夏の甲子園
Every a nation-wide high school baseball tournament called 夏の甲子園—the Summer Koshien—takes place in Japan. All of the games are played at Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya. People abroad can live stream every game for free. It’s loads of fun to watch; I try to catch a few games each year. Here are line scores and notes from the games I caught this year:
1⁄16-Finals (Round of 32)
| Team | 一 | 二 | 三 | 四 | 五 | 六 | 七 | 八 | 九 | R |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 中越 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 関東第一 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | X | 6 |
This was a fun one, though I feel bad for Chuetsu’s infielders—a bunch of Kanto Daiichi’s runs came in on fielding errors. Kanto Daiichi made it all the way to the final round last year. I rooted for them then and am continuing to this year, mostly because their school color is purple.
⅛-Finals (Round of 16)
| Team | 一 | 二 | 三 | 四 | 五 | 六 | 七 | 八 | 九 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 高川学園 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 1 |
| 日大三 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | X | 9 | 15 | 1 |
Takagawa’s starting pitcher got roughed up real badly in the first. Several runners ended up in pickles on the line from third to home.
| Team | 一 | 二 | 三 | 四 | 五 | 六 | 七 | 八 | 九 | 十 | 十一 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 沖縄尚学 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 5 |
| 仙台育英 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 3 |
What a game! It absolutely could have gone either way. Okinawa’s pitcher threw 169 pitches over 11 innings to secure the win. Wild. It’s honestly awful that they let kids risk their arms like that. They better not start him next game, but they probably will. 😠
Quarterfinals
| Team | 一 | 二 | 三 | 四 | 五 | 六 | 七 | 八 | 九 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 교토 국제 고등학교 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 1 |
| 山梨学院 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | X | 11 | 13 | 0 |
Kyoto—winners of the 2024 edition of the tournament—put up a good fight, but a wild pitch cost them dearly in the 2nd inning, and they never really recovered. Kept fighting until the end, though.
| Team | 一 | 二 | 三 | 四 | 五 | 六 | 七 | 八 | 九 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 日大三 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 2 |
| 関東第一 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 3 | 10 | 1 |
We’re now sufficiently far along in the tournament that I’ve already seen each of these teams this year. I kept rooting for purple, but me yelling at my iPad wasn’t enough to turn their game around.
Semifinals
| Team | 一 | 二 | 三 | 四 | 五 | 六 | 七 | 八 | 九 | 十 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 日大三 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 3 |
| 県岐阜商 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
I only caught the last three innings. It makes me so mad when they leave kids in to throw like 150+ pitches. It fits some kind of hero narrative but it’s really just risking the kid’s health and possible future career. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that he gave up two runs in the 10th.
| Team | 一 | 二 | 三 | 四 | 五 | 六 | 七 | 八 | 九 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 山梨学院 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 1 |
| 沖縄尚学 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | X | 5 | 10 | 3 |
Super exciting game throughout. Yamanashi’s ace left the game early due to elbow pain. Okinawa’s third baseman made at least two errors in the top half of the game. When it got to be 4–1 I thought that it was over for Okinawa. What a solid final three innings! This is Okinawa Shogaku’s first time making it to the final.
Final
| Team | 一 | 二 | 三 | 四 | 五 | 六 | 七 | 八 | 九 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 沖縄尚学 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 2 |
| 日大三 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
A really fun game and a well-deserved win for Okinawa. Such a nail-biting bottom of the ninth, wrapped up with a textbook double play. Great way to end the tournament, and a fun game to watch on my birthday. I (virtually) watched the game with Dan (the Liberator, not the Automator) in CDMX.