Kirk here with a heads up for high school baseball fans. Kumamoto's representative plays their second game in the Koshien elimination tournament today. Should be exciting.
Go Tokai Dai Kumamoto Seisho!!
https://koshien.hanshin.co.jp/
P.S. Here's a translation of a Kumanichi article about the first game. I haven't found anything in English but the Japanese media covered how the supporters could get to the game because of the rain Monday. They are SURE to be there today!
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Summer Koshien 2025, First Round – Tokai University Seisho 10–7 Hokkai
Absent due to heavy rain – “For the Seisho students too”… Support from an affiliated school helps secure their first Koshien win
August 13 (Wed) 14:59
Photo caption:
Third-year members of Tokai University Seisho High School’s baseball team cheering from the Alps stands. The empty seats behind them were meant to be filled by first- and second-year students. – August 11, Koshien Stadium
“Well done!” “We’re counting on you next time!” On August 11, Kumamoto Prefecture’s representative, Tokai University Seisho High School, defeated Hokkai High School (Southern Hokkaido) 10–7 in the first round of the National High School Baseball Championship, achieving their long-sought dream of a “first Koshien victory” on their fourth appearance. Due to heavy rains in Kumamoto, most current students were unable to attend, but more than 2,000 strong – made up of alumni, parents, and the brass band from affiliated Tokai University Gyosei High School (Osaka) – formed a massive cheering squad to support the team.
The game saw action from the start. In the top of the first, after the leadoff batter drew a walk, Seisho had runners on first and third with one out. Cleanup hitter Hoshi Teruki Ōga delivered an RBI single to put them ahead. His father, Satoshi (55, from Tamana City), smiled and said, “He did exactly what a cleanup hitter should do. I hope the whole team keeps this rhythm.”
In the fifth inning, Hokkai tied it at 3–3, and the Seisho cheering section’s atmosphere turned heavy. Still, the third-year players not in the dugout shouted encouragement like “Let’s just play as usual!” to lift their teammates.
The momentum swung back in the seventh. Seisho strung together hits to take a three-run lead. Then, with one out and runners on first and second, Nobuki Horita smashed a two-run triple to the left-center gap. His father, Shuhei (46, from Kikuchi City), said, “I think he showed the results of his training. I hope it’s the hit that seals the game.”
Hokkai fought back in the late innings, keeping the outcome uncertain, but Seisho held on to win by three runs. As the school song rang out at the sacred ground of high school baseball, parents and alumni in the stands raised towels emblazoned with the school’s name and sang in celebration.
About 140 first- and second-year baseball team members and brass band members had left Kumamoto by bus on the night of the 10th, heading for Koshien. However, heavy rains forced them to stop en route, and they gave up on cheering at the stadium. Third-year student Takeshi Fukue, the cheering squad leader who had already arrived on site, said, “Even with a small number, we want to do what we can.” Nao Hatta, a second-year member of Tokai University Gyosei’s brass band, said while wiping sweat, “We want to cheer for the Seisho students who wanted to come but couldn’t.”
Third-year manager Airi Ueshima comes from a “Seisho family,” with her father and siblings having been on the baseball team. Beaming after the school’s first Koshien victory, she said, “In the second round, I want to cheer with a large crowd, together with the first- and second-year members.”
(Reported by Takuma Sonoda)
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https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/73050ce9acad99c2d886fdec70877d12e7846cfd
