Relaxation is “Studying”! Shoutarou Morii, a junior at Toho High School, “Challenging the Majors from a Preparatory School with a Deviation Score of 71

I’ve turned down the nomination.

Every day is a battle.

Love your friends and love baseball.

On the walls of the clubroom are countless high school messages from past club members to their juniors. In the room of memories, Shoutarou Morii, 17, a junior at Toho High School (Kunitachi City, Tokyo), holds a bat and glove. As a pitcher, he throws a fastball up to 153 km/h, and as a hitter, he is a two-sport athlete who has hit 45 home runs in high school. Morii, who was the center of attention for many NPB teams, made a major decision this fall. In his own words.

Before the draft meeting in October, I told the 12 NPB teams that I would not accept their draft choices. I decided to challenge the Majors. I will probably start out in the minors, but eventually I want to make it to the big stage.”

Toho High School has a deviation score of 71, and this year, 12 students were accepted to the University of Tokyo, 69 to Waseda University, and 86 to Keio University. It is extremely unusual for a student from one of the most prestigious schools in Tokyo to challenge a major university. Morii, who is taking on an unprecedented challenge, talks about his baseball career and his grand dream.

I started playing baseball when I was in the first grade at Toho Gakuen Elementary School. I started lightly under the influence of a friend who lived nearby and was one year older than me who played baseball. The team I played for, Musashi Fuchu Little, was selected to represent Japan many times and was a strong team that competed in the U.S. and other countries around the world. I naturally had an interest in the majors since I was a child. I liked both pitching and hitting, so I was thinking, ‘It would be a waste to throw away one or the other,’ so I played both sports.

As an elementary school student, however, Morii was small and did not stand out as a player. As a hitter, he lacked power, and as a pitcher, his control was not good. In the sixth grade, he suffered a lumbar spondylolysis, an injury that prohibited him from exercising for about six months, and he joined the softball team at Toho Junior High School instead of the hardball team, which was less strenuous.

Not beautiful.”

Junko, Morii’s mother, a yoga instructor, felt uncomfortable when she saw Morii’s figure at the time. Junko recalls.

She said, “She didn’t look like an athlete. He was stocky and hunched over ……. As an athlete, I got the impression that she wasn’t beautiful.

At Junko’s urging, Morii began practicing yoga. Yoga is not just about doing a prescribed set of poses. For each pose, you have to think about where your body is centered and what kind of movement you need to do in order to link it with your breathing. Again, Morii says, “Since I started yoga, I have found that the movements of my body have been very effective.

Since I started yoga, I have been able to think objectively about my body’s movements. I can think about how I should move my bat to increase the distance of my fastball, and what kind of arm movements I should do to increase the speed of my fastball. Thanks to yoga, which I practiced three days a week for 30 minutes to an hour a day, I was able to practice more efficiently.

In addition, from the winter of his junior year, Junko and he began keeping a “baseball notebook” every day. The notebooks numbered eight.

We would exchange notes about what we had practiced that day and what we had noticed. I would say what I felt, but I would soon forget it. By writing it down, it stays in your memory. Furthermore, if you look back at the notebook and practice, your reflections will become blood and flesh.”

The effects of yoga and the “Baseball Notebook” were evident. As a high school student, he hit a ball far beyond the 87-meter right field of Toho High School, and his fastball frequently exceeded 150 km/h. He was a professional baseball player with a deviation of 71. He frequently appeared in the media as a “professional player with a deviation score of 71. His physical flexibility was also outstanding.

In the spring of my senior year of high school, there was a physical fitness test sponsored by an athletic equipment manufacturer in which about 200 schools participated, including schools that competed in the Koshien National Championships. I was ranked second in the nation for the softness of my right shoulder joint. My back muscles are strong, and I can create a ‘wing’ state in which my shoulder blades float.

He used to have his sights set on the NPB, but now he has his sights set on the majors. In September of this year, he spent four nights and six days watching Rookie League and Major League games. He was able to experience the local atmosphere and solidify his feelings.

My goal is to make Single-A in my first year, Double-A in my second year, and be in the Majors in three or four years. Right now I’m studying mainly English as a way to relax, but once I get to the U.S. I can focus 100% on baseball. I am looking forward to seeing how much I can grow.”

Morii’s grades are in the middle range at Toho High School, a level that allows him to aim for difficult-to-enter private universities. The gifted student at one of Tokyo’s best preparatory schools is about to create a legend in the United States.

From the December 6, 2024 issue of FRIDAY