Koshien 89: Day 2

Thursday's early winners were Shiga prefecture's Ohmi with a 9-3 win over Matsucho; later Imabari Nishi blew out Kumamoto's representative by a 12-1 tally. Both games were competitive early but each winner found a way to run away with the victory by the middle innings.

However, the game I was waiting all day for was Chiben Wakayama vs. Sendai Ikuei. Sendai Ikuei started their ace Yashinori Satoh while Chiben's Takashima-kantoku countered with a first year pitcher, Toshiya Okada.

In the first inning, Satoh looked very much like the ace he was advertised to be, allowing only a HBP who was soon picked off the bases, leading to no damage.

Ikuei jumped on the young Okada early, as Takumi Takahashi hit a run-scoring triple and was himself knocked in by a Daisuke Katoh single. Sendai Ikuei led 2-0 after one inning.

There was no scoring in the second or third, although Sendai Ikuei was plagued by shaky defense in the latter frame.

Again Ikuei looked shaky in the field, as a runner reached on a dropped strikeout pitch in the 4th, and two balls that resulted in outs were nearly thrown away. No damage ensued though as Satoh was able to throw a blazing fastball (~150 kph) and locate his slider.

Okada was pulled after 3 1/3 IP in favor of Takanobu Shibata, who had been playing right field. He walked his first batter, but settled down and got two outs to avoid trouble. It was still 2-0 Sendai Ikuei after four innings.

Despite each team's pitcher throwing a wild pitch in the 5th, no scoring occured.

In the top of the 6th, Satoh issued a one-out walk and it hurt, because a few moments later the 4-place hitter Sakaguchi smashed a hanging curve to left for a no-doubt 2-run homer. The ball was hit so hard hopefully nobody sunning themselves in the LF bleachers was injured. I joke, of course.

All of a sudden everything Satoh threw was getting hit hard and he gave up back-to-back singles. Only an inning-ending strikeout prevented the wheels from completely falling off.

Ikuei threatened but did not score in the bottom of the 6th. The score remained 2-2 after 6.

The 7th looked promising for Ikuei when they singled with one out and Takumi Takahashi blasted a ball to deep left-center. The ball bounced off the outfield wall to the left fielder Oshima, who relayed it perfectly back into the infield and the runner was gunned down at home. Ikuei's best chance for scoring in several innings went by the boards, as Takahashi was left at second at the end of the inning.

Satoh was able to dial up his fastball again in the 8th, as he struck out the second hitter with a 154kph (96 mph) heater. But he was soon in two-out trouble as Chiben loaded the bases. Only a fortuitous grounder to third base for the force allowed Satoh to escape unscathed.

Shibata allowed a two-out single and walked his counterpart Satoh, and centerfielder Hashimoto bruised a ball to left for a timely triple. Two runs scampered home and Sendai Ikuei led 4-2. This was the end of the road for Shibata, as he was pulled in favor of Chiben's third hurler of the day.

Satoh didn't have as much pace on his fastball in the 9th frame, but he retired Chiben 1-2-3 and Sendai Ikuei had bested mighty Chiben.

Despite some bouts of wildness, Satoh looked every bit the ace he has been touted as. For the game he allowed 2 runs on 5 hits (3 errors), walked 4, and struck out 17!

Due to time constraints, I could not report on the final game of the day.

See you all tomorrow!