Day 5 - Game 1 - Aomori Yamada vs. Houtoku Gakuen

Day 5 of the tournament begins with two strong teams playing in what could be considered a Best 8 match.

In the early going, the story was Aomori's ace Ishii-kun. While not overpowering in any sense of the term, he continually had batters off pace. So much so in fact that not only was he perfect through 4 innings, no ball ever got out of the infield!

Aomori had its chances early, but couldn't execute. In the 2nd inning, a lead-off walk to SS Matsuoka-kun put them in good position. But Hasegawa's bunt was too strong and got Matsuoka thrown out at 2nd. In the 4th, the same thing. Lead-off batter Nakanishi singled to center. This time it was ace Ishii that pushed the bunt too far and got Nakanishi thrown out. Sandwiched in between was a 1 out single by Kondoh-kun to CF who tried to leg it out for a double, but was thrown out by CF Nakao-kun.

Hotoku would finally start something in the bottom of the 5th. With one out, #5 batter Nakanishi-kun flew out to center. It's not noteworthy other than it was the first ball hit out of the infield and a possible sign that they were better seeing Ishii's pitches. The next batter, C Itoi-kun, would single on a chopper to the SS and 3B Kataoka-kun would follow with a bloop to RF advancing Itoi to 3rd. But P Chikada would pop up to 3rd, ending the threat.

In the top of the 6th, Aomori would break the scoreless tie. P Ishii would reach 1st on a ball hitting his leg. LF Nakanishi would take his place on the base paths. After a K and a sacrifice bunt, Aomori was in need of a timely hit. 1B Wakino was glad to oblige, sending a ball to left-center for a double.

Hotoku would have a chance in the bottom of the frame. Last batter, 2B Osuda-kun, would single to center. After Takeda-kun sacrifices him along, CF Nakao hits a ball hard to the left side. SS Matsuoka gets it but won't have a play at first. As he picks up the ball, he catches Osuda too far from the 3rd base bag and throws to 3B Hasegawa-kun who makes the tag. Aomori would escape with no damage and a 1 run lead.

Like several of the games yesterday, an injury would change the course of this game as well. With two outs in the 7th, Aomori's 2B Inomata-kun lines one over the SS and to the wall in left-center for a double. With a 2-2 count to #3 batter Nakanishi, Chikada would put the ball in the dirt letting Inomata advance to 3rd. Nakanishi would eventually walk.

With P Ishii-kun up and a 1-1 count, Hotoku's manager would remove Chikada (he had earlier thrown a couple of tosses earlier in the inning).

Chikada would be replaced by Fukushima-kun. On his very first pitch, Ishii would ground it through the left side and score 2, taking a 3-0 lead. And with his pitching that would be all the support he would need. They would, however, add on two more in the 8th for a 5-0 victory.