The Road to Glory - Heading to the FINALS!

We DID IT! Okisho is headed to the FINALS of the All-Japan High School Baseball Tournament! It was an unbelievable match. The two teams’ ace pitchers, Sato (from Toyo Dai Himeji) and Higashihama (from Okisho) came into the matchup having pitched 50 innings and allowing a mere 2 earned runs. That’s a combined ERA of 0.36! Ridiculous! It was destined to be a low-scoring game… right?

Not entirely. Right from the start, the game had me on the edge of my seat, though. Higashihama struck out the first batter on 3 pitches, then had the next hitter pop out on the very next pitch. However, with 2 outs and no one on base, Himeji got a triple and then followed it up with a single, making the score 1-0 heading in to the bottom of the 1^st. Okisho put the pressure back on Himeji, loading the bases with only 1 out. BUT, the next batter grounded out and then the next batter popped out, keeping the score 1-0. Then the pitchers took over for much of the rest of the game. Himeji scored another run in the 7^th, putting Okisho in a real precarious position: scoring at least 3 runs against a pitcher who hadn’t allowed a run in 25 innings. The 7^th went by without any offense.

And then, the bottom of the 8^th. With guys on 1^st and 3^rd, Nakasone came through in the clutch, driving in a guy. Then the next guy up, Minei, hit a single that was helped by their right-fielder’s bobble to bring in 2 more runs. We had the lead! Guys on 1^st and 3^rd again, with 1 out. And our next batter struck out… but the pitch was wild, so he was able to run to 1^st safely, and our guy on 3^rd scored, making it 4-2! That was it, as Higashihama came up and popped out to shallow left.

Then the 9^th, the inning that we needed to shut them down one last time. Higashihama got the 1^st guy, then walked the next one. A ground ball made it 2 outs with a guy on 1^st. And in fashionable style, Higashihama struck out the final batter.

WE WIN! SEE YOU IN THE FINALS, SEIBO GAKUEN! All of Okinawa will be watching the game tomorrow… so don’t you miss out, either! Pre-game starts at 12:30pm on NHK and RBC!