沖尚、全国制覇！

沖縄尚学高等学校は第８０回選抜野球大会優勝しました！

今日は春甲子園選抜の決勝戦だった。沖尚対聖望。沖縄対埼玉。東浜対大塚。今回は家で見たのではなく、学校の講堂でみんなと見た。すごかった！みんなと盛り上がっていて最高に楽しかった！もちろん、結果は良かった。沖尚９、聖望０。これで沖尚の２度目の春甲子園優勝だった。

As with my previous reports, I figure this one is best done in English, seeing as how you can read Japanese reports of the game pretty much anywhere online. Here's a site I recommend, though.

まぁ、今回は試合の要約だけじゃなくて、感動したことも書くので、日本語も入れとくね！まず、人数はかなり多かった！びっくりした！３００人ほどいた！とっても暑かった！１回から８回の間は後ろから見ていたんだけど、せっかく学校まで来たので、生徒と楽しく応援したくて９回の表は前に行っちゃいました。だからなんと、生徒と盛り上がりながらテレビに映されたらしいよ！皆さん、僕の興奮してる様子、見ましたか？

Okinawa Shogaku High School won the 80^th Annual Spring All-Japan High School Baseball Tournament! This is the second such crown in the school’s history, the last one having come 9 years ago, when current manager Koya Higa was the school’s ace pitcher. I could be wrong, but he is probably the youngest man in Japanese history to have won the tournament as both a player and a coach.

Unlike the previous 3 games, which I watched from home, I took this one in at school. MAN was that fun! I will never forget the experience as long as I live! I spent the entire game watching from about halfway to the front of the auditorium where we all watched the game on the big screen. I am sure there were well over 200 people there, maybe more like 300-400! Students, teachers, parents, grandparents, alumni, and news reporters.

Well a few times I went to the front (via the doors set up there) to get pictures of the crowd (such as the one to the right). There were several reporters in the way though, so I couldn’t actually SIT there and watch. BUT… I knew my final chance would be at the top of the ninth inning. With the outcome already determined (it was 9-0 from the 5^th inning on), I knew that pandemonium would break out when the final out was recorded. So I stood there and took pictures patiently, and when the crowd burst into celebration, I saw a quick opening between two cameramen. I slithered through and joined the mass of students who were yelling, screaming, dancing, and cheering. And I joined them in jubilation. And what a jubilant time it was!

We did about 6 or 7 takes of the “final out” celebration so that cameras could capture the moment from different angles, and chanted and sang for about 30 minutes after the game ended. It got SO hot… it reminded me of a rock concert where sweaty teenagers pack together and sweat on each other. Anyways, here’s a shot of some cameramen and reporters doing what they do best.

Okinawa Shogaku High School is now the best baseball school in the nation… at least until the summer tournament in August or so. This time, instead of watching from the middle of a packed auditorium, I hope to catch the action live at Koshien Stadium!

Okisho omedeto! 沖尚、おめでとう！