Kanto 1-9 loses to Hachinohe Gakuin Kosei in a tie-break and heads to the stands to say hello at Koshien Stadium.
The match went into an 11th overtime tie-break, but they fell just short. Tokyo representative Kanto Ichi (Edogawa-ku, Tokyo) lost 3-5 to Hachinohe Gakuin Kosei (Aomori) in the opening game of the high school baseball tournament that started on the 18th at Koshien Stadium. Although they took the lead, the batting line lacked connection and they were unable to score any additional points. (Natsuko Konno)
Ace left-handed pitcher Tetsushin Hatanaka (3rd year), who was the starting pitcher, used an angled slider and changeup to hit the ball well and hit the key points. In the 8th inning with the score tied, No. 3 Echigo Shunsuke (2nd year) reached base with a double over the left field, the only long hit of the game, and No. 4 Captain Teppei Takahashi (3rd year) hit a timely infield hit to take the lead.
However, pitcher Haru Sakai, who was taking over, tied the score with a sacrifice fly to right field in the 9th inning, and the game went into an overtime tie-break. After that, he held out, but in the 11th inning, a timely hit to the right field gave him the lead, and he was caught out by a mistake, giving him three points at once. The batting line created many chances, but they ended up scoreless with two outs and the bases loaded, leaving 13 bases left. One more shot didn’t come out at the right time.
Coach Takamitsu Yonezawa said, “The opponent’s starters showed their strength in the most important moments, and we couldn’t score one point. (In the tie-break) they scored three points and there was nothing we could do.”