Iki High School Baseball Team Secures First Senbatsu Berth with 21 Players from Remote Island

Twenty-one ball players and four managers who have been in friendly competition since childhood

A 70-minute jetfoil ride from Hakata Port in Kyushu takes you to the island of Iki in Nagasaki Prefecture, where a banner greeted visitors at the local Gono-ura Port:

“From Iki to Koshien”

This slogan, adopted by Iki High School—a school with no previous Koshien experience—represented the aspirations of the school’s 24,000 island residents. On January 24, this remote island received good news: the baseball team, after placing second in the Nagasaki Tournament last fall and reaching the top 8 in the Kyushu Tournament, was selected for the 21st Century Slot to participate in the Spring Koshien (Senbatsu). It was seen as a once-in-a-hundred-years miracle by the local community, and the achievement was recognized by the Japan High School Baseball Federation.

Coach Tetsu Sakamoto (40) sighed with relief.

“After the fall tournament, the parents and the islanders were incredibly excited. However, I had to be prepared for the possibility that we might not be selected. I had been telling the students to be aware of their role as a recommended school for the 21st Century Slot and to aim to go to Koshien on their own in the summer. I also told them that if we received an invitation from Koshien, we should focus on the Spring Koshien instead.”

The team’s selection for the 21st Century Slot was largely due to their relentless dedication to baseball, despite the challenges posed by their remote island location. At Iki High, where a quarter of the students attend public universities, classes go until the 7th period, leaving only about two hours for practice on weekdays before the 6:30 pm curfew. The baseball field is shared with the girls’ softball and track teams, and during the fall tournaments, the team had to travel back and forth between Iki Island and Kyushu. During the summer’s long, consecutive games, the players often had to leave the island for extended periods.

Even practice games require taking a ferry to Karatsu Port in Saga Prefecture, and then renting a large bus to travel. However, these scheduled practice games are frequently canceled due to weather or sea conditions.

Coach Sakamoto, who played for Hasami High (Nagasaki Prefecture) and participated in the summer Koshien as a player, explains:

“I believe that the disadvantages of being on a remote island can be turned into advantages. For example, it takes an hour and 40 minutes by ferry to reach Karatsu Port, and during that time, we can have meetings, study, and even do some light stretching. While there’s certainly a financial burden for each family, the disadvantages of being on a remote island are not as big as outsiders might think.”

Surprisingly, Iki is a place with a strong baseball culture. Since none of the four middle schools have soccer teams, the region has a high passion for baseball, and the level of middle school baseball is generally high. When the current center players (new third-years) were in the second year of middle school, Gono-ura Middle School was the top team in the prefecture and even won the Kyushu Tournament. It was the local Katsumoto Middle School that defeated Gono-ura in their final summer, going on to represent the island at the National Junior High School Baseball Championship. Additionally, the new second-years were the champions of the “Remote Island Koshien,” a competition for middle school students from similar island environments.

The 21 players and 4 managers who grew up on Iki Island and honed their skills together are now united with a common goal: reaching Koshien. Team captain and ace, Shuugo Urakami (from Gono-ura Middle School), shares:

“Koshien has been my dream since I started playing baseball in first grade. It’s the mound I most want to pitch on. We grew up competing with each other on the same island, pushing each other to improve. To reach Koshien together with these teammates, we all chose to come to Iki High.”

However, despite their strong lineup of underclassmen, the team faced an early exit in the previous summer’s Nagasaki Tournament.

 

Former rivals become reassuring friends

“The players’ mindset and focus changed dramatically. They realized, ‘We can’t stay like this.’ From now on, we’re aiming to win every tournament. So when we lost by a mercy rule in the quarterfinals of the autumn Kyushu tournament (against Okinawa’s Energetic Sports), I was stunned. After about 10 minutes, the frustration hit me hard. I want to avenge the regret from the autumn tournament at the Senbatsu, and this summer, I want to earn a spot at Koshien on our own.”

Catching the pitches thrown by captain and ace Shugo Urakami (from Sounoura Middle School) is Atsuya Iwamoto, who comes from Katsu-moto Middle School. The former rival has now become a reliable teammate.

“I believe Urakami’s weapon is his top-level control, even in Nagasaki. Whether it’s a strike or a ball, even when he’s positioned near the edges, he throws accurately. I don’t need to move the mitt, so I feel like the umpire often calls it a strike. What I do during games is mostly to create a pause when he’s under pressure, helping him calm down mentally.”

Iwamoto, who bats second, continued discussing the strength of Iki High School.

“When I faced some of the players in middle school, I thought they were tough opponents, but in high school, they became my teammates. When I first enrolled, it was really exciting and reassuring.”

The four female managers are also from Iki, three of whom have older brothers who are alumni of the Iki High School baseball team. One of the new third-year students, Saki Akagi, is one of them.

“Since we all grew up on the same island, I think the camaraderie is a weapon for this team. We don’t have a single mood maker; everyone works together to lift the team, and the atmosphere is really great.”

The first time I visited Iki was on January 5th, the first practice day of the new year. The day was primarily focused on physical training, with a plan to pray for victory at a nearby shrine. Among the exercises was a routine where the players ran around the field while carrying logs. When I saw this, I was reminded of a coaching figure in Nagasaki: Akihiko Shimizu, the current head coach of Nagasaki Prefectural Osaki High School. He had been the coach at Seimei High School and used this intense training method, helping develop a powerhouse team that won the 2009 Senbatsu. I wondered if Coach Shimizu and Coach Sakamoto were close. When asked, Coach Sakamoto smiled and replied:

“I’ve been taught many things by him since I was younger. He’s one of the coaches I respect. The log-running routine is effective for strengthening both the core and legs efficiently, and there are many other training methods I’ve copied from him. In the semifinals of the autumn Nagasaki tournament, we managed to beat Shimizu-san’s team (Osaki) for the first time in an official match, and that result led to our qualification for Koshien. It’s really emotional.”

The last time a 21st-century selection school defeated a regularly selected school in a tournament was in 2015 by Ehime Prefectural Matsuyama Higashi High School. Every year, coaches of 21st-century schools, such as last year’s Hokkaido Prefectural Bekkai High School, voice their concerns about being crushed by traditional Koshien contenders, but Iki High School, with promising middle school talent and a successful run last autumn, won’t be easily intimidated. They’re targeting the second national championship for a Nagasaki Prefecture school.

“Senbatsu is not the end, and I don’t want our Koshien experience to be just a lifelong treasure. The experience from spring must absolutely be connected to summer.”

Coach Sakamoto’s determination was evident in his words, ensuring that the dream of participating in the Senbatsu as a 21st-century selection would not be a one-time event.

From the February 14, 2025 issue of “FRIDAY”