11/28/2023
The Keio University Athletic Association Baseball Club won its fifth championship title, the first in four years, at the Meiji Jingu Baseball Tournament (University Division), which brings together representative schools from university baseball leagues across Japan.
In the final match of the Meiji Jingu Baseball Tournament, held on Monday, November 20, Keio University faced Aoyama Gakuin University, the representative of the Tohto University Baseball League.
From the top of the first inning, Keio University created opportunities but failed to score, and a heated back-and-forth between the players of both schools continued. The game changed in the top of the eighth inning. Seizing an opportunity with the bases loaded and one out due to an opponent's error and a walk, Sotaro Homma (third-year infielder, Faculty of Policy Management) drew a walk to bring in the first run. Following that, Ryuta Hirose (fourth-year infielder, Faculty of Business and Commerce) added another run with a sacrifice fly. With the powerful pitching of Toma Sotogura (second-year pitcher, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies) continuing to the end, Keio University secured the championship with a brilliant 2-0 shutout victory.
Under a clear blue autumn sky, the joy and smiles of the baseball club, which had just won the national championship, and the spectators who had rushed to the stadium despite it being a weekday, filled Jingu Stadium.
Photo by: Aki Takematsu