the match, unfortunately, it began to rain before the start. The game began with Keio University batting first, and Sendai Ikuei's starter was Nita. Struggling with the mound softened by rain, he walked the lead-off hitter Minato Maruta. However, although we created a chance with one out and second base after a stolen base, the following batters were retired. Meanwhile, Keio starter Masaki Oyake showed a steady start. In the top of the second inning, lead-off hitter Katsuji Kiyohara hit the team's first hit to left field. We attacked until we had the bases loaded with one out, but the ace pitcher Takahashi, who came on in relief, struck out consecutive batters. In the top of the fourth, we created another chance with Ikoi Watanabe's double over center field, but it did not lead to a run. Each Keio batter showed powerful swings, but Takahashi's pitching, which surpassed them, was brilliant. The game moved in the bottom of the fifth; Oyake, who had held the Sendai Ikuei lineup to just one infield hit until then, gave up one run after allowing three hits. Despite proceeding through the first half with the upper hand, we finished the first half trailing by a run.

After that, home base remained distant for both teams, and the game reached the critical top of the ninth inning at 1-0. Finally, "Wakaki-chi" echoed through Koshien. Lead-off hitter Aita Nobusue reached base with a hit to right-center. The Sendai Ikuei bench switched to pitcher Yuda, but Watanabe (Ikoi) executed a sacrifice bunt to expand the chance to one out and second base. Here, pinch-hitter Hideki Adachi was sent in for Oyake, who had continued to pitch well. Adachi was the trump card who had hit a timely hit as a pinch-hitter in the Autumn Kanto Tournament. Adachi targeted the first-pitch slider that Yuda favors and successfully hit a single to center to tie the game. In the bottom half, Kiichi Matsui, who came on in relief, faced a crisis with one out and runners on first and second, but he retired the following batters, and the game entered a 10th-inning tiebreak.

As it was newly adopted from this tournament, this match was the first 10th-inning tiebreak in Koshien history. The attack begins with runners on first and second with no outs. Since the batting order continues from the previous inning, Keio's attack started with the second batter, Omura—the best possible order. Omura successfully executed a bunt in a difficult situation, bringing the third batter, Sennosuke Watanabe, to the plate. He caught a slider on the fourth pitch and hit a massive fly ball to left that was almost a three-run homer, but the ball went just left of the pole, and the great cheers turned into sighs. However, the next pitch was a hit-by-pitch, loading the bases with one out. The reliable fourth batter Naomutsu Fukui came to the plate, but he couldn't quite catch the fastball and was retired. Then, with two outs and bases loaded, the fifth batter Kiyohara stepped up, and Koshien Stadium erupted—no, shook—with massive cheers. However, even in this situation, pitcher Yuda did not make a single mistake and delivered a brilliant performance. It was frustrating, but I wanted to offer a clean round of applause.

Then, in the bottom of the 10th, with the bases loaded after a sacrifice bunt and an intentional walk, that "left-field groundout" was recorded. A ball hit by Sendai Ikuei's Kumagai dropped in front of left-fielder Fukui. Everyone was certain it was a walk-off hit, but the runner on third had returned to the base for a tag-up and started late in a panic. Watanabe (Ikoi) brilliantly caught the throw from Fukui with a backhand to record a "left-field groundout." The stadium shook again at the big play. However, our brave efforts fell short. The following Sendai Ikuei captain, Yamada, hit the first pitch to left field for a walk-off. The intense battle came to an end.

I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the Keio University Cheerleading Team, the brass band, the Girls' High School baton club, the faculty and staff, the Hiyoshi Club members, parents, Keio students, Keio University alumni, and all Keio fans for fighting to the end on the best stage, against the best opponent, and with the best support. However, there is still an enormous difference between victory and defeat. I would be most grateful if those who watched this game felt even a little of what the Juku High School Baseball Team aims for, but unfortunately, those memories will gradually fade. As Hideki Kuriyama, the manager who led Samurai Japan to their first WBC championship in three tournaments the day after our defeat, said, "History is the history of winners, so if you don't win through, it won't be conveyed to people." A good fight or a narrow defeat is not enough to "overturn common sense and change high school baseball." To make the high school baseball we aim for—which exists as a "heretical" presence—into the "orthodoxy," our "Challenge" will continue.