Day 2 - Game 1 - Meitoku Gijuku vs. Kantou Daiichi

The second day begins with the final preliminary match up between Meitoku Gijiuku of Kochi Prefecture and Kantou Daiichi of Tokyo.

And things don't start well for Kantou Daiichi as ace Matsumoto's first pitch finds leadoff batter Ishibashi. After a sacrifice by CF Tani, Matsumoto walks C Matsumura to put runners at 1st and 2nd. But he manages to get out of the jam by getting cleanup batter Taniguchi to line to CF and 1B Oosaki to line to a diving 3B Egawa.

Matsumoto struggles again with his control in the 2nd, hitting leadoff batter Umeki on the first pitch. He's saved by his defense though, with a poor bunt that gets the lead runner thrown out, and a 4-6-3 double play.

Although Matsumoto struggles, it's his team that gets on the board first. Egawa leads off the bottom of the 2nd with a double off the RCF wall. A deep fly by C Nakamura advances him to 3rd with only one out. But 1B Tamai lines to RF too fast for Egawa to tag up. With 2 down and the count 2-2, LF Arai lines one up the middle to finally score Egawa and give Kantou the 1-0 lead.

Matsumoto would continue to have problems in the 3rd. He walks the last batter Yasuda, and with one down, hits Tani. But once again, he manages to squeeze out of the jam with no damage done. It would seem to be a matter of time before Meitoku finally takes advantage...

...and in the 4th they do. With one down, Umeki grounds one to SS Tsuchiya. But he can't get a hold of it and boots it. He then takes 2nd on the first pitch to RF Otoda. With the count 2-2, and having already lined one just foul down the 3rd base line earlier, Otoda doesn't make the same mistake twice and this time takes it down the LF line fair, easily scoring Umeki and tying the game!

Kantou would have a chance in the bottom half. With 2 down, Tamai grounds one to 3rd, but Taniguchi can't get a hold of it and it gets past him! He seems to jog to the ball, but Tamai is going full speed past 1st and onto 2nd! LF Umeki gets the ball in, but not before Tamai reaches 2nd! Things are compounded when Arai grounds one to 2B Yasuda. He charges at the ball, but looks to 1B before securing it and wouldn't you know the ball bounces off him and all are safe! But P Nouno wouldn't let the plays phase him at all as he gets P Matsumoto to K for the 2nd time to end the inning.

But for the most part, it's Meitoku who continues to get the good chances.

In the 5th, leadoff batter Ishibashi lines one to LF. After a poor bunt by Tani, Matsumura walks putting runners at 1st and 2nd with one down. But a DP turned by Tsuchiya ends the threat.

The 6th inning starts off with Oosaki sending one through the left side. Matsumoto then throws a WP sending Oosaki to 2nd. Umeki sends him to 3rd with a sac bunt putting the pressure on Matsumoto with Otoda up again. On a 2-1 count, Matsumoto throws a low curve and Otoda squeezes! He beautifully sets it down leaving Matsumoto no choice but to get the out at first and give up the run.

Kantou Daiichi would get a chance to tie it up in the 7th. Arai bunts the first pitch in the air, but it goes over the charging Nouno! Both 1B Oosaki and 2B Yasuda charge at the ball leaving no one at cover 1st! Matsumoto sets down a normal sac bunt, but C Matsumura throws the ball wide of 1st allowing both runners to advance to scoring position with no one out!

After a mound conference, it would seem that perhaps Nouno would try to semi-intentionally walk Tsuchiya. Instead, he gets him to chase outside balls and strikes him out! However, he then walks 2B Tanabe to load the bases with 1 down and things still look bad. But Nouno gets Izumisawa to ground 3B Taniguchi who goes home for the force, and then gets RF Hirose to fly to left, getting out of the jam.

That would be the last real chance for Kantou Daiichi as Meitoku would add on one more in the 9th to cruise to a 3-1 victory.