The True Value of the ‘Big Five’ Thriving in the Midsummer Koshien

In an era when the 193-cm Shohei Ohtani (30) has become a symbolic player in the major leagues, Japanese high school baseball is also experiencing a wave of “big players”: Hiroki Kesamaru, ace of Houtoku Gakuen (Hyogo) , which reached the final of the Senbatsu tournament for the second consecutive year , threw a straight ball down from his 188-cm height to seal the victory for Akashi Commercial in the final of the Hyogo tournament, leading Houtoku to the Koshien Tournament for the sixth consecutive summer. He led Houtoku to the Koshien Tournament in summer for the first time in six years. His track record and experience are unrivaled by rival pitchers. He will return to Koshien, which celebrates its 100th anniversary, to win the national championship, which he has yet to achieve.

Yuki Kesamaru (Houtoku Gakuen)
The best right fielder of his generation returns to Koshien.

I am aware that I want to be the number one of my generation, and I want to prove it by my behavior on the mound. I have experienced some frustration at Koshien. I want to get revenge and go for the top.”

The normally quiet man is aiming for the crimson championship flag with an eagle eye. Since losing to Kentai Takasaki in the finals of the Senbatsu tournament, he has been running hard in the summer heat, and his fastest record of 151 km/h may be broken at the sacred ground of the tournament.

I am not obsessed with numbers. Rather, I believe that control is my strong point. This will be my last summer, so I want to have no regrets. I want to complete a perfect record in the Koshien tournament.

The baseball team at Houtoku, a boys’ school, has 143 members. Manager Kenji Ohzumi (44) described Imasamaru, who carries the ace number, as “a player who is strong on the big stage,” and continued.

He continued, “It was a very hot final, but he stayed calm and collected on the mound. Even with runners on base, he threw carefully while watching the batter’s reaction, whereas in the past he would have let his power get the better of him. I think he has matured.

Asamaru was a member of Seki Medi Baseball Academy in junior high school. His teammates included Rui Nakazaki, a left fielder from Kyoto Kokusai, Waku Saida, a right fielder from Tokai University Sagami, and Kanta Kanemoto, a second-year slugger. If they win at the sacred ground, they may be reunited with their friends.

I’m really looking forward to that,” he said. I especially want to play Tokai University Sagami.

Fujita Ryusei [Tokai University Sagami
A 198cm southpaw who wows the pros

Tokai University Sagami has a “Giant of the East” in Ryusei Fujita, a 198cm left-handed pitcher. He was born to parents who played volleyball, and in junior high school he was a pitcher for the Shonan Boys, which won Japan’s No. 1 championship. In the Kanagawa Tournament, he pitched in the semifinal game against Kaizen and the final game against Yokohama, and despite his struggles, he persevered, leading the team to come-from-behind victories in both games.

I came to the school determined that I would be the ace, but until now I have not been able to make the team win, and I have seen many tears from the coach and my friends. I have felt pitiful, or rather, I have been painfully aware of my own weakness. I have yet to experience the mound at Koshien. I don’t want to wait and see how it goes, I want to go out there and get going from the first inning.”

Tall pitchers often have trouble controlling their long arms and legs, and are often concerned about their ability to handle ground balls and checks under their feet, but Fujita handles this with great dexterity. His velocity is in the 140 km/h range, and he has a variety of breaking pitches, including a slider and a change-up. We asked him about the advantages and disadvantages of his extraordinarily tall frame.

I am confident in my fielding, but I am not as agile as smaller pitchers, and I am slow in covering first pitch. However, as a southpaw of this height, I don’t think batters like it when I throw an angled ball. In Koshien, I want to show off my advantage and compete with my best straight ball.

18.From a batter waiting 44 meters away, Fujita’s pitches may feel like a white ball being thrown from the second floor. Fujita has been refining the quality and angle of his straight ball with a unique practice method of hitting a volleyball. Tokai University Sagami is the alma mater of Tatsunori Hara (66), and the school has a strong connection with the “Giants. Of course, Fujita has spent the last two and a half years of his life with his sights set on the pros.

First of all,” he said, “I want to win Japan’s No. 1 championship. That’s what I’m aiming for.”

With the introduction this spring of a new low-resilience bat standard, high school baseball has become more pitching-heavy and hitting-heavy. The decrease in home runs has led to a tendency to focus more on sluggers like Rintaro Sasaki (Stanford University) of Hanamaki-Higashi and Satoshi Manabe (Osaka University of Commerce) of Hiroyo, who both hit home runs last year, and on fielders who are agile and can hit well.

Osaka Toin is the poster child for this new era. He runs 50 m in 5.8 seconds and has a strong shoulder that he used to pitch with in his first year. Sakai is likely to go on to college, but he is a big player like Kyohiro Fujiwara, 24, who was drafted by the Chiba Lotte in the top round of the draft.

If I can get on base, it is easy to score runs. Right now, I am focusing on keeping my batting average high. In the future, I want to become a seamless player who has all three skills at a high level, running, offense, and defense.

Ryoyo Sakai (Toin Osaka)
Shunsoku is the weapon of Fujiwara II.

One of the best right-handed hitters is Kodai Miura of Seiwa Gakuen, who played an upset of the national champion Sendai Ikuei in the Miyagi Tournament final the year before last. In the first inning when he entered the batter’s box as the lead-off batter, he showed tenacity, forcing the opposing ace, Ren-Oh Yamaguchi, to throw 11 pitches. The result was an infield single, but his persistence encouraged the Seiwa fielders, who combined for 19 hits off the strong pitching staff of Sendai Ikuei.

Miura has been a mainstay of the team since the summer of his freshman year; two years ago, the team lost to Sendai Ikuei in the final. Miura, who was humiliated by the loss, broke into a neat pose and said, “I was able to make new history.

I think I was able to show my persistence. Koshien is a place where there are many great opponents. I want to enjoy it.”

Koudai Miura (Seiwa Gakuen)
A good right-handed hitter who creates drama

The “Kananou Whirlwind” is back!

Akita, also in Tohoku, has a new hero. He is the younger brother of Kosei Yoshida (24, Orix), who created a whirlwind for Kananou six summers ago.

Yoshida was on the mound in the top of the 9th inning of the Akita Tournament against Akita Sho in the final of the tournament, 6-4, when he looked up at the captain, Kosuke Takahashi, who was guarding center field, and kneeled down in an iawai move. It was the “Samurai Pose” that his older brother had done at Koshien.

At that point, the score was tied at two. If the score had been tied or reversed, he did not know what people would say.

It was a tough situation, but Kosuke had told me, ‘I’m going to end the game with this (Samurai pose),’ so I did it,” he said.

In fact, the game ended with a single run scored and the bases loaded with two outs. He overcame this situation to win his first summer tournament in six years, but this pose was also a forbidden routine that his older brother had been warned about by the Japan High School Baseball Federation six years earlier. There was no way the younger brother did not know about it.

Yes, I knew it. I don’t know …… if I will do it in Koshien or not (laughs).”

Even with 16 hits and 154 pitches, he did not allow Akita Sho to turn the tables on him.

Even with a runner on the mound, I think I was able to pitch with a different mindset. I never want to give up once I get on the mound. I don’t think my brother has beaten me in terms of my physical strength to pitch and my spirit on the mound.

Daiki’s fastest pitch is 145 km/h. He has a variety of pitches, including a slider, change-up, and fork, but he says, “I need another change that can be used as a weapon.

I want to achieve my goal of becoming the best in Japan, which my older brother couldn’t achieve.

The “Big 5,” as they are known, will gather at Koshien Stadium to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the stadium. There is a strong possibility that a champion of a new era will be born among them.

Taiki Yoshida (Kananou)
Kananou’s protégé, aiming to surpass his older brother.

From the August 16, 2024 issue of FRIDAY