[Keio University High School Baseball Club Koshien Appearance] The High Wall of "Common Sense"—The 95th Senbatsu Appearance, and Toward Summer

2023/05/09

"Overturning common sense and changing high school baseball" is the slogan held by the Juku High School Baseball Club, led by Captain Hirotsugu Omura of the 75th 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 director, there are moments when I worry 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 Club should not, needless to say, be expressed in such a simple binary opposition. Nevertheless, the good news that reached the players, who wished to cast a stone into the world of high school baseball, felt like a "right to challenge." On January 27, our appearance in the 95th Memorial Selected High School Baseball Tournament was decided. It is our first Senbatsu Koshien in five years.

Then, our position as challengers became even clearer. At the combination 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 the summer championship team, including the three pillars: pitchers Takahashi, Yuda, and Nita. It became an extremely tough draw, but on the other hand, I felt the players' determination solidify. What we need to do is simple. It is the team's motto since last autumn: "Challenge." The lottery does not just determine the opponent. The game is on March 21. It falls on the Vernal Equinox Day, allowing many Keio University alumni to flock to Koshien. Coincidentally, vocal cheering became possible for the first time in four years starting from this tournament, and the stage was perfectly set.

On the day of the match, unfortunately, rain began to fall 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 a runner on second and one out after a stolen base, the following batters were shut down. Meanwhile, Keio's starter Masaki Otake showed a steady start. In the top of the second inning, lead-off Katsuji Kiyohara hit the team's first hit to left field. We attacked until the bases were loaded with one out, but the ace pitcher Takahashi, who came on in relief, struck out the next two batters in a row. 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; Otake, 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 one.

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 Aita Nobusue reached base with a hit to right field. 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 Otake, who had continued to pitch well. He is the trump card who also hit a timely hit as a pinch hitter in the Autumn Kanto Tournament. Adachi targeted the first-pitch slider that Yuda specializes in and successfully hit a single to center to tie the score. In the bottom of the inning, the replacement Kiichi Matsui faced a crisis with runners on first and second and one out, but he retired the following batters, and the game entered a 10th-inning tie-break.

As it was newly adopted from this tournament, this match was the first 10th-inning tie-break in Koshien history. The attack begins with runners on first and second and 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 large fly ball to left that was almost a three-run homer, but the ball went slightly 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 was retired without being able to fully catch the fastball. 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 is frustrating, but I want to offer a clean round of applause.

In the bottom of the 10th, with 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 third-base bag for a tag-up and started hurriedly from there. 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 fight fell short. The following Sendai Ikuei captain, Yamada, drove the first pitch to left field for a walk-off. The heated 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 grateful if those who watched this game felt even a little of what the Juku High School Baseball Club aims for, but unfortunately, those memories will gradually fade. As Manager Hideki Kuriyama, 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 brave 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 "orthodox," our "Challenge" will continue.